Friday, December 29, 2006

Nik Finishes 4th in Jungle Poker Tourney

I made it to the final table as a slight chip leader in a 446 player tourney. I slow played KK to get a smaller stack to commit with A9 suited. The flop had ALL his suit.

This dropped me to 3rd in chips and some heavy action by others had 6 more out before I knew it and me now in 4th of four.

I raise 5 times the BB with 99 and get called in two spots! Ouch. Well, I put the medium stack on TT or JJ and the bigger one on AK.

The flop Q93 rainbow. I got to go all in and they BOTH call! The Med stack has JJ and the Big stack called with JT suited. An eight on the river and I am slammed into 4th.

This qualifies me for a big freeroll on Saturday. I'll let you know how that goes.

Nik Finishes 8th in Bugsy's Club Tourney

Bugsy's Club actually doesn't have freerolls, but they have micro-entry tourneys in which you can win a seat in a bigger entry tourney - which I did. The micro-tourneys are rebuy and add-on tourneys so you end up spending a little anyway.

I won a seat, got in and soon found out I had won a seat in another rebuy and add-on tournament! So not only would I have to fight a bunch of all-in 'catch lightening in a bottle' players, but I was going to have to open up the wallet again also. Oh, well.

This close to freeroll I won, ended up costing me more than I normally play for. By the time I got thru with all the add-ons - one before the tourney started and a double one at the break - I was in DEEP. Everyone is doing it and you will be short-stacked if you don't participate.

Just to give you an idea, I gave 6 units to get in the original qualifier, it cost me an additional 66 units to play in the tourney I 'won' the seat in. Winning the seat 'saved' me a whole 16 units. Big deal!!! A nice prize pool developed however as 172 entered and re-bought and added on. On to the action:

I was doing ok early - stole some blinds and won a small pot. But then my QQ got cracked by 34 unsuited. Yes, I raised but he called from the button and got the straight on the turn. That cut me in half.

I limped in and had to go all in with KQ when the flop came Q84 four-handed. An A4 suited called me as he had the 4's and the Q8 were of his suit. He didn't get there.

I went all in again with 33 against AJ suited and won that race. That made me healthy and the very next hand I got AA, overbet the pot slightly and got called by the BIG STACK. The flop was 7Q3. I move all-in and he calls with his KQ suited with only one of his suit on the board and he never improves. Now I got chips!

I try to steal a pot with 54 suited in the big blind when the flop comes 239. A big stack goes all in so I have to dump it. Cost some ammo however.

I get the the final table in great shape as my AK outlasts a good size stack all-in with KQ. I reach the final table in 6th place. Not bad for a guy who just got his butt handed to him by the NPP internet boyzzzzzza!

My cards go absolutely dead after I steal the first pot of the final table. I mean I never saw a card bigger than a ten or gapped worse than 3 spots. This lasted an hour! Awful. Meanwhile the smaller stacks went all-in six times against the bigger stacks during this time and they won every confrontation. They got healthy and I got sicker and sicker!

I call an all-in by a somewhat smaller stack with TT and he has 88. The 8 on the turn was a crusher. I go all in next hand with JT and get called by AK and 99. Needless to say, I was out in 8th place.

For my investment and not going to bed until the wee hours of the morning I did make back 10 times my entry. - Hank Dagny

Thursday, December 28, 2006

FourPutt Wins NPP Internet #12!

Last tourney of the year and only five made it to the felt. Dave the Dog (Fourputt) got in late and then took control late.

Matchy, going for a three-peat, was aggressive early and got short stacked early. Cigar4John made his usual 'just after registration closes' appearance at the table to harrass the players.

Momo (5th) was in for a shocker when he found out the game was HORSE and not just Texas Holdem. He got knocked out on Level 4 when his 7-stud hand lost.

I(4th) ran into a Dave the Dog wheel which beat my 7-low and two pair hand at Level 5. It crippled my stack, but I rebuilt during Holdem and held on until Level 7, when my 7-low Razz hand got snapped off in a multi-way pot.

Matchy (3rd) got a ton of second bests after coming back from the dead to get close to the chip lead a few times. But he finally was done in also in a multi-way pot.

The heads up match started with Boother with a 4 to 3 chip lead on the Dog. But by the break, the situation was reversed. Dave built it to a 6 to 1 advantage before his 6622 two-pair beat Boother's (2nd) QQ and it was over. Congratulations to Dave the Dog - webmaster Fourputt.

1st - DavetheDog
2nd - Boother
3rd - Matchy
4th - Nik Faldo
5th - Momo

Final 2006 internet standings;

1st = Nik 58
2nd = Beerhog 53 NPP Internet Player of the Year!!!!!!
3rd = Matchy 48
4th = Sev4Sev 30
5th = DavetheDog 30
6th = Boother 25
7th = hlam14 24
8th = Sparty 13
9th = Thai Food 9
10th = Bronco76 5
11th = Sack 3
12th = Cigar 2
13th = Momo 1

I will pick a date in January to start NPP Internet 2007. The Dog selected NL Holdem for the first one. - Nik

Nik Wins Qualifier On Bugsy Club!

There is good news, bad news and really bad news.

Good news: I won a freeroll tourney of 95 players to make it to a Big guaranteed prize pool tourney.

Bad news: Halfway thru I started hitting the beers pretty heavily. I was washing down sausage, cheese and crackers - (you know, one of those Xmas gifts) from Hickory or Pepperidge or some Ecoili Farms). Had three in oh - 15 minutes.

Won the tourney and looked to see what time Saturday or Sunday the tournament was.

Really bad news: The tourney starts in two hours!!! I could barely keep my eyes open to finish the last one. Where are the Tums and the coffee???

Report to follow - but I hope not too quicky.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Nik Finishes 10th in an Ultimate Bet Tourney

I got into this tourney as an alternate, as UB allows entries until the first break after the start of the tourney. A total of 356 players entered by that breaktime.

There was a guy at my first table that stated after 15 minutes that he had unexpected visitors and had to go. He proceeded to go all in 27 straight times. He did not get called on 15 hands and busted 15 players in the same run. He won with hands like K3, 86, 73 and Q9.

I doubled up against him with KK against his 86, but with a scare. The flop was 75Q, but I held on. He easily had the chip lead when our table busted up. But I luckily got a few of the gift chips before he bled them off at another table.

As I have said before, you have to get lucky sometimes in big tourneys to make final tables. My all in bluff with QJ unsuited beat KK with a flop of 987 and a ten on the river.

I also won an all in with QQ against AK after a K came on the flop but a Q came on the turn.

I made the final table in 10th place out of 10. I went all in with KT of hearts and was called by A9 of hearts after a flop of KT3 and two hearts. Yep, I made my flush to knock myself out. Netted four times the entry.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Bad Connection/NPP Tourney

Poker Odds and Ends - and a 5th Place for Nik

I said I was not going to try any more poker sites, but I did it anyway. Tropical Poker is getting some trial play from me. I'll report on it early next year. That woman with the blog 'Poker Happs' was playing there and said they stood by their software glitches (refunding money and giving freerolls in qualifiers for the trouble) - which they claim are solved. So far not impressed with the software. I was there once before to look around and left because there were not enough players and the software was average. Everything seems to still apply, but they do have a nice line-up of cheap big tourneys.

I finished 5th in a World Poker Exchange tourney - netting only a 4 times return on my entry, but the field was only 52 players. Big enough to qualify for a BIG tourney (under 46 players is a SNG) but not a big enough tourney to write a story about.

Speaking of the WPE, it is a nice second or third site to have. NO RAKE!. Give it a look.

I have been playing a ton of freerolls at the Sportsbook .com Poker Room. They are trying out the software right now so all they have is $100 freerolls and satellites to a $100,000 tourney later. The software is really clean, good looking and fast. I think is the same software The Poker Room/Hollywood Poker uses (both sites now closed to US Players). Just different avatars and SB doesn't show the percentages when all-ins occur. It is not a skin of those two other sites, however. It is a different player pool all together. I think it is another site you should check out.

What drives me crazy is there is no link to their sportsbook from the poker site. You have to go to the sportsbook via the internet address. Very annoying if you want to check game lines while playing poker. They should fix that.

FYI - Thai Food has been downtown battling the mopes at the Greektown and Motor City casinos. Send positive vibes his way. I plan on sitting out 2006 in the casinos, but plan on making trips to Mt. Pleasant again next year - at least every other month. Detroit gets none of my money if I can avoid it.

Next year - internet poker wise - IS the year. I have experimented with sites, tourneys, SNG's, money management systems, styles of play, rabbit's feet - and I was even going to sacrifice a virgin but Fourputt would not hold still long enough. I have to set a goal for next year and then hit it.

I'm up some bling on the internet, but after about a year and a half of trial and error - it is not what I would call enough to write a book over. Time to throw out what I don't think works and go with what does - or at least is working at the time.

I was experimenting alot and didn't take advantage of situations that I should of. Like I was killing SNG's - on every site - early this year. But I only played in them in my standard rotation of play of things I was trying out and charting results. I should of played nothing but SNG's until the players caught up to me and the cash stopped pouring in. I didn't.

I was playing ring on one particular poker site and absolutely destroying the tables every time I played there. I mean every time - for 2 hours on three tables - cashing on all three. Did I stay there and ATM the site until the bank was empty? NOoooooo! I rotated and went to new sites to get their hours of play up. I even played longer at sites that were beating me early to get back to even with them. Just STUPID. Eventually, the site I was killing - toughened up.

Certain sites at certain times always have freerolls into big tourneys. I could of played in them until I won a seat - like Beerhog did - then try to catch lightening in a bottle for a nice payday. I blew them off to win chump change trying different sites and tourney types.

Next year I am all about value and overlays. I did my homework and had my practice time and got out unscathed. Time to do something - one way or the other on-line. In order to do that I have to not only play well - but pick my spots better.

Of course I do this NOW that the sites have all got alot tougher. What a genius I am. - Nik Faldo

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Matchy Wins 2nd NPP Internet Tourney in a Row!

Actually - make it three! Matchy won the tourney to end the regular monthly game also. Quite an accomplishment against this group of players. No one in the history of NPP has dominated this group like this - this early. Although Larry P handled himself at the main game from the git-go.

Quite a few firsts happened in this tourney:
First time players had internet connection problems (cigar4john, Hlam14 and 747)
First time we played HORSE instead of NL Holdem.
First time we had a back to back winners of the tourneys, back to back - Matchy and me.
First time we had the same two players finish 1,2 - Matchy and Beerhog.
First time your host failed to get a point in the internet tourneys (ouch! - that hurt to write).


On to the game:

Boother (8th) thought it was Razz and spent his last chips calling down Sev4Sev's two pair with an 8-low (pair of 6's). Ouch!

I (7th) was the next player gone. I got 5 very good starting hands in a row that turned into feet as soon as my chips went into the pot. That's poker. As the guys watching the chat box will verify - I took it well.

Hlam14 (6th) is eliminated as his K-high straight is beaten by Beerhog's A-high one.

Matchy's two pair ended Cigar4John's night (5th).

Matchy then eliminated a gallant survival run by Sev4Sev (4th) in Omaha.

Matchy took out DavetheDog (3rd) next.

That left a repeat of the final two from the last tourney. Very nice guys. Matchy had the chip lead early but Beerhog wrestled it away in Razz when Beerhog's 65 beat Matchy's 75.

Matchy got the chip lead back as he 4-flushed showing in a big pot of 7-stud and Beerhog gave it up.

The end came when Matchy's QQ22 (1st) beat Beerhog's 8855 (2nd). Congratulations Matchy!

I will post the standings one last time prior to the tourney on the 28th. Password - 10ofspades.

That's a Shame

Sunday, December 17, 2006

The Herbavor Curve

No-Show Mystery Solved

Last Game of the Year at NPP Looked Like the Others

The last live round of NPP went pretty much the way the whole year went – Herbavor running hot and the rest of us six players chasing. Herb got hot early and stayed that way. Fourputt showed up for his bi-annual visit and The Wall also made his quarterly appearance.

Herbavor was the big winner in the ring game. Larry P was second and Matchy third.

The tourney was a shorter version since some guys had to get up early. It started out as a replay of the ring game as Larry P took the early lead in chips. Herbavor took over with a good size chip lead, but he couldn’t hold onto it. Matchy took Herbavor out. I took Larry P out, and 7forty7 took me out. Matchy finished first and 7forty7 was second – the only two spots that collected bling.

So Herbavor hung on to the top spot by just a little as Matchy closed the gap with his tourney win.

The next NPP game at the Palace is January 20th.

Look for the 2006 Nik’s Poker Player of the Year Awards posting – coming soon. – Nik Faldo

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Matchy Wins NPP Internet #10

A short field but that does not mean Matchy didn’t earn this victory. We had full table tourneys that ended quicker than this one did.

A surprisingly small field of four showed up for the game. I have no clue why. On to the game:

Sack showed up late and was the victim of a big pot loss early. I missed the hand, wrote down the number to follow up, and then threw that out by accident.

But with a short stack, Sack goes all in with KK looking for action and gets it from me with 65 suited in hearts. Two hearts on the flop and another one on the river and I bad beat Sack (4th) out of there.

Beerhog was the low man now, but he got back in the game when his A7 suited flushed against Matchy’s trip tens.

Matchy gets healthy off of me when we both hit trip sevens on the board, but his K7 beats my 87. Ouch!

He puts the proverbial wood to me soon after when I go all in with A8 suited when the flop is 866 with a diamond. I got top two pair and a backdoor flush draw. As a short stack, I might as well try and take the pot now. Matchy is holding 66, and your host’s hopes (3rd) for a 3-peat is over.

Now the epic battle begins. Beerhog and Matchy go back and forth for over 45 minutes in this heads-up battle. You guys missed some really great poker.

Beerhog gets the chip lead when he trips 6’s on Matchy. Not quads, but good enough. Beerhog builds his chip lead to 6 to 1.

Matchy is able to climb out of his dire hole to only being behind 2 to 1 when he turns and rivers a straight when Beerhog tries to trap Matchy with AA.

They continue to go back and forth with the chip lead for a half-hour. Far too many hands to cover here. But Matchy finally grows his chip lead to 7 to 1, then 12 to 1 when Beerhog (2nd) makes his stand with Q6. Matchy (1st) has his beloved 66 and the board never sees a Queen.

Matchy has picked HORSE as the game next week on the 19th. Password ‘8ofspades’.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Nik Finishes 7th in Poker. com Tourney

Poker Poker (or Poker .com) is the newest addition to my rotation. The software is kinda vanilla but some features make the site playable. Not as many cheap tourneys as I would like to see, but enought to be on the play rotation.

The tournament player count is small enough where if you do not have 6 hours to commit to a tournament, the 50 to 400 player tourneys on this site might be up your alley. This one had 56 players.

I'll give you the hand that propelled me to the final table. I went pretty much card dead after this.

Three tables about 27 players left. Only the final table cashes. I am in my usual low area in chip count (2400) and time is getting short. Blindes are 100 - 200. I'm in the small blind with AT suited in hearts. The under the gun and the guy next to him call the 200 big blind. Three middle guys also call, so I have an easy call and the big blind does not raise. That's right - 7 of the 9 players see the flop. There are 1400 chips in the pot.

The flop is 5s 7h 9h. I got the nut heart draw, a backdoor straight draw and two overcards. The flop could of been alot worse for me. I throw a 200 bet out there to see where I am at. Everybody folding would be fine with me.

I get 5 callers. They can have everything from slow-playing trips, high cards looking to hit or a straight draw like me.

The turn is the 6c. Now anyone with an eight got there. I pretend it is me because I still have both the straight and flush draw left. That is enough outs if I get called. I bet the 400 standard raise.

Yankee raises to 800, Fox calls, Senor raises 2000 and Lottabluff goes all-in for 6400 chip and it is on me. That was not the plan. They both must have the eight that I pretended I had. What to do?

I have 1800 chips left and will be in kind of rough shape if I fold. On the positive side of folding, I will get 8 or 9 hands to choose one to make a last stand.

But what about calling? There is 7000 in the pot that I can fight for. That is almost enough to cover my flush draw if I call. Do I think the pot will get juicier if I call?

Yankee has 1000 left and may go ahead and commit. Fox has 500 left and should call on whatever draw he is chasing. I think it is worth a shot here that I will get more than the odds to draw to my flush. Plus there may be 2 or 3 eights still available for my straight if that can hold up if it gets there. I call all-in.

Better than expected - as both Yankee and Fox call - as does Senor.

River 3h. MONEY card! Happy dance!

Yankee has an 8 for the straight and is busted. Fox and Senor fold without showing - also busted. I take the main pot and Lottabluff takes the side pot with 8h 6h.

Whew! Dodged the straight flush draw for Lotta. Hitting the flush was a break, but the biggest break was all those players having hands justifying them filling the pot, and making the flush worth chasing for me. Then I hit - and they did not. Those chips carried me to the final table.

To do well in tourneys, you have to be good AND lucky. - Nik

Saturday, December 09, 2006

The "NPP" Best Internet Poker Site Rankings

Got some new players hopefully coming to play in the Poker Stars tourneys and hopefully making an appearance at the actual center of the poker universe, Nik's Poker Palace.

I have researched 214 poker sites. There is no reason for anyone reading this blog to put money in a site without checking with me first. I have been to just about every single one of them.

Here is my current play list - in order - of the best that are still open to USA players:
1. Poker Stars - no other site is close. Five stars!!!!! Great software, features, and always 30,000 to 125,000 players on line at any time – day or night.

2. World Poker Exchange - no rake!, nice tournaments, and a sports bookie! Why this site is not #2 in the world is a mystery to me. Not many players yet. Get over there!

3. Ultimate Bet - nice site, lots of players.

4. Absolute Poker - I don't like the software but plenty of tourneys and freeroll touneys.

5. Full Tilt Poker - Expensive tourneys and alot of rebuy tourneys which I don't like. But tons of pros play there and plenty of chances to sit at a table with them if you want to do that.

6. Bugsy's Club - Nice software, but not a ton of players

7. Jungle Poker – Nice site, less players than Bugsy

8. Poker4Ever - Nice site, just not many players.

9. Poker .com – Returns to the list. May be moving up in the standings.

10. Sportsbook - No poker yet except freerolls to test software. Software looks and plays well. A major sports bookie also.

My Minor League List. Nice sites too – just not my cup of tea. Might be yours.

11. Bo Dog Poker - I just hate the software, but it is a 30,000 player site and a sports bookie to boot.

12. True Poker – Beautiful and fun graphics for ring play, but not alot of tournaments. I like tourneys.

13. Platinum Poker - Part of Doyles Poker Room Network (Doyles Room, PamalaPoker, etc.), but all their tournaments have high blinds and fast round changes. It's bingo night. SNG's the same way. Ring play ok, but mostly no-limit – which is all the rage now anyway.

Here is a safest and best list of poker sites to try, in my never humble opinion . Questions about anything - you can always drop a question here on the blog or drop me a line at npokerp@yahoo.com – Nik Faldo

Best Way to Fund Internet Poker Sites

Monthly article for the newbies that make it to this site. You veterans of the NPP wars are promoting the site, the game and our Poker Stars tourney right?

The best and safest way I have found to add chips to your poker site is thru the internet bank called Net Teller. This is a FREE Internet banking site. It is quite easy to use, lightening fast in depositing into poker sites and cashing back out is as fast as the poker site allows.

I say ‘free’ but there is about a 9% transaction fee up to a certain amout transferred or amount deposited – then after that it is free. Still, Net Teller is a publicly traded company in England and is as safe as any bank I would imagine.

Here are the steps to get ready for internet poker.

Step 1. Open a checking account with your poker stake money in a bank that you do no other business with. This will be your ‘poker’ account. Do not use a savings account as those accounts do not allow transfers.

Step 3. Open a Net Teller account on line.

Step 4. Transfer money to Net Teller using the account and funds you deposited in your new ‘Poker’ Bank Savings Account. Be sure to leave the minimum required in the checking account so you can transfer winnings back.

Now you will be able to load money into any poker site from Net Teller that is still taking USA customers.

This way, the poker world can only reach back to Net Teller and Net Teller can only reach back to your poker checking account. Never use your main accounts for anything on line. I am pretty sure Net Teller and the poker sites I suggest are on the up and up, but better safe than sorry.

See NPP’s lists of ‘good’ internet poker sites which always follows or preceeds this post. NPP strongly suggests that Poker Stars be a newbie’s first stop. It is simply the best site out there. Then try some of the others for a change of pace, scenery or the infamous ‘deck change’ or ‘seat change’.

This is just another friendly public service announcement of NPP. - Faldo

Friday, December 08, 2006

How to play H.O.R.S.E.

A wise owner of thoroughbred horses and a semi-regular player at NPP – The Wall – told me the secret to making a small fortune betting and investing in horses. The secret he said was to, “Start with a BIG fortune.”

This is a good thing to visualize when you start playing H.O.R.S.E. – the poker game.

There is talk that H.O.R.S.E. – with a $50,000 buy-in, but with a NL Holdem final table – will be the new ‘main event’ at the World Series of Poker. The professionals already consider the HORSE WSOP tourney the most prestigious bracelet of them all.

The format is a mix of limit poker in this rotation:
Hold'em,
Omaha eight-or-better,
Razz,
Seven-stud and
Seven-stud eight-or-better.

This all but ensures a wild tournament ride. Throw in the fact that Holdem, Omaha and Razz could be played pot limit instead of limit – and you have a statistical nightmare and brain drain for most players.

The game follows the rotation shown above. That is a key fact to remember. Some players may play much more aggressively in what they consider to be their ‘best’ game and much tighter in the game they don’t feel comfortable with. Take that into consideration when watching the table action.

Keep in mind that you usually cannot win the tournament the first time thru the rotation. The blinds are not big enough compared to the player’s stacks to make the kills. So collect chips if you get cards, but giving away chips early will hurt you on the next pass thru these games.

On the flip side, recognize that as the blinds increase in the later rounds of these limit games, even a simple call may make you pot committed. So raising or folding may be the only two options if you get on the short-stacked side of the players left.

Holdem I think you all have a handle on, so I will move onto the rest.

Omaha eight-or-better: Played like Holdem, but you HAVE to use two cards in your hand! There has to be 3 cards on the board 8 or lower and you have to have 2 cards that are lower than an 8 that DO NOT pair any of the low cards out there. For instance:

Board cards: A359K
Player 1 = 46KQ
Player 2 = A26T
Player 3 = A23J

Player One loses as his low cards give him hands of A3456 for low and pair of Kings for high.
Player Two wins low as his A2356 beats Player One’s A3456. Player Two does not use the Ace in his hand as it paired the board.
Player Three wins high as his two pair of Aces and Threes beat Player Two’s pair of Aces.

If the players have the same hands but the board was AA39K, there would be no low hand possible since there are only two unpaired cards under 8 showing. Player Three's full house would win the entire pot.

Razz is a 7-card stud – low only game where A2345 is the best hand. Straights and flushes do not count against the low cards but pairs do! You can win with a pair, but it is not likely.

Seven Stud is standard but the low man brings in the first bet. A pain when you get short stacked.

Seven-stud eight-or-better combines the rules of Omaha 8 or better (but all the cards are in your hand) and Seven Stud.

I hope this helps a little. I would like to see BOSHMER played:
Bagudi
Omaha eight-or-better,
Seven-stud
Hold'em
oMaha
sEven-stud eight-or-better
Razz

Now you have nearly every poker game dealt in the casinos – except Draw Poker. The action in the middle on each pass would be wild. Hell, lets put that in too – BOSHMERD – Nik Faldo

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

More Choices Available On Poker Stars for Our Internet Tourney

Poker Stars has expanded the menu of games available to NPP for our weekly tournament. We now have these choices:

1. Holdem - NL

2. Holdem - Pot Limit

3. Holdem - Limit

4. Omaha - NL

5. Omaha - Pot Limit

6. Omaha - Limit

7. Omaha H/L 8 qualifier - NL

8. Omaha H/L 8 qualifier - Pot Limit

9. Omaha H/L 8 qualifier - Limit

10. 7-Stud - Limit

11. 7-Stud H/L 8 qualifier - Limit

12. Razz - Limit

13. HOSE - Limit Holdem, Omaha H/L 8 qualifier - Limit, 7-Stud - Limit, 7-Stud H/L 8
qualifier - Limit

14. HORSE - Limit Holdem, Omaha H/L 8 qualifier - Limit, Razz - Limit, 7-Stud - Limit, 7-Stud H/L 8 qualifier - Limit

What do you guys think of the idea of the winner of the last tourney naming the game for the next tourney? Let's hear your opinion. - Nik Faldo

Nik Wins NPP #9 Boother Classic

Seven players started this epic battle that lasted over two hours. Lots of twists and turns and lead changes.

DavetheDog (Fourputt)took out his first victim with AKs when a short-stacked Cigar4John (7th) made the move with AQs. A K on the turn sealed the humidor.

I (Nik) got my 1st pair of AA (of three of the night) and got the action required as the tournament name holder Boother (6th) ran into them with QQ. Ouch!

DavetheDog took out his second player of the night when his 99 held up against a short-stacked Matchy's (5th) AQ - giving the Dog the chip lead.

I took the chip lead from Dog when his AQ {with a Q on the flop} ran into my second AA of the night. That left the Dog yelping.

But there was still fight in the Dog as he regained a bunch of chips when his all-in with K3 [and a K on the flop] took some ammo from Sev4Sev (7Forty7) and his 77.

Soon after however, Beerhog sent the Dog to the pound when his QQ beat the Dog's (4th) AQs. Beerhog had a nice chip lead at this point.

Sev4Sev got back in the hunt when he won a decisive hand from Beerhog. He picked up even more with the 'bad beat' of the night when his 44 spiked a 4 on the river to beat Beerhog's JJ.

Beerhog got crippled soon after when his 99 ran into my (Nik) QQ. Not a nice run of luck for the Beerhog.

I (Nik) ended Beerhog's misery (3rd) when his now short-stacked JT could not beat my KJ when I made the tough call.

Heads up now, 747 outplayed me and took the chip lead by a good margin. Here is where I got a stunning run of cards on the board.

My desparation allin with 64s hit a straight with a card on the river to beat 747's 99. I get a huge chip lead when my al-in little 22 wins the coin flip against A9s.

The luck factor turns for a moment as 747 holds on by winning pots as a big dog with 84 and K9 - cutting my lead to a little more than 2 to 1.

I close it out when my K6 spikes a KJ8 on the flop and 747 (2nd) has to call when his 94s gets two of his suit in there also. The flush draw doesn't get there and the long battle is over.

1st = Nik Faldo
2nd = Sev4Sev
3rd = Beerhog
4th = DavetheDog
5th = Matchy
6th = Boother
7th = Cigar4John

Reminder: Same time next Tuesday and the BIG game is on the horizon!

Friday, December 01, 2006

NPP - Poker Stars Internet Standings

Report card time. Eight Tourneys played.
Now before you liberals cry about it being unfair and we should go be average score vs tourney's played, I don't want to hear it. In other words - If you want points, PLAY!

We are using the same scoring method that Poker Superstars use on the TV show. 1st = 10 points, 2nd = 7, 3rd = 5, 4th = 3 and 5th = 1.

Here are the standings and we have four tourneys left:
1st = Nik Faldo (mikeniks) 40 pts
2nd = Beerhog 34 pts
3rd = Hlam (Herbavor) 24 pts
4th = Matchy 22 pts
5th = 7Forty7 20 pts
6th = Boother 18 pts
7th = SpartyToJo 13 pts
8th = Dave the Dog (Fourputt) 12 pts
9th = Jane/Louanna (Thai Food) 9 pts
10th = Bronco76 5 pts
11th = Cigar4John 1 pt
12th = Sack
13th = Momo

In theory everyone is still alive for the title. Four to go!