Party Poker Blog

"If you're going to fold every time you actually hit the flop, then hope isn't going to help you much."
Gary Carson

The Variance of Life.
You can't escape it.

Take a seat at the table - Bonus Code IGGY on PartyPoker!

Raise your hand if you want an uber post!

Short posts be damned. I'm gonna let rip an old-school, Guinness-fueled tangential uber post. And I do it all for you, gentle reader.
Because I am a tad unhinged.

Commence ramblings.

My poker play has slowly been coming back around. And that's providing a real nice bright spot - I've been booking some solid wins. Hell, it's a pleasant distraction from real life and that's what it's all about, isn't it? Except for us Peter Pan types who play this game for a living.

So hell, in the interest of Destroying Workplace Production let's get to it, shall we? Stop working and start surfing! That's really why I do this, after all.

Here's yet another damn blogging gig I'll never get.
I swear I'm not bitter.......

Microsoft is opening up its stacked checkbook to pay bloggers to edit sites related to fashion and style, music, sports and technology. You can find the job listings on Mediabistro and JournalismJobs.com, where the new hires will be asked to write up five to 10 posts a day. Easy!
Blogging for Microsoft

Thanks to Chilly for these great Meat links. Apparently my new vegan friend (see prior post) packs his lunch every day, so I'm forced to buy this lunchbox.

Oh the humanity.

Here's a great bit of snarkiness from Daniel Negreanu on Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, of all freaking people. Craziness.

Enjoy:

-----

Negreanu unloads on Chris "Jesus" Ferguson.

From Danny's Forum - Danny's post:

--

That list is defintely not accurate. As for Barry, he is a devoted atheist as is Chris Ferguson. Although Chris is an atheist he signs autographs by adding in quotes "Jesus."

I let him know one night that some people may find that offensive and he said he didn't promote the nickname. He then said that he wouldn't sign autographs like that anymore, but of course that was a lie. I've signed tons of hats and t-shirts since and have seen Chris "Jesus" Feguson on many of those hats. I can't say that I was surprised to see that's he'd lied, but it was a little disappointing. Why say you are going to stop when you had no intention to? Did he think I wouldn't find out? His word holds little weight with me.

The fact that he is a atheist just makes it even uglier. He tried to justify the nickname by saying that many Mexican families name their children Jesus. However, with Chris, his use of the nickname simply mocks the majority of this country who believe that Jesus was our saviour and died a brutal death for our sins.

I'm not as offended by that nickname however as I am of Phil Laak's use of the "Unabomber." What next? We have people parading around with nicknames like "Hitler" and "Bin Laden?"

What the Unabomber Ted Kisinski did wasn't funny. If I lost a loved one at the hands of the Unabomber I would be repulsed by the idea that people may be cheering "Go Unabomber." Imagine for a second a mother watching that on TV? How would she feel about it? Exactly.

-------

His comments are located in the following thread on his site:
Full Contact Poker



Here's a rare gem. A solid trip report on RGP.
Read as Howard plays to the final table in the WSOP:

-------

Subject: Treesong At The WSOP: $2000 Limit TR - Long
Author: Howard Treesong

LHE isn't my best game. I don't log many hours at it, and even a
great decision usually only results in a one- or two-bet delta. And
I'm not usually aggressive enough to push the small edges hard, which
I believe is a requirement of that game. But I catch a break in two
respects: first, my table is right in front of the stage, which means
we're not breaking until deep in the tournament. That means that
other players suffer from an information deficit at critical times; not
me. And second, two-time world champion Johnny Chan sits down two
seats to my right. This may not seem like a break at all, but I've
had a multi-year prop with a buddy of mine in which we each pay $20
into every tournament in which a former WSOP champ also enters. The
money goes to the guy that first busts a champ, so I'm in perfect
position to do so here.

In addition to Chan, there are several twenty-something online
players, all of whom seem to know their stuff. They're very
aggressive and clearly understand the math. That said, they
occasionally play too fast. Noah ("Exclusive") Boeken is a good
example. He moves into the one seat and raises from MP; with one
caller, I defend in the BB with Ac6c. The 110:1 flop hits me
perfectly, however, with Qc Tc 4c. I check and Boeken bets. Caller
mucks and I smooth call. I let Boeken bet it all the way on the 7d and
5s, then river-raise, which he instacalls. He shows JJ. I understand
the value of aggression, but that's taking it a couple of steps too
far.

I make one significant mistake by button-raising with 4c2c. Chuck
Schultz, the eventual eighth-place finisher, has moved into the nine
seat. He's a big guy who doesn't move his chips like he plays
often in live games, so I decide to see if I can push him out of a pot.

Answer: no. I bluff off three bets and get called on the river.
Okay, I'm showing and then tightening up a gear. That strategy works
well, as a nice fat Kxx hits my AK and I get called all the way down by
KQ. Chan gets in trouble by losing a big pot, then raises my blind for
his last full bet. It's an easy call on my part; I have a decent
stack and Qc3c. He shows JcTc and my hand stands up. Bounty
collected! Sweet!

The middle hours of the tournament are a blur. I never get into
serious trouble. I manage to chip up a little bit, but then go card
dead and watch the young Internet guy in the four seat hit a huge rush
and win seven full pots. The flop hits a seven; he has eights. An
opponent flops two pair to his AK, but the lucksack has hit his set.
Bang, bang, and the guy has almost $15K in chips playing $100-200. I
remain card dead and don't play a hand for an hour. I then steal one
and make a small one, and I stay in reasonable shape.

David Chiu moves in one seat to my left. He and I instantly start
ragging on one another, then he pulls a funny one by unplugging my
headphones from my IPOD, cranking up the volume, then plugging it back
in. Ouch. I get my revenge when I stack up a pot from him, then he
goes bust. My old nemesis from the 2/04 Commerce final, Tony Ma, steps
into the one seat with a short stack. He raises for his case chips and
I find AcJc and call. He has KQ and HGHN.

Back to the blur zone: we're near the bubble, and I'm a little
short after finding AK three times and missing all three -- two in
multiway pots. There's zero shot I have the best hand either time
and have to muck to the flop bets; this is a great way to zing your
stack. I get down to about $7K, but hit AK twice more, flop to it and
collect two full pots each time. After the second one, it's clear
I'm going to make the money, so I gear up and steal three or four
pots near the bubble, when everyone is playing tight. That works well,
and I get up as high as about $30K.

No Treesong trip report would be complete without the requisite
conversation with Daniel. When we're just over the bubble, play gets
pretty active. Another table gets shorthanded and I'm in the BB, so
I get moved. I'm pulling in a pot as the floorman comes over, and it
takes me a minute or so to stack the chips and rack 'em. By the time
I get to the new table (one seat), the dealer has already dealt a hand,
so I come into the small blind position. The dealer deals around me.
I suggest that I should get a hand, but Negreanu, in the two seat, says
no. I shut the hell up. Danny, who perhaps knows me just well enough
to know that I'll argue about just about anything, then says, as he
raises, "Well, I guess I know why you're not arguing about THAT
one." Danny busts on the hand (Daniel's K5 raise from the SB runs
into KQ and a K on the flop), and I quip: "Always nice to see you,
Danny," and get a chuckle from the table -- and from him.

Daniel heads off to play Barry G. Me, I button-raise with KJ and get
reraised from the SB by a pleasant young man wearing a Google hat. The
BB mucks. The flop comes KTx rainbow and I check to a very possible
AK. He checks behind. The turn comes with a big fat J that could cut
either way, but I'm on a short stack and I either want to double or
bust, so I decide to get aggressive and bet out. He raises and I
three-bet. When he lets out a quiet "oh, no," and reluctantly
calls, I know he's not holding the AQ. I bet the river blank and he
again slowly calls, but his AK can't beat me and I stack up a nice
pot. For the first time in a while, I don't feel like I'm
chip-critical. Google compliments my JOPKE hat, which sparks a
conversation about whining players and bad beats. Bad omen!

Next orbit, Google raises my BB. UTG +2 calls, and a younger, thinner
version of the Unabomber three-bets from sixth position. The SB mucks
and I find AA. Rerai! Fold, fold, call. $19K in the pot and the flop
comes 8c 9s 2d. I bet, Unabomber calls. $22K in. Turn comes 6h, and
if this young man is playing T7 off for three bets preflop and a cap
behind, then he's a better man than I am. I bet out. He raises. I
three-bet and he calls. $40K. T on the river, and I bet again. I'm
thinking Final Table, Baby, but Unabomber raises his two case $500
chips after my river bet. "Final Table" turns into "You must be
shitting me," as I call the two. It's a huge pot: $48K. He shows
TT. Yikes. The straight outs help his hand on the turn but good lord,
what did he think I was going to fold to the turn raise? Thankfully, a
break comes, and I go off to share my misery with a co-worker who was
playing a satellite. Who do I find next to him, but Tanya (MissT)
Peck, who overhears my bad beat story and, somewhat condescendingly,
says, "OK, Howard, so the fuck what? Stop your whining, put it back
in the deck and keep playing." It's a much-needed reality check,
and I resolve to take the advice. Thankfully, Wilhelm Kuhlmann's evil
twin is nowhere within earshot.

Tanya's words aside, a tough beat towards the end of a long session
of a tournament is a serious test of steam control. I took a short
walk back to my table, gave my stack a riff, and counted down: $21K.
Not long, by any means, but at 7BB, enough to play a full pot. I order
a beer and told myself to get back to work. The cards were back in the
air forthwith. I muck for an orbit, then find AK and raise: no
customers. Breathing room! The very next hand, I find JJ in EP and
raise. Everyone mucks to John Myung, in the BB, who calls. Flop is 9
6 4 rainbow, and Myung check-calls. Same action to the turn 8. A duck
hits the river and Myung bets. WTF? I call and he shows pocket
deuces. Wow. Myung told me later that he thought I was steaming off
from the AA beat and made a terrible read. At this point, I'm down
to $9K and am at risk of being dismissed before my beer arrives. That
would suck.

The fates will otherwise, however, as I find QQ in the BB. Mimi Tran,
who has moved in one seat to my right, raises from the SB and and I
three bet it. My case money goes in on the turn to a low board, and
she shows KJ. The Unabomberish young man who spiked a T on me a little
while before, Daniel Clegg, says "good luck, sir. You deserve it."
That gets a laugh, but I manage to double through, and survive to day
two with $21K, playing $3-6K. The beer was delicious.

I'm running on fumes when we break. I There are two stacks lower
than mine, with 21 remaining, and I'm despondent over the JJ and AA
beats. But Mrs. Treesong consoles me on the long, slow walk back to my
room at the Rio, and she rightly points out that tomorrow is another
day, and that I'll no doubt feel better in the morning. The Rio
pavilion seems at least a mile from the hotel itself, and the casino
is smoky, noisy and hopping. I walk though it, feeling detached from
the revelry, almost separate from the universe itself, and find blessed
sleep.

[I don't know if I'll do a TR from the final table. I'm still
tired: these things are intense, and I'm behind at work. One note:
after I busted out ninth, I did stop by the Wynn to see the poker room.
Danny and Barry were playing their $500,000 freezeout, and I decided
to sweat it for a few minutes. I stood there, silent. After a few
moments, Danny said: "I take it you're out of it, then." I
indicated that I was. Barry asked me a question about something, and
the three of us got involved in a short, casual conversation. All the
while, Barry and Danny are playing $4000-$8000 stud. What was stunning
was the totally relaxed nature of the game. Neither man seemed
particularly focused, or intense. Both were in a somewhat detailed
conversation with someone they hardly know, and Barry was playing in
such a way that I could easily sweat his hole cards during the hand.
In that three minutes, there was at least one pot that was raised fifth
street and called to the river; that's about a $50,000 pot. The
whole thing seemed entirely surreal to me.]

-Howard Treesong

----------

Anybody care to venture a guess who this might be about?

-------

I found this story on the vegas confidental guys page in the Las Vegas Review Journal, I have an idea but can't be for sure.

"A local female poker whiz is fast gaining a reputation for her
diva-esque demands at Las Vegas nightclubs. Her manager has been
sending advance word to nightclubs listing her needs: a reserved table,
a bottle of champagne and an escort back and forth to the limo. "The
only time we had that many demands it was the Secret Service," said a
club executive."

-----

Pauly is kicking ass and taking names in his prolific and wildly entertaining World Series of Poker Live Blog. A must read. I wish I was out there with the Doctor and Otis, damnit. Sorely tempted.

Chilly over at IDSN wrote up a Poker bloggers dictionary for us to reference.
Good stuff.

Here's an insightful article from an Atlanta magazine about Josh Arieh.
One of a Kind
Josh Arieh can beat you in poker. Wanna bet?

Shirley Rosario has her latest WSOP Trip Report up.

Now what the hell? I'm a huge fan of female poker players but couldn't they have tried for something a tad more edgy than this brand statement? "Woman Poker Player is a one-of-a-kind lifestyle publication for women who enjoy the sport of poker."
YAWN. Plus, there's zero content available for free, except, GASP, for their precious forums.

I especially like the way Subscribe is misspelled in the top nav. (EDIT - they emailed me and fixed it this morning)
Woman Poker Player Magazine.

I need this computer monitor rig for my poker play.
Some goof told me to set up a tip jar.
Bonus Code IGGY, damnit, on Party Poker is my freakin tip jar.
Poker Monitor

Hell, maybe I need a CafePress store as a thoughtful blogger once suggested to me.
I'd like to market orange Bonus Code IGGY condoms.

It's rare to see a cogent poker strategy post on RGP these days. So when GambleAB stuck up a tourney strat post, it received a lot of feedback. And so here it is:

-----

Tournament strat: The EV of not busting out
Author: GambleAB

I was speaking to a friend after he busted out of the 120k on UB last
night, and he told me about the hand that he went bust on, when he put his
chips in as a sure coinflip. He said to me "wouldn't you play this hand
the same way?" and I thought about it and said that it would really depend
on my table image and the table image of the person he was heads up with,
and the potential fold equity I felt there was. He then said "Yeah, but
you yourself advocate taking risks to get a big stack" which is a good
point, BUT needs to be put in context a little more, I feel, because he
used that reasoning to justify a bad play.

Remember this: It is always better to be in the tournament with a
below-average stack than to risk your tournament life to only get an
above-average stack. Now, below-average doesn't mean short stacked, and
above-average doesn't mean having a huge stack, which is important to
remember. We'll put it in the context of two situations, each of which
exactly the same except for the stacks involved:

In both situations, the Hero has 7d 5d and the Villain has 9s 9c. The
board is 4d 6s 7c, giving the Hero top pair + open ended straight draw +
gutshot flush draw and giving the Villain an overpair to the board. If
all the money went in at this point, the Hero will win 46% of the time and
tie 1% of the time. In both situations it is heads up on the flop.
Consider both situations to be taking place in the UB 120k Sunday night
tournament as far as starting chips and blind levels go. Consider both
situations to be taking place at Level 7, 75/150 blinds, with just over
half the field gone already, and 2 hours until the bottom rung of money
comes in. The average stack is 5000 chips, and the largest stack in the
tournament is 25000 in chips. In both situations, the Hero is first to
act after the flop.


Situation 1: Hero has 3500 in chips, Villain has 7000 in chips. The
average stack of the table is 6500, the largest is 12000. Hero checks,
Villain bets 900 into the pot of 900. If the Hero check-raises allin here
he is risking his tournament life on a 46% winner. Even if you put the
folding equity at 10%, thats only a 56% winner, a small edge to say the
least. If he wins, he will have an above average stack for both the
tournament and for his table, but he will be nowhere near the top stack
for either. If he loses, he is out of the tournament and has no chance of
making any money. In this situation, I would fold the hand here. Winning
would accomplish less than losing would cost. If you win, you are at an
average stack, and can be slightly more aggressive, but cannot really
bully anyone around. One misstep and you are back to a below-average
stack, or busted out. You won't have a stack that can easily make the
money and although you are much healthier than when you were a hand ago,
you still have a ton of work to do to even make the money, much less the
final table, which is where you want to be. It isn't worth risking your
tournament life to only get a decent stack. You can easily fold here and
pick much better spots in the next half hour to get your stack to the same
place.


Situation 2: Hero has 10000 in chips, Villain has 25000 (the chip
leader). The largest stack at the table, other than the Villain is at
12000. Hero bets 1000 after the flop into the pot of 1000, trying to take
it down. Villain reraises to 3000. Let's assume that we know that the
Villain will not lay this hand down, so we have zero fold equity. If the
Hero re-reraises allin here, he will be a 46% underdog to win 21000 in
chips. If he loses, he is out of the tournament and has no chance to make
the money. If he wins, he is the chip leader at the table by almost 10000
chips, and is in the top 3 overall for the tournament. I would make the
move here and push allin to take the coinflip. If I win, I will be in a
position of power where I can bully the stacks at my table for the next
hour at least and continue to build a stack without having to put myself
at much risk. I can steal blinds left and right and force people out
after the flop. I can generally be a big bully and continue to amass
chips in order to basically march straight to the final table. By the
time the blinds get to an unreasonably large amount where post-flop play
is very rare, I will more than likely have such a large stack that I can
sit back and wait for premium hands, while flipping coins with the
smallest of stacks (this is usually once we are in the money, around 27
people). In this situation, the risk of busting is justified by the power
that the chips would give me. Sure I can fold here and have an
above-average stack for both the tournament and the table, but by doing so
I would make my journey to the final table much more difficult than if I
had a huge stack at that point.

Remember, I'm not saying that getting to the final table with a 7k or 9k
stack in the 7th level cannot be done, of course it can. I'm saying that
there are situations where you have to evaluate the risk of gambling with
your chips. In some situations, the power that the chips will give you
will be more than worth the risk of busting (or being crippled), and in
some the risk far outweighs the reward.

-------------------

We've got a new chapter of Bill Fillmaff.
Chapter 5: The Big Game
Watch in disbelief and utter amazement as "Beautiful" Bill Fillmaff takes on the biggest, most high-stakes cash poker game in the world: the legendary Big Game.

Finally, some the-sky-isnt-falling poker news.
Don't bet on Web gambling crackdown.
U.S. enforcement unlikely, analysts say.

After all, the War on Drugs has gone so well....

Someone out there asked about poker books on a message board. Not strategy books, mind you, but books with poker as a backdrop or theme. Just in case someone out there likes that kind of thing I'm posting the suggestions here for posteriety.

------

Alvarez' _The Biggest Game in Town_ is a book that centers on the WSOP. The author is a well-regarded novelist and this is some of his best
writing, although it isn't fiction.

Yardley's _The Education of a Poker Player_ is a great read. It is
about poker in a long-gone era but it is very interesting.

Jessie May's _Shut up and Deal_ is a very good poker-centered novel.

McManus' _Positively Fifth Street_ is another excellent writer covering
a WSOP, but he plays in it, and some other poker and non-poker matters.
It is certainly descended from the Alvarez book.

Sean Stewart wrote a very good novel, called _Galveston_ which has
poker as a theme and some good poker content. However, the first poker
hand in the book, which is in the first scene, is awful and unreal and
would have stopped me reading the book if I hadn't read some of
Stewart's other work.

_Poker Nation_ is on the border of instructional and I wish I could
remember the author's name as it is quite a good read. Andy Bellin?

I just finished Doyle Brunson's "Poker Wisdom Of A Champion" and enjoyed it.
Oklahoma Johnny Hale's "Gentleman Gambler" also has some interesting
chapters.

The Man with the $100,000 Breasts- Michael Konik (Sp?)
Bobby Baldwin's Winning Poker Secrets - Mike Caro (outstanding book, and no
it's not really a strategy book, even though the title implies it.)

Big Deal by Anthony Holden is also, which just recently came back into print I think.
My favorite book about gambling (not just poker) is Bringing Down the
House by Ben Mezrich
King of a Small World (Rick Bennett): This is a really great novel about a professional poker player. One of very few realistic and well written accounts.

Fast Company (Jon Bradshaw)
A great anthology of stories about gamblers -- including some poker players.

A Friendly Game of Poker (anthology)
An anthology of stories about home poker games. I wrote the second story "A
Wasted Evening"

Dealers Choice (anthology)
Terrific short stories, all about poker. Not in print but frequently in
used book stores.

Last Call (Tim Powers)
A weird sci-fi fantasy ride set in a bizarre world where everything has to
do with poker and cards. Hard to fully grasp at first but harder to put down
once you "get it".

Preacher (Ted Thackerey, Jr.)
King of Diamonds (Ted Thackerey, Jr.)
The main character in these novels by the late legendary LA journalist is a
hard bitten, almost eerie itinerant poker player. Hard boiled poker ation
throughout.

Drawing Dead (Pete Hautman)
Ring Game (Pete Hautman)
Short Money (Pete Hautman)
Mortal Nuts (Pete Hautman)
There are some poker scenes in these books -- the lead character plays
poker. Excellent writing and interesting plotting are what these books chiefly
provide.

Enjoy the read. Almost wish I'd never read these books so I could read them
again for the first time.
Poker is a minor feature in one of the best books I have read recently,
_The Last Hot Time_ by John M. Ford.

-------

And finally, one smartass had to add:

Doyle Brunson's Super System. It's a great work of fiction.

I personally liked the fact that Josh Arieh posted some of his hate mail on his blog. He's coming across better in his blog than he did on TV. Course, that's pretty easy to do.

Here was a sharp catch on Josh doing some fancy post-editing in his blog.

---

Dear Internal Revenue Service...
Author: Quad 7's

I recently won 100K from the video poker machines at Bellagio. I posted it on my
blog then deleted it so I wouldn't have to pay taxes. Hope you didn't notice.

Sincerely,
Josh Arieh

-------

In the vein of ranking all-time movies on RGP, someone ranked all-time boxers.
Not even I have the chutzpah to do that, even as a lifetime fan.
This guy was a crossposting troll.

------

Finally: The Real Top Ten All Time Pound For Pound Boxers


1. James Toney
2. Sugar Ray Robinson
2. Thomas Hearns
3. Muhammad Ali
4. Roberto Duran
5. Carlos Monzon
6. Marvin Hagler
7. Lennox Lewis
8. Jack Dempsey
9. Julio Cesar Chavez
10. Aaron Pryor

--------


Listing Toney first shows he must be about 12.
I think it was a fine troll move on his part.

But he shows some insight by listing Cincinnati legend, Aaron Pryor, 10th. Marciano not being listed is insane. Ali goes ahead of hearns. Where the hell is Tyson, Archie Moore or Roy Jones Jr? Michael Spinks? And where the fuck is Joe Louis?

My humble apologies for the digression.

One of my new co-workers told me today about a new poker room, the Belterra, only an hour from here. The 10.20 with a full kill is apparently soft as hell. GMoney has already been and told me I need to make it my new office. We'll see. I'll likely put some long sessions there this coming weekend.

So here's a review of this new room for any locals:

-------

Subject: Belterra (S. Indiana) poker room trip report

The Belterra casino, on the Ohio River between IN and KY, opened their poker
room this month. I have visited the casino several times before, despite
the lack of a poker room. My lovely wife suggested that I go this
weekend. She didn't have to offer twice. My buddy Tom, who I've played
in home games with for 15 years, who's played online but never in a
casino, joins me.

After an uneventful 3 hour drive from Columbus, OH, we arrive and go
straight to the poker room. At noon on Saturday, only 5 or 6 of the 12
tables are playing, although the NL game I came for ($2/$5 blinds, min
$100 max $400 buy-in) is playing and has 4 waiting. I look in at the NL
game, and see several stacks over $1000. I proceed to watch someone call
an all-in from one of the big stacks (who had QQ) after a 9-high flop only
to show: AK. I can't wait to sit. I get on the list and go play
blackjack in the hope that my casino host won't disown me now that there's
a poker room. Tom sits at a 2/4 limit game.

About the room: my previous B&M experience is limited, but the room is
spacious. I'm pretty sure that the Detroit casinos I've been in would
have had 18 tables crammed in to the same floor space. The dealers were
largely friendly and helpful, the only knock being that some needed a
refresher on "When a player misses a blind/comes back in a blind/etc."
The room was chilly, but only an idiot (me) would show up in shorts
despite having read in several places to bring a jacket/layer clothing.
The only other negative was that from some seats, players said that they
were catching a glare from the lighting which made the board hard to read.
On the plus side, the room is non-smoking. Sorry, smokers, but I quit 11
years ago, and I'm done being considerate. Kill yourselves away from me.

After making a contribution to the bottom line of the casino via blackjack
(do they have bad beat posts on rgb?), I get called to the game. The good
news - one of the huge stacks I observed when I signed up, approximately
$2K, is gone. The bad news - my $400 max buy-in makes me about the 7th
biggest stack at the table. I know no one, so I go into
conservative/observation mode.

The game seems very beatable. Players are overplaying hands, hand
selection is wide and loose, and the concept of "outkicked" seems not to
be a consideration. I'm in the 4 seat, and the best player, in my
estimation, is in the 3 seat. Tom takes the 10 seat about an hour later,
I'm at about $500.

My first big break comes when I flop top two with my AJ on the button, a
big stack with a tendency to play middle cards bets $50 at me, which I
smooth call. Another rag sees him bet $100 on the turn, and I start to
worry about a set. I decide that I can't credit him with it, so I
re-raise $200, which he calls. The river is another rag, he checks, I
fire another $100 (leaving me about $100) and he calls. I show, he says
it's good, stating afterward that he had a smaller aces-up. Maybe. I
believe two pair, anyway.

Suddenly, I'm one of the big stacks. With AQs and position, I raise to
$25 preflop, and am called by the BB, who recently sat for $400. Flop is
Q-x-x rainbow, he checks, I bet $50, he calls. Turn is a little spade, he
checks, I bet $100, he pauses and calls. River is a third spade, he bets
$55, I make the crying call, and he shows Q5 spades. I look at the board
for a minute, expecting one of the rags to have been a 5, but it wasn't...

By now, It's 8 p.m., the solid player on my right has gone, the guy on my
left has built up a big stack, approx. $1500, and a 2nd NL table (a
must-move feeder to mine) has started. A string of young guns buying in
for $100 have gotten chewed up and spit out, some reloading, most
wandering away muttering. The table is lively, with lots of chatter
(mostly from the kid on my left) most of which is friendly. Someone wins
a pot with 72o and gets a cushion/pillow thing, which he then sells for
$5. It occurs to me that playing 72o in this game has got to be a -$25 EV
move, but the game is good!

I eventually get up after a 10 hour session up $760. Tom finishes -$150.
All in all, a very enjoyable time.

--------

Here's a gambling product I saw on eBay for all you poker players with "leaks."
Casino Winners Bank Never Lose Money Again! Brand New!
A must have for people who like to gamble & hate losing

On second thought, maybe you pai-gow players should buy one.

Moving quickly along, I'm still really enjoying Phil Gordon's WSOP Podcasts.
If you haven't listened yet, do so now.

From the mailbag I got this. Pretty interesting, check it out.

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WSOP buy-in versus inflation

Hey Iggy,

I've been reading the poker blogs for almost 2 years now, but never given anything back. Today is that day.

I made a spreadsheet of how the WSOP main event buy-in has compared to inflation over the years. Check it out and feel free to pass along:

WSOP versus Inflation

Thanks for the uberposts.

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Thanks for the payback.

The David Williams Poker Blog is a good read, but points off for using the phrase "inner donkey".

Another Trip Report post:

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If anyone likes to read trip reports when they're bored at work (I know I do) I
have posted my WSOP 2005 trip reports. I played events 2, 3, and 4, and final
tabled event #4. I ALMOST busted Hellmuth. Next time. ;-)

The reports can be found here:
All Aces

They are titled 'WSOP 2005 day 1', etc. Days 4 and 5 are event #4.

----------

Las Vegas casino news for those of you inclined:

-----

Say Goodbye to Bally's

The year-long buy-out of Caesars Entertainment by Harrah's was completed today. Already, there is speculation about how Harrah's (now the world's largest gaming company) is going to reshape the Vegas Strip.

It seems certain that Bally's, with a dead-center location on the Strip, is going to be at least renamed and possibly torn down to make room for a new Horseshoe casino.

Here's a local Vegas TV report about the merger and possible impact.

I also found Las Vegas Casino Death Watch which watches what casinos are targeted for the wrecking ball.

TV report

Las Vegas Casino Death Watch

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I'm posting the Jesse May poker show more for me, than you. I keep forgetting to watch it but then when I do, I wonder why. But I'm a big fan of Jesse's writing (which reminds me to re-post his screed from 2003 again) so I'll keep my fat mouth shut about the show.

Good God, this is getting long. Running. Out. Of. Steam. Sobriety.

Live poker is rigged. Here's all the evidence you need:

-----

It's all freakin' rigged

AK vs A8 offsuit, spikes an 8 on the river

KQ vs QQ, King in the flop, Case queen on the turn

pair vs overcards, overcard flop nut str8, Pair hits runner runner
straight flush....

three consecutive hands in a single table tournament.

For you online conspiracy theorists, these were all in a one table, 325
satellite at the WSOP. Live.

John Harkness

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Damn, time to wrap this up.
Much more to come so please stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by this humble poker blog.

Bonus Code IGGY on Party Poker, Damnit!



It's been over a year since I posted this incredible Jesse May rant.

Backstory: after a rather ugly public disagreement on RGP between Eric Seidel and Daniel Negreanu, the Late Night Poker commentator wrote this soliloquy.

Hit the archives for the full story. My apologies to regular readers but I think it deserves a re-read:

------

From: Jesse May
Subject: Re: Erik Seidel

It's started. The erosion of poker truth has begun. In today's world
it is he who slings the mud farthest that clamors to the top. Hold
your tongue Johnny come lately, watch out Daniel in the lion's den,
because poker players know that if a man has fleas he's been lying
with the dogs. And the men of respect they know who the dogs are,
with quiet mouths and jerky glances they've been fading dogs for
years, because it's not so long ago. Maybe the microscope got turned
upside down into a megaphone, maybe every televised hand has been
parsed twice and passed through Sklansky, but that doesn't mean that
past is ashes. And in the poker world, character has never been
fleeting. The players have minds like elephants caught in the steel
traps, the world was never so big that you could sit down at the table
and nod just once for times gone by. The water's under the bridge
with the writing always clear on the wall. Poker's big now, but the
story is the same as ever. Someone will be getting fucked, and if
you're desperate enough to want to survive, sell your soul and join
the team. Don't worry. He'll throw you bones, he'll toss mongrel
scraps and promises from above, after all Don King made Holyfield rich
and famous. Rich and famous and collared to a post.

The men of respect have mostly been rangers. They grew up with
talent, they were burdened with honor, and they banded alone and faded
getting fucked. There have been freight trains of others, cattle cars
in and rib roast going out, and the few mangy cows that avoided the
slaughter bled from the jugular and squealed like pigs before the
devil came down and offered the deal. And the men of respect? They
padded softly, out of the limelight, from game to game and in the wee
hours of the night. Stu Ungar showed up in a coffeshop in Tahoe on
the morning of a final table to find the other nine having breakfast
as one. He howled. They shouldn't have made him mad. He didn't
collapse with the Ace-king when the pressure came on. And the dogs
hated him for it. And they always will. The oppressed people, they
never want to be free. All they want is to rule.

Is it true Mr. Molson? Is it true that there are players who will
benefit from the fact that no sponsorships are allowed? Is it true
that one management firm has sprung up, a company whose office is in
some building in Minnesota, the same building as the W pis-pee? Is it
true that Bile has handpicked some players to promote, to promote in
the advertising and the commercials, leading lights to front the team,
while the rest of the players have to listen to prize pool bullshit,
to an incessant drone that is aeons old, band alone and fade getting
fucked? There was only one player at the Sands who didn't take the
money, who said sponsorships are for children while $40,000 was being
offered for two hours wearing of a hat. There was one who claimed to
be above the fray, but players want to know why. Players want to know
why. You think the Furrier's a savior, you think he took something
where nothing's been before? Well then Bill Gates is a genius, too,
with clean hands to boot. But there's a lot more at stake then one
man replacing his Toyota with a Lexus.

There's poker players out there, stars of the game, men of respect who
hold their tongue and go about their business, because they've doing
it since boo. Since the Furrier was a snake. Since he was a hooded
serpent who bought people and smashed them. What you think? You
think they don't deserve what's fair? You think you can tell a man
who's survived the war that the gun is not loaded?

Make no mistake Johnny. Money is not added. Money is not filtering
down. Promises are not being kept. The players are the stars, they
always have been, and the overlords will be thieves long before we
call them Daddy. Basketball and baseball, there is a reason for
players' unions, there is a reason that there is a sharing of
television revenue, that players wear logos, that there is a player
pension fund. And there's a reason why old boxers drive delivery
trucks. One man stands up, a quiet man, a man of respect, and in his
own small way he says, look. Do you see this?

Where's the 40 million for the TV contract? Where's all the money
that sponsors pay to have their brands associated with the most
exciting guy to ever fling two cards and his stack in the pot? You
think people want to watch some schmuck who will crumble at the sight
of a raise? Everybody wants to watch the golden hearted lions, watch
them flock in the jungle. But the man wants them to be stupid. He
needs the smart ones to band alone, to fade getting fucked, and the
stupid ones can join the team and clamor loudly. Because dissent is
the terror of the Furrier.

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Geepers, time for another beer.
Thanks again for stopping by.

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