Wednesday, June 30, 2010

ThePunk75 Wins Two in a Row to Take Command of the 3rd Quarter

ThePunk75 came back from a short stack to win his 2nd NPP tilt in a row! Fourteen others made it to the felt. Well, actually only eleven did as Pre01, xxxKdogxxx and Yecats427 entered, but never saw action.

Kid’s baseball and work meetings took priority over NPP points??? No wonder our nation is falling apart.

On to the action:

20 min: An omen of good things for ThePunk75, as his (KT) flops [K9T] when Absea98 (15th) holds (AK).

30 min: Douge2 (14th)
36 min: A short-stacked (SS) Mikeniks-Faldo (13th) has to go with (KK) and a flop of [ATA], of course pot committed and has to hope K9isadog is holding just a (T). Instead, he holds (A8).

41 min: Meatsword (12th) (99) is the next victim of ThePunk75’s (AQ) karma tonight as ThePunk makes a straight.

49 min: A SS Theedouble*d (11th) goes with (K2) and a flop of [82A] but runs into K9isadog’s (A5).

52 min: Pre01 (10th) (work), Yecats472 (9th) and xxxKdogxxx (8th) (their kid’s baseball) all blind out.

1st break:
Mistermusic5 6195
K9isadog 5105
LittleRedElf 3055
T3chlady 2885
ThePunk75 2485
Suetman1 1720
Tigercub8189 1055

Somewhere before the break, Mistermusic5 and K9isadog knocked ThePunk75 from the penthouse to near the outhouse. But as we shall see, two of the three cellar dwellers at the break – rise again!

63 min: In a battle of SS’s, Suetman1 (7th) loses with (JJ), running into Tigercub8189’s (KK). K9isadog (QT) also donated to Tiger in this hand.

87 min: K9isadog floats with (64) and a SS LittleRedElf (6th) goes with (A3). A [6] flops and the Elf is knocked back to the north pole.

95min: T3chlady (5th) officially has full membership to the Faldo Luck (as in Bad) Club as her (JJ) gets run down by K9isadog’s (A6) when an [A6X] flops.

100 min: K9isadog (4th) loses to Mistermusic5’s two pair.
111 min: A SS Mistermusic5 (3rd) has to try with (A8), but ThePunk75 has (AK).

Heads up: Tigercub8189 7500 - 15000 ThePunk75

113 min: They both limp in and see a flop of [574]. Tiger bets and ThePunk calls. The turn is a [6] and all the money goes in as Tigercub8189 (2nd) has the low end of the straight with (53) but ThePunk75 has the high side (J8).

Congratulations to ThePunk75 on his 3rd NPP win this year - and 7th overall - moving up the Walk of Fame quickly!

1st – ThePunk75 – 24 points
2nd – Tigercub8189 – 19 points
3rd – Mistermusic5 – 15 pts
4th – K9isadog – 12 pts
5th – T3chlady – 9 pts
6th – LittleRedElf – 7 pts
7th – Suetman1 – 5 pts
8th – xxxKdogxxx – 4 pts
9th – Yecats427 – 3 pts

Every one else earned one (1) point. Standings on the right side of the blog.

Friday, June 25, 2010

The Faldo Challenge…Turn $9.02 into......uh, More Than That

Poker pros on other sites have tried this. Daniel Negreanu had one on PokerStars to turn $10 into $10,000. Chris Ferguson is trying to go from $0 to $10,000 on Full Tilt.

On-line stars have attempted challenges and announced them on blogs. Boku87 announced he will try to turn $5 into $100,000.

Well, I have decided to try to build $9 into a higher amount. I can’t say how much the goal is or set a deadline to complete the challenge. It will go until I get tired of it – or lose the money.

Here is how this idea happened. Ultimate Bet had yet another incident where someone hacked into the site and was able to program their computers to see the hole cards of opponents. When I heard that, I pulled my funds out of there.

I didn’t do it because I felt I could be getting cheated. I don’t think cheaters on that level bother to play poker at my stake level. I did it because I was afraid a rush of withdraws would break UB’s bank. It didn’t as I got my money quickly.

But I left $9.02 in the account there. I have decided that starting July 1, 2010 – I will attempt to build that account back up. After June 30, 2011, let’s see what I have.

Now, I won’t be playing UB or this challenge exclusively. I am a PokerStars man and play there the most by far. I do pick up an occasional tourney at Full Tilt and Cake Poker. So it is not like I will be on a mission on this “challenge” or anything.

But I will post and track my UB action on the blog. Also, I will guarantee $9 of action every month. I will be at the tables for $9 of rake and/or tournament entry – minimum – every single month. So sitting on the money is not an option.

Look for the results on the right side of the blog somewhere. It’s a risk to my ego as my results will be public – win or lose. But what the heck?

Who’s shouting out and betting on Faldo to be successful in this? ..............I hear only crickets.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Douge2's Humor Corner XXXXI

Five Minute Management Course

Lesson 1:

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.

The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.

When she opens the door, there stands Bob , the next-door neighbor

Before she says a word, Bob says, 'I'll give you $800 to drop that towel.'

After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob , after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.

The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.

When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, 'Who was that?'

'It was Bob the next door neighbor she replies.

'Great,' the husband says, 'did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?'

Moral of the story:

If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.


Lesson 2:

A priest offered a Nun a lift.

She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.

The priest nearly had an accident.

After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.

The nun said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'

The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg
again.

The nun once again said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'

The priest apologized 'Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.'

Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.

On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129.
It said, 'Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.'

Moral of the story:
If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.


Lesson 3:

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.

They rub it and a Genie comes out..
The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.'

'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas , driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.'
Puff! She's gone.

'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep. 'I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.'

Puff! He's gone.

'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, 'I want those two back in the office after
Lunch.'

Moral of the story:
Al ways let your boss have the first say.


Lesson 4

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing..

A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and do nothing?'

The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.'

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. Al l of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up..


Lesson 5

A turkey was chatting with a bull.

'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy..'

'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients.'

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.

The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.

He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story:
Bull Shit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there....


Lesson 6

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field.

While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.

As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was.

The dung was actually thawing him out!

He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy...
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.

Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your
friend.

(3) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep
your mouth shut!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

ThePunk75 Represents NPP at The Electric Stick – with TWO Final Tables in One Day!

Take it away Punk!

“Last night I played at The Electric Stick's 4pm and 7 pm tournaments. I final tabled and cashed in both.

The 4 pm tourney was much easier to navigate with just 29 other players, I didn’t have to dodge a ton of donks. Fairly early in the tournament I tripled up on a monster hand.

100-200 blinds, UTG raises to 600, UTG+1 calls (at the time I didn’t see his call), on the button I call with 88, blinds fold. Flop comes A87. UTG checks, again not seeing the other players in the hand I check with middle set. I then see the other player and he bets 1200. I flat call.

There were 2 hearts on the board, so then it looked like I check-called, looking for a draw. Action back to UTG who originally checked. He raises to 6000. UTG calls the raise. I reraised all in for 14000. UTG is quite agitated with all this action. He flat out says I had the best hand preflop and knows he is beat and calls.

Unbelievably UTG+1 also calls. Holy crap! Does one of them have AA? Or a flush draw? NO! UTG flips over AK UTG+1 shows AQ. Neither have any hearts. With a healthy stack early I was able to tighten up (TWSS), cruise for awhile.

I chipped up through an aggressive bluffer a little later. Blinds 800-1600. I have AJ in SB. UTG calls, Button (bluffer) calls, With AJ in SB I just call, as knowing unless I shove all in my raise probably wasn’t going to get everyone to fold as I am out of position. So I call and hope for a good flop. Flop comes A88. Not exactly what I was hoping for with 3 others in the hand. I check flop checks all around to bluffer on button. He bets out 7400. Pot was 6400. I think for a second and reraised all in. Everyone else folds to bluffer. He says “sneaky play with that ace huh" shows 33 and folds.

Once we got to the final table I went card dead for a couple orbits, and was the blinds were eating me alive. Walked into A10 in the BB, action folded to button that shoved her stack something like 26k blinds were 4k-8k. Think for a minute and call. Shows AJ. I knew I was behind but you have to make a stand eventually or get blinded out.

A 10 hit the flop and I was chipped back up where the blinds weren't killing me. Another key point/mistake was the chip leader to my right gave me 4 straight blind walks when we got down to the last 6-7 players. I think for 3 of those I had garbage, and if he even reached for chips I was mucking. Once we got to 5 players an even chop was agreed on, and the 7pm tourney had started we wanted in on that one.

I jumped into the 7pm tourney. Started slow, then started getting some hands and then held for once. Through the early going only got donked off some chips once when my AK couldn't get K8 to fold. Despite my preflop raise and pot sized bet to a rags flop.

He had a straight draw and hit an 8 on river. Here comes the tilt! Luckily the cards I got after were so bad even tilt couldn’t get me to call. Once we got down to 4-5 tables I doubled up on a gutsy call. Holding 10-10 in BB, UTG+1 shoves for more than I have. Action folds to me I look around, see how may people are left. Time to take that stand. I call. He says you’re ahead. He shows 77. Holy crap! A ten on the turn ended it.

Now with some chips, I make a move on the blinds with a shove with A7, BB calls all in. Crap. She shows AJ. A seven on flop and no help for her on turn or river and she is steaming with my play.

Down to two tables I get moved next to a highly intoxicated player who bordered on entertaining and annoying. To top it off he had a mega enormous stack. Obviously the alcohol was working for him. Just great, the combo of the alcohol and mega stacked equaled a raise from him every hand. This meant I had to hope for a monster hand to get him.

In SB, I get AA. Bingo! Action folds to drunk guy. He folds. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME! He had raised nearly every hand with garbage (I know this because he always showed his "monsters") so know what would BB call my all in or should I limp and see a flop. I shove. BB says what the minimum hand I should call with. He looks at his cards. He calls. Shows QQ. I flip my aces.

The table erupts, and by table I mean drunk guy. He gives me the most uncomfortable drunk guy back rub, I have ever had. I don’t want to talk about that anymore thank you.

Aces hold. Two hands later I get JJ and shove on blinds (drunk guy again has folded before me) A ss sb calls with 22. I flop a jack to end it early even though the got a 2 on river.

So now with a fairly good stack, we get to final table and after two ko's, I get 10-10 in SB. An all in from UTG, and a call all in from middle and I’m in quite a decision here. I call. Both players flip over A-8. Unbelievable. An eight hit flop, and one other player says uh-oh an eight. I said are you kidding me there is one eight left and if that hits I’m flipping this table over. It didn’t. My tens hold.

Now I am right there with the other chip leaders. Now drunk guy is still around but has been chipped down when people are now calling his raises. Drunk guy said to the player next to me “If you go all in I’ll call you with out looking.”

Next hand that player raises and drunk guy raises all in. A call and a slam down of AA and drunk guy flip QJ. Drunk guy out and everyone is happy.

Down to 4 players, an equal chop is agreed on and we play for the extra cash. We all were comparable in chips. The guy who took out drunk guy then takes out the other two players on the same hand with a river ace. Heads up and I’m down about 3-1 in chips. After and couple of hands all my chips go in with A7 against A-4 and it looks like my A7 held but 4 clubs on the board and he had the 4 of clubs.

Not a bad night.” – Punk

Not bad at all. Great job Punk!
(PS: "Drunk Guy" was not Faldo.)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

ThePunk75 Wins to Take the Early Lead in Qtr #3

Only fifteen made it to post for opening night of NPP. The weather didn’t cooperate. It was so beautiful outside. I’m in a hotel room after work, so I was good to go.

Yecats423 and her hubby xxxKdogxxx registered for the tourney, but never showed up. I will try to get a report for us all as to why.

Tigercub8189 missed because of his wife’s surgery. She is doing fine and will be home in a day or two.

They don’t have internet in the room Tiger???? No priorities, I guess.

At least we got to welcome back TresStooges to the NPP felt.

On to the action:

10 min: Douge2 (15th). Missed it because I was busy mis-playing my own hand.
20 min: A rare double knockout as Eyekall in the small blind with (9s 4s) gets all kind of action on a 3-spade flop with the [As] in it and a SS (short-stacked) Derf-63 (14th) holding (A5), and a SS Wingsfancurt (13th) with (A3).

44 min: T3chlady (12th) sees her (JJ) get run over by K9isadog’s (AQ) with an [A] on the flop.
51 min: Funtoon (11th) gets the “bad beat” of the night as his (KK) loses to the LittleRedElf’s (Ac Tc) club flush.

60 min: Yecats423 (10th) blind bubbles out and I miss Theedouble*d’s (9th) exit on the other table as we shrunk to one table right at the break.

1st break:
K9isadog 4470
LittleRedElf 4465
ThePunk75 3850
Eyekall 3495
Tomservo2 3405
TresStooges 2330
Mikeniks-Faldo 370
XxxKdogxxx 115 (sitting out)

Let me set up the situation. Everyone knows how much NPP points mean – at least to Faldo. I am going to be the button the first hand after the break. XxxKdogxxx is to my left and will survive one lap. This means Faldo will have to throw away seven hands, including my blinds once if I want to basically sit out and guarantee myself 7th. But that will leave me with only a little more chips than Kdog has now. Not good.

I would never consider that option of just sitting out. The difference in spots is only one (1) point, so if Faldo gets a hand, I have to go. But Faldo is confused and a little tilted at this point. I feel have no idea what to play (nonsense of course I still do) – and here is why.

Since T3chlady got knocked out, Faldo has been card dead – sort of. I have folded the usual crap that you can’t really play if you are the big stack, let alone hanging on by a finger nail. But every time I fold a (93), the flop came [993] – with action! Faldo probably flopped ten winners out of 15 hands with the garbage hands folded.

PokerStars is torturing Faldo. In reality, it does not matter – and I know it - but seeing it still made me cringe as I sit there with a low chip count.

Meanwhile, the (Kd Qd) and (JsTs) I am only getting are seeing a flop of [884] and two hearts. Stuff like that. This has dwindled my stack down to next to nothing. Mentally I am thinking - it’s over.

To pump myself up, I announce to the table that my comeback will commence. The laughing was heard all the way to Indianapolis – trust me.

Well, lucky for me as it turned out – the junk continued to flow. And it kept hitting – sort of. I folded (T6) and the flop came [TT3] with two hearts! Faldo was not happy until a 4-flush came and I would have been out if I had played it.

Then I folded a few more SS “must shove” hands, like (Q3) and a [QQ] turned and rivered! However, the flop had a [5] in it and ThePunk75 it turned out had (55) for a boat. I would have been out again! Another correct lay down that actually worked out.

65 min: xxxKdogxxx (8th) My folding saved me.

Finally, Faldo had to play (QsTs) and hit two pair and then (Ac 4c) and paired the [A] to survive. The “comeback” was on!

74 min: Eyekall (7th) sees his (QQ) run into LittleRedElf’s (AA).
86 min: SS TresStooges (6th) goes with (33) and a SS Mikeniks-Faldo calls with (Ah 4h), and hits an [A] on the flop.

90 min: A SS Tomservo2 (5th) goes with (A7), but cannot catch LittleRedElf’s (22).
92 min: K9isadog (4th) goes with (KJ) and cannot catch ThePunk75’s (AQ).

A long battle ensues with Faldo almost taking 2nd place in chips against these two sharks. Almost.

117 min: Finally, Mikeniks-Faldo (3rd) goes with (Ks Js), but ThePunk75 has (Ac 5c).

2nd break:
ThePunk75 19100
LittleRedElf 3400

124 min: LittleRedElf (2nd) has to go with (94) and a flop of [AJ4], but ThePunk75 is holding (J6).
Congratulations to ThePunk75 on his league lead!

1st – ThePunk75 24 pts
2nd – LittleRedElf 19 pts
3rd – Mikeniks-Faldo 15 pts
4th – K9isadog 12 pts
5th – Tomservo2 9 pts
6th – TresStooges 7 pts
7th – Eyekall 5 pts
8th – xxxKdogxxx 4 pts
9th – Theedouble*d 3 pts

Standings and totals are on the right side of the blog.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Theedouble*d Makes a Final Table in Re-buy at PokerStars

From DD:

“It has been awhile since i made a final table in a big one at PokerStars.

Should have probably strung out this final table for awhile to draw more money. But one guy to my right had a half mill in chips and pushed at me holdin AJ on the button. I just knew he was playiny chip bully and was sure I had him beat. Sure enough he had KJ. The K came on the turn.

I still need to improve my tourney strategy. Even if I knew I was ahead, I need to consider not playing there. I need less focus on each hand. Bobbin and weavin til 4th could of got me $1500 more. SIGH.

Not overly happy being the 1st to die at final table, but very happy with my play. I got in in consistently with the best hand. I was 2nd in chips approaching the final table, but just before we went to 9, I got my KK flushed by a guy who called my huge raises pre and post flop with Ac8c.

This marathon started at 4:35pm and ended for me at 1:00am. Paid the full four add-ons to play, and made 20 times that for my ninth place finish.
Also cashed for in an even higher priced re-buy that started near the same time – and made 4 times my entry.

Gee, I sure love/hate this game. LOL” – DD

Great job Theedouble*d!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

US Taxpayer Funding the Building of “Green” Cars…to be Built in Other Countries No Less

Global warming has been “outed” as the hoax it always was. That has not stopped the Democrats from continuing to double down on lying about it. And they continue to pass legislation designed to ‘save the planet’.

Those of us who pay taxes – which is an ever shrinking number I might add – have just paid one half BILLION dollars to help a small hybrid car manufacture build a "green" car in Finland. Democrat controlled budget items – paid for by Americans - to create jobs …..in Finland.

Fisker Automotive received a US taxpayer money loan for this project. Another backer of this project is a venture firm KPCB. The King Global Warming Fraud - Al Gore – just happens to be a partner. This firm has donated over $2 million to Hillary Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama.

The irony is that the taxpayers paying for this, will never be able to drive the car – even if it gets built. The proposed cost of the vehicle when ready will be $90,000. But, these are liberals coming up with the estimate of what something will cost, so you can safely double that.

Tesla Motors also received the same one half BILLION dollars – and who also donated heavily to Democrats. Tesla’s car will be built in England. It’s price tag will be $109,000 – and no, I did not already double it.

How is that “hope and change” working out for you?

American taxpayers are funding “green” cars the world doesn’t need, we will never buy, and will never get the jobs to build them. However, the companies are part of the Democrat donor base, so the United States taxpayer is put on the hook. No one spends other people’s money like Democrats.

When the Hussein Administration talked about all the “green” jobs they would be growing, they were short on the details – just like the “Healthcare Bill”. Now we know why.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Pre01’s Brighton Optimist Club 2010 Golf Outing – July 17th at 10am

At “The Jackal Golf Club” – 4141 Bauer Rd., Brighton MI – 48116

Contact: John R. Stevens jastev @ chartermi . net Or Nik Faldo’s email

Shotgun start at 10 am. Golf and Steak Dinner $105 – Golf only $75

18 holes of golf w/ cart
Hot dog, chips and soft drink lunch at the turn
Water
Goodie Bag
Door prizes

This event will have the usual:
50/50 drawing,
Longest Drive contest,
Closest to the pin,
Longest putt – for both the men’s and women’s division.

Sponsorships Available:
$100 Hole Sponsorship
$50 puts your business card in the Goodie Bag
Donate a door prize
Donate a Goodie Bag prize

Faldo’s Comments: I had the opportunity to ranger this event last year. Everyone had a great time. If you have never played The Jackal, word up – it is one gorgeous course with some great views - but very tough. But hey, it’s a scramble!

Faldo is looking to put together a team to enter. Write or call Faldo and let’s support Pre01’s outing. I’m in!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

T3chlady Plays at the WSOP 2010

Take it away Lady!

“Hi my fellow NPP’ers, Here’s the scoop from my WSOP trip.
I arrived in LV on Wed evening with my girlfriend Hapi (pronounced happy) and picked up my rent a car from Fox rentals. I didn’t know they were off-site and we had to take two shuttle buses to get to the car. Next time I’ll pick an on-site car rental place (more on Fox fun and games on this later).

Thursday we got up early with the time change and decided to enter the 1:00 Deep Stack at the Rio for $200 just to get our feet wet.

My table was a group of polite, experienced, ruthless card sharks --- game on!! One woman was giving me headaches from the beginning. Every time I had a hand she would come over the top with a whopping bet and I would fold with top pair top kicker or a mid-pair or a draw to a flush. But then --- I flopped a boat! Ah ha! I was going to get her and get her good. Board was 77Q, I held QQ. I raised. She called. I raised again. She called. I pushed.

She showed QUAD 7’s!! Game done. 2 hrs. 250th out of 300. [Ed. Note: That is what you get for taking Faldo’s seat in an event] And that was my introduction to the WSOP 2010.

I went back to the room and spent the afternoon programming until the evening deep stack at Harrah’s. That game I played a whole lot better but wasn’t getting much in the good card department and ended up pushing with AK against a very polite lady from Ohio who had AA. Game done. 3 hrs. 12th out of 60.

I went back to the room and hit the sack so that I could get some sleep for the Ladies event on Friday. Hapi showed up after midnight. She just missed the bubble on the 1:00 Deep Stack. [Ed. Note: Why is Hapi not an NPP’er?]

On Friday we made our way to the Rio at 10:00. The Poker Kitchen there is wonderful. Fresh salads, sandwiches, pizza, great beverages, snacks. We had a light lunch and headed in to the tournament. We got a rousing speech from a lady named Linda [Ed. Note: Her name is Linda Johnson and she is known as the “1st Lady of Poker].

I think who had come in 5th in her first WSOP tournament about 20 years before and had never turned back. [Ed. Note: Linda Johnson has seven tournament wins to her credit and one WSOP bracelet]. She was really great and looked like anybody’s aunt. She made it to around 20th I think.

My table was an eclectic group of young to mature ladies from all over the world. Costa Rica, Germany, France (not the eventual winner), California (they’re a country aren’t they?). The game was very very tight and I was getting NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING. Since you only have 3000 chips to start you have to make a move at some time even though the blinds are 60 minutes and start at 25 25. With 82o, J4o, T2, etc. coming on a regular basis, I had to wait for position to do anything.

I did catch a straight for one pot, but never have I been so card dead for so long. I was playing well and managed to hang in there a lot longer than my cards would have indicated. I caught a pot here and there by the skin of my teeth. It was strange to see so many players drop out so fast in the first couple of hours. And on another note, since the WSOP cannot bar anyone from the event, there were 20-30 fellows who had entered.

Every time one of them was eliminated, the entire room roared and wagged fingers at the sulking male exiting the room. One of the guys in the tournament was dressed in drag. What a hoot! Vanessa Rousseau (please check spelling) was in a table a couple over and while I was able to say hello to her early on, I don’t know where she finished. I made it until almost the dinner break and went out on two pair against trip 5’s. I was about 350 out of 1050. Had a blast.

I played cash for the evening. Hapi was out about 5 minutes before me and went up to the room. She wasn’t thinking and locked the door inside the room and I couldn’t get in. I finally had to bang on the door to awaken her because the hotel told me there was nothing they could do if someone locked it from the inside. I was really pooped. Slept long.

Saturday we decided to go to the Golden Nugget for the Ladies “Poker Queen” bracelet event. $240, 300 entries, 12000 chips. This was the event that I bubbled the year before. It’s a really good one and most of the “also rans” from the WSOP Ladies event go there for a second chance. Not my best day at the park. I was off and made some bad moves and ended up pushing with 2 pair against trips. I chalk it up to fatigue. My game was just not on. I played cash and won a couple hundred. Hapi made it to the dinner break.

We were a bit discouraged but decided to give the 1:00 deep stack one more shot the next (and last) day. So we trotted down to the Rio on Sunday and entered.

Of all the games I played, this one was the most difficult but the one that I am pretty happy about. I played a mid-range game and mostly won the pots that I was in. One hand that I lost I had JJ with 33T on board and BB had a 3.

One had that I won, I had A8c and hit my straight with 3 other players in the pot. That one was nice. Blinds are 30 min. I took a bad hit with QQ against 2 pair and was set back to my original 10K starting chips and was feeling down in the dumps. Then we had a short break. Hapi told me to fight back. She had a giant stack.

So, long story short I made it back to 30K in chips and we were down to about 100 people, 350 started. I headed to a new table and watched a couple of hands. The fellow next to me to the right was bluffing all over the place and in one case had 8To, pushed and the BB called. They BOTH had 8To and chopped! Good grief.

Finally, I caught a hand JJ. I had 32K in chips. Blinds were 400/800. Bluffer was UTG and I was to his left. He raised to 2400. I came over the top with 8000. Everyone folded to bluffer. He called. Flop was 887. He checked. I thought for a minute and checked. (Looking back I should have pushed but that’s water under the bridge). Turn was a K. He pushed. I thought again. He was down to 20K and had me stacked ever so slightly so this was my tournament life. I called. He had a King and I was out.

Tip for the day. Most of the time in these big tournaments, people don’t bluff.

Second tip for the day. Play to cash.

So – with only the evening left, I went to the Rio hotel poker room and decided to play the hotel tournament. 15 min blinds, 4K chips, just for fun.

While I waited for the tournament to start I had some dinner and played a penny slot. Much to my amazement I hit a jackpot for $300! (on 30 cents). I had spent less than $20.

Feeling good and putting that cash in my purse I headed for the poker room to start the tournament. I was playing with no fear and had a blast. This was like an on line turbo with blinds practically doubling each level. And fun it was! I ended up 2nd and won $700. Hurray!

After that win, we decided to return the car to Fox rental early and take the shuttle to the airport the next morning.

We spent an hour going around construction and Las Vegas Blvd closings and finally found the car return area --- BUT THEY WERE CLOSED!! Good grief.

Never again FOX car rental, never again. We headed back to Harrah’s, got to the room at 2:00 AM and got up at 5:00 to come back home.

And here I am. Smiling and hoping for another shot next year. Nothing is more fun than poker. I’m hooked.” – T3chlady

Thanks T3 for the report and representing NPP at the WSOP. By the way, how did the autographed photos of Faldo sell? Like hotcakes at the Ladies event, right? - Faldo

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Theedouble*d Wins, but LittleRedElf Captures the 2nd Quarter Seat!

It was a strange night of action. Most of the players did a yo-yo up and down the chip ladder, including your humble scribe. Everyone had their chances to go broke or take a big lead.

Suetman1 lived through seven all-ins - in a row - to stay alive at the final table. It was a very exciting night of poker.

T3chlady and ThePunk75 had to win tonight with LittleRedElf not making the final table. He didn’t and ThePunk was alive for quite a while, making it very interesting. Great try Punk.

We welcomed back Mowin4166 to NPP, and he proceeded to smack his old poker buddies around.

On to the action:

25 min: Derf-63 (20th)
33 min: LittleRedElf (19th)
34 min: Odds2win777 (18th)
41 min: Our WSOP entry T3chlady (17th) pairs with (Qd Jd), but Theedouble*d has (AA).

43 min: Tomservo2 (16th) has to go with (JJ). Absea98 calls with (AQ), and hits an [A] on the flop.

46 min: Meatsword (15th)

1st break:
Mistermusic5 3980
Theedouble*d 3723
xxxKdogxxx 3652
Pre01 2379
Tigercub8189 2275
Douge2 2092
Mowin4116 2068
Mikeniks-Faldo 1877
Yecats423 1600
ThePunk75 1445
Suetman1 1429
Absea98 1362
K9isadog 1268
Funtoon 850

63 min: Douge2 (14th) goes with (Ad 8d) and a flop of [5d Kd 8c], but K9isadog is holding (K5) and Doug does not catch up.

65 min: Funtoon (13th)
69 min: K9isadog (12th)
75 min: Pre01 (11th)
90 min: Yecats (10th) has to go with (55) and bubbles the final table as Theedouble*d calls with (KT) and hits a [K] on the flop.

105 min: Mistermusic5 (9th) is triple-teamed out of the tournament.
106 min: xxxKdogxxx (8th) is double-teamed.
112 min: A SS Tigercub8189 (7th) goes with (Ad 2d), but loses to Mowin4116 with his (Q7) and a [7] on the flop.

113 min: Mowin4116 does it again with (Kh 8h) as a SS Absea98 (6th) goes with (As 3s) and just a [K] flopped.

2nd Break:
Mowin4116 11146
Theedouble*d 8591
ThePunk75 7542
Suetman1 1508
Mikeniks-Faldo 1213

122 min: Mikeniks-Faldo (5th) goes with (QJ) and loses as Mowin4116 makes a full house with (K5).

140 min: Suetman1 (4th) stretched the evening out with her great battling, but finally her (Kd Td) loses a coin flip to Theedouble*d’s (44).

141 min: ThePunk75’s (3rd) gallant effort comes up short (twss) as his (A4) runs into Theedouble*d’s (As Ks).

Heads up: Theedouble*d 24000 - Mowin4116 6000

144 min: Mowin4116 (2nd) goes with (98) but Theedouble*d holds (A9).

Congratulations to Theedouble*d on his fine win, while dominating in another tourney at the same time! And congratulations too, to LittleRedElf on his second consecutive seat in the NPP Finals!

1st – Theedouble*d – 24 points
2nd – Mowin4116 – 19 points
3rd – ThePunk75 – 15 pts
4th – Suetman1 – 12 pts
5th – Mikeniks-Faldo – 9 pts
6th – Absea98 – 7 pts
7th – Tigercub8189 – 5 pts
8th – xxxKdogxxx – 4 pts
9th – Mistermusic5 – 3 pts

Every one else earned one (1) point. Standings on the right side of the blog! The 3rd Quarter starts next week. Time to get back in the hunt for an NPP Finals appearance.

Monday, June 14, 2010

On the Road Again….Final Installment

The cards finally started to turn for Faldo. First off, as I am standing in the isle to de-plane in Indianapolis, I am able to look out the window and see my bag being thrown into the luggage cart. I have clean underwear for tomorrow!!!

Second, my rental car is a free forced upgrade because the compact GM booked for me are all gone.

Third, there was no traffic jam to my business meeting. It seems there was a “no-injury” accident up the road from where I was, and it stopped most of the traffic between the airport and my business destination. We were able to get some much needed things done before the Mexican contingent arrives.

The GM Mexicans got out of there in record time and I headed to the hotel for a nap. A two hour nap – and this time I got my wake-up call.

That evening, I ate at a quiet neighborhood pizzeria and all was well intestinally. I retired to the room where my poker action gave me a 1st and a 3rd in three SNG’s. And the get-away meeting back at the plant did not start until 9 am the next morning. I used every hour of the extra time for sleep and missed our standard office 7am call-in meeting. That’s a shame.

The meeting went well and I was off to the airport in good shape. Not great shape – but ok. I was moving along at about 75 to 80 mph with everyone else – when all of a sudden everyone was slowing down but me. I had no idea why, but traffic was not heavy and the roads had space. So – in, out and around – everyone I went.

I did this for a few miles until I noticed a black sedan right on my butt. Was he copping my moves with me riding cover for his speeding? After all, the speed limit was 70 I thought. The next sign said 55!!! When did that change???

My speedometer said 82 mph. I then noticed the writing on the hood of his car…..it says…..let me look…..

I see it now…,STATE POLICE!

I take my foot off the gas to slowly slow down and wait for the bubble gum lights to come on. Instead, he pulls to the lane on my left, gets even with me – and looks at me like I asked if Beerhog could date his daughter!

He stays even with me for just about five seconds before speeding on by. It was then that I noticed he had two “passengers” in his back seat. I don’t know who those guys were, but their situation saved Faldo. Talk about a lucky flop.

As I sit comfortably in the airport on the floor, on the isle wall near my gate for Detroit reading Card Player, I hear that familiar sound of “I want sex” heels coming toward me. I look up in time to see a twenty’s year old hot oriental walk by me in the shortest mini-skirt I have ever seen. And from my vantage point, it was not long enough – if you know what I mean. She sits in the section across from my gate, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she is not on my flight. After all, one can hope she is in the window seat next to Faldo at take-off, right?

Uh……no. I don’t think she was heading to Detroit. I sat next to some liberal on his way to the Upper Peninsula to refurbish a barn – with taxpayer’s money. His “foundation” was a non-profit tax exempt government organization that fixed barns out in the middle of nowhere. And he was self-righteously proud of that. I told him what I thought……and he went back to reading Karl Marx and I kept on reading Card Player….and waiting (hoping) for the Asian lady to show up in the back of my plane.

I looked up to see a nice looking 30-ish woman in a spaghetti strapped mid shin blue print sundress, looking into the baggage compartment above her seat – one row up and to my right.

I looked up too and saw room. But then I looked and her bag was big and would barely fit. As she turned to grab it, I started out of my seat and said, “Let me get that.” I know she heard me and saw me getting up, but she said, “That’s ok, really,” and she lifted it over her head before I could get there. What I did see was her unshaven (never shaven, I’m pretty sure) arm pit!

When she did finish loading it, she lowered her arms of course, smiled and said, “Thanks anyway.” I nodded while looking at the mustache her arm and chest had protruding from the front.

I just want to give a quick THANK YOU to all you ladies out there that take care of things like that.

Men, you never realize how much you really appreciate the “little things” until they are gone.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

On the Road Again…Part III

My mind is racing as to what to do. The plane accommodations should not be a problem to change by phone on the way to the meeting – IF I make this first flight in the first place.

Even with the flight change, I could be an extra day – or two – in Indianapolis, with no luggage. I have been underwear, socks and shirt shopping at Wal-Mart or Meijer at 2 am before and don’t like it. Besides, I am sure the shirt (and underwear) selection in Indianapolis is “do you want a Dale Earnhardt or Payton Manning?”

That shuttle driver knew what she was talking about as I get thru security the fastest I ever have. I mean I walked right thru the queue and onto the carry on X-ray directly. Lucky too, the guy with the blue glove took the Swedish teenager to “date” instead of me, and I was on my way.

With the sound of Philadelphia Flyer’s fan Mr. Blue Glove’s voice ringing in my ears saying, “Take that Tomas Holmstrom!,” I got lucky again as my gate was only three from security.

Rushing up to the counter fifteen minutes to take off, I explain my problem to the lady there – who doesn’t interrupt – but looks way too bored. My poker skills kick in and I get the feeling she will be of no help. I go thru my two minute skit about my itinerary being a mess from GM American Express Travel and my bags on their way to Detroit while I will be in Indianapolis. Sure enough, as soon as I finish, she says, “I can’t do anything. You have to go to Customer Service. It’s near Gate One.” I am standing at Gate 15.

Rushing down there in 5 minutes – which means I need 5 minutes to get back – and my plane leaves in 12 minutes, I find the counter EMPTY!

I go to Gate One and ask that lady to help me since she has no plane or passengers at her gate anyway. She takes care of my luggage situation (at least it appears she did) but states that she cannot change my ticket. After all, she is US Airways and my return flight is on Delta. She was a gem. She gives me the toll free number to Delta Tickets and I am on my way back to my gate five minutes away.

The plane will leave in three minutes. By the way, if the lady at Gate One could fix my bag tagging situation with a phone and a walkie-talkie, why couldn’t the lady at Gate 15??? I am cussing the woman at my gate silently to myself. I have no breath to say it out loud, running my second two hundred yard race in five minutes.

Carrying two full computer bags, I do my best airport O.J. Simpson (I don’t condone what he did….but I understand how it could happen) airport sprint [see the old Hertz airport commercial]. The plane is boarding but the line is long. I dial the Delta number and get my flight changed – to the correct day and time - before I get in the plane. I did lose my Priority Seat however and now am in the back of a very full plane. At this point, I don’t care. Ah, but I will.

And I can’t wait for the beverage service. Remember, I still had not had a coffee OR brushed my teeth yet that morning! Final installment next.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

On the Road Again…Part II

After there was nothing left and the cramps subsided…for the most part, I went ahead and entered a SNG. I took some Tums, finished 5th and went to sleep.

The next business day was fine, so it was back to the room to prepare for our Tuesday night tourney. I went to dinner at a Chinese buffet. You would think I might not want to risk this, but it looked ok. The food was mediocre and cold, but at least I didn’t get sick.

The tourney did not go well for me. I made the “correct” fold twice early in the tournament and saw flopped quads and a flopped nut straight sail by me as stack builders. There was plenty of action on the hands too. Then, to end my tournament, my Aces got cracked. But I did my job and reported on the tournament, wrote the article, and went to bed.

Here was the deal. I figured I would pass right out and get some sleep. I had a full day of walking thru a steel foundry and having some intense meetings. Then there was our tourney and my article/record keeping job to do. It was now midnight, and unfortunately for me, the tossing and turning started. I could not get to sleep! I do remember the last time I looked at the clock; it was 1:30 am. I had a 3 am wake up call scheduled.

I had a 7:15am flight. To make it to the airport on time and to have a little coffee and breakfast, I figured: one hour to airport, an extra half hour for construction, a half hour to return the rental car and shuttle to the terminal, one hour to check my bag, get my ticket and get thru security. This puts me at my gate exactly one hour before take off. Perfect. Then I can scout out some breakfast choices in what looks to be a nice airport. I told the front desk that I needed a 3 am wake up call. I set the alarm clock besides.

I roll over to what I think is another toss-and-turn checking of the time. And as I turn to look, I remember thinking, “I might as well get up because I am not getting any sleep anyway.” The clock said 4:20 am!!!!! – and yes, I did get up! Did I get a wake up call? Did I set the alarm correctly? Who knows and I don’t have time to figure it out.

An hour and a half behind schedule and the panic sets in. And traffic at the construction site or the Philadelphia morning freeway system has easily doubled from the time I planned to pass thru there and now. Making the flight on time looks hopeless and I have GM corporate people from Mexico waiting for me in Indianapolis. This is just great.

Well I get on the road and get on the rental car shuttle to the terminal at 6:30 am, having flagged it down as it was leaving without me. I knew another would be leaving in ten minutes, but I didn’t have ten minutes. I told the driver why I had to get on this bus as my plane was leaving in 45 minutes and I was not even checked in yet. She said that I “should have no problem getting thru check in and security quickly on a Wednesday morning.”

She is correct! I am only 2nd in line at check-in. I get up to the counter, pay for my bag, get my boarding pass and turn to head to the security check point – when –

I see she is putting a DTW (Detroit) label on my bag instead of IND (Indianapolis). I said over the shoulder of the man who rushed up to fill the spot I just had, “Why are tagging my bag for Detroit?” She says, “We are sending it straight thru for you. You won’t have to pick your bag up to re-board for Detroit, sir.”

It is only then that I take a real close look at my itinerary. My flight will get into Indianapolis at 9:39 am. I am renting my car at 10 am in Indy and returning it at 11 am on the same day! Then my flight home to Detroit leaves at 1 pm – also today! I don’t think this leave a whole lot of time for getting to the supplier and meeting with the GM-Mexico entourage that is meeting me there.

One half hour before my plane leaves (probably boarding now) and I stand there with my butchered itinerary, un-brushed teeth and no morning coffee disposition. My change of clothes is now heading to Detroit whether I am on any plane or not, and I am not yet thru the security lines. The ticket-bag check line has filled nicely behind me so getting it all repaired there will mean I miss my flight for sure – which I may not make anyways.

Did I mention my AA got cracked last night too??? – More next time.

Friday, June 11, 2010

On the Road Again....Life as a Traveling Poker Player

You think it is all glamour and excitement, but it is not. Life on the road can be painful, scary and difficult.

The trip started smoothly enough. Down to Philadelphia and out to the west and into the mountains. Yes, I could heard the banjos playing, but it sounded different with the Amish playing them. Their beards probably would tickle your back, but I digress.

I hit contruction on a two lane road out in Nowhere'sville. One of those deals where they stop one side so the other can use like 5 miles of road? Takes forever. Mental note: leave plenty early for the flight out. Construction AND Philly rush hour traffic could equal missed flight.

Anyway, finally pass thru what could actually pass for a town (more than one light and a McDonald's). I stop at Taco Bell for a bean burrito and a taco as a quick "eat as I drive" lunch. Got to my destination's hotel room, prepared for tomorrow's meetings and went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner.

I then settled in for the evening's tournament and SNG action when...the stomach cramps started.

Whether it was the Taco Bell's non-Michigan Pennsylvania meat (Michigan has the toughest meat standards in the country), or the fish or the salad dressing at Ruby Tuesdays - I don't know. But it was a good thing I withdrew from the tourney before leaving my poker seat for a new one, because I was there a while.

I remember thinkging..."Boy, I should be hungry for breakfast in the morning now that dinner is leaving so suddenly."

To be continued...whether you like it or not.

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

K9isadog Wins Back to Back NPP Nights!

Well, it’s official. K9isadog is the LittleRedElf – Doneill – Boother36 of 2010. He is dominating the rest of us – and doing it as easily as his predecessors. Of course LittleRedElf is still kicking our butts too, but not at the same level as last year. He can’t with K9 stealing all the points.

What started out as a cavalry charge to the wire of the 2nd quarter has dwarfed into a three horse race for the 2nd quarter NPP seat in the finals. LittleRedElf has a commanding lead, but T3chlady and ThePunk75 can still catch him.

The irony is T3chlady will probably miss next week as she is in Las Vegas for the Ladies WSOP. Only Faldo would leave the Vegas action to make the NPP tourney. ThePunk75 will have to win and LittleRedElf will have to miss the final table next Tuesday for ThePunk to overtake him. If ThePunk75 wins and LittleRedElf finishes ninth – they tie and both win a seat!

Stay tuned. On to the action:

7 min: Wingsfancurt (18th) sees his (AT) unable to catch T3chlady’s (AK).
27 min: Tigercub8189 (17th) is double-teamed and ThePunk75’s flopped straight is fatal when the Cub turns trip Queens.

28 min: Tomservo2 (16th). While figuring out the last hand, I missed Tom’s exit.
30 min: Odds2win777 (15th) misses his diamond draw to LittleRedElf’s (AA).
35 min: Funtoon (14th). Missed this playing my own hand.
37 min: Eyekall (13th) sees his (K9) hit a straight on the turn, but K9isadog hits a full house on the river.

46 min: Pre01 (12th) finds out his (55) cannot catch up to Theedouble*d’s (TT).
51 min: Suetman1 (11th) loses a coin flip with (AK) to Douge2’s (JJ).
52 min: Merhibka (10th) bubbles with (AT) against Theedouble*d’s (AK).
58 min: Mikeniks-Faldo (9th) watches his (AA) lose to Theedouble*d’s (66) with a [6] on the flop. Where is my heart medicine?????

1st break:
Theedouble*d 6435
T3chlady 4920
K9isadog 4090
Douge2 3750
Derf-63 2840
LittleRedElf 2820
ThePunk75 1655
Absea98 490

78 min: A short-stacked (SS) Derf-63 (8th) has to try when he pairs his (8) on the flop. But K9isadog has (AJ) and hits an [A] on the turn.

79 min: A SS ThePunk75 (7th) has to go with (K8) but cannot catch K9isadog’s (AJ).
90 min: Douge2 (6th) sees his (44) lose to Absea98’s (AA).
113 min: A SS T3chlady (5th) goes with (A2), but cannot catch Theedouble*d’s (A5).

2nd break:
Theedouble*d 9980
K9isadog 9305
Absea98 4660
LittleRedElf 3055

125 min: Absea98 (4th) Missed this one.
130 min: Theedouble*d (3rd) goes with (33), but K9isadog has (KK).

Heads up: K9isadog 22000 - 5000 LittleRedElf

132 min: LittleRedElf (2nd) has to go with (Kh Qh) and is correctly called by K9isadog (Kc 9c). Is there any doubt of the outcome when the Dog gets this hand? K9 hits the ten-high straight to close it out.

Congratulations on back-to-back NPP wins, K9isadog!

1st – K9isadog 24 pts
2nd – LittleRedElf 19 pts
3rd – Theedouble*d 15 pts
4th – Absea98 12 pts
5th – T3chlady 9 pts
6th – Douge2 7 pts
7th – ThePunk75 5 pts
8th – Derf-63 4 pts
9th – Mikeniks-Faldo 3 pts

Standings and totals are on the right side of the blog.

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Six Ways for Increase Your Competitiveness

As Faldo collected the cash again at the 19th hole from Bigbrimar and Beerhog (and golf-posthumously from Davethedog - in memory of when he was allowed to play), it occurred to me that I should share some secrets about staying competitive.

I know what you all are thinking – “Heck, even Anna Kournikova has more wins than Faldo.”

Yes, but I have more 2nd place and final table bubbles than everyone else – who ever played on Tuesday - combined. And you all know I stink as a poker player. So how do I still manage to remain “competitive”? Here is how:

1. Focus on little things.

Whatever you know you do wrong – or did wrong last time you played – make sure to concentrate on not doing it THIS time. This will help you immensely with the next step.

2. Have total confidence in what you do.

Faldo kids a lot, but I always believe I will win. That is one of the reasons I am not a happy camper when I fail. I have already expected to get it done. I’m not saying you take it to my unreasonable level, but you should believe in yourself. And if you are “focusing” on not repeating the errors you made recently, then your confidence should be way up. See #1.

3. Don’t think about the prize.
This should be obvious, but Faldo fights this one too. If I get off to a good beginning, I start looking ahead to payday. This is “bad judgment.” When I am truly “in the zone”, I don’t have this problem.

But after a hard day at work and a big dinner, being in the poker “zone” for some SNG action – is probably a rare occurrence.

“Don’t start counting your chickens until they hatch” – is an old expression. And it goes along with, “It ain’t over until the fat lady sings.” In other words, stay focused on the task at hand and play your best at all times. You do that and the prizes will be there.

4. Keep it simple.
This may sound like a contradiction, but when in the heat of the battle, don’t take big chances or try new strategies. I know in tournament poker that sometimes you have no choice but to take a chance.

But lets say NPP is the biggest SNG you play in. Tuesday night is not the time to try a new game plan. Find the cheapest SNG you can and practice things there. When it is truly a trusted part of your “game” – then bring it to the main event. This goes with point #2.

5. Control your emotions.
I’ve been working on this one for my entire life. In my softball and hockey life, this might have served me well and been an overall plus in my ability to compete on a level higher than my talent would have allowed (but at what cost? – could be another article all together).

But in my chess, poker and golf life, this has always been a detriment. Some of you stay in control (or at least act like it) naturally, and I salute you. But if you are like me, controlling your emotions and staying level headed will not only help you win, but stops you from looking like a jerk.

6. Use a tough loss for motivation.

If you are serious about getting better – at anything – a post mortem on why you got beat is necessary. Serious chess players always replay the game to find out what they missed and how their opening went wrong or what was the endgame strategy they don’t know.

It should be the same with poker. Did you really get “unlucky” or did how you played the hand help in your demise?

Now excuse me while I count the Bigbrimar/Beerhog cash I won again. Oh, #7 is "Friendly trash talk helps." That's a shame.

Friday, June 04, 2010

K9isadog Reports on the Yecats/xxxKdogxxx Home NPP Event

From our glorious league leader, K9isadog:

“First, it was a great event held by Stacey and Kevin. The tourney had 18 entries, knockout chips, a juicy cash game complete with :"Fast Eddie" castle of chips, plus mighty good eats. Poker players were better than most casino, online or charity events, so deep stack play was put to the test. (Ed. Note: But, for those that already were not - were they NPP material?)

Kevin bubbled in his own tournament. Stacey took fourth and $60 prize that she put to good use in the cash game.

After a long period of let's see if they can take out the small stack out (K9isadog) before chopping, the three players (floor manager at Sharks Club and one of his better players, Nick) offered a $250 chop with an extra $90 to the winner. I took advantage of this new arrangement because I was the small stack at one point with only 10K stack to 80k and 70k walls of chips respectively.

I rope a dope and folded my way to doubling up three times when the fat stacks already were counting the cash game with their winnings. They already figured it would a $370 apiece once I was gone. It was a reluctant chopped on their part because they thought I was cooked several times.

I eventually crippled a large stack when I called him with (AJ suited) against his (55) against [KK8] when I hit my flush on the river. He thought it was a bad call because I checked my flush draw and one over against his pocket pair.

I called because if he had a K, he wouldn't go all in and if he had two 8 and even one good luck. I crippled him, then when it was over when his buddy was in the big blind was forced to call his all in for 2000 more or the fix would have been really evident. I played the next hand on a show down when I was given 50/40 chopped and won it.

That was the first knock out chip I won, goes to show you don't need to knock any one out on your way to a victory in a tournament, just the last one.

Who knows how it would played out if we didn't agree to chop 3 ways but it took me a long time to achieve a neutral status and they were aggravated with me.

I announced when offer the chop that I would loosen up a bit, and that's when I called his all in with 55 against my flush and overs.

It is an interesting debate if not offered a chopped would I have called or not, any debate club members and blog readers?” – K9isadog

Thank you for the great report, K9isadog and congratulations on a great comeback.

And to Yecats and xxxKdogxxx, it sounds like you throw one heck of a home game. Props to you. Thank you for inviting your NPP brothers and sisters, and it sounds like a “must” stop by for Faldo next time. But please schedule the next one on a non – UFC pay per view night.

For instance, July 3, Faldo will be riveted to the TV for the Brock Lesnar – Shane Carwin fight. That will be a must see. - Faldo

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

K9isadog Wins for the 3rd Time in 2010 – LRE Takes Over League Lead

K9isadog expanded his Total League Lead in points with another win. LittleRedElf (LRE) fought off a bad beat by your humble scribe to still cash in tonight’s action – and earn enough points to overtake Wingsfancurt – and T3chaldy, who had permission from Faldo to miss tonight’s action as she is attending the World Series of Poker!

Faldo was hot early as he hit a two outer to hurt LRE and hit a full house to take the chip lead. But cards give-eth and cards take-eth away. I got out-drawn and out flopped with great hands later on. That’s poker.

On to the action:

27 min: Theedouble*d (17th) moves all in with (AQ), but can’t run down Suetman1’s (77).

30 min: Derf-63 (16th) is double-teamed and taken out by LittleRedElf.
35 min: Here is where Mikeniks-Faldo’s (QQ) hits a [Q] on the turn to beat LittleRedElf’s (AA). He had less than 300 chips left and came back to make the final table! What a player!

As for Faldo, leave it to me to spit Lady Luck in the eye.

44 min: Eyekall (15th) (KT) loses to xxxKdogxxx’s (JJ).
48 min: A short-stacked (SS) Wingsfancurt (14th) has to go with (A3) dominating Odds2win777’s (JT). But a [T] show ups on the flop and turn to crush him.

50 min: Funtoon’s (13th) (77) gets run down by Douge2’s (AK) straight.
51 min: Mikeniks-Faldo takes out Odds2win777 (12th) and cripples LittleRedElf AGAIN as they have trips and I have a full house!

How do I blow this one? I still don’t know – except the deck gets cool and I get run down when it wasn’t. Still, my finish tonight was a huge disappointment after this 1st hour.

1st break:
Mikeniks-Faldo 5669
K9isadog 3706
ThePunk75 2638
Douge2 2546
Meatsword 2515
Absea98 1983
xxxKdogxxx 1936
LittleRedElf 1497
Tomservo2 1480
Suetman1 1020
Tigercub8189 510

62 min: A SS Tigercub8189 (11th) goes with (Ad 4d) but runs into Absea98’s (JJ).
64 min: Suetman1 (10th) is the bubble Lady tonight.
67 min: Meatsword (9th) goes with (AQ), but Mikeniks-Faldo holds (KK). How did I lose this tourney again????? Hint: The tourney winner had a lot to do with it.

73 min: Douge2 (8th) goes with (77) but ThePunk75 has (TT).

Somewhere in here, K9isadog dismantles my chip stack. In a SB vs BB meeting, he has a stray (T) on a [T7T] board, while I hold a (7) – of course.

Then he makes a call of my raise with (AJ) with (QJ) and hits a [Q] on the flop and turn.

85 min: And then Mikeniks-Faldo (7th) loses the coin flip with (Ah Kh) to LittleRedElf’s (TT). It is poetic justice for LRE and another disappointing performance by Faldo.

87 min: Tomservo2 (6th) is knocked out by xxxKdogxxx.
89 min: A SS Absea98 (5th) has to go with (K8), but runs into ThePunk75’s (Ad 9d).
97 min: A SS xxxKdogxxx (4th) loses with (JT) to K9isadog’s (K3).
110 min: A SS LittleRedElf (3rd) gallant run ends when he has to try with (A9), but K9isadog hits his flush (Kh 8h).

Heads up: K9isadog 10500 - 15000 ThePunk75

115 min: K9isadog 5500 - 20000 ThePunk75

2nd break:
ThePunk75 20000
K9isadog 5500

K9isadog flops a board of deuces while holding one to win a big pot. Then;
123 min: A now SS ThePunk75 (2nd) with (9 3) but K9isadog has (A2). Ah, those ducks again.

Congratulations to K9isadog on his 4th NPP win, and third this year!

1st – K9isadog – 24 points
2nd – ThePunk75 – 19 points
3rd – LittleRedElf – 15 pts
4th – xxxKdogxxx – 12 pts
5th – Absea98 – 9 pts
6th – Tomservo2 – 7 pts
7th – Mikeniks-Faldo – 5 pts
8th – Douge2 – 4 pts
9th – Meatsword – 3 pts

Every one else earned one (1) point. Standings on the right side of the blog.