Friday, December 25, 2009

Townsend, isildur1, Hastings, $4 mill, suspension ... hunh?

Merry Christmas?

Let's see if I've got this right: Brian Townsend and Cole South shared hands histories with Brian Hastings, who then took a $4 million win against the mysterious high-stakes super-maniac isildur1 at Full Tilt heads-up. Townsend is subsequently suspended one month by Full Tilt for TOS violation: You can't share hand histories on others.

Say what?

Read about these goings-on first at Poker Road just now, which led me to the following Poker News interview. Opinions on this situation, and what "sharing hand histories" means, compared to discussing individual/tournament action(s)? Ah the world of big-time poker; glad I'm happy in Little Land (for now)...

http://www.pokernews.com/news/2009/12/p ... n-7714.htm

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With the tools and such out there in the internet world, I wonder how Full Tilt could hope to instigate such a rule, much less enforce it. I too fear bots and IM hookups and collusion. But studying a player's tendencies away from the actual event ... that's something entirely different. In the current CardPlayer magazine Phil Hellmuth brags of training Jeff Shulman by going over the rest of the November Nine's entire available plays and TV tapes, and immitating the enemy. That sounds like just strategy -- but isn't that just what Townsend and South and Hastings allegedly did?

Gotta make things as black-and-white as possible, because the grays will just be uber-optimized. (Bad wordage but ya know what I mean...)

(... Great cover story on isildur1 and the nosebleed FT heads-ups in above-mentioned CP, and a short blurb that Hastings' big score just happened at presstime.)

Saturday, December 19, 2009

PokerStars $1M Challenge Head Hunt on Jan. 4 '10

From Poker Analysis Forum post on 12/19/09 promoting the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge Head Hunt:

OK, I'll put this here instead of under Tournaments. Don't want it wind up double-enterred like Reindeer Games. I already bought straight in for $11 (40K entrants max); may play satellites to get my money back, but this is one I want to be sure I won't miss!

"Win cash for busting celebrities and Team PokerStars Pro!

"Help celebrate the grand final of the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge TV show with our exclusive Head Hunt tournament. On January 4, 2010 at 19:00 ET you can play in an exclusive online tournament featuring the stars of the show, including Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu. Each guest player will have a cash bounty on their head, which means you’ll win money for busting them. What’s more, you’ll also be playing for a share of a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool.

"In case you didn’t already know, the Million Dollar Challenge has been a phenomenal success. Millions of you tuned in to watch, helping to make it the US’ most popular poker TV show of all time! Millions of you tuned in to watch PokerStars qualifiers get the chance to play against celebrities and Team PokerStars Pro for up to $1,000,000. The Million Dollar Challenge Head Hunt is our way of thanking you for watching, and your chance to play tournament poker against the biggest names in the game for cash.

"Visit the Million Dollar Challenge page to find out more about the show and how you can become a contestant in Season 2.

"How to Enter the Head Hunt $100,000

"The Million Dollar Challenge: The Head Hunt $100,000 Guaranteed tournament takes place at 19:00 ET, January 4, 2010. You can enter in a number of ways:

"Direct buy-in -- $10+1 will get you to the front of the queue for the Head Hunt $100,000.

"Daily $1.10 satellites -- These will take place every day from now until January 3 at 20:00 ET and 23:00 ET.This is a great way to qualify with 1 in 11 players winning a seat.

"Freerolls -- Every day from now until January 3, we’re running freerolls at 19:00 ET and 22:00 ET. The top 18 finishers from every freeroll will win a seat to the Head Hunt $100,000.

"Prizes

"The $100,000 guaranteed prize pool will be awarded according to PokerStars standard payout structure.

"Cash prizes for busting pro and celebrity players will be awarded as follows.
Player Prize
Daniel Negreanu $1,000
The MDC Defenders - Vanessa Rousso, Chris Moneymaker, Barry Greenstein and Joe Cada $750
Any other Team PokerStars Pro $500
MDC Celebrities - John Salley, Tito Ortiz, Jayde Nicole and more $250
MDC contestants - Father Andrew Trapp, Denny Luna, Mike Kosowski and more $100

"Please Note:
* The tournament is only open to players in the US and Canada.
* The line up of celebrities and pro players taking part is subject to change."

That's it. Be there! And g'luck!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Happy birthday to me!

OK, where are my presents? Are we really here? I'm not that old! Testing...

Friday, November 13, 2009

Long, fun day with Bad Beat on Cancer

It was a heck of a long day Nov. 12 with PokerStars hosting a sensational Bad Beat on Cancer benefit game. Since I didn't have access to my blog, I posted running reports in a Tournament Talk thread at Poker Analysis Forum, my main online home. Here's how the day went:

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(1:48p) Quick use of school computer (hope mine's fixed soon) to alert PAers to a Bad Beat on Cancer benefit game at 9p ET TONIGHT, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. Yeah, same time as our 50/50 elsewhere; ain't it always that way? Life...

This BBoC is at PokerStars for a change. Look for it under Private Tournaments. Cost to enter is 1 penny plus $9.99 to BBoC. There are rebuys and an add-on. A LOT of nice donated prizes to be won, so don't be put off by the small cash prize pool. Not a lot of word out on this one, so could be a small field. Deserves a big field; great cause!!!

Back to the grind of real life and work. G'luck all!!!

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(7:55p) Here's the details. Sorry such short notice, but I was just told today. There are 30-minute levels, lots of bloggers, pros (Tom McEvoy's in from the start, more to show up) and sure to be lots of rebuys and craziness first hour since for such a great cause. Might be wise idea to join 45 minutes late; you can still be a star!

And many donated, underpublicized prizes will be won. Irongirl and I are in; join the fun! The details from PStars:

"PokerStars is holding a private online charity tournament in support of the Bad Beat on Cancer foundation. The Bad Beat on Cancer Challenge takes place November 11 at 21:00 ET. For a buy-in of just $10 (plus rebuys for the first two levels) you can show your support and play for a share of $24,158 worth of prizes donated by the poker world. All proceeds will go to help cancer research, education and community outreach.

"To enter, open the PokerStars lobby, click ‘Tourney’ & ‘Private’. Then enter the password BadBeatChallenge.

"Here’s a rundown of the donated prizes that you can win. All prizes are transferrable - this means you can give them to a loved one or friend as a gift.
Place Prize Value
1 Lifetime subscription to a top online poker training site $10,000
2 PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge trip to Las Vegas $2,500
3 WSOP Academy training session $1,899
4 Borgata Atlantic City prize package $1,050
5 Training session with players from ‘Two Months, Two Million’ $1,000
6 Training session with players from ‘Two Months, Two Million’ $1,000
7 Golf session with a big name pro player $850
8 An hour with the PokerRoad team in Las Vegas $650
9 Seat at a Poker Players International tournament in Atlantic City $1,000
10 Training session with Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu $500
11 Training session with Jamie Gold $500
12 Training session with Team PokerStars Pro Tom McEvoy $500
13 Training session with Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso $500
14 Training session with Matt Glanz $500
15 Training session with Tom Schneider $500
16 Bluff Magazine Sports Nut package $450
17 Signed sports gear from former UFC Champion Tito Ortiz $200
18 A one-year pass to Card Player Magazine’s poker club $150
19 Signed PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge chip set $150
20-22 Wicked Chops Poker Skull Candy headphones $50
23-24 PokerRoad shirt, hoodie and hat $50
25 PPI gear - including shirt, hat and pullover $50
26 Signed copy of Ace on the River by Barry Greenstein + PokerRoad T-shirt and hat $35
27-32 Signed copy of ‘Oops: I Won Too Much Money’ by Tom Schneider $20
33-43 One year subscription to Bluff Magazine $19.95
44-49 Pokerati T-shirt $15
50 PokerRoad T-shirt $15"

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(10:58p) Third break. Started with 173 players; now 68 left, I'm 59th and surviving being mostly card-dead. Pays three places, a whopping $1.91, $1.14 and 76 cents. But top 50 get donated prizes, as listed in my last post. Wonder if the training session with Vanessa (13th place) is live, and while Chad's out of town? One can dream...

Back to the grind. Well played el (141st) and irongirl (128th). Wonder if jdawg was our larrydawg?

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(11:57p) Very good, tough, serious (yet fun), professional tournament. Bad beat here and there but that's poker. On the prize buble with 51 left for more than 30 minutes now. Slow levels, slow blinds, great play. I'm 41st/51. Mostly one of the short stacks but hanging and playing serious ... unlike most games i fool around with. I want that ME time with Vanessa ... when Chad's out of town. Would settle for Daniel time. Second or fourth would be my dream prize. Next hour I will start making shammy moves... Maybe.

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(12:57a) Still rolling in the BBoC. Went all-in 88 vs. AK, flopped quads. Cards are improving. I'm 18th/32 left. Long way to go to Vanessa. They say the lessons are by phone or SKYPPE, whatever; durn...

Another BBoC this Sunday at Fuull Tilt, mostly just (good!) cash prizes. More info another day. I need ice cream or pizza...

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(1:37a) More proof, if any is needed, of who may be the unluckiest player you've ever met...

PokerStars Game #35287820536: Tournament #210990483, $0.01+$9.99 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level X (300/600) - 2009/11/13 2:29:56 ET
Table '210990483 5' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: Shamanalix (8398 in chips)
Seat 3: SharBear613 (15008 in chips)
Seat 4: A7XSevenfold (81644 in chips)
Seat 5: DjAdolfMixer (17300 in chips)
Seat 6: Borgouise (13546 in chips)
Seat 7: TeUnit (18684 in chips)
Seat 8: youknowiknow (74650 in chips)
Seat 9: kungpowDK (10825 in chips)
Shamanalix: posts the ante 50
SharBear613: posts the ante 50
A7XSevenfold: posts the ante 50
DjAdolfMixer: posts the ante 50
Borgouise: posts the ante 50
TeUnit: posts the ante 50
youknowiknow: posts the ante 50
kungpowDK: posts the ante 50
Shamanalix: posts small blind 300
SharBear613: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Shamanalix [Ac Kc]
A7XSevenfold: folds
DjAdolfMixer: folds
Borgouise: folds
TeUnit: folds
youknowiknow: folds
kungpowDK: folds
Shamanalix: raises 7748 to 8348 and is all-in
SharBear613: calls 7748
*** FLOP *** [7s 6h 3s]
SharBear613 said, "ugh"
SharBear613 said, "nh"
*** TURN *** [7s 6h 3s] [9s]
*** RIVER *** [7s 6h 3s 9s] [5s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Shamanalix: shows [Ac Kc] (high card Ace)
SharBear613: shows [Qh As] (a flush, Ace high)
SharBear613 collected 17096 from pot
SharBear613 said, "omg"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 17096 | Rake 0
Board [7s 6h 3s 9s 5s]
Seat 1: Shamanalix (small blind) showed [Ac Kc] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 3: SharBear613 (big blind) showed [Qh As] and won (17096) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 4: A7XSevenfold folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: DjAdolfMixer folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Borgouise folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: TeUnit folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: youknowiknow folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: kungpowDK (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

After 5 1/2 hours, finished 26th. Won Barry's book. No I did NOT lose on purpose. I wanted Vanessa ... or Daniel ... or 4th or 2nd.

Crying myself to sleep... See ya Sunday if not before.

(REAL TIME UPDATE 1/9/10: Still haven't received my prizes. Co-sponsor Poker News had troubles gathering things over the holidays, but stayed in communication. Not worried. It'll come eventually. It was the cause, really, not the prizes. And fun! )

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Pitbull disappears with players' monies

Just noticed this announcement posted (Tuesday) to PIC Club members. Quoting from my PIC Club mail (is that legal, to cut-and-paste? I am giving full due attribution):

"We are currently trying to verify the announcement that the Owners of PitBull have been arrested. Their system is offline and unresponsive to our systems request for data. We will as always do all we can to recover funds due to PIC members. We will keep you posted as to the information we receive. PICCLUB CEO

"Date Created: 2009-09-29 14:59:49 ET"

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(A littl bit later) I also was able to access Pitbull just now. Started to make a withdrawal to my PIC account. Then decided maybe that was unwise if there's a sting or oversight/spying going on. Very curious. And the initial notice at PIC didn't say who made the alleged arrests where -- US? Malta? Somewhere/one else? I'm just so paranoid... Anyone with facts and confirmable answers please tell us. I won't print anything that's just hearsay, looking for facts myself.

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(Heard from PitBull once after this, saying to contact their cashier and tell what they owed you as a player. Did. But never heard from them again. Luckily only 50 bucks or so down the drain; not as bad as Jungle/OK USA a couple years back.)

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Sham Recommendz: Xtreme GI Foundation Benefit

I don't know much about it, but I just noticed the Xtreme GI Foundation benefit game scheduled for 19:00 ET on Sunday Aug. 23 at Full Tilt. Under "privates", it costs $10+$10 to enter -- the latter going to host Randy Couture's foundation.

Quick search of web for info didn't tell me much, other than shamster's still banned from 2+2 Forum ("undesirable", no idea why, probably said wrong thing at a past table to wrong 3-year-old), and that Couture's Xtreme GI Foundation is also hosting a live $330-R tourney today (8/22) at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. Well I'm too late for that, dubbed "Operation ALL IN."

But I'm not too late for Sunday's online fun at Full Tilt. Seems a good cause. And only 13 enterred as I type -- including 6 red pros: Seidel, the Jetts, Johnston... Well, if it's good enough for Erik Seidel, I'm in. I need more Tilt money anyways; if I'm gonna lose the little I got left, this is as good a place for it as any!

Consider the game at Full Tilt on Sunday. And stay well everyone! Peace...

Friday, July 17, 2009

Sham Recommendz: Aced $1 Establishing

(Unpaid/uncompensated heads-up to my Poker Analysis friends/foes/family, 'cuz ah loves ya (and need stronger competition); if you do not have Aced Poker, a Merge Network site, please download through PA's link -- I did! Easy to deposit/withdraw into through, among other methods, PIC-Club.)

If you want a good inexpensive opportunity to build/boost a bankroll, the Shamster recommends the Aced weekly guaranteed $1 Establishing tournament. It's held solely at the sister skin of PDC, Carbon, Reefer, etc., every Saturday at 12 noon server time (1p ET) (DST, aka summer clocks). It costs $1 + 10 cents, has $100 guaranteed and is limited to 50 entrants; registration starts an hour before the game. Still basically unnoticed, this game drew 10 players on June 13 (I finished 6th) and 16 the following week (I finished 2nd for $30). Haven't played since; I imagine it now fills quickly, but ya never know. I'll be there July 18, if I don't forget...

Good luck PAers (and everyone)!!!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Keep an eye on Jason Mercier

(Jason Mercier just won WSOP Event 5, $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha.)

Dang. Before the WSOP I put "treysfull21" (Mr. Mercier) as one of the top 3 players left out of the Full Tilt (WSOP Fantasy) contest (along with Elky and Amnon). ChipItUp over at PokerNews is also having a fantasy contest, where you choose a 20-player team for the duration; I made "treysfull21" my number one player, as you rank your team. Unfortunately, the CIU contest (with a much boader player list than FTilt) doesn't officially start until WSOP Event 10. Pooh. Oh well, Jason will just have to win another bracelet ... or two. Congratulations, sir!!! Folks, keep an eye on this young super-duperstar; he may be the WSOP MVP this year!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Waiting on WSOP Event 2

A couple of things/observations as Event 2 is about to begin:

-- USA Today last year had a WSOP Preview Special Section the Friday the '08 WSOP opened. This year no WSOP special section yet, either for the first event Wednesday (Casino Employees) or the first big event today. Hmm. Bad economy and not wanting to rub the event in the faces of folks hurting for money? Advertising costs? Waiting for Friday's USA, better space and value than a mid-week paper? Does this mean the WSOP entries will be way down across the board? Hmmmmm...

-- It was frustrating last summer that I had to go through the Full Tilt game software and cashier to get to the contest. That cost me when I went to Vegas: No changes makeable, no prizes claimable. This year wonder of wonders I put a bookmark to the My Fantasy page in my new Mozilla Firefox browser and it's worked everytime! Hurrah!!! Today I tried cut-and-pasting-and favoritizing that address over in my AOL/MIE. It didn't work; it took me instead to Full Tilt's contest explanation page, not the contest itself. Some sort of re-router in MIE? Yuck. Another huge vote for and thank you to Firefox; hope it keeps working so well!

What else is new? What are you thinking? I wish I was in Vegas... :(

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

WSOP Tweets via Bluff

Bluff Magazine online (which along with Poker News is contracted as the primary hand-for-hand coverer of the WSOP) has a section called Poker Tweets!!! All right! And free!!! They subscribe to all the names who Tweet, so on one (huge) page you get the latest Tweets by so many stars. Like Madsen taking $5K from Hellmuth, Shorr buying in to the $40K with casino chips and Ng, Schoenberg and Michelle off to do a bikini shoot. Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!! I'm not going to need to subscribe to Tweeter (sorry vill) for a while; eventually... So much better just having the basics (poker) in one place!

Monday, May 25, 2009

It's WSOP Time!!!

I'm back. Have to be. The World Series of Poker starts in two days. Blogs and Tweets and Tableside Reports, oh my! Fantasy Leagues and Mirror Games. If I can't get to Las Vegas this summer, I intend to virtually be there from my computer's ringside seat. And this, the WSOP, despite Harrah's merchandising, commercialization and sometimes over-control, is the main event of poker and what the sport is all about. (Besides making money.)

From Daniel Negreanu's blog today:

"I predict this will be the toughest ever hold'em event to win and it will require my absolute best game to have a chance. Anything less won't be good enough."

Yes, he's talking about the $40K NLHE WSOP Event 2. Four times the traditional entry fee of the Main Event. It will draw the big players, the best pros and onliners, and I'd guess maybe only 300 entrants ($50K HORSE drew only 148 two years ago, its initial year; still digging up my stats from my scattered filing systems...).

A huge huge event that'll give the top finisher(s) enormous advantages in the WSOP Player of the Year race as well as the Full Tilt Fantasy League. (That's one of three WSOP Fantasy Leagues I'm playing, along with Negreanu's Full Contact Poker Forum's 63-proposition one and the Poker News ChipMeUp's Amateur Division.) Since I've been playing so poorly online today, it's time to shift into a different gear and discover my famtasy teams...

G'luck all. More later.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Bubbling Stinks

... And that's put it nicely. Been in a bit of a slump since December, things finally starting to come around the last week -- but I just can't crack through the bubble with regularity. This really, really blows, bubbles. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......

And belated Happy New Year...