MNF Announcers Suck!

Warning little to no poker content below:

The announcers on Monday Night Football are horrible, and have sucked since Cosell left the booth. Well all Football commentators suck, but what's new. From last nights game we have this gem, which is pretty standard stuff.

On a third and 7 from the 35, Brad Johnson hucks up one of the ugliest ducks I have ever seen that is easily intercepted by the defense on about the 28 yardline. The commentators start ripping him apart. "That was a horrible decision". "What was he thinking when he makes that throw". "That had to be one of the worst interceptions I have ever seen".

Now on the surface these comments seem natural and appropriate, but this is a football game so lets look at the situation, and see how "bad" this play was and see if it rises to one of the worst INTs ever. First off, it is 3rd down. An incomplete pass and they punt. Lets assume that all of the receivers were covered, so there was no easy way to convert the first down. So what do you do? You throw it as far as you can to the long receiver no matter how "covered" he is. You might get an pass interference penalty. Worst case is the pass gets intercepted like it did this time. NE got the ball on the 28, which was a 37 yard change in field position. If its incomplete, they punt 45 yards on average, and it gets returned 10 yards for 35 yards net on average. This INT was 37 yards net, so it was better then a punt. To me this is sooooo obvious, but the announcers think it was the worst interceptions ever. To me it was one of the best. It did not hurt Min. at all. The play is like a Semi-bluff. You huck the ball out there and hope for the best. If your bluff gets called (INT) your barely hurt, but the upside is huge. The worst INT ever would be one in the red zone that gets returned for a TD. a 10-14 point swing. This one had no effect on the outcome. You guys need to see this stuff, but you suck. If you want something better ESPN, I am available.

Bubblicious

My MTT play does not get a lot of respect in the blogosphere. That's fine with me. When I started playing online poker, I ran mainly MTTs. I found them to be a lot of fun, and also a way to limit your downside when your learning the game. As my game progressed, I discovered you can earn a lot more per hour in S&Gs and cash games, so that is where I play. My measuring stick for how I am doing is measured in dollars earned, not in MTT results. Smokkee, always gives me shit for trying to fold into the money, and love elf even said that she would prefer to have me at a final table than Kat because my play is so predictable. Because the bubble play in the big game was so interesting, I thought I would go into a little more detail on what my impressions were at the FT.

First of all, I don't get a chance to brag much. I have a screenshoot of me leading the big game tournament over 1 1/2 hours in. If blogger did not hate me, it would be up right now. I play an ubertight tourney style, and it can actually work. You do not have to be a maniac to win a tourney. 3 of the last 5 WSOP main events were won by players using my strategy. The exceptions being Raymer and Gold. I have enough confidence in my tourney game, that even though it is not my specialty, I bought into a WSOP event last year with a portion of my cash game winnings. I thought that I competed well in the WSOP. My ubertight strategy had me in first against the best of the best bloggers 90 minutes in to the big game. I stated playing some big stack poker at that time, but lost my coinflips and dropped out of the chip lead. This brings us to the final table.

Quickly after forming, we got to the 6-handed bubble in the big game. I was the short stack, but had an M of about 6-7. I am not unfamiliar with being the shortstack on the bubble. In fact, the situation was about as ideal as it could be for me as the shortstack on the bubble. We had a huge chip leader who was relentlessly pressuring the table. He was also on my right. Normally, the bubble does not last long, as it is in the best interest of just about everyone to take a stand against the big stacks range in a MTT type payout structure. The medium stacks normally will be looking to lock up at least the 2nd place money. This ultimately did not happen, as no one would take a stand, even with premium type hands.

My hands were slightly tied because I had all three big stacks to my immediate right. There was no pot that I could open. I was facing a raise for all or most of my stack before acting on every hand. Since I was short, and it was apparent Kat would be waiting me out, I knew I would have to take a stand. One thing you do not want to do is take a stand (by calling) with a hand that is not at least a coinflip against the raiser's range. If you bubble out as 40% dog, that is not a good thing. My range was widening with every orbit, but I was not getting hands in this wide range. I was looking for an Ace, pair, two biggies at first. Then added any King.... I did not get these types of hands. When I got my first Ace (A6), I pushed and tripled up which got me through the bubble, but left me way short. I would have preferred to push earlier against lucko. Turns out he would not have called me to preserve the bubble, so pushing with air could have worked.

I love having a big stack at the table on the bubble, because they are so easy to double through. I like to let the big stack do all the heavy lifting throughout the tournament, and then take them for a significant portion of there stack in a few key hands late. It is a pretty easy thing to do, and is key to my tournament strategy. It does take getting a decent hand once and a while, which did not happen for me at the final table.

So, am I happy with 5th in the Big Game? Yes! I played as well as I could, and made the money against about as tough a field as you can get. I had a great shot at getting heads up with lucko for the title, if I could have picked up a decent starting hand late. One or two double ups would have done it. So I played well and put myself in a good position to get heads up. That's all I want.

Now for the love elf's comment. I did not see Kat play a single hand at the final table until she pushed short late. That's pretty predictable. She may have (and probably did) have horrible cards like me, but I am sure her range for taking a stand was much tighter than mine. I have been in Kat's position before many times, and it is not a goods idea to count the shorty out. What happens is the shorty takes their stand and doubles through leaving you short on the bubble. My play may have appeared very predictable, but it was not. If I did get a starting hand in my range, and doubled through, you would have seen me start heading up the payout scale. Didn't happen but easially could have. Please everyone, beleive all I do is fold to the money. It helps my game if you beleive this.

SuckPwnage

First off, congrats to Lucko for taking down the first blogger "Big Game". He got some great cards, made some huge suckouts, and wielded his big stack with authority at the final table like nothing I have seen before. It was quite a run, and I somehow survived the bubble for a decent cash.

The double stack structure really plays into my tourney strengths. I am about as patient as it gets, and the deep stacks allow me the time to make some key moves. I warmed up with a Deep Stack tournament on Stars Saturday morning. I won 7 hands in the first 200, but still had an above average stack. You just don't need to play too many hands, just get paid when you do. I ended up getting bored in the Stars, and took a small cash vs. playing it hard to the end.

I drew a pretty tough table with Lucko to my left after an empty seat, and crackinaces there as well. I played ubertight, and was getting decent cards in the first hour. I really could not get anything paid off, and hovered just north of my starting stack for most of the first hour. My table was way tight, and we played about 90 hands during the first hour. I was running tracker, and it was interesting to see that the entire table was playing ubertight like me, except dynast, who was much looser, and lucko who was slightly looser.

In the second hour, I got my first big hand when I called a raise with KQ, and flopped Q high. I bet the flop and got called. A king dropped on the turn, and this time I think it was tripjax, bet into me and I pushed, and got called by TT. I double up to about 6k. I stayed in the 6-7k range until I got moved to a new table. My first hand at the new table, I got KJs in the SB, and was welcomed to the table by a button steal from Iak. I called and flopped an ouside royal flush draw (about 18 outs). I pushed because Iak was short, but he folded. A couple hands later, I limped with 88 in a 4-way pot, and flopped a set. I reraised the flop and got called, and then pushed on the turn as the board was getting scary. I get called by a slow played AA and double through to about 13k in chips, and the chip lead. I continued to resteal and push in a lot at this table, which was helping my image. I then started to bleed chips back. I called a push from the BB with KQ when a shorty had AT and could not connect. I called Iak's push with TT and could not beat his KQs. Basically I was bleeding away chips instead of accumulating. I arrived at the final table in 6th place, with about 6500 in chips.

Lucko, had a huge stack, and was on my right. Every hand was getting raised by lucko, Iak, or crakin. I was about as card dead as can be, and could not take a stand. Kat was short, but had more than me. She appeared to be trying to fold in, so I knew I would need to take a stand at some point. Still nothing. Finally, I catch A6 in the BB, and push in for slightly more. I flop an A and double through. Kat goes out an orbit later, when her KK all-in preflop loses to a rivered straight. Still no cards for me. I push from the SB with J4s when I am getting 7-1 odds. If I fold,I would have about 500 left, so I have to call. I miss, and take 5th. Crackin, and Iak get eliminated on the next orbit, so I am kicking myself a little for going out, but I had to play the SB.

Lucko's play was great, as he was raising/reraising most pots preflop. I have to question one hand where UTG he pushed in with the hammer, and showed the bluff. If crakin wakes up with a hand behind him, he doubles-up crakin, and they would have been close to even in stacks. I think he needs to raise less there, but he is trying to show off with the hammer I guess. No one would really take a stand against lucko on the bubble, and he accumulated tons of chips. Overall, I am happy with my play, but just wish I could have caught some cards at the final table. I knew the range was way wide for most of the preflop raisers at the FT, so a few double-ups would have been easy, but it did not work out.

By By Sweet Neteller

No Party, No Pacific, No Titan, No Paradise, No FirePay, No Neteller.

No Poker?

News keeps getting worse

By By Fishies

By By Gay Poker Blogs

Hello big game this Sunday!

By By $75 Token

Final Table Bitches

I final tabled one of the first tourneys I ever ran at FullTilt. I thought it was cool how the background changes to a WPT like set. That was about two years ago. I can't remember ever getting to that screen again, although I really don't run very many MTTs and the ones I do run are pretty big. Well last night I made it back to the promised land. In the screen shot above, I was sitting in second place shortly after the final table had formed. This was a $5 HORSE MTT with 98 runners, so it is not a lot to brag about. I did just about everything possible to not make it this far. I started a few S&Gs at the same time, but was left with only this tournament and had some chips. I had to run to a friends house, so I sat out for about 15 minutes while traveling. Played a few hands over there and rallied back some chips. Sat out another 15 minutes coming back. All late in the second hour when the blinds were significant. Not really a way to win a tourney, but I can't get too excited about a $5 entry.

When I got back to my house, I was last out of 14 players left. I rallied right back, and got into 2nd position. Unfortunately, I am still a little green in HORSE, and I donked off a few chips in Omaha with the 2nd nutz when I thought I had the nutz. Then I finally went out in 5th, when in Razz with a short stack, I pushed in on 4th street with J high, three smallies. I was behind pretty bad, but watched the other guy pair/pair/King out, and thought I had won. Unfortunately, I King/King/Paired out, and could not beat a King high hand. Not a big cash, but a Final table none the less. I will take it.

More Live Tourney Success and Even an Online MTT Cash.

I cashed in the 9k on FullTilt Friday night, for my first online MTT cash in a while. I was pretty card dead the whole way, but managed to quadruple up with AK in the second hour. I then stayed card dead through the bubble, then called a 3x raise with AQ, flopped an A and pushed into AK. Ooops, still like the play though. You don't really get much more money until the final two tables, so I have no problem going agro after getting into the money. As usual the overall play was not that great. If I had the time to play these things on a regular basis, I prolly could get into a profitable routine, but I don't have that kind of time.

Saturday night was event #5 in the Orange Poker League. The league keeps points, and skims money for a 10 player championship. I had two of my most card dead tournaments ever in the first two events (see archives), but managed to get some points by surviving more than 1/2 the players. I missed event 3 while on vacation. In event 4, I made the final table of a 40 player tourney, and lost a coinflip late that would have put me in the money. The final table finish gave me some much needed points. Going into event 5, I was in 18th place, and about 4 points away from the 10th place spot that would get me to the championship. With 30 runners, I figured I would need to cash or get close to have a chance. My friend Jay, who got me into the league, was sitting a couple points ahead of me, but still outside of the top ten.

I ran into Jay out front of the host's house, and said "we got some work to do don't we"? On the first hand of the tourney, I pick up AK, and popped it to T275 (blinds 25/50), after several limpers and got a single caller. I whiffed the flop, and fired out T350, call. whiffed the turn, and fired T450, call. Whiffed the river, and we checked it down, and my AK was good against an unimproved AT. Stupid fish! That gave me a nice stack to operate in a structure that is very turbo like. I started playing some marginal hands cheaply, and bleed back a few chips. Then I took a flop from the SB with Q5 sooted. A queen high flop came, and I bet T200, and was called by Billy. Billy hosted the last event, and lives in a 7 million dollar house. He was pretty drunk already, but had accumulated quite a bit of chips, showing down some great hands. I had never played with him before. The turn was a blank, and I fired T300. Billy reraised me to T500. Not a legitimate raise, but I kept quiet. I said "Do you really have another hand Billy?". He kept quiet. Crap! I did some thinking, rich drunk guy, showing good cards. This guy must bluff as well. The $50 buy-in is prolly nothing to him. I reluctantly called. Blank on the river, I check to keep the pot small. Billy bets T500. I prolly would have folded to a push, but I think I need to call here with top pair, bad kicker. I call, and Billy was bluffing. I am up to about 4k in chips early (start with 1.5k), and in great shape.

I don't really catch any cards for a while. I get AA in the BB and raise to T500 (blinds 100/200), after a button limp, SB call. Two folds. I steal the blinds from the button with QJ. Then I got a little lucky. I flop two pair from the SB with K9 after a ton of limpers. I min bet 300 on the flop, and get one caller. The turn is a blank, and I push in for T2900. Last guy thinks and calls with JJ, and I eliminate him. This guy had slow played KK earlier, and had limped with JJ this time. The way I played the hand which made sense to me, appeared to him like I did not have the King (why push on the turn). Shortly after this the final table formed.

I really did not get much cards at the final table, but got into a couple of good situations. I got KQ in the BB and pushed when only the SB limped. He called with AT and I spiked a Q on the flop. I pushed into the BB from the SB with A9 and got him to fold A2. The key hand from the final table for me was a little strange. I was in the BB with K6o (blinds 800/1600). The button pushes in for T1800. SB folds, and I have to call for 200 more. Two limpers also call. I whiff the flop, and it checks around. On the turn I pick up a gutshot to my 6, and it checks around again. I river the straight, and I say, "I am going to represent the 6", and bet T1200, into a massive pot looking for a call. I do get a call from top pair, and take down a massive pot that has me north of 15k in chips. I would not see an Ace, paint or pair for the next hour. It was horrible. I had a pretty good read on the remaining players, but could not get a hand to make a move with. The organizer's sister was at the table, and was playing like I wanted to. She was ubertight, but picked up some hands (AA, AK, QQ) and accumulated some chips while I was bleeding away. She then was able to apply some pressure with probably marginal hands, like I wanted to. She was 2nd in the overall standings, and I have to say I respect her play well above anyone else who plays in the league. After the bubble burst, I was pretty short due to a lack of cards. Jay was still alive, on my right, and we both had enough points to make the championship table. I was still looking for a push-able hand but not finding much.

With the blinds at T1000/T2000, Jay in the BB pushed for T2100. I went ahead and pushed with KJo for T2300 knowing I would be forced in on the next hand anyway. Two others called. I completely whiffed, and at showdown Jay showed QQ, but lost to a rivered straight. Jay took fifth, and I got 4th (because I had more chips to start the hand) for a $160 cash. The organizer's sister won the tourney.

The championship will be November 11th. There is a $2500 overlay from the 5 event skim. The buy in is $50, so it will be like playing a $300 buy in single table tourney. Top 5 get paid. You also start with T3000 in chips vs. T1500, and no rebuys are allowed. I really like my chances in this. The deeper stacks and no rebuys, really play into my tourney style. I predict it will be me and Debbie heads up for the title. I think the two of us are the only ones who will know how to play it correctly. The luckboxes without the ability to rebuy will be gone early. I hope my friend Jay can hang in for a cash as well.

Week 6 Picks

Da Bears -11
Da Bills - 1.5
Da Bengals -5

Parlay those three as well

Jets -3
Chargers-10
Titans +10.5

Thats all folks

Black Friday or BJ with BB?

Today, October 13th, 2006 may go down in history as "Black Friday". Bush signed the bill, and real money games are no longer accessible on PartyPoker or Titan with others to follow. But, I am over the gloom and doom posts. So I thought I would finally take the time to discuss a great opportunity I had a few months ago. To play the game of choice with no one other then the infamous Bobby Blackjack.

The setting would be the Pechanga Indian Reservation in Northern San Diego County. Pechanga is the largest Indian casino in California, and could give some of the Vegas Strip casinos a run for their money. I had not been there in a while, and when I got there, it had about tripled in size from my previous visit. Massive! I would be meeting Mr. Speaker, and BB, somewhere in this sea of slot machines and table games.

I got there a little early, so I played some Indian Craps while waiting. It's a silly game. It is set up around a regulation Craps table, but they deal out cards for the dice instead of letting people roll. Its not nearly as fun, but I was able to win about $20, killing a few minutes. I then cashed out and began my search for the Bracelet.

It did not take long. I found Speaker and BB at a $15 Blackjack Table. Now for me, that's a lot to bet on a single hand of BlackJack. I went to UNLV, and learned to count cards. I played BJ mainly for entertainment, but am probably close to break even long term with the card counting edge. I like to play low stakes and just have fun while getting tons free drinks. After I started getting serious about poker, it is pretty hard to play BlackJack anymore. I see a $15 hand of BlackJack as 5 free orbits in a 1/2 NL cash game, and lean towards the latter.

I would not pass up the opportunity though, so I dropped down a C-Note and bought into the game. The dealer was dealing from a 6 deck shoe, which I thought was a little strange for a $15 game. Right behind us was a $10 game. I asked why we were not playing there. They said it was because of the continual shuffling machine. To me 6 deck shoe, and continuous shuffling machines are not very different EV wise, but I am no expert.

So I sat down and played. Bobby was betting two spots at a time, and I was finding the courage to bet a single $15 each time. We were getting some great cards, but the dealer kept sucking out 20s and 21s on the river (last card), and my $100 buy in was dwindled down quickly. I was mixing up my play a little from what most people think is ABC BlackJack. For example, sometimes I stand on 16 with a Ten showing. I am giving a little bit up here, but I like to give the dealer an opportunity to bust. Bobby thought I was retarded. I have several rules for BlackJack, and I have seen Bobby list similar rules. They typically go something like this.

1) Avoid Asian Dealers
2) Lose four hands in a row, and walk.
3) Set a stop loss for the night and stick with it.

Now lets me expain the first one. I don't go around avoiding Asian people, but Asian BlackJack Dealers should be avoided like the plague. In general, they do not talk much so are not much fun top play with, and they are luckboxes for the house. These rules work out great in Vegas, because most of the dealers are Asian. So you search for a non Asian dealer, then give it a shot, but walk if you lose four in a row. So you end up walking and searching for most of the night which is higher EV than playing BlackJack. The rules are Gold and must be followed!

So the dealer is kicking our collective ass, and I look up to see that the dealer is Asian. Now this is an Indian reservation, so you would expect a lot of Indian dealers, and few Asians. In fact, this was the only Asian dealer in sight. The other dealers were all white. This is a little unusual, but Pechanga is a small tribe, and they make so much money off the casino, none of them really need to work. I turned to Bobby, and said "Are we breaking one of the golden rules of BlackJack here?". He said "you mean continuing to play after losing a bunch of hands in a row?". I said "No, take a look at the dealer". It was enough said. Bobby packed it up and headed to another near by table. Joe stuck around, so I reloaded with the intent of trying to win some back. I did win a little back, and Joe as well so that was nice, but we were breaking the golden rule.

I Pwn The OCPT

I was watching South Park the other night, and they had a new episode where the kids were playing World of Warcraft. There was some high level guy going around killing people for no reason. So, Cartman had the guys train for like 7 weeks straight, so they could try to kill this guy. So when they finally knock him down Cartman says "Looks like your about to get Pwnd!" before smashing his head to bits with a battle axe. I could not stop laughing. I am not sure if it is the online role playing games or the online poker community that came up with "Pwnd", but lol when Cartman uses it.

I Pwn the OCPT.

Last night was the monthly gathering of the top amateur players from the OC. We ended up with 13 players and a $420 prize pool. I did my usual card dead early, hang around, steal a few pots near the bubble, go maniac once the bubble burst, make a nice cash, rinse, repeat. This time it was a second place finish for my 8th cash in the last 10 events and a huge all-time cash lead. I am the best live tourney player ever, or at least in the OC until someone wants to prove otherwise. Even the mighty Smokkee cowers at the thought of competing with the OCPT crowd. Yes, I am calling out any OC players who think there better than me. Drop a comment if you want a piece.

I never really got much going for most of the night. Late before the rebuy period, I raised 5x with JJ and pushed over on a 884 flop. Ooops he had K8s. Rebuy, Rebuy. After the rebuys, I split a pot with AK vs. AK, A on the flop. So I just treaded water until we got down to the bubble 5-handed. I was the shorty, but still had some time to operate. Drew was on my right with a monster stack that he luckboxed himself into. I stole a pot or two, and Drew kept giving me a walk in the BB. Prolly cause I took him out heads up last time. I managed to chip up just a little in the process, while Drew donked off some chips to the others (I hope your not one of my three readers Drew). Then, he pushed into me from the SB before I had peeked at my cards. Rather then just fold, I decided to take a look at a nice pair of Aces. I call, hoping to get Beth who had limped to come along, but no luck. I have Drew barely covered and the bubble is burst. I also finally have some chips. A couple hands later, Beth knocks out the other two when she spikes a K with the worst hand after getting all-in preflop.

Beth had me outchipped about 3 to 1. We battled for about a half hour. I made some great laydowns, and won my coinflips. Eventually, I had the chip lead. When Beth pushed preflop, I called with A9o. She had KQo and spiked a K on the flop. She had me covered by just 2 chips. If I can win that hand (60/40 ish) I win the tournament.

I Rawk at live tournies. I suck at online ones though. Smokkee let me see my FullTilt Stats, and I am down about $400 over 40 MTTs. Good thing I have the OCPT to make me think I am the shizzle. A win in the Big Game could make all the difference to my stats. Has it already been broughten?

Is Sportsbook Bonus Whoring Here to Stay?

Well, I went 2-1-1 on my NFL picks. Technically I went 1-1-2, but when I got around to placing the NE bet on Sunday, I only laid 9 points. Thats technically a win, so 2-1-1. Anyway, I am not here to brag in this post, although I did win $20 on my picks.

What did I do on my weekend.

1) Had over $3600 bet in total on the three Baseball games Saturday.

2) Pushed $1780 in action when the St. Louis Rams won by exactly 3 points.

3) Went Busto in my account on BetUSA

4) Went Busto in my account on Bodog and reloaded $1800 back in just for sports bets.

5) Was going to put about 2k in action on the Baseball game Sunday night, but was not getting the right odds.

6) Deposited $1500 in Canbet and ran the account north of $3600 in less than 8 hours where it still stays.

7) Won about $200 with zero risk and about 30 minutes time by doing what's listed above.


Welcome to the world of the Sportsbook bonus whore. I lost about $50 on item #1, while clearing over $100 in bonuses. Item #2 was a pure win, as I cleared bonus with all bets refunded due to the push. Busting in the two sportsbooks, allowed my to clear about $70 more without having to make the required bets. Pure profit. The reload at bodog, gets me another $180 of their money, of which I will spend about $70 blowing through. With my balance at Canbet so high I need to start betting 1k+ so I have some chance of ruin there. Free money is real money. I will take it while it lasts.

Week 5 NFL Picks

I am on a roll this year. An undocumented 6/8 in week 2, and documented 3/5 in week 3, and 4/6 in week 4. This week there is a simple theme. Good home teams laying points against some pretty bad teams. Lock and Load!

Indy -18 vs. Tenn
Carolina -8 vs Clev
N.E. -10 vs. Miami
Minn -6.5 vs. Detroit.

The Sky is Not Falling - FullTilt is Here to Stay

It appears that my little corner of the poker universe will not be effected after all. FullTilt sent me an email that said that they have reviewed the matter legally and will not be pulling out of the US market. A public fuck you to Frist and company. Let the lawsuits begin. With the high profile American pro's that are partial owners of FullTilt, I really thought they they would cave in. I think I understand the strategy here and it is brilliant.

FullTilt is positioning themselves to capture most of the US market once the majors pull out. At a minimum the will get the majority of Party's traffic. They could easily triple their player count immediately. So they sit back and rake in massive $$$$$ until it happens. One of their big name pros is arrested for breaking the law. It will be an very public arrest as you can imagine. It could happen in a couple of weeks or nine plus months from now. Who knows. FullTilt will vigorously defend their client. He will be out on bail immediately, and they will string this out in court for years. Meanwhile they take in more and more and more money from the US players.

Five years from now when they get close to deciding the case, the industry landscape will have shifted dramatically. The case could be thrown out before that point if online gaming becomes regulated/legalized. Worst case, they go ahead and convict the pro. The maximum 5 year sentence is reduced to 1.5 years, and he is paid a $10,000,000 hardship bonus upon release. Meanwhile they are all multi-multi-millionaires. Pure genius.

With FullTilt as my home and favorite site, and bodog, WSEX, Wpx staying in, I will still be able to play where I play 95% of my games now, and have several sportsbook options as well. Time to stop worrying for me. If your not already with FullTilt click on my link or use Bonus Code Blinders. Lol, my first real attempt at pimping.

Lastly, on Wednesday after studying all this crazy stuff, I came up with a huge idea for a business. I can't really say anything more at this point, because it is so big it must be protected. In time I may bring a few of you along for the ride.

Online Horse Race and Fantasy Sports Wagering Legalization Act of 2006

Those bastards got us good. They are spinning us. Time to spin back!

The "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006" does absolutely nothing to make internet gambling unlawful. They would have to go after the players for that, and there is nothing in the law about that. So what does it do? It explicitly makes some types of internet wagering legal. Internet Horse racing and fantasy sports wagering is now completely legal in the US, thanks to Senator Frist. Thank you for expanding the legalization of online gambling!

But these guys are spinning it real good with the title of the law, and all of the talk. They are claiming that gambling is bad, and that for moral reasons a law that would curb online wagering was needed. So they pass a law that expands online gambling, and spin it like they just did the opposite. Don't let them get away with it. Start calling the law what I did or something similar. If you contact a representative, act like your a pissed off bible thumper who did not want to see online horse race wagering legalized, and not a degenerate poker player.

The craziest thing about all of this, is the wagering they have legalized are about as -EV as it can get. Lets face it, if you are a winning "gambler", it is hard to say you have a gambling problem. Only the ones who lose significant moneys have a big problem. Lets say that you legalized two people betting on the outcome of a coinflip for a maximum of $1 a flip (or some smaller number). If we are flipping a fair coin this event will not be +EV or -EV for either participant. You could flip coins all day long, and it would be rare to have any big winners or losers at this. So legalizing something like that does not really create a gambling problem for anyone.

Now lets take online horse race betting. Most of you know, it is next to impossible to win at the track long term. Too much money is taken out of the prize pool. The skill level required is too great for 99.9% of the population to overcome this. So 99.9% of all online horse race betters will be longterm losers. The weak ones will be huge long term losers and will have huge "gambling problems". Thank you so much Mr. Frist for creating a huge new gambling problem that did not exist before your precious law took effect.

On an unrelated note, I would recommend cashing out (shopping) all of your frequent player points ASAP. When the sites start suspending accounts, they will instantly become worthless.

Hand of the Week - I Will Be Missing PartyPoker

The hand below is from a cash game on PartyPoker from last night. I needed to burn through the September bonus before they shut it down.

***** Hand History for Game 5302522557 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, October 03, 01:44:21 ET 2006
Table Rogue Wave (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: aka_Nemo ( $98.90 )
Seat 3: reeeelax ( $11.67 )
Seat 6: NathanSPhillips ( $101.25 )
Seat 7: Nuklrdisastr ( $158.34 )
Seat 8: Excalibur_TX ( $142.84 )
Seat 9: Anth0ny8O7 ( $26.67 )
Seat 10: Bl1nders ( $127.20 )
Seat 2: kuba44 ( $106.50 )
Seat 5: GaryLee009 ( $101.20 )
Seat 4: TDouglas105 ( $47.75 )
reeeelax posts small blind [$0.50].
TDouglas105 posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **

Dealt to Bl1nders [ Qs Qd ]

GaryLee009 folds.
NathanSPhillips raises [$4].
Nuklrdisastr folds.
Excalibur_TX folds.
Anth0ny8O7 folds.

I like to min raise 3-4x opens preflop with hands like QQ and JJ. I want to find out very early in the hand if I am ahead. A call of my min raise indicates I am not against AA or KK, a big reraise indicates that AA or KK is likely out there, and I need to decide if I want to play the hand for a set or not.

Bl1nders raises [$7].
aka_Nemo calls [$7].
kuba44 raises [$15].
reeeelax folds.
TDouglas105 folds.
NathanSPhillips folds.

The smooth call and the decent reraise is enough to spook me off this hand. I could continue on and play for a set, as I am getting decent odds, but I will try to pick a better spot. I appear to have gotten the info I was looking for. The initail raiser did not have the goods, but one of these guys behind me surely does.

Bl1nders folds.
aka_Nemo calls [$8].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Kc, 5h, 3d ]
aka_Nemo checks.
kuba44 checks.

WTF, all that preflop action, and it checks through on the flop. I start thinking, I may have laid down the best hand. I had put kuba44 on AA or KK, so he might be slowplaying the set with KK. Not sure what to put Nemo on. JJ or TT are possibilities as well as a slow played AK.

** Dealing Turn ** [ 5s ]
aka_Nemo bets [$10].
kuba44 raises [$25].
aka_Nemo is all-In.
kuba44 calls [$58.90].

There we go! Looks like kuba44's trap worked and he is going to double through.

** Dealing River ** [ Th ]
kuba44 shows [ Ad, Ah ] two pairs, aces and fives.

Well I put him on AA or KK, so it was a good laydown on my part. The board was not very scary for AA unless Nemo has KK, so kuba'a play makes perfect sense. So what does Nemo have????



Make



A



Guess



Before



Looking



Down



Here







aka_Nemo shows [ 5c, 3c ] a full house, Fives full of threes.

aka_Nemo wins $207.30 from the main pot with a full house, Fives full of threes.


WTF????? Some discussion broke out for obvious reasons after this hand. Nathan the initial preflop raiser, claimed he folded KK. I can't beleive you can lay that hand down preflop at .50/1 nl on Party, but I can see how he thought he was against AA. Any of the three behind him could have had AA and played the way they did. Great laydown! I still have never laid down KK preflop in a cash game, and would never do that on Party.

Then of course people started ripping on Nemo for his preflop play. His take was after he was in for $7 it was an $8 call for a $42 pot, so he was getting proper odds. I questioned how he thought he was getting proper odds when he called the $7. Nemo said he wanted to gamble. I guess so. Crazy hand. AA, KK, QQ, and 53s are delt in, and only the 53s has the ballz to call down AAs preflop action that got up to 15x the blinds. Then of course 53 flops 2-pair, and turns the boat. Have to love the fish on Party. I will really miss them.

It Was a Good Run While it Lasted

Well in case you did not hear, the online gambling ban was passed over the weekend. PartyPoker has already announced that they will be suspending US operations when it is signed by Bush in a couple of weeks. Neteller also announced that they would stop processing payments per the new law as well. This is way worse than I had thought, and online poker appears to be dead at this point for US citizens.

Our only recourse is to throw those fake republican Bible thumping assholes out of office. I happen to be a long time republican, but when they start expanding government at the expense of individual liberty, they lose me. The republican party is now just a shill for the Christian Church, and will continue to reign down on our rights. Fuck those paige fucking bastards.

Anyway, I suggest you get in all the playing you can in the next week, and start moving funds out of your accounts. In two weeks, there may be no legal way to remove funds from online accounts, or no way at all.

THIS FUCKING SUCKS!