HOW TO FOLD KK

WSJ.com - States Cleared for Online Bets

2011-12-27T16:41:00.001-06:00

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HOLY SHIT I miss online poker.

2011-09-21T20:43:00.001-05:00

Played in my monthly tournament tonight. I felt lost. I was betting then second guessing everything. It wasn't fluent like it used to be when I practiced 5-7 nights a week. I play one time a month now and it makes a difference. My thought processes, my betting amounts, my starting ranges: it's all questionable now. Whereas before it was instinctual. I did it so much that I didn't have to think.

Well now I have to slow down and think and I'm not used to that.

I had AA first hand and raised preflop. Got 1 caller and saw J97 flop 2 to a flush. I bet out he calls. Turn is a 9. I bet again and he raises; I call. River is a J that completes a flush draw. I check and he bets out 1/3 of my remaining stack (first hand you know?). I fold AA up and he shows 88 for the bluff. Ouch! What a way to start.

I bluffed the wrong times, I lost a big hand to AA and suddenly I had 5 BB only 3 levels into the tournament. I missed an opportunity when I folded 88 to a raise and a call when I had 11BB. I would have tripled up. Next hand blinds went up so I had 5BB with Q10 sooooooted and 2 hands till the BB. I shove and it folds to the BB who tanks..... "I guess we are racing he says as he flips over 22. 2 on the turn and river sends me home with Quad fever.

Oh well. Maybe some day. But I don't know if we will ever see tournaments like the Mookie, the Dank, and the BBT again.

HOLY SHIT I miss online poker.

Hope all is well with you!

What Would Jamyhawk Do

2011-08-18T15:54:00.000-05:00

Or better yet, what would you do?

Level 5 of a tournament that usually lasts 12 levels, so almost halfway there. You have been playing great. You make a few tough laydowns, you make a few reraises with air at the right points and get paid off. You have 35 BB's with 200/400/50 blinds. There are 25 people left of the 36 that started. 5 get paid, but every spot higher you finish you do get points towards end of the year prizes.

UTG raises to 800. You have KsKh. You make it 2000. It folds back to UTG who just calls.

UTG player is loose aggressive. He rarely wins a tournament; he is usually out before the 4th level; he plays questionable all the time.

Flop comes 8910 rainbow. He bets out $4,000 into a $4600 pot. You count out $12,000 left. What do you do?

2011-08-14T16:10:00.001-05:00

Super weird (and tragic) thing happened yesterday.

My wife was in a wedding for her best friend. During the photo shoot right after the wedding, the bride's phone rings. Caller ID shows it is the DJ for her reception. She figures it can wait till she gets to the reception to speak to him.

30 minutes later she arrives at the reception and someone comes out to tell her the DJ is not there yet. He was supposed to set up at least an hour before.

Just then her phone rings again but this time it is the state highway patrol. He says he found paperwork in an accident vehicle regarding her wedding. He was calling to tell her the DJ was just killed only 2 minutes away from the reception.

She gags and almost throws up.

True story. As I said: I was there.

Makes you appreciate life a little more. I know it happens every day but not usually right at such a joyous occasion.

One of the guests works at a bar and knows their regular DJ pretty well. He calls him and he is on the golf course but planning on date night with his wife. That DJ calls his wife who says "I couldn't imagine how horrible that would be".

He fills in just in time after dinner is finished. Everything went well from there.

Really bizarre.

Home Tourney

2011-07-27T00:03:00.000-05:00

So I had a home tourney this past weekend. I really pressed everyone to commit if they are going to play. I said I would take 36 players only (4 tables of 9). But I had 39 show up, so I sat 3 tables of 10 and 1 table of 9. I did make the tables become 9 players each after 3 people went out (instead of keeping 10 player tables).

We did 15K starting stack with about the same blinds as the RIO 2pm Deepstack (30 minutes starting with 25/50).

I played poorly. No excuses (my kids, entertaining others, checking on tables). I bluffed a couple of times and next thing you know I was down to 11K at the first break.

I got moved after the first break to a table with "Super Aggro Roy". I watched him raise 7 hands in a row. He was playing super loose and hitting cards like crazy. So when I got AQ, I shoved all in over his raise. A middle position player called, then SAR called. The flop came 10J2rainbow. I was hoping for a King to triple up. SAR went all in. "Uh-Oh".... But when MP folded, Roy showed the J10 for two pair, I thought I was sunk. But now worries, I'm the original luckbox... 9 on the turn and an 8 on the river gave me the straight to triple up.

The next hand I have JJ. I now have everyone at the table covered except SAR. SAR raises again, so I shove to win the blinds and SAR's raise. But the player to my left shoves with AA and I lose almost everything I just won. I still have chips and play on.

I get moved again (who is running this ridiculous tournament?) . I am in the BB when a pretty aggro kid limps and the SB limps. I have Q5off, and check. The flop comes 552. It goes check, check, check. Hmmmmm. Turn is a 7 with rainbow on the board. I figure I'm good but need action, so I check after SB check. Player behind checks. The river is a J. It is checked to me, so I bet out the pot. The person behind me raises, the SB folds and I go all in. He insta calls (I say "uh oh") and he shows 57 for the turned boat.

I stood up and felt good knowing there is never a situation where I can fold that hand. Oh well, It was great fun.

My new chips were very well received. Some interesting notes here: We had 1 player go all in on the first had. He had AKoff and was bluffing, and got called by quad 5's. Really? The board pairs and you shove with Ace high? He said later he put the wrong chips in .... uh, you said "all in". Whatever. Weird situation (he also took his side dish for the dinner break and took it home).

We played till 1:30 am. Super Aggro Roy won. Several people commented on how many times he got incredibly lucky. I know I saw him take someone out with 97off. He was just running hot. $60 buy in and he got $1010.

Another interesting note for you: If you have 40+ people in your house, it's never going to cool down while it's 98 degrees outside. Holy Crap my house was hot. But we grabbed a box fan and played through. We had a great cash game after the tourney. Hope you can make the next one...

Live tournament

2011-07-20T00:15:00.001-05:00

Time to try out my new chips.I'm doing a deepstack so starting stacks will be 15K with 25/50 starting levels. I copied the blind structure from the RIO deepstack and then made adjustments based on my players needing to go home eventually.

With a $60 buy in and 36 max players, I am giving first place $900+

And I'm playing too..... we shall see how it goes.

Feel free to contact me if you want to schedule your own poker fundraiser.

Live Coverage of the Main Event

2011-07-19T21:29:00.002-05:00

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the live coverage of the main event. It is addicting and it makes me sooooooooooooo want to play.

What do you think?

Happy Birthday to me

2011-07-13T15:05:00.000-05:00

OK, my birthday isn't for another 6 weeks, but I finally pulled the trigger on some new chips. I have been thinking of customizing chips with a logo that I design on it, but the cost is just too high. I picked these up online pre made. They aren't bottom line or top of the line chips, but I really like the look and feel. At 14grams, 1,000 chips and an acrylic case weighs 41 pounds. I'll play with them a bit and if I like them, I'll pick up another 4,000 chips to use in my charity tournaments.

What do you think?

2011-07-08T00:33:00.001-05:00

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Big Brother is back!

Fulltilt Board Meeting

2011-07-01T09:40:00.002-05:00

Internet Poker Legislation

2011-06-29T16:00:00.000-05:00

Anyone have any feedback on this bill: HR2366 ?

The PPA is pushing it hard, but I'm not so sure about it.

Making it to DAY 2 in the WSOP

2011-06-22T13:48:00.000-05:00

Let me preface this with reminding everyone of how big of a donkey poker player I am. I mean, I play as a hobby only, and then take a shot at a big tournament once a year. It amazes me how the professional poker player does it. Not only do they have to endure the hours and hours of sitting at a table (as much as 14 hours a day), but they also have to endure the sickening suck outs by lesser skilled players that I'm sure could make them want to go crazy.

That being said, I played the $1500 NLHE WSOP Event #18 a couple of Saturdays ago. This was my second attempt at a $1500 event, and I did watch my wife cash in a $1500 event last year. If you want to skip the details: I felt I played great the first day, then lost focus and couldn't close the deal on Day 2.

The first few levels (1 hour each) are filled with donkeys. People with huge tells, people shoving with draws, and people who fold to any aggression. If you take your time and get to know your table, you should be able to chip up pretty easily. When I played three years ago in a $1500 event, I played way too tight (after the advice of Dan Nassif), then I got delusional (not a metaphor) as the time sitting at the table wore me down (because I was super hungover from the night before), and eventually was out by the dinner break.

This time, I prepared myself and felt like it was worth it. I got plenty of sleep the night before. Ate a big breakfast. I got to know my first table, carefully picking my spots and chipping up nicely the first 5 hours. I was well over the chip average going into the second half of the day. As the day grew on, the competition became tougher and tougher. I was at table 15, and we never broke all day. So I saw bust out after bust out as I sat and eventually became one of two original players left at #15.

One thing that you have to get used to is the "new" betting style by the internet kids. At my starting table I had the old time Navy guy (raised 4x whenever he came into a pot), the old crabby guy that has read every book (raised exactly 3x every time he came in), the young "dude" (who had two moves: raise 1400 into a 500 pot or shove -and we found out his shoves were always draws which eventually led to me taking him out), the rest of the guys raising 3x BB's, and then the internet kids raising 2.1-2.5x BB's. The internet kids will drive you crazy. I tried to adjust but I just don't have enough experience doing it yet to be that good at it. The great thing for them is that they seem overly aggressive, but they have severely widened their range. A widened range helps when you hit a pot, but since their raises are smaller, it doesn't hurt as bad when they miss. It's a hard style to play back against -for example, one of the guys down there with me went out to a J4 when an internet kid raised his big blind 2.2x, my friend just called with a marginal hand that hit the flop (admitted later he would have folded to a 3x bet), but the internet kid flopped two pair. It invites you to widen your range as well. I think this style forces you to play even better post-flop -which is not what an amateur like me wants to do.

Anyway.....

Around level 7, an internet kid (could tell by bet sizes) sat down next to me and picked me apart. I must have folded to a 4 bet and he picked up that and 4 bet almost every single 3 bet I made. At first, I was picking on the BB when I was the cutoff and he was re-popping me. I picked up on it, and tried to vary the BB's I was going after. But he kept at it. He would even shove, when it was twice in a row or the third time I raised. I thought about playing back at him, but never had the right hand.

This caused me to tighten way up and eventually start to bleed off chips. I was outplayed beautifully. I'm sure in his mind, he knew he owned me.

With about 15 minutes left in level 10 (the final level of the day), I started counting chips against the BB's of the next day. So when I was down to $5,000 in chips I figured I had 5 BB's to start the next day (500/1,000/100). I didn't want to come back the next day with only 5 BB's, so I announced to the table that very thing. "I'm not coming back tomorrow with this many chips, so you are going to see my chips all in very soon".

The very next hand, another internet looking kid who had been very aggro and had just lost a huge hand to an "MMA fighter dude" that had 27off, shoved all his chips in ($11,000). I made the donkey call with A8off. It was probably a bad call, but it just looked like he was frustrated shoving weak. I was right, when he flipped over K7 and I doubled up. The very next hand, he shoved again, and I called with A10. This time his K5off hit a K on the river and took me back down to about $12,000 or 12 BB's. I was happy going into day 2 with that, so watched as the clock ticked off 4 more minutes and we were going to day 2. I had $11,900.

All night, and the next morning, I was channeling my luckbox skills. "AA", "KK", "AA", "KK" I kept thinking. One double up and I can play poker again. I will be losing 2500 chips every orbit and I need about 1 1/2 hours of play to get to the money. There were 469 left and 324 pay. I can't fold to the money.

First hand, I look down to AA. Unbelievable. What to do? I'm in middle position. I'm thinking shove with any premium hand, but I really want action. It folds to me. The big stack to my left has not arrived yet (that turned out to be a bad beat for me because he surely would have played with me) so I had 3 to act after me. I raised to 2.5x BB and got 3 folds. I win 2.5 BB's.

Fold, Fold, Fold for awhile.

The winner of this event last year (Pascal LeFrancois) is sitting two to my right so is the button on my BB. He is raising about 40% of the hands and is chip leader at my table. He raises EVERY BB I have. I get down to 9 BB's and shove from MP with AJ. No callers. Back up to 11BB's.

I get QJ off in the BB and LeFrancois opens the pot for 2.1xBB. SB folds, and I decide to flat. Flop comes A23rainbow. I check, he checks. I don't think he's being tricky, so I assume no Ace, but still a lot of possible hands ahead of me. Turn is a 2. I think long about betting out, but decide to check. He checks pretty quick. River is a 3. I wait a bit and bet out 3K (almost a third of my stack). I figure there is a good chance we chop here, but I didn't realize at the time that there wasn't a single hand he would fold to my bet there. Again, I'm the donkey still learning. He thinks a long, long time. Finally he calls and shows 66 FTW. Only thing I figure could have happened was I check it down. A preflop shove and he surely calls and I'm out. Even if I shove after the flop, I think he calls. He has 50K vs my 10K at this point.

Pretty soon I'm down to 5 BB's figuring I have to make a move soon. There are 360 players left but I figure it will be at least 30 more minutes or about 4 orbits and I only have 2 orbits of chips. Still can't fold to the money. I get an unopened pot with 4 to act behind me and look down at A7sooted. I ship it and get called by AQ. Out about 350th with 324 getting paid.

So I beat myself up the rest of the day. How could I not have been more patient on day 2? I folded A7 sooted plenty of times on Day 1. I even folded AJ plenty of times. I decide I'm just way out of my league to even be playing there, but then I figure a couple of different outcomes and I'm sitting on plenty of chips to make a run on Day 2. Who knows?

I do know it was a blast. I learned a lot making it to Day 2. Now looking back, I feel even more confident that I could make a Day 2 again. It takes some physical preperation, some patience, some good play, and of course, some "run-good".

I can't wait until next time. I hope you run good. Thanks for visiting.

2011-06-11T13:55:00.000-05:00

Let the donkfest begin

WSOP attendance up

2011-06-07T15:24:00.000-05:00

So far, it looks like the people that predicted that the end of online poker would increase the number of live players in the WSOP are correct. I wonder if it will hold true for the main event?

One quote I read somewhere and I'm sorry I didn't grab it to give credit, was: The combination of no online poker and the fact that the online players are not completely broke yet is contributing to the increased attendance. A year from now, with no online opportunities to make money, I guess we could see a big decrease in WSOP attendees. Who knows?

More people now, equals bigger prizepools. And since I'm playing this Saturday, that's good for me.

Poker this SUNDAY

2011-06-03T11:26:00.000-05:00

I may or may not make it back from KC in time. If I can, I would like to. I did take down the first NLHE event of this (<--pats self on back) and so I know I have enough play money chips to afford to play.

Carbon Poker to stop taking new US Players TODAY!

2011-06-02T15:02:00.000-05:00

According to CarbonChris Official CarbonPoker Site Representative

"A major part of the decision to disable new US signups as of this evening, is to help deal with our existing player base. We want to be able to support our players, and right now, we're having difficulty keeping up with the numbers. Again, this is a focus, and something we are working towards."

Found this on 2plus2

Andrew Robl responds to Ivey's statement

2011-06-02T11:17:00.000-05:00

I thought the move by Ivey is a good one for him, because he has to distance himself from FTP. But whether or not he's going to come out smelling like roses or like sh** to the poker community is a great debate right now.

Here is Andrew Robl's statement.

Wow! We couldn't have scripted a better drama for the WSOP this year.

I'll be there in the thick of it in 8 days....

From http://philivey.com/ ... Good Move IMO

2011-06-01T12:23:00.001-05:00

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIAYE RELEASE

May 30, 2011

For many years, I have been proud to call myself a poker player. This great sport has taken me to places I only imagined going and I have been blessed with much success. It is therefore with deep regret that I believe I am compelled to release the following statement.

I am deeply disappointed and embarrassed that Full Tilt players have not been paid money they are owed. I am equally embarrassed that as a result many players cannot compete in tournaments and have suffered economic harm. I am not playing in the World Series of Poker as I do not believe it is fair that I compete when others cannot. I am doing everything I can to seek a solution to the problem as quickly as possible.

My name and reputation have been dragged through the mud, through the inactivity and indecision of others and on behalf of all poker players I refuse to remain silent any longer. I have electronically filed a lawsuit against Tiltware related to the unsettled player accounts. As I am sure the public can imagine, this was not an easy decision for me.

I wholeheartedly refuse to accept non-action as to repayment of players funds and I am angered that people who have supported me throughout my career have been treated so poorly.

I sincerely hope this statement will ignite those capable of resolving the problems into immediate action and would like to clarify that until a solution is reached that cements the security of all players, both US and International, I will, as I have for the last six weeks, dedicate the entirety of my time and efforts to finding a solution for those who have been wronged by the painfully slow process of repayment.

Got some live play in

2011-05-25T01:01:00.000-05:00

It is pretty rare that I play at the casinos here in Saint Louis. But I need some practice before I go to Vegas on June 10th. Really, the structures are horrible. 20 min blinds with very speedy blind acceleration. But that's ok with me. You just have to adjust to it. If you get a hand, you better try to get it all in. There is no folding big pocket pairs.

So I play the $60 buy in 50 max players, with alternates for the first hour. Nothing major happens the first couple of levels. I win a few pots, I lose a few pots. I get AA in the big blind and see one of the very rare walks that happen. Old timer gets moved to our table and raises all in after I raise. I have AKsooted and call for about half my stack. He shows 66 and hits a set of 6's right off the flop. Thanks. He says sorry, I am ready to go home so I'm just playing anything. Very next hand I get JJ and shove after 1 limper. Old timer insta calls with 88 and I get all my chips back and then some. At the first break I am up to 12K from the 10K starting stack but blinds are now 500/1000.

After the first break, loose player that has played a lot of pots, is in the sb while I'm in the bb. Folds to him so he raises my 1K bb to 7500. I insta shove with 13,000 behind and he calls with 55. My AQ hits an Ace to double up. Now I have 28K. I get moved to a new table.

Now with the blinds 800/1600 I limp from MP with 55 after two limped ahead of me. Flop comes 678. bb bets 4K after the flop but she looks disgusted. 2 folds and my action. I put her on 2 overs so I shove and she folds. Still looks disgusted still. Up to 38K.

I raise young internet playing looking kid whose been pretty aggro. I make it 14K after he limped UTG. I have QQ. He calls. He checks dark and flop comes Ad4d7c. I check behind. Turn is the Jack of diamonds. He checks and I shove all in having him covered by about 15K. He tanks and folds. Then he goes all in several times after and gets lucky with AA but then knocked out a hand later with 10c9c on a total bluff.

2nd break and I have 61K. Average stack is 42K and I am chip leader at my table. Must have been a bunch of chips at the other table because we have a bunch of 15-20K players. 14 players left and blinds are now 3k/6k. Like I said, the structure is crazy fast. We have been playing about 3 hours now.

Blinds get to 4k/8k. I have about 68K. In the bb I get AQoff. Girl from 55 hand limps, sb limps and I shove having everyone covered. Girl tanks for a long time. I figure I might be in trouble against AK or even flipping against small pair. After about 3 minutes she says "oh well" and pushes her stack out. sb folds and the Girl shows As2c. Flop is 553, turn 2, river brick and I lose 40K total.

Very next hand I have 107off in the sb with 2 1/2 blinds left. Old timer is still playing and is UTG and limps. I call (because I know a shove and he calls with any pair or any Ace). bb checks. Flop comes KJ8 with flush draw. I shove my remaining 16K praying everyone folds. bb calls for 1/3 his tack, old timer calls for 2/3 of his stack. I actually don't mind this because if I hit the straight, I can triple up. I'm playing for a 60K pot. Turn comes a beautiful 9. YES! BB checks, Old timer goes all in and bb calls. Ruh-roh. bb shows a K2 for top pair 2 kicker. Awesome! Old timer flips Q10 for turned straight just like me, but a higher one. I go home. . .

Blech. I felt I played good. Never got it in too bad. But I finished 13th of 60 (7 spots pay -although everyone was talking about how the final table/10 all get something usually negotiated). I went from top dog at my table to out in 2 hands. But that is the super turbos at Harrah's.

I had fun. Hope you are too.

BOOM -Doccumentary on Online Poker

2011-05-23T10:59:00.002-05:00

Hilarious video you must watch if you have ever seen The Apprentice

2011-05-20T10:04:00.001-05:00

Thanks Nat for the original link to this.

Every Ace covered across two tables

2011-05-19T21:53:00.002-05:00

The Micros

2011-05-18T17:25:00.002-05:00

Another funny episode:

Going to Vegas

2011-05-16T13:44:00.000-05:00

I qualified for a trip and buy in to a $1500 event through my monthly poker club. I'm going to be in Vegas June 10th-16th. I'm actually playing poker the first 4 days, then I'm there with my work for 3 days. The timing worked out perfect so I could play event #18.

Leave a comment if you will be there, and I'll look you up.

Hope all is well...

Online Poker Still Going

2011-05-03T15:43:00.000-05:00

So I figured I still need a fix. Guess I can't kick my addiction like some strong people can. And I don't have the time to play live more like other people can. Anyway. Seems like I'm off to a good start on Carbon Poker. Let's see how it goes:

Pokerstars Cashout for US Players now available

2011-04-26T17:51:00.000-05:00

I just logged into my Pokerstars account and confirmed. They even converted my SCOOP tickets to cash (now that is +EV... hehehehehe)

More information is here. Best is just to log in and request it direct from PS.

2011-04-25T23:51:00.002-05:00

Antigua talking about suing the US for 2nd time.

2011-04-25T17:22:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting twist on the whole online poker thing. Antigua is talking about suing the United States through the WTO. Here are some more details on the whole process they went through from 2005-2007 and how/why the WTO ruled against the US before.

I'm curious to know why this has been a non factor in all of the legal discussions going on right now. I would suppose it has something to do with the limited power of the WTO over the US?

Storms in Saint Louis

2011-04-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

Funny how storms work. They just drop in, do their damage and then it's gone. In a matter of 60 seconds your are defenseless as your whole world changes. And these aren't trailers in the middle of tornado alley. My prayers go out to anyone who was affected by this. Luckily, I was not. And shame on the people who were out looting these homes before the sun came up. I hope Karma comes back to bite them in the ass.

These pictures are from someone who lives 4 houses away from the tornado touching down. His house was undamaged.

Copied from HEFFMIKE

2011-04-22T10:23:00.000-05:00

Let's all freaking play cards one time.....

"Remember, Red. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. "

OK, here's what I figure.

What most of you really miss after Black Friday is sitting down and playing cards with each other.

Some of us played for fun, some for side money, some for an actual living... That's the big uberpicture, and it's being well covered in many, many places...

The smaller, Blogger Tourney picture - is that with all the tourneys people hosted over the years -

the WWdN,
the Mookie/Dank,
the MATH,
the Skillz game,
Riverchasers,
PokerSlut,
AIPS,
Friday Donkaments,
WPBTs,
BBTs,
VeryJosie,
Survivor Island, yadayadayada
(and sorry if I missed something!)

People were essentially playing for pocket change and entertainment.

It wasn't really about the money. It was about the play, the competition and the win.

While you can recreate a lot about online poker by going to play live, what you can't recreate is bringing everyone together from across the country in one virtual place at the drop of a hat.

So, just because the DoJ stopped everyone in the U.S. for doing it for money - doesn't mean you have to stop playing period.

I'm setting up a Home Game for play money on PokerStars.
I assume most of Blogger Nation has a Stars account.
You can still get a .net one if you don't.

There will be a tourney on Sunday night, May 1, at 9:30ET.

There is NO LEGAL DANGER for doing this.
No money is at stake.
Come out and play, or don't.
But I think by May, people will want to push some chips around and just see what's up with everyone else.

2000 chips/10 minute levels with standard Stars setup, so it'll be a decent structure without taking all night.

Let's just play some cards and have a few hours of fun.
There might be 3 players, there might be 30.

If it works out OK, maybe there will be some occasional tourneys that are something else besides unlimited hold them on Sundays. That's probably the best time of the week to do something like this, with no football/Sunday majors/like you're really watching Brothers & Sisters anyway you momo...

If not - we'll that's OK too.

I know it's hard to sit there and play for a couple hours with nothing but pride at stake.

I just figured that it's silly to just throw in the towel when there is an avenue for everyone to get together and play. While I doubt anything about online poker will be the same whenever it's legal for Americans to play for real $$ again, this is what we have right now.

It's a small gesture of civil disobedience. Club is named BBT in Exile.

*****
- Open the main poker lobby, then click on the Home Games tab
- Click the 'Join a Poker Club' button
- Enter my Club ID number: 415619
- Enter my Invitation Code: wolverines
*****

Weeeeeeeeeeeee

2011-04-20T16:37:00.002-05:00

Dear jamyhawk,

We were very pleased to receive the news today that allows US players to cash out their real money balances.

In response to this update, the Cashout Option in the PokerStars Cashier will be temporarily closed to allow us to prepare the technical solutions and formulate the plan and processes required to allow you to cash out your balance.

In the interim, any pending cashouts have been returned to your account in order to ensure players have the opportunity to cash out orderly. Please be assured, US player balances are safe. We will notify all US players as soon as the cashier is available again.

Providing you with the facility to cash out is our top priority right now, and hopefully all US players will be able to cash out via the PokerStars Cashier in the near future. We apologize for the temporary delay, and sincerely appreciate your patience and cooperation, as we continue working towards providing you with a solution to cash out.

Regards,

PokerStars Support

Copied from TBA

2011-04-20T11:32:00.002-05:00

DOJ paves way for US Online poker players to get their money

from TwoBlackAces Casual Poker Player by Fred aka TwoBlackAces

This is some good news.

Note DOJ made this agreement with Pokerstars and Fulltilt. UB is not mentioned, only Absolute, but has not agreement as of yet.

2BA

Just got the official announcement from Fulltilt

2011-04-18T14:12:00.000-05:00

Dear James,

We're contacting you following the recent actions by the U.S. government last Friday 15th April.

As you may be aware, Full Tilt Poker is unable to accept "real money" play from U.S. players at the current time, and this includes any deposits or withdrawals. We are working to resolve these issues as soon as possible and will keep you updated as information becomes available to us.

We are deeply sorry for this inconvenience, but these events are beyond our control. Please be assured that your funds, and your players funds are safe, and we thank you for your patience while we do everything in our power to have money returned to those who have requested it as soon as possible.

Please note, that this action only impacts players based in the U.S. and Full Tilt Poker is still fully operational elsewhere. Your players can currently access our site at www.fulltiltpoker.co.uk and you can also find your up to date tracking links and bonus codes in your affiliate centre at https://affiliates.fulltiltpoker.co.uk which is available using your normal login details.

As always, we appreciate your continued support, and we will provide additional information to you as it becomes available. Also please be aware that due to the high volume of queries received from affiliates you may experience a slight delay in response times to emails.

Sincerely,

The Full Tilt Poker Affiliate Team

2011-04-18T12:04:00.000-05:00

Please click this link and take a few minutes to send letters to our government officials regarding online poker. I'm not sure it will help but it definitely won't hurt.

copied from Shabazz

Still Want to Play ONLINE POKER?

2011-04-17T21:55:00.001-05:00

You can. ClickCake Poker and enter code STILLPLAY for your matching bonus.

I'm still playing. You can too. Look for jamyhawk online. Use STILLPLAY for referral code

WTF???? Pokerstars gone

2011-04-15T14:33:00.001-05:00

Anyone else hear about this? I played on pokerstars last night and today I can't.

Is this state specific? I'm in MO.

Forums say this is nationwide and I found this link: http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/April11/scheinbergetalindictmentpr.pdf

WWJD -What Would Jamyhawk Do?

2011-04-15T10:40:00.000-05:00

$22 buy in. 152 players and we are down to final 3. I'm in 2nd place. Ferbs has been playing loose and I don't think he's a very good player. He has a 57 rating on sharkscope. TRUE_KASPER seems to be a decent player.

PokerStars Game #60849766430: Tournament #383444651, $20+$2 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XXIII (1000/2000) - 2011/04/15 1:49:53 CT [2011/04/15 2:49:53 ET]
Table '383444651 4' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 3: ferbs2 (236016 in chips)
Seat 4: TRUE_KASPER (96634 in chips)
Seat 5: jamyhawk (123350 in chips)
ferbs2: posts the ante 400
TRUE_KASPER: posts the ante 400
jamyhawk: posts the ante 400
ferbs2: posts small blind 1000
TRUE_KASPER: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to jamyhawk [5c 5d]
jamyhawk: raises 4000 to 6000
ferbs2: raises 12000 to 18000

What do you do?

Please read if you play at Fulltilt

2011-04-12T12:47:00.001-05:00

FullTilt Compromising it's Players Bank information

from TwoBlackAces Casual Poker Player by Fred aka TwoBlackAces

Fulltilt email response

from TwoBlackAces Casual Poker Player by Fred aka TwoBlackAces

PMI Update

from TwoBlackAces Casual Poker Player by Fred aka TwoBlackAces

PMI update #2

from TwoBlackAces Casual Poker Player by Fred aka TwoBlackAces

Survivor Post #7 Final

2011-04-08T09:53:00.001-05:00

Tournament #9 Multi Entry $5

I play on a laptop and do not care for playing more than 3 tables at once. Actually, I prefer 2. But feeling intense pressure, I decided to take a stab at all 4 entries. I made the choice to play like a nit until I get down to two entries left.

It worked for awhile as I got pretty far with all 4 entries still intact. The bummer was that none of them were very large. At one point, I think I had all 4 at 12 BB’s or less. I lost a couple of entries with standard shoves and losing races: No big deal.

The other 2 entries I was able to chip up nicely and had them up to 25 BB’s each at one point. One entry went down in flames in two critical hands. First Joanne shoved for about 5 BB’s and I reshoved to isolate with about 17 BB’s. I had AQ sooted and lost a race to her 77. Then I shove an unopened pot from the SB with AQ off and get called by AK in the BB. Doh! That took me down to like 2 BB’s and I shoved with Ace high sooted, and lost another race. 3 hands and I’m done.

I had one entry left and raised a few hands and had to fold to whiffed flops and big bets. I shoved with a small pocket pair and lost. I was out. No immunity for me as Brain and Heff were still in.

My head was spinning as I knew my time on survivor was about over.

Buddy read the votes:

Very Josie <--probably my vote

Jamyhawk <--knew it

Very Josie <--probably Muhctim

Jamyhawk <--uh oh

Jamyhawk<-- here it comes

Jamyhawk

And that was it. My time on Survivor was over.

I did hop on BDR and thank everyone and told everyone how much fun I had. Let’s face it: it was a BLAST! I got to get to know a few players a little better and plot and scheme and try to fight it out each tourney.

I hopped on IM and thanked each person I could. I think Very Josie thought I would be mad at her. I’m not. She may not get my vote if she makes final 2, but I know this game is nothing personal (we know now she did get my vote).

Heff still seemed annoyed. Brain didn’t respond (I know he voted for me). Heff didn’t vote because as they read the results he realized it didn’t matter. He said he wouldn’t vote if he didn’t have to. And since it didn’t matter, he didn’t bother. Muhctim had copied me on his vote to Buddydank so I knew he voted with me.

So Brain did switch to the other side, just as I had before. I don’t blame him, then again I don’t see what he has going that could be better than fighting it out with the Donkeys. He surely can’t imagine he will be going to final 3 with anyone over on the Fish.

I guess we will see.

As I spoke with my wife about it afterward, we agreed it was good and bad to be done. I had put a lot of time and “worry” into playing survivor. And I wanted to win it bad. But there was a lot of relief in being out of it now. I can’t imagine playing the same game with little food, little sleep, tons of bug bites, and all the other discomforts they put you through on the real show. And imagine investing all that time and effort for nothing

I hear they are doing a second season. If you want in, I suggest you keep an eye out. It will be a BLAST!

I surely hope I didn't offend anyone, but then again: as I told someone that I've recently become friends with: If you put your thoughts out on a blog for everyone to read, you better have thick skin or at least be able to let shit roll off you easily. I certainly have my fair share of enthusiastic fans <--sarcasm.

Congrats to Very Josie for winning it all. I'm jealous. Not of the money, but because she won the title. If you don't love to win, don't play. It's never ever about the money.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have something in your life to be passionate about.

Jamyhawk

Survivor Post #6

2011-04-07T09:35:00.000-05:00

Tournament #8 The Mookie $10 Deepstack

I played terrible. I got into several pots with Pushmonkey and after he had built up a stack I should have known it was all or nothing with him. I would raise with AK, miss the flop and he’d put the pressure on me. Or I would hit a piece of the flop, C-bet and he would come over the top of me.

There were other hands, where I just couldn’t get any traction. No big hands to speak of. I went out on this hand. Q10off in the cutoff and I limp after 2 limps in front of me. The small blind limps and the BB checks. Flop comes 2105 rainbow. It checks to me and I shove my 13 BB stack. Turtle calls from the BB with 52 ß”big blind special”. I don’t improve and I’m the first Survivor contestant out.

I sent a few more messages to VJ via IM to confirm we are good and then I BCC’d her my vote to Buddy of Kat. Kat didn’t show for the tourney so I had no worry that she would get immunity. VJ was excited. Smboatdrinks was the first fish out and got Heff’s and Brain’s votes. It was interesting to note though, that Kat didn’t even ship a vote. So her vote counted for herself. If Muhctim and I vote with the Donkeys it could have been a 4-4 tie with Kat’s vote deciding her fate against her. She would have still been out. That definitely made me glad we didn’t go the way of the Donkeys. I mean, Heff forgot to vote last round, Kat forgot this round. No offense people, but I’m playing this game to win. I need votes we can count on.

The other thing that was great now is that the power seemed to shift to VJ. So if anyone was preparing to launch a backstabbing attack, hopefully it will be directed at her, not me. I appeared loyal to her, but the power target is off of me. Now I only had to hope she won’t turn on me, but keep her word that we are going to the final 4.

Of course, this is when I sent this email to Muhctim:

So I guess Kat voted for herself. Duh! Scary if we were counting on her vote in our alliance and she forgets to vote. Not a problem now though, since she is gone.

Has Turtle contacted you anymore? Do you see a time we take Turtle and become a final 3? Or just fight it out with VJ? I definitely wouldn't want to be final 2 vs VJ.

Always have to keep your options open.

Muhctim replied:

he has very vague-- i will see brain might be ripe --reach out to him, again--i'll try turtle

I sent this to Brain:

You still have no interest in a final 3 deal? I think we could control the voting and guarantee final 3 with Muhctim.

Let me know.

Jamyhawk

Brain replied:

I'm on board. We still need 2 more for voting control. Who else can we count on this Sunday?

Brain

I replied:

Let me see if I can get Josie to agree to take out xkm. Don't say a word about our alliance. I don't want her to worry me and muhctim have another vote in our alliance. Once a fish is gone our 3 person alliance should be good to go.

By the way, why the sudden change of mind?

He said:

After Goat and Jordan's departure, I discovered that I was on the chopping block each week but never got voted out because we were always winning immunity. I saw the writing on the wall and realized I needed to get my butt in gear because my chances of winning immunity have been slim lately. After all, isn't this what the best part of the game is all about?

I emailed VJ:

We good for xkm? you and boat are voting for him?

“Um, there's a problem.”

Damn! I knew that was it. I’m going home tonight. She threw out a line of bs: Things just aren't resolved.

some peep wants to vote you off and I do not/will not....but I got your back. I'll get back to you tonight. I think we have enough numbers to stop it.

I started to scramble to see what I could make happen. I fired off emails to the Donkey team pleading to vote together. Of course, I had gone back on them before so would be surprised if I could pull it off. Muhctim said he would vote with me, Brain did also. Paranoia was at an all time peak for me. Maybe Muhtim was plotting against me too. I just don’t know.

Heff was not so enthusiastic.

Heff,

Ok. I know I may not have been your closest ally so far but I just spoke to muhctim and we agree the 4 donkeys need to vote together tonight.

Word I'm hearing from the fish is they are voting you out tonight. And I don't want that.

Who do you think we should vote for?

Jamyhawk

He replied:

Anyone but me? I want no part of your reindeer games.

No kidding they want to vote me out.

Since they can't vote me out unless one of you donkeys help, I'll know how who's responsible if it happens.

I think it's pretty cold all in all given recent events, but w/e. This isn't tiddly winks.

You give me a legitimate reason to vote a certain way, I'll do it.

I'm a complete free agent now. So sell me.
Even if I vote with the three of you that doesn't guarantee anything - only makes a 4-4 vote.
So you need to sell me on who else you've got.

Otherwise I guess I just need to run goot like I usually do. You want to chance that?

I made my case that we should all vote together, but Heff was standoffish. And rightfully so, I had agreed to vote with the Donkeys but never followed through. I told him I never promised my vote to him, but I will now. And I copied him on the vote to Buddydank so he knew I wasn’t going back on my word to vote with the Donkeys.

Here’s the conversation I had with VJ:

broncohawk7: so what's up?
Very Josie: i dunno dude
Very Josie: im voting heff
Very Josie: and boats voting u
Very Josie: blah
broncohawk7: you promised you are voting xkm
broncohawk7: that was our alliance
Very Josie: ya but it wont do any good
broncohawk7: so my vote wed night was worthless to you?
Very Josie: no!!!
Very Josie: i dont think we have enough votes
broncohawk7: who else is voting me?
broncohawk7: what?
broncohawk7: you don't talk to me anymore?
Very Josie: hi
Very Josie: sorry
Very Josie: alot of games going on
Very Josie: i dunno dude
Very Josie: i dunno what imma do
Very Josie: im gonna focus on the poker
Very Josie: and if you think we can get enough votes for xkm lemme know
broncohawk7: so why would you vote against smboat?
Very Josie: i think heff and boat may be a little too cozy
broncohawk7: i can't understand this. i give you exactly what you want on wednesday. you promise me xkm tonight and now you say you can't get your strongest alliance not to listen to you about voting tonight?>
broncohawk7: we were going us 4 final 4. what changed?
Very Josie: i effing tried
broncohawk7: so i pissed off boat?
Very Josie: not me. i will vote xkm tonight.
broncohawk7: i just don't understand why it all changed
broncohawk7: me and muhctim and good to go with you and boat
broncohawk7: and now boat is voting me?
broncohawk7: i'm not even a huge threat in this game
Very Josie: ya that's what i said
broncohawk7: and i know he's not voting alone
Very Josie: boat is gonna vote you i think
Very Josie: noo i dont think so
Very Josie: that's why i was trying to say vote heff
broncohawk7: so he has others and you aren't voting against boat
Very Josie: at least it aint u
Very Josie: i can get more votes for heff than xkm you know
Very Josie: that was my plan
broncohawk7: ok
Very Josie: u
Very Josie: me
Very Josie: muh hopefully
broncohawk7: i would be open to a change in the plan. but this is a change in the alliance
Very Josie: xkm
Very Josie: ya i say lets just get through tonight
broncohawk7: we agreed us 4 vote together
Very Josie: i think the boat and josie alliance is changing too
Very Josie: i hope not, but im worried
Very Josie: he doesnt seem agreeable to me anymoire
Very Josie: thats a baaaad sign
broncohawk7: just promise me you won't vote for me
Very Josie: def
Very Josie: promis
Very Josie: promise
broncohawk7: what if we vote boat out?

And to this last one, she never replied. I knew I was done. I made another attempt to contact Heff and hope for the 4-4 tie and a playoff:

Mike Heffner: fine. here's my pitch in reverse for you. you get the donks for vote for Josie and I follow. let her vote for me. we tie 4-4 and play HU tomorrow for everyone's amusement and I flip coins to stay alive. I don't expect this to work, but I figure you all would rather try a 50-50 with me HU to get her out than anything else. and if you're hosing me, we'll, I've been done anyway.
Mike Heffner: at least that creates drama and INTRIGUE. I can deal with that.
broncohawk7: if that happens
broncohawk7: i'm with you to the end
broncohawk7: we vote 3 fish next and 4 donks fight out the final 4
Mike Heffner: fine, w/e. I figure all of you can squash me whenever you want. At least this way I get to play my way on or off.

Then I had this conversation with Muhctim:

Mike Mitchum: you think we are out in the cold? turtle is not talking to me
broncohawk7: must be me
Mike Mitchum: which means me if you run deepest, or on wed
broncohawk7: yeah. well. i'll tell brain and heff we all vote josie?
Mike Mitchum: ok
broncohawk7: josie is all over the place
broncohawk7: promising me she will vote with us, but boat won't
broncohawk7: so we are screwed
broncohawk7: i still say we vote her