K9isadog Wins His 10th NPP Tourney!

And it was as easy for him as playing football with Faldo’s caddie applicants.

K9 is now within striking distance of our fearless leader, ThePunk75!

K9 had to face down LittleRedElf and Faldo when it got down to 3-handed. He handled it easily.

Attendance was at the same time great – 16 players …..but puzzling.

While happy to see Bblbtt, Douge2, and Theedouble*d return to the NPP felt, it was disappointing to be missing Suetman123, Tomservo2, Tommydoo and Eyekall.

Oh well. You can’t always make every round. But a 20 player tourney was within reach.

On to the action:

2 min: Cpadanj (16th) has two pair and runs into Pre01’s trip Kings.
29 min: A short-stacked (SS) Absea98 (15th) has to go with (A9) and Theedouble*d has (65) and hits a [5 and 6] on the board.

31 min: A SS Douge2 (14th) goes with (AQ), but Mikeniks-Faldo has (KK).
35 min: A short-stacked (SS) ThePunk75 (13th) sees his (KT) get out-pipped by K9isadog’s (KJ).

36 min: A SS Bblbtt (12th) loses to LittleRedElf’s (AK).
40 min: Derf-63” (11th) pair of queens get run down by T3chlady’s trip Fives.
42 min: 95corolla (10th). I did not see it as the table closed too fast.

1st break:
T3chlady 5155
K9isadog 3745
Theedouble*d 3460
LittleRedElf 3221
Lump2 2400
Pre01 2310
KingBing420 1968
Mikeniks-Faldo 1601
8thmile 140

63 min: KingBing420’s (9th) (AQ) runs into Lump2’s (AK).
65 min: A rare triple all-in with a SS 8thmile’s (8th) (A4), Pre01’s (AJ) and Mikeniks-Faldo’s winning (KK).

68 min: Another triple all-in!! A SS Theedouble*d (7th) has to go with (53), Lump2 raises with (Ad Kd) and K9isadog calls with (Ac 6c) with a flop with 2 clubs in it. K9 makes the flush to knock out DD and cripple Lump2.

69 min: A SS Lump2 (6th) is beaten by T3chlady’s (QQ).
78 min: In a battle of the SS’s Pre01’s (5th) (87) loses to LittleRedElf’s (A4).
99 min: T3chlady’s (4th) loses to K9isadog’s straight.

Great! Faldo is trapped between two Player of the Year award winners and a pair that have TWENTY-TWO NPP victories between them. Add my NPP wins, and you get to ……23.

104 min: A SS LittleRedElf (3rd) has to go with (A2) and K9isadog calls with (KQ) and hits a [K] on the turn.

Heads up: Mikeniks-Faldo 10300 - K9isadog 13700

110 min: Mikeniks-Faldo 7000 - K9isadog 17000
This is exactly the same total that I had against Pre01 last week. Scary.

115 min: Mikeniks-Faldo 11000 - K9isadog 13000
Back to the drawing board.

2nd break: Mikeniks-Faldo 10150 - K9isadog 13850

123 min: Mikeniks-Faldo falls victim to the dreaded smaller straight versus bigger straight at this point! At least I didn’t lose all my chips.

124 min: A SS Mikeniks-Faldo (2nd) has to go with (A2) and is called by K9isadog with (88). No help on the flop. A straight draw an over card, and an added four-card flush draw on the turn. But no cigar.

Congratulations to K9isadog on his 10th NPP win, and moves past Nahanni74 on the Walk of Fame!

1st – K9isadog
2nd – Mikeniks-Faldo
3rd – LittleRedElf
4th – T3chlady
5th – Pre01
6th – Lump2
7th – Theedouble*d
8th – 8thmile
9th – KingBing420
10th – 95corolla
11th – Derf-63
12th – Bblbtt
13th – ThePunk75
14th – Douge2
15th – Absea98
16th – Cpadanj

The total point standings are on the right side of the blog!

Faldo Tourneys and NL Ring Games at MPP

Matchy’s Poker Palace does it up again! And Lauren Pope stopped by to watch the action.

We had six for the tournament and seven for the cash game after.

Beerhog won the tourney with Bob taking second. Faldo finished a distant 4th.

The big cash game winners were Jeremy and Beerhog.

Faldo’s last visit had a full table of ten, and the game Faldo missed in between this one and the last one also had ten players.

Great job Matchy! As Faldo knows all too well it is difficult to keep these things rolling sometimes.

By the way, anyone who would like to hook up an invite to MPP, let Faldo know. I will get you Matchy’s contact information to you. He has a nice group of players in his stable now, and the games are a lot of fun!

Faldo is looking into selecting a date for an NPP visit to a charity room for a tourney and/or cash game. Faldo’s free time schedule has been made a little busier with the re-involvement in chess.

But poker still commands the most time and effort (and money). Faldo will be researching the March tournament schedule.

Faldo on Middle Tournament Strategy

Gina Carano likes all of Faldo's 'strategies'.

This is an under-studied area of the game in tournaments, even though it is the stage where the majority of the players bust out.

First step would be the define the “middle stage”. It is when 30% to 50% of the players have busted out, depending on the size of the tournament. A big tourney, use the 50% mark and adjust accordingly to know when to start using these strategies.

First, open your starting hand selection [Faldo visibly cringes when he hears this!]. Get aggressive pre-flop with smaller pairs and bigger suited connectors.

Second, fast-play your big hands. Smaller stacks will be in panic mode and will have to call with lesser hands. And if you have opened up as in step #1, your opponents will assume you are still speeding.

Third, steal blinds. Since the blinds are rising, stealing them will keep you afloat until the poker gods decide to smile on you.

Fourth, defend your blinds more. This does not mean calling. Re-raise with anything decent. If your opponent is applying strategy #3 and you re-raise from the blinds, he has to worry you have a real hand.

And lastly, continuation bet more often. Bet around half the pot post-flop whether you have a hand or not. You only have to win half the time to show a profit. At this stage of the tournament, any profit is critical. But try to focus on WEAK-TIGHT players (like Faldo) and that will increase your odds of taking the pot down without a showdown.

The middle stage is the time to “play poker” and not just the cards or the card odds.

Pre01 Wins His 1st NPP Tournament!

It floored Faldo too, young lady!

Fantastic job by Pre01, who moves into 2nd place overall, and can see ThePunk75 in the horizon at least. Most importantly - Pre01 is on the Walk of Fame now!!!!!

He had to dodge not only the talent laden field that is NPP Poker, but he dodged the River Monster that seemed to swallow stacks whole. Lots of river beats tonight.

FYI on the 1st quarter action: ThePunk75 has a very comfortable lead, but with 6 tournaments played and still 6 left, and – on average – 5 points awarded for a win, the lead is not safe. Two more wins by anyone, and they are right back in it. Even a new player!

In theory, eleven players could take the lead with two wins.

Faldo will keep an eye on the points and if it ThePunk75 does continue to pull away, the Tournament Committee will meet, and after the “poles” on the stage close, we will vote on what to do.

Like Democrats, we vote even after the polls close. Of course Democrats vote even more before they open - especially the dead ones.

The TC will try and save some tourneys to add to the next quarter, so every round counts. But it is too early to even have that meeting yet. I think the majority agrees.

On to the action:

12 min: Cpadanj (16th) pair of kings runs into Tommydoo’s trip fours. This starts a pattern.

13 min: Lump2 (15th) runs into Tommydoo’s trip jacks.
17 min: T3chlady (14th) trip tens runs into Tommydoo’s flush on the river. See what I mean?

25 min: A short-stacked (SS) K9isadog (13th) sees his pair get out-kicked by Eyekall.
34 min: Eyekall (12th) sees his (KK) lose to Suetman123’s (As Js) with an [A] on the flop.

40 min: A SS KingBing420 (11th) sees her pair of queens get run down by Tommydoo’s with a flush on the river.

43 min: Tomservo2 (10th). I did not see it, watching an all in survivor on my table.
50 min: Derf-63’s (9th) (TT) runs into 95corolla’s (AA)
60 min: The break monster let Faldo live!!!! My (KK) holds on against 8thmile’s (QQ).
Don’t laugh. Two-outters hit at the break WAY too often.

1st break:
Tommydoo 3905
ThePunk75 3637
Suetman123 3552
Mikeniks-Faldo 3400
8thmile 3100
Absea98 2596
95corolla 2365
Pre01 1445

72 min: A SS Tommydoo (8th) has a pair of threes, but 8thmile hits his flush.
78 min: Absea98 (7th) has trips but runs into Mikeniks-Faldo’s full house.
86 min: A SS ThePunk75 (6th) tries with (AT) but 8thmile has (AK).
98 min: A SS 95corolla (5th) has to go with (A8), but Suetman123 with (A2) hits the baby straight.

101 min: A SS Suetman123 (4th) has to try with (A6) but Mikeniks-Faldo has (AJ). Now we settle in for a battle.

2nd break:
Mikeniks-Faldo 14578
Pre01 6120
8thmile 3302

Faldo had his hands but either got no action or lost as the favorite for the next half hour. Then the deck totally shut down on Faldo. Oh, well. That’s poker.

I was primarily feeding 8thmile, and he was feeding Pre01 – who did not return the chips to Faldo. What’s up with that?

150 min: A SS 8thmile (3rd) has to goes with a pair of deuces on the flop, but Pre01 has (KT) and hits a [K] on the river.

Heads up: Mikeniks-Faldo 7000 - Pre01 17000

155 min: A SS Mikeniks-Faldo (2nd) has to go with (8s 7s) and is called by Pre01 with (AT). There is an [8] on the flop, but so is an [A].

Congratulations to Pre01 on his 1st NPP win!

1st – Pre01
2nd – Mikeniks-Faldo
3rd – 8thmile
4th – Suetman123
5th – 95corolla
6th – ThePunk75
7th – Absea98
8th – Tommydoo
9th – Derf-63
10th – Tomservo2
11th – KingBing420
12th – Eyekall
13th – K9isadog
14th – T3chlady
15th – Lump2
16th – Cpadanj

The total point standings are on the right side of the blog!

Faldo Finishes Second in a Rise Poker Tourney - again

I said SECOND - not Fourth!

Two hundred and seventy six players entered and Faldo took second!

The key hand was with 18 players left, Faldo correctly guessed that a nearly equal in chips, middle of the pack player did not have the flush that hit the river.

[Td Ad Tc 4h 3d] was the board. Faldo held (Ah 9h). Faldo called the all-n and busted the Villain with (As 7h). The nine played and Faldo was now in the top 4 in chips.

Btu some loses with a smaller flush, JJ, and a few failed attempts to eliminate some short stacks, Faldo fell back a little. But Villian #2 went on a heater and took four players out, leaving Faldo heads up, but short-stacked.

Faldo got eliminated after battling back heads up to near even.

A flop of [T39] gave Faldo top pair with (Tc 8c). Faldo made a pot size bet and was called. When a [7] hit the turn, Faldo moved all in and was called by Villain #2 with (K3).

A [K] of course hit the river.

But a 2nd place finish still was a confidence builder!

Woodworking Made Simple!

Wow! I have trouble sawing logs!

Happy Valentine's Day to All the NPP Lovely and Talented Ladies

Since there is no NPP Tournament Game due to death threats Faldo received should he have scheduled one tonight - Faldo plans on just relaxing and watching some UFC fight re-runs I've already seen 100 times. Oh well, its something to do instead of poker.

But I can't stretch out and get comfortable if she is going to lay on the bed that way!

Can't she see the buttered popcorn bowl, the three cans remaining 6-pack and my "UFC Rocks" t-shirt??? Do I have to spell it out?

Some people just don't get subtle hints.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder - Typical RINO Government Worker

In an interview with RINO (Republican In Name Only) Governor Rick Snyder of the Socialist Republic of Michigan – a state in the 3-year old Communist States of America – explains why the wonderful reforms taking place in other states by new real Republican governors suck.

Yes, the RINO Republican governor of one of the most run down, jobless, most underwater home and highest taxed state in the new CSA, explains to an AP (All-democrat Propaganda) reporter why the Republican governors that are returning their states to solvency have it all wrong.

“Policies in Wisconsin, Ohio, New Jersey and Indiana resulting in union protests are unfortunate. Contentious anti union legislation means that those states will have to overcome divisiveness and hard feelings in the future. My approach is to build consensus. Opposing parties should find areas of agreement and work on those, rather than pursue divisive legislation.”

The success in Wisconsin, Ohio, New Jersey and Indiana - obtained by BEATING state employee unions - seems to be lost on Michigan Governor Wussie Snyder.

Republican governors in other states are bravely dismantling decades of liberal policies, political cronyism, union featherbedding and theft, that have crippled their state’s economies, and held their budgets hostage.

In spite of outlandish and unchallenged unlawful protests and recall drives - funded by the unions - and with Democrat law makers fleeing the state to keep from having to do their jobs and take their losses like grown-ups, these brave Republican governors are winning, and making their states solvent even during the Obama Depression.

They are winning because they are doing the right thing. And the voters in those states are starting to realize just how badly they were robbed during the reign of the Democrats and how mismanaged public funds were.

True leadership is about courage to do the right thing in spite of criticism, not ‘consensus.” Consensus is the absence of leadership right out of the Obama Book of Management.

Do you ever hear Democrats talk about consensus when they win elections and have control of the congress and top spot in state or federal government? Of course not. They even ignore the laws they don’t like with impunity and appoint “top cops” that announce proudly that they will not arrest their ‘own people.”

Democrats only whine for “consensus” when liberalism is getting it’s ass kicked and being proved to be a loser and a freedom stealer.

All is quiet from the communist-mafia-thug ranks of the Michigan based unions. That is a warning bell my fellow patriots.

That is all you tax paying members of the Socialist Republic of Michigan need to know to realize that Governor Snyder is not doing his job worth a shit.

He is Jenny Granholm-Kilpatrick without nice legs - and without the wart on his face. But for the unions in the state of Michigan, he is bent over the governor desk in the same position Jenny always was.

Mike's Cigars Has a Blog - Now on the NPP Blog Roll

Although I can still enjoy a cigar at the Leaf, Barley and Vine cigar bar on occasion, it is time to start thinking SPRING!

Time to start thinking of filling that humidor you had Faldo design for you for free (you didn't do that yet? Wow.....missing out), so you will be ready for the golf links in style.

So, I am adding this site to the blogroll at NPP for your reading and cigar smoking enjoyment.

And you can fill that humidor inexpensively at Mike's Cigars. Their website works great.

Their #1 competitor as far as I'm concerned - who shall go nameless so I will just use their initials; is JR Cigars.

Anyway, their website and email club doesn't seen to work very well. Great site, good prices, but poor customer service on line. If you call them direct, no problem. Actually outstanding. But on line is spotty and their email system doesn't seem to work well.

I've signed up three times for "email specials" and called them about not getting them four times. Still no emails. What's up with that?

They are treating me like every woman in every bar....ignoring Faldo.

But the #1 reason Mike's Cigars is...well #1 in my book, is not the name. It is the place where you can find all the sizes of Licenciados Cigars all the time! As Beerhog and I say, if you can only have one cigar - this is it!

Check out this blog and enjoy!

We all Do it #1

We can't help it. It's in our jeans to do it.

ThePunk75 Wins Again! Takes Control of the 1st Quarter Lead

It’s been a walk on the beach for ThePunk75!

ThePunk’s performance moves into 7Jokers-LittleRedElf-K9isadog-Doneill-Hlam’s rare-ified air! Two wins in a row and a victory in three of the last four! Well done Punk!

The other eighteen players either had bad luck or some bad karma. Your host just played badly. But the NPP family has to be happy with the turnout. It is a nice, solid night of poker.

Come on and join us in two weeks! We are taking February 14th off for obvious reasons.

This quarter, it may take a miracle to catch ThePunk75, but there are seven tournaments still left.

On to the action:

11 min: Tommydoo (19th) lost a coin flip with (KQ) to K9isadog’s (JJ).
13 min: Mikeniks-Faldo (18th) decides Cpadanj is bluffing, but he wasn’t.
24 min: KingBing420 (17th) gets a bad beat put on her by Cpadanj. Looks like his night so far.

27 min: A short-stacked (SS) Lump2 (16th) goes with (KJ) and runs into LittleRedElf’s (A3).

42 min: Pre01 (15th) Missed it. Had to turn my attention elsewhere for a few minutes.
35 min: Brucef1040 (14th) Same reason.
37 min: LittleRedElf (13th) sees his two pair get run down by Absea’s trips.
39 min: A short-stacked (SS) Theedouble*d (12th) (14th) sees his pair of Fives lose to Tomservo2’s pair of Aces.

41 min: Derf-63 (11th) gets his two pair bested by 8thmile’s trips and is out the next hand.
47 min: Eyekall (10th) hits his flush on the flop but 8thmile catches a higher flush on the turn.
50 min: A SS Cpadanj (9th) tries with (KJ) but is double-teamed by Douge2 and K9isadog, who wins with a pair of Fives.

1st break:
ThePunk75 7344
K9isadog 7252
T3chlady 5281
8thmile 3060
Douge2 1682
Tomservo2 1678
Absea98 1675
Suetman123 528

66 min: Douge2 (8th) has a pair of Queens, but ThePunk75 has trip Threes.
68 min: A SS Suetman123 (7th) has to go with (KJ) but runs into K9isadog’s (A5).

To this point, everyone has been playing like they had somewhere better to be (including your host), but now the final six settle in to do battle.

88 min: A SS Tomservo2 (6th) tries with (6h 5h) and a flop of [5A9], but ThePunk75 has (A6).

91 min: A SS Absea98 (5th) has to go with (AT), and K9isadog calls with (Ad 4d) and hits a [4] on the turn.

108 min: A SS K9isadog (4th) has to try with a flush draw but it doesn’t hit and ThePunk75 pairs his Queens.

111 min: T3chlady (3rd) goes with (66) but ThePunk75 has (JJ).

Heads up: 8thmile 2800 - ThePunk75 25700

114 min: 8thmile (2nd) hits two pair, but ThePunk75 hits a flush!

Congratulations to ThePunk75 on his 13th NPP win!

1st – ThePunk75
2nd – 8thmile
3rd – T3chlady
4th – K9isadog
5th – Absea98
6th – Tomservo2
7th – Suetman123
8th – Douge2
9th – Cpadanj
10th – Eyekall
11th – Derf-63
12th – Theedouble*d
13th – LittleRedElf
14th – Brucef1040
15th – Pre01
16th – Lump2
17th - KingBing420
18th – Mikeniks-Faldo
19th - Tommydoo

The total point standings are on the right side of the blog!

Douge2's Humor Corner - Super Bowl Sunday Edition

There is Always One Big Mouth!

A woman went into a pet shop and spotted a large, quite beautiful
parrot. There was a sign on the cage that said $50.00. "Why so
little," she asked the pet store owner.

The owner looked at her and said, "Look, I should tell you first that
this bird used to live in a house of Prostitution, and sometimes it
says some pretty vulgar stuff."

The woman thought awhile, but decided she'd take the bird anyway. She
took it home and hung the bird's cage up in her living room and waited

for it to say something. The bird looked around the room, then at her,

and said, "New house, new madam." The woman was surprised at the
implication, but then thought for a Cathouse Parrot "that's really not so bad."

When her two teenage daughters returned from school the bird saw and
said, "New madam, new girls." The woman was a bit offended but then
began to laugh about the situation considering how and where the
parrot had been raised.

Moments later, the woman's husband Steve came home from work. The bird
looked at him and said, "Hi, Steve."


A Man’s Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, a Prince asked a beautiful Princess Will you marry me?

The Princess said NO and the Prince lived happily ever after;

riding motorcycles and dating gorgeous broads half his age,
and he hunted,
played golf,
bought a boat and fished any weekend he wanted,
raced cars,
went to topless bars,
drank whiskey, beer and Captain Morgan,
never heard bitching,
never paid child support or alimony,
kept his house,
and guns,
and never got cheated on while he was at work,
and all his friends and family thought he was cool as hell,
and he had tons of money in the bank,
and could always leave the toilet seat up.
The end

Faldo's Internet Record in January

This "Find Faldo's ball mark" training of possible Faldo caddies is exhausting Faldo.

But on to the internet tournament circuit results for January 2012: 28 tourneys, no wins, but 4 final tables; 9th, 6th, 5th and 3rd.

Sit n Go results were bleak compared to the last few months, but for some reason January seems to be a bad SNG month for Faldo historically. Wonder why? Maybe no reason. Maybe all this "caddie training."

I guess I could blame the lack of cashes on my recovery from the hospital stay, but my 1st place wins were up there. Maybe I was just "going for the gold" more often.

26 SNG's played with 5 wins, and 6 cashes (2nd's and 3rd's).

That is a 42.3% cash rate (goal = 45%), but a 19.2% win rate (goal = 15%).

My total January performance is a 36.1% cash rate, so I guess that is an improvement overall. Just not compared to the last few months. Total win rate in January stands at 12.2%, which is awful, even with this last January added in.

A superstar's goals are 20% win and 50% cashes in SNG's.

That is why Faldo shoots for 15 - 45.

Partagas Cigars – A Taste of Cuba!

The Partagas brand name has always represented some of the finest cigars ever made. Ramon Cifuentes and Benjamin Menendez the conocedores.

The Cifuenteses ran the Partagas Havana factory for over 100 years – until the Obama Communist Revo…….sorry, the Castro Communist Revolution.

After, Cifuentes brought his expertise to the Dominican Republic, and along with Ben (who created the Montecristo brand!) restarted the brand. This united two former competitors to create a new “super-brand.”

Partagas are exceptionally well made – reputation has it, and is definitely a top 5 selling brand. Some say it is as high as #2. Why quibble.

Faldo has not tried this brand yet. It is on my cigar bucket list however.

Although a medium strength cigar, it is said to be on the smooth and slightly sweet side.

Sounds like a “back nine” cigar worth taking a look at.

The standard Partagas (medium) comes in all the familiar sizes and shapes. Other Partagas styles are;
Black Label – (full bodied)
Cifuentes Winter Blend – (medium)
Limited Reserve Decadas – (full bodied)
Series S – (med – strong)
Spanish Rosado – (med-strong)