The check is in the mail, I hope

Like many others, I logged into Neteller yesterday to pull out what funds I had there. It was just over a grand. Not a princely sum like some had locked up, but nothing too shabby either. Guess it will fund my trip to Vegas in December.

Falstaff has the details on the WPBT Winter Classic

When - December 6 - 10Where - Las Vegas (hotel TBD)Who - You and your friends

Hotel rooms should be plentiful and cheap even with the National Finals Rodeo starting that weekend. I have been getting plenty of free room offers for the past 6 months. I doubt that is going to stop. Heck, I would be willing to stay at the Imperial Palace once again. Sure the place is a dump but the people that work there are top notch. They have always treated me well, and the the poker guys are willing to spread what we want.

That kind of hurts. Next vacation won't be until December. Ouch!

BBT Freezeroll

I tried to play in the BBT freeroll freezeroll last night. When everything froze up 40 minutes in, I knew I didn't have the patience to continue if the delay was going to be long.

I had half the starting stack and was playing like crap. I guess being felted in the NL ring game had me on a slight tilt. People were chasing their flush draws and catching. On most nights it would be a beautiful thing to have them chase and miss but this wasn't most night. Cards just weren't coming my way.

The funny thing was, I wasn't upset in the ring game, but it upset me in the tournament. I wasn't getting pissed off that they idiots were calling preflop raises with K 6s and catching, but it was making me get upset when I made those stupid plays in the tournament.

In the freezeroll, I was playing too loose. I was making dumb bets. You know, those bets that make no sense as you are only going to be called or raised by the winning hand. I made some bad bluffs as well.

Thus when the delay was over 20 minutes, I knew it would be in my best interest to just call it a night. My mind wasn't in the game and I would need to double up just to get back into the game.

Congrats to whoever waited it out and won. Thanks again to Hoy, Mookie, Al and Don for the time spent setting up the tournaments and keeping the standings.

Hopefully I will be in a better frame of mind tonight for the Riverchasers tournament. The 6 pack in the fridge will definitely help.

Is a crackdown coming?

Is a crackdown coming to the poker tournaments in Milwaukee?

There is an interesting article in the Milwaukee paper today discussing the popularity of what I call "prize poker" in the state of Wisconsin. In "prize poker", you do not win money but prizes (t-shirts, caps, etc.) and they keep rankings on how you finish usually for a big prize tournament at the end of a season. There are no entry fees. Usually a bar will pay someone to hold the event in return for bringing patrons into their establishment.

I had played in such a series a couple years back, Badger Poker. It was good to get your feet wet and play without having to pay. I tired of it for various reasons and quit going. One thing I wasn't surprised to see was a quote for the owner. I am sure he means well, but he probably doesn't realize he just put a bulls eye on his back. This comment doesn't help him:

....gambling restrictions here vague and confusing, saying that he was unaware
until recently that there might be a prohibition on any sort of prize.
"Until there's a law saying 'You can't do this' or 'You can't do that,' we're going to
still do what we do," he said.

I hope he talked to his attorney before talking to the reporter. Basically to tell the DA in the counties he operates to piss off is not a good business plan. His interpretation of the law won't be jacksquat to the attorney prosecuting him. Telling a judge that the law does not specifically say we cannot play poker is plain stupid. Even stupider might be to hold the actual tournament in Wisconsin but technically award the prize in Vegas and believe that means he is not breaking the law.

It also made me wonder how long the tournaments at the bar I frequent will last or even the smokers at local churches. They have entry fees and pay out cash. To claim it is a fundraiser will not hold water. The article mentioned a fund raiser for a sheriff's department that was shut down. Their prize was a box of cigars. Even Johnny Law is being held to enforcement.

But there is hope. A sheriff in Dodge County has taken a sensible approach. As long as the stakes don't get unreasonable (reasonable is $20), he will let them be. Good to see logic coming into play on what is basically a victimless crime among responsible adults.

Getting ready for the live game

I finally played some tournament poker again on Tuesday. Went up against 1200 in the 20k (or is it 24k) guarantee on Full Tilt to get ready for the weekend. Finished at 705. Not too much happening. I got hurt by my K K. With a bunch of limpers, I popped it to 800 and had one caller. Of course the flop came A high. Why would someone limp call with A x? I felt my blood begin to boil and before I could reign myself in, I pushed and was promptly called by A J. Mother ^&@#$#$^& A J!! Yeah, the push wasn't the best move but to have some idiot limp call 40% of his stack to try and get lucky pissed me off.

I got off tilt quickly as I focused on building up again. With about 500 left, I fell back into "Aw fuckit" mode though. With the Hammer on the button, I pushed when it folded around to me. SB called with A 4. Interesting. 7 on the flop, 7 on the turn and I was good. It pissed my opponent off. He promptly tilted himself out of the game on the next hand, pushing with A K on an 8 high board and got busted by Q Q.

Last night I had some fun in the Mookie. Irongirl's 8 8 beat down my 7 7. It was an interesting call in that she didn't think twice about calling. Have I become that transparent?

I will be playing some live poker in a cornfield in Iowa on Friday. I believe this is the place I will be. Should be interesting to say the least.

Disclosure

I got into an interesting argument the other day about how a local tournament is run. My contention was quite simple. There is no information going in so why would you want to play it? My friend's argument was simple as well. He didn't care because he enjoyed it.

I guess part of it the debate is to me, his side makes little sense. The sheets announcing the tournament have no information about how much, how many chips you get or blind levels. Furthermore, it doesn't mention it is a rebuy tournament. The tournament is under the guise of a fund raiser for a softball team to boot. Bottom line to my part of the argument is that it is foolish to play a tournament without that vital information. They do not say how much of the buy in (only $25 I believe) is going to the team. They don't tell you how many rebuys have occurred and how much of that they are keeping. So the prize pool could be $1000 but they are paying out $600. Why would you play in such a tournament?

He says he doesn't mind as he has fun. It is the entertainment value. To an extent, I can see that. I say it all the time. If I am having fun, I don't mind losing.

Is it asking too much to ask for full disclosure? I wonder how many people would play if they knew how much the team was keeping?

Thoughts?

Little poker

I haven't been playing much poker lately. With it being Summer and all, there are a lot of other things going on that keep me busy away from the felt. Like beer gardens. I love beer gardens. Give me a reason to sit outside and drink beer and I will be there.

But I digress..

I did play in the RiverChasers tourney last night. Can't believe Al became such a fuggin' sadist and made it a double stack. Give donkey more chips and watch the fur fly.

I was involved with two plays that I found interesting. Neither was a bad beat so I don't owe anyone a dollar.

The first was an interesting re-raise. It is one of those calls that people usually say "what a dumb play, how can they make that bet!" as they get pissed by a really good play, not knowing what the other player is thinking. I was in the BB with 6 6. UTG gave a 3xs raise and I called hoping the flop would hit me. 2 3 5. Not bad, not great. I had an overpair with a gutty. I thought about betting out but decided I wanted to see another card, so I called his 2/3 pot bet. Turn was a 7. No help and now the board looks dangerous. I let him bet again, knowing I would re-raise a lot. He bet out half the pot this time. I popped it to 1400, thinking he had A K or A Q. I was a bit surprised that he then went all in. Hmm....was I wrong? With just 670 to call, I had to. He turned over 8 8. River was no help and I was down to 1100.

I like the bet. I had been on the aggressive side and had pushed him out of a pot earlier with pocket 4s. Making a move with just 8s there is dangerous. I had to call the last bet not just because of the odds I was receiving but it was a RiverChasers tourney. The play can be craptacular and I may just hit the jackpot early. Besides, I have confidence I can chip back up.

That is basically what I did. Got back over the starting stack, getting myself into a position where a double up would put me right back into the game. There would be no double as I floated like a piece of driftwood on the sea. Hands were bad and it didn't help that I was table changed to some crazy people. I had to tighten up. I figured it would help my image. Was I wrong.

I didn't play many hands and utilized position to steal the blinds. So when I had K Qo in the SB and there were two limpers, I figured it was a good spot to steal. I pushed knowing the first limper would have A rag at best and would fold. Wrong again. They called with A 8o. I would get no help. In fact an A would hit the river to rub it in. Someone willing to toss in 25% of their stack with A 8 on a tight player. I noted them and can't wait to see them at the table again.

I may be playing some live poker next weekend. Going camping and may end up in a casino in Iowa. There is a Friday tournament with a $50 buy in. I have no idea if the structure is any good. The website says each player get 1000 in chips and does not specify blind levels. Hopefully I can't go make me some corn fed cash!

New meaning to playing blind

Came across the story of the blind player at the Tao of Poker yesterday. Pauly made a reference to the article written by Change100 at PokerNews about Jason Holbrook, a player from California, who qualified for the main event even though he is blind. The people at Kick Ass Poker have a full story.

One excerpt from the Kick Ass story I found interesting was the reasoning behind the initial decision not allowing him to play:

It seems to be not the presence of the second person / helper itself that's the
problem, even though that technically would violate the "one player to a hand"
rule, not to mention take up precious space in what already must be cramped
walkways between the tables. Instead, it may well be the communication of
information between the helper and Holbrook that has caused the WSOP to draw the line.

That was my initial thought when reading the story, was the "one player to a hand" rule and how it would be handled. I then began to wonder what douchebag would throw a shitfit and invoke the rule when he got busted by Jason. Guess we won't find out as Holbrook was eliminated in day 1. But to qualify for the tournament itself is an amazing feat.

Run, don't walk

You know the drill. Keep up to date with Pauly.

Need to find your buddy who qualified on PokerStars? Otis has his story at the PokerStars Blog.