Government Delays Compliance Date for Implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act

The Federal Reserve and U.S. American Treasury announced on Friday that implementation of the UIGEA has been postponed from December 1, 2009 until June 1, 2010.

From a statement:

"Agencies Extend Compliance Date for Final Rule to Implement Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act

The Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board on Friday announced the release of a joint final rule to extend the compliance date for their joint regulation implementing certain provisions of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act by six months to June 1, 2010."

Well, you can keep those bank accounts open another six months. Some of our freedoms got a ‘pardon’ from the communists running our nation.

Don’t worry however. The plan to destroy the rest of our freedoms goes on around the clock in Washington, your state capital, your media outlets and the schools.

Just work, have a beer and fund your poker accounts. It will all be over soon.

Theedouble*d Scores a Tourney Win at Northville Downs!

I will let him tell the story, since he did so entertainingly:

“First I played Thursday night in a $35 dollar qualifier for a Sunday Deep Stack tournament seat. They gave out six $200 seats and 7th place got $101. I managed to dodge the bubble and got the $101. I paid the $99 and bought the seat for Sunday. (- $134)

I then entered the Friday afternoon qualifier for $35. (- $169...This isn't sounding so good. I could of nearly just bought into this thing.) This was a much smaller tourney than the night one and they only gave out 1 $225 seat for Sunday and 2nd place got $196.

Again I ducked the bubble and scored the $196. What the heck...I already bought my seat right? (+$27 That's more like it...Now I have my seat for free and have some pocket change. At least I am back in the black.)

Sunday at 2:00pm came and I began to see cards for the real tourney. Wow! Were they bad! Not playing was just the best I could do. First break came and found me sitting a little below my initial 10K in chips.

I looked for my friend who is a much better player than I am, and he was gone. I had just looked over at him 5 minutes before break. Now his seat had no chips in front of it. Bummer. How can I hope to last if I can't get a card and even he can't get by the break monster? {Ed. Note: Only on-line has a break monster]

Cards flew again and they were just as bad. The new dealer was no help at all. I was able to knock a few small ones off and 2nd break found me around 11K and very frustrated. "Patience", I said. But I really just wanted to kill something. It was a very good thing this tourney had a high patience factor in the structure or I'd of been dead meat.

I thought for sure that another new dealer and this long into the game, I must surely catch some cards. I was wrong. Ten minutes from 3rd break and I had about 8K. Then came the magic. They replaced my dealer to give him a break early. My frustration had been mounting as the new guy sat down.

The first cards he dealt me were 22 and I was on the button. Now I had seen plenty of 2's but never together in the same hand. I had a guy in middle position throw a healthy raise out and I lost it. I AM NOT LAYING DOWN ANOTHER HAND!, I thought to myself. I justified my silliness by thinking, if he is on a steal and I raise he will let me have it. So I re-raised him. He was ticked. He went all in.

Did I mention that I was not gonna lay down another hand? I called. He had AJ of hearts. I thought I might lay that down if someone reraised me. Guess he was frustrated too. He had about $800 more chips than me and if he hit I was going home. Flop came Kh 9H 5c. GREAT! Now he had the flush draw to go with it. Turn and river hit air. My 22 held! I had chips! [Ed. Note: The essence of tourney poker – you have to win these coin flips!]

Next hand I catch As3s. Did I mention I have chips. I limp and the small blind bumps it up. Duh. I call. Flop comes A 3 J rainbow. Small blind with bigger stack than me goes all in. I announce that I have to call as I shove all my chips in again. His A Q can't catch up and I double again. Third break came and I was a force.

For the rest of the night I got nothing but love. Pocket pairs galore and strong aces. The last 3 dealers I had loved me as much as the first 3 had despised me. I hit nearly every time I went to flop. When I missed - I just laid down. No bluffing needed.

1st place promised $4,029. I was eyeing the prize. I went to final table as chip leader. 2 guys went out and then we were 8, We all pitched in $42 bucks for the guy going out on the bubble, ( -$15 I am back in the red again...LOL) so he could have his buy in back and then we were 7. 2 more guys went down and with 5 guys left some one suggested a chip count chop. I was holding 35% of the chips and was dominant leader. I said "How much will that give me?" When they said $3621, I said, "DO IT!" [twss]

We all know how precarious a position chip leader is at a final table. If I said no, I would of played for about $400 more dollars and stood to get $2500 for second. Can you say, "No brainer"?

Some tips for my 3 favorite dealers and I am out the door in the black with $3,546. Want to know what the first 3 dealers got? LOL”

Theedouble*d

Congratulations to the DD! Another NPP playyaaa! Twss.

Brian “Allinduces” of Premier Poker, With Great Tourney Advice

“Dear Faldo,

I'm just adding a little tid-bit to your blind structure post. Maybe some of you already know this, and maybe some of you don't. I guess I'm just going to let you into my world of poker.

First thing’s first. It is nearly impossible to win a tournament with a bad blind structure without "lady luck" on your side. Now let's flip the script and talk about a good blind structure.

Just a little disagreement comes to mind on the "PF" (Patient Factor). Yes, as we all know patience is our friend, and every winning poker player needs it in their game.

However there comes a time in a tournament that if you are getting close to "blinding out", I'm sorry to inform, you are playing tournament poker all wrong.
Yes we all have heard the age old saying "but I'm card dead"....Yes, that can happen...cards go cold, we feel like all we are doing is blinding/ante to death!

We as poker players we sit down at a table to create an image, a somewhat of a persona that we build on, and work with. START USING IT PLAYERS!

Here is another factor. It's called the "M" factor and every tournament player should be using it. You know the age old "10x BB start pushing" Well folks, it's long before 10x.

Let's take for example: 9 handed table blinds are 200/400 50 ante. (I forgot to mention the M factor is used in tourneys with antes) you have a stack size of 10,000.

Yes to most it might seem like a lot..but let me tell you it's not. Here is the breakdown.

9 players x 50 (ante) = 450----(dead money) in the center
SB= 200
BB= 400

Now. add it all up you get....1050. Divide your stack size by 1050. So our 10,000 stack has an "M" of 9.5. Anytime you have an "M" of under 10 you are in somewhat of a shove mode.

It's about your opponents opening range of hands vs his stack size and yours compared to how well your hand holds up vs that range.

At these stages of a tournament cards are thrown out the window, and it all comes down to pure math, stack sizes, and M. Wait...let me re phrase that. In LATE stages of a tournament cards are thrown out the window...with that stack size of 10,000 at a 200/400 level your probably thinking well that's 25 BBs.

Well, throw the ante into effect and now it's a whole new ballgame...if your a true player in these situations squeeze plays, etc. Work wonders! You can't win a tournament without winning a race. Also you can't win a tournament without coming from behind either...take all this into consideration next time your playing a tournament and your about to blind off. Don't be afraid to stick in that stack. Even in a good structure you can't wait for premium hands all the time..

Next thing I like...the Gus Hansen theory on Ante to Small Blind Ratio.”
Thanks Brian for a great article.

Matchy’s Home Game Shows the NPP Spirit

Here is the write up for Matchy’s game last Saturday, compliments of JimF of Schwin Poker:

“Four of us showed up to play so Mrs. Matchy was recruited to play. The games were mixed, Omaha, Hold 'em and 7-Stud.

The players: Matchy, The Lovely and Talented Matchy, JimF, Arctic1Blast, and Tim(not 7Jokers-747).

The outcome: The Matchy’s clean up, Tim doesn't have a fold button, Greg, well, he's Greg, - and Farrell gets screwed by a bunch of fish! (not you Faldo, only cause you were not there!)”

Wish I was, now that I know even fish like me can take Jim's money!

Faldo's Gift to His Readers on Thanksgiving!

The true story of Thanksgiving!

History revisionism is not something that’s been going on since outcome based education. It’s been going on for quite a while.

The false story of Thanksgiving can be summed up very quickly. The Pilgrims came from England to escape oppression. They arrived in a new land and were immediately overwhelmed with their own incompetence as human beings. They couldn’t grow food. They couldn’t feed themselves. They couldn’t protect themselves. They had no clue what to do.

Our schools and the media have obliterated the contributions of America’s earliest permanent settlers, the Pilgrims. Why? Because they were people inspired by profound religious beliefs and overcame incredible odds.

Today, public schools are simply not teaching how important the religious dimension was in shaping our history and our nation’s character. Whether teachers are just uncomfortable with this material or whether there’s been a concerted effort to cover up the truth, the results are the same. Kids are no longer learning enough to understand and appreciate how and why America was created.

The story of the Pilgrims begins in the early part of the seventeenth century. The Church of England under King James I was persecuting anyone and everyone who did not recognize its absolute civil and spiritual authority. Those who challenged ecclesiastical authority and those who believed strongly in freedom of worship were hunted down, imprisoned, and sometimes executed for their beliefs. A group of separatists first fled to Holland and established a community.

After eleven years, about forty of them agreed to make a perilous journey to the New World, where they would certainly face hardships, but could live and worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences. On August 1, 1620, the Mayflower set sail.

It carried a total of 102 passengers, including forty Pilgrims led by William Bradford. On the journey, Bradford set up an agreement, a contract that established just and equal laws for all members of the new community, irrespective of their religious beliefs. Where did the revolutionary ideas expressed in the Mayflower Compact come from? From the Bible.

The Pilgrims were a people completely steeped in the lessons of the Old and New Testaments. They looked to the ancient Israelites for their example. And, because of the biblical precedents set forth in Scripture, they never doubted that their experiment would work. But this was no pleasure cruise, friends.

The journey to the New World was a long and arduous one. And when the Pilgrims landed in New England in November, they found, according to Bradford’s detailed journal, a cold, barren, desolate wilderness. There were no friends to greet them, he wrote. There were no houses to shelter them. There were no inns where they could refresh themselves. And the sacrifice they had made for freedom was just beginning.

During the first winter, half the Pilgrims – including Bradford’s own wife – died of starvation, sickness or exposure. When spring finally came, Indians taught the settlers how to plant corn, fish for cod and skin beavers for coats. Life improved for the Pilgrims, but they did not yet prosper!

This is important to understand because this is where modern American history lessons often end. Thanksgiving is actually explained in some textbooks as a holiday for which the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians for saving their lives, rather than as a devout expression of gratitude grounded in the tradition of both the Old and New Testaments.

Here is the part that has been omitted: The original contract the Pilgrims had entered into with their merchant-sponsors in London called for everything they produced to go into a common store, and each member of the community was entitled to one common share. All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belong to the community as well.

Bradford, who had become the new governor of the colony, recognized that this form of collectivism was as costly and destructive to the Pilgrims as that first harsh winter, which had taken so many lives.

He decided to take bold action. Bradford assigned a plot of land to each family to work and manage, thus turning loose the power of the marketplace. That’s right. Long before Karl Marx was even born, the Pilgrims had discovered and experimented with what could only be described as socialism. And what happened?

It didn’t work! Surprise, surprise, huh? What Bradford and his community found was that the most creative and industrious people had no incentive to work any harder than anyone else, unless they could utilize the power of personal motivation!

But while most of the rest of the world has been experimenting with socialism for well over a hundred years – trying to refine it, perfect it, and re-invent it – the Pilgrims decided early on to scrap it permanently. What Bradford wrote about this social experiment should be in every schoolchild’s history lesson.

If it were, we might prevent much needless suffering in the future.

Here now, in its entirety, the William Bradford journal, what he wrote about the social experiment after abandoning what essentially was socialism shortly after the Pilgrims had arrived in the United States or in the new world:

“The experience that we had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years…that by taking away property, and bringing community into a common wealth, would make them happy and flourishing – as if they were wiser than God," Bradford wrote.

"For this community [so far as it was] was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For young men that were most able and fit for labor and service did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children without any recompense…that was thought injustice."

Do you hear what he was saying, ladies and gentlemen? The Pilgrims found that people could not be expected to do their best work without incentive.

So what did Bradford’s community try next? They harnessed the power of good old free enterprise by invoking the under girding capitalistic principle of private property. "Every family was assigned its own plot of land to work and permitted to market its own crops and products."

Not just use themselves and not just send to a common store but they could market. They could grow as much, they could sell it for what they could get for it, and the incentive was clear to do as much as possible on both sides.

And what was the result? "This had very good success," wrote Bradford, "For it made all hands industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been."

Bradford doesn’t sound like much of a Obama-maniac, does he? Is it possible that supply-side economics could have existed before the 1980s? Yes.

Read the story of Joseph and Pharaoh in Genesis 41. Following Joseph’s suggestion (Gen 41:34), Pharaoh reduced the tax on Egyptians to 20% during the ’seven years of plenty’ and the ‘Earth brought forth in heaps.’ (Gen. 41:47)

In no time, the Pilgrims found they had more food than they could eat themselves. So they set up trading posts and exchanged goods with the Indians. The profits allowed them to pay off their debts to the merchants in London.

And the success and prosperity of the Plymouth settlement attracted more Europeans and began what came to be known as the ‘Great Puritan Migration.’ Now, let me ask you: Have you read this history before? Is this lesson being taught to your children today? If not, why not?

Nevertheless, the Pilgrims and the Puritans of early New England are often vilified today as witch burners and portrayed as simpletons. But to the contrary, it was their commitment to pluralism and free worship that led to these ideals being incorporated into American history, and our history books purposely conceal the fact that these notions were developed by communities of devout Christians who studied the Bible and found that it prescribes limited representative government and free enterprise as the best political and economic systems. Now, there’s only one word for this, folks. It’s censorship.

That’s what’s being taught today. What is not being taught today is the devotion to God that these people had, but the failure of a socialist compact to adequately provide for the residents of the first colony and how William Bradford himself saw it was failing almost from the outset and devised a new compact which was basically capitalism and unfettered competition, and incentive, and then it was Katie bar the door.

All of these things are part of the original Thanksgiving, and even when I go back and remember my days in school, I was not taught this. I was not taught the involvement and the references to God.

I was not taught that the Pilgrims had all this bounty after awhile and shared it with the Indians. It was quite the opposite. The purpose of teaching Thanksgiving when I was a kid was to tell all of us just how wonderful the Indians were and how well they treated us when we arrived because we were basically inept and incompetent.

I enjoy passing this story along every Thanksgiving, and it always reaches new people. Every year I do it, people who have never heard it before are amazed. Now, if I was able to find it and get the true story, it’s out there, but it’s not in conventional history textbooks that you’ll find in many of the public schools.

Hat tip to Rush Limbaugh.

Jenski6 Wins Her 1st NPP Tourney!

She becomes the 47th tournament winner on NPP, and the 4th lady to do so. She now joins Nahanni74, Nixi44 and UMichpoker as the girls that “beat the boys’ at their own game.

Jen did not do it easily as she had to take out runaway point leader LittleRedElf – heads up - to win it all over fourteen other players.

We had one new player join us tonight - Ksloflyer – and Davethedog returned to the NPP felt for his annual donation …er, visit. A possible new player – Owetheshark – stopped by to watch the action. And old-timer Cigar4john also sweatered the Dog. Nice to see you all.

On to the action:

16 min: T3chlady (15th) continues to be cold-decked in our league for some reason. She has to go with (As Js) with a flop of [5AA], but she finds Funtoon holding (55). Ouch!

21 min: Derf-63 (14th) gets all-in with (A3) and a board of [JQA]. BigDaddyTman had the (KT).

28 min: Ksloflyer (13th) sees his trip queens lose to Funtoon’s full house. This is a typical NPP welcome to new players.

34 min: Tomservo2 (12th) sees his (K4) and a flop with a [K] in it, run into Rennzzo’s (KJ).

54 min: Davethedog (11th) got no nub in his return as his (QQ) (69%) first lose to LittleRedElf’s (AQ) (30%) and then Dave’s (QJ) loses to LRE’s (K9) to close him out.

1st Break:

Funtoon 5885
ThePunk75 4910
LittleRedElf 3230
BigDaddyTman 1805
Jenski6 1720
Birdy333 1195
Absea98 1070
Rennzzo 995
Budda627 935
Tigercub8189 755

62 min: A short-stacked (SS) Birdy333 (10th) goes with (KJ) and loses the coin flip to Tigercub8189’s (TT).

66 min: Rennzzo (9th) moves in with (KK), but LittleRedElf holds (AA). Ouch!
69 min: Absea98 (8th) loses his coin flip with (55) to ThePunk75’s (Kh Th).
71 min: BigDaddyTman (7th) has to go with (84) and a board of [4JJ4], but Jenski6 is holding (J2). A true double blind hand special!

76 min: A SS Tigercub8189 (6th) goes with (77) and loses his coin flip to ThePunk75’s (AK), with a [K] on the flop.

80 min: After first getting carved up by Funtoon, ThePunk75 (5th) has to try with (Ad 8d) and runs into Jenski6’s (AK).

81 min: Budda627 (4th) goes with (A8) (56%), but LittleRedElf’s (QJ) (43%) nails a flop of [QQ7]!

97 min: Funtoon (3rd) goes with (55) after a non-scary flop of [96T], but Jenski6 has (T6).

100 min: Heads up: Jenski6 16,500 - LittleRedElf 6,000

105 min: LittleRedElf (2nd) has to try with (A5) (30%), but Jenski6’s (TT) (70%) hold up!

Congratulations to Jenski6 on a special achievement!

1st – Jenski6
2nd – LittleRedElf
3rd – Funtoon
4th – Budda627
5th – ThePunk75
6th – Tigercub8189
7th – BigDaddyTman
8th – Absea98
9th – Rennzzo

Standings are on the right side of the blog. Three players are still in the running for the 4th quarter seat - and 10 remain in contention for the two Total Points Seats for the NPP Finals. Good luck to all!

Boother36 Reports on His Outstanding Showing in the Heartland Poker Tour

Take it away Boother36:

“All in all, it was even better the second time around!!! It was a huge mine field to navigate through, so I feel fortunate to have made it back to the final table. While I wish the outcome would have been different, looking back I really am lucky to have made that far again.

We started play at 5:00 PM on Saturday night with 296 players and played till about 11:30 PM. That got us down to 82 players.

The average chip stack was about $50K at that time and I had $81K. Not too bad for the end of day 1. Ken and Gary (from my poker club) were up there playing in the tourney too. The 3 of us made a KILLING on a BJ table late Saturday night. But that’s a story for a different day!! (Ed. Note: Got to hear that one! Faldo can’t win at blackjack if I got 20 every time.)

Play resumed at 9:00 AM on Sunday. Steady, conservative, tight play got me into the money at 30 players. My cards turned dead shortly thereafter and I was able to fold my way from 25th or so to the final table. We ended up playing for almost 2 hours with 9 players. My demise came about when I went after stealing the monumental antes and blinds ($4K/$30K/$60K).

I had Js10s in middle position. I went all in for just over $400K (ave chip stack was $495K at that time). Of course, the SS had to have AJ and called. Nothing hit my hand and I ended up losing about 2/3rds of my chips on that hand.

The very next hand I got KsQs and went all in again for about $140K. Play folded around to the BB (the 2nd chip leader), and after properly analyzing that he should call my “barely more than min raise amount” with any 2 cards, he did so. He had Kd2c. Even though I had him dominated, as luck would have it a 2 comes on the river!! Just like that, I was out (9th - $10,588).

With this run of luck I have had at this venue, I can’t wait for the HPT to get back to the Soaring Eagle!!”

Thanks Boother, for the report. And again, great job!

For those of you that have never been there, The Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant has always ran a nice poker room. Faldo and Thai Food haunted that place profitably for years. Then, just before the Chris Moneymaker boom, they closed the poker room.

Excuse me for the joke, but the Indians timing on that was worse than Colonel Custard. They had a great poker room, clientele and experienced dealers. But decided they would make more money with more slots (probably true).

Then – BANG! They had to rebuild it. I played there a few times after the re-start, but it was not the same or as busy. But it is obvious it is back now – and better than ever.

Boother36 Finishes 9th in the 2009 Heartland Poker Tour Mt. Pleasant Event!

That is back to back final table 9th place finishes for Boother36 in this prestigious event. Wow!

The total prize pool was $426,528, and 297 players in the Main Event. Boother battled thru them all for the second year in a row to make yet another final table, and take home $10,588.

I think…hell, I know it is a much greater feat to make back to back final tables, than it is to win one and never be heard from again.

Congratulations to Boother36! I hope he sends me some key hands to post.

Douge2’s Humor Corner – XXVII

Devine Intervention Required

"Anyone with needs to be prayed over, come forward, to the front at the altar," the Preacher says.

ThePunk75 gets in line, and when it's his turn, the preacher asks: "Punk, what do you want me to pray about for you?"

The Punk replies: "Preacher, I need you to pray for my hearing."

The preacher puts one finger in The Punk’s ear, and he places the other hand on top of The Punk's head and prays and prays and prays, he prays a blue streak for The Punk.

After a few minutes, the Preacher removes his hands, stands back and asks, "Punk, how is your hearing now?"

The Punk says, "I don't know, Reverend, it ain't til next Wednesday!"

A Free Pointer

Duder1123 met Helen while on vacation, and Duder fell head over heels 'in love' with her and after a couple of weeks during which Duder took Helen out to various dance clubs, restaurants, concerts, etc. He was convinced that it was true love.

And so....on the last night of his vacation, the two of them went to dinner and had a serious talk about how the relationship would continue.

"It's only fair to warn you, I'm a total golf nut," Duder said to his newfound lady friend. '"I eat, sleep and breathe golf so if that's going to be a problem, say so now!”

Helen took a deep breath and responded: “Since we're being honest with each other, here goes ... You need to know that I'm a hooker.”

“I see”, Duder replied. “That is a problem, for sure.” He spent some time looking down at the table, deep in thought.

Then he added, "You know, it's probably because you're not keeping your wrists straight when you tee off.”

The Blind Struture of a Tournament is an Important Factor

There is a term called “The Patience Factor” (PF) in tournament poker. It is the time it takes for a player to get blinded out if they never play a hand.

The concept is, the faster you would get blinded out – based on the blind levels and how fast they go up – the FASTER you have to play the tournament.

In other words, if you buy into tournament (not that I would recommend it) and you get 2000 chips – and the blinds start at 250 – 500 and go up every 5 minutes – you may want to open your starting hand selection a little. Ok, a lot! You just won’t have time to wait for AA, read players or establish an image. The blinds will take your chips. It will basically be bingo poker and may the best hand win.

If you buy into a tourney with a starting with 2000 chips and the blinds start at 1 – 2 and go up every half hour, then you have found a poker tournament where skill will be much more of a factor.

Let us take a look at the tourney structure at the Premier Poker Lounge where NPP recently held our get together:

Blinds increase every 15 minutes and you start with 7000 chips:
25 – 50
50 – 100
75 – 150
100 – 200
200 – 400 50 ante
300 – 600 75 ante
400 – 800 100 ante
500 – 1000 100 ante
1000 – 2000 200 ante (the most patient player just went broke in 2 hours, 6 minutes)

I won’t bore you with the math, but this calculates to a PF of 4.23 – which translates into a Skill Level for the tournament of 2.5 out of 6, with “Six” being the tournament where poker skill would be a more prevalent factor.

As a measure stick, lets look at our Tuesday tourney on PokerStars. On-line tourneys use a different scale since the hands are dealt so much faster. We start with 1500 in chips, but the PF = 8.51 – which translates into a 4.4 skill level.

Keep the blind structure in mind before plunking down your money for a tournament. Be aware whether you should be in more of a gamble mode or is there time allowed for play. There is no “bad” or “good”, unless you prefer one or the other. But you better adjust your play based on the PF.

Are you LISTENING Faldo?

Boother Returns to the Heartland Poker Tour

This last weekend, Boother36 played in a qualifier for the Heartland Poker Tournament held this weekend at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant. He got it done!

Now Boother returns to the tournament where he had a final table appearance in the past (posting in CardPlayer Magazine).

The Main Event tournament starts on Saturday at 5pm at the "Eagle".

Boother, good luck and take care of those mopes!

Remember, "Friends don't let friends play poker like Faldo."

Bigbrimar Scores Two Final Tables in Two Days

Bigbrimar is on a roll! He picks up a 2nd and a 7th place finish, back to back in the PokerStars 360 player SNG tourneys.

Anyone who has played in them knows what a minefield they are. But at NPP – with the sharpshooters on this team – we all learn to “dodge bullets, baby!”

Nice job Bri.

BigDaddyTman Wins in His 1st NPP Tourney!

He becomes the 46th tournament winner on NPP, and only the 7th to ever to win in his first tournament. I think we just added another thoroughbred to this already “lights out” league!

BigDaddy bested eighteen others, including our point leader, three Final Seat holders and two other new players; Birdy333 and MTSuper7. Welcome to NPP – all three of you.

As I watched the final table action, all I could think about was how good the poker being played was. It was strategically and mentally better played than the televised WSOP main event table. That is a fact!

On to the action:

17 min: Wingsfancurt (19th) gets no nub as his (Ad 8d) (54%) loses to Biglou93’s hand of (Ah 3h) (27%), when a [3] hits on the river.

28 min: Family pot odds forces Rennzzo (18th) to go when he hits his straight on the turn (JT), but Meatsword hits his full house (33) as kings’ pair on the river.

32 min: Midway2933 (17th) gets double-teamed by Meatsword and Tomservo2 and Tom hits his flush.

38 min: Derf-63 (16th) sees his flush lose to BigDaddyTman’s quad Aces!
40 min: K9isadog’s (15th) (AQ) can’t catch ThePunk75’s (99).

43 min: LittleRedElf (14th) semi-bluffs with (KJ) and a board of [75TQ] and his straight draw. But Funtoon can’t go anywhere with (T5) and the two pair hold up.

53 min: T3chlady (13th) sees her (AQ) (76%) lose on a flop of [QJ7] when Absea98 (20%) with (KJ) hits a [J] on the turn for trips. The Lady’s bad luck continues.

1st Break (Three new players make it! A record!):

Meatsword 4020
BigDaddyTman 3655
Jenski6 3410
Absea98 3300
ThePunk75 3125
Funtoon 2500
Tomservo2 2315
Birdy333 1850
Biglou93 1840
Budda627 930
Tigercub8189 790
MTSuper7 765

61 min: A short-stacked (SS) Budda627 (12th) sees his (A5) run into BigDaddyTman’s (AK).

62 min: A SS MTSuper7 (11th) sees his (KQ) run into Birdy333’s (AA).
75 min: A SS Biglou93 (10th) has to try when his (83) catches part of the flop, but BigDaddyTman flopped a straight. No nub for the short stacks so far.

79 min: A SS Funtoon (9th) moves in with (KQ), but can’t catch BigDaddyTman’s (AQ).
87 min: ThePunk75 (8th) loses with (99) as BigDaddyTman’s (Ad Jd) hits a [J] on the flop. That is five knockouts, and you know he is not done.

89 min: Birdy333 (7th) has to try with (A5), but runs into Meatsword’s (AK).
91 min: A SS Tigercub8189 (6th) goes with (A7), but Tomservo2 has (KK).
117 min: Meatsword (5th) cripples his stack as his (AQ) runs into Jenski6’s (KK), and he goes out by her hand soon after.

2nd break:
BigDaddyTman 11105 (rare air here for a newbie)
Jenski6 10951
Tomservo2 4069
Absea98 2375

140 min: We played a while after the break before Tomservo2 (4th) goes with (77), but BigDaddyTman has (QQ). Tman’s 6th knockout and he decides to club down #7 and #8 in short order.

141 min: Jenski6 (3rd) goes with (KQ), but BigDaddyTman has (KK).

142 min: No need to check the Heads Up chip totals as it was a run away. Absea98 (2nd) limps along with (T5) (92%) and nails a flop of [JTT]. BigDaddyTman tries to shove Absea off the hand with (93) (7%). Of course he calls.

But the turn-river is [87] and BigDaddyTman takes it down with a straight.

Congratulations to BigDaddyTman on a special achievement, and joining The Walk of Fame. And congratulations to Absea98, who has made the Total Points race for the last two NPP Final seats very interesting.

1st – BigDaddyTman
2nd – Absea98
3rd – Jenski6
4th – Tomservo2
5th – Meatsword
6th – Tigercub8189
7th – Birdy333 (well done – points in 1st NPP event)
8th – ThePunk75
9th – Funtoon

Standings are on the right side of the blog. In the interest of full disclosure - I am using the bracketed seat winners to show where the point cut-off is to win a seat in the finals. Not that it still is not fun to play, but FYI.

Faldo’s Advice Column for Women – part III

I get letters all the time asking for the time tested and true advice that can only be given by Faldo. Here is a sample of some of the letters I answer daily:

Dear Faldo,

My husband comes home from work on Fridays and absolutely refuses to do anything all weekend but watch the Cubs or the Lions on TV and lay around in the hammock he's got stretched between two trees over our patio next to the lawn.
What do you think of a man like that?

Signed,
Aggravated in Ferndale

Dear AIF,

You raise a myriad of troubling issues in one short sentence. First, how did a Ferndale man get hooked on the CUBS in the first place?! I don't know where to begin with that one. He's just asking for a lifetime of heartache and broken dreams! Of course, he is used to the pain, because of the f’ing Lions!

I'd recommend a good sports therapist immediately for this unhealthy addiction.

Next, why is the hammock strung over the patio instead of the lawn? This is a definite safety issue. I'd recommend installing a good, thick lawn such as Conquest sod turf, which will provide a comfy landing zone for those unfortunate summer time snoozing accidents.

Since your husband doesn't like to be disturbed on weekends, I recommend you do this during the week. Mornings are best, as the sod will take more readily with a little dew. Get yourself a sturdy pair of Wells-Lamont gardening gloves while you're at it, as they'll cut down on blisters.

Happy to help,
Faldo


Dear Faldo,

My husband, Matchy, has a mutual friend, Bill, whom I am also very close to. Recently, Bill tagged along with Matchy and his fishing buddy, BigBriMar, as they spent the day at the lake together.

It was a couple of days later that Bill, who is kind of a chatterbox, told me that while they were drinking beer and cleaning the fish Albert confessed to an affair with my best friend, Helen. I've been just sick over this ever since Bill told me. But I am holding everything in, since I don't know who to confide in.

Now my husband won't have anything to do with Bill and I feel bad about that, too. I feel like I'm going to bust if I don't talk to somebody! I'm wondering what your take is on all this?

Signed,
Sick Of Holding Everything In

Dear Sick,

I don't blame your husband for not talking to Bill. First, no one wants a blabbermouth in the boat. Angling is difficult enough without someone scaring the fish with their constant blather.

Second, Bill obviously cannot hold his beer or his tongue. That's a bad combination for someone seeking male friendship. I'd recommend Matchy and Bigbrimar find another fishing partner.

By the way, did they have any luck? I'm always looking for new waters to troll. I can replace Bill as your close friend too, and comfort you in your time of stress. Just wear something sexy when I come over. You will feel better about yourself.

You can see that I am sensitive and caring.

Faldo

NPP @ PPL was a Great Night!

I’ve heard it said that “You can’t put a price on a good time!” And that is what we had.

Although I did have a young lady in Las Vegas tell me at the dice table after I said that – “Well I can.” I wonder what she meant by that?

It was nice to see flesh and bones behind the screen names. And I didn’t think it was possible, but NPP players are even nicer people 'in person', than they are - on line.

A hat tip also to the Premier Poker Lounge, as they were ready for the NPP invasion, and they ran a smooth tournament, with healthy cash games afterwards.

Now on to the action. If I miss something or someone, please forgive me and comment with corrections. Faldo is tired, hung over and a little rushed getting these results posted:

(1) Derf-63 was the first NPP casualty. His (AQ) got cracked by (A8). I thought this kind of stuff only happened on PokerStars?

(2) Wingsfancurt was out next as his(AT) could not catch an (AJ).

(3) Mikeniks-Faldo got a little too aggressive with (KQ). On a flop of [AA8], I moved all-in and – of course – my uncanny hand reading ability somehow failed to see that the villain was holding (AT).

(4) T3chlady had the same bad luck experience at PPL as she does on PokerStars, as her (AA) lost to (A2) with a flop of [22Q]. You got to be kidding me?

(5) Mistermusic5 was out around here somewhere. Not only did I not get the hand, but I didn’t get to meet ‘Scott’ either. Next time, for sure.

(6) McGuiness007 was literally blinded out as he ran card dead all night.

(7) LittleRedElf’s cards were not much better and finally his (Ah 8h) lost to (AQ).

(8) ThePunk75 got a crusher exit as he flops two pair with his (K9) only to watch his opponent hit a straight on the river.

(9) Tomservo2 also could not buy a break as his (AQ) lost to an (A6) and a flopped [6].

(10) Theedouble*d got deeper (twss) in the tournament, but just went card dead a little later than McGuiness007 did. Basically had to shove, and got no nub.

(11) A short-stacked (SS) Boother36 had to try with (6s 4s) and ran into (JJ).

(12) A (SS) Beerhog sees his (Ks Qs) lose to (AT). But he did get the first NPP cash of the night by bubbling and getting his entry fee back.

(13) And the hero of the night was K9isadog who brought NPP home a bronze medal with a 3rd place finish! I didn’t get the details as by this time the long day and the adult beverages had taken their revenge on your reporter.

Thanks again to everyone who attended and who made this a fun evening. We will do it again and I think we can grow the attendance.

Bigbrimar Makes a Final Table on PokerStars!

Bigbrimar finished 7th in a 360 player NL Holdem event on Tuesday, winning 13 times his entry.

Nice job Bri!

Meanwhile, Faldo stopped by PPL to make sure they know NPP will invade on Friday. They are prepared.

I played in the Wednesday tournament and did the following:

Donked off a quarter of my stack.
Bet into a flush with a straight DRAW to donk off another quarter of my stack.
Got bluffed out of a pot right at break for another quarter of my stack.
Then got all in dominated - (AJ) vs (AQ sooooted) - for the rest of my stack.

Oh yeah, my “A” game is ready for Friday.

ThePunk75 Wins His 4th NPP Tourney and Takes Control of the 4th Quarter!

They say it is not over until the Fat Lady sings. Well, she is warming up in the wings. We still have four tourneys left (that is eighty 1st place points still possible), but catching ThePunk75 now could be asking a lot.

But not to worry. We still have two Total Points seats still available to win and that race is super close! Remember, should ThePunk75 clinch the 4th quarter seat, he drops out of the Total Points race – like, LittleRedElf, Faldo, Theedouble*d and Tomservo2 have.

ThePunk75 beat nineteen other NPP’s on route to his 3rd win of the year and 4th overall.

On to the action:

2 min: Biglou93 (20th) calls the blinds with (66). The flop is [35T], and Budda627 calls Biglou’s standard bet. The turn is another [T] and the river is a [6] – it all goes in, and Budda has (T3). Lou getting no nub again tonight.

19 min: A short-stacked (SS) K9isadog (19th) has to go when his (T9) hits a [9] on the flop, but LittleRedElf hits his straight.

37 min: A SS Jenski6 (18th) has to go when her (QJ) hits a flop with a [J]. Tomservo2 calls with (As Ks) and the river is an [A].

40 min: Wingsfancurt (17th) (77) calls Absea98’s all-in (KK). But Absea can only get a split pot as ThePunk75 also called all-in with (KK)!

45 min: Kensik (16th) sees his (JJ) lose a coin flip to ThePunk75 with (AQ), who hits his [Q] on the turn.

53 min: Douge2 (15th) was late to the table due to personal stuff, but is a hard-core NPP’er and made the game. A SS Douge2 goes with (Kh Jh), but can’t catch ThePunk75’s (AQ).

60 min: Theedouble*d (14th) tries to double up before the break with (Kc Qc), but the PokerStars Break Monster is waiting for him as he gives Funtoon (AA)!

1st Break:

ThePunk75 4120
LittleRedElf 4065
Budda627 3715
Duder1123 2841
Funtoon 2760
Absea98 2555
Midway2933 2380
Akensi 2080
Tomservo2 1820
T3chlady 1580
Rennzzo 1082
Tigercub8189 760
Derf-63 242

68 min: A SS Derf-63 (13th) loses to Midway2933’s flush.
70 min: A SS Duder2814 (12th) loses to Tigercub8189’s A-high.
73 min: Tomservo2 (11th) is all-in after a flop [QAQ] while holding (AK), but Budda627 is waiting (QQ)! Ouch!

77 min: Midway2933 (10th) is out next, but I can’t catch the hand.
94 min: A SS Funtoon (9th) moves in with (T3) when a after a flop of [78A], a [3] hit the turn. But ThePunk75 is holding (75).

97 min: Rennzzo (8th) loses with (AK) against ThePunk75’s (KK).
103 min: A SS Tigercub8189 (7th) calls AIPF with (A9), but ThePunk75 has (KK) again!

107 min: A SS T3chlady (6th) has to try with (A7) (63%), but Absea98’s (K6) (36%) hits a [K]. Luck was not with The Lady tonight.

115 min: Absea98’s luck (5th) doesn’t hold up as he sees his (QJ) (64%) lose to LittleRedElf’s (97) (36%), as LRE hits a runner-runner straight!

117 min: A SS Budda627 (4th) goes with (QJ), but ThePunk75 has (KQ).

2nd break:
ThePunk75 15050
LRE 11318
Akensi 3632

123 min: A SS Akensi (3rd) goes with (Q6), but LittleRedElf has (A5).

Heads up: LRE 12950 - ThePunk75 17050
125 min: LRE 11000 - ThePunk75 19000
130 min: LRE 8600 - ThePunk75 21400

132 min: LittleRedElf (2nd) goes with (AK) (71%) and is called by ThePunk75 with (AJ) (24%). But a [J] hits the flop and LRE cannot catch up.

Congratulations to ThePunk75 on another NPP win, and yet another strong showing by LRE.

1st – ThePunk75
2nd - LittleRedElf
3rd – Akensi
4th – Budda627
5th – Absea98
6th – T3chlady
7th – Tigercub8189
8th – Rennzzo
9th – Funtoon

Standings are on the right side of the blog.

The Top Ten Events in Poker History

Here are Faldo’s top ten. You can find the list that gave me the idea for this post at the 2p2 forum or The Poker Grind website. But here is my list and order:

10. The book “Super System” by Doyle Brunson
After winning the WSOP back to back in 1976/1977, Doyle grabbed some of the greatest poker minds in history and co-authored a book with them. Each was an expert at a particular game of poker, and they put their expertise down on paper. Doyle says to this day, it cost him millions of dollars more at the poker table, then he ever made with the book! The book originally sold for the outlandish price of $100, and is still worth every penny.

9. Western Movies
Unless your father played poker, as a boy you probably first saw poker being played by your cowboy heroes and the western villains of the day. Western saloon scenes nearly always contained a poker game. I think without the movie reminders of the ‘Gambling, Action, Bluffing, Power and, excuse me ladies - Man’s Game’ poker really is, the game might have went the way of Pinochle.

8. The life and times of Benny Binion
Benny founded the World Series of Poker and catered to the wants and needs of all the big time poker players. He was single-handedly responsible from pulling poker from the back rooms of pool halls and bars, and into the main floor of a casino.

7. William E. Baxter Jr. vs IRS/USA
Anyone who fights the government intruding on citizen’s lives, I just got to thank! Legendary sports bettor and poker player Billy Baxter single handedly took on the United States government over the way gambling income was taxed. After years of court battles, he won the case, and saved gamblers untold millions of dollars. You da man, Billy!

6. Televising of the World Series of Poker
CBS started televising it in 1973 and ESPN picked it up in 1988. As television does, it brings something right into people’s living room – safely. Many Bridge, Canasta, Euchre and Pinochle players took up poker, simply because it looked like fun – and there were no televised events of their current card game. Now that the game is on the boob tube, people could now have poker celebrities to watch, styles and looks to copy, and of course dream of being on TV themselves.

5. “Rounders”
I remember seeing this movie the first time and thinking “Cha-ching! This should get some new blood to the tables – both at home games and at the casinos.” By far, it was the most realistic movie of all time about poker, poker players and what they live thru. Yes, even what the golf pros, the frat boys and the Greek restaurant owners go thru. The movie is over a decade old and quotes from the movie are still remembered and said at poker tables daily. I know this movie sent millions of people back to the green felt and shuffling chips.

4. Invention of the Hole Card Camera
If televising poker gave it a much needed kick start, being able to see the hole cards while watching poker – kicked it thru the goal posts 70 yards away. Now, you could see what the players were betting and whether or not they were bluffing. You could root for ‘your favorite player’ to make the right decisions. It made it a spectator sport closer to a regular spectator sport, as now the viewer could see everything. Again, more viewers equals more new players.

3. Online Poker
Now that you have an influx of people wanting to learn the game, where do you go to learn? I think we all remember the first time we sat down at a private poker game and the first time we sat down at a casino poker game. You might get a little encouragement from your buddies at the ‘kitchen table’, but walking into a casino to play poker for the first time, makes you feel like a Hooter’s waitress in uniform standing in the lunch line at Jackson Prison. You know all eyes are on you. But now a newbie can sit down in the comfort, safety and anonymity of their own home and learn without the embarrassment, ridicule or scorn from other players. What was first seen as competition to casino poker, became their breeding ground for new customers!

2. Chris Moneymaker Winning the 2003 WSOP Main Event
I don’t think this needs much detail to explain. This single event - coupled with event numbers 6 thru 3 - became poker’s Perfect Storm. Online poker brought the player to the WSOP, the televised event with hole card cameras captured how a Rounder’s dreamer could win the top prize in poker and become rich and famous. Let the search for home poker chips, tables and cards begin! Along with nearly every casino opening poker rooms.

1. Dave the Dog and Faldo Starting Niks Poker Palace
You are here reading, so what would you expect the #1 event in poker to be? Duh?
Dave said one day after golf, while eating chicken wings at Hooters, and after many many beers and cigars, “You seem to know a lot about poker, and you can write a little. Why don’t we start a poker blog? I will set it up and be the webmaster, and you can be the writer.” I was drunk enough to say yes. Dave also came up with the idea for the NPP tournament on PokerStars, since he was just starting to suffer a 'kitchen pass' shortage from his wife-warden, and the NPP home games were no longer in his future.

As it has turned out golf and Hooters were no longer in 4Putt's future either. But I digress.

The rest as they say - is poker history.

If You Need a Poker Reload – Do it NOW!

[Update on NPP night at PPL on Friday, Nov. 13 at 7pm: Faldo, Boother36, Derf-63, K9isadog, T3chlady, ThePunk75, Theedouble*d, Tigercub8189, Tomservo2, UMichpoker, Wingsfancurt are IN!]

Our ever growing and intrusive government is getting ready with Round 2 of putting the kibosh on internet poker.

The UIGEA legislation passed by a slight majority Republican Congress back when Bush was in the White House goes into effect December 1, 2009. Many of us have received notices from banks telling us e-checks will no longer be available for use to ‘gambling sites.’

Well, Republicans (chasing the votes they lost when they did this when they were in power) Sen. Kyl and Rep. Bachus are trying to get the SUPER majority Democrat Congress to over-turn that bill. For those of you who don’t follow politics that closely, the Democrats alone have the votes in Congress to pass anything they want. Notice if you will the takeover of entire industries – in THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!!

Home male prostitute ring manager Rep. Barney Frank D-Taxachusetts, is in favor of swallowing and packing the UIGEA bill too (reference intended).

But, in order for the Republicans to get what they want, they will have to vote for the Socialist/Communist takeover of healthcare, complete with Medicare cuts, Death Panels, forced compliance, taxes/fines and completing the bankruptcy and changing this nation forever.

Barney Frank, who is almost single-handedly responsible for the mortgage and bank industry meltdown, now wants to run your healthcare and manage your doctors.

As it looks right now –
Former citizens - now the serfs of this nation- may be able to fund and cash from poker sites, but will die sooner (with pain pills if you voted Democrat and without pain pills if you vote anything else);
Option B: You will not be able to fund poker sites, and may still be forced into just another socialist cesspool nation.

Anyway, load up your favorite poker sites now while you still have the chance.

You better do a lot of things while you still have the freedom to do them. – Faldo

Faldo’s Advice Column for Women – part II

I get letters all the time asking for the time tested and true advice that can only be given by Faldo. Here is a sample of some of the letters I answer daily:

Dear Faldo,
I recently found poems and love letters indicating my husband of 23 years has been having sex with my best friend in our bedroom, if you can believe that!

Since I've found this out, I can't sleep, I have no appetite, and I'm so angry with both of them I don't know what to do. I hate to even confess this crossed my mind, but last Saturday I took his .22 revolver off the night stand and contemplated using it on both of them if I caught them that evening.

Thank God I did not, but I'm so overwrought I don't know what to do. What do you suggest?
Signed,
Overwrought In Ann Arbor

Dear OIAA,

Violence is never the answer. Talk to husband about your best friend and offer to join in as their love slave. If he turns you down, beg her to let you. I’m sure one of them will oblige you into this win-win situation.

Hope this helps,
Faldo


Dear Faldo,

I have a real dilemma on my hands. My husband, Phil, can't take his eyes off the neighbor girls. One is an 18-year-old buxom blonde and the other is a beautiful 25 year-old red head who just graduated from Princeton. Faldo, it's downright embarrassing to see this man oogling women half his age right in front of me! I've tried insulting him in front of company, making jokes about his behavior, punishing him in the bedroom, but nothing works.

What would you do if you were in this situation?

Signed,
Distraught n Hudson, MI

Dear DIH,

That is why women come to Faldo for advice. Logic escapes them.

Not having sex with your husband will make him 'check out the menu' even harder! Duh!!!

But you do present a dilemma.

My head tells me go with the red head, since she's older, more mature, and has a marketable degree. On the other hand, the busty blonde would be trainable.

Actually, you might as well approach both of them about a threesome. If the first one says yes, it is bonus time asking the other one! You might get a foursome out of the deal and your husband’s undying gratitude. Good luck.

Faldo

Bonus advice Ladies: If you are worrying about competing against other furnaces, then become the fuel!

LittleRedElf Wins His 7th NPP Tourney of 2009!

LittleRedElf (LRE) survived a roller-coaster ride that most of the final table players were on also. What a great night of poker action, and if you missed it – it is a shame!

LRE bested twenty others for his 8th career NPP win. He continues to inch up the Walk of Fame!

Tonight’s action almost took a full three hours to complete! Not a record, but close (177 minutes is the record). It is a testament to the talent in this league. Pure and simple.

We welcome a new player to NPP tonight - Jenski6. From the looks of it, our stable improved yet again! Welcome to NPP Jennifer.

On to the action:

22 min: See? Over twenty minutes until the first victim! ThePunk75 (21st) raises and is called by Derf-63 and Midway2933. The flop is [46K]. The Punk pushes with (A7), hoping to take it down, but Midway calls with (A6) and it holds up.

37 min: Duder1123 (20th) sees his pair of Cowboys lose to Tomservo2’s American Airlines.

39 min: Kensik (19th) is knocked out, but the table closed before I could see it.
40 min: Tigercub8189 (18th) sees a flop with three others. He moves all in with (QJ) and a flop of [4JA], but is called by K9isadog with (A8).

45 min: Akensi (17th) repeats the process and sees a flop with (As Js). The flop is [3A5]. T3chlady bets four BB’s with (33) and only Akensi calls. The river card of a [J] traps Amy for all her chips.

49 min: Budda627 (16th) with (Ah Jh) can’t catch LRE’s (77).
51 min: Wingsfancurt (15th) sees a four-way flop with (KK) after min-raising. The flop is [737] and I smell trouble. Another min bet by Curt, a min-raise by Midway2933 and another call by Curt on the turn with the all-in loss on the river to Midway’s (74). Sevens crushing people!

Now the PokerStars Break Monster runs wild!
56 min: Theedouble*d (14th) bets his (QQ), only to run into LRE’s (KK)!
59 min: K9isadog (13th) sees his (JJ) run into T3chlady’s (QQ).
60 min: Midway2933 (12th) sees a flop of [T3Q] and moves in with (33), only to find LRE holding (QQ)!

A busy, busy break monster!
1st Break:

LRE 8295
T3chlady 4876
Tomservo2 4585 (same position as last week!)
Derf-63 3450
Jenski6 2666 (New player makes the break? Nice!)
Douge2 2028
Meatsword 1835
Rennzzo 1225
Absea98 1130
Funtoon 1115
Biglou93 295

Break Monster not done as right out of the chute:

61 min: A short-stacked (SS) Absea98 (11th) is all-in after a flop [Q5J] in it with (KJ), but Jenski6 calls with (Q5) and hits a full house on the river.

62 min: A SS Biglou93(10th) is out next, but I am watching the next hand and miss it as his former table closes down.

63 min: Rennzzo (9th) moves in with (QJ) but Jenski6 is holding (A6).
65 min: Meatsword (8th) goes with (Kd Kc) and a flop of [9c Ac Qc] and runs into LittleRedElf holding (As Qh), and Meat never catches up.

70 min: A SS Douge2 (7th) is AIPF with (99) (82%) and is called by Derf-63 with (65) (18%), but the flop is [534]. Reduced now to a coin flip situation, Derf hits his straight on the turn!

A long battle ensues for 35 minutes! With exactly the same number of players left when the long battle began last week. The six remaining players - during that 35 minutes - all took turns as both chip leader and short stack! Crazy fun to watch.

105 min: Four player pots were death tonight for someone. Derf-63 (6th) calls with three others. The flop of [64K] gets bets from Tomservo2 with (K7) and a call from Derf with (A4). With no improvement, Derf tries to push Tom off his hand, but it doesn’t work.

2nd break:
Jenski6 7871
Tomservo2 7610
Funtoon 7435
T3chlady 6116
LRE 2468 (Down, but not out!)

Even Faldo knows that LRE has exactly 2469 too many chips, in order for the other players to be safe!

126 min: Funtoon (5th) sees his (AJ) loses to Jenski6’s (TT).
140 min: T3chlady (4th) calls all-in with (22), but LRE has (TT).

144 min: Jenski6 (3rd) does the standard 3x BB raise and gets called by LRE. The flop of [Ad 6c Ah] gets two checks. The river [9c] gets all the money in! Jen’s (AK) comes up short to LRE’s (66).

Heads up: LRE 21500 - Tomservo2 10000
150 min: LRE 21500 - Tomservo2 10000
155 min: LRE 19000 - Tomservo2 12500
160 min: LRE 20800 - Tomservo2 10700
165 min: LRE 25000 - Tomservo2 6500
170 min: LRE 19800 - Tomservo2 11700 (and Tom had the lead some too!)

171 min: LRE min raises and is called by Tomservo2 (2nd). The flop is [Jh 7s 8c] and another min bet is called. The turn is [7h] and Tom moves it all in with (86). But LRE is holding (K7).

Congratulations to LRE on another NPP win, and a great battle put on by Tomservo2!

1st – LittleRedElf
2nd – Tomservo2
3rd – Jenski6 (a nice finish for a 1st time player!)
4th – T3chlady
5th – Funtoon
6th – Derf-63
7th – Douge2
8th – Meatsword
9th – Rennzzo

Standings are on the right side of the blog.

Faldo Finishes 3rd in Carbon Poker Freeroll Tourney

I got a ton of cards early, dodged a lot of bullets late and managed a final table in a 500 player tourney on Carbon Poker.

My SS all-in with (A5) got called by (87), who hit two eights – one on the flop and one on the turn.

It was my first time back to the site in a long time. I was pounded into powder the last time I was there. But after some poundings on PokerStars, I decided a change of scenery was in order. It worked obviously.

What I like about Carbon Poker is how after everyone is all-in, the winning percentages are shown. I think it is a great feature that should be copied by the BIG boys of the poker internet. It would certainly help your scribe when doing the NPP games.

What I don’t like about it is that you have very little time to make decisions and you cannot see the tournament lobby. At least I didn’t find a way to view the tourney lobby. I could see ‘Info’ and see where I stood and how many were left. But I could not see the payouts – which bugged me.

Maybe if you don’t have ‘running’ tournaments open on your main menu, you can’t find it to click on it. If anyone knows, tell us. Or I will have to just put ‘running’ back on and see if that works.

More NPP poker news and props to hand out: Tigercub8189 has a win and a 3rd in his last two 90 player SNG's he entered! Nice job there Cub.

Hold’em Hand Names

Some of these you know. I know some you don’t

A-A: American Airlines, Eyes of Texas, Pocket Rockets
A-K: Anna Kournikova, Big Slick, Santa Barbara, Walking Back to Houston
A-Q: Little Slick
A-J: Ajax or Foamy Cleanser
A-8: Dead Man’s Hand (Wild Bill Hickock was holding AA88 when killed)
A-3: Baskin-Robins (31 flavors)
A-2: Acey-deucey
K-K: Cowboys, King Kong
K-Q: Marriage, Newlyweds
K-9: Canine
K-3: King crab
Q-Q: Ladies, Siegfried and Roy
Q-J: Pinochle
Q-9: Quinine
Q-7: Computer hand
Q-3: The Gay Waiter
J-J: Hooks
J-6: Railroad Hand (sounds like a steam engine)
J-5: Jackson Five
T-T: Totem Poles, Tent Stakes
T-8: 4Putt (108, Dave's average score for 18 holes)
T-5: Barbara Hutton (dime store heiress), Dime Store, Woolworth
T-4: Broderick Crawford (A Highway Patrol radio call)
T-2: Doyle Brunson
9-9: Wayne Gretzky
9-8: Oldsmobile
9-5: Dolly Parton (who played in the movie ‘9 to 5’), Office Hours
9-2: Montana banana (because bananas will grow in Montana before this hand wins)
8-8: Infinity, Mighty Wurlitzer (number of keys on the piano),
8-6: Eubie (from the expression ‘you play those, u be broke’)
7-7: Hockey sticks, Walking sticks
7-6: Trombones (from the song ’76 trombones’), Union Oil
7-2: Beer hand
6-6: Route 66
5-7: Heinz (the steak sauce)
5-5: Presto, Speed Limit
4-5: Colt 45, Jesse James (the gun he was killed by)
4-4: Darth Vader (both black fours), Jane Manfield
3-9: Jack Benny (the age he always claimed to be)
3-8: Raquel Welch
3-3: Crabs
2-9: Twiggy (the model’s boob or hip size)
2-4: Lumberman’s Hand
2-2: Ducks

Hat tip to Card Player Magazine and Michael Wiesenberg for most of these.
Did we miss any?

Faldo’s Advice Column to Women

I get letters all the time asking for the time tested and true advice that can only be given by Faldo. Here is a sample of some of the letters I answer daily:

Dear Faldo,

I hope you can help me here. The other day, I set off for work leaving my husband in the house watching the TV as usual. I hadn't driven more than a mile down the road when the engine conked out and the car shuddered to a halt. I walked back home to get my husband's help.

When I got home I couldn't believe my eyes. He was in our bedroom with the neighbor's daughter. I'm 32, my husband is 34, and the neighbor's daughter is 22. We have been married for ten years.

When I confronted him, he broke down and admitted that they had been having an affair for the past six months. I told him to stop or I'd leave him. He was let go from his job six months ago and he says he has been feeling increasingly depressed and worthless.

I love him very much, but ever since I gave him the ultimatum he has become increasingly distant. He won't go to counseling and I'm afraid I can't get through to him anymore. Can you please help?

Sincerely,
Sheila

Dear Sheila,

A car stalling after being driven a short distance can be caused by a variety of faults with the engine. Start by checking that there is no debris in the fuel line. If it's clear, check the vacuum pipes and hoses on the intake manifold and also check all grounding wires. If none of these approaches solves the problem, it could be that the fuel pump itself is faulty, causing low delivery pressure to the injectors.

And of course he shut down, Sheila. With him out of work, you know how important it is that you get to work on time. You have to take better care of that car!

Get regular inspections of the car after work so this doesn't happen again. Make some great dinners for him after work for a couple weeks and he will be willing to accept your apology eventually.

Once you take all of these steps, and of course retract that silly ultimatum, I’m sure his attitude will improve.

Sincerely,
Faldo