Juicy Nite of Omaha 8

What a night! Big hands, big pots, big mouths, big drama, big arguments and big exits.... well, there you go.... Just another night with the Juice! You see, although the Juice isn't always right... he is always the Juice! And most of us wouldn't have it any other way....

I had a couple of big hands... the biggest one, of course, against the Juice when there was a straddle to $30 with about 5 callers and the Juice... pump, pump, pumps it up to another $100 and gets 3-4 callers. I'm on the button with Ah, As, Kh, 5c..... I know, I should have raised it but I was actually hoping that others would play. The flop was beautiful! Ac, 6h, 9h.... so do you think I liked the flop? I've got top set and nut flush draw! The Juice moves all in for about $2000 or so and everyone folds to me. I can't hardly wait to get my chips in the middle when the Juice says, "Do you want me to show you a set of Aces?" I said "Yep, I can do that... how about the nut flush draw too?" So we turn them over.... I don't remember all of his cards, but he had Ax, 6x, 2x.... and I think the other card was an 8. As the cards were exposed, he was almost drawing dead. Or maybe he was "free-rolling" I can't be sure, but of course Mike the Mechanic throws runner-runner low and he gets half the pot with a live deuce! Nice!

Oh well.... should we talk about the drama? Nope, I'll let them blog the drama!

Let the suck outs begin! See you tonight in Cary!

Reminder: Texas Hold 'Em Charity Event Saturday at Tyler's

The tournament will be held this Saturday, December 1st at Tyler's at American Tobacco Campus We ask that you arrive at Tyler's around 10:30 am.

This should be a great time. First flop scheduled for 10:50am. If you're really good (and lucky), expect to play about 3.5 hours. If you're bad and unlucky, college hoops and football will be on the big screens at noon!

If you have not turned your pledges in, please bring them Saturday. Make checks payable to Triangle Community Foundation.

The Top 10 Fundraisers game will take place once all players eligible for that game are eliminated. Top 10 Fundraisers will be announced after all pledges have been counted.

There are still a few spots open. If you know any other players, please encourage them to register, raise some money for these causes, and come out to play cards!

Thanks again to everyone! I look forward to seeing you Saturday.
Chris Rosati
Red Thermometer
(919) 491-5381
https://webmailcluster.perfora.net/xml/deref?link=http%3A%2F%2Fapp.bronto.com%2Fpublic%2F%3Fq%3Dlink%26fn%3DKey%26id%3Dbbvolyruoaduoxkjsxvbeaaptrfabhh%26link%3Dbgxvblijhtbbygwzskgzbvauepunbob

O8 Cary Friday @ 7

Ye Olde Pot Limit Omaha 8 in Cary this Friday @ 7PM... See you there!

AA vs KK...strange hand

Sick hand from HSP

Weekend Poker

Well it was an eventful weekend of poker for me.... It started Friday evening as I was on my way to play in Cary only to find out on the way that due to the holidays, the game was cancelled. I received a call about 9:30 or so from John M that they were playing O8 Pot Limit and I was invited. So after the Canes comeback on Fox Sports I was off to Cary. If I remember correctly I was all-in 3 times in the first four hands..... It was a fun, but painful night as 4 different times I lost with second nut high and my low didn't earn me any of the pot. There were two particularly painful hands. Once I flopped Kings full of queens only to play it perfectly only to find out that one of my opponents flopped quad queens! Whee! The other big hand was against John M when I turned second nut flush and he turned nut flush ----- how do you say "bye-bye to about $900 in one hand?" But again, it was fun, clean, well-run and a great group of guys....


The good news is that Saturday with the Juice helped me recoup my losses from Friday night. There were a couple of big hands ---- early on against Bill T ---- who is one of the nicest guys you'll meet, but he even whispers loud. I am constantly asking him to use his inside voice! LOL. Well, the hand.... I've got Ad, 2d, 7s, 7s ---- the flop 3x, 4x, 7x (yep, it was what my inner voice was calling for.... the pot was straddled pre-flop and raised pre-flop so when I get smacked in the face with this monster there is about $200 or so in the pot already. I lead out with a bet hoping there are a couple of guys who are playing some kind of low and sure enough I get 3 callers including Bill T.... the turn is a suited 8 so I bet about $200 or so and everyone folds except Bill T. The river was the magic ---- another 4. I immediately push all-in and Bill T calls and I scoop the pot. Sweet!


The other hand was Elli's last hand of the night ----- I've got Ax, 2x, 4x, 6x and the flop comes 6, 6, 4 - Elli leads out with a $90 bet and everyone folds to me so I just call... The turn is an 5 and Elli pushed all-in for about $800 or so. I immediately call and turn over the nut/nut ---- He's got a 6 and higher cards which means he could hit a better boat, but it doesn't and he throws all his chips down to my end of the table....


Oh, one more hand... I've got 3s, 4d, 5d, 6s and the flop was Ad, 2d, and everything else was kind of a blur.... I lead out with a pot sized bet and Rick smooth calls along with a couple others.... The turn "horns blaring" 3d giving me the steel wheel... I lead out with about $125 and everyone folds....


Oh... one more... we just played a hand which had 2 fives on the board. I've got 5x, 5x, 9x, 10x and fold pre-flop to a re-raise. The flop is 5x, 8x, Jx and Rick leads out with about a $100 bet and gets two callers.... the turn, the case 5... Quads! Damn it Jim! And of course, Rick goes all-in on the river with one caller and no low! Fortunately, Michael got to see my cards so that my heartbreak could be verified.... I probably would have folded on the flop with the bottom set to Rick's big raise anyway, but you never know.... I'm normally in the donkey mode! One thing for certain, had I seen the turn I would have scooped a big pot ---- probably about $4K if I was in too.


Oh well.... Let the suck outs begin!

It Must Have Been the Juice!

Well, I was killing time earlier tonight and decided I would see what was happening with ONLINE poker so I logged into PokerStars as I still had a little money left from where SuperPlaya loaded me up a while back. I didn't have much so I searched out a low-blind no limit table of Omaha 8. It was fun for a while, but I soon grew bored with it. As the Juice so eloquently described in his recent blog, how you gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen gay... and I really mean... gay Paris! In no time, I had flopped the nuts and pushed all my chips in the middle only to be called by a player who had two cards to the low when the flop came 7x, 8x, Jx. I had 9d, 10d, Ks, As. The turn was a Queen and the river was a Jack.... I lost to an opponent who flopped top pair and runner-runner boat! Whee!

Let the suck outs begin!

High Stakes Poker

We finally found it!

Something that Bill T can do FAST! L-E-A-V-E when he is up after catching big cards for about 3 hours straight! Yep, ye olde syrup-ie himself, the very guy that it would take an hour and a half to watch 60 minutes.... tore out of there last night like it was on fire! So now we know that he can move fast, we just need to apply that knowledge to the game when it's his turn.

But having said that, he played great last night! He made some lay downs at the right time and utilized the big stack to push others around. It was fun to watch!

Nice going Bill.... oh... CLOCK!

Let the suck outs begin!

Action at the "JUICES"

I have not been to a lot of games in the last year other than Vegas and My Game, but I will tell you like it is! I really can't imagine a "Juicier" game. Let's start will Bill T, he brings a blank check to the game- that's all that needs to be said. Eli, will call anyone, anytime, with any hand, what more could you ask for? Elvie, has had a little break from the game, but when at the table - read- Eli's description and multiply it by five!! Lets Talk about Big Dave for a second, He comes with a positive attitude, buys in for no less than ten times, gets sucked out for all his chips by Charles, who we all know is trying to play like Dean, TIGHT & only plays to make this months mortgage and hooker payments! Then you have Tom, I believe he has lost his mind since he has joined the game! I only say this because he will make the call on Rick, who we all know just bought a medium sized Island off the coast of Mexico with the Tuesday nights winnings! When we mention the player know as "Rick" we must face our darkest fears, a poker player at Juice's game who knows how to actually read his hand & place a bet that didn't come from the book of AssinizationRetardation. This is a book that the above mentioned players live by. We also have the Author of the book playing at the game as well, "The Juice"!!! I have lived by that book in my poker room and I will die by the Almighty words of wisdom that I have engraved in every F'N page, ALL-In!! The other players are deanverytight charlesreallytight chadsupertight ronironmiketysontight! Lets find some more guys like "us"...

The Juice

Saturday Juice & O8 NL

Smallish crowd with the Juice last night/this morning.... Rick, the Juice, Bill T (who says he read last weeks blog and is out for payback), Elli and Dean.

I played fairly tight most of the night and did get Nut/Nut one time.... came close a second time and left up for the night. It seemed to me to be the night that Elli wanted to buy Rick a car. He moved against Rick twice in the first two hours and Rick scooped both pots. And they were nice pots... one was around $1800-$2000 and the other well over $1,000.

The food last night was the best that it has been in a while... the Juice is a helluva cook. We had 2-inch-plus steaks with all sorts of sides! It was excellent!

The big hand for me for the night came against Rick and the Juice.... I had As, 4s, 2c, 6h and after calling a pre-flop straddle. Flopped the nut flush draw and the the nut low.... made the nut low on the turn and made the nut flush on the river.... From early position I had to bet and since the turn was bet by Rick at about $75 or so, I thought that $150 each would be the right bet on the river. Both called, no one raised and I scooped....

Let the suck outs begin!

Triangle Charity Poker Classic December 1st at Tyler's

The tournament will be held Saturday December 1st at Tyler's at American Tobacco Campus (play-in games canceled). We ask that you arrive at Tyler's by 10:30 am.

This should be a great time. College hoops and football will be on the big screens at noon. First flop scheduled for 10:50am.

The Top 10 Fundraisers game will take place once all players eligible for that game are eliminated. As of November 14th, all players who have raised over $175 are in this game. But we have word that several more players will be turning in over $200 in pledges. Top 10 Fundraisers will be announced at the Main Event December 1st..

If you have not turned your pledges in, please bring them to the game on December 1st. Make checks payable to Triangle Community Foundation.

There are still a few spots open for the expanded Main Event. If you know any other players, please encourage them to register, raise some money for these causes, and come out to play cards!

Thanks again to everyone! I look forward to seeing some of you in the Top 10 game, and all of you in the Main Event!

Chris Rosati Red Thermometer(919) 491-5381
www.redthermometer.com

So what's the best game out there?

Hold'em is starting to fade a little and Omaha is making a nice run (both regular omaha and omaha 8 or better) but what about the other great games that are out there. Stud high bores me but stud h/l 8 is a great action game and so many players make some of the absolute worst calls that it is a virtual money pit for good players (hence we i have switched over to this game online and doing great at it over at pokerstars). Then there's 2-7 Triple Draw which I have said many times to me is the best game out there today when you play pot limit. Razz is one of my favorite games head's up but is extremely slow at a full table. Of course you can't forget Badugi or Magoogan(sp) as most people I play with refer to it as where unsuited A234 is the nuts.

There are some great games out there but its becoming hard to find good games with people that want to play them. I think that as more people get tired of Hold'em and get busted at playing Omaha they will switch back to some of the traditional poker games and dealer's choice will become popular again soon. I guess it all goes in cycles and now that ESPN showed the HORSE championship last this year, that will peak some interest of more players wanting to return to the basics. We'll just have to wait and see. But for now, let's just keep playing never fold'em hold'em!

Tuesday Juice...

Well, it certainly didn't start off like the previous week with the Juice when in the very first hand there were 5 of us all-in pre-flop! Nice.... that will be hard to beat!

There were a couple of very nice hands for me. One of them, definitely the first time anything like this ever happened. We're playing $5/10/$15/$20 All-IN Omaha 8 No Limit... ok, not every time, but definitely once in a while.... it's $5/$10 O8 No Limit. I've got Qx, Qx, 10x. 10x. The flop.... 10x, 7x, 2x. I bet $85 at about a $120 pot. The Juice calls and so does Rick and Elli. The turn.... Qx! Wow! Nice! I flopped top set and turned top set! How often does that happen. I get so excited I push all-in and everyone folds. The river would have just forced a chopped pot between me and Rick. He always gives me crap about chasing crappy low draws and he laid down an un-counterfeit-able low draw.... thank you sir... it did not go un-noticed nor un-appreciated!

The other big hand came against Bill T and Big Dave... I've got the As, 2s, Jc, Jd. The flop is Jh, 10d, 6s. They check to me and I bet $50 into about a $50 pot (I know, I know, the Juice was away from the table... smallish pot). There are several callers including Bill T and Big Dave. The turn is the Kh. I bet $65 and Bill T raises it to $100 (I know, I know, you can't raise it to $100... you've got to make it $130, but it is his first night out in weeks!) He corrects the raise and Big Dave and I both call.... The river is a magical Qc... turning my top set from the flop into the nut straight. I push all-in and after approximately an hour or so, for some reason I think that Bill T has folded. He mumbles something about being ahead and I turn over my set of Jacks stating that I was ahead the entire time. He thinks that all I have is a set, corrects me, that he hasn't folded and calls my all-in bet with his 9x, Qx straight. I've got him covered with about $1600 in front of me. He only has about $1400 and I scoop all his chips from the side pot and Big Dave and I chop the main pot! Sweet! He will probably never truly recover.... LOL.

Let the suck outs begin!

Important Update for Triangle Charity Poker Classic

ALL PLAYERS NOW HAVE A SEAT AT THE MAIN EVENT! We are simply going to expand the December 1st tournament to include more players. So ALL PLAYERS (including Durham) now have a seat on December 1st!

Bad news - We are doing this because we are short on players for the Raleigh locations. Less players means less money for the charities, so....

WE ARE EXTENDING THE REGISTRATION AND FUNDRAISING PERIOD! All pledges must be received by November 21st.

Good news! The pledges that have come in so far have been GREAT! Remember that the Top 10 Fundraisers will be playing in a game prior to the larger tournament on December 1st.

There are still a few spots open for the expanded Main Event. If you know any other players, please encourage them to register, raise some money for these causes, and come out to play cards!

Thanks again to everyone! I look forward to seeing some of you in the Top 10 game, and all of you in the Main Event!

Poker with John & Big Dave

Well, I finally made the journey to Apex to play $2/$5 No Limit with John and Big Dave tonight. Finding it was no problem and once I arrived I found it to be just as I expected.... great environment and well run. Big Dave was dealing and the only problem that I had was every time he would give me a pair, he would either give someone else a bigger pair -or- let them flop a set. Nice! I am certain that that is something he picked up over at the Juice's. I wasn't able to play late as the family was coming back into town from a hockey trip for the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes playing a small tournament in Atlanta. I've got to go and pick them up in a matter of minutes.

There were only two hands of interest... once when I had an big pair and the board flopped a straight possibility. Akash called a pre-flop raise and then bet $150 at the river into about a $70 pot when there was a straight on the board. He turned over his bluff as he was playing the board too. The other hand was against a guy that bet into an 7x, 8s, Js. I would have probably just smooth called with my 9d, 10d hoping to get other callers, but the people between me and the better folded and the people behind me mucked out of turn so there was really no reason to risk a flush draw getting there. I re-raised his $20 bet an additional $60. He said that he was showing me respect and turned over his top pair and a straight draw. I wanted to be kind as well so I showed him that I had flopped the nut straight. Big Dave, I guess, trying to humor him ran the cards out and he would have made a flush on the river with the four spades on the board and the one in his hand.

So, again... nice place, good guys, good food, a fair rake so I'll definitely be back!

Let the suck outs begin!

Killing Sends Tremors Through City's Illegal Poker Scene

Copied from www.nytimes.com/
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/nyregion/11poker.html

Killing Sends Tremors Through City’s Illegal Poker Scene
by Thomas J. Lueck

For years, they have operated in the shadows of Manhattan. With names like Straddle, the Fairview, Playstation and the New York Players Club, they are remarkably well organized, but nonetheless illegal: poker clubs that attract thousands of players at all hours of the day and night.

The players run the gamut, from cabdrivers to retired accountants, with a remarkably large contingent of young, well-paid professionals — people who consider themselves law-abiding citizens and play only for the love of the calculated bluff or the well-played wager.
Their numbers have grown swiftly as poker has vaulted into the spotlight of American pop culture. Texas Hold ’Em tournaments compete for prime-time TV viewers, and the image of the dimly lighted, vaguely sinister poker game has claimed a favored spot in movies. (In a current thriller, “Michael Clayton,” George Clooney first appears on the screen as an emotionally taut player in a back-room poker club in Chinatown.)

In reality, Manhattan’s players are part of a secretive network of “members,” who can join games only after being vouched for by others. Once they are in, they make their way to small, unremarkable office buildings, passing security guards hired solely to protect the club, and enter a clean, well-lighted world of civilized, even businesslike gamesmanship, according to several players who were interviewed. Most agreed to speak only if their names were not disclosed because they did not want to attract the attention of the police.

“I have never seen anything like a criminal element,” said one, a 29-year-old producer for one of Manhattan’s best known broadcasting companies who has been a regular in the poker clubs for five years. “It more closely resembles a retirement home bridge party.”

But that was hardly the atmosphere at 11 p.m. on Nov. 2, when armed robbers in masks forced their way into a crowded club called the City Limit that had been operating for less than two weeks in a seventh-floor office, above a gym, a graphics business and a real estate office, in an unadorned building at 28th Street and Fifth Avenue. One player, Frank DeSena, a former math professor from New Jersey who was a familiar and well-liked presence on the poker club scene, was killed by an intruder’s shotgun.

There have been no arrests in the case, and the police have declined to confirm published reports that the robbers pointed a gun at the head of a security guard to gain entry, and accidentally fired the shot that killed Mr. DeSena.

The killing led to an obvious conclusion — that armed criminals knew the location of at least one supposedly secret club — and sent tremors through the closed circle of Manhattan players and club operators.

“A week ago, there were two or three rooms operating in Manhattan, but now there are zero,” said Steven McLoughlin, a poker aficionado who moderates a poker discussion at twoplustwo.com and closely follows the Manhattan club scene. “You don’t know what can happen.”

A former employee of Playstation, which was one of the largest of the Manhattan clubs until it was closed in a police raid in 2005, said the killing of Mr. DeSena was “the kind of thing we always feared the most. People are really shaken, and this may make them think differently” about going to the clubs.

Nevertheless, it has attracted broad interest in a semisecret world that seems filled with contrasts: responsible adults slipping into clandestine locations like spies in the night, poker stakes of hundreds or thousands of dollars routinely won and lost in an atmosphere of warm conviviality, over pizza, and even milk and cookies, according to the players.

Of course, the profile offered by those who were interviewed in recent days may not fit all underground poker games in the city. High-stakes games in which some players cannot afford to lose, and could be threatened with physical violence if they do not make good on their losses, have historically been part of the gambling underworld and are unlikely to have faded completely from the scene. But the players interviewed said that the Manhattan clubs they frequented for years adhered to an almost universal set of rules: no liquor or drugs are allowed, no bets are accepted on credit, and no one is allowed to play without passing muster among fellow players and being granted membership, sometimes with a fee.

“There are regulars who probably spend too much time in these places, and that is sad to see,” said the broadcast producer. In his five years of experience, he said, there were about five clubs operating in Manhattan at any given time, and he had played at a total of 10, in commercial buildings on the Upper West Side, Midtown, Chelsea, the Flatiron District, the East Village and the West Village.

“But the overwhelming majority are not compulsive gamblers,” he said. “They do this as a way of blowing off steam, and that is healthier than sitting in front of the TV.”

Under state law, the operators and employees of the clubs can be arrested, but not the players. The law makes it illegal to “advance or profit from illegal gambling,” even if the operators do not take a cut of the winnings. They can be guilty simply by providing rented space as a poker club.

Police crackdowns have been periodic in New York City and across the region. On Wednesday night, officers shut down poker parlors in seven towns in Suffolk County, and seized more than $10,000 in cash.

On May 27, 2005, police officers in Manhattan shut down two clubs: Playstation, at 4-6 West 14th Street, and the New York Players Club, at 200 West 72nd Street. Each of the clubs had more than 100 players in attendance when the police arrived, and 39 employees, including dealers, waiters and security guards, were arrested.

But the police acknowledged at the time that they found no weapons, alcohol or drugs in the two clubs. At the New York Players Club, customers were offered valet parking. At Playstation, club waiters were serving Oreo and Chips Ahoy! cookies. The police said both clubs were incorporated businesses that followed fire codes.

The former employee of Playstation had worked at the club for three years, was covered by employee health insurance, paid taxes and was entitled to unemployment compensation after the club closed.

The people interviewed for this article would not say who sponsors and operates the Manhattan clubs, but insisted that there was no hint of involvement by organized crime. They said operators tended to be devoted poker players themselves, who rented office space and opened their clubs largely out of a love of the game and their friendships with other players.

In most cases, players said, they pay the operators based on the time they spend at a table. Few, if any, of the operators claim a portion of the poker winnings. “You sit at the table and every half-hour, or maybe every hour, a bell goes off meaning that everybody has to pay their rent,” said the producer. A typical charge, he said, was $8 an hour.

Despite the enthusiasm of players and their vigorous defense of the clubs, they said it remained to be seen how much of a chill would result from the recent killing. They said the sense of outrage among many players was heightened because Mr. DeSena, 55, was a popular player on the poker circuit.

“Frank was a poster child for the type of person they try to attract,” Mr. McLoughlin said. “He was a sweetheart of a man who always wanted to say hello to everybody, always wanted to shake everybody’s hand.”

“He was a skilled player, and when he lost a hand, he would simply smile,” Mr. McLoughlin said.

The former employee of Playstation said the episode seemed certain to keep players away for some time to come: “Maybe two years from now people will forget about it and come back. But I’m not a gambler myself, and who knows, maybe they’ll be back sooner than that.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/nyregion/11poker.html
Copied from www.nytimes.com/

Laliberté Vs Doyle Brunson

JOIN THE PPASA:

Poker Players Against Superplayer Alliance

This announcement is neither about bad beats nor great hands, but rather, it is an effort to work towards improving the overall health of the game of poker. The PPASA is intended to be the prescription for the fungus that calls himself “superplayer.”

Often inciting confrontation and prone to unpleasantness, this unsightly individual has been reported to have recently run players away from local games by engaging in both verbal and physical altercations with players and dealers. This week, one of the most docile players in a local game struck him with a pair of random playing cards after being antagonized to the point of infuriation.

On an occasion in July, a player I will refer to as Kash was assaulted by superplayer at the Sushi joint. The argument started when Kash asked to see superplayer’s cards after having called a bet on the river in a game of hold’em. Apparently, superplayer was unaware of his obligation to expose his cards in this situation, despite professing to play “87 tables at a time” on the internet.

Just two weeks ago, not a hand had been dealt before he was at it again. This time, Slick E, the fastest dealer in town, didn’t even make it through the chip buying process. Superplayer had put three hundred’s on the table while requesting to buy in for two hundred forty six dollars and thirty five cents, as he is want to do. Basically what happens from here on out is Slick E informs him that he cannot accommodate his request and superplayer threatens to pull a knife.

Apparently there would be a part two the next week as we saw the end of Slick E brought about by our local yeast infection. Slick E was snapping the cards like a whip but apparently that wasn’t fast enough for superplayer, who claimed to have seen his card get exposed. Calling out his own card to be a four of spades, he then proceeded to flip it over, revealing a card of a completely different denomination and suit…jackass. Pathetically refusing to accept his embarrassing mistake, he went flailing around the table flipping other peoples cards over in an irritating attempt to catch his one outer. Slick E, always doing what’s right, decided to call superplayer a variety of expletives and storm out.

Superplayer’s behavior crosses the boundaries set by both etiquette and ethics and is frankly often worthy of criminal culpability. The Poker Players Against Superplayer Alliance vows to exert our collective influence on local poker organizers in an effort to rid the triangle poker community of his general douchebaggery.

Additionally, we will advocate for local poker players to refer to him with a more accurately descriptive moniker. It has occurred to most of us that he is not, in fact, “super” at all, but rather a far more pedestrian variety of player. Any one of the following nicknames would be more appropriate:

Mediocreplayer
Hemorrhoid of Poker
Gayerplayer

Help improve the state of the game and join the PPASA!

PETER GRIFFIN OUTFARTS MICHAEL MOORE

I actually caught the original episode on TV tonight! It is still hilarious!

To Speak or Not To Speak....

THAT is the ethical question.....

Yep, at least once a week it happens! And if I played more, I'm sure I'd see it more often. I'm in a hand, heads up or close to it. I've acted and the action moves to someone else at the table. And then, someone not in the hand, starts to rattle off their interpretation of the action. Either what they believe that I would make such a move with or what hands available would be a good call. Not always do they make the right interpretation, and in fact, most of the time, they're wrong, but I have made my play against the remaining people in the hand based on the way that I would expect for them to react.... either with a call or a fold. The last thing that I need is some jack-legged, penis-impaired commentator putting their spin on the hand that COULD change my competitors normal reaction and thus screw up my play. Sorry, that sort of got out of hand there.... I know we've all gotten a little loose with it, especially those of us who play in the Juice's pool because rules don't apply there that do apply at practically every other game on the planet. But we all put it up with it because in most cases it is the Juice and there are no trees in his world... at least that he didn't plant or permit to live.

In most instances, I think the comments are made without really thinking about the consequences for the other people in the hand. I don't think they are made to hurt or provoke the player making the play - I think it is done just to keep some conversation going at the table, but a lot of times, these pots are of consequence and all of us just want one player to a hand. Again, I'm fine with table conversation, I just don't think that anyone that is NOT in the hand should be making any comments good, bad, right, wrong or indifferent that might impact someone else's action.

The other night I called a guy on it when I had a made a big re-raise at the Juice and the chatty observer was taunting the Juice to make the call or something to that effect... I know he wasn't doing it to cost me money, but it could have worked out that way. He cited the prodding by the Juice in pre-flop Omaha 8 when the Juice is trying to get the entire table to straddle all the way around the table so that essentially everyone is all-in.... pre-flop.... blind! While there are some similarities as the Juice is pleading with each player in turn to put in a blind raise, it is different because it is blind and pre-flop so there really isn't much of a strategy other than do it and hope to hit the flop and then make some crazy over-bet to isolate to one or two players. Not a very good strategy as in most instances you'll miss and some maniac playing Jx, 9x, 7x, 5x rainbow will flop quad nines. The other difference is that the Juice is still IN that hand while chatty-Kathy's prodding came at a time when I had raised, everyone else had folded to the Juice and our commentator was already out of the hand! No big deal other than it's just not correct poker etiquette.

It happened the previous Friday in Cary when Elli raised after the flop when the flop was 9x, 5x, 5x. Everyone folded to me and I was holding Quad-Fives. Normally, in most hands, you might want a call, but unfortunately I really didn't have a low draw so I would have been more than happy to take the pot as it was at the time so I potted it. He called and by the time the turn card hit, he was putting all of his chips in the pot on what was a pretty poor low draw and yeppirs... he got there! Nice!

I know that Tom has felt it as well... he began a blog a while back called "Thrown Down the Well" and if I remember correctly, it was a slightly different circumstance, but close. I believe if you're in a cash game and a guy goes all in and there are two callers, if they say something like "do you want to check it down?" or anything even remotely close to that, well, I probably shouldn't say what I truly feel, but it's just wrong! Oh, you can think about it, but don't you do it!

The other thing that is pretty annoying are the guys who once the hand is over MUST announce what they think your cards are in an effort to show what a masterful reader of players and cards they are! Yep, at best, they'll connect with my actual cards about once or twice a night. I just smile and say "how'd you know?"

At any rate, I thought that I would throw it up on the board and see if anyone else had any comments on this child's game practice. I don't believe that it is actually in violation of any poker rules other than perhaps the "one player to a hand rule" but it is ALWAYS in violation of good poker etiquette.

So... to speak or not to speak? In a word, STFU!

And Let the Suck Outs Begin!

Randy Jones Levels Patrice Bergeron

I know its not poker, but its definitely gambling....

NYC: Poker Player Shot, $100,000 Missing

NYC: Poker Player Shot, $100,000 Missing
by George Smart


NYC: November 4, 2007 -- Detectives hunted yesterday for a trio of brazen robbers who killed a New Jersey man in a Flatiron poker room during a $100,000-plus heist that went down like a scene from a Hollywood flick and left seasoned gamblers cowering for their lives, cops said.

Frank Desena, 55, of Wayne, was playing at an underground club on the seventh floor of an office building at 251 Fifth Ave., at around 11:15 p.m. Friday when three black-clad, ski-masked robbers invaded and killed him by accident, said witnesses.

The robbers - who displayed a flair for drama by calling each other "One," "Two" and "Three" - "walked in and screamed, 'Everyone get down on the f- - -ing floor!' " a player recounted.

The hoods ordered the players to put their cash on the tables and lie on the floor. They also beat the room's cashier to make sure he handed over all the house's money, said witnesses.

Suddenly, one of the robbers dropped his sawed-off shotgun. As he picked it up from the floor, the gun fired, mortally wounding Desena in the torso, two witnesses said.

"Everybody in the room is a bunch of hard-asses," said a player. "So everyone was pretty calm until the guy got shot."

After the shooting, the robbers gathered up their cash and fled. A police source estimated the haul at over $100,000.

Desena died just before midnight at St. Vincent's Hospital. A Queens native, he had master's degrees in business, computer science and philosophy, and worked nine years as an economic forecaster for AT&T. He's survived by a wife and daughter.

The poker room, which one patron said had about 12 tables, opened within the past 10 days. Its operators had at least one other club called Straddle, that was shut down by police several months ago after a robbery, said customers.

Poker was all that went on at the club - its owners didn't even allow alcohol, said a female gambler who was disappointed to find the place shuttered yesterday. "It's a totally friendly atmosphere," she said. "Everybody knows each other. It's like your freaking book clubs."

High Stakes Poker - Season 4 Ep10 (5/5)

High Stakes Poker - Season 4 Ep10 (4/5)

High Stakes Poker - Season 4 Ep10 (3/5)

High Stakes Poker - Season 4 Ep10 (2/5)

High Stakes Poker - Season 4 Ep10 (1/5)

No Game Tonight in Cary!

He told us... if there weren't enough players by 8PM, we wouldn't wait beyond 8, we'd just try it again next week. There were only a handful of players there before 8 tonight so we packed it in and will hopefully have enough to play next week.

I like it this way. Call and let him know you're running late, be there or no game! I like it!

Let the suck outs.... wait for a day or two!