Congratulations Steve.
It has happened only five times before.
I won the first NPP tourney on-line. Poker Stars had to rig that!
Actually, it was only me and DavetheDog (Fourputt) in the first one and I paid him $100 to sit out and get blinded out. Worked for me!
But SpartanToJo, Momo, Doneill and Hammer1010 did it honestly.
Doneill actually won 3 of his first 5 tourneys!
What ever happened to Momo and Hammer?
And Hlam14, light a fire under ToJo will you? He should be a regular. Anyway, we want to welcome the new players besides Steveseam.
There was ThePunk75, who seemed to have brought his own booing section (HTM-xxx?), and Sirgash! Welcome guys. HTM should get on the table so he can harass us all evenly and fairly.
On to the action:
8 min: Nahanni (14th) got crippled when her pair of aces on the turn (A4) ran into Steve’s two pair (65). [Q65] [A] [8].
23 min: Your host Mikeniks-Faldo (13th) makes a bad call to get knocked out. Yeah, I was cold-decked with a BB vs SB special, but so what? I knew I was beat and called anyway. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Bighousea2 raises our blinds after a flop of [A6A] and Rennzzo and I call.
The turn is a [7] and Bighouse bets and Rennzzo calls and I re-raise with (A8). Bighouse folds and Rennzzo goes all-in. I know he has (A7) or (66), but I call anyway {lazy poker}.
He has (A6) and I don’t get my miracle eight.
I was so mad I knocked my dunce cap off of my head with a sledge hammer. Who invited players from Hudson, MI anyway….oh, that was me.
24 min: Bighousea2 (12th) follows right behind as his short-stack all-in with (QJ) and a flop of [8KQ] runs into Hlam14’s (K9).
52 min: Some poker is played before UMichpoker (11th) has to make a move with (A8) and runs into Doneill’s (JJ).
53 min: I missed Sirgash’s (10th) exit as I was writing down UMichpoker’s demise. Now we are at one table.
54 min: Biglou93 (9th) falls out as his short stack all-in with (A2) and a flop of [JA2] runs into Hlam14’s (JJ). That hand is killing people tonight.
Break:
Steveseam 5255
ThePunk75 3278
Tigercub8189 2945
Doneill 2750
Rennzzo 2697
Hlam14 2140
7Jokers 1375
Duder1123 560 (sitting in Faldo’s old seat. He had no chance!)
66 min: ThePunk75 (8th), after a long think with (TT) decides to call an all-in by Steveseam on a flop of [5Q3]. Steveseam has (Q9) and there is no help coming.
Pick up my cap and we can share it tonight, Punk75.
67 min: Duder1123 (7th) has to make a move with (A3) and runs into Rennzzo’s (AT).
71 min: Hand of the night! A short-stacked Tigercub8189 makes his stand on a draw with (A3) and a flop of [KQT], with Steveseam already in with (J3) and has the Cub covered. A [9] on the turn makes it look grim for the Cat, but a three-outer [J] shows up, using up another cat life.
I always hit hands like that ……NOT!
89 min: 7Jokers (6th) makes his move with (AK) {yes, he plays that trash} and is called by the big stack Steveseam with (KJ). But a [J] on the flop AND river ends the Joker’s hope to gain on Hlam14 tonight.
103 min: Tigercub8189 uses some more cat lives as his all-in with (A6) is met with Rennzzo’s (QQ). A [6] on the flop and an [A] on the river makes these two switch places in the chip totals.
105 min: Rennzzo (5th) now has to go when his (K3) pairs on the bottom of a [344] flop. He is called by Doneill (XX) and Steveseam (AQ). An [A] on the river again against Rennzzo is this time fatal.
106 min: Doneill does an Hudini act and survives an all-in with Steveseam.
112 min: Tigercub8189 (4th) finally has his A-rag all-in lose to Steveseam’s (JJ).
JJ was the hand of death tonight I guess.
113 min: Hlam14 (3rd) has his A-rag fall to Steveseam’s (99).
114 min: Poker Stars must need the table as it rolls up the remaining players. Doneill’s all-in with (K5) and a flop of [6QK] is called by the huge stack of Steveseam with (JT). An [A] on the river – yet again – ends the evening.
Congratulations Steveseam!
1st – Steveseam 10 pts
2nd – Doneill (21 pts)
3rd – Hlam14 41 pts
4th – Tigercub8189 7 pts
5th – Rennzzo 2 pts
6th – 7Jokers 20 pts
7th – Duder1123 5 pts
8th – ThePunk75
9th – BigLou93 3 pts
10th – Sirgash
11th – Umichpoker
12th – Bighousea2 1 pt
13th – Mikeniks-Faldo (19 pts)
14th – Nahanni74 (1 pt)
Hammer1010 10 pts
McGuinness 10 pts
Matchy 3 pts
ArcticBlast 3 pts
Total points race is located on the right side of the blog!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
McGuiness007 Makes His Return Memorable!
We welcome a new player UMichPoker (Michele) to NPP.
We are looking forward to her flock joining the NPP fold. I think this will be the best internet league around – both for talent and trash talk! Bar none!
As usual, we treat our new players with ZERO courtesy! That is the NPP way I guess.
But it is an old player who returns to kick the poop out of us! Your host was (as it turned out) thankfully late and was able to miss the carnage.
21 min: UMichPoker (9th) gets PS’ed as her (AA) runs into Doneill’s (55) and a [5] on the flop.
48 min: 7Jokers (8th) gets all-in with (AQ), but Nahanni has (KK).
Everyone seemed to have their panty hose in a bunch as tight play was the way of the evening. We make it to break with seven players!
Nahanni 2870
McGuiness007 2330
Tigercub8189 1840
Doneill 1790
Hlam14 1790
Rennzzo 1735
Duder 1145
78 min: A short stacked Tigercub8189 (7th), who was river bit all night, hits a flop of [AA9] with (J9), only to see McGuiness007 holding (AJ).
85 min: A short stacked Rennzzo (6th) has to go when his (Q9) hits a flop with a [9] in it. McGuiness is pot committed with (Kc2c) and a flush draw and hits a [K] on the river.
88 min: Being the chip leader at the break seems to be a curse that Nahanni (5th) was all too aware of. She gets all in with (A7) and has two callers: Doneill (A9) and Duder (KK). The flop with [99] ends Nahanni’s evening. Duder survives due to his monster stack he built in 28 minutes.
93 min: A short stacked Doneill (4th) (after getting hurt by McGuiness007 earlier) makes his move with (A8) and runs into Duder’s (77), and no help arrives.
100 min: A short-stacked Hlam has to go all-in with (97) and a [7] on the flop. A low stacked Duder calls with (JJ) and a [9] on the river reverses their fortunes!
2nd Break!
Hey, your host was drunk and has to go to work in the morning! This is going long! Where is the love for him?
McGuiness007 7895
Duder 3421
Hlam14 2184
125 min: Hlam14 built his chips to a slightly higher total than Duder’s (3rd) by this time. Hlam goes all in with (AJ) and Duder has to call with (TT). An [A] on the river ends Duder’s run.
132 min: The big bully McGuiness calls the short-stacked Hlam14’s all in with (2nd) with (Kh Qc). Hlam14 holds (QQ). But a 4 club board wins it for McGuiness!
Welcome back McGuiness after a six month break! UMichigan Poker – welcome aboard the NPP yacht.
1st – McGuiness007 10 pts
2nd – Hlam14 36 pts
3rd – Duder 5 pts
4th – Doneill (14 pts)
5th – Nahanni (1 pt)
6th – Rennzzo 1 pt
7th – Tigercub8189 4 pts
8th – 7Jokers 20 pts
9th – UMichPoker
Mikeniks-Faldo (19 pts)
Hammer1010 10 pts
Matchy 3 pts
ArcticBlast 3 pts
BigLou 3 pts
Bighouse 1 pt
Total points for final seats at the right side of the blog. ( ) = already has seat in Finals
We are looking forward to her flock joining the NPP fold. I think this will be the best internet league around – both for talent and trash talk! Bar none!
As usual, we treat our new players with ZERO courtesy! That is the NPP way I guess.
But it is an old player who returns to kick the poop out of us! Your host was (as it turned out) thankfully late and was able to miss the carnage.
21 min: UMichPoker (9th) gets PS’ed as her (AA) runs into Doneill’s (55) and a [5] on the flop.
48 min: 7Jokers (8th) gets all-in with (AQ), but Nahanni has (KK).
Everyone seemed to have their panty hose in a bunch as tight play was the way of the evening. We make it to break with seven players!
Nahanni 2870
McGuiness007 2330
Tigercub8189 1840
Doneill 1790
Hlam14 1790
Rennzzo 1735
Duder 1145
78 min: A short stacked Tigercub8189 (7th), who was river bit all night, hits a flop of [AA9] with (J9), only to see McGuiness007 holding (AJ).
85 min: A short stacked Rennzzo (6th) has to go when his (Q9) hits a flop with a [9] in it. McGuiness is pot committed with (Kc2c) and a flush draw and hits a [K] on the river.
88 min: Being the chip leader at the break seems to be a curse that Nahanni (5th) was all too aware of. She gets all in with (A7) and has two callers: Doneill (A9) and Duder (KK). The flop with [99] ends Nahanni’s evening. Duder survives due to his monster stack he built in 28 minutes.
93 min: A short stacked Doneill (4th) (after getting hurt by McGuiness007 earlier) makes his move with (A8) and runs into Duder’s (77), and no help arrives.
100 min: A short-stacked Hlam has to go all-in with (97) and a [7] on the flop. A low stacked Duder calls with (JJ) and a [9] on the river reverses their fortunes!
2nd Break!
Hey, your host was drunk and has to go to work in the morning! This is going long! Where is the love for him?
McGuiness007 7895
Duder 3421
Hlam14 2184
125 min: Hlam14 built his chips to a slightly higher total than Duder’s (3rd) by this time. Hlam goes all in with (AJ) and Duder has to call with (TT). An [A] on the river ends Duder’s run.
132 min: The big bully McGuiness calls the short-stacked Hlam14’s all in with (2nd) with (Kh Qc). Hlam14 holds (QQ). But a 4 club board wins it for McGuiness!
Welcome back McGuiness after a six month break! UMichigan Poker – welcome aboard the NPP yacht.
1st – McGuiness007 10 pts
2nd – Hlam14 36 pts
3rd – Duder 5 pts
4th – Doneill (14 pts)
5th – Nahanni (1 pt)
6th – Rennzzo 1 pt
7th – Tigercub8189 4 pts
8th – 7Jokers 20 pts
9th – UMichPoker
Mikeniks-Faldo (19 pts)
Hammer1010 10 pts
Matchy 3 pts
ArcticBlast 3 pts
BigLou 3 pts
Bighouse 1 pt
Total points for final seats at the right side of the blog. ( ) = already has seat in Finals
Monday, October 20, 2008
U of M Poker Tuesdays joining NPP!
Exciting news!
At a secret location known only to the other most powerful people in the world, Nik Faldo and the CEO of Umichiganpoker.com met to negotiate maybe the biggest merger in the history of the world!
Wall Street was on pins and needles waiting for this to finally be settled. World peace may also now be in the offing.
Michele will be merging her tournament into ours! Nothing will change here at NPP, but a flood of new players is expected. A tidal wave! A tsunami!
Well, 3 or 4 anyway.
U of M Poker will put NPP and our tourney on their mailing in October and this can only increase the fun on Tuesday nights this winter, and hopefully the rest of the year as well.
The stock transfers, cost of the merger, and the massive entry fee paid by Umichiganpoker to NPP was not disclosed. The Wall Street Journal is begging for details, but they will have to be content with the little guys like Walmart and Exxon. Michele and Faldo are not talking to the crush of media hounding us.
At a secret location known only to the other most powerful people in the world, Nik Faldo and the CEO of Umichiganpoker.com met to negotiate maybe the biggest merger in the history of the world!
Wall Street was on pins and needles waiting for this to finally be settled. World peace may also now be in the offing.
Michele will be merging her tournament into ours! Nothing will change here at NPP, but a flood of new players is expected. A tidal wave! A tsunami!
Well, 3 or 4 anyway.
U of M Poker will put NPP and our tourney on their mailing in October and this can only increase the fun on Tuesday nights this winter, and hopefully the rest of the year as well.
The stock transfers, cost of the merger, and the massive entry fee paid by Umichiganpoker to NPP was not disclosed. The Wall Street Journal is begging for details, but they will have to be content with the little guys like Walmart and Exxon. Michele and Faldo are not talking to the crush of media hounding us.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Internet NPP - 2009
Open the comment section!!!!
Do we continue or do we fold the internet league?
Only ten people have made half the games, which I think half is a fair amount to expect players to make.
We need a stable of double what we currently have.
Luckily, we still average 8 per game, which is good - but statistically....lucky. We need to average 10 easily to maintain viability. Here is the data on attendance.
Faldo 83%
Tigercub 83%
ArcticBlast 75%
Duder 70%
Nahanni 68%
7Jokers 63%
Beerhog 60%
Rownder 55%
Boother 53%
Rennzzo 53%
Biglou 45%
Doneill 43%
Aqualung 43%
McGinness 35%
Matchy 33%
Hlam14 18%
Bronco76 5%
Davethedog 3%
Do we change format? If so, to what? Do we change nights? Do we change number of tourneys? Monthly, bi-monthly? Or am I all wet and it is all good?
Do we continue or do we fold the internet league?
Only ten people have made half the games, which I think half is a fair amount to expect players to make.
We need a stable of double what we currently have.
Luckily, we still average 8 per game, which is good - but statistically....lucky. We need to average 10 easily to maintain viability. Here is the data on attendance.
Faldo 83%
Tigercub 83%
ArcticBlast 75%
Duder 70%
Nahanni 68%
7Jokers 63%
Beerhog 60%
Rownder 55%
Boother 53%
Rennzzo 53%
Biglou 45%
Doneill 43%
Aqualung 43%
McGinness 35%
Matchy 33%
Hlam14 18%
Bronco76 5%
Davethedog 3%
Do we change format? If so, to what? Do we change nights? Do we change number of tourneys? Monthly, bi-monthly? Or am I all wet and it is all good?
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
7Jokers Ties for the 08 Victory Lead – Extends Overall Victory Lead!
Only six made it to the felt tonight, leaving it easy pickings for the hot running 7Jokers.
Tigercub8189 had a bad evening at work, which made him late showing up. His tourney night was not much better.
11 min: But as bad as his night was BigLou (6th) had a worse one! BigLou flops two pair with (QT) and runs into Mikeniks and his trip Kings (KK). Ouch!
40 min: Tigercub8189 (5th) was short-stacked when his (77) ran into Hlam’s (KK).
58 min: The short-stacked Matchy (4th) makes his move with (KJ) and runs into 7Joker’s (A4).
Break:
7Jokers 3320
Hlam 3310
Mikeniks-Faldo 2370
67 min: Well a bunch of missed flops and a few bad calls and no-calls leaves Faldo (3rd) in dire straits. I get all in with the slight best of it with (55) against 7Joker’s (AK), only to see the [A] hit the river.
I know my short table – heads up play is not good, but if you can never win races near the end of a tourney, Doyle, Chan and Hellmuth wouldn’t have any bracelets either.
90 min: The heads up battle rages on for quite a while with 7Jokers starting with a 2 – 1 chip lead. But Hlam (2nd) finally gets whittled down and 7Jokers wins to tie Doneill for the most wins this year.
7Jokers also has a 5 win lead over everyone else in grand total wins! Especially considering his few months off there in the middle of the year, that is quite an accomplishment!
1st – 7Jokers 20 pts
2nd – Hlam14 29 pts
3rd – Mikeniks-Faldo (19 pts)
4th – Matchy 3 pts
5th – Tigercub8189 4 pts
6th – BigLou 3 pts
Doneill (11 pts)
Hammer1010 10 pts
ArcticBlast 3 pts
Rennzzo 1 pt
Bighousea2 1 pt
Total Point Standings are on the right side of the blog.
Tigercub8189 had a bad evening at work, which made him late showing up. His tourney night was not much better.
11 min: But as bad as his night was BigLou (6th) had a worse one! BigLou flops two pair with (QT) and runs into Mikeniks and his trip Kings (KK). Ouch!
40 min: Tigercub8189 (5th) was short-stacked when his (77) ran into Hlam’s (KK).
58 min: The short-stacked Matchy (4th) makes his move with (KJ) and runs into 7Joker’s (A4).
Break:
7Jokers 3320
Hlam 3310
Mikeniks-Faldo 2370
67 min: Well a bunch of missed flops and a few bad calls and no-calls leaves Faldo (3rd) in dire straits. I get all in with the slight best of it with (55) against 7Joker’s (AK), only to see the [A] hit the river.
I know my short table – heads up play is not good, but if you can never win races near the end of a tourney, Doyle, Chan and Hellmuth wouldn’t have any bracelets either.
90 min: The heads up battle rages on for quite a while with 7Jokers starting with a 2 – 1 chip lead. But Hlam (2nd) finally gets whittled down and 7Jokers wins to tie Doneill for the most wins this year.
7Jokers also has a 5 win lead over everyone else in grand total wins! Especially considering his few months off there in the middle of the year, that is quite an accomplishment!
1st – 7Jokers 20 pts
2nd – Hlam14 29 pts
3rd – Mikeniks-Faldo (19 pts)
4th – Matchy 3 pts
5th – Tigercub8189 4 pts
6th – BigLou 3 pts
Doneill (11 pts)
Hammer1010 10 pts
ArcticBlast 3 pts
Rennzzo 1 pt
Bighousea2 1 pt
Total Point Standings are on the right side of the blog.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Matchy Building an NPP Game for Saturday? Who's In?
Matchy (and his lovely...let's not leave the person giving the permission slip out) is looking for a game at his place for this Saturday at 7pm.
BYOB and bring one for the host! (standard NPP rule!)
Stakes: $1 - $2 limit
IN
Matchy
Beerhog
7Jokers
Duder
Buff
Faldo
OUT
Greg G.
Boother
MAYBE
Dave E.
BYOB and bring one for the host! (standard NPP rule!)
Stakes: $1 - $2 limit
IN
Matchy
Beerhog
7Jokers
Duder
Buff
Faldo
OUT
Greg G.
Boother
MAYBE
Dave E.
Doneill Takes Over the Win Lead for 2008!
I missed it due to a speaking engagement where I told a bunch of voters it is their fault the country is in the mess it is in. Talk about the bad beat I got!
Anyway, 7Jokers was nice enough to send me some info. U da man, 7Jokers!
"8 players made it to the table.
Duder (8th) hits 2 pair (A-7) on flop but Doneill hits a queen on river for a higher 2 pair (A-Q).
Tigercub (7th) slow plays AA until the turn when 3 clubs are on the board and is called by Hlam with A-10 of clubs.
Nahanni (6th) calls out JJoker's hand of 6-7 and still calls my all-in with her top Pair of Jacks, but the Joker straight takes her out.
Rennzzo (5th) hits trip 6's but a heart flush is made on the river card by Arcticblast and he takes the pot.
Arcticblast (4th) has AA but runs into Hlams K8 (2 pair).
we are at the 40 min mark now....
7Jokers (3rd) goes all in with A3 and is called by Doneill with K6 and a 6 on turn is all she wrote.
The 2 remaining player make it to the break. hlam has $1945 and doneill has $10055.
Hlam says he is going all in with any high paper everytime.
Hand# 5 after the break and Hlam goes all in with J9 and is called by Doneill with K7, a 7 on flop and doneill wins YET another tourney. Congratulations to Doneill for taking over the 2008 tourney win lead.
1st - Doneill (11 pts)
2nd - Hlam14 22 pts
3rd - 7Jokers 10 pts
4th - ArcticBlast 3 pts
5th - Rennzzo 1 pt
6th - Nahanni
7th - Tigercub 3 pts
8th - Duder
Mikeniks (14 pts)
Hammer1010 10 pts
BigLou 3 pts
BigHousea2 1 pt
Total point standings on the right side of the blog.
Anyway, 7Jokers was nice enough to send me some info. U da man, 7Jokers!
"8 players made it to the table.
Duder (8th) hits 2 pair (A-7) on flop but Doneill hits a queen on river for a higher 2 pair (A-Q).
Tigercub (7th) slow plays AA until the turn when 3 clubs are on the board and is called by Hlam with A-10 of clubs.
Nahanni (6th) calls out JJoker's hand of 6-7 and still calls my all-in with her top Pair of Jacks, but the Joker straight takes her out.
Rennzzo (5th) hits trip 6's but a heart flush is made on the river card by Arcticblast and he takes the pot.
Arcticblast (4th) has AA but runs into Hlams K8 (2 pair).
we are at the 40 min mark now....
7Jokers (3rd) goes all in with A3 and is called by Doneill with K6 and a 6 on turn is all she wrote.
The 2 remaining player make it to the break. hlam has $1945 and doneill has $10055.
Hlam says he is going all in with any high paper everytime.
Hand# 5 after the break and Hlam goes all in with J9 and is called by Doneill with K7, a 7 on flop and doneill wins YET another tourney. Congratulations to Doneill for taking over the 2008 tourney win lead.
1st - Doneill (11 pts)
2nd - Hlam14 22 pts
3rd - 7Jokers 10 pts
4th - ArcticBlast 3 pts
5th - Rennzzo 1 pt
6th - Nahanni
7th - Tigercub 3 pts
8th - Duder
Mikeniks (14 pts)
Hammer1010 10 pts
BigLou 3 pts
BigHousea2 1 pt
Total point standings on the right side of the blog.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Faldo Gets Bad Beat Even in Golf!
Me and three other guys represented my company in a scramble put on by one of our major customers. It was held in Kokomo, IN. There were fourteen teams in this shotgun start. The number of teams becomes important later.
Even though your score had no bearing on the prizes you could win, there were plenty of prizes to be awarded.
In addition to drawing prizes, they had:
2 longest drive holes
2 closest to the pin in two holes
4 closest to the pin holes on the par 3's
2 longest putt greens
During the round, your host was on FIVE of the prize stakes at one time!
I had a longest drive, both closest to the pin in twos and two of the closest to the pins on the par 3's.
I don't need to elaborate on how good the shots were, except to say, as we ate, I asked how many did the group think I won of the five I got to sign up for.
One guy said 3 and the other two said I won at least 2. I smiled and said, "I pick zero, just because it is me. Who wants to bet?" They all just laughed.
I won zero, naturally.
We finished fifth in the scramble for the score turned in (-7) and I got to pick fifth for the number for where my group got to pick from the prize pool.
I drew #14.
Even though your score had no bearing on the prizes you could win, there were plenty of prizes to be awarded.
In addition to drawing prizes, they had:
2 longest drive holes
2 closest to the pin in two holes
4 closest to the pin holes on the par 3's
2 longest putt greens
During the round, your host was on FIVE of the prize stakes at one time!
I had a longest drive, both closest to the pin in twos and two of the closest to the pins on the par 3's.
I don't need to elaborate on how good the shots were, except to say, as we ate, I asked how many did the group think I won of the five I got to sign up for.
One guy said 3 and the other two said I won at least 2. I smiled and said, "I pick zero, just because it is me. Who wants to bet?" They all just laughed.
I won zero, naturally.
We finished fifth in the scramble for the score turned in (-7) and I got to pick fifth for the number for where my group got to pick from the prize pool.
I drew #14.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Hammer1010 Wins in His Debut
Two new players tonight and they both earned points.
How is that for being able to draft players, Matt Millen? Eat your heart out.
That gave us eleven starters – one shy of the record.
Hammer1010 knows Aqualung and Bighousea2 knows Faldo. Let's try and like them anyway.
The newbies showed up and showed us NPP regulars up! BigLou returns from a golf induced layoff and got points too.
Let’s hope we can get some of the other regulars back into the mix. On to the action.
28 min: Aqualung wins a hand to short-stack BigLou. But Lou hangs tough.
34 min: To the Final Table we go. We started on two tables as usual, so I did not see the exits of Duder (11th) or Rennzzo (10th). Maybe someone can fill us in.
36 min: Tigercub (9th) has his (TT) run into 7Joker’s (AA).
41 min: BigLou is able to get back into the match as he outkicks ArcticBlast in a close hand.
42 min: The bad luck continued for ArcticBlast (8th) as his short-stack all-in with (44) looks good as a two-pair win, but the board double-pairs on the river and Bighouse out-kicks (Kh 2h) Blast out the door.
51 min: BigLou really gets back into the tourney as he gets 7Jokers to fold on the river to snag a big pot.
57 min: A short-stacked Aqualung (7th) moves all-in with (AJ) and does not improve against Hammer’s (TT).
58 min: 7Jokers (6th) goes all-in with (66) on the flop of low paper, but Bighouse top - paired (J8) and 2-paired on the river.
Break:
Bighouse 4945
Mikeniks-Faldo 3690
Hlam14 3430
BigLou 2300
Hammer 2135
The chip leader goes ICE COLD from this point on. It’s ugly.
70 min: Hammer turns/rivers a straight on Bighouse.
73 min: BigLou straights up on Bighouse’s (JJ).
87 min: The Poker Stars torture of Bighouse (5th) finally ends when his Ace-high kicker with the board two pair loses to Hammer’s larger two pair. Nice showing for a 1st outing, House!
96 min: Mikeniks gets the chip lead by turn/rivering quad eights on Hammer!
102 min: A short-stacked BigLou (4th) has to try to hit his open-ended straight draw against Mikeniks (AA), but doesn’t get there.
106 min: Hammer stone cold bluffs Mikeniks out of a huge pot to take the chip lead.
118 min: Hlam (3rd) makes his move when he flops a middle pair of fours, but Hammer is holding (JJ).
Heads up: Mikeniks 9000 - Hammer 7500
Two minutes later and the second break arrives. Hammer 10700 – Mikeniks 5800
125 min: After a little jousting, Mikeniks (2nd) goes all-in with (22) and a flop of [T99], but Hammer is holding (J9).
Nice win Hammer1010 and welcome to NPP.
1st – Hammer 10 pts
2nd – Mikeniks-Faldo 14 pts
3rd – Hlam 15 pts
4th – BigLou 3 pts
5th – BigHouse 1 pt
6th – 7Jokers 5 pts
7th – Aqualung
8th - ArcticBlast
9th – Tigercub 3 pts
10th – Rennzzo
11th – Duder
Doneill 1 pt
Total point standings are on the right side of this blog.
How is that for being able to draft players, Matt Millen? Eat your heart out.
That gave us eleven starters – one shy of the record.
Hammer1010 knows Aqualung and Bighousea2 knows Faldo. Let's try and like them anyway.
The newbies showed up and showed us NPP regulars up! BigLou returns from a golf induced layoff and got points too.
Let’s hope we can get some of the other regulars back into the mix. On to the action.
28 min: Aqualung wins a hand to short-stack BigLou. But Lou hangs tough.
34 min: To the Final Table we go. We started on two tables as usual, so I did not see the exits of Duder (11th) or Rennzzo (10th). Maybe someone can fill us in.
36 min: Tigercub (9th) has his (TT) run into 7Joker’s (AA).
41 min: BigLou is able to get back into the match as he outkicks ArcticBlast in a close hand.
42 min: The bad luck continued for ArcticBlast (8th) as his short-stack all-in with (44) looks good as a two-pair win, but the board double-pairs on the river and Bighouse out-kicks (Kh 2h) Blast out the door.
51 min: BigLou really gets back into the tourney as he gets 7Jokers to fold on the river to snag a big pot.
57 min: A short-stacked Aqualung (7th) moves all-in with (AJ) and does not improve against Hammer’s (TT).
58 min: 7Jokers (6th) goes all-in with (66) on the flop of low paper, but Bighouse top - paired (J8) and 2-paired on the river.
Break:
Bighouse 4945
Mikeniks-Faldo 3690
Hlam14 3430
BigLou 2300
Hammer 2135
The chip leader goes ICE COLD from this point on. It’s ugly.
70 min: Hammer turns/rivers a straight on Bighouse.
73 min: BigLou straights up on Bighouse’s (JJ).
87 min: The Poker Stars torture of Bighouse (5th) finally ends when his Ace-high kicker with the board two pair loses to Hammer’s larger two pair. Nice showing for a 1st outing, House!
96 min: Mikeniks gets the chip lead by turn/rivering quad eights on Hammer!
102 min: A short-stacked BigLou (4th) has to try to hit his open-ended straight draw against Mikeniks (AA), but doesn’t get there.
106 min: Hammer stone cold bluffs Mikeniks out of a huge pot to take the chip lead.
118 min: Hlam (3rd) makes his move when he flops a middle pair of fours, but Hammer is holding (JJ).
Heads up: Mikeniks 9000 - Hammer 7500
Two minutes later and the second break arrives. Hammer 10700 – Mikeniks 5800
125 min: After a little jousting, Mikeniks (2nd) goes all-in with (22) and a flop of [T99], but Hammer is holding (J9).
Nice win Hammer1010 and welcome to NPP.
1st – Hammer 10 pts
2nd – Mikeniks-Faldo 14 pts
3rd – Hlam 15 pts
4th – BigLou 3 pts
5th – BigHouse 1 pt
6th – 7Jokers 5 pts
7th – Aqualung
8th - ArcticBlast
9th – Tigercub 3 pts
10th – Rennzzo
11th – Duder
Doneill 1 pt
Total point standings are on the right side of this blog.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Hlam14 Return to the Winner’s Circle
Ok, your host screwed up and had a limit tourney this evening. I set up the tourney this morning – pre coffee and breakfast. I got a lot going on right now and I forgot to set the thing to NL.
I blame Poker Stars as the setup should default to NL, as it is the most popular tourney format.
Anyway, on to the 8-player action (no new players – and that is a shame!).
34 min: Poor Duder (8th) never won a hand the entire time. He finally flops a pair of sixes, only to run into a flopped two pair by Rennzzo.
48 min: Rennzzo (7th) is out when his flopped pair is no match for 7Joker’s (QQ) in his hand.
56 min: Arctic Blast (6th) makes his move and comes up short.
57 min: I missed writing down Arctic’s demise as Mikeniks-Faldo had to play his (AA) to outlast Doneill’s (5th ) (AK).
I got the sneaky suspicion that Doneill was tired of the 'limit' grind and bailed. I just happened to be the lucky recipient of his chips. But I could be wrong.
Break:
7Jokers 4864
Mikeniks-Faldo 2503
Hlam14 2368
Tigercub 2265
95 min: A 35 minute battle ensues and it would take a smack down to break the gridlock. Tigercub (4th) is the victim as his turned two pair is crushed by Hlam’s trips on the river.
99 min: 7Jokers (3rd) was completely card dead since the break and has to make a move with (A8) and runs into Hlam’s (AQ).
105 min: The absolute worst heads up player in the country, Mikeniks-Faldo (2nd) is made short work of. I hit two pair on the turn, but Hlam gets his straight on the river.
Welcome back Hlam14.
1st – Hlam14 10 pts
2nd – Mikeniks-Faldo 7 pts
3rd – 7Jokers 5 pts
4th – Tigercub 3 pts
5th - Doneill 1 pt
6th - ArcticBlast
7th - Rennzzo
8th - Duder
Total points race is on the side of the blog
I blame Poker Stars as the setup should default to NL, as it is the most popular tourney format.
Anyway, on to the 8-player action (no new players – and that is a shame!).
34 min: Poor Duder (8th) never won a hand the entire time. He finally flops a pair of sixes, only to run into a flopped two pair by Rennzzo.
48 min: Rennzzo (7th) is out when his flopped pair is no match for 7Joker’s (QQ) in his hand.
56 min: Arctic Blast (6th) makes his move and comes up short.
57 min: I missed writing down Arctic’s demise as Mikeniks-Faldo had to play his (AA) to outlast Doneill’s (5th ) (AK).
I got the sneaky suspicion that Doneill was tired of the 'limit' grind and bailed. I just happened to be the lucky recipient of his chips. But I could be wrong.
Break:
7Jokers 4864
Mikeniks-Faldo 2503
Hlam14 2368
Tigercub 2265
95 min: A 35 minute battle ensues and it would take a smack down to break the gridlock. Tigercub (4th) is the victim as his turned two pair is crushed by Hlam’s trips on the river.
99 min: 7Jokers (3rd) was completely card dead since the break and has to make a move with (A8) and runs into Hlam’s (AQ).
105 min: The absolute worst heads up player in the country, Mikeniks-Faldo (2nd) is made short work of. I hit two pair on the turn, but Hlam gets his straight on the river.
Welcome back Hlam14.
1st – Hlam14 10 pts
2nd – Mikeniks-Faldo 7 pts
3rd – 7Jokers 5 pts
4th – Tigercub 3 pts
5th - Doneill 1 pt
6th - ArcticBlast
7th - Rennzzo
8th - Duder
Total points race is on the side of the blog
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
7Jokers Wins Two in a Row!
7Jokers is the NPP man right now. He padded his victory lead. Meanwhile, Faldo got to pad his 2nd place tourney finish lead at the same time. But I am getting ahead of the story.
Boother was not available to attempt to tie Nahanni for the 3rd quarter point total. Some lame excuse of elk hunting in British Columbia, Canada.
Seven of us ventured to the game this night. With this battle hardened group, it took a while for the casualties to start.
53 min: A short-stacked Tigercub (7th) went all-in with (QJ) and did not catch to beat Nahanni’s (22).
55 min: A short-stacked Matchy (6th) had to go with (8d 4d), but Nahanni had (AK).
Break:
Nahanni 3348
Rennzzo 2089
Mikeniks-Faldo 1935
Hlam14 1650
7Jokers 1478
66 min: At around the 60 minute mark, Nahanni (5th) gets a Faldo run of cards.
Her flopped two pair get run down by 7Joker’s straight.
Her attempt to take out Rennzzo hit his (AA).
Then her desperate all-in with (KJ) ran into 7Joker’s (AQ). But congratulations Nahanni. You have a seat in the NPP Finals!
85 min: Even though Hlam (4th) predicted 7Jokers would take him out, it was me, Mikeniks-Faldo that seemed to have it in for him. I raised his BB four consecutive times and when he finally made a stand with (99), I had (AK) and hit my [K] on the river. Ouch!
100 min: The battle raged on for quite a few hands, when finally Rennzzo (3rd) makes his stand with (KT) and runs into Mikeniks' (A9).
Heads up: 7Jokers 6000 – Mikeniks-Faldo 4500
105 min: 7Jokers 7500 – Mikeniks-Faldo 3000
108 min: Mikeniks (2nd) makes a stand with (A7) but 7Joker’s (A5) hits a [5] on the river.
7Jokers is pulling away from the pack in NPP wins. Nice job Tim!
1st – 7Jokers (41 pts)
2nd – Mikeniks-Faldo (22 pts)
3rd – Rennzzo (22 pts)
4th – Hlam14 (8 pts)
5th – Nahanni (45 pts) Wins 3rd Qtr. Seat!
6th – Matchy (5 pts)
7th – Tigercub (33 pts)
Boother 34 pts
Beerhog 30 pts
Doneill 28 pts
ArcticBlast 13 pts
Duder 13 pts
Aqualung 10 pts
BigLou 5 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
The total points race is on the right side of the blog!
Boother was not available to attempt to tie Nahanni for the 3rd quarter point total. Some lame excuse of elk hunting in British Columbia, Canada.
Seven of us ventured to the game this night. With this battle hardened group, it took a while for the casualties to start.
53 min: A short-stacked Tigercub (7th) went all-in with (QJ) and did not catch to beat Nahanni’s (22).
55 min: A short-stacked Matchy (6th) had to go with (8d 4d), but Nahanni had (AK).
Break:
Nahanni 3348
Rennzzo 2089
Mikeniks-Faldo 1935
Hlam14 1650
7Jokers 1478
66 min: At around the 60 minute mark, Nahanni (5th) gets a Faldo run of cards.
Her flopped two pair get run down by 7Joker’s straight.
Her attempt to take out Rennzzo hit his (AA).
Then her desperate all-in with (KJ) ran into 7Joker’s (AQ). But congratulations Nahanni. You have a seat in the NPP Finals!
85 min: Even though Hlam (4th) predicted 7Jokers would take him out, it was me, Mikeniks-Faldo that seemed to have it in for him. I raised his BB four consecutive times and when he finally made a stand with (99), I had (AK) and hit my [K] on the river. Ouch!
100 min: The battle raged on for quite a few hands, when finally Rennzzo (3rd) makes his stand with (KT) and runs into Mikeniks' (A9).
Heads up: 7Jokers 6000 – Mikeniks-Faldo 4500
105 min: 7Jokers 7500 – Mikeniks-Faldo 3000
108 min: Mikeniks (2nd) makes a stand with (A7) but 7Joker’s (A5) hits a [5] on the river.
7Jokers is pulling away from the pack in NPP wins. Nice job Tim!
1st – 7Jokers (41 pts)
2nd – Mikeniks-Faldo (22 pts)
3rd – Rennzzo (22 pts)
4th – Hlam14 (8 pts)
5th – Nahanni (45 pts) Wins 3rd Qtr. Seat!
6th – Matchy (5 pts)
7th – Tigercub (33 pts)
Boother 34 pts
Beerhog 30 pts
Doneill 28 pts
ArcticBlast 13 pts
Duder 13 pts
Aqualung 10 pts
BigLou 5 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
The total points race is on the right side of the blog!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
You Have to be Insane to be a World Class Poker Player
I have proof - even greater than the Whale saga.
Watching High Stakes Poker and a hand came up between Daniel Negreanu and Eli Elezra.
Negreanu limps in with (Ad 7D) from middle postion. Eli checks from the big blind with (QJ).
The flop is [Js Jd 5d] and Negreanu bets $4000 into a $5000 pot. Eli raises it $14000 to make the pot $23,000. Daniel calls the extra $10000 to see the turn.
[9s]
Eli goes all-in for $80,000 and Daniel rightfully folds. Now here is where the evidence is that these guys are CRAZY!
Daniel asks to rabbit hunt and the dealer turns over an [As] on the river.
As Eli rakes in the pot, Daniel states, "I had to fold anyway. He had a Jack." Eli states he did not and that it was a stone bluff.
Daniel laughs and says, "I'll bet you $50,000 you had the Jack," and slams the cash on the table.
Eli says, "Ok, here is my $50,000. Let's give it to Barry and after the game we can run the tape!"
Negreanu says nevermind and pulls his stack back.
First, Negreanu risks $50K on his read and Eli calls a bet he could not possibly win!
Insane.
Watching High Stakes Poker and a hand came up between Daniel Negreanu and Eli Elezra.
Negreanu limps in with (Ad 7D) from middle postion. Eli checks from the big blind with (QJ).
The flop is [Js Jd 5d] and Negreanu bets $4000 into a $5000 pot. Eli raises it $14000 to make the pot $23,000. Daniel calls the extra $10000 to see the turn.
[9s]
Eli goes all-in for $80,000 and Daniel rightfully folds. Now here is where the evidence is that these guys are CRAZY!
Daniel asks to rabbit hunt and the dealer turns over an [As] on the river.
As Eli rakes in the pot, Daniel states, "I had to fold anyway. He had a Jack." Eli states he did not and that it was a stone bluff.
Daniel laughs and says, "I'll bet you $50,000 you had the Jack," and slams the cash on the table.
Eli says, "Ok, here is my $50,000. Let's give it to Barry and after the game we can run the tape!"
Negreanu says nevermind and pulls his stack back.
First, Negreanu risks $50K on his read and Eli calls a bet he could not possibly win!
Insane.
Tigercub8189 on Fire on Poker Stars
Tigercub has taken advantage of the rainy weather by hitting the tourney circuit on PS.
He comes in 6th in a 360 player tilt (winning 17 times the entry) and follows it up with a 3rd in a similar tourney (winning 40 times the entry).
Well, the natural progression of numbers hopefully means a title soon.
Nice job Catbear.
He comes in 6th in a 360 player tilt (winning 17 times the entry) and follows it up with a 3rd in a similar tourney (winning 40 times the entry).
Well, the natural progression of numbers hopefully means a title soon.
Nice job Catbear.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Beerhog Wins at Boothers!
Been there - have not done that!
Good players and a great time, and to win there is quite a feat!
This happened a couple of weeks ago. I would have posted this sooner but Beerhog never got me any info on it. I got tired of waiting. Maybe Boother can give us a little low-down as to the action.
Great job Hog!
Good players and a great time, and to win there is quite a feat!
This happened a couple of weeks ago. I would have posted this sooner but Beerhog never got me any info on it. I got tired of waiting. Maybe Boother can give us a little low-down as to the action.
Great job Hog!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Faldo Drops "Doyles Room" From His Rotation
I liked the look of the game at the table, but the negatives were just too numerous.
1) The lobby is ugly, slow to load and hard to read
2) The time clock on the site was off by +4 hours (Alaska time?) and you could not adjust it to EST.
3) Very few tournaments available in my prime tournament playing time.
Doyle should push to Americanize his site. He should allow adjustment of the time clock / dates and add tourneys for US prime time.
The software is the old Gambling Club software, improved, but with a dumber lobby.
I am out of that site for now. - Faldo
1) The lobby is ugly, slow to load and hard to read
2) The time clock on the site was off by +4 hours (Alaska time?) and you could not adjust it to EST.
3) Very few tournaments available in my prime tournament playing time.
Doyle should push to Americanize his site. He should allow adjustment of the time clock / dates and add tourneys for US prime time.
The software is the old Gambling Club software, improved, but with a dumber lobby.
I am out of that site for now. - Faldo
Thursday, September 11, 2008
I Got a Bum Steer in Traverse City - One Bad, One Good
Up in Traverse City, MI on business. I checked into the hotel at about 2pm since I got done with my meeting in Cadillac early.
I found a tourney on Bodog and signed up. I figured I could write my trip report and play in the tourney at the same time.
Anyway, I made it to the final two tables, with the tourney paying only the final table of nine.
With 12 players left, and me 8th in chips, I get (Ah Kh) in the small blind. Here we go.
The cutoff (10th in chips) makes the standard raise as the first one in. I got the 12th place guy in the big blind and I would love for him to come along - or make the forced all-in with hopefully a hand like (AQ).
I juice it to force the BB all-in, if he calls. But he folds and it is the cutoff who goes all-in. Well, I guess I can play a lap from 11th place with a fold or ....
All-in and lose to (QQ).
Next hand, I go all-in with (AQ) and lose to an unimproved (AK). I finish 12th, instead of those two mopes!
Time for dinner and some beer to drown my sorrows.
If and when you get to Traverse City, a must stop is Mode's Bum Steer. It is a small bar south of main street (129 e. State St.) - and it serves Black Angus steaks!
A sign posted right after you enter says quite plainly, "NO YOUNGSTEERS". I like that in a steak place.
Unfortunately, it is now smoke free - which meant the cigar had to be enjoyed outside after dinner. In Traverse City, in late summer, this is not exactly a step down.
The steaks are served with a huge Iceberg lettuce wedge, smothered in the dressing of your choice. I always get the blue cheese dressing because the chunks of cheese are the size of Milk Duds!
It also comes with a baked potato (fries or rice can be substituted) the thickness of your balled up fist and as long as from the tip of your middle finger to past your watchband! A spud on steriods!
I got the grilled mushrooms on top of my 8 oz Filet Mignon. I owed it to myself for my tough loss.
Had a Sam Adams Octoberfest prior to ordering and another to wash the dinner down.
Next was a walk on the beach, smoking a Licenciado Toro, after purchasing a tall Foster's at the beach side bar.
I sat on the bench to finish my great cigar and beer - and watch the sun set on the bay. Then came in here to tell you about the rotten luck I had in that tourney, while watching football in the room. Pity me. - Faldo
I found a tourney on Bodog and signed up. I figured I could write my trip report and play in the tourney at the same time.
Anyway, I made it to the final two tables, with the tourney paying only the final table of nine.
With 12 players left, and me 8th in chips, I get (Ah Kh) in the small blind. Here we go.
The cutoff (10th in chips) makes the standard raise as the first one in. I got the 12th place guy in the big blind and I would love for him to come along - or make the forced all-in with hopefully a hand like (AQ).
I juice it to force the BB all-in, if he calls. But he folds and it is the cutoff who goes all-in. Well, I guess I can play a lap from 11th place with a fold or ....
All-in and lose to (QQ).
Next hand, I go all-in with (AQ) and lose to an unimproved (AK). I finish 12th, instead of those two mopes!
Time for dinner and some beer to drown my sorrows.
If and when you get to Traverse City, a must stop is Mode's Bum Steer. It is a small bar south of main street (129 e. State St.) - and it serves Black Angus steaks!
A sign posted right after you enter says quite plainly, "NO YOUNGSTEERS". I like that in a steak place.
Unfortunately, it is now smoke free - which meant the cigar had to be enjoyed outside after dinner. In Traverse City, in late summer, this is not exactly a step down.
The steaks are served with a huge Iceberg lettuce wedge, smothered in the dressing of your choice. I always get the blue cheese dressing because the chunks of cheese are the size of Milk Duds!
It also comes with a baked potato (fries or rice can be substituted) the thickness of your balled up fist and as long as from the tip of your middle finger to past your watchband! A spud on steriods!
I got the grilled mushrooms on top of my 8 oz Filet Mignon. I owed it to myself for my tough loss.
Had a Sam Adams Octoberfest prior to ordering and another to wash the dinner down.
Next was a walk on the beach, smoking a Licenciado Toro, after purchasing a tall Foster's at the beach side bar.
I sat on the bench to finish my great cigar and beer - and watch the sun set on the bay. Then came in here to tell you about the rotten luck I had in that tourney, while watching football in the room. Pity me. - Faldo
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
7Jokers Expands His Tourney Victory Lead!
This win puts 7Jokers three ahead of his closest rivals for most NPP tourney wins! Impressive! This is not a bunch of ribbon clerks he is besting.
Seven made it to the game tonight. I suspect the Comcast internet being down contributed to the lower than average turn out. I didn’t make it as my internet did not return until around 8:30 pm. I was just about to head to Buffalo Wild Wings to make sure I caught the tail end of the tourney, when Comcast got it running.
Yes, I would have been to BWW or a Holiday Inn Express if I needed NPP points. Instead I waited it out at home.
?? min: Duder (7th) is the first one out. Maybe someone can tell us what happened.
45 min: ArcticBlast (6th), who’s luck is the only one close to being as bad as mine, flops trip 9’s – calls all-in on the turn – but Doneill had hit a straight.
58 min: Tigercub (5th) is short stacked and makes a move with (AT). Doneill is holding (KK). An [A] on the flop teases the Cat, but a [K] on the turn dashes any comeback.
Break:
Doneill 4665
Hlam 2830
7Jokers 2085
Rennzzo 920
64 min: Rennzzo (4th) (Ks Jc) goes all-in over a Doneill (Kc Th) bet. Doneill hits the heart flush, taking the heart out of Rennzzo.
66 min: Hlam14 (3rd) takes a beat from 7Joker’s flush and loses shortly afterwards to Doneill.
Heads up: Doneill 7300 and 7Jokers 3200
70 min: 7Jokers hits a big hand and takes a 9000 to 1500 lead!
71 min: Doneill (2nd) goes all-in with (76) and 7Jokers takes it down with (A6). Another win for 7Jokers!
1st – 7Jokers 31 pts
2nd – Doneill 28 pts
3rd – Hlam14 5 pts
4th – Rennzzo 17 pts
5th – Tigercub 33 pts
6th – ArcticBlast 13 pts
7th – Duder 13 pts
Nahanni 44 pts
Boother 34 pts
Beerhog 30 pts
Faldo 15 pts
Aqualung 10 pts
Matchy 5 pts
BigLou 5 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
Boother needs a win to tie Nahanni, as long as Nahanni doesn’t get any points on the last week. Should be an exciting night of poker!
Total point race is on the right side of the blog.
Seven made it to the game tonight. I suspect the Comcast internet being down contributed to the lower than average turn out. I didn’t make it as my internet did not return until around 8:30 pm. I was just about to head to Buffalo Wild Wings to make sure I caught the tail end of the tourney, when Comcast got it running.
Yes, I would have been to BWW or a Holiday Inn Express if I needed NPP points. Instead I waited it out at home.
?? min: Duder (7th) is the first one out. Maybe someone can tell us what happened.
45 min: ArcticBlast (6th), who’s luck is the only one close to being as bad as mine, flops trip 9’s – calls all-in on the turn – but Doneill had hit a straight.
58 min: Tigercub (5th) is short stacked and makes a move with (AT). Doneill is holding (KK). An [A] on the flop teases the Cat, but a [K] on the turn dashes any comeback.
Break:
Doneill 4665
Hlam 2830
7Jokers 2085
Rennzzo 920
64 min: Rennzzo (4th) (Ks Jc) goes all-in over a Doneill (Kc Th) bet. Doneill hits the heart flush, taking the heart out of Rennzzo.
66 min: Hlam14 (3rd) takes a beat from 7Joker’s flush and loses shortly afterwards to Doneill.
Heads up: Doneill 7300 and 7Jokers 3200
70 min: 7Jokers hits a big hand and takes a 9000 to 1500 lead!
71 min: Doneill (2nd) goes all-in with (76) and 7Jokers takes it down with (A6). Another win for 7Jokers!
1st – 7Jokers 31 pts
2nd – Doneill 28 pts
3rd – Hlam14 5 pts
4th – Rennzzo 17 pts
5th – Tigercub 33 pts
6th – ArcticBlast 13 pts
7th – Duder 13 pts
Nahanni 44 pts
Boother 34 pts
Beerhog 30 pts
Faldo 15 pts
Aqualung 10 pts
Matchy 5 pts
BigLou 5 pts
DavetheDog 3 pts
Boother needs a win to tie Nahanni, as long as Nahanni doesn’t get any points on the last week. Should be an exciting night of poker!
Total point race is on the right side of the blog.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Boother Cashes in the Heartland Poker Tour!
This is outstanding! Way to go Boother. He represented the Kings of White Lake (KOWL) and NPP with honor, distinction... and probably didn't let on he knew any of us. But, can you blame him? I'll let Boother tell the story:
"As many of you know, I won a direct buy-in to the Hartland Poker Tour (HPT) main event by winning the last quarter in my poker club, The Kings of White Lake (KOWL). The HPT was in Mount Pleasant this past weekend (Sunday, August 24) and the place was pretty crowded with poker junkies.
The main event ended up having 306 players and they were paying thru 30th place. Play finally started around 9:30 AM. Throughout the day I was able to collect chips when I got on a hot streak, and survive with minimal chip loss when I went card dead (which happened several times during the tourney). My first goal was to simply place in the money as it would be the first cash for me in a major tourney, as well as the first cash for KOWL.
Once I made it to the last 3 tables, I had a decent size stack and felt very comfortable in coasting higher up in the standings as the short stacks battled against the ever increasing blinds/antes. As the evening turned into night, more and more people were getting knocked out and soon I found myself at the final table of 10.
At that point, my next big goal was to make the final 6 so I could get some face time on TV (HPT televises the final table from each major tourney)!! I dodged a huge bullet when I raised with AQ and the player behind me goes all-in, only to have the guy behind him go all-in too!! I laid down my hand only to see KK and AA get turned up.
After that big hand, we got down to 9 players. I really never got any huge hands after that. I stole some blind/antes a few times, but also lost a few raises when I got caught trying to steal. My final hand came down to Kd6d under the gun. I decided that I had to make a stand since I only had about $200,000 in chips, and the blinds/antes were going up to $30,000/$60,000 and $5000 in about 5 minutes. On that hand, my all-in move was looking pretty good as everyone folded around to the big blind. Unfortunately, the BB called me with 99. While I hit one diamond and a 6 on the flop, after the turn and the river were blanks, my hand didn’t improve. I finished in 9th place at about 9:30 PM with a payout of $10,848.
Needless to say, winning that money was kind of bittersweet. While I was truly excited to win, I still can’t turn off my brain from running thru all the “what if’s”!!!!
It was really cool that 3 guys from KOWL stayed for the whole tourney to watch/support me!! And I was lucky that Wendy was able to make it up to the Soaring Eagle at around 7:30 PM to watch the last couple hours of play. It was really cool to have a cheering section in the crowd and to have their support.
Hopefully this will be the first of more good things to come!!" - Boother
Once again, great job Boother! - Faldo
"As many of you know, I won a direct buy-in to the Hartland Poker Tour (HPT) main event by winning the last quarter in my poker club, The Kings of White Lake (KOWL). The HPT was in Mount Pleasant this past weekend (Sunday, August 24) and the place was pretty crowded with poker junkies.
The main event ended up having 306 players and they were paying thru 30th place. Play finally started around 9:30 AM. Throughout the day I was able to collect chips when I got on a hot streak, and survive with minimal chip loss when I went card dead (which happened several times during the tourney). My first goal was to simply place in the money as it would be the first cash for me in a major tourney, as well as the first cash for KOWL.
Once I made it to the last 3 tables, I had a decent size stack and felt very comfortable in coasting higher up in the standings as the short stacks battled against the ever increasing blinds/antes. As the evening turned into night, more and more people were getting knocked out and soon I found myself at the final table of 10.
At that point, my next big goal was to make the final 6 so I could get some face time on TV (HPT televises the final table from each major tourney)!! I dodged a huge bullet when I raised with AQ and the player behind me goes all-in, only to have the guy behind him go all-in too!! I laid down my hand only to see KK and AA get turned up.
After that big hand, we got down to 9 players. I really never got any huge hands after that. I stole some blind/antes a few times, but also lost a few raises when I got caught trying to steal. My final hand came down to Kd6d under the gun. I decided that I had to make a stand since I only had about $200,000 in chips, and the blinds/antes were going up to $30,000/$60,000 and $5000 in about 5 minutes. On that hand, my all-in move was looking pretty good as everyone folded around to the big blind. Unfortunately, the BB called me with 99. While I hit one diamond and a 6 on the flop, after the turn and the river were blanks, my hand didn’t improve. I finished in 9th place at about 9:30 PM with a payout of $10,848.
Needless to say, winning that money was kind of bittersweet. While I was truly excited to win, I still can’t turn off my brain from running thru all the “what if’s”!!!!
It was really cool that 3 guys from KOWL stayed for the whole tourney to watch/support me!! And I was lucky that Wendy was able to make it up to the Soaring Eagle at around 7:30 PM to watch the last couple hours of play. It was really cool to have a cheering section in the crowd and to have their support.
Hopefully this will be the first of more good things to come!!" - Boother
Once again, great job Boother! - Faldo
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Legend of the Whale – Part VI
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’.
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’.
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.
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