Fat Russ got what he thought was the last bit of bad luck the Whale could lay on him.
After all, in the short year or so since Russ first met the White Whale at a poker game I played in at my softball coaches’ house, he went from wealthy to flat busted. He went from one of the biggest middle-size bookies and successful sports bettors in the metro-Detroit area, to an arrested, busted, flat broke guy, with no house, furniture or even a car.
His wife, who had a successful real estate career going, also lost her job since Fat Russ met the Whale.
With no future left in Detroit (and the Whale still living in the area), Russ and his wife decided to settle in their favorite vacation spot – Las Vegas! There, they would get jobs as blackjack dealers and start over.
So is that the end of story? Well, for Frank – the bookie / softball coach, and Nik Faldo, the poker player - it has been. We stayed in Michigan. But the Whale and Russ continue their saga.
Russ and his wife do get jobs as blackjack dealers. Russ’s wife gets her license back in Las Vegas – just as the real estate boom takes off! She ends up making so much money selling real estate Russ can back off of his hours dealing blackjack, and joins a tournament blackjack team.
He is somewhat successful doing that, but decides to try his hand at poker in the casinos. After all, how different can these games be than the ones he dominated in Detroit? As he finds out, they are even easier!
Awash in cash from killing the tourists in cash games, and making it to five final tables in less than two years of poker tournament play, Fat Russ enters the 25th anniversary World Series of Poker Main Event (1994).
“Fat” Russ Hamilton wins the $1 million 1st prize and – as a bonus – gets his body weight in silver from the Binion’s Horseshoe Casino! Being ‘Fat’ Russ paid off handsomely that time.
At precisely that moment, there were people looking for investors for a new gaming industry called ‘internet poker.’ They were talking to all the ‘high rollers’ and known gamblers in Vegas. They approached Russ - since he had all this new found wealth.
Most people were not touching this investment – with new or old money - as most felt there is no way that people will ‘trust’ the idea of risking money in a ‘make believe’ casino.
Russ, always the gambler, sunk a big chunk of his WSOP winnings into the venture and became part of the management team running the project. As he told Frank via telephone, “I have no room in my mattresses for anymore cash anyway.”
His investment in Ultimate Bet became the third largest internet poker site in the world – turning profits (not revenue – but pure profit) at around $20,000 an hour! Mr. Hamilton is now officially on easy street.
Enter The Whale.
The Whale, I was told, had literally been chased out of Detroit due to gambling and loan debts. Faldo was a victim of the Whale to the tune of $10,000, but got three times that amount back by betting opposite of the games The Whale picked and bet thru me. His picks were automatic losers virtually every time. I capitalized on this ‘reverse lock’ system.
Frank, however, was probably stuck $50,000 by the time it was all said and done with his dealings with The Whale. I guess at $50K, you are no longer funny – no matter how funny you are.
The Whale left Detroit for his favorite town – Las Vegas – and got a job as a phone sales jockey for a football prediction service. You know, the Lock of the Week hustlers. Whale – pushing the Lock of the Week. That is almost more ironic than a Democrat being an economist!
The Whale, in his off time of course, hit the casinos – looking for Fat Russ. The Whale had heard Russ was now ‘the man’ in Vegas and wanted to be on the in with ‘his old buddy’ from Detroit.
One night, Fat Russ lost a huge pot in the biggest game in town at the time, by actually misreading his own hand. That is very embarrassing for a WSOP champion. As Russ shook his head wondering how that could possibly of happened - he looked around and saw the Whale standing at the rail – right there in The Mirage!
That was too much! Russ immediately cashed out and left in a huff – not to be seen in the casinos for months!
Russ, then fearing the usual bad luck that follows him when the Whale appears – sells his interest in Ultimate Bet poker as quickly as possible! For how much you ask? Lets just say he sold it for triple-digit millions!
Soon after – very soon after – NetTeller, the on-line service used the most by players funding internet poker sites, has their CEO’s arrested in an airport in the United States. This sends shockwaves throughout the internet poker industry as sites close down, lose customers or simply stop accepting action from US players.
NetTeller itself freezes the assets of US players with accounts. Action on the internet dries up for a time.
The stock and the worth of the surviving poker sites plummets dramatically! Russ, as it turned out - sold his shares at a high price that no poker site has yet ever returned to!
There is a poker lesson here, NPP people. Fat Russ followed his read, his ‘gut feeling’ and the way previous ‘hands’ with the Whale had played out - and backed it all the way to the tune of millions of dollars.
Russ jumped off a ship that looked like it had clear sailing – and at just the right time – because his read told him he was about to get ‘cold-decked’.
I never felt Russ was a good card player when I played against him at Frank’s house where I got my first real poker education. I always felt I could play better than he did. Of course I was wrong by a country mile, obviously.
But what I did remember – and always believe - was that Russ was fearless! He would back his decisions with every cent he had in front of him – and more if you would accept an IOU.
If he thought he was right, he would go all-in – and win or lose – he never second-guessed or whined about the outcome.
Maybe that is why he is a WSOP Champion and I finish 4th continuously in 55-cent SNG’s on Ultimate Bet. – Nik Faldo
Epilogue – Part VII next.
PS: I really won’t have that much to add, but I always wanted to use the word ‘epilogue’.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Doneill Wins NPP #34 – 10
Eleven players made it to the felt – one shy of the record! Nice job NPP Team!
And welcome back Hlam14! Herb had been a regular at the NPP game for years. You can see his POTY record on this blog and that speaks for itself. He is joining us from his new home in Iowa.
Nahanni and Boother sat out some of the early going and ArcticBlast was late, but they all saw live action. On to the show!
48 min: Nahanni (11th) missed the first 45 minutes of action. Playing the big games on-line must take precedent over NPP action. Nahanni is short-stacked and has to make a move with (A5). Beerhog correctly calls with (Kh 8h) and an [8] on the turn ends Nahanni’s short night.
51 min: A short-stacked and late ArcticBlast (10th) bluffs with a lame flop of [386], but 7Jokers hits the [8] on the flop to freeze out Blast.
56 min: A short-stacked Rennzzo (9th) goes all-in and gets picked on by Mikeniks and 7Jokers with Joker’s (As Qs) taking the pot.
Break:
Mikeniks 3170
Doneill 3165
Beerhog 3153
Tigercub 2800
7Jokers 1517
Boother 1110
Hlam14 835
Biglou 750
62 min: A short-stacked Hlam (8th) goes all-in with (KQ) and is called by another SS Biglou with (JJ). This cripples our Iowa homeboy and he goes out soon after.
70 min: 7Jokers (7th), BigLou and Beerhog call the blinds. The flop was [827]. BigLou bets and they all call. The turn is [6]. BigLou bets and only 7Jokers calls. They get all-in on the river of a [J] and BigLou’s straight on the turn took the pot down.
75 min: Boother (6th) gets hurt by Mikeniks hitting a flush and then goes all-in with (KJ), but ran into Beerhog’s (77) and he got no help. No three-peat for Boother. Nice run!
82 min: Doneill starts his run. Beerhog (5th) gets all-in with (AQ) and is called by Doneill with (AT). The [T] on the flop ends Beerhog’s night.
In the next 15 minutes, Mikeniks-Faldo gets bad beat 4 times in a row.
97 min: A very short-stacked Mikeniks (4th) (A3) hits Doneill’s (AT). Amazingly, the flop was not [333]. Go figure.
107 min: BigLou (3rd) has his (QQ) run into a flop of [K28] and Doneill’s (K2).
Heads up, Doneill has a 13,500 to 3000 lead over Tigercub.
115 min: Tigercub (2nd) battles for a while, but his (44) loses to a Doneill flush. Congratulations on your 5th NPP tourney win, Doneill!
1st – Doneill 21 pts
2nd – Tigercub 32 pts
3rd – BigLou 5 pts
4th – Mikeniks-Faldo 15 pts
5th – Beerhog 30 pts
6th – Boother 34 pts
7th – 7Jokers 21 pts
8th - Hlam14 0 pts
9th - Rennzzo 14 pts
10th – ArcticBlast 13 pts
11th – Nahanni 44 pts
Duder 13 pts
Aqualung 10 pts
Matchy 5 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
Total point race is on the side of the blog.
And welcome back Hlam14! Herb had been a regular at the NPP game for years. You can see his POTY record on this blog and that speaks for itself. He is joining us from his new home in Iowa.
Nahanni and Boother sat out some of the early going and ArcticBlast was late, but they all saw live action. On to the show!
48 min: Nahanni (11th) missed the first 45 minutes of action. Playing the big games on-line must take precedent over NPP action. Nahanni is short-stacked and has to make a move with (A5). Beerhog correctly calls with (Kh 8h) and an [8] on the turn ends Nahanni’s short night.
51 min: A short-stacked and late ArcticBlast (10th) bluffs with a lame flop of [386], but 7Jokers hits the [8] on the flop to freeze out Blast.
56 min: A short-stacked Rennzzo (9th) goes all-in and gets picked on by Mikeniks and 7Jokers with Joker’s (As Qs) taking the pot.
Break:
Mikeniks 3170
Doneill 3165
Beerhog 3153
Tigercub 2800
7Jokers 1517
Boother 1110
Hlam14 835
Biglou 750
62 min: A short-stacked Hlam (8th) goes all-in with (KQ) and is called by another SS Biglou with (JJ). This cripples our Iowa homeboy and he goes out soon after.
70 min: 7Jokers (7th), BigLou and Beerhog call the blinds. The flop was [827]. BigLou bets and they all call. The turn is [6]. BigLou bets and only 7Jokers calls. They get all-in on the river of a [J] and BigLou’s straight on the turn took the pot down.
75 min: Boother (6th) gets hurt by Mikeniks hitting a flush and then goes all-in with (KJ), but ran into Beerhog’s (77) and he got no help. No three-peat for Boother. Nice run!
82 min: Doneill starts his run. Beerhog (5th) gets all-in with (AQ) and is called by Doneill with (AT). The [T] on the flop ends Beerhog’s night.
In the next 15 minutes, Mikeniks-Faldo gets bad beat 4 times in a row.
97 min: A very short-stacked Mikeniks (4th) (A3) hits Doneill’s (AT). Amazingly, the flop was not [333]. Go figure.
107 min: BigLou (3rd) has his (QQ) run into a flop of [K28] and Doneill’s (K2).
Heads up, Doneill has a 13,500 to 3000 lead over Tigercub.
115 min: Tigercub (2nd) battles for a while, but his (44) loses to a Doneill flush. Congratulations on your 5th NPP tourney win, Doneill!
1st – Doneill 21 pts
2nd – Tigercub 32 pts
3rd – BigLou 5 pts
4th – Mikeniks-Faldo 15 pts
5th – Beerhog 30 pts
6th – Boother 34 pts
7th – 7Jokers 21 pts
8th - Hlam14 0 pts
9th - Rennzzo 14 pts
10th – ArcticBlast 13 pts
11th – Nahanni 44 pts
Duder 13 pts
Aqualung 10 pts
Matchy 5 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
Total point race is on the side of the blog.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Boother Wins NPP #33-9 for 2nd win in a Row!
A wild and crazy night at the internet NPP tourney! But some things stayed constant – Boother ruled!
First, we welcomed back BigLou - who has been hitting the white ball with the funny sticks on Tuesdays.
Ten players entered and – technically - only two left at the 1st break! Nahanni sat out all the way to the break, and ArcticBlast didn’t play a hand until it got 4-handed!
Crazy!
It took a while for the first casualty, and then a poker game/suicide mission broke out!
33 min: 7Jokers (10th) is gone first and Tigercub was the murderer. So we are now at one table.
39 min: Tigercub (9th) slow plays (QQ) and for some reason bets into Doneil holding (A6) and a flop with an [A] in it.
44 min: A rare double kill as Beerhog’s (88) holds up and takes out BigLou (8th) (Ks Js) and Duder (7th) (Ah Kh).
46 min: The bad beat of the night! Oh, there were others, but because of the amount of chips involved – since it was the clash of the big stacks – this hand wins it.
Doneill (6th) has to get all-in when his (Kh 6h) makes a flush on the turn. Boother calls with the (Ah) and the [4h] hits the river. Boother now has a monster stack!
50 min: Mikeniks-Faldo (5th) has to make a move all-in with (Ac 5c) and is called by Beerhog with (99), and didn’t get enough help. Sure, an [A] hit the turn, but PS has already dropped a [9] on the flop.
56 min: ArcticBlast survives an all-in and Nahanni (4th) finally blinds out.
Break:
Boother 11,309
Beerhog 2355
ArcticBlast 1336
71 min: Beerhog (A3) cripples ArcticBlast (QQ) when an [A] lands on the turn.
75 min: Beerhog and Boother both call down ArcticBlast (3rd).
Heads up – and Boother has a 12 – 3 lead over Beerhog.
79 min: No epic battle for Boother tonight. His (33) beats Beerhog’s (2nd) (77) with a [3] on the flop and it is back to back wins for Boother. Nice job!
1st – Boother 34 pts
2nd – Beerhog 29 pts
3rd – ArcticBlast 13 pts
4th – Nahanni 44 pts
5th – Mikeniks-Faldo 12 pts
6th – Doneill 11 pts
7th – Duder 13 pts
8th – BigLou 0 pts
9th – Tigercub 25 pts
10th – 7Jokers 21 pts
Rennzzo – 14 pts
Aqualung – 10 pts
Matchy – 5 pts
DavetheDog – 3 pts
The Total Points Race is on the Right Side of the Blog!
First, we welcomed back BigLou - who has been hitting the white ball with the funny sticks on Tuesdays.
Ten players entered and – technically - only two left at the 1st break! Nahanni sat out all the way to the break, and ArcticBlast didn’t play a hand until it got 4-handed!
Crazy!
It took a while for the first casualty, and then a poker game/suicide mission broke out!
33 min: 7Jokers (10th) is gone first and Tigercub was the murderer. So we are now at one table.
39 min: Tigercub (9th) slow plays (QQ) and for some reason bets into Doneil holding (A6) and a flop with an [A] in it.
44 min: A rare double kill as Beerhog’s (88) holds up and takes out BigLou (8th) (Ks Js) and Duder (7th) (Ah Kh).
46 min: The bad beat of the night! Oh, there were others, but because of the amount of chips involved – since it was the clash of the big stacks – this hand wins it.
Doneill (6th) has to get all-in when his (Kh 6h) makes a flush on the turn. Boother calls with the (Ah) and the [4h] hits the river. Boother now has a monster stack!
50 min: Mikeniks-Faldo (5th) has to make a move all-in with (Ac 5c) and is called by Beerhog with (99), and didn’t get enough help. Sure, an [A] hit the turn, but PS has already dropped a [9] on the flop.
56 min: ArcticBlast survives an all-in and Nahanni (4th) finally blinds out.
Break:
Boother 11,309
Beerhog 2355
ArcticBlast 1336
71 min: Beerhog (A3) cripples ArcticBlast (QQ) when an [A] lands on the turn.
75 min: Beerhog and Boother both call down ArcticBlast (3rd).
Heads up – and Boother has a 12 – 3 lead over Beerhog.
79 min: No epic battle for Boother tonight. His (33) beats Beerhog’s (2nd) (77) with a [3] on the flop and it is back to back wins for Boother. Nice job!
1st – Boother 34 pts
2nd – Beerhog 29 pts
3rd – ArcticBlast 13 pts
4th – Nahanni 44 pts
5th – Mikeniks-Faldo 12 pts
6th – Doneill 11 pts
7th – Duder 13 pts
8th – BigLou 0 pts
9th – Tigercub 25 pts
10th – 7Jokers 21 pts
Rennzzo – 14 pts
Aqualung – 10 pts
Matchy – 5 pts
DavetheDog – 3 pts
The Total Points Race is on the Right Side of the Blog!
Arctic Blast Holds a Great NPP Game
The cards flew at the last minute last Friday. I got back just in time from my tour of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
The standard NPP game is a 1-2-3-4 limit game. The main attraction is beer drinking and yucking it up. Although, some serious poker is played.
At least by some. Matchy, Duder and Dave (not the dog) took it out on Beerhog, Faldo and the host. Not very sporting of those three.
Arctic – remember that Beerhog and I were the “nice” guests.
A good time was had by all. Beerhog or Matchy may have the next one.
The original NPP may re-open for a game in November - after the country is ruined.
The standard NPP game is a 1-2-3-4 limit game. The main attraction is beer drinking and yucking it up. Although, some serious poker is played.
At least by some. Matchy, Duder and Dave (not the dog) took it out on Beerhog, Faldo and the host. Not very sporting of those three.
Arctic – remember that Beerhog and I were the “nice” guests.
A good time was had by all. Beerhog or Matchy may have the next one.
The original NPP may re-open for a game in November - after the country is ruined.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Boother Wins Round 8 of the 3rd Qtr!
He had some luck along the way – which kills the rest of us as he doesn’t need it!
Ten players got in tonight! Nice job!
9 min: Fireworks early as Beerhog’s (AA) gets clipped by 7Jokers’ flush (Ad 4d).
16 min: Beerhog (10th) fights as long as he can short-stacked. In typical Poker Stars ‘rub your nose in it’, Beerhog makes the all-in move with (A6), only to run into Doneill’s (AA).
45 min: Down to one table, play tightens up. Boother (99) cripples Doneill (KK).
47 min: This sets up a rare triple all-in with the short-stacked Doneill (9th), Rennzzo (8th) and Boother. Boother’s (99) is the best hand going in and it hangs on.
54 min: ArcticBlast (7th) makes his all-in move with (9c 7c) and runs into Duder and Nahanni with (AK).
56 min: 7Jokers (6th) has to get all-in with his (99) and flop of [J9T], but Boother is holding (Q8).
59 min: Smashing the ‘don’t go all-in before the break cause they will kill you’ myth, Duder does it twice and wins both! He jumps from dead last to 3rd in chips.
Break:
Tiger 4130
Boother 3970
Duder 3170
Nahanni 2205
Mikeniks-Faldo 1525
69 min: I (Mikeniks-Faldo – 5th) have to make my move, calling Boother with (Ad 2d) but no help comes against his (A8).
71 min: Duder (4th) gets all-in with (AQ) against Boother’s (A7), but a [7] hits the flop.
76 min: Nahanni (3rd) gets all-in with (33) against Boother’s (AK), and a [K] hits the flop.
Heads up! Boother has an 11000 – 4000 lead. But the Tiger has some fight left in him!
80 min: 12 – 3 Boother
85 min: 11 – 4 Boother
88 min: Even!
90 min: 9 – 6 Boother
95 min: 10 – 5 Tiger!
100 min: 8 – 7 Tiger
105 min: 8 – 7 Boother!
110 min: 11 – 4 Boother (back where we started)
115 min: Tigercub (2nd) calls the blind and we see a flop of [K85]. Tiger bets his (KT)and Boother calls with his (J5). The turn is a blank, so Tiger bets and Boother calls. The river is a [J].
Tiger bets big, Boother raises and Tiger has to get all-in. Congratulations Boother and a nice heads up battle!
1st – Boother 24 pts
2nd – Tigercub 25 pts
3rd – Nahanni 41 pts
4th – Duder 13 pts
5th – Mikeniks-Faldo 11 pts
6th – 7Jokers 21 pts
7th – ArcticBlast 8 pts
8th – Rennzzo 14 pts
9th – Doneill 11 pts
10th – Beerhog 22 pts
Aqualung 10 pts
Matchy 5 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
Total points race on the right side of the blog!
Ten players got in tonight! Nice job!
9 min: Fireworks early as Beerhog’s (AA) gets clipped by 7Jokers’ flush (Ad 4d).
16 min: Beerhog (10th) fights as long as he can short-stacked. In typical Poker Stars ‘rub your nose in it’, Beerhog makes the all-in move with (A6), only to run into Doneill’s (AA).
45 min: Down to one table, play tightens up. Boother (99) cripples Doneill (KK).
47 min: This sets up a rare triple all-in with the short-stacked Doneill (9th), Rennzzo (8th) and Boother. Boother’s (99) is the best hand going in and it hangs on.
54 min: ArcticBlast (7th) makes his all-in move with (9c 7c) and runs into Duder and Nahanni with (AK).
56 min: 7Jokers (6th) has to get all-in with his (99) and flop of [J9T], but Boother is holding (Q8).
59 min: Smashing the ‘don’t go all-in before the break cause they will kill you’ myth, Duder does it twice and wins both! He jumps from dead last to 3rd in chips.
Break:
Tiger 4130
Boother 3970
Duder 3170
Nahanni 2205
Mikeniks-Faldo 1525
69 min: I (Mikeniks-Faldo – 5th) have to make my move, calling Boother with (Ad 2d) but no help comes against his (A8).
71 min: Duder (4th) gets all-in with (AQ) against Boother’s (A7), but a [7] hits the flop.
76 min: Nahanni (3rd) gets all-in with (33) against Boother’s (AK), and a [K] hits the flop.
Heads up! Boother has an 11000 – 4000 lead. But the Tiger has some fight left in him!
80 min: 12 – 3 Boother
85 min: 11 – 4 Boother
88 min: Even!
90 min: 9 – 6 Boother
95 min: 10 – 5 Tiger!
100 min: 8 – 7 Tiger
105 min: 8 – 7 Boother!
110 min: 11 – 4 Boother (back where we started)
115 min: Tigercub (2nd) calls the blind and we see a flop of [K85]. Tiger bets his (KT)and Boother calls with his (J5). The turn is a blank, so Tiger bets and Boother calls. The river is a [J].
Tiger bets big, Boother raises and Tiger has to get all-in. Congratulations Boother and a nice heads up battle!
1st – Boother 24 pts
2nd – Tigercub 25 pts
3rd – Nahanni 41 pts
4th – Duder 13 pts
5th – Mikeniks-Faldo 11 pts
6th – 7Jokers 21 pts
7th – ArcticBlast 8 pts
8th – Rennzzo 14 pts
9th – Doneill 11 pts
10th – Beerhog 22 pts
Aqualung 10 pts
Matchy 5 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
Total points race on the right side of the blog!
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
7Jokers Wins #31-7 and is Making a Move!
7Jokers is warming up about the same time Doneill did last quarter. Could this be a repeat of someone rolling up the NPP field down the stretch? Time will tell.
I got in a Doyle’s Room Tourney, thinking it started at 6pm. I registered at 5pm our time. Doyle's Poker Room is on some strange international clock and I miscounted I guess.
I figured if I was deep stacked and had a shot at winning, I would bow out of ours. Well it didnt start at 6pm our time.
Then I forgot about it and logged on to Poker Stars. So our tourney starts and then the Doyle window opens up too! A SNG with you guys and 290-player tourney at the same time, while taking notes on our tourney.
This is not the proper way to play poker against you mopes! I finised 31st, four from the money, after getting knocked out of the NPP game.
Anyway, seven of us hit the virtual felt.
2 min: Beerhog (8th) got all-in with (QQ) and Boother gambles with his (AJ) and [J] on the flop. But an [A] on the river cripples Hog and he is out soon after.
20 min: Doneill (7th) goes all-in with (KK) and a flop of [779] but 7Jokers is holding (T7).
44 min: The short stacked Nahanni (6th) has fatal kicker problems (A8) with the almost equally short stacked Tigercub (A9).
48 min: I – Faldo (5th) had the same disease as my short stacked (Ah 4h) lost to 7Joker’s (A7).
58 min: Boother (4th) got all-in with (QQ) and 7Jokers decides to call with (87). The flop of [654] kind of blew away the skirts on the ladies!
68 min: A short stacked ArcticBlast (3rd) calls the blind and the bet with (A2) and a board of [8759] and bluffs all-in. 7Jokers calls (63) and his straight wins.
7Jokers has a 10 to 1 chip lead and he wins it when his (JT) spikes a [J] on the river to beat Tigercub (2nd) and his (44).
1st – 7Jokers – 21 pts
2nd – Tigercub – 18 pts
3rd – ArcticBlast – 8 pts
4th – Boother – 14 pts
5h – Mikeniks-Faldo 10 pts
6th – Nahanni – 36 pts
7th – Doneill – 11 pts
8th – Beerhog – 22 pts
Rennzzo 14 pts
Aqualung 10 pts
Duder 10 pts
Matchy 5 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
I got in a Doyle’s Room Tourney, thinking it started at 6pm. I registered at 5pm our time. Doyle's Poker Room is on some strange international clock and I miscounted I guess.
I figured if I was deep stacked and had a shot at winning, I would bow out of ours. Well it didnt start at 6pm our time.
Then I forgot about it and logged on to Poker Stars. So our tourney starts and then the Doyle window opens up too! A SNG with you guys and 290-player tourney at the same time, while taking notes on our tourney.
This is not the proper way to play poker against you mopes! I finised 31st, four from the money, after getting knocked out of the NPP game.
Anyway, seven of us hit the virtual felt.
2 min: Beerhog (8th) got all-in with (QQ) and Boother gambles with his (AJ) and [J] on the flop. But an [A] on the river cripples Hog and he is out soon after.
20 min: Doneill (7th) goes all-in with (KK) and a flop of [779] but 7Jokers is holding (T7).
44 min: The short stacked Nahanni (6th) has fatal kicker problems (A8) with the almost equally short stacked Tigercub (A9).
48 min: I – Faldo (5th) had the same disease as my short stacked (Ah 4h) lost to 7Joker’s (A7).
58 min: Boother (4th) got all-in with (QQ) and 7Jokers decides to call with (87). The flop of [654] kind of blew away the skirts on the ladies!
68 min: A short stacked ArcticBlast (3rd) calls the blind and the bet with (A2) and a board of [8759] and bluffs all-in. 7Jokers calls (63) and his straight wins.
7Jokers has a 10 to 1 chip lead and he wins it when his (JT) spikes a [J] on the river to beat Tigercub (2nd) and his (44).
1st – 7Jokers – 21 pts
2nd – Tigercub – 18 pts
3rd – ArcticBlast – 8 pts
4th – Boother – 14 pts
5h – Mikeniks-Faldo 10 pts
6th – Nahanni – 36 pts
7th – Doneill – 11 pts
8th – Beerhog – 22 pts
Rennzzo 14 pts
Aqualung 10 pts
Duder 10 pts
Matchy 5 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
Monday, August 04, 2008
Faldo Wins BoDog Tourney - 9th Victory On-Line
It was the smallest field of the nine victories, but it was over the 45 - SNG player limit for the site and had 87 players - so it qualifies as a tournament.
I took command half way thru the tourney and maintained 1st or 2nd place thru out - being in 2nd at the Final Table of nine players.
But I found myself in last place with five players left. There was one very aggressive player (picture Boother-Beerhog-Rownder-Nahanni all rolled into one crazy person), who was raising or going all-in nearly every hand.
URIZEN11 was stealing chips, blinds and stacks by hitting two outers. He got down to 187 chips at one point with the average stack at 30,000 - and fought his way back to 2nd place with four people left.
Urizen called my all-in with (A8) and my (JJ) held up and that got me back near the top. His alligator blood finally dried up and he finished in 3rd.
When we got down to heads up, I had a 2 to 1 chip lead over BigRandy105. After a few hands, my (QQ) beat his (Ah Th) and a victory drink and cigar is in order!
I won 27 times my entry.
I took command half way thru the tourney and maintained 1st or 2nd place thru out - being in 2nd at the Final Table of nine players.
But I found myself in last place with five players left. There was one very aggressive player (picture Boother-Beerhog-Rownder-Nahanni all rolled into one crazy person), who was raising or going all-in nearly every hand.
URIZEN11 was stealing chips, blinds and stacks by hitting two outers. He got down to 187 chips at one point with the average stack at 30,000 - and fought his way back to 2nd place with four people left.
Urizen called my all-in with (A8) and my (JJ) held up and that got me back near the top. His alligator blood finally dried up and he finished in 3rd.
When we got down to heads up, I had a 2 to 1 chip lead over BigRandy105. After a few hands, my (QQ) beat his (Ah Th) and a victory drink and cigar is in order!
I won 27 times my entry.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
7Jokers Golf Tourney a Great Time!
7Jokers may have lost his airplane flying licence of a 747, but he and his lovely wife (she must have a vision problem if she married 7Jokers) and family put on one heck of a nice golf outing. 7Joker's daughter, Kaitlyn did a great job of drawing the names for all the prizes (since Faldo walked away with two!).
This is a 'must-do' next year, NPP guys! The plan is to hold the next one in May, 09. Perfect for getting the rust off for the upcoming golf season.
The talk of the tournament was of course the "NPP Team" of Beerhog, DavetheDog, Faldo and Tigercub. Our carts had "NPP" on a sign proudly displayed on the cart.
Sure there were other teams, but when the NPP Players hit the links, even Tiger would have a hard time drawing a crowd away from this group of heavy hitters (of the beer).
Even though Beerhog was left all day, Tigercub was right all day, DavetheDog chunked and chili-dipped all day and Faldo never made a putt - we still turned in a score of 23-under for the scramble.
I don't know what the handicap format is exactly, but after those calculations were completed, our score was adjusted to 1-over!
Somehow, 1-over was not good enough to win. We finished 2nd to last in the scramble - and somehow there was no prize money available for us. Our 'apperance fees' got lost in the mail too.
That's a shame!
But still a great time. Thanks to 7Jokers and his family.
This is a 'must-do' next year, NPP guys! The plan is to hold the next one in May, 09. Perfect for getting the rust off for the upcoming golf season.
The talk of the tournament was of course the "NPP Team" of Beerhog, DavetheDog, Faldo and Tigercub. Our carts had "NPP" on a sign proudly displayed on the cart.
Sure there were other teams, but when the NPP Players hit the links, even Tiger would have a hard time drawing a crowd away from this group of heavy hitters (of the beer).
Even though Beerhog was left all day, Tigercub was right all day, DavetheDog chunked and chili-dipped all day and Faldo never made a putt - we still turned in a score of 23-under for the scramble.
I don't know what the handicap format is exactly, but after those calculations were completed, our score was adjusted to 1-over!
Somehow, 1-over was not good enough to win. We finished 2nd to last in the scramble - and somehow there was no prize money available for us. Our 'apperance fees' got lost in the mail too.
That's a shame!
But still a great time. Thanks to 7Jokers and his family.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Beerhog Wins #30-6
Sorry group, but I had a business dinner in Cleveland. I didn’t make it to the table until past the break!
Then I started talking and trash talking and defending my honor and meanwhile, all heck broke loose! Three players got knocked out quickly and I didn’t get any of it. My bad! Beer whispers struck again!
Here were the standings when I got ready to do my job:
Matchy
Beerhog
Nahanni
Duder
110 min: Duder (4th) makes his stand with (33) when the flop [742] looks like it whiffed everyone. Everyone but the BB Nahanni, holding (72).
115 min: Matchy (3rd), back from a long layoff has to make a stand with (Jd 3d), but runs into Beerhog’s (AK) and no help arrives.
118 min: This did not take long. Good thing too, because I was drunk from the dinner and getting sleepier by the minute. Good thing the bed is two steps away.
Oh yeah – poker. Nahanni (2nd) makes her stand with (T9) and Beerhog calls her down with (A5). No one pairs and Beerhog is victorious! That can’t be good for anyone.
1st – Beerhog 22 pts
2nd – Nahanni 36 pts
3rd – Matchy 5 pts
4th – Duder 10 pts
5th – 7Jokers 11 pts
6th – Tigercub 11 pts
7th – ArcticBlast 3 pts
8th – Rennzzo 14 pts
9th – Doneill 11 pts
Boother 11 pts
Aqualung 10 pts
Faldo 9 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
Total points race on the side of the blog.
Then I started talking and trash talking and defending my honor and meanwhile, all heck broke loose! Three players got knocked out quickly and I didn’t get any of it. My bad! Beer whispers struck again!
Here were the standings when I got ready to do my job:
Matchy
Beerhog
Nahanni
Duder
110 min: Duder (4th) makes his stand with (33) when the flop [742] looks like it whiffed everyone. Everyone but the BB Nahanni, holding (72).
115 min: Matchy (3rd), back from a long layoff has to make a stand with (Jd 3d), but runs into Beerhog’s (AK) and no help arrives.
118 min: This did not take long. Good thing too, because I was drunk from the dinner and getting sleepier by the minute. Good thing the bed is two steps away.
Oh yeah – poker. Nahanni (2nd) makes her stand with (T9) and Beerhog calls her down with (A5). No one pairs and Beerhog is victorious! That can’t be good for anyone.
1st – Beerhog 22 pts
2nd – Nahanni 36 pts
3rd – Matchy 5 pts
4th – Duder 10 pts
5th – 7Jokers 11 pts
6th – Tigercub 11 pts
7th – ArcticBlast 3 pts
8th – Rennzzo 14 pts
9th – Doneill 11 pts
Boother 11 pts
Aqualung 10 pts
Faldo 9 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
Total points race on the side of the blog.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
7Jokers Returns …and Wins!
7Jokers returns to the NPP fold after a forced absence.
Write me at npokerp at yahoo if you need a better explanation. Thanks.
Great to have him back as he not only improves the talent level of an already incredible poker stable here at NPP, but he seems to be the only one who can keep Nahanni from running us all over.
We had eight players on two tables, but no damage was done at the first level, so we merged to one table all intact.
33 min: A short-stacked Duder (8th) goes all-in with (66) to find Nahanni’s (77) waiting for him.
37 min: Boother (7th) takes the bad beat of the night when his (KK) all-in loses to Nahanni’s (55) and a [5] on the river! There is a reason it is called River Stars!
51 min: For insulting the site, I got my usual string of garbage. The game (mainly Nahanni and Beerhog) was very aggressive, and I just never had the goods to make a stand.
Mikeniks-Faldo (6th) has to make a move with (A5) and get action from Beerhog with (AQ). No miracle five for me.
Break:
Nahanni 4940
ArcticBlast 2970
Beerhog 1800
7Jokers 1600
Tigercub 690
63 min: The longest hand of the night occurred when Nahanni bet and Beerhog called and the flop came [Qh 3c 4c]. Nahanni bets almost half the pot and Beerhog calls.
Turn [6h]. Nahanni bets 1/5 the pot and Beerhog calls again. There is a lot of time taken between bets and calls here.
River [Kd]
Nahanni bets half the pot! Beerhog thinks for a long time before calling all-in.
Nahanni loses the pot with (54) and Beerhog gets healthy with his rivered King (KJ).
65 min: Short-stacked Tigercub (5th) gets all-in with (As 3s), but Beerhog calls with (KJ) and hits the [K] on the flop.
68 min: ArcticBlast (4th) gets a Poker Stars cooler deck special when his (KK) runs right into Nahanni’s (AA). Ouch
Joker is low man at this point and survives three all-ins to hang around. He has a little fire power now.
72 min: 7Joker gets healthy when he moves all-in with (AT) and a flop of [6T7]. Nahanni goes for the kill with (J9) but misses the straight.
95 min: Beerhog (3rd) survives two all-ins but his third one has his (Ah Kh) lose to Nahanni’s (55).
102 min: 7Jokers builds a chip lead. When Nahanni (2nd) gets caught on a bluff, 7Jokers returns to the NPP winner’s circle! Congratulations 7Jokers.
1st – 7Jokers 10 pts
2nd – Nahanni 29 pts
3rd – Beerhog 12 pts
4th – ArcticBlast 3 pts
5th – Tigercub 11 pts
6th – Mikeniks-Faldo (9 pts)
7th – Boother 11 pts
8th – Duder 7 pts
Rennzzo 14 pts
Doneill (11 pts)
Aqualung85 (10 pts)
DavetheDog 3 pts
Total points race is on the right side of the blog.
Write me at npokerp at yahoo if you need a better explanation. Thanks.
Great to have him back as he not only improves the talent level of an already incredible poker stable here at NPP, but he seems to be the only one who can keep Nahanni from running us all over.
We had eight players on two tables, but no damage was done at the first level, so we merged to one table all intact.
33 min: A short-stacked Duder (8th) goes all-in with (66) to find Nahanni’s (77) waiting for him.
37 min: Boother (7th) takes the bad beat of the night when his (KK) all-in loses to Nahanni’s (55) and a [5] on the river! There is a reason it is called River Stars!
51 min: For insulting the site, I got my usual string of garbage. The game (mainly Nahanni and Beerhog) was very aggressive, and I just never had the goods to make a stand.
Mikeniks-Faldo (6th) has to make a move with (A5) and get action from Beerhog with (AQ). No miracle five for me.
Break:
Nahanni 4940
ArcticBlast 2970
Beerhog 1800
7Jokers 1600
Tigercub 690
63 min: The longest hand of the night occurred when Nahanni bet and Beerhog called and the flop came [Qh 3c 4c]. Nahanni bets almost half the pot and Beerhog calls.
Turn [6h]. Nahanni bets 1/5 the pot and Beerhog calls again. There is a lot of time taken between bets and calls here.
River [Kd]
Nahanni bets half the pot! Beerhog thinks for a long time before calling all-in.
Nahanni loses the pot with (54) and Beerhog gets healthy with his rivered King (KJ).
65 min: Short-stacked Tigercub (5th) gets all-in with (As 3s), but Beerhog calls with (KJ) and hits the [K] on the flop.
68 min: ArcticBlast (4th) gets a Poker Stars cooler deck special when his (KK) runs right into Nahanni’s (AA). Ouch
Joker is low man at this point and survives three all-ins to hang around. He has a little fire power now.
72 min: 7Joker gets healthy when he moves all-in with (AT) and a flop of [6T7]. Nahanni goes for the kill with (J9) but misses the straight.
95 min: Beerhog (3rd) survives two all-ins but his third one has his (Ah Kh) lose to Nahanni’s (55).
102 min: 7Jokers builds a chip lead. When Nahanni (2nd) gets caught on a bluff, 7Jokers returns to the NPP winner’s circle! Congratulations 7Jokers.
1st – 7Jokers 10 pts
2nd – Nahanni 29 pts
3rd – Beerhog 12 pts
4th – ArcticBlast 3 pts
5th – Tigercub 11 pts
6th – Mikeniks-Faldo (9 pts)
7th – Boother 11 pts
8th – Duder 7 pts
Rennzzo 14 pts
Doneill (11 pts)
Aqualung85 (10 pts)
DavetheDog 3 pts
Total points race is on the right side of the blog.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Doneill Wins the 4th Round of the 3rd Qtr
A return to the winner's circle by the man who wiped us out in the 2nd quarter.
Seven made it to the virtual felt and 3rd Qtr leader and two in a row winner Nahanni sat out the entire round. So six actually battled.
21 min: Aqualung (7th) has the bad luck to hit his straight when Doneill hit his flush.
49 min: Tigercub8189 (6th) was as card dead as I was last week. Very short-stacked, he goes all-in with (T7) and loses to the other short-stack, Doneill, who holds (JT).
I hit three sets of quads in the first hour - two quad 8's and one quad 5's. Only the 5's made me any money (to short-stack Doneill), as I got no action on one and folded the case 8 on the other.
Break:
Boother 4616
Doneill 2660
Rennzzo 2005
Mikeniks-Faldo 1055
Nahanni 165
62 min: Nahanni (5th) blinds out.
64 min: My {Mikeniks-Faldo (77)} (4th) lose to Boother's two pair.
Sorry I missed the hands that lower Boother's chip count. Maybe someone can fill us in. I went to open the files to start loading the stats and when I returned a short time later, Boother was 3rd in chips. I know Rennzzo got some of them with trip Aces.
72 min: Boother (3rd) goes all-in with (KT) and a straight draw, but he can't run down the pair of 9's Rennzzo has.
Heads up: Doneill 6000 - Rennzzo 4500
75 min: It didn't take long. Doneill calls Rennzzo's (2nd) blinds.
The flop is [9h 7d Td]. Rennzzo bets and Doneill calls.
The turn is [6c] and the players get all-in. Rennzzo with (Qh 8H) and the 10-high straight, but Doneill is holding (J8) for the J-high one. Congratulations to Doneill.
1st - Doneill (11 pts)
2nd - Rennzzo 14 pts
3rd - Boother 11 pts
4th - Mikeniks-Faldo (9 pts)
5th - Nahanni 22 pts
6th - Tigercub8189 10 pts
7th - Aqualung85 (10 pts)
Beerhog 7 pts
Duder 7 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
Total Point Race Standings are on the side of the Blog.
Seven made it to the virtual felt and 3rd Qtr leader and two in a row winner Nahanni sat out the entire round. So six actually battled.
21 min: Aqualung (7th) has the bad luck to hit his straight when Doneill hit his flush.
49 min: Tigercub8189 (6th) was as card dead as I was last week. Very short-stacked, he goes all-in with (T7) and loses to the other short-stack, Doneill, who holds (JT).
I hit three sets of quads in the first hour - two quad 8's and one quad 5's. Only the 5's made me any money (to short-stack Doneill), as I got no action on one and folded the case 8 on the other.
Break:
Boother 4616
Doneill 2660
Rennzzo 2005
Mikeniks-Faldo 1055
Nahanni 165
62 min: Nahanni (5th) blinds out.
64 min: My {Mikeniks-Faldo (77)} (4th) lose to Boother's two pair.
Sorry I missed the hands that lower Boother's chip count. Maybe someone can fill us in. I went to open the files to start loading the stats and when I returned a short time later, Boother was 3rd in chips. I know Rennzzo got some of them with trip Aces.
72 min: Boother (3rd) goes all-in with (KT) and a straight draw, but he can't run down the pair of 9's Rennzzo has.
Heads up: Doneill 6000 - Rennzzo 4500
75 min: It didn't take long. Doneill calls Rennzzo's (2nd) blinds.
The flop is [9h 7d Td]. Rennzzo bets and Doneill calls.
The turn is [6c] and the players get all-in. Rennzzo with (Qh 8H) and the 10-high straight, but Doneill is holding (J8) for the J-high one. Congratulations to Doneill.
1st - Doneill (11 pts)
2nd - Rennzzo 14 pts
3rd - Boother 11 pts
4th - Mikeniks-Faldo (9 pts)
5th - Nahanni 22 pts
6th - Tigercub8189 10 pts
7th - Aqualung85 (10 pts)
Beerhog 7 pts
Duder 7 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
Total Point Race Standings are on the side of the Blog.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Sev4TSev Golf Outing! - The Details
For Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Saturday August 2nd, 2008
At the Inn at St. Johns
44045 Five Mile Road, Plymouth, MI 48170
Shotgun at 1:30 pm
Driving Range included at 12:30 pm
(Warm up first?? Never heard of that.)
I think it is a scramble, but not positive.
Includes Driving Range, 18 holes with cart, lunch at the turn, BBQ dinner after the round and prizes and 50/50 raffle.
Contact Nik Faldo at npokerp at yahoo.com or
kaitlynscourage at hotmail.com
I'm in! Can we get an NPP 4some or 8some? - Faldo
Saturday August 2nd, 2008
At the Inn at St. Johns
44045 Five Mile Road, Plymouth, MI 48170
Shotgun at 1:30 pm
Driving Range included at 12:30 pm
(Warm up first?? Never heard of that.)
I think it is a scramble, but not positive.
Includes Driving Range, 18 holes with cart, lunch at the turn, BBQ dinner after the round and prizes and 50/50 raffle.
Contact Nik Faldo at npokerp at yahoo.com or
kaitlynscourage at hotmail.com
I'm in! Can we get an NPP 4some or 8some? - Faldo
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Nahanni73 Wins Two in a Row!
Men – you have work to do if you are going to derail this lady, who seems to be on a mission!
Nine made it to the table this evening. I dodged a monsoon in Cleveland to make it to the virtual felt in time.
32 min: We opened on two tables and Doneill (9th) slapped me around pretty good, hurting my chip stack early.
Fortunes changed for him when we merged to one table. Mine never did change.
He got all-in with (KQ) and a flop of [Q85], but ran into Aqualung’s (55). Ouch!
39 min: Tigercub8189 (8th) took the bad beat of the night when he flopped two pair with (JT) and a flop of [TQJ]. What can ArticBlast do with (KK) but call? A [9] on the river gives Arctic the straight and the cold shoulder to the cat.
48 min: A short-stacked Rennzzo (7th) loses with (Q9) to Aqualung’s (AQ).
49 min: I win my first, and only showdown of the night. I am now 1 for 72 in pot wins at this point, and still buried in last place.
56 min: Nahanni (33) gets healthy on an all-in with Duder (KQ) and ArcticBlast (KQ).
58 min: ArcticBlast (6th) gets runner up for bad beat. Not because his hand of (Js 4s) is that strong, but after a flop of [TJ5] and a turn of [4], it is looking much better. Nahanni has (AJ) and when a [5] hits the river, the Blast is in a deep freeze.
Break:
Nahanni 4330
Duder 3680
Aqualung 2290
Boother 1820
Mikeniks-Faldo 780
73 min: I (5th) have maintained by winning a few pots uncontested, but I finally get a real hand (Ad Kd). But the flop whiffed me again, as it did all night. Even my folded hands never hit. Anyway, Boother pairs on the river to beat my ace and put me out of Poker Stars Hell – for tonight anyway (finish 1 for 110 hands in showdowns).
81 min: Boother (4th) loses his coin flip with (JJ) to Duder’s (AQ) when Duder pairs.
93 min: Aqualung (3rd) shares a similar fate as his (AJ) loses to Nahanni’s (66).
Chips are close to even for the heads up match between Duder and Nahanni.
104 min: Nahanni wins a big pot and takes a 11500 - 2000 lead!
107 min: Now it is 12500 – 1000 Nahanni.
109 min: Now it is 9000 – 4500 Nahanni. Uh-oh. Duder, getting back in it?
111 min: Uh - no. Nahanni (1st) wins it as her pair of threes beats Duder’s bluff. Nice double win, Nahanni!
1st – Nahanni 21 pts
2nd – Duder 7 pts
3rd – Aqualung (10 pts)
4th – Boother 6 pts
5th – Mikeniks-Faldo (6 pts)
6th – ArcticBlast
7th – Rennzzo 7 pts
8th – Tigercub8189 10 pts
9th – Doneill (1 pt)
Beerhog 7 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
Grand total point race is on the blog!
Nine made it to the table this evening. I dodged a monsoon in Cleveland to make it to the virtual felt in time.
32 min: We opened on two tables and Doneill (9th) slapped me around pretty good, hurting my chip stack early.
Fortunes changed for him when we merged to one table. Mine never did change.
He got all-in with (KQ) and a flop of [Q85], but ran into Aqualung’s (55). Ouch!
39 min: Tigercub8189 (8th) took the bad beat of the night when he flopped two pair with (JT) and a flop of [TQJ]. What can ArticBlast do with (KK) but call? A [9] on the river gives Arctic the straight and the cold shoulder to the cat.
48 min: A short-stacked Rennzzo (7th) loses with (Q9) to Aqualung’s (AQ).
49 min: I win my first, and only showdown of the night. I am now 1 for 72 in pot wins at this point, and still buried in last place.
56 min: Nahanni (33) gets healthy on an all-in with Duder (KQ) and ArcticBlast (KQ).
58 min: ArcticBlast (6th) gets runner up for bad beat. Not because his hand of (Js 4s) is that strong, but after a flop of [TJ5] and a turn of [4], it is looking much better. Nahanni has (AJ) and when a [5] hits the river, the Blast is in a deep freeze.
Break:
Nahanni 4330
Duder 3680
Aqualung 2290
Boother 1820
Mikeniks-Faldo 780
73 min: I (5th) have maintained by winning a few pots uncontested, but I finally get a real hand (Ad Kd). But the flop whiffed me again, as it did all night. Even my folded hands never hit. Anyway, Boother pairs on the river to beat my ace and put me out of Poker Stars Hell – for tonight anyway (finish 1 for 110 hands in showdowns).
81 min: Boother (4th) loses his coin flip with (JJ) to Duder’s (AQ) when Duder pairs.
93 min: Aqualung (3rd) shares a similar fate as his (AJ) loses to Nahanni’s (66).
Chips are close to even for the heads up match between Duder and Nahanni.
104 min: Nahanni wins a big pot and takes a 11500 - 2000 lead!
107 min: Now it is 12500 – 1000 Nahanni.
109 min: Now it is 9000 – 4500 Nahanni. Uh-oh. Duder, getting back in it?
111 min: Uh - no. Nahanni (1st) wins it as her pair of threes beats Duder’s bluff. Nice double win, Nahanni!
1st – Nahanni 21 pts
2nd – Duder 7 pts
3rd – Aqualung (10 pts)
4th – Boother 6 pts
5th – Mikeniks-Faldo (6 pts)
6th – ArcticBlast
7th – Rennzzo 7 pts
8th – Tigercub8189 10 pts
9th – Doneill (1 pt)
Beerhog 7 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
Grand total point race is on the blog!
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Nahanni Wins Tourney #2 of Quarter #3
Sorry I was not there to record the festivities.
Family BBQ at my house and I was the cook!
Lots of MIA’s tonight. Tigercub missing is a surprise.
DavetheDog had promised a rebirth, but it is the week of the 4th.
Beerhog is out of town and I figured him to be out.
Probably ditto for BigLou.
Shaping up to be a two-tabler next week I'm predicting!
Anyway,
1st – Nahanni 11 pts
2nd – Rennzzo 7 pts
3rd – Aqualung (5 pts)
4th – Boother36 3 pts
5th – Doneill (1 pt)
6th – Duder1123
7th – ArticBlast1
Tigercub8189 10 pts
Beerhog 7 pts
Mikeniks-Faldo (5 pts)
DavetheDog 3 pts
Total points race on side of blog.
Family BBQ at my house and I was the cook!
Lots of MIA’s tonight. Tigercub missing is a surprise.
DavetheDog had promised a rebirth, but it is the week of the 4th.
Beerhog is out of town and I figured him to be out.
Probably ditto for BigLou.
Shaping up to be a two-tabler next week I'm predicting!
Anyway,
1st – Nahanni 11 pts
2nd – Rennzzo 7 pts
3rd – Aqualung (5 pts)
4th – Boother36 3 pts
5th – Doneill (1 pt)
6th – Duder1123
7th – ArticBlast1
Tigercub8189 10 pts
Beerhog 7 pts
Mikeniks-Faldo (5 pts)
DavetheDog 3 pts
Total points race on side of blog.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Tigercub Wins to Take the Lead in Quarter #3
Nine players hit the virtual felt this night. Dave the Dog made a triumpant return from a half year hiatus. For some of the newcomers, this entire blog and then league idea was Dave's. Feel free to cuss him every chance you get.
30 min: The play was cautious and slow early. After all, we have a long way to go in this quarter. But finally BigLou (9th) has to go all-in with (AT) and runs into Doneill's (AK).
This looks familiar. Will Doneill continue crushing his NPP buddies?
34 min: DavetheDog calls Doneill's all-in with (Jh Th). Doneill's (AK) loses as a [J] hits the flop. Ouch! The 2nd quarter champ is crippled.
35 min: Doneill's (8th) luck did not improve. He gets all-in in a rare three-way with Duder and Rennzzo, and Duder hits the straight.
41 min: Those chips must be cursed because Duder (7th) goes all-in when his (AK) hits a flop of [A9X]. But Beerhog is holding (A9). Like I said, those chips appear cursed. More on that curse later.
And then fireworks begin for a while.
47 min: Rennzzo gets hurt badly as his (AJ) loses bets to Tigercub who holds (A5) and an [A5X] flop.
48 min: Short stacked Rennzzo (Kh Jh) gets some chips back as his all-in gets called by another three-way with Nahanni (77) and Tigercub (KQ). He hits his flush on the flop, and Nahanni picks up a side pot with trip 7's.
49 min: Rennzzo (6th) can't be saved as his next all-in (T6) runs into Tigercub's (AK).
50 min: Another 3-way??? What is going on? Tigercub (77) and I (Mikeniks-Faldo) get hurt (QQ), as Nahanni's all-in with (KJ) hits a [K] on the flop.
56 min: Well, they used to be rare, but not tonight. Another 3-way. This time we all get all-in on the river! Nahanni's (5th) flush is buried by Tigercub's 555JJ full house for side pot action. But the main pot is mine with the JJJ55 full house.
Whew! Break:
Beerhog 6040
Mikeniks 3680
DavetheDog 2000
Tigercub 1780
65 min: I got paid back by Tigercub as his QQQ55 full house beat my 555QQ. I knew he had the (Q) but called anyway. Where's my sign? Anyway, I went from 2nd to last.
76 min: I (Mikeniks) was getting very low. But Davethedog (4th) beat me to the bubble as his (AQ) hit a pair on the turn [Q]. But Beerhog had (T5) and had hit the flop [TT6]. Ouch! No lady to save him on the river.
77 min: I (Mikeniks) follow the Dog as my (AQ) ran into Beerhog's (TT) and I got no help.
Well heads up and Beerhog has 10000 and Tigercub has 3500. Remember when Beerhog won them, I mentioned that Doneill's chips may have been cursed?
80 min: Beerhog 7500 - Tigercub 6000
85 min: Beerhog 7000 - Tigercub 6500
90 min: Beerhog 3000 - Tigercub 10500
95 min: Beerhog (2nd) makes his move with (74) as the flop [TT7] hit him. Tigercub calls with (QT)! A [44] turn and river give the Cat the better full house. We saw that all night!
Congratulations Tigercub8189 on win #2 on NPP!
1st - Tigercub8189 10 pts
2nd - Beerhog 7 pts
3rd - Mikeniks-Faldo (5pts)
4th - DavetheDog 3 pts
5th - Nahanni 1 pt
6th - Rennzzo
7th - Duder
8th - Doneill
9th - BigLou
Total points race is on the side of the blog.
30 min: The play was cautious and slow early. After all, we have a long way to go in this quarter. But finally BigLou (9th) has to go all-in with (AT) and runs into Doneill's (AK).
This looks familiar. Will Doneill continue crushing his NPP buddies?
34 min: DavetheDog calls Doneill's all-in with (Jh Th). Doneill's (AK) loses as a [J] hits the flop. Ouch! The 2nd quarter champ is crippled.
35 min: Doneill's (8th) luck did not improve. He gets all-in in a rare three-way with Duder and Rennzzo, and Duder hits the straight.
41 min: Those chips must be cursed because Duder (7th) goes all-in when his (AK) hits a flop of [A9X]. But Beerhog is holding (A9). Like I said, those chips appear cursed. More on that curse later.
And then fireworks begin for a while.
47 min: Rennzzo gets hurt badly as his (AJ) loses bets to Tigercub who holds (A5) and an [A5X] flop.
48 min: Short stacked Rennzzo (Kh Jh) gets some chips back as his all-in gets called by another three-way with Nahanni (77) and Tigercub (KQ). He hits his flush on the flop, and Nahanni picks up a side pot with trip 7's.
49 min: Rennzzo (6th) can't be saved as his next all-in (T6) runs into Tigercub's (AK).
50 min: Another 3-way??? What is going on? Tigercub (77) and I (Mikeniks-Faldo) get hurt (QQ), as Nahanni's all-in with (KJ) hits a [K] on the flop.
56 min: Well, they used to be rare, but not tonight. Another 3-way. This time we all get all-in on the river! Nahanni's (5th) flush is buried by Tigercub's 555JJ full house for side pot action. But the main pot is mine with the JJJ55 full house.
Whew! Break:
Beerhog 6040
Mikeniks 3680
DavetheDog 2000
Tigercub 1780
65 min: I got paid back by Tigercub as his QQQ55 full house beat my 555QQ. I knew he had the (Q) but called anyway. Where's my sign? Anyway, I went from 2nd to last.
76 min: I (Mikeniks) was getting very low. But Davethedog (4th) beat me to the bubble as his (AQ) hit a pair on the turn [Q]. But Beerhog had (T5) and had hit the flop [TT6]. Ouch! No lady to save him on the river.
77 min: I (Mikeniks) follow the Dog as my (AQ) ran into Beerhog's (TT) and I got no help.
Well heads up and Beerhog has 10000 and Tigercub has 3500. Remember when Beerhog won them, I mentioned that Doneill's chips may have been cursed?
80 min: Beerhog 7500 - Tigercub 6000
85 min: Beerhog 7000 - Tigercub 6500
90 min: Beerhog 3000 - Tigercub 10500
95 min: Beerhog (2nd) makes his move with (74) as the flop [TT7] hit him. Tigercub calls with (QT)! A [44] turn and river give the Cat the better full house. We saw that all night!
Congratulations Tigercub8189 on win #2 on NPP!
1st - Tigercub8189 10 pts
2nd - Beerhog 7 pts
3rd - Mikeniks-Faldo (5pts)
4th - DavetheDog 3 pts
5th - Nahanni 1 pt
6th - Rennzzo
7th - Duder
8th - Doneill
9th - BigLou
Total points race is on the side of the blog.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Doneill Destroys the NPP 2nd Quarter in Five Rounds!
Eight players showed up for the 2nd Quarter Final to be part of the Doneill Death March.
The only player missing that still had a shot was Nahanni. I'm surprised by that absentee. However, Boother and Beerhog showed up to add gusto to the festivities.
10 min: Gusto was given early as Beerhog (8th) and Rownder (7th) get all-in with Doneill (TT). His [T] hits the flop to eliminate the (AA) and (JJ) of Beerhog and Rownder. Ouch!
Rownder can still finish 1st with a Boother, Rennzzo, Duder, Doneill, Tigercub finish, so he is not eliminated yet!
Chips:
Doneill 4100
Duder 2080
Tigercub 1679
BigLou 1450
Rennzzo 1450
20 min:
Chips:
Doneill 4000
Duder 1945
Tigercub 1740
BigLou 1430
Rennzzo 1345
30 min:
Chips:
Doneill 3745
Duder 2283
Tigercub 1500
BigLou 1310
Rennzzo 1165
33 min: BigLou gets healthy as his (QQ) runs over Boother’s (JJ).
40 min:
Chips:
Doneill 3745
Duder 3608
BigLou 2595
Tigercub 825
Rennzzo 665
45 min: Boother (6th) ran into BigLou’s straight to end his night as spoiler. That elimination ends Rowder’s hope to clinch a seat tonight. But the man still has a stranglehold on the total points seat right now!
48 min: Tigercub (5th) has to go all-in with (99) and gets action from Duder with (AK). An [A] on the turn ends Tiger’s hopes for a seat in the 2nd quarter - as he needed a 3rd or better finish with help.
50 min:
Chips:
Duder 4933
Doneill 3045
BigLou 2882
Rennzzo 740
52 min: Rennzzo gets back in it as his (AK) doubles up against BigLou’s (99) with an [A] on the turn. Must be the night for (99) to go night-night.
Break: Four players left – all with a chance for the 2nd Quarter Seat!
Duder 4983
Doneill 2995
BigLou 2892
Rennzzo 1130
65 min:
Chips:
Doneill 5095
Duder 3108
BigLou 2292
Rennzzo 1505
67 min: BigLou (4th) hits a straight on the flop and sort of slow-plays it. Duder calls him with (As 7s) and one spade on the flop. When the turn is a [S], BigLou bets a good amount but Duder calls and hits the [S] on the river. BigLou can’t lay it down and he is out of contention for this seat tonight.
71 min: Rennzzo hits quad 6’s on Duder to take 2nd place now behind Doneill.
75 min:
Chips:
Doneill 4765
Rennzzo 4225
Duder 3050
This has been the Doneill-Duder Show all night. Where did this Rennzzo guy come from?
85 min:
Chips:
Doneill 7680 (won big pot on Ace-high!)
Rennzzo 2225
Duder 2025
86 min: Duder (3rd) hits a pair on the river and gives it a go, only to find Doneill had hit his straight on the same river card. No seat for Duder tonight.
Heads up:
Doneill 10,000
Rennzzo 2000
If Rennzzo wins this, they both get a seat, since they would both have 35 points! I don’t know if they had calculated that out or not. The big chip lead makes it irrelevant anyway.
90 min:
Doneill 7500
Rennzzo 4500
92 min: Rennzzo (2nd) hits a flop with (Js 6s) with a [6 3 2] flop. Trying to buy the pot right there, he moves all-in with top pair, but Doneill has (32). No help arrives and Doneill claims seat #3 in the finals!
What a butt kicking handed out to the rest of the NPP boys by Doneill!
He only played in 5 of the 12 tourneys and takes the seat! Wow! That is a 1st class crush!
1st – Doneill 38 pts (seat #3)
2nd – Rennzzo 32 pts
3rd – Duder 31 pts
4th – BigLou 34 pts
5th – Tigercub 30 pts
6th – Boother 14 pts
7th – Rownder 33 pts
8th – Beerhog 17 pts
MikeNiks (28 pts)
Nahanni 26 pts
ArcticBlast 16 pts
Aqualung 7 pts
Sev4TSev 3 pts
McGuiness 3 pts
You got to love the closeness of the race! Seven players had a shot on week #12.
Total points race is posted on the side of the blog.
The only player missing that still had a shot was Nahanni. I'm surprised by that absentee. However, Boother and Beerhog showed up to add gusto to the festivities.
10 min: Gusto was given early as Beerhog (8th) and Rownder (7th) get all-in with Doneill (TT). His [T] hits the flop to eliminate the (AA) and (JJ) of Beerhog and Rownder. Ouch!
Rownder can still finish 1st with a Boother, Rennzzo, Duder, Doneill, Tigercub finish, so he is not eliminated yet!
Chips:
Doneill 4100
Duder 2080
Tigercub 1679
BigLou 1450
Rennzzo 1450
20 min:
Chips:
Doneill 4000
Duder 1945
Tigercub 1740
BigLou 1430
Rennzzo 1345
30 min:
Chips:
Doneill 3745
Duder 2283
Tigercub 1500
BigLou 1310
Rennzzo 1165
33 min: BigLou gets healthy as his (QQ) runs over Boother’s (JJ).
40 min:
Chips:
Doneill 3745
Duder 3608
BigLou 2595
Tigercub 825
Rennzzo 665
45 min: Boother (6th) ran into BigLou’s straight to end his night as spoiler. That elimination ends Rowder’s hope to clinch a seat tonight. But the man still has a stranglehold on the total points seat right now!
48 min: Tigercub (5th) has to go all-in with (99) and gets action from Duder with (AK). An [A] on the turn ends Tiger’s hopes for a seat in the 2nd quarter - as he needed a 3rd or better finish with help.
50 min:
Chips:
Duder 4933
Doneill 3045
BigLou 2882
Rennzzo 740
52 min: Rennzzo gets back in it as his (AK) doubles up against BigLou’s (99) with an [A] on the turn. Must be the night for (99) to go night-night.
Break: Four players left – all with a chance for the 2nd Quarter Seat!
Duder 4983
Doneill 2995
BigLou 2892
Rennzzo 1130
65 min:
Chips:
Doneill 5095
Duder 3108
BigLou 2292
Rennzzo 1505
67 min: BigLou (4th) hits a straight on the flop and sort of slow-plays it. Duder calls him with (As 7s) and one spade on the flop. When the turn is a [S], BigLou bets a good amount but Duder calls and hits the [S] on the river. BigLou can’t lay it down and he is out of contention for this seat tonight.
71 min: Rennzzo hits quad 6’s on Duder to take 2nd place now behind Doneill.
75 min:
Chips:
Doneill 4765
Rennzzo 4225
Duder 3050
This has been the Doneill-Duder Show all night. Where did this Rennzzo guy come from?
85 min:
Chips:
Doneill 7680 (won big pot on Ace-high!)
Rennzzo 2225
Duder 2025
86 min: Duder (3rd) hits a pair on the river and gives it a go, only to find Doneill had hit his straight on the same river card. No seat for Duder tonight.
Heads up:
Doneill 10,000
Rennzzo 2000
If Rennzzo wins this, they both get a seat, since they would both have 35 points! I don’t know if they had calculated that out or not. The big chip lead makes it irrelevant anyway.
90 min:
Doneill 7500
Rennzzo 4500
92 min: Rennzzo (2nd) hits a flop with (Js 6s) with a [6 3 2] flop. Trying to buy the pot right there, he moves all-in with top pair, but Doneill has (32). No help arrives and Doneill claims seat #3 in the finals!
What a butt kicking handed out to the rest of the NPP boys by Doneill!
He only played in 5 of the 12 tourneys and takes the seat! Wow! That is a 1st class crush!
1st – Doneill 38 pts (seat #3)
2nd – Rennzzo 32 pts
3rd – Duder 31 pts
4th – BigLou 34 pts
5th – Tigercub 30 pts
6th – Boother 14 pts
7th – Rownder 33 pts
8th – Beerhog 17 pts
MikeNiks (28 pts)
Nahanni 26 pts
ArcticBlast 16 pts
Aqualung 7 pts
Sev4TSev 3 pts
McGuiness 3 pts
You got to love the closeness of the race! Seven players had a shot on week #12.
Total points race is posted on the side of the blog.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Legend of the White Whale – Part V
When we last left our cast of characters:
Frank (my bookie – sports betting – poker player – traveling team softball coach),
Fat Russ (Big time bookie – big time sports bettor – poker player) and the
White Whale (part time employment, part time softball starter for the Big Team and full time pot stirrer);
Russ had just thrown the White Whale physically out of Frank’s house. He did this because Russ was convinced that the White Whale was a ‘black cat’ – total bad luck. It was becoming such an obsession with Fat Russ that the friendship and betting partnership between him and Frank was starting to suffer.
Frank had confided in me that although he didn’t believe in superstitions, since he hired the White Whale to replace me, things were ‘going south’. “The guy is obnoxious and a jinx, but he is just too damn funny to not have around somewhere.”
Russ did not want the Whale anywhere around him. He even paid the White Whale $100 to stay away from Frank’s house the night of the poker game (hence the reason for the ‘assistance in leaving’ mentioned earlier).
Russ made Frank call him only when The Whale was not in earshot of the phone where Russ might hear his voice and know The Whale was present. It had become an obsession.
But the banishment from contact did not stop Fat Russ from sinking. It literally seemed from the moment Fat Russ set eyes on the White Whale, his luck disappeared. Russ even offered to pay me 5 times what I was making at my new 'legit' job, if I would go back and work for Frank.
My soon to be Mrs. Faldo was not impressed with the offer, so that ended that.
[I don’t know how many millions of dollars she may have cost me in the future, but I’m getting ahead of myself. "In the poker game of life - women are the rake!" - Worm, in Rounders]
Russ’s bad luck continued on many fronts. His poker playing was break even or very little profit. His booking business was getting beat. His sports bets were losing, whether he went with Frank or they went opposite. Frank meanwhile stayed afloat only by the wins he got when him and Russ differed.
Russ’s wife got fired from her real estate job for some commission ‘disagreements’ (maybe related to the beats Russ was suffering) – let’s just put it that way – and job offers in the Detroit area were not about to be forthcoming.
Then, one night right after Fat Russ had just grabbed the huge chunk of betting player’s winning cash that Frank owed Russ from another losing weekend, the police raided Russ’s house! Yes, The Whale had dropped it off and was nabbed at the end of the block - but not charged with anything.
Remember even black cats have nine lives.
The authorities took Russ’s house, all the cash found, his car and of course arrested him. The charges were later reduced and a no contest plea was given. Punishment was no jail time, but a big fine was paid (a loan from Frank) on top of surrendering everything else the authorities took.
Now, flat busted, no home or property, and both out of work with no prospects, Fat Russ and his wife decide to head to their favorite city – Las Vegas
- to get jobs as ‘blackjack dealers,’
- to just take it easy and most importantly
– escape the White Whale.
They do,
they don't,
and they do for a while.
But that is for Part VI.
Frank (my bookie – sports betting – poker player – traveling team softball coach),
Fat Russ (Big time bookie – big time sports bettor – poker player) and the
White Whale (part time employment, part time softball starter for the Big Team and full time pot stirrer);
Russ had just thrown the White Whale physically out of Frank’s house. He did this because Russ was convinced that the White Whale was a ‘black cat’ – total bad luck. It was becoming such an obsession with Fat Russ that the friendship and betting partnership between him and Frank was starting to suffer.
Frank had confided in me that although he didn’t believe in superstitions, since he hired the White Whale to replace me, things were ‘going south’. “The guy is obnoxious and a jinx, but he is just too damn funny to not have around somewhere.”
Russ did not want the Whale anywhere around him. He even paid the White Whale $100 to stay away from Frank’s house the night of the poker game (hence the reason for the ‘assistance in leaving’ mentioned earlier).
Russ made Frank call him only when The Whale was not in earshot of the phone where Russ might hear his voice and know The Whale was present. It had become an obsession.
But the banishment from contact did not stop Fat Russ from sinking. It literally seemed from the moment Fat Russ set eyes on the White Whale, his luck disappeared. Russ even offered to pay me 5 times what I was making at my new 'legit' job, if I would go back and work for Frank.
My soon to be Mrs. Faldo was not impressed with the offer, so that ended that.
[I don’t know how many millions of dollars she may have cost me in the future, but I’m getting ahead of myself. "In the poker game of life - women are the rake!" - Worm, in Rounders]
Russ’s bad luck continued on many fronts. His poker playing was break even or very little profit. His booking business was getting beat. His sports bets were losing, whether he went with Frank or they went opposite. Frank meanwhile stayed afloat only by the wins he got when him and Russ differed.
Russ’s wife got fired from her real estate job for some commission ‘disagreements’ (maybe related to the beats Russ was suffering) – let’s just put it that way – and job offers in the Detroit area were not about to be forthcoming.
Then, one night right after Fat Russ had just grabbed the huge chunk of betting player’s winning cash that Frank owed Russ from another losing weekend, the police raided Russ’s house! Yes, The Whale had dropped it off and was nabbed at the end of the block - but not charged with anything.
Remember even black cats have nine lives.
The authorities took Russ’s house, all the cash found, his car and of course arrested him. The charges were later reduced and a no contest plea was given. Punishment was no jail time, but a big fine was paid (a loan from Frank) on top of surrendering everything else the authorities took.
Now, flat busted, no home or property, and both out of work with no prospects, Fat Russ and his wife decide to head to their favorite city – Las Vegas
- to get jobs as ‘blackjack dealers,’
- to just take it easy and most importantly
– escape the White Whale.
They do,
they don't,
and they do for a while.
But that is for Part VI.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Beerhog Wins NPP #23-11 for 2008
The newcomer and NPP destroyer Doneill continued to smack us around thru most of the evening. He started out beating the daylights out of us - with no mercy - and then got aggressive! It was very impressive poker.
Beerhog made a nice comeback at the end to win it!
The tourney of seven players was over in less than 80 minutes total!
14 min: BigLou (7th) slow-played his KK pre-flop and went all-in post flop, but Doneill hit trip 5’s.
33 min: ArcticBlast (6th) was late getting involved and had got blinded down some. He had to make his move with (TT) and ran into Doneil’s (AK), who hit the [K] on the river.
40 min: Tigercub got run over by a short-stack like me (Faldo). My (55) and Tiger’s (Ah Qh) hook up in a coin flip. Tiger gets his [A] on the flop, but I hit my [5] on the river.
51 min: Tigercub (5th) is put out of his misery when his (Q3) hits a flop of [KQ8] but Doneill’s (JT) picks up the [9] on the turn for the straight.
57 min: Rennzzo (4th), who also was late getting to the game, had to make his move with (Th 9s) and a flop of [Tc 7c 3c]. I (Mikeniks-Faldo) was also short-stacked and had to call with (Qc 9h). The turn completes my flush.
58 min: I (3rd) test the Poker Stars “eliminate short stacks at the break theory again for verification. I have (KT) and get called by Doneill with (44), and of course don’t improve.
Break:
Doneill 6433 (on fire all game)
Beerhog 4067 (was the short-stack when still 7-handed)
67 min: Almost identical in chips, they both call the blinds and the flop is [756]. Doneill bets the minimum and Beerhog calls. The turn is a [J]. A repeat of the flop action.
The river is a [9] and all heck breaks loose. Doneill goes all-in with his 7-high straight and is called by Beerhog with his 9-high straight. A little cold deck for the Don.
69 min: Beerhog’s (J2) beats Doneill’s (2nd) (76) to end the night.
Congratulations Beerhog! Maybe now you can pay for those $350 cigars (box of ten).
1st – Beerhog (17 pts)
2nd – Doneill 28 pts
3rd – Mikeniks-Faldo (28 pts)
4th – Rennzzo 25 pts
5th – Tigercub 29 pts
6th – ArcticBlast (16 pts)
7th – BigLou 31 pts
Rownder 33 pts
Nahanni 26 pts
Duder 26 pts
Boother (14 pts)
Aqualung (7 pts)
Sev4TSev (3 pts)
McGuiness (3 pts)
( ) means can’t win 2nd quarter seat
Total point standings are on the right side of the blog.
Beerhog made a nice comeback at the end to win it!
The tourney of seven players was over in less than 80 minutes total!
14 min: BigLou (7th) slow-played his KK pre-flop and went all-in post flop, but Doneill hit trip 5’s.
33 min: ArcticBlast (6th) was late getting involved and had got blinded down some. He had to make his move with (TT) and ran into Doneil’s (AK), who hit the [K] on the river.
40 min: Tigercub got run over by a short-stack like me (Faldo). My (55) and Tiger’s (Ah Qh) hook up in a coin flip. Tiger gets his [A] on the flop, but I hit my [5] on the river.
51 min: Tigercub (5th) is put out of his misery when his (Q3) hits a flop of [KQ8] but Doneill’s (JT) picks up the [9] on the turn for the straight.
57 min: Rennzzo (4th), who also was late getting to the game, had to make his move with (Th 9s) and a flop of [Tc 7c 3c]. I (Mikeniks-Faldo) was also short-stacked and had to call with (Qc 9h). The turn completes my flush.
58 min: I (3rd) test the Poker Stars “eliminate short stacks at the break theory again for verification. I have (KT) and get called by Doneill with (44), and of course don’t improve.
Break:
Doneill 6433 (on fire all game)
Beerhog 4067 (was the short-stack when still 7-handed)
67 min: Almost identical in chips, they both call the blinds and the flop is [756]. Doneill bets the minimum and Beerhog calls. The turn is a [J]. A repeat of the flop action.
The river is a [9] and all heck breaks loose. Doneill goes all-in with his 7-high straight and is called by Beerhog with his 9-high straight. A little cold deck for the Don.
69 min: Beerhog’s (J2) beats Doneill’s (2nd) (76) to end the night.
Congratulations Beerhog! Maybe now you can pay for those $350 cigars (box of ten).
1st – Beerhog (17 pts)
2nd – Doneill 28 pts
3rd – Mikeniks-Faldo (28 pts)
4th – Rennzzo 25 pts
5th – Tigercub 29 pts
6th – ArcticBlast (16 pts)
7th – BigLou 31 pts
Rownder 33 pts
Nahanni 26 pts
Duder 26 pts
Boother (14 pts)
Aqualung (7 pts)
Sev4TSev (3 pts)
McGuiness (3 pts)
( ) means can’t win 2nd quarter seat
Total point standings are on the right side of the blog.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Doneill Makes it Two Wins in Three Tourneys!
We got a new player on our hands! Doneill is running thru our group of battle hardened, determined and desperate point chasers to get in the hunt for that 2nd quarter seat. Two rounds left in Season Two and anything is still possible.
Ten of us made it to the virtual felt on this rainy night. All the players bunched at the top were in attendance. That made it serious. Chat was at a minimum tonight.
13 min: Beerhog’s pair of Kings hit my (Faldo) pair of Aces to put a crimp in his stack early.
20 min: He got it back from Duder whose (QQ) fell to Hog’s straight on the turn.
38 min: Over on the other table, Biglou was down early and made a comeback. Then he gets the chip lead taking Nahanni’s (10th) chips as he rivers a straight on the same card Nahanni hit 2 pair. Ouch!
40 min: Duder gets healthier as his (JJ) holds up against Rennzzo’s (99).
45 min: ArcticBlast (9th) was late getting to the game. He plays I think two hands as he calls Rownder’s all-in bet. Arctic has 2 pair and Rownder is holding straight.
48 min: Duder’s (8th) health deteriorates to the point of expiration as his (55) can’t improve against a flop of [2JT] and BigLou’s hand of (Qs Js).
54 min: Beerhog (7th) ran into some good luck and then bad luck. Beerhog gets all-in with (AQs) and gets called by Doneill with (AK). A straight hits the board for a split.
The very next hand, Beerhog is all in with the (AK) and is called by Rownder with (AQ) and a [Q] hits on the turn.
59 min: The hand of the evening! Notice it is right before the break. Can EVERYONE say “cooler”? Anyone else noticing a pattern of coolers right before the break - like every week?
Tigercub calls with (99) and everyone folds to me (Faldo) (Td 8d) who calls the half bet and the short-stacked Rennzzo (6th) checks from the BB with (QJ).
The flop is [4d Jc 9c]. I bet the minimum with my open ended straight draw and get called by both.
The turn is [Qd]. The best card in the deck for Faldo! I hit my straight and now have a flush draw also. Notice that the short-stacked Rennzzo now has two pair. Each one of us get a monster hand – just before the break!
I bet (80%), Rennzzo (10%) calls and Tigercub (10%) raises. I re-raise a lot to let Tigercub know I got a big hand. Rennzzo goes all-in as the short-stack. But Tigercub goes all-in and I have to call with the nuts and a 4 to 1 favorite to win the hand.
Ex-nuts. Ex-favorite. The river is a [4] and Tigercub’s full house takes a monster pot, Rennzzo is out and I am crippled beyond belief.
Break:
Tigercub 6250
Biglou 5075
Rownder 1855
Doneill 1450
Mikeniks-Faldo 370
63 min: I (Mikeniks-Faldo) (5th) last four hands after the break before Poker Stars gives me my next cooler. I flop top pair and call Doneill’s bet and he has the same pair with a better kicker.
Herbavor - you want to say it with me?
72 min: Rownder (4th) is short-stacked and goes all-in with (Qc 9c) and is called by Doneill with (22) and cannot improve.
91 min: A twenty minute battle ensues before Biglou (3rd) bluffs his bottom pair. But Doneill flops the top two pair. Bad timing for that move.
Doneill 12000 – Tigercub 3000
103 min: Tigercub (2nd) battles for twelve minutes before Tigercub’s two pair with (AT) runs head long into Doneill’s (99) and a [9] on the turn.
Great win Doneill! It’s becoming a habit!
1st – Doneill 21 pts
2nd – Tigercub 28 pts
3rd – BigLou 31 pts
4th – Rownder 33 pts
5th – Mikeniks-Faldo 23 pts
6th – Rennzzo 22 pts
7th – Beerhog 7 pts
8th – Duder 26pts
9th – ArcticBlast 16 pts
10th – Nahanni 26 pts
Boother 14 pts
Aqualung 7 pts
Sev4TSev 3 pts
McGuiness 3 pts
Total point standings on right side of blog.
Ten of us made it to the virtual felt on this rainy night. All the players bunched at the top were in attendance. That made it serious. Chat was at a minimum tonight.
13 min: Beerhog’s pair of Kings hit my (Faldo) pair of Aces to put a crimp in his stack early.
20 min: He got it back from Duder whose (QQ) fell to Hog’s straight on the turn.
38 min: Over on the other table, Biglou was down early and made a comeback. Then he gets the chip lead taking Nahanni’s (10th) chips as he rivers a straight on the same card Nahanni hit 2 pair. Ouch!
40 min: Duder gets healthier as his (JJ) holds up against Rennzzo’s (99).
45 min: ArcticBlast (9th) was late getting to the game. He plays I think two hands as he calls Rownder’s all-in bet. Arctic has 2 pair and Rownder is holding straight.
48 min: Duder’s (8th) health deteriorates to the point of expiration as his (55) can’t improve against a flop of [2JT] and BigLou’s hand of (Qs Js).
54 min: Beerhog (7th) ran into some good luck and then bad luck. Beerhog gets all-in with (AQs) and gets called by Doneill with (AK). A straight hits the board for a split.
The very next hand, Beerhog is all in with the (AK) and is called by Rownder with (AQ) and a [Q] hits on the turn.
59 min: The hand of the evening! Notice it is right before the break. Can EVERYONE say “cooler”? Anyone else noticing a pattern of coolers right before the break - like every week?
Tigercub calls with (99) and everyone folds to me (Faldo) (Td 8d) who calls the half bet and the short-stacked Rennzzo (6th) checks from the BB with (QJ).
The flop is [4d Jc 9c]. I bet the minimum with my open ended straight draw and get called by both.
The turn is [Qd]. The best card in the deck for Faldo! I hit my straight and now have a flush draw also. Notice that the short-stacked Rennzzo now has two pair. Each one of us get a monster hand – just before the break!
I bet (80%), Rennzzo (10%) calls and Tigercub (10%) raises. I re-raise a lot to let Tigercub know I got a big hand. Rennzzo goes all-in as the short-stack. But Tigercub goes all-in and I have to call with the nuts and a 4 to 1 favorite to win the hand.
Ex-nuts. Ex-favorite. The river is a [4] and Tigercub’s full house takes a monster pot, Rennzzo is out and I am crippled beyond belief.
Break:
Tigercub 6250
Biglou 5075
Rownder 1855
Doneill 1450
Mikeniks-Faldo 370
63 min: I (Mikeniks-Faldo) (5th) last four hands after the break before Poker Stars gives me my next cooler. I flop top pair and call Doneill’s bet and he has the same pair with a better kicker.
Herbavor - you want to say it with me?
72 min: Rownder (4th) is short-stacked and goes all-in with (Qc 9c) and is called by Doneill with (22) and cannot improve.
91 min: A twenty minute battle ensues before Biglou (3rd) bluffs his bottom pair. But Doneill flops the top two pair. Bad timing for that move.
Doneill 12000 – Tigercub 3000
103 min: Tigercub (2nd) battles for twelve minutes before Tigercub’s two pair with (AT) runs head long into Doneill’s (99) and a [9] on the turn.
Great win Doneill! It’s becoming a habit!
1st – Doneill 21 pts
2nd – Tigercub 28 pts
3rd – BigLou 31 pts
4th – Rownder 33 pts
5th – Mikeniks-Faldo 23 pts
6th – Rennzzo 22 pts
7th – Beerhog 7 pts
8th – Duder 26pts
9th – ArcticBlast 16 pts
10th – Nahanni 26 pts
Boother 14 pts
Aqualung 7 pts
Sev4TSev 3 pts
McGuiness 3 pts
Total point standings on right side of blog.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Matchy's Game A Little Late - but Great!
Eight players made it to the real felt at Matchy's House. The table held Matchy (host), Duder (big winner), Beerhog, Aqualung, Dave - not 4Putt, ArcticBlast, Sev4TSev and Faldo.
The highlight of the evening was that I finally got to see Piss Mountain in the daylight. The Grand Canyon's got nothing on PM.
We also rolled in heavy with the pizza and the brews! Nice job guys.
We all had our hurdles to clear to make it to the game, so it was a half hour late starting.
Matchy and had to leave the big party they was at in "that town just south of Royal Oak".
Duder was spell-bound by the 'Chip Stacking Techniques' video he had rented.
Beerhog and Sev4TSev both had trouble getting their "Hen-pecked is Cool" aprons off in time.
Aqualung was Mapquesting pizza parlors in a 50-mile radius of the game and clipping coupons.
Dave got there a little late because he had to stay after class in Omaha Hi-Lo School for falling asleep.
ArcticBlast had his "new math' class run over - where he learned that if you own 40 and give 17, you still owe 40. I think this class is held only in South Lyon. If you notice people who live in South Lyon, you know those classes must be full.
Faldo himself, had to hurry from the golf course in order to get to the bar for warm-up - prior to the poker game. Because of this quick exit, I now am forced to play golf AGAIN today - before heading home for the big Sunday dinner my wife is preparing.
Pity me.
The highlight of the evening was that I finally got to see Piss Mountain in the daylight. The Grand Canyon's got nothing on PM.
We also rolled in heavy with the pizza and the brews! Nice job guys.
We all had our hurdles to clear to make it to the game, so it was a half hour late starting.
Matchy and had to leave the big party they was at in "that town just south of Royal Oak".
Duder was spell-bound by the 'Chip Stacking Techniques' video he had rented.
Beerhog and Sev4TSev both had trouble getting their "Hen-pecked is Cool" aprons off in time.
Aqualung was Mapquesting pizza parlors in a 50-mile radius of the game and clipping coupons.
Dave got there a little late because he had to stay after class in Omaha Hi-Lo School for falling asleep.
ArcticBlast had his "new math' class run over - where he learned that if you own 40 and give 17, you still owe 40. I think this class is held only in South Lyon. If you notice people who live in South Lyon, you know those classes must be full.
Faldo himself, had to hurry from the golf course in order to get to the bar for warm-up - prior to the poker game. Because of this quick exit, I now am forced to play golf AGAIN today - before heading home for the big Sunday dinner my wife is preparing.
Pity me.
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