Get the Silverback!

There are monkeys, and then there are monkeys. (Yes, I’m sure some poker-playing primatologist will make some futile attempt to explain the difference between monkeys and gorillas, but since I’m now officially a Southerner, I ain’t not know no better, and I don’t not care…).

Friday night Omaha 8, and I look down at 9s-10c-10d-Jd. I limp, along with pretty much the entire table, and see a flop of Ad-Qd-10s. Not a horrible flop, as I have bottom set, with straight and flush draws. Still, I need help before I put too many more chips in the middle. After calling a small flop bet (along with several others), my help comes in the form of the 7d on the turn, giving me the second-nut flush. Elvie makes a small bet into me, a bet which seems to me like a defensive one. I have a couple players behind me, and decide I need to make a pot-sized raise for two reasons: A) to see if the nut flush is out there, and B) to hopefully get rid of any low draws. Of course, I want to get called by a straight, set, or smaller flush.

The action folds to Elvie, who makes the call. I love this result, with no re-raise I obviously now know I have the best hand. Now I just need to not get corn-holed on the river... Since Elvie has to know I have a flush, I have to assume he’s drawing live. He most likely would have mucked a flopped straight after my raise on the turn, unless he had a good redraw to go along with it. At this point I put him on A-A, or possibly Q-Q. I’m praying for the case 10, which should be good for the rest of his chips (yes, I’m a greedy bastard – this fact has been well-established…). No such luck – but the river brings the Kd instead, giving me a royal flush!

Akash (bless his heart) immediately says to me “Sooooo, you weren’t betting the nut flush after all!” To which I reply something like “You know me, I’m just trying to bet Elvie off of the best hand.” Elvie checks, and I make a small value bet (around $125 I think, which was about half his remaining chips), and he makes the crying call. I believe he said he had aces and a smaller flush. I think it was Stone who said he flopped middle set (queens), so three players flopped a set!

All told, it was another good night. I scooped a couple other nice pots with the double-nuts. One was when I held As-3s, the flop comes something like 2s-4s-8s, I get action all the way to the river and the flush holds up. I look forward to tomorrow night, when I once again venture into the poker jungle in search of the elusive Silverback!

See ya at the tables…
Rick

High Stakes Poker Season 2

Watch close when Gabe says "NICE PAIR"

TPJ's Triangle Poker Poll

TPJ's Triangle Poker Poll

Vote for your favorite players and tell us about what's going on in local poker. The local players who get the most votes will receive a special award. And a few voters will receive incredibly trivial poker prizes just for expressing their opinions!

So vote today!


www.trianglepokerjournal.com/

PPA: Call To Arms

Followup: ComeOutPoker Out of Business

Followup: ComeOutPoker Out of Business

By George Smart, Editor

Last fall, ComeOutPoker opened to much fanfare claiming to be the world's first online poker site catering exclusively to the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender (GLBT) community.

Following up on this story, it seems ComeOutPoker has gone out of business, folding into http://www.bugsysclub.com/.

It also turns out ComeOutPoker was not so unique. Other gay poker sites like TwoJacksTwoQueens (www.2jacks2queens.com) and the Gay Poker Tour (www.gaypokertour.net) also run cash games and tournaments.

Friendly Night of Poker

Well, we got together with some friends for a friendly game of poker. Pretty low stakes relatively speaking... no rake, I furnished the drinks and we all chipped in for the pizza.... it was kind of nice. Yeah! Too damn nice!

The biggest hand of the night was in Omaha 8 with 3 of us chasing the gold ring. I've the As, 3c, 6c, Qs and the flop is 2s, 5s, 8h. Since we're playing pot limit $1/$2 blinds. The pots are pretty slow to grow but this hand was a little different. One of our friends brought in a new guy and he was really new, I don't think he'd ever played O8 before and my guess is that this will probably be his last time. Because on the turn, he hit his card to give him a straight and pushed all-in with his remaining $20 or so. Jim called and I called. Then the river delivered my nut flush, but counterfeited my 3 but it did give me the nut flush with a live Ace. I'm figuring that worst case scenario, a big push on my part will probably quarter either Jim or the new guy and best case scenario, I scoop. The pot is about $80 or so and Jim deliberates, thinks... none of those are really good descriptive words of what Jim was doing... he was wasting time so I called the clock. LOL. He finally calls and I scoop.

We didn't play very late, but it was a lot of fun. We played some of the old games too. Kings and little ones. Screw your neighbor. Baseball. And even a couple hands of Boo-ray! Nice!

I was the big winner although compared to most of the games I play, it was about like winning or losing one pot. LOL. We'll definitely do it again.

I did run into 2 straight flushes late that lowered my winnings some, but it was worth it..... anytime you have five of a kind and lose.... that's a good night!

The Last Hand of the Night

Normally, the last hand of the night is not a big winner. Even if one is planning to leave after a particular hand, then happen to scoop a nice pot, they will usually cave in to the good-natured chants of “hit and run” from the other players at the table, and stick around for at least a few more hands. In most cases, the last hand is fairly uneventful – it’s about the time you need to leave, you stick around until the big blind gets to you, then cash out and go home. If the hand is in fact eventful, more often than not it’s a hand where you lose your entire stack of chips. If it’s been a bad night, you just cut your losses and pack it in early.

The last hand on Tuesday night was between Dave, Eric and me. It wasn’t for a huge pot or anything, but it was interesting for the way it played out. The game was breaking up, as two or three others cashed out just before. I had a decent night, and was preparing to cash out myself. Eric, who is down to a very small stack ($65 I think), asks Dave and I if we just want to each put the $65 in and play the last hand (NLHE) blind. Sure, we say, and toss the chips in the middle. Jarod deals the cards, and turns up a flop of K-7-3. I was going to wait until the river to look at my hand, but the others open up their cards to reveal junk, so I go ahead and open mine, only to reveal pocket kings! A brick on the turn means they’re both drawing dead, but for good measure Jarod turns up the case king on the river. Quad kings – Get the Monkey on the way out the door!

I can only hope that tonight I’ll pick up where I left off!

See ya at the tables…
Rick

Omaha 8 & Hold'em

Three big hands....

The first one came rather early against Jimmy.... there was a little pre-flop raise and with me holding A, A, 4, 5... I almost re-popped it, but didn't. The flop brings a K, K, 10 so no low, but the betting checks all the way around. The turn was a beautiful Ace! Nice. So I lead out with $10 bet, just something to build the pot. There's only one caller.... Jimmy. The river is a brick! I bet $75 and Jimmy re-pops it all-in. He only had another $100 so although I felt that I was dead to his quads, I made a crying call and said... "Someone get him the monkey." And sure enough, quad kings.

By the way, it was about this time that I told Rick. "You know, I was thinking and I don't know that you have really been that lucky. It's just that I have been horrifically unlucky!"

The next big hand came against Juice, Eli & Tom. We're playing hold'em and I'm holding A, Jos. There was a straddle by the Juice to about $10 and I think there were about 6 callers. When it gets back to the Juice, he pops it another $50. Eli calls and I have a strong suspicion that I am ahead so I push all-in for another $300ish. Everyone folds to the Juice so swears he laid down pocket Queens. I still don't believe that one. Eli thinks for a few seconds and he calls. I really would have been happy just to take down the pot right there. Everyone else folds and I show my A, J and Eli turns over Kd, 10d. The flop brings all low cards and the turn in the river doesn't improve Eli's hand.

The next big hand was my last hand of the night. I've Ac, 3h, 5h, Kh. There's a $25 straddle by the Juice and most of the table calls. The flop is absolutely beautiful! 2h, 7h, 8c. The Juice immediately pushes all-in and I take no time at all to call with my nut low (with a pretty good back-up low) and my second nut flush draw. Tom deliberates for some time and eventually makes the call. Juice has us both covered and I was actually the short stack with exactly $600 remaining. The juice turns over A, A, X, X, but with no low and only the Ace of hearts. Tom has a set of sevens and a straight draw and again no hearts. I'm really liking my hand. Unfortunately Tom ends up making a straight and my nut low holds up. A nice way to end the night.... although somehow the Juice got his panties in a knot and starting whining about me cashing out after winning a big pot. Music to my ears!

Back to the felt!

Dallas Poker Raid April 15

Dallas Poker Raid April 15
Audio Interview at www.trianglepokerjournal.com

Source: www.Pokerati.com

The Dallas Police Department continued its crackdown on poker by raiding the Audie Murphy VFW Post 1837 on the evening of April 15. There were reportedly seven full tables running when nearly 20 police officers entered the room. It was the vice squad this time, not the SWAT team. though some undercover player-officers were donning black hoods, face masks, and sunglasses to keep their identity sealed — one of whom responded to the name “Curtis.” No arrests were made, and about 70 players were issued gambling citations. Some employees of the poker room were cited for “keeping a gambling place.” According to Deputy Chief (Vice and Narcotics) J.A. Bernal, most of the alleged poker criminals “appeared to be hardworking, normal citizens; average everyday working joes. That’s what we found here today.” Here are some pictures from the raid:

This VFW bust comes after an attempted armed robbery at one Dallas room the previous Friday night as police were reportedly raiding other poker rooms (including the Island Club and new Top Shelf). Dallas PD tells Pokerati that more gambling raids are to come.

Meanwhile, legislators in Austin are considering a bill to legalize some semblance of poker games similar to the one taking place at the VFW. Several state and local politicians support this bill (HB 3186) … presumably as an example of sensible government … including Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins, whose office now has at least another 100 poker-related misdemeanors added to its caseload.

Police are in a bind. They say this bust (like most others) was in response to a “citizen complaint” … and they are right when they say they are obligated to respond. Likewise, the DA has to prosecute — even if he doesn’t agree with the law. As a result of everyone simply trying to do their job in accordance with laws that may be outdated but are still on the books …. it becomes a simple question of resource allocation for both the cops and the courts in a city that has the highest violent crime rate in the nation.

When Pokerati arrived on the scene, all the players were gone, but there were a few marked police cars, and cops were loading up the official DPD U-haul with chips and tables … Inside, eight or nine peace officers in dark, wrap-around sunglasses (and a few wearing black ninja-style face masks) corralled around the main table like, er, poker players … counting money and pushing stacks around as they took inventory.

This raid follows on the heels of last November, when one of the largest raid operations in North Texas took place. Three simultaneous raids used hidden camera video and floor plans for each of three locations before the raids were executed.
A total of 100 players were dealt unlucky hands when authorities crashed the parties, including breaking in windows at one a northwest Dallas office complex. That raid, along with one on Forrest Lane and another on Swiss Avenue resulted in 20 arrests of operators and dealers, 79 citations for players and $43,000 in cash seized. No one was arrested.

To date, according to Pokerati, Dallas Police have closed down many local games. Pokerati claims there has not yet been a single conviction (by judge or jury) of more than 200 potential defendants. Here is their list of underground poker rooms put out of business recently:

Aces
Jackie’s
JB’s/Goodfellows
Ace High
R&R #2
VFW-Audie Murphy
Top Shelf
Island Club
DC’s Poker House

Outside of Dallas:
EV Enterprises (Richardson)
Sons of Italy (McKinney)
Poker Pound (Duncanville)
R’s Game (Addison)
R&R (Carrollton)

At www.trianglepokerjournal.com, you will find the audio from an impromptu, late-night interview with the Dallas police official who seemed to be in charge of the post-raid cleanup at the Audie Murphy VFW. He provides some basic facts about this latest police incursion and some insight into how local games are seen by the police.

Mentioned in the Interview

Vice unit does more gambling busts than SWAT
Citizen complaints start the process, DA’s office on the other
Two weeks of investigation nets search warrant for 70+ misdemeanors
Should Dallas expect more busts? “Absolutely”
One person had some outstanding drug charges
Police found a small amount of methamphetamine at the VFW
Texas ABC was also there … found violations in VFW pool hall/bar next door
No federal involvement (yet) but investigation continues after takedown … relevant info forwarded to the IRS
“hard-working normal citizens, average everyday working joes” (at 6:35 on the tape)

A-A vs. A-A

Okay, okay, it was only Omaha, but still…

Friday night brought the usual group of suspects together in Cary for our weekly game of “But, I had the nuts on the turn!” The night was fairly young. I had won a couple smaller pots and had increased my 500 POINT buy-in (remember, it’s ILLEGAL to play for MONEY, so we play for POINTS) to around 650-700 POINTS. We’re playing 2/5 Omaha 8, and maybe half the hands have a live straddle to help spur on the action. This particular hand, I believe there is a re-straddle to 30 POINTS.

I’m in early position, and look down to find Ah-Ad-Qs-Js. Of course, my first thought is that I wish this was one our rare high-only hands (it’s dealer’s choice, though we usually play 95+% high-low), but no such luck. I toss in the call, there’s another caller, and the action is to Stone, who raises the pot – another 120 POINTS or so. Everyone folds, and the action is to me.

As I’ve mentioned before here, I normally don’t like raising pre-flop in this game, even with a premium hand like A-A-2-3. However, I will sometimes re-raise if I have a very good hand, and I believe that either A) I can win the pot right then and there, or B) I can isolate someone. Stone has a fairly large stack and is a pretty tight player, and could have made the raise with K-K or some nice low cards, something like A-2-3-5 with a suit. A re-raise by me will tell him I obviously have aces and something to go with them (in this case, flush and straight draws), and I figure there is a good chance I can take down the pot right there. If not, well then I’ll just have to see what the poker gods have in store for me this time...

I re-pop to 360 POINTS, and it folds to Stone who re-pops all-in for another 180 POINTS or so, announcing “Well, I guess you know what I have.” I make the call, and he turns over As-Ac-10s-6s, pretty much the one hand I don’t want to see – the other two aces with a low draw. He even has my spades covered (though with at least five of them out, the chances of a flush are slim). I immediately start praying to the normally-vengeful poker gods, asking for big cards on the flop. Either I caught them in an unusually sympathetic moment, or (more likely) they had my prayer confused with someone else’s, because the dealer peels off a flop of K-Q-Q. Woo hoo! Stone is all but drawing dead, as the J that gives him a straight also fills me up. Two bricks are turned up on the turn and river, and I scoop a nice little pot.

I scooped a couple other decent pots later in the evening, and for the most part stayed away from the trouble hands before they cost me too much mon, er… too many POINTS. I ended the night with around 2,800 more POINTS than I started with. Of course, these POINTS have NO CASH VALUE, as that would be ILLEGAL - it’s all about having fun. Still, I slept well that night, secure in the knowledge that I had scored more POINTS than the other guys. Because in the end, it’s all about having a good time - mon, er… POINTS are just a way of keeping score.

See ya at the tables…
Rick

Midnight Madness on Full Tilt

So I entered the Midnight Madness tournament late last night on Full Tilt with the idea that it would be a good way to end a night and make my eyes tired enough to fall asleep at a normal hour for once.

Well...that was the plan anyway.

1,096 people entered.

When we were down to two tables I had one big hand where I had JJ. There was an all in by a short stack followed by a smooth call by a big stack. I go all in hopinng to isolate the shorty but I end up getting ANOTHER caller and the shorty and the original caller. Now Im feeling really bad about my jacks. When the cards are flipped I am up against an assortment of over cards...but no pairs. I think there was AK, AQ, QK...i guess they used up enough of each others outs that my Jacks actually held up - This gave me a decent stack and I went in to the final table 3rd in chips.

With 5 of us left I got in to a big hand with the chipleader. I had QQ on a J high board and he laid down his smaller pocket pair to my eventual all in. This hand made me the chipleader with 5 left.

Down to 4 handed I lost some chips with my 88 against KK which I think I lost the minimum on, but this brought me to 2nd in chips.

Down to 3 handed I had a chance to knock a guy out...K10 on a board of KQx...he bets, I go all in and he calls with Q and a flush draw and hits his flush on the river. This knocked me down to 3rd in chips, but then the guy who is second (who just hit his flush) gets knocked out just a few hands later.

I go to heads up with about 250,000 in chips. Chip leader has 1.2 million. On the very first hand in the small blind I smooth call with 88 hoping he will push. He does with A3. I call. He wins. Its over.

I cash for $1300.

Finally got to bed around 5 am, but I guess it was worth the nice payday.

Brian Wolfe Cashes Twice in Bellagio Five Star Poker Classic

Brian Wolfe Cashes Twice in Bellagio Five Star Poker Classic



Brian Wolfe of Raleigh won $40,015 in the Bellagio Five Star Poker Classic on April 11. Against a field of 251 players, he took 4th on the $3000 buy-in. He also won 14th and $5330 in the $2000 buy-in against 288 players. This puts Brian’s career winnings at $96,000, almost in the Triangle Poker Journal Top Ten.



Congratulations, Brian!

STRIP POKER

PPA President's Corner Update

PPA Mentions Cary Poker Bust! JOIN TODAY!

Simpsons - Dogs Playing Poker

WPT Bad Boys of Poker

Value vs. taking the small pot?

We've all done it. Flopped a monster and in trying to get some value for our hand, slow play it to let someone catch up. And then they catch up.... and then they bust you! LOL.

It has happened to me many times. Recently I was playing in a $120 buy-in No Limit Hold 'em tourney. I ran into a cold deck early on when there was pre-flop raise and I call with Ah, Qs and the flop comes A, K, 8. The turn is a brick and the river is Q. The pre-flop raiser checked to the river and bet $500. Guess what he had.... pocket 8's.

The hand that knocked me out though was the one that I was trying to get some value out of.... I'm in the big blind with K, 3, off-suit with no raises and there were 3 limpers. The flop comes K, K, A. I check and the turn is a 4. I check and J pushes all in. I almost folded thinking that my kicker was suspect, but then remembered that there was an afternoon movie that I wanted to see... LOL. Yep, he had pocket 4's. I love contributing to the finances of the less fortunate, even if they aren't less fortunate.

If I ever quit poker, they'll all have to get real jobs.

A Cold Deck...

…Followed by some cold water (the river, that is).

Last night we had a nice, juicy game with, well, The Juice! I’m not quite sure how he got the nickname – I assume it’s because he’s so easy to squeeze money out of (I kid because I care, Dave…). At any rate, we’re five-handed to start with, and we haven’t been playing long before Dave doubles me up over the course of 2-3 NLHE hands, giving me around $800 or so (thanks buddy!). The rush continues as I look down to find Q-Q on the button. John M. is UTG and raises the $5 BB to $20. Although he has turned into an almost hyper-aggressive player, I’m pretty sure he has some kind of hand, and will almost certainly call a large raise, so I raise to $75, a little more than I normally would. John thinks for a minute and announces he’s all-in for around $250-300 more (I never did ask for an exact count).

Yikes – did I really run into A-A or K-K? In many situations against certain players, it’s not too tough of a lay-down. In a tournament it’s an easy lay-down. In a loose cash game against an aggressive player, running well with the larger stack and getting 1.5:1 on my money – that’s just not a lay-down I’ll make very often. Hell, worst-case scenario is I’m behind, at which point I can execute Plan B (the suckout). I make the call, and John turns over K-K.

Dang - time for Plan B. That plan doesn’t seem to be working too well either, as I get no help on the flop or the turn. In the immortal words of David Byrne, “Take me to the river…” The inevitable pain comes for John in the form of the case Q (turns out Dave folded the other one). As usual, my trap worked just the way I drew it up. :-) Remember John, when you hit your card on the river, you can’t get sucked out on. I love it when a plan comes together!

See ya at the tables…
Rick

NC Could Cash In First!

With all the press that POKER is getting right now, it would be absolutely awesome if some enterprising NC politician would see the opportunity for NC to really cash in on the opportunity to be one of the first in the region to pass legislation that would legalize and permit the opening of POKER rooms in the state. I would be willing to bet that we would pull tourists into the state from several surrounding states hunting legal games thus not only increasing business for the newly created poker rooms, but also hotel rooms, restaurants, service stations, airlines, etc.

It wouldn't surprise me for one of the first states to make the move, that is.... going to happen in many states, to perhaps even attract a large event sponsored by some of the existing poker "tours" that want to increase the awareness and popularity of the game.

To continue to force the millions of people in the US underground is absolutely ridiculous and a waste of potential revenue for the State of NC. The first one to step forward will absolutely get my vote and I'm certain that there are thousands of poker players in NC that would agree with me. Come on... do the right thing! Legalize the game!

Something interesting about "Poker Runs"

http://www.bikersmag.com/html/nc_poker_runs_legal_issues.html

I am all for a protest at the Cary Police Dept. poker run.