Dave Hits a Royal Flush

Yep... we're starting to see this pretty often. I think that Bill T holds the record. He gets a Royal Flush about twice a month! But last night it was Davie-boys turn....

He and Big Dave get all their chips in on the flop when the flops comes As, Js, Qd.... when the hands get turned up, nobody can really believe that neither of them had a straight... And sure enough... bang ---- Ks hits the turn and gives Dave the stone-cold nuts!

So... let the suck outs begin!

I Raised His Bet Too Much on the Flop! or did I?

It happens. You make a play to isolate but if you just let ONE MORE card come... you get more callers and make more money... This is definitely an area of my game that I need to shore up. Even as I was making the announcement I knew it was too much...

Here's my hand... and BigI has been on a betting tear.... pretty much his entire life. LOL. Tonight is no different. So if you call the $5/$10 blinds and he acts after you, it is pretty much going to cost you either $75 or $125 more to stay in and see the flop. I'm not crazy about this hand, but I'm willing to pay to see the flop with it. Sure enough BigI raises it to $125 and I believe there were four callers including me which puts the pre-flop pot around $680 or so (minus the $100 rake = $580... just kidding, but Dave likes giving me crap so I have to give some back). There was only guy behind me between me and BigI - Akash... and I thought for a moment that he might try a big raise and isolate BigI, but he just called as well....






I liked the flop, especially against this table...






I know that BigI will bet this flop, its just a matter of how much....

From early position, BigI bets $300. The Juice calls everyone folds to me and I push all-in for about $700 more... Akash folds, BigI calls and the Juice turns his cards up and shows 7h, 8s, X, X... I don't remember the other two, but he showed how completely thoroughly he had me read by saying that Charles probably has the nut straight with a crappy low draw and if the boat hits, he would break all or our hearts and he folds. Nice read...

By the way, Akash told me later that he had flopped the 2nd nut straight so he was definitely calling the $300, but not my crazy over-bet....

The turn






The over-bet cost me Akash's $300 and if the Juice sees the turn, I quarter him. I've done the math and while I would have only made about $15 more from the pot, it would have probably been worth it just to quarter the Juice. LOL. Now if I had $1000 or more over the $300 bet from BigI, then the all-in move there really cost me money because the quartering of the Juice gets larger. And I would just have hated myself to make that happen....

However, anytime you scoop roughly a $3000 pot... that's never a bad thing. Yep... I don't think that BigI showed his cards. I think with the river he ended up making some goofy gut-shot straight but it gave me the nut-low.

The river






Any thought?

Let the suck outs begin!

The Nuts! "One Time!"

The Nuts

Juice-Less Tuesday... Omaha Hi-Lo No Limit

We had been playing for an hour or so and I was hovering around twice my buy-in of $500 when I get "popped" by Bill T and he scoops the entire pot. Very nice... So I'm feeling froggy and make a crazy move from early position and end up doubling up to about $800 or so.

From middle position, I call the crazy-Israeli's $30 straddle and announce if anyone re-raises I'm going all-in... sure enough, Junior pushes the straddle up to a straight $85. There are 3 callers including the Eli so when it gets to me, I did what I said I was going to do and moved all-in. I'm not in love with my cards, but I really don't think anyone else is either except for Junior and I've got his chip count eye-balled at about $350 or so and I'm willing to pull the lever on the one-armed-bandit for $350 so I push all-in for a little over $800. Everyone folds to Eli and he deliberates for a few minutes and since he is the last one to act before it gets back to me, he decides to show us his cards... Ah, 4h, As, 10... the 10 might be a little iffy... I couldn't believe he was taking that long! It was probably because he was sitting beside Bill T who just oozes game delay. At any rate, he was talking about the fact that he thought we both Junior and I had an Ace and therefore he had to get really lucky to win. However, Bill T talked him into calling. I couldn't believe it. But I shouldn't be surprised. This is not a poker room where the rules of poker are followed closely... in fact, I am not certain any of the others here even know most of the rules. LOL. If they do, they take pride in ignoring them.

When Junior turned over his cards, he had Ax, 2x, 4x, 6x...

Well, to say that I wasn't happy with Bill T would be an understatement.... You see I only had Ks, Qs, 10h, 9h and now had put about $900 or so at risk. But then it happened as only Corey & Mikey can do it.... Qd, 9s, 7h. I flopped top two with only 1 card to the low....

I saw Mikey reach for the KY Jelly and he began to lube us all up.... and then WHAM! the third Queen giving me Queens full of nines.... Junior is drawing dead and Eli is drawing to one out....

By the way, one out... I fully expected Mikey to pump it out.... but no go! And I scoop a very nice pot....

This particular game is not for everyone and I believe that on any night at any given time anyone at the table except for maybe one or two guys might put it all in the middle with absolutely nothing pre-flop with the old... 'let's see what happens' attitude.

Some of my friends (yes, Rick... I have friends)... I'm pretty certain that I have a couple of friends... ok, perhaps ONE friend, ok... you got me, I don't have any friends... but when someone I know has asked me about this game, I always tell them the good and the bad news is the same news... these guys will call you with you anything, regardless of the bet!

So, I am ready for the Saturday Juice... and let the suck-outs begin!

Probably My Monster for this Decade....

Tuesday Juice without the Juice.... just not the same. Although there were a few bright spots for me, the absolute monster hit between me & Big-I (sp.). Relatively new to our game but a guy who enjoys pushing the action. Once he gets in the flow of this whacked-out game of $5/$10 No Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, he generally raises every hand from practically any position to $75-$125. It can be expensive to see a lot of flops... something that everyone at this table wants to do.


In this particular hand, I've A, Q, 10, 10....














and of course, it's raised to $75 or so pre-flop and practically everyone calls.


When the flop hits, I like it.... not "love it", but like it....














And of course, Big-I fires a $150 bullet over the pot... if I remember correctly, Bill T and I call.... the turn sucks... and doesn't suck all at the same time. It pairs the board, but gives me the open-ended straight flush draw.











It checks around to me and I'm on the button so I decide to fire out at it to see where I stand. $150. 2-callers... here's where (normally Rick & Dave would re-raise me with Ah, 4c, and I would fold. Then if someone actually had a boat, they would get all of Rick's and Dave's chips. LOL.


At any rate, fortunately.... no re-raise, but I knew that someone had to have the boat or at least a Jack, maybe an over-pair hoping to spike lightning in a bottle on the river. And there's no chance of a low coming so somebody had to have something pretty good.


Speaking of lightning in a bottle! The river

The absolute perfect card! Although the Ks would have given me a better straight flush, by it being the 8 that comes... that means that if someone did check the J/9 boat on the turn, they still have the nut boat. If the old King of spades hit, they could now have third boat... although it might have hit Bill T and made Kings full....


It checks to me and I want to bet, but I really want to show my hand but I am thinking that someone has the boat so I lead out with a crappy $200 bet into this $1500ish pot. Stinky little bet as Rick would call it. Big-I raises it an additional $500. Everyone folds to me... I'm thinking "he has the big boat," he will call anything that I bet... Including his call, I have $2505 in front of me and he has me covered. I whine a little bit in honor or Rick and Dave and push all in. He stands up and says something like... "there can't be that many Jacks in the deck!" and calls.


He turns over his cards and the only ones that I remember seeing were the J/9...













Of course, Bill T and Junior say that had me pegged the whole way.... but regardless, I scoop my biggest pot of the night!


I'll blog another whacked-out hand later....


Oh... let the suck-outs begin!

Famous Movie Quotes...

"When you wanna shoot, shoot, dont talk."

------------the Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Hitler Banned from Poker

Thanks to Super Playa...

Scotty Nguyen Belligerent Drunk Montage

WPT Poker by the Book

WPT Poker Corner: Bad Beats

Local Poker Game Robbed...

I understand through the grapevine that there may have been an armed robbery of a local poker game. Details are somewhat sketchy and this post is not to solicit more information but to ask for those of you who are participating in local games to be very careful.

Good luck.

WPT Poker Corner: The Nuts

WPT Poker Corner: Tells

WPT Poker Corner: Bluffing

WPT Poker Corner: Big Slick

The Future for Online Poker Players?

Top 8 "Stupid" Ways to Check Out

Eighth Place In Detroit , a 41-year-old man got stuck and drowned in two feet of water after squeezing head first through an 18-inch-wide sewer grate to retrieve his car keys.

Seventh Place A 49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker, who 'totally zoned when he ran,' accidentally, jogged off a 100-foot high cliff on his daily run.

Sixth Place While at the beach, Daniel Jones, 21, dug an 8 foot hole for protection from the wind and had been sitting in a beach chair at the bottom when it collapsed, burying him beneath 5 feet of sand. People on the beach used their hands and shovels trying to get him out but could not reach him. It took rescue workers using heavy equipment almost an hour to free him. Jones was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Fifth Place Santiago Alvarado, 24, was killed as he fell through the ceiling of a bicycle shop he was burglarizing. Death was caused when the long flashlight he had placed in his mouth to keep his hands free rammed into the base of his skull as he hit the floor.

Fourth Place Sylvester Briddell, Jr., 26, was killed as he won a bet with friends who said he would not put a revolver loaded with four bullets into his mouth and pull the trigger.

Third Place After stepping around a marked police patrol car parked at the front door, a man walked into H&J Leather & Firearms intent on robbing the store. The shop was full of customers and a uniformed officer was standing at the counter. Upon seeing the officer, the would-be robber announced a hold-up, and fired a few wild shots from a target pistol. The officer and a clerk promptly returned fire, and several customers also drew their guns and fired. Paramedics pronounced the robber dead at the scene. Crime sc ene investigators located 47 expended cartridge cases in the shop. The subsequent autopsy revealed 23 gunshot wounds. Ballistics identified rounds from 7 different weapons. No one else was hurt.

HONORABLE MENTION Paul Stiller, 47, and his wife Bonnie were bored just driving around at 2 A.M. so they lit a quarter stick of dynamite to toss out the window to see what would happen. Apparently they failed to notice the window was closed.

RUNNER UP Kerry Bingham had been drinking with several friends when one of them said they knew a person who had bungee-jumped from a local bridge in the middle of traffic. The conversation grew more heated and at least 10 men trooped along the walkway of the bridge at 4:30 AM. Upon arrival at the midpoint of the bridge they discovered that no one had brought a bungee rope. Bingham, who had continued drinking, volunteered and pointed out that a coil of lineman's cable, lay near by. They secured one end around Bingham's leg and then tied the other to the bridge. His fall lasted 40 feet before the cable tightened and tore his foot off at the ankle. He miraculously survived his fall into the icy water and was rescued by two nearby fishermen. Bingham's foot was never located.

AND THE WINNER IS... Zookeeper Friedrich Riesfeldt ( Paderborn, Germany ) fed his constipated elephant 22 doses of animal laxative and more than a bushel of berries, figs and prunes before the plugged-up pachyderm finally got relief. Investigators say ill-fated Friedrich, 46, was attempting to give the ailing elephant an olive oil enema when the relieved beast unloaded. The sheer force of the elephant's unexpected defecation knocked Mr. Riesfeldt to the ground where he struck his head on a rock as the elephant continued to evacuate 200 pounds of dung on top of him.

It seems to be just one of those freak accidents that proves... 'Shit happens'.

THEY WALK AMOUNG US.... IT ALWAYS SEEMS IMPORTANT TO THANK THESE PEOPLE FOR REMOVING THEMSELVES FROM THE GENE POOL.

Saturday Night Juice...

Well, it was a juicy night at the Juice's Saturday.... We had two guys cash out early for a lot... did I say a lot? It was a lot -AND- there was still plenty of chips on the table. Akash made a couple of big hands right as he was cashing out... In one, the flop was 4x, 3x, 3x and I thought that I was slow-playing my 3's full of 4's boat and checked in early position and nobody raised. The turn was a King and I lead out with a $100 bet and the Juice raised it to $400. Akash raised it to $1,000 and I couldn't believe it but I folded. They got all their chips in on the river - Akash had Kings full and the Juice showed 4's full.... Wow! And that sure brought home for me that old saying about it is better to win a small pot than to lose a big one... Because if the Juice bets the flop, I insta-call and Akash -probably- goes away and the Juice ends up with a scooper. I wouldn't have definitely called and my low draw was counterfeited on the river.

I do believe that the big hand of the night came very late. There were three of us feeling froggy....

I held:











The flop was:





From early position, Bart lead out with $150 into about $200 pot. Eli quickly called and I called with top 2 and a gut shot.

The turn was pretty sweet....





Bart lead out with a $400 bet and Eli raised it to $1000. I thought for a moment about slow-playing it, but decided to hopefully push out any King with a higher boat draw... I had Bart covered and Eli had about $20-$30 more my $5200 re-raise.

Bart made a great lay-down and quickly folded his 10's full of Kings boat and Eli struggled for several minutes trying to determine if his Kings full of 6's was any good, before he made the call. The river was a brick and I scooped one of the largest pots of the night and one of the biggest for me in quite some time.

The river:





So.. let the suck outs begin!

Oh No, There Goes Tokyo…

…Go, go, Quadzilla! Yep, this lizard can swallow big boats with a single gulp, and he proved it again Tuesday night.

About, oh, 27 years ago (or so it seems) Charles had an operation on his, um, nether regions, and we’ve been hearing about the pain he’s in ever since. I’ve been telling him that it’s nothing compared to the pain he’ll be feeling at the poker table, but you how stubborn old people can be…

After a pretty juicy night of 5/10 NLO8 (Omaha High/Low – 8 or Better), the crowd thinned down to just three of us – Charles, Bill and me. When we get down to four or less we normally move to 5/10 Omaha (High Only). So that’s what we’re playing when I look down at 3-5-5-6 (suits are unimportant), and we see a flop of Q-5-4.

I like the flop, of course, as I have middle set and an open-end straight draw. Charles and I both have fairly deep stacks, and I have him covered. I not sure I remember the exact bet amounts, but I believe Charles raises the pot (already sweetened by a straddle) to $150. I raise to $400, and Charles moves in for an additional $1,300-1,400 or so.

You can bet your first-born child that the only thing Charles is doing this with is top set. If all I have is the one-outer fives, it's a pretty easy laydown. The open-end gives me an additional eight outs, however, so assuming he has queens, I’m pretty much right at a 2:1 dog. Normally these decisions, for me, are mostly driven by the math, and the $900 or so in the pot means I’m not getting the right price. Buuuuuut, I've been running really well lately - it’s been a good night and a great few months. I'm in the mood to gamble a bit, and I decide to give him some action and call. He immediately grimaces and says that he didn’t want a call.

He turns over something like Q-Q-10-9, and we strap ourselves in for a quick, exciting ride around the turn and down the river. The river ends up being a bit anticlimactic, as Mikey (our dealer) brings forth the intense pain on the turn in the form of the case 5! The river brings a harmless 10 (what, no case queen?!) and I rake in all of his chippies.

I must admit to being a bit disappointed, as initially Charles was too much in shock for the usual whining about how unlucky he is, how I must have been born with a horseshoe up my butt, etc. Hearing a losing player carp, bitch and groan is usually more rewarding to me than the money, and here I was about to lose out on the best part of sucking out on someone. He finally threw me a small bone, however, when he started sniveling about the one-outer. As I pointed out that it was a nine-outer, he threw out the instant classic “You keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better” and kept whining about the one-outer.

It wasn’t quite as classic as his line from a couple weeks ago, when the board showed a flush on the river, and he tried (unsuccessfully, surprisingly) to bluff at it with the “Nekkid queen.” The whole table was rolling on the floor, and he was looking around with that look like “What?” Charles scared us all when he told us a couple weeks ago that he was going to take a break from the game for a while. Charles, I’m glad you changed your mind, ‘cause I’d hate to have to go out and get another job!

See ya at the tables…
Rick

OK, OK... the other Boat! Well, it was a boat in the beginning...

The Turlinator is a guy that loves to, in my opinion, overplay pocket Aces in Omaha 8. I like to get them, but I can throw them away if the flop completely misses them or I get a read on someone that they flopped a monster against them. I tell you that to tell you when I took my hand:






and this flop hit....

and the Turlinator led out with a bet of $100. I could have just as easily put him on pocket Aces as for him to have a Queen. So when I slow-played my Kings-full boat to the turn...

I was having a little trouble actually deciding on whether the Turlinator had Queens full of Aces or Aces full of Queens ESPECIALLY when he led out almost immediately with a $250 bet. Since everyone folded, I wanted to let him try to run me out... although I had pretty much already decided that if he had Aces full, he was probably going to get paid. And remember, this is Omaha 8 so even if he had the Aces full boat, there were still some suck outs to be had.... the fourth King and of course, the royal flush....

But when the river came... I was almost expecting an the case-Ace, but it was the case King.

Turlinator checks to which I determined that there would be a charge to see the quads, so I bet $500 and after a short-period of time (we watched the third Pirates of the Caribbean and the first half of Gladiator while we were waiting for him to decide), he called. I turned over the bad news and he mucked his Queens-full boat. He whimpered a little, but Rick told him that he was behind the whole way which seemed to make him feel better.

Yep.. let the suck outs begin!

Flopped the Big Boat Twice...

Yeppirs... Saturday night with the Juice was pretty good to me for a change. I flopped the big boat twice and didn't lose to quads... you've got it to love when that happens. I'll tell you about the one which had the biggest pot....



It was pretty late and we were down to about 7 players at the usual $5/$10 No Limit Omaha 8 game with the Juice. Here's the way the cards landed....

I was in late position and I believe that Eli was first to act and Ronnie was sitting between between Eli and me. There was the normal $25 straddle and I believe that everyone was in this hand.

My hand:





The flop:






More normal poker players would get excited about flopping the top boat but recently it has meant to me that I was about to lose all my chips to quads. Yes, even the Juice has pointed out that I have a somewhat negative attitude of late.... I believe that if I ventured into a dark room, I would probably develop (you know, I'm so "negative")....

At any rate, there are a couple of checks and Eli bets about $90 or so, Ronnie smooth calls... Had Ronnie folded, I don't know what I would have done. I put Eli on at least 1 eight, but if Ronnie called that means he had an eight and maybe 2 eights and Eli might be betting with nothing. How's that for reading your opponent! So I give it a moment and I call.

The turn:





Again, most people wouldn't really be bothered by the queen, but my luck has been so bad recently that Eli might have been betting with an over-pair and hit his 2-outer. Again, he bets... this $300 and Ronnie calls. In retrospect, I should have slow-played one more card as it is very likely that Ronnie would have called Eli's bet on the river too, but I couldn't wait... I pushed all in for a little over $1100. Eli struggles with it for a moment and makes the call. Ronnie folds.

The River:






As it turned out, Eli and Ronnie were trying to make and eights-full-of-anything-boat and Eli did make 8's full of 3's on the river, but to no avail as my 10's full of 8's held up and I scooped a very nice pot.

Let the suck outs begin!

World Tavern Poker Online Poker Championship

World Tavern Poker Online Poker Championship DON'T MISS IT!

This Monday, July 28th is the 1st Event for the 2008 World Tavern Poker Online Championships!

This is an 8 week session with 16 online tournaments and your chance to win some great cash and prizes!

DON'T WAIT TO SIGN UP...The earlier tournaments will have less players which means you have a much better chance of finishing in the Top 20 to get your points!

See you all at the tables!

HERE ARE THE DETAILS
WTP is excited to announce the first ever World Tavern Poker Online Championships where you have a chance on winning Cash, Trips to Vegas, Badges to the WTP Open and Seats into the Spring National Championship held in Las Vegas this October.

After careful consideration of all the U.S. Poker rooms, WTP has decided to partner with BetUS.com! This is a great poker room with great customer service, AND GREAT DEPOSIT BONUSES! (if you deposit $100 into your new account, they will give you another $100 FREE!)

Famous Movie Quotes...

[after being punched in the stomach by Dean Keaton]

"I'll probably shit blood tonight."

-----------Verbal Kint (from The Usual Suspects)

That's Odd(s)....

First of all, if it's Omaha 8, the laws of mathematics go out the window depending on WHO you are sitting with at the table. There's just a couple of guys in the area that must perform oral sex on the leprechauns before and after every session because it is without question, they are the luckiest people on the planet.

So, my first rule for determining how many outs you have, if you are playing at the table with these guys, calculate the best and smartest out and GET OUT! If there is a card that will give them the NUT and you the second nut, it'll come. If you have the "dead" low with the two cards to come, you will be counterfeited into oblivion. If you do flop the nuts with a straight, their flush will come. If you flop the nut flush, they'll hit their shitty two pair to make a boat while trying to get the low or even better, they'll hit their one outer to make a straight flush. If you flop middle or bottom set, the boat will get there, but it'll be your demise. You'll flop a set of queens and they flop two pair Kings & Sevens and their King will pair.

So, go to the atm, don't play with the these pricks.... just take your money home and burn it in the fireplace.... not only will it warm the cockles of your heart, but just think about those jerks huddled in a small group, sweating their asses off, sucking out on each other.

Please... let the suck outs stop! LOL.

Let the suck outs begin!

Big News from World Tavern Poker

World Tavern Online Poker Online Championships

World Tavern Poker is excited to announce the first ever World Tavern Poker Online Championships where you have a chance on winning Cash, Trips to Vegas, Badges to the WTP Open and Seats into the Spring National Championship held in Las Vegas this October.

After careful consideration of all the U.S. Poker rooms, WTO has decided to partner with BetUS.com! This is a great poker room with great customer service, AND GREAT DEPOSIT BONUSES! (if you deposit $100 into your new account, they will give you another $100 FREE!)
______________________________
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So if you love online poker, or have ever been tempted to give it a try, this is a great way to do it! This is going to be the easiest way to get to Vegas and play for 1 of 8 seats into a World Series of Poker Event!

Top 10 Players Ranked by PokerPages by Overall Earnings

Top 10 players ranked by overall earnings.
1.Jamie Gold $12.2 mil
2.Joe Hachem $10.6 mil
3.Daniel Negreanu $10 mil
4.Allen Cunningham $9.7 mil
5.Phil Ivey $9.2 mil
6.T.J. Cloutier $9.1 mil
7.Scotty Nguyen $9.1 mil
8.Erik Seidel $8.6 mil
9.Phil Hellmuth $8.5 mil
10.Juan Carlos Mortensen $8.4 mil


http://www.pokerpages.com/

WSOP World Championship No-Limit Texas Hold'em (Event 54) 07/03/08

2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker
World Championship No-Limit Texas Hold'em (Event 54)
Thursday, July 03, 2008 to Monday, July 14, 2008 Buy-in: $10,000
Prizepool: $64,333,600
Entries: 6,844

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:39:00
Official November Nine Chip Counts and Seat Assignments
On November 9th, 2008, the following nine players will return to the felt with 21 minutes and 50 seconds left in level 33:

Dennis Phillips - 26,295,000
Craig Marquis - 10,210,000
Ylon Schwartz - 12,525,000
Scott Montgomery - 19,690,000
Darus Suharto - 12,520,000
David 'Chino' Rheem - 10,230,000
Ivan Demidov - 24,400,000
Kelly Kim - 2,620,000
Peter Eastgate - 18,375,000

More & Current information may be found at http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/tourney/updates.asp

Not-so-Famous Poker Quotes...

"Life is too long and my arse hurts..."

-----------------Charles R

Not-So-Famous Poker Quotes...

"Life is too short to wait for good cards."

------------The Juice

World Series Main Event

Day 2 was VERY short. After losing three quarters of my stack on Day 1 when my pocket kings ran into aces I managed to get a few of those chips back and finished the day with 9525. With blinds of 250/500 and a 50 chip ante at the beginning of Day 2 I needed to double up a couple times quickly in order to have a chance of surviving Day 2. My prayers seemed to have been answered when I picked up pocket aces on the very first hand of the day. Unfortunately my opponent in the hand had pocket kings and hit his two outer on the flop to finish me off. Sometimes that's just the way things go. I managed to lose with pocket queens once, kings twice, and aces once. Tough to beat over six thousand players at that rate. If the third times a charm then maybe next year will be my time.

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Poker is generally reckoned to be America's second most popular after-dark activity. Sex is good, they say, but poker lasts longer."

-------------Alfred Alvarez (2001)

WSOP Circuit Schedule for 2008/2009 **Thanks George**

From: George Smart
To: charles@trianglepokerjournal.com
Subject: WSOP Circuit Schedule for TPJ

.......... DATE..................................... LOCATION
· Oct. 2 - Oct. 14, 2008................ CAESARS INDIANA
· Oct. 24- Nov. 2, 2008................ HORSESHOE HAMMOND (Chicago area)
· Nov. 6- Nov. 16, 2008................ HARVEYS LAKE TAHOE (Nevada)
· Dec. 5- Dec. 18, 2008................ HARRAH'S ATLANTIC CITY
· Jan. 20- Feb. 9, 2009................. HARRAH'S TUNICA (Mississippi)
· Feb. 12- Feb. 25, 2009............... HORSESHOE COUNCIL BLUFFS (Iowa)
· March 4- March 14, 2009........... CAESARS ATLANTIC CITY
· March 19- March 29, 2009......... HARRAH'S RINCON (San Diego)
· April 12- April 29, 2009.............. CAESARS PALACE (Las Vegas)
· May 8- May 20, 2009................. HARRAH'S NEW ORLEANS

LuckyPyramidCasino Closing Down

I received this email from LuckyPyramidCasino Thursday a.m.

*********************************************************From: Lucky Pyramid Casino [mailto:LuckyPyramid@xmr3.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 3:06 AM
Subject: Charles We're Closing Down

Dear Charles

It is with great regret and a heavy heart that we announce that
our Casino will be closing on July 31, 2008.

If you currently have a balance with the casino, please either
play out your balance or withdraw your balance before our closing date.

Please note, if you have received a bonus, the wagering requirements
are still in place for all bonuses as well as redeemed/comp points.

As a matter of goodwill, all players that are not able to playthrough
their credits or cash out their withdrawable balance by July 31 will
still be able to contact our customer service center 14 days after the
closing date to request credits to be cashed out, should they have met
wager requirements.

All funds remaining in casino accounts after July 31 will be retained by the casino.

We hope that you have enjoyed your time with us as much as we have enjoyed having you at.

Sincerely
Oliver Curran
Toll Free US: 1800 824 3175

************************************************

Updating the TPJ's Top Ten (and more)

Tracking this information is, as you can imagine, no easy task. George Smart has done an excellent job of it in the past and I have failed miserably at it.....

At any rate, George has been very kind and compiled a list of those that he could identify for me and emailed them to me....

Here's his list and I am looking for additional updates for anyone from NC that has "verifiable" tournament winnings. Please provide any information that you can and it will be greatly appreciated.


Greg Raymer
22-Jun-08 $ 2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball39th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2008, Las Vegas 11th $ 9,579

Mike Gracz

06-Jun-08
$ 5,000 No Limit Hold'em - Shootout39th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2008, Las Vegas
23rd
$ 16,920

Jody Garaventa
10-Jun-08 $ 2,000 Limit Hold'em39th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2008, Las Vegas 23rd $ 6,115

Chris Bell
20-Jun-08 $ 2,000 Pot Limit Hold'em39th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2008, Las Vegas
2nd $ 155,805
07-Jun-08 $ 2,500 No Limit Hold'em39th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2008, Las Vegas
70th $ 8,033
30-May-08 $ 10,000 World Championship Pot Limit Hold'em39th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2008, Las Vegas
6th $ 157,168
07-Jun-07 $ 1,500 No Limit Hold'em - Six Handed38th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2007, Las Vegas
99th $ 2,435
03-Jun-07 $ 2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better38th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2007, Las Vegas

Denis Ethier
03-Jun-08 $ 1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo39th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2008, Las Vegas 24th $ 6,367

Mark Newhouse
30-May-08 $ 10,000 World Championship Pot Limit Hold'em39th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2008, Las Vegas 30th $ 23,162

John Shirk $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low S;oit-8 or better 39th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2008, Las Vegas 18th $8,300
03-Jun-08

Let the suck outs begin!

PPA Offers Free Weekly Daniel Negreanu Newsletter

Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 6:29 AM
Subject: CHARLES, Check Out the Free Daniel Negreanu Newsletter for PPA Members

You are receiving Playing Poker with Daniel Negreanu as a free opt-in newsletter made available to all Poker Player Alliance members.

Three Keys to Final Table Strategy
Poker books go into great detail discussing the various strategies necessary to get to the final table of a tournament. However, not as much has been written about final table playing strategy.

Take What the Table Gives

This is a simple concept but one that can’t be overlooked. In fact, this philosophy applies not only to poker, but also to sports like football and basketball.

Sometimes, late in NFL games, the team protecting a lead will often go into a prevent defense, trying to defend against the long pass. Trying to throw a bomb against that type of coverage isn’t a very good idea. Instead, the opponent takes what the defense gives, and throws shorter passes while continuing to move the chains.

In the NBA, Kobe Bryant has the ability to blow right by players who guard him too closely. But, if someone lays off of him, he’ll just pull up and shoot a jump shot.

Pretend for a second you’re the Laker’s star, and the defense is playing tight and guarding the rim. Well, they’re giving you an open look at a 15-foot jumper! Would you try to drive the lane or take the easy shot?

I hope you said the easy shot.

At the final table of a poker tournament, you, too, must base your choices on how your opponents are playing -- in other words, what they’re giving you. If the table is playing passively, and everyone is waiting for others to get knocked out, that's your cue to drive the lane and play aggressively.
Conversely, if there are overly aggressive, wild players at your table, then the best course of action is to sit back and wait for them to pick each other off.

You cannot win a tournament when there are still nine players at the table. So, your goal in the early stages of final table play is to set yourself up for the short-handed battle to come.

Adjust

One of the most difficult challenges novices face at a final table is making the necessary adjustments for short-handed play.

During most tournaments, play is nine-handed all the way down to the final table. As you get down to six, five, or four players, though, the correct playing strategy will change dramatically.

It’s true that a player may succeed by waiting for premium starting cards on his way to the final table. However, if he continues playing that way short-handed, the blinds and antes will surely eat away at his stack.

Hands like A-7 offsuit, cards you wouldn't play in a nine-handed game, become raisers when play becomes short-handed. To stay afloat you need to win one set of blinds per round. If you’re playing four-handed, that means you need to pick up a pot one out of every four hands. If you fold A-7, you may not get a better chance for a while.

Play the Players and Your Stack

The cards become less important at the final table than they were in the early stages of a tournament. At the final table, shift your focus to determine who you can steal pots from and who you can trap. You’ve got to play the players.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to play the players when you don't have many chips. If you’re on the short stack, you'll be forced to sit back and wait for a good opportunity to either double up or to steal the blinds.

It’s a much rosier picture if you’re one of the bigger stacks at the final table. Now you have virtual free reign to attack and pressure your opponents. There’s no need to be reckless; the other players will be forced to respect your stack size since any hand they play could be their last.

So let’s review. Let the game come to you in the early stages. Make the necessary adjustments once play becomes short-handed. Finally, always be aware of your stack size in relation to the others.

If you focus on those three key elements, you'll often find yourself playing heads-up for the title.

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World Series

Day 1 was very rough. I played day 1D on Sunday. About three hours in my kings ran into aces and cost me three quarters of my stack. I would have been much better off not showing up for the first three hours and just letting them blind me off. That hand knocked me down to 5100 and I struggled all day trying to get some chips back. I got back to about 14k but dropped some and finished the day with a very weak 9525. It was a very long day. Play began ontime at 12 noon and I got back to my room at the Palms around 2 AM. Play on day 2 begins for me on Wednesday at noon with 250/500 blinds and a 50 chip ante. It's going to be tough to make it through day 2 to say the least but I'm a pretty good short stack player so we'll see how the cards fall. Two quick doubleups and I'd be in alot better shape.



Here's a clip from the PokerStars MoneyMaker Boot Camp that was part of the package I won. I'm in the blue shirt to the left of Moneymaker sitting in Seat 1.


http://www.pokerstars.tv/pokerstars/channels/11778/movies/3451.html

WSOP Official Day 1"D" Chip Counts Released

Official Day 1d Chip Counts Released

After a marathon of data entry by WSOP staff, the results for Day 1d, the fourth and final starting day of the 2008 Main Event, have been tabulated. 1,352 of the day's 2,400-plus starters were still around when play halted, led by Steve Austin at 149,000 in chips.

The top ten for Day 1d action is as follows:
Steve Austin 149,000
Mohamad Kowssarie 146,000
David Stucke 140,525
Sami Rustom 140,450
Dylan Linde 138,425
Nikolay Losev 127,225
Victor Ramdin 124,600
Samir Shakhtoor 122,875
Christian Choi 122,225
Charles Dolan 121,625

Chip counts for the majority of the 1,352 Day 1d survivors have now been posted, though file updating and error correcting processes continue.

Complete data available at www.worldseriesofpoker.com/

WSOP Limit Hold'em Shootout (Event 53) 07/01/08

2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker
Limit Hold'em Shootout (Event 53)
Tuesday, July 01, 2008 to Thursday, July 03, 2008 Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $1,123,395
Entries: 823

Place Player Prize

1. Matthew Graham $278,180
2. Jean-Robert (Bobby) Bellande $173,564
3. Joe Deniro $107,845
4. Brandon Wong $69,088
5. Danny Wong $33,701
6. Spencer Lawrence $20,221
7. John Kranyak $13,480
8. Andrew Prock $10,335
9. Mike Kachan $7,526

WSOP No-Limit Hold'em (Event 52) 06/30/08

2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker
No-Limit Hold'em (Event 52)
Monday, June 30, 2008 to Wednesday, July 02, 2008 Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $3,675,945
Entries: 2,693

Place Player Prize

1. David Daneshgar $625,443
2. Scott Sitron $385,974
3. Dan Heimiller $275,695
4. Farzad Rouhani $231,584
5. Corwin Cole $189,311
6. Matthew Matros $148,875
7. Andrey Zaichenko $112,116
8. Jeff Courtney $84,546
9. Voitto Rintala $57,712
10. Gary Biggar $36,391
11. Todd Hanks $36,391
12. Brock Mishler $36,391
13. Joachim berg Jensen $29,039
14. Elliot Smith $29,039
15. Cody Slaubaugh $29,039
16. Lars Sundberg $21,688
17. Daniel Hughes $21,688
18. Eric Jolly $21,688
19. Peter Fransson $17,276
20. Richard Kirsch $17,276
21. Martin Cardno $17,276
22. Paolo Nunes $17,276
23. Joseph Neiman $17,276
24. Daniel Harmetz $17,276
25. Thithi (Mimi) Tran $17,276
26. Anders Andersen $17,276
27. Andy Garvin $17,276

The MAIN EVENT BEGINS at NOON

2008 Main Event Begins at Noon

The 2008 Main Event, known more formally as Event 54, $10,000 World Championship No-Limit Texas Hold'em, begins at noon. It's Day 1a, the first of four identical-in-length Day 1 sessions that will see the first bit of a field of several thousand hopefuls slowly pared away. Last year, Jerry Yang emerged from a 6,358-player field to win the massive $8,250,000 first-place prize. Day 1a registration lists have yet to be released, but there will be plenty of big names on hand on each of the four starting days. We'll have extensive coverage from the floor of the Amazon Room, with multiple reporting teams bringing you the latest news from the event. Join us right here at noon for the most famous words in poker: "Shuffle up and deal!"

Good luck to all our NC friends taking part....

WSOP H.O.R.S.E. (Event 51) 06/29/08

2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker
H.O.R.S.E. (Event 51)
Sunday, June 29, 2008 to Tuesday, July 01, 2008 Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $1,096,095
Entries: 803

Place Player Prize
1. James Schaaf $256,412
2. Tam (Tommy) Hang $158,933
3. Phil Hellmuth $93,168
4. Esther Rossi $68,505
5. Jason Dollinger $54,804
6. Sam Silverman $42,966
7. Annand (Victor) Ramdin $32,992
8. Matt Grapenthien $27,511
9. Edward Brogdon $22,031
10. Lonnie Heimowitz $22,031
11. Steven Diano $16,551
12. Phillip Penn $16,551
13. Randy Holland $11,070
14. Arash Ghaneian $11,070
15. Keith Sexton $8,878
16. Arthur Young $8,878

WSOP World Championship Pot Limit Omaha (Event 50) 06/29/08

2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker
World Championship Pot Limit Omaha (Event 50)
Sunday, June 29, 2008 to Tuesday, July 01, 2008 Buy-in: $10,000
Prizepool: $3,581,400
Entries: 381

Place Player Prize
1. Marty Smyth $859,549
2. Peter Jetten $528,256
3. Michael Mizrachi $331,279
4. Billy Argyros $268,605
5. Richard Harroch $214,884
6. Kido Pham $170,116
7. Tom Hanlon $134,302
8. Brandon Moran $107,442
9. Greg Hurst $80,581
10. David Benefield $53,721
11. Shawn Buchanan $53,721
12. Josh Arieh $53,721
13. Thong Tran $44,767
14. Julian Powell $44,767
15. Kenneth Mattson $44,767
16. Guillaume Patry $35,814
17. Eduard Scharf $35,814
18. Rino Mathis $35,814
19. Dario (Ryu) Alioto $28,651
20. David (Len) Ashby $28,651
21. Stephen Ladowsky $28,651
22. Rob Hollink $28,651
23. Magnus Petersson $28,651
24. Brant Hale $28,651
25. Sigi Stockinger $28,651
26. David Williams $28,651
27. Jamieson Pickering $28,651

WSOP No-Limit Hold'em (Event 49) 06/28/08

2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker
No-Limit Hold'em (Event 49)
Saturday, June 28, 2008 to Monday, June 30, 2008 Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $3,710,070
Entries: 2,718

Place Player Prize
1. J.C. Tran $631,170
2. Rasmus Nielsen $389,557
3. John Conroy $278,255
4. Peter Nguyen $233,734
5. Joe Pelton $191,068
6. Chad Siu $150,257
7. Jasper Hoog $113,157
8. Robert Kalb $85,331
9. Christoph Kohnen $58,248
10. Anderson Silva $36,729
11. Kevin Nathan $36,729
12. Jason Moungey $36,729
13. Brett Switzer $29,309
14. Parviz Razavian $29,309
15. Steven Pierce $29,309
16. Paul Kim $21,889
17. Karen Manfrede $21,889
18. Dominique Degott $21,889
19. Tuan Vu $17,437
20. Kirby Brewer $17,437
21. David Tran $17,437
22. Neil Deutsch $17,437
23. Augusto Cavazzini $17,437
24. Kevin Brown $17,437
25. Men (The Master) Nguyen $17,437
26. David (Dragon) Pham $17,437
27. Andrew Black$17,437

WSOP No-Limit Hold'em (Event 48) 06/27/08

2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker
No-Limit Hold'em (Event 48)
Friday, June 27, 2008 to Sunday, June 29, 2008 Buy-in: $2,000
Prizepool: $4,216,940
Entries: 2,317

Place Player Prize

1. Alexandre Gomes $770,540
2. Marco Johnson $491,273
3. Ryan D'Angelo $326,812
4. Robert Brewer$274,101
5. Alan Cutler $223,497
6. Kirill Gerasimov $177,111
7. Sverre Sundbo $134,942
8. Gabriel Costner $103,315
9. Dan Rome $71,687
10. Sergey Rybachenko $46,386
11. Eddie Kinzler $46,386
12. Arne Mews $46,386
13. Eric Crain $35,843
14. Kenneth Shelton $35,843
15. Denys Drobyna $35,843
16. Daniel Martin $25,301
17. Darren Nelson $25,301
18. Sunny Chattha$25,301