River Belle Poker, the official sponsor of the CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour, will be hosting (in conjunction with CheckRayz.com) 3 big events with over $600 in cash and prizes to be awarded. These three CheckRayz Leaderboard events will take place in the month of April to crown our first quarter CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour champion.
These three events will take place at River Belle Poker. Full details of the three big events are as follows:
- Event 1 - CheckRayz Leaderboard Rewards: $200 freeroll, qualify by scoring Leaderboard points at one of the CheckRayz tourneys held during the first quarter of 2006. Said another way, make the top nine between now and the end of March at any of our eight remaining freeroll poker tourneys or our buy-in, with money added poker tourneys, and qualify for this event. This event is expected to hold in the first or second week of April.
- Event 2 - CheckRayz Leaderboard Shootout: $200 freeroll ($50 added goes to the winner via the Beer Guy in addition to the already sweet prize pool) to crown the first quarter CheckRayz leaderboard poker tour champion, qualify by finishing in the top ten for leaderboard points at the end of the first quarter (March 31, 2006).
- Event 3 - CheckRayz Leaderboard Challenge: $100 winner takes all tourney (pokertracker bought and paid for by the Beer Guy will be awarded to the winner, in addition to the cash prize - pokertracker not redeemable for cash). Qualify by either winning events 1 and/or two, raking 250 hands at River Belle poker, or via the CheckRayz Leaderboard "refer a friend" campaign (please follow link, as *terms and conditions apply for the "refer a friend" campaign. Additional CheckRayz "swag" will be awarded to the top raked hands at River Belle. Three ways to enter this event, don't get locked out!
That being said, there are still 8 poker tourneys remaining in the first quarter of the CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour. The leaderboard can now be expanded to display everyone who currently has leaderboard points. Take a look by clicking the link.
"Friday Night Mailbag" time...
First letter comes from Judith in reference to my lack of "game face" going into a MissT74 WSOP Private Satellite tourney this weekend, showcasing some of online poker's toughest players.
Her letter reads:
Just to keep an argument going, here is a point of view this is regarding the "monsters" that you played today.
It sound to me that you set yourself up to fail. They may be real good, but the fact remains you went in worried that they are good, as you said. You "gave" them the table image, and that put you in a disadvantage. In this game you and I (math/ stats/ acctg types) know there are 52 cards and it is in final analysis a combination of that you do or do not trust to be better than the combination an other guy holds. His status does NOT determine that, your perception DOES.
Now how's that for your mail bag?
To which I reply: Judith, you're 100% correct. I went into that event with the perception that I was outmatched. Guess what... I was. However, it wasn't because I "got no game." It was because I went in scared, intimidated, star struck, (insert mental block of choice here). I beat myself in that event. Second or third hand, I laid down a sure winner to someone betting into me. I'm sure he knew what I had and was merely testing me. I failed. By the time I got my "sea legs" and put on my "gameface" it was too late.
Shortly after donking out of that tourney, I went into the shark satellite freeroll on a mission and brought straight up ruthless aggression to the table, playing perhaps my best tourney poker that I've played in quite some time. Had I went in with that mindset, with THAT A-game, I'd have faired far better. My game is still evolving. I'm still a student of the game, not quite a master (people go a lifetime without becoming a true master of the game). I do, however, consider myself somewhat of a "craftsman," however. And had I went into the game giving myself the props I deserve as a "craftsman" and stayed true to my form, I'd have done just fine.
So Judith, no arguements from me. I beat myself. And I thank you for both pointing that out and causing me to think about it. Keep the letters, and feedback coming, as it is truly appreciated. (Judith will be receiving a first edition CheckRayz teeshirt for her letter this week).
(frustrating sidenote, this is the second week in a row that my email server has been down when trying to write my mailbag column. Anyone personally know of a host - i.e. not "yahoo works just fine for me"... i mean a live and in color firm who does webhosting, in which the business owner is local to you, and/or a personal friend/acquaintance of yours )?
In the interim I'll "borrow" from Sharky, as he had a hilarious piece of "fan mail" he received that you just have to check out. Glad to see that others are also getting a mailbag-like column going as well, as it allows for the voice of the peeps to be heard. While you're there reading that piece of fan mail, check out his blog, as he has some great recaps and anecdotes about live play on there.
And, we're back up and running (20 minutes later)... Funny how that .1% downtime only occurs during the times when I want something...
Next letter comes from Dan.
Beerguy, shame the heads-up challenge didn't happen. I was saving my last $6 for it. Any chance of trying again?
Sure are planning to try again, Dan. In fact, I'm shooting for mid-april, and aiming for a Wednesday to try the CheckRayz Heads-up poker challenge at Celeb Poker. I'm confident we'll get ten this time around, considering we're showing great numbers elsewhere.
Next letter comes from CW:
Where do we go to submit our screennames at the checkrayz site and where do we find the passwords for the upcoming riverbelle tourney's ?
Great question. Actually, what we do is as follows:
To get a password for any upcoming CheckRayz event, first ensure you're a member of CheckRayz. That being done, log onto the site, by entering your email address in which you registered with and the password assigned to you and/or created by you, whichever is most appropriate. Click "sign in."
Once signed in, go to the CheckRayz poker tourney schedule page. From there, find the poker tourney in which you're wanting to play. Please take the time to ensure you have the software downloaded to your computer for the event of choice. Should you not yet have that poker room downloaded, please click on the appropriate link provided in the left hand column, that most likely says "click here to download." These links have the CheckRayz tracker associated to them so that we are credited with bringing you to the poker room. This helps us to bring future events, both freeroll and money added buyins to you, the member. Our poker rooms will begin throwing more money and "swag" our way when they see increasing downloads and referrals from CheckRayz sponsored links. So, help me to help you and download using our links. Thanks!
While you're downloading, you'll then click on the "register now!" link. This will push you to the tourney information page on the checkrayz site. On the information page, you will find the password and/or required information for the tourney. Take this information (generally a password) to the pokerroom, click on our tourney, and input the password after clicking "register." Its that simple. However, if you have trouble, feel free to email me and I'll gladly walk you through.
Finally, we address the two letters I received today regarding registrations for upcoming tourneys.
Beer, I can't find the password for the upcoming freeroll at Titan. Can you give me the password?
The reason you cannot find the password for the event is because I have not yet opened up registration for it. The poker sites may or may not choose to open registration early, but the nice thing about being me, is that I can control when I release the password. That being said, we had a great turnout at Titan last week (244 for the freeroll - 15% sitout rate). While the 15% is indeed the industry average, I do not strive for being average. Nothing about CheckRayz or the Shark Powered Network is "average." That being said, I'll open the registration for the freeroll at Titan this weekend, and rest confident that my sitout rate will be lower than the industry average. Sidenote: I have a COMPLETE list of sitouts from the freeroll (yes, the beer man was busy). I'll most likely be once again trolling the waters in search for sitouts, and these people will risk having freeroll privledges revoked ("its great to be the king").
That's all for the mailbag. I'm playing live this weekend, and glad to say we've adopted a new, more consitant and deliberate blinds structure, which is in favor of the "craftsman." I'm sure to come out of there having stories on "Superdonk," so stay tuned!
Mike
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