The Wild and Crazy Bachelor Life

ScurvyWife too off for Dallas around noon, and by 12:15 the strippers and blow were out in full force, sound system bumping...

Or, you know, I spent a good chunk of the day in the yard, sweating my ass off, getting a veritable shit-ton of plants in the ground and in pots. Yeah, that's how I roll.

Poker continues to treat me very well. I had two nice cashes in MTTs last night, one at Paradise and one at Prima, of all places. I had some fun money left in both accounts and decided to blow it on MTTs. A combined $1,500 or so later in winnings and I was cashing out a very happy monkey.

Then alien beings briefly inhabited my body and I played some 20/40 at Doyles. What can I say, I was powerless to resist them. Two of my favorite friends that play the 20/40 short games there were out in full force, so I told myself I'd sit for a bit. Which turned into more than a bit, but I ended up booking nearly $2K in profits before calling it quits for the night.

It's interesting playing with the crazy monkeys after taking a break from those games. I don't necessarily enjoy games like that but for whatever reason I felt like I handled the swings well. I got stuck about $800 right off the bat but I hung in there and battled back. Most of the profit came from two hands late in the session, one where I flopped a boat with 32 in the BB (and turned quad 3s) and the guy who limped with AA and let me see a free flop just refused to believe he was beaten, then another huge pot where I got squeezed between the two monkeys but my AK held up, somehow.

Probably just a temporary jaunt back into the mid/high tables, as I've got plenty of bonuses to grind away for the degenerate challenge. Felt good, though, even if it was just one session and indicative of not too much in the grander scheme.

Today has pretty much been a dry run, though. Played a handful of MTTs on Stars and Full Tilt but didn't even sniff the money. Bubbled in a Soko tournament at MartinsPoker, which blew pretty heavily, as I qualified via a satellite and it was an insanely top heavy structure, with the the first spot in the money getting 240 euros, and the next spot, which I proudly occupied, getting nada.

Currently working on a big honking list of all the B2B network sites with decent/good bonuses and referrals for the extra bonus for each, for people who have requested such.

Signed up for the LHE Bracelet Race tonight, which should be interesting. I haven't played a LHE tournament in, umm, forever.

Read The Full Article:
http://suckout.blogspot.com/2006/04/wild-and-crazy-bachelor-life.html

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Easter Cancer Tournament

I got this notice from Easycure and am reposting it here. I don't play on Full Tilt, so I won't be in the tourney. I know this sounds crazy (and I am), but I can't stand the colors, I get a huge headache while playing there. I put the background to "midnight" and turned off avatars, but the circus thing makes my head pound.



For a while, Glenn played there under my name, but he didn't like it, so we withdrew our money and deleted the software.



I am advertising it for EC because of the cause, but I won't be there. I'd rather just donate independently.



Here is the info:



What: Hammer Out Cancer - WPBT-POY Circuit Event

(Tournament ID 3381723 under the Private section.)

When: April 16th - Sunday

Time: 9pm EST

Where: Full Tilt Poker

How Much: $10 + $16

($15 goes to American Cancer Society so buy-in is 25+1)

Password: dahammer

Read The Full Article:
http://felicialee.blogspot.com/2006/04/easter-cancer-tournament.html

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Poker's Puggy Pearson, 1929-2006

Puggy Pearson Poker Legend1929-2006. One of poker's most colorful characters died Wednesday at his home in Las Vegas. Puggy Pearson was one on the legends of the game and is generally credited with developing the concept of modern tournament...

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http://www.lasvegasvegas.com/pokerblog/archives/002637.php

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Something to think about: A Good Idea

I don?t pimp new bloggers often enough, but this guy had a great idea that I thought deserved an audience, especially since a few of you work for poker sites. He?s a 2+2?er and multi-tabler. He asked ?Stars if he could donate the value of his FPPs to charity (see e-mail thread in his April 14th post). I don?t know if it was his idea originally or he took action based on someone else, but this is where I came across it. I think this is a great idea, and could be a great PR move for poker sites.



I know there is only one thing I REALLY want with my FPPs, and after that I?d be willing to donate them as well. I just don?t play FPP tournaments much anymore, so there?s no reason for me to keep them beyond material reasons. I am already cashing a percentage of my weekly profit and donating it to charity and church, so this would just be a natural extension of that practice. Be it social responsibility or just an offering to the poker gods for good karma, it makes me feel good.



Anyway, you guys at ?Stars and Full Tilt (and anyone else out there) should take a look at the PGA (and, to a lesser extent, NFL-United Way) for the PR value. How many times do you see the PGA ads touting the millions of dollars raised by tour events every year for local charities? Here?s your script:



Narrator: To date, the players at PokerStars have donated $3 million to charities around the world. Just by playing, they provide meals to children in refugee camps, provide funds for researchers looking to cures to life-threatening diseases, and a warm bed and shelter for those ravaged by mother nature?.



The poker sites have done great work putting together charity tournaments when the need arises, and I?m sure some of them have an active charitable program they do out of their own profits. This isn?t a replacement for any of that; rather, it?s an extension of the idea. How hard is it to assign a monetary value to an FPP and cut a check? It wouldn?t have to be to ?any charity, anywhere?, which isn?t practical since these are global companies with global playerbases - there?s no way to filter deserving charities from scams in an efficient manner. But, there could be a list of qualified charities from each region that allow the player to direct his FPPs where he wants. That?s certainly doable. The sites already know how much an FPP is worth to them because they assign prizes and tournament entries with them, so why should they care if I want an iPod or a donation to the Red Cross? Cutting a check to Red Cross is quick and requires a $.39 stamp; an iPod requires the cost of holding inventory, and the labor and shipping cost to get it to me. I?d be willing to bet that, in the long run, charitable donations will save these sites real dollars that go directly to the bottom line.



There?s also the matter of utilizing this program to attract new players. When you were new to online poker, weren?t you afraid of ? well? everything? What, I have to give out a credit card number/bank account number? Will my money still be there in the morning? Aren?t those other players hustlers who just want to steal my money?



Would you have felt a little more secure if you?d been influenced by a PR campaign that included the messaging I used above? Would you have downloaded the software the second or third time you went to the website, rather than the sixth or seventh time like I did? Would you have moved from play money to real money after a week, rather than two months like I did?



So, there it is, something to think about. Kudos to Schwab for putting it out there. Great idea!



Oh yeah, if any of you at the poker sites think this is a good idea but you need a Program Manager to administer it? well? I still need a job (as we all know)? write me? bigslicknut@yahoo.com?



;-)



Read The Full Article:
http://bigslicknuts.blogspot.com/2006/04/something-to-think-about-good-idea.html

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A Tool Review

Nerd pointed us to this a few days ago. It?s been a useful tool for getting an albeit simplified picture of your opponents. Right now, there is no detail like you get in PokerTracker, but they do seem to capture every single SNG at Stars right now which is something PT can?t do for you. So, it?s good for getting the macro data on your opponents.



Some of this data is? well? eye-opening. I?ve run across people that have lost in excess of $20K playing SNGs since the data started. It?s not unusual to find multiple $3-$5k losers at my table, and I nearly always have 2 fish at the table. Sharksope classifies as a fish if your ROI is below ?20%. I have to wonder, are they people on a recent rush, stepping up to ride the rush? Losers trying to chase losses? Winners in other games, blowing off steam? Problem gamblers?



Every time I see one of these people at my table, I want to type in, ?Should you be here?? Of course, the answer to that question is a resounding ?yes!? from my point of view, but still?



Most of the regulars are profitable, and a majority of them have little shark fins next to their names. During the day, I?m usually the only shark (ick, I hate that I?m considered that) at the table, unless the big multi-tablers get an early start. While some of them don?t have the 20%+ ROI required for that classification in the database, they are good, dangerous opponents that demand respect. Earning 17%, 18%, 19% while playing 8+ tables at a time is scary. I?ve seen one guy as high as 25% after nearly 3000 tournaments, and he plays 8-10 at a time. At night, it?s not unusual to have 3 sharks, and another 2-3 quality multi-tablers at a table.



I use the data to just get a snapshot of who I want to play hands against. I know that I have to hold great hands against the sharks in the early rounds because I could be forced to play a big pot at any time. The solid multi-tablers are ?fit-or-fold? players in the early rounds, but extremely dangerous in the later rounds because of a willingness to gamble for the double-up they need to make the money. I actually don?t pick on the fish much early. I let them splash around, collect their chips, maybe get lucky once or twice and take out a good player after they push with their four-flush on the flop when there?s only T150 in the pot to crack trip aces. In an ideal world, I want 3 fish with me at the bubble. Don?t get me wrong: if I get a hand against them, I play it. I might take a small pot or two off of them if the situation is right. But, I?m not going out of my way taking big risks early just because they?re fish.



Anyway, I dropped a line to Sharkscope asking about their future plans, specifically whether there will be a subscription service to allow more than 10 searches/day. Here?s the answer:

Glad to hear you are enjoying using SharkScope. We will be offering a

premium service with greater access and functionality very soon (probably as

soon as tomorrow).



regards



Isabella



Sharkscope Support

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