June Free Texas Holdem Tournament

We have just launched our new Texas Holdem poker tournament at Poker.com for the month of June. The winner of this free tournament will receive free enty into the Poker.com $10,000 Guaranteed Weekly Tournament worth $55. To join in the fun, you need to sign up for my poker newsletter. After you receive your invitation with the password to this private tournament, you must download the Poker.com software. Sign up as a free player, and you can find the tournament under the Private Tournaments Tab. The tournament is called Poker Player Press, which is the name of my website. I look forward to playing with you on Sunday, June 25th, 2006 at 8:00 PM EST.

For more details on this free Texas Holdem Poker Tournament, visit my website, PokerPlayerPress.com.

Read The Full Article:
http://pokerstarsbonusdownload.blogspot.com/2006/05/june-free-texas-holdem-tourna
ment.html

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Punishment for Decadence

When parents need to punish their kids, the phrase ?Hurts me more than it hurts you? gets bandied about.  Tonight, I believe it.

We warned miniBlood about his attitude yesterday.  Each day, the kids in his class have their behavior ranked by color, green being the best and red meaning a trip to the principal?s office.  In order for mini to play in his baseball game tonight, he was required to have a green day.  We normally don?t impose any restrictions like this, but yesterday was a bad day for him with respect to listening to his parents.  Today, he came home with a yellow day.  And I?m real bummed because I love taking my kid to his games and watching him play.

I know the lesson learned through punishment is more important in the larger scheme of things, but I?ll be damned at how disappointed I am right now.  I?ll even get to the G-Vegas home game on time because of it, but that?s not even a minor bit of consolation.  At least he was honest.  He could have lied about what color he got, but he didn?t.  Still?.

****

Any of you readers ever play poker at Turning Stone casino in NY?  I?ll be back up to Schenecta-hole in late June for a few days and will probably extend my trip by a day to check out the poker action if it?s worth it.  It looks like it?s only about a 2 hour drive away, definitely within striking distance.  If you?ve been, feel free to leave comments about the place and your impressions.

****

Big, long weekend coming up.  Apparently, there may be poker.  But also, I?m hoping to check out the new X-Men film.  How is that poker related?  Well duh.  Famke.  I think that says it all.

Read The Full Article:
http://badbloodonpoker.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_badbloodonpoker_archive.html#11485
8701872472973

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State of the Union

I should be out in my garden. I should be doing something productive and healthy. Instead I am stuck in here in my lazy-boy, laptop on my legs, typing a post into this journal. Why am I doing that? Because I'm angry, and when I'm angry, nothing is going to be good until I get the anger out of my system.

I suppose that every few months I should have some kind of public address post. I can just copy and paste it from the last time, and save myself a lot of work. It seems like I have gotten a lot of new readers lately on both LJ and blogger. So they somehow assume things about me which absolutely are not true.

I am just me. I am absolutely 100% genuine. There is no "online persona" or shtick that I have. My name really is Felicia, and I really talk and act this way in real life. I'm not bragging about it, believe me, no one more-so than myself would rather be able to "go along to get along" and all of that liberal, PC tree hugging hippy bleeding heart Kumbaya stuff. I make my life more difficult because it's just me, not some fake wannabe.

I'm not cool, I've never been cool, I don't want to be cool and those readers who pander to me and try to make me into some icon sicken me more than the haters.

I write what I believe. Sure, every once in a while I'll do a joke type post, but even those are often laced with lots of truth (a recent example would be the "Will I Like You?" post).

I don't have ads because of me, not because I necessarily think they are evil or selling out. Some people can accept ad offers, and then stay true to themselves and their writing. I can't. I'd feel some kind of pressure to change and be more socially acceptable. That's just me. I'm not trying to be Joan of Arc or some kind of heroine. The only ad I absolutely feel is "evil" and that people should not place on their sites is the poker source one. And that is a long, drawn out history with 2+2 and a lot of scams. I hate to see people get ripped off, but it is not my place to tell them what to do. They puts up the ads, they takes their chances.

People often feel that I am going to be "normal" in person. I am not normal in any way, shape or form. I am not a sheep, I don't have the herd mentality. If you come up to me, approach me, I am going to stay me, not some kind of pansy. If you start talking on your cell phone, you know what, I'm just going to walk away. There is appropriate cell phone usage and inappropriate. If you interrupt my conversation with you to use that frigging thing, you have lost my presence. You have lost my friendship, conversation, advice, help, money or anything else that you ever had with me. If you are a cell phone dumper, I will never speak to you again. That's just the fact, I am rude about it. I will not put up with any inappropriate cell phone usage. Most people don't want to be around me anyway, so really, you aren't missing out on much.

If you start gossiping or acting like your life is more important than mine around me, I will also walk away. I don't care. Your life is no more important than mine or anyone else's in this world, and I simply won't stand for it. I probably won't go off on you, I most likely will not make a spectacle of the situation, I will simply leave. You aren't worth my time. Go find some other idiots to gossip with.

If I don't like you online, what makes you think I'm going to like you in person? If we have had any type of problems online, like you flaming me, gossiping about me on your site, others' sites, or to other people, what makes you think I'm going to act PC and polite in person? Don't even approach me, because you are not going to like what you find. I am no more polite in person as I am online, and if you make a point to approach me while I am in public and/or in a social setting, I'm not going to "behave properly." Don't approach the bull unless you are ready to tangle with the horns. I will not be "nice."

If you are so tenderhearted that you cannot take the tone on the LJ site, please leave. I am not writing for you, I'm writing for me. It is an honor and privilege for you to read my private thoughts. Just like it is an honor and privilege for me to read YOUR private thoughts, if you have a journal. There is no way in hell that I would ever attack YOUR private thoughts, regardless of how much I disagree with them. Why? Because honest, candid, private thoughts can never be WRONG. If you are truly letting me into your world, your head, nothing you say can make me angry or upset. It is an honor that you will let me in. I'm not going to look a gifthorse in the mouth.

So I expect the same respect in return. If, for some reason, you find yourself unable to give that type of respect, leave. Leave LJ, leave Blogger. Don't read what I write. Because if you come down on me, on my own, personal journal, you will receive in return 10x what you dished out. I will not tolerate it in any way, shape or form. I will attack, and that is the truth. You want action, you might just get it. Sure, I normally ignore random, idiot, harmless trolls, but if you have escalated way beyond that level, you should expect to take anything you have dished out, in spades. Just don't go there, you don't want to get into it with me. It's not just some random threat, it is a promise. I will not ignore true criminals.

I keep this journal public because I truly try to help people. I don't want credit, I don't want recognition, I don't want stardom or fame. I write for me, privately, and share it with you, publicly. Lots of times I get e-mail asking me to write for a publication. Cover a tourney. Can something be used in Cardplayer? I mostly say no. The articles of mine which have been used for different publications, I have asked to remain anonymous. No, I don't even want my name in CP. Why? Because that is not my goal. If my posts can help others by being published in a magazine, that is great, but I don't need my name to be attached. Heck, I'm not even getting paid, so why bother? I mostly just tell people to copy & paste what I have written, and have at it. No problem. I don't need my name in lights.

And for those who think it's some kind of fear? That I'm "wanted" or scared of having my name published...um, ever notice that I use my REAL name here and on 2+2? If I wanted to remain anonymous, I certainly wouldn't use my real name.

I don't go around to sites trying to be recognized or praised. If someone links to me, I try to thank him or her, but I don't ever ask or begged to be linked. I don't ask people to sign up under my name on poker sites. I don't endorse a single one. If someone says something positive about a post I've written, I try to go to their site and thank them personally. If they flame something I've written, I usually ignore it. If it is more of a constructive type criticism, I usually thank them and try to explain what I was thinking, where I went wrong, etc. I never, ever go to their site and flame them in return or retaliation.

When I rant and rave, it is usually never at a particular person or site. It is usually a build-up of a lot of sites or people in my life, who choose to step on my toes. I don't personally attack an idiot. Idiots are idiots and won't change, so why bother?

If someone starts threatening me, I usually overreact. After all, if I am true and genuine online, I expect they are, too. So if they threaten my life, I take them at face value and start freaking out. Most of them are FOS, and I don't realize it until I have already gone ballistic. Despite the threats on my life, property and person, not one of those wannabe honchos has made good on his scare. I keep waiting, but I'm still here, not buried in the desert somewhere.

I am never going to be popular, liked, loved or even respected. There are too many morons in the world for anything like that to ever happen. I dance to a different drummer and always have. I am not going to go along like a sheep. I won't follow you off of a cliff like a lemming. Any kind of pressure, so called "peer pressure" or other tactics will backfire. You will not threaten or pressure me into conforming. If you try to bring some kind of slander or libel lawsuit against me because of something I've said or written, I will not bow. Bring it on, I'll see you in court. It's pretty hard to prove slander or libel if it's TRUE, you idiot. Don't play with me, I will NOT back down.

No matter what you think, I'm going to continue to post what I want to post. I will rant and rave, I will go off on little, stupid injustices I see in the poker world. I will repeat continually whatever the f*ck I want to repeat, I will go to get togethers if I want to go, when I want to go, if invited. I will also sit home when I'm not digging them or don't feel well. I will talk to you if I want to talk to you and you want to talk to me. I will join tourneys when I want to join them or sit out when I don't. I will not be threatened or pressured.

I will write what I want, when I want. If you don't like it then leave. I am not forcing you to read. I am not chaining you to my site in any way whatsoever. Just GTFO or STFU. Makes no difference to me (although I'd rather see you leave than to stay at a place that you clearly don't enjoy).

I have an excellent life, I have a wonderful husband and three dogs. I am happy and content. I have everything I could ever have wished for in childhood. Sure, I am angry, I don't hold back my feelings. I don't hold anything back. Keeps me from migraines. I vent, vent, vent. I rant and rave, I scream and holler. I repeat poker injustices over and over again until I am blue in the face and everyone is sick of reading them. But that is ME. I won't change for you, I don't expect you to change for me. Get used to it and take it for what it's worth, or leave. It's an open door, the choice is yours.

Felicia

Read The Full Article:
http://felicialee.blogspot.com/2006/05/state-of-union.html

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Ubergeigh TV

Nothing very exciting to relate from the poker front. I'm alternating grinding out smaller B2B poker bonuses with some 15/30 full ring play at Party. Sometimes I wonder why I ever stopped playing full ring games, as that's definitely where I've had the best results. I've managed to claw my way back into the PokerTracker green at the shorthanded tables, but historical results are much, much better at full ring. I think it's pretty clear that the shorthanded tables are juicier, but they're also getting more and more aggressive and swingier, across the board.



So last night was pretty much dominated by watching much ubergeigh television, hitting up both Idol and Lost. Not really sure why Miss McPhee waited until last night to bust out the breasteseses, as they likely would have been worth a few million more votes if displayed the night before, but I was definitely very appreciative of the belated effort. I laughed my ass off when poor wee Elliott got absolutely run over by Mary J. Blige, reduced to waving his arms around and jumping up and down every now and then.



Lost was interesting and no real complaints, except the ending was a little unsatisfying, as far as expanding the sphere of weirdness even farther, without resolving any of the core weirdness. And yeah, I know, that's how they roll, but I just wasn't that interested in Desmond's fairly contrived backstory to begin with, so expanding in that direction left me sort of "meh".



In other blatantly pop culturey, non-poker related news, apparently Cate Blanchett has been tapped to play Bob Dylan in an upcoming biopic. What fucking planet are we living on? Did pod beings whisk me away in my sleep and transport me to some universe in which those words make sense? Sweet Jebus...

Read The Full Article:
http://suckout.blogspot.com/2006/05/ubergeigh-tv.html

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Lost and Won

Lost
If you are not watching Lost, you are one lucky bastard, because now you can watch Season 1 on DVD all summer long and catch up with Season 2 when it comes out on DVD (presumably, soon). If you do watch, I'm sure you were floored by yesterday's episode. SPOILER ALERT. So, I have my own theory, which was certainly helped by the season finale. Here we go:

The island is and was run by the Dharma Initiative. Desmond's chick's father either funds the Dharma Initiative or is one of many contributors to the Initiative. Since he didn't want Desmond to be with his daughter, he must have created a condition in which Desmond would be brought to the island. Maybe he had someone watch him and take advantage of the situation when Desmond was unconscious. The guy is uber rich, so the possibilities (especially on this show) are endless.

But let's get to the island, shall we? The island is artificially (or naturally) surrounded by currents that only allow escape from one area/angle. We saw that yesteday, when Walt and Dad were told that they could leave the island if they took the boat away from the pier at exactly 325 degrees or whatever boat term was used. So, that explains why people can't leave. We can knock out Desmond's theory, that the rest of the world doesnt' exist anymore, because we saw his girlfriend in the real world at the end.

So, what's up with the girlfriend? As she said in the flashback at the stadium, with enough money and determination, she can find anyone. She knows about the electromagnetic properties of the island, probably through her father. So, she commissioned those French guys (and probably others) to always watch for electromagnetic anomolies, presumably, so she can triangulate the location of the island. As we saw from the end of the episode, mission accomplished, and we can expect her attempt to get to the island to be an important part of season 3.

As for the Others, I'm going to assume that they are Dharma scientists, who are continuing their experiments, albeit in a facility (island) that is showing a lot of wear and tear. There are still a lot of gaps left to be filled, so I'll be eagerly anticipating next week.

So, why the Lost diatribe? Well, because I don't have much else to write today. My poker revelations and strategy posts are fairly nonexistent lately. I've hit a stride, winning $69 last night effortlessly in .25/.50 NL at PokerShare. I plan on sticking around there for a little longer, since I've been fairly successful at their cash games of late. After that, I'll be heading over to one of VPP's new promo sites.

I did have a great time yesterday targeting a particular fish. As soon as I sat down to the shorthanded .25/.50 NL table, Ronnette the fish was raising every hand, usually to $3 or 4. Well, I know an opportunity when I see it. I played dead, folding away most hands, and choosing to call rarely. Finally, with KK, I made my move. I min-raised the preflop bet and got a call from Donkette. The flop was AhKhTh, and Donkette raised about $6 into the $10+ pot. So, I reraise, all-in, knowing that he doesn't have a flush, but fearing that he is drawing to one. He called, with QJo, no hearts. He had the straight, but not the flush. The river was a T, though, and I made my full house. Not the prettiest way to win, especially against a player who I surmised to be an ATM, but I was glad to take it.

He left the table, and I went on another donkey hunt, eventually finding him at another .25/.50 NL table. As soon as I sat down, he played one hand and sat out. I guess he could sense danger afoot.

Here's a very simple thought about seat selection. Any serious player should know how important seat selection is. At my recent 5-Diamond home game, after the tournament, I suggested that we draw for seats in the cash game. Players were shocked, under the impression that seat order doesn't matter as much in cash games as it does in a tournament.

I whole-heartedly disagree. Obviously, you want the dangerous players on your right and the weak players on your left. For anyone new to this concept (and it is a VERY simple concept, so excuse me for you Level 4 thinkers), it is both logical and fundamental. You want the dangerous players on your right so that they almost always act BEFORE you. This way, you can get out of the way with your marginal hands when the strong player is in the hand or raising. You want weak players on your left because you can, presumably, take advantage of them, by raising on their blinds. Also, since they are not a threat, you can act effectively without that additional info of what they will do in any given hand. You probably already know, since they are a weaker player and are more predictable, through tells or through betting patterns.

So, why wouldn't this be as important, if not MORE important in a cash game? In a tournament, it is a zero-sum game. You win or you lose. So, if you are in a crappy seat with a shark acting after you and a rock on your right, then you WILL struggle moreso than otherwise. BUT, you can still play a cautious game and get by, even if you don't have the other skills necessary to succeed against these players. Eventually, tables will combine (in a large tournament) and your seat will change. If it's a small tournament, as players are eliminated, I'd argue that the position becomes less important. Why? Because aggression becomes imporant, and being out of position may allow you to be the aggression leader in most hands. In addition, once there are only, say, 4 players, then you will be acting AFTER the player on your left in 2 out of 4 hands preflop (when you are in the blinds), and 2 out of 4 times post flop (when he is in the blinds). Suddenly, your seat isn't as important.

Now consider a cash game. You are stuck to the right of a very tough competitor. You are forced to forego some hands you might otherwise play if you knew that he was already out of the hand. If you bust, you can rebuy back in, but you usually can't (or don't) change your seat at this point, so you are wagering even more money from this bad position. I don't see any upside or minimizing factors either.

But what do you think? Maybe I'm missing something fundamental, here. I don't know. So, give a holler, let your voice be heard, and have a lovely day.

And don't forget: DADI 6: Pot Limit Hold'Em, May 29th. And I just realized for the first time that it is the evening of Memorial Day. Christ!

Read The Full Article:
http://highonpoker.blogspot.com/2006/05/lost-and-won.html

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I've Been On Tilt For Two Days

© COPYRIGHT 2006 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED





I have been playing on Full Tilt for the past two days, I should say. Sorry, no good stories of me tilting at the virtual tables and going off like the two guys to the left.



I have been pretty busy with my wife's business the past two days, so I have played sparingly. I did play enough at Full Tilt to clear that special 3X raked hand $100 bonus that they offered up and won another $130 on top of that from actual play.



This was the first extended play that I have put in at Full Tilt and I would have to say it's a pretty nice site. The rake seems to be better than most sites. The games lean towards the tight side, but it was more of a weak-tight. The software works well, though I don't care much for the cartoonish avatars and table backgrounds. Fortunately, you have the option to have a black background and turn off the avatars. I went with that approach (and likely avoided a throbbing headache).



On a humorous sidenote, I selected a female avatar when I played at Full Tilt. I was curious to see if it had any affects on how my opponents played against me. From just the aspect of play, I did not see anything out of the ordinary. On the other hand, I was hit on by a couple of players. Are there really that many sickos playing online? For Pete's sake, it's just an avatar that bears no resemblance to any human that walks the face of this earth for the most part.



The Latest From Rev (Er, I Mean Rep) Bob Goodlatte

"We don't believe that simply putting the word 'Internet' in front of 'poker' should make the game suspect," said Michael Bolcerek, president of the Poker Players Alliance. "Poker is a skill game. You can influence events. The original cards are random, but you can influence your success or failure throughout the hand" by learning betting patterns of fellow players, bluffing and other techniques, he said.



Bolcerek said he prefers a weekly sit-down poker game with buddies to playing online.



Representative Goodlatte, who said he played poker as a young man but never for money, disagreed. Poker is "absolutely a game of chance," he said.



It is probably a good thing this flaming idiot never actually played for money. Well, good for him anyway...



River Decision

In the hand below, a big draw goes busto on the river. What is your action and why?



Full Tilt Poker

Limit Holdem Ring game

Limit: $2/$4

8 players



Pre-flop: (8 players) Michael is CO with [K? A?]

UTG calls, 3 folds, Michael raises, Button folds, SB calls, BB calls, UTG calls.



Flop: [8? 4? 7?] (8SB, 4 players)

SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Michael bets, SB raises, BB folds, UTG calls, Michael 3-bets, SB calls, UTG calls.



Turn: [7?] (8.5BB, 3 players)

SB bets, UTG calls, Michael calls.



River: [8?] (11.5BB, 3 players)

SB bets, UTG folds, Michael ???

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 7330476

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