Full Tilt Magazine Freeroll

Filed under: Poker Tournaments


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First thing's first - 2-3 yesterday in the heads up play. For the week, my record is 39 wins - 20 losses. I was liking it better when I was winning three out of four, but two out of three works.

Yesterday, SPT hitman Born and I hopped into the Full Tilt Magazine $750 freeroll at Absolute Poker. This comes shortly after I swore off playing AP anymore (too much suspected multi-accounting in the same tourney and collusion for my liking --- not saying it's conclusively going on, but I "believe" it to be, thus it affects my game - nuff said).

So, Born gives me the wakeup call, and we hit the virtual felt for this tourney. I pull up both tables, and he does the same... all the while he's also killin some tourney at Sun Poker. He knocks out of the AP in sick fashion. He raised significant, some tool calls with 10c-5c. Flop delivers K-J-5 rainbowed. Born continues, this sick SOB reraises allin, born calls. The 10-5 holds born is railed... wow. Dude couldn't have thought beyond level zero there. Lots of hands that had him beat, like any pocket pair higher than five, even the Fillmaff. Although, who knows, maybe he put born on exactly ace-queen, or two-seven?

Anyway, I ended up going deeper than anticipated in this tourney. Had a crippling hand right beyond the bubble. I raised all-in preflop with AK, and the small blind called with pocket twos. I barely had him covered. Next hand, I'm crippled, but flop two pair and triple up. I would double through another player very next hand and was back around where I started!

The key hand, however, that "sent me through" was as follows:

I was SB with 2d-4d, 2 limpers to me... I complete, and the somewhat shortstacking BB checks.

The flop inflicts upon us the Qd, 4c, and 2c.

I do what any other player would do and slowplayed no... min-raised no, but great guess Judith! I pushed it allin. I got the shorter stack to call, the pot was huge to begin with. He, of course, had a queen. Turn and river do not matter and I chip up bigtime, moving from seventh to third and now the biggest of the short stacks.

2 hands later, born talks me into laying down my kc-10c preflop, when I raise and the chip leader reraises me. I think he was stealing, but the presence of the very short stacks helps convince me to lay down and he was counting on that, doing what a good chip leader should. While he reminded me of the importance of not getting mixed up with him, one shorty goes down, another chips up and two donks bounce, and my connection shits the bed. I reboot, try to get back, and do, only to see my chips go byebye and lay claim to third place. We all know I'd have won had the connection not went. Oh well, big tourney big cash... I'm happy.

"Monthly game" is today. I should have a write-up on this tourney, as I've not written one up for a while and am feeling "on." My prediction is for a final table consisting of myself, the host, Mitch, Roger, SuperDonk and three others with yours truly being heads up with Mitch and becoming the first ever 3 time, three time, 1-2-3 time champion.

Mike

Monthly Poker Game...

Filed under: Poker Tournaments


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I think the key to my success has been a blog entry on the "monthly game." Yes, you guessed it... the monthly game is this weekend. Thus far, myself and "the shirt" are the only two players to win multiple times. "The Shirt" finished second last month and has been playing some great cards as of late. I'm not really sure what I am doing, other than killing the heads-up scene (though I did go a disappointing 3-5 yesterday).

Something is telling me that I'm going to win the tournament this weekend. It is supposed to be the biggest monthly tourney we've had to date. It would be only fitting if the "biggest player" would win, making me the 3 time, three time, 1-2-3 time champion.

As with last times, cards are not necessary, but surely will help. Mitch, I know you're reading... So, bring the A-game!

Mike

more heads up poker talk

Filed under: Poker Strategy



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Is it my imagination or has the blogger server been a pain in the ass today?

So, more heads up hold'em talk... 2 days ago, 2-2 record for me. Yesterday, I went 11-4 and today so far 1-1. I've been preoccupied doing some other things today, such as getting the kids ready for school (they start next week).

As I stated though, heads up seems to be my thing, for now at least. My main goal with heads up poker is to be in control of the pace of the game. What do I mean by that? Simple... I want them to play my game. These people I've been up against, for the most part, are used to playing where the big raise means they have a hand. I just fold to that, for the most part. I can do that right now, because most of the players I am encountering are straight forward. The only person who is going to decide that we're playing big pot poker is this guy.

My min raises mean nothing. As stated, any two cards from position - min raise. Watch out for the min raise and/or min-reraise from in position, however. If I get a fold out of the min raises 1 in 4 times, I am happy.

My plan is to move up a level every two to three days. That way, I am building a solid heads up bankroll in theory. Additionally, I am easing my way up. I anticipate that the day will come where I hit a level where I won't be effective in doing things "my way." My arguement there is that I am adjusting when I "have to," but that has come very few times.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Mike

Deciding Whether to Check or Bet on the Flop...

Filed under: Poker Strategy, Hold'em Strategy


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This is the first part of the "Post Flop Play" series. The introduction to this "Post Flop Play" series may be found here.


You’ve met an early position raiser’s preflop raise with a call on the button. The flop comes Ace-six-three and you’re holding ace-six suited. What do you do when he checks it to you on the flop? Or how about three handed when you’ve raised middle position with pocket sixes and the flop comes Ace-King-Six? Holding nines under the gun four handed, flop delivers 10-3-5 all suited, what then? Pocket twos in the cutoff three handed and an unraised pot with a rainbowed flop all containing low cards. So much to decide and so little time to do so. With some theory and a little thought, one can better decide what to do. In the next few minutes, we’ll look over each of the above situations and go over how one should best play the hands. Keep in mind, this is all theoretical and there are always more than one way to do things. My intention is to more so get everyone thinking about some of the things that perhaps they may not normally think about when playing NL Texas Hold’em. Please note, these three situations will be visited later on in the series. For this reason, we won’t be playing the hypothetical hand all the way through right this moment, but instead we will do so throughout the series.

Situation one: You’re heads up on the button holding Ace-six of clubs vs. an early position raiser. For the sake of assumption, the player has shown down quality hands played in position. He raises 4x’s the big blind and was second to act preflop. The pot contains his four initial bets preflop, your four bets, and the folded big and small blind bets. You were rather certain the big blind would have made a call if he had something playable and were originally calculating his call into your equation when you decided to call.

For simplicity’s sake, the pot contains 10 bets (we’ll just say 10). You each have stacks of 1000 remaining. The flop is rainbowed and comes Ace diamonds -six hearts -three clubs. The opponent checks to you, what now?

My thoughts are that while you “may” be able afford to give a free card here, the opponent checked to me on the flop, yet he liked his hand enough to raise preflop out of position. I’m thinking that normally, he’d continue his bet if the flop didn’t help him somewhat. More than likely, he’s got a high ace, maybe even suited. He could also be holding kings-nines, however, he’d be more apt to bet the flop out of continuation to say the least. On the other hand, I’ve been helped by this flop significantly. Top two pair at the moment and a backdoor flush draw. I’m convinced this flop helped me and also got him a piece in such a manner that he was comfortable checking to me. If I check I have two streets to get his entire stack into the center (this is now my goal). If I bet, I get to see how much he thinks this flop helped him. It should be noted, if he folds to my bet, it’s likely this flop would have produced zero for me, thus it makes little sense to give a free card. Additionally, there’s no over cards to come, so checking now with the purpose of bluffing or semi-bluffing later is not going to apply here. If he has ace-king, ace-queen, etc. he’s going to pay you off. Heads up, two pair vs. early position when this board is checked to you, I make a clear argument for betting here and will gladly await a check raise coming back at me.


Situation two: You have Pocket sixes in the middle position, three handed on a flop of Ace clubs -King hearts - six clubs. You have one person acting before you in the big blind and one person in the cutoff to act behind you. The big blind is a trappy player who checks to you. Pot contains 12 bets, once again everyone has 1000 chips. Once again, you’ve been helped by this flop. While the BB may be trappy, he most likely didn’t overcall with pocket aces or kings. The cutoff didn’t simply call either with aces or kings. If either of them did, you’re destined to get stacked. There’s no over cards to the board for a bluff/semi-bluff here either, which means that if they‘re not scared of this flop now, they‘re not going to become scared short of queen-jack of hearts coming on the respective turn and river. I’d be inclined to continue the bet on this flop and hope both of them want to stick around and play back at you. Once again, my goal is to get each of them to donate 1000 chips to the center of the pot. I don’t wish to appear too excited, nor do I want to play too cautiously. Betting, once again, is the clear answer.


Situation three: Pocket nines (9c-9h) UTG raised 3x preflop, four handed, which includes the big blind, the small blind, and the person directly to your left. Flop comes 10c -3c -5c. What now? Once again, the suited board is either going to look scary or it’s not, period. If you check here, it’s going to give the player to your left an opportunity to bluff at the pot containing 12 bets (all have 1000 stacks). This time, you’re not wanting to build a pot, necessarily, instead you’re looking to weed out the players who do not have an over pair, the players who do not have a club or clubs in their hands, and the players who do not have a set. This board would be a great candidate for a check had it not been such a coordinated flop. There would be a bluff opportunity on the turn or river with an over card falling, plus the possibility of you hitting a set on the turn, but with the board being suited, I’d be likely to bet out and I’d be content getting either two handed or terminating the hand right here.


Situation four: You’ve limped into the pot preflop with pocket twos from the cutoff position. You’re four handed with 2 middle position limpers and the big blind. The flop comes 5-9-3 rainbowed. Everyone checks to you. The pot contains four bets presently, everyone sitting at 1000 chips. This flop “shouldn’t” scare anyone. You don’t have a big hand, so you do not really wish to build a big pot yet. If you bet into this flop, anyone calling or raising likely has you beat. I’d be inclined to give a free card here and check behind. If the hand is checked to me on the turn, I’d be more inclined to bet out strongly. Additionally, I’d be almost willing to represent an over card or set on the turn if the situation presents itself. Here checking behind is clearly the better move.

Next we’ll dig deeper into the “why’s” of the above. Feel free to comment, discuss, add to, and/or question anything in the above situations. Once again, there’s not any single correct answer for these problems. In many ways, the game of Hold’em is simple and easy to understand. The theory behind it‘s play, however, can be an entirely different creature, as it’s a game that can be learned in less than an hour, and mastered over the course of more than a lifetime.

Freeroll tips for John and other heads up ramblings

Filed under: Poker Freerolls, Poker Strategy


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So by popular demand, we'll talk freeroll strategy. For starters, I'm often asked "Mike, how do you play a freeroll?" I don't necessarily interpret that to mean they're asking how I personally play freerolls, but instead how they should play freerolls. My advice though is almost always geared towards me, as I tell them, "along side six other cash tables and/or tournaments." The freeroll is a suppliment to my game. If I'm at a poker room that is holding one, I'll play it, but I typically don't log into a poker room just for the roll.

When playing in a freeroll, especially early in a tourney, I don't think beyond level zero. There's no sense in doing so, considering it's highly likely that as we read this the big blind just called a 10x raise on some site in a freeroll while holding Jack two suited. So, my next answer is that I take a good hand and just push with it, hoping to improve and/or be better than the obvious board. With any luck, I put in a raise and someone comes over top of me, we end up allin so that there's no thinking at all. I'd prefer to not even play post flop until hour three of a freeroll.

Finally, if you're going to bust out of a freeroll tourney, do it with a premium hand on the first hand of the tourney so that all your friends and readers can give you a hard time :)

So there you have it, my freeroll advice... I'm more focused on heads up play.

Actually, I went 5-1 yesterday playing heads up. I was asked about the min raise in heads up play and why I use it. I need to point out now, write this down, I'm not using the min raise to announce a hand. I'm not using it because I think I have the best hand. I'm using it to annoy and condition my opposition.

What do I mean by this? Well, when I am on the button (important to note this), I min raise with any two cards. To my opposition, this makes it look like I really don't know how to play a I'm making a cheap steal attempt. Sometimes, they fold because I have position, or they have hands such as 2-5o. I am wanting them to "show me" what a real raise looks like when I am not on the button. If I pick up a quality hand, such as AA for example, and they "real raise" me, I throw in that annoying min raise. Once again, I make it look like a steal on the button. Most of the players in the lower limit Heads up matches don't realize the difference, as a min raise is a min raise, so they push allin. NH GG me!

So really, what I am doing is getting these people irritated, putting resistance on them while I am getting them to push at me. When I get a hand, I simply step aside and let the momentum of their aggression do most all the work. It's as simple as that.

Tonight on the calendar, CheckRayz-Kiwi $5+.50 $100 added tourney. See you all tonight!

Mike

Heads up poker

Filed under: Poker Tournaments, Poker Tournament Strategy


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So the plan of the day is to discuss my heads up play, as I've been playing a lot of heads up sit n gos over the past few days. If I were a gambling man, I would bet, however, that my readers are dying to hear how it is I donked out of the CheckRayz-Kiwi Satellite Freeroll 1st. So, to boost my ratings, I'll talk about what I wish to talk about, and then "sammich" the juicy stuff somewhere in the middle.

Yesterday, playing heads up hold'em sit n gos, I went 16-5. I was playing either $5 or $10 sit n go's. Only twice did I have to adjust my overall strategy, which when I had to adjust I was 1-1. That doesn't include the "all-in maniac." It was actually funny, he'd push allin, I'd fold. I'd min raise the blinds, he'd push allin, I'd fold. This went on ten times in a row. Then he limped from the SB. I checked, being content with seeing a cheap flop with 6-3o. Flop comes 5-4-2 (my Grandfather's lottery number). Of course, he pushes allin, I call quickly and he's down to around T100 chips. He had pocket nines and thought he'd slowplay me. Had that flop not hit me hard, I'd have most likely folded.

So, my overall strategy... irritate people with the min raise. I auto-min raise on the SB no matter what my hand looks like. Additionally, from the BB, if they limp, I min-raise more often than not. Sometimes, I do so when they raise, depending on my hand and how convincing it is. This either causes peeps to incorrectly fold to me some of the time or it puts them on tilt, but never gives them a read on me because it's the norm - I'm just wanting to play at the next blind levels.

So, I was second to act in the Kiwi tourney, and had AKo. I raised 4x to Frank, who is a relatively tight player. He calls, suggesting he has a hand. Flop hits me, but also nails him, setting his fours. He checks, I act like a smartass and push allin, figuring his check suggested weakness. He calls, and I'm beat b4 the cards even get turned over. NH, GG - back to heads up sit n go's I go.

As for the two who made me change my strategy, one player automatically reraised 3x my raise when I min raised. So, when I had a hand, I min raise, he came over top, I went over top of him (minimally), he moved allin I called, and he was playing catchup, end of story...

The other player actually played back at me. It was nearly a real heads up match. Blinds actually made it to 100/200, when these other players were not making it past 25-50, but most were losing at the 10-20 level (level two). Against the guy who played, he got allin with AQ vs my AA and the flop hit him a bit harder than it hit me. Great matchup though.

Tonight is Noble Poker Tuesday... Hope to see everyone there. $4+.40, $75 added to the prize pool in this rebuy-add/on CheckRayz private poker tourney. Password is on the CheckRayz tourney schedule page, which you must be logged in to retreive.

Mike

CheckRayz Satellite Freeroll Tonight

Filed under: Poker Tournaments, CheckRayz News



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Short n sweet today...

No cost entry poker tournament tonight at Kiwi Poker. This freeroll poker tournament has a seat to the weekly $15K Guaranteed as top prize. Second through sixth place earn a seat to the CheckRayz $5+.50, $100 money added poker tournament on this Wednesday.

Both private poker tournaments are open for registration. The passwords are available on the CheckRayz poker tournament page. You must be a member and logged into the CheckRayz site to retreive the passwords.

Lunar tide in the online poker rooms

Filed under: Horrible Poker Play


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Some sick sick sick beats this weekend. I lost count of the score card, but I don't think my aces or kings held up once to showdown. It was like there was a lunar tide, and all the fish were just washing up to the beach for the fishermen to scoop up and put in their fish catching thing nets.So, conceding that people are going to draw on me, I resorted to playing head's up sng's.

My QQ got cracked late in a tourney vs. 5-6 offsuit --- this was the official "are you f'ing kidding me" award winner of the day.

Another tourney, once again late in the tourney, AK gets reverse dominated by A4

Then we had my pocket kings get sucked out by A2 when the board delivered two twos.

Let's also not forget my pocket aces that got called by pocket queens only to see the four cards to the flush... and not flushed my way either.

Bad day for me in tourney play yesterday...

Poker Tourneys worth mention...

Filed under:Poker Tournaments

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Lots of nice juicy poker tournaments this weekend... Calendar and memory willing, I anticipate playing in most, if not all of the following freeroll poker tournaments and guaranteed prize pool poker tournaments:

Friday - 17.30pm EDT $15K Guaranteed at Noble Poker,

Friday - 23.30pm EDT $4500 Guaranteed (six seater) at Kiwi Poker,

Saturday - 16.00pm EDT $20,000 Freeroll Poker Tournament at 32 Red Poker (200 raked hands in last seven days to be eligable),

Saturday - 16.30pm EDT $15,000 Guaranteed Freezeout at Noble Poker,

Saturday - 17.30pm EDT $1000 Freeroll Poker Tournament at Jungle Poker,

Saturday - 8pm EDT $200 freeroll poker tournament via the Shark Poker Tour at Titan Poker,

Sunday - 18.15pm EDT $10,000 Guaranteed at Poker.com,

Sunday - 8pm EDT $350 added to the Vet Series of Poker Tournaments via Online Shark Poker Tour at Poker Ocean --- wow!

Sunday - 23.45pm EDT $1500 Guaranteed at Naked Poker.

Have a great weekend...

Mike

Sweating the Freeroll

Filed under: Poker Freerolls

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I was sweating my neighbor last night while he was playing Round 1 of the $2.5 Million Moneymaker Millionaire Freeroll Poker Tournament last night. The top 50 in this tournament advance to Round 2. He was doing a great job through the first few hours.

He was determined to make the top 50, as he really wanted to advance. I have to confess, for starters, I'm so not a fan of freeroll poker tournaments that the public can freely enter. The play there is pretty much horrible... To my surprise, sweating him in this tournament did in fact help my outlook on tournament poker.

He was often getting anxious. He's sitting with an M of 70, and 3x avg stack and saying stuff like, "I need to make a move... I really need top 50... I want to advance." And those thoughts would cause him to want to play hands such as 10-5 suited under the gun. His roommate also had his eye on him and would prevent him from playing such garbage.

Bottom line, he was caught up on finishing top 50, and was "feeling" desperate. With numbers like that (M=70, 3x avg stack), he didn't "need" to do a damn thing. However, he was caught up with keeping his head above top 50, and thought it was correct to take unnecessary risk to get there. I think this is natural to feel this way. But, it's not "correct."

Instead, focusing on staying at or above avg, playing hands correctly "in position" and discarding garbage hands, and making smart reads should be the focus. If you focus on that, you'll make it in the money more often than not.

I sometimes forget that when playing tourneys. I get caught up on where the money line is. Cashing is the goal (winning's the goal, but cashing is nice too), but it shouldn't be the indicator I am looking at in the tourney. Avg stack, my M, my table's avg. M, and the M of the average stack are the stats that "should" be most important to me. These should collectively tell me how desperate I am and what kinds of hands I should be playing, in addition to how I should be playing them. This information may also tell me how desperate the field might be.

Thanks to my sweating Matt in this freeroll, I remembered to focus on the important stuff...

Mike

Hold'em Strategy - Check or bet - an introduction?

Filed under: Poker Strategy, Hold'em Strategy



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Finally, I've "got around to it." The strategy intro post is here... This time we’re going to go into post-flop play. I could preface this series with discussion on preflop play, but I am making the assumption that those reading this already have a somewhat sound foundation of preflop hand selection and a concept of position (meaning 2-2 is more profitable when playing from the button than when playing from UTG and should usually be folded preflop UTG).

Much confusion falls upon the felt, once the dealer executes the flop. You see the board, you reflect on how this flop helped and/or hurt you. You might correctly go a step further and ponder how the flop may have helped or hurt your opposition. And maybe you even think on how your opposition thinks the flop affected you. You might even glance down at your chip stack and examine the stacks of the players remaining in the hand. Once the flop is delivered, the planning must begin.

Playing after the flop is very cerebral in nature. You need to not only know what you’re doing, but also why you’re doing it. Everything you do should be very deliberate. Every move, check or bet, call or raise, fold or play… should have a very dedicated and known (to you) purpose. Thinking about these things, knowing what to do and why, are the difference between being a craftsman of the trade, or a drone; the captain or the crew. We want to be the master of our tables, the writer of the script, we do not want to be servants to the other player or players. Nor do we wish to be merely a character cast in a story of donation and donkeyness. We want to manipulate those around us, causing them to be characters in our screenplay on the felt. Understanding when to check and when to bet, in addition to how much we should bet is the first step of this mastery process.

Throughout this series, we are going to cover the following:

Planning your hand flop to finish;

Basic Reasons for Checking and Basic Reasons for Betting;

How to Decide Whether to Check or Bet;

Sizing one’s bets, laying and accepting pot odds;

Once again, this series is designed for the beginner and is not at all meant to be the lone source of information. Additionally, I make no claims to be thorough in my writings in this or any other strategy series. Finally, as my disclaimer, while this strategy may work well for me, I make no claims that it “will” work well for everyone else. The stuff I discuss is of solid foundation and I grasp the concepts. Not everyone, however, will be able to. This is OK. Additionally, there is more than one way to skin a cat. I am completely aware of this. Agree or disagree, I look forward to working through this topic with my readers.

Bad heads up poker

Filed under:Poker


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I think I found came across the worst heads up player ever yesterday. Sad thing is, I nearly lost to her. Funny how that works, but it's true. I surely would have destroyed my monitor and anything on my desk had I lost...

It was truly ridiculous. I quickly discovered a few pre-flop constants about her game. One, she never raised preflop. Two, she had to see the flop, regardless of my raise. So depending on my hand, I'd raise anywhere from 2-4 times the big blind, if I chose to raise.

Additionally, she would not bet the flop. However, if she was on a draw or caught a piece of it, she'd call a flop bet. Once again, I sized my bets accordingly. I would, however, always bet at least something on the flop, regardless of how it did or didn't help me. She'd fold if it missed her.

The turn comes, and I check, no matter what. If she is on the board and better than low pair, she bets. If she has a draw and hasn't made her hand she checks. Consequently, I assess my hand relative to the board and her bet, meaning can I beat middle pair or the obvious draw? Do I have the implied odds to go to the river? You'll see what I mean in a second.

River comes. Now here's the kicker... Supposing we build a "big pot." And said big pot is 400 chips (each of us start with 1000 chips). Furthermore, suppose blinds are 10/20 at this time. I bet 20 on the river. If she was on a draw and did not complete, she folds. If she did complete and even has the nut... she only calls.

So, here's the thing... I was taking pot after pot... Knocked her down to about 300 twice. Both times, she hit her hand and doubled up. Blinds went up to 50/100 and either I was going card dead or she was completing her hands. Long story short, I sucked out in order to re-cripple her. And then maybe she figured out what I was doing, because she moved all-in with one of those "but they were suited" hands preflop, which was the first time she raised anything preflop. Nine-three was her hand, actually. She ran into my jacks and another on the flop.

In other news, I was playing a sit n go yesterday afternoon and I made a bigtime Rookie Mistake. I was in the BB with K9s. Flop came ace-eight-eight. I bet 1/2 the pot into the field of six players. One person stays and it was the person to my immediate left (under the gun, for those keeping score). The turn delivers a King. I check, as does he. The river delivers me a nine, giving me three pair. Now here comes the rookie move... wait for it... wait for it... here it comes... I put out a pot sized bet. Now, here it comes. I did this being absolutely certain he had an ace. I was almost certain that he did not have an eight, so I was dealing with his two pair (aces and eights), versus my two pair of kings and nines. As I did this, I realized what the hell I just did. Fortunately, he was fearing I had an eight and he just straight up called me. Too much going on inside this head of mine... That mistake is out of character for me.

Due to server issues with CheckRayz, the strategy post is on hold...

Mike

Moron continues to steal poker blog content

Filed under: Poker Blogs


All content written in the Poker Pub is covered under copyright. Said another way, unless you're at http://imjusthere4thebeer.blogspot.com reading this, then THIS GUY IS RIPPING OFF CONTENT ORIGINALLY PRODUCED AT http://imjusthere4thebeer.blogspot.com AND MAY BE PLAGARIZING the work at the Poker Pub. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs2.5 License and may not be reproduced or utilized in a manner against the terms set forth in the creative commons license.


So, as we can see, I now have a publishing note listed at the beginning of every post. No surprise, this notice also shows up at the place/places that are stealing my content. Unfortunately, he's also stealing the content and material of other poker bloggers. Ironically, he has some sort of disclaimer in his directory that says his feeds are meant to be for preview purposes. Said assclown goes on to say that this "justified form of thievery" will, in his opinion, help people find quality content.

Ummm... no! What he's really thinking is that he can use other people's original content to make his site bigger, and stick his little poker banners on it. Today, one such person gets my undivided attention. While I will not give him a link back, I will post a short list of people who's content he is stealing. Additionally, Imma go one step further and contact each of these bloggers personally.

But first, the legal department for his host: legal@enom.com

Once again, site name available upon request, as I'm not linking him...

He is stealing content from the following people (note, this list is not complete):

Lucky Blonde Plays Poker

Road Warrior

catching the antichrist

al can't hang

Iggy

high on poker

Mean Gene

Poker Princess

Riding the F-Train

Seattle John

Poker Greed

Wil Wheaton dot net

pokerstars blog

poker.com blog

Chris Halverson

Wherever possible, I will be contacting each of these bloggers by email today. Once again, this is only a partial list. There are about 100-110 total blogs who are having content shitbagged by this guy.

That being said, strategy posting starts tommorrow, hopefully.

Mike

New Hold'em Strategy Series Tommorrow...

Filed under:Poker Strategy


All content written in the Poker Pub is covered under copyright. Said another way, unless you're at http://imjusthere4thebeer.blogspot.com reading this, then THIS GUY IS RIPPING OFF CONTENT ORIGINALLY PRODUCED AT http://imjusthere4thebeer.blogspot.com AND MAY BE PLAGARIZING the work at the Poker Pub. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs2.5 License and may not be reproduced or utilized in a manner against the terms set forth in the creative commons license.



Tommorrow I plan to begin another four to five part strategy series.

In traditional Poker Pub form, this series will not be written and published on consecutive days. It will be, in fact, spread out over the next few weeks. I'm going to be aggressive and say I can handle pushing out two posts per week, but reality dictates that I'm good for one bigger strategy post per week. So, I'm going to guide you to one strategy post per week, with the option to make a second continuation post during the same week.

Tommorrow, I shall begin with the Introduction. Oh, I guess it might help if I were to introduce what I am introducing, wouldn't it now... The series is going to deal with post flop play. I'll let my introduction introduce itself tommorrow in greater detail.

So until then...

Mike

pay me no attention...

Filed under:Legal, Misc. Offtopic Ramblings


All content written in the Poker Pub is covered under copyright. Said another way, unless you're at http://imjusthere4thebeer.blogspot.com reading this, then “THIS GUY IS RIPPING OFF CONTENT ORIGINALLY PRODUCED AT http://imjusthere4thebeer.blogspot.com AND MAY BE PLAGARIZING the work at the Poker Pub. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs2.5 License and may not be reproduced or utilized in a manner against the terms set forth in the creative commons license.



Pay me no attention. I'm still playing around with the template settings and messing with the morons who are lifting my content illegally.

CheckRayz News n poker thoughts

Filed under:CheckRayz News, Thoughts on Poker


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I'm testing out a new template, among other things, so let's see how this works out.

Heads up Battle this Tuesday

Clay and Reel have agreed to a date and time for their classic head's up battle. This Tuesday, champion vs. champion, live on pay per view and in a steel cage, the two CheckRayz Champions take to the felt in a best two out of three heads up matchup.

The winner will receive either $50 worth of Poker Supplies or "stuff" from the 5Star Deal catalog, which is linked to the Poker Pub on the left, or they will receive an activated copy of Pokertracker.

The heads up match will begin playing at 10pm EDT, which is one hour after the start of the CheckRayz money added poker tournament at Noble Poker (9pm shuffle n deal time).

Other CheckRayz Happenings

I'm looking to begin playing regular events, similar to how Sharky has his weekly BBB events at AP and the Vet Series. Tuesday nights, Wednesday Nights and Friday nights are going to be the "usual nights" once we have the "death star fully operational."

I need suggestions from our regulars as to which rooms you'd most like to play in, and additionally what kind of events you'd most like. Money added buy-ins, rebuys, satellites to bigger events, heads up, etc. Which of our CheckRayz Poker Rooms would you most like to see us make a regular weekly stop at to hold these poker tournaments?

Furthermore, please note that Kiwi Poker is allowing us to hold satellite freeroll qualifiers into our money added buyins. This is a great way for us to get freerollers into our buyin events, as well as giving the depositing veterans an opportunity to win a free pass.

Additionally, I believe once per quarter, we will begin holding our CheckRayz Challenge Freerolls, similar to the one we held at CelebPoker, where it was a $500 Freeroll Poker Tournament, in which one must download through me, deposit, and rake to qualify. I don't think the market supports more than a quarterly event of this nature as of yet.

As with anything we do, the more participation we get, the more $$$ I can get. So please, if you're a vet of the tour, give me feedback as to what you do and do not like, what you'd like to see, what you will support, etc. If you're new to the tour, I also want to hear from you. Please feel free to give me constructive criticism. And for clarification purposes, what I mean by constructive criticism is as follows:

"Constructive criticism is the process of offering valid and well-reasoned
opinions about the work of others, usually involving both positive and negative
comments, in a friendly manner rather than an oppositional one. In collaborative work, this kind of criticism is often a valuable tool in raising and maintaining
performance standards."
- Wikipedia

More information on how to give constructive criticism.

Said another way, this is not a bitch fest. If it's free, don't complain. Don't say, you should do it like I do things on MY forum (I'm not interested). If you really want your opinion to be heard, be sure to word it correctly. Now, as my disclaimer, I am not speaking to my regulars in this constructive criticism lesson. I'm speaking to the peeps who have an agenda and the haters out there who like taking cheap shots. Said another way, make a brotha feel good when you tell him to go screw himself.

Thoughts on Poker

Wow, it's been a long time since I've actually written in somewhat of a conversational tone. This post is feeling weird. I finished the Sklansky Book last week and immediately dove into the Harrington on Hold'em vol. 3 book. Harrington's book is a workbook of sorts, where he reviews hands and has you sweating a certain player... Ivey, Negreanu, Harrington himself, online players, etc.

Anyway, his book is great... don't get me wrong. However, I have this... how do I say... tendency, I guess. Yea, that works. I have this tendency when reading Poker books to drastically adjust my play when an a new, unfamilliar yet sensable concept is introduced. One of the problem areas I've known I have is that I play too tight in the later positions. Harrington's exercises clearly point that out to me. I thought this was a bad thing, well, that is until I subconsciously tried to correct this. Now, I find myself thinking any two cards are good on the button. As I sit here, I'm telling you I am now a total donkey.

I need to read something totally donk-like from a credible source to correct this now. I think I can finally see how my Grandmother believes that the fat lady had an alien baby when she reads it in "the paper" in the checkout line of the supermarket.

Mike

WSOP Thoughts and Spoiler Alert

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Thoughts on the World Series of Poker...

In case anyone missed it, I provided Real time coverage to the WSOP Main Event Final Table from Start to Finish last night.

Not to spoil things, but Jamie Gold led coast to coast. I hate to say it, but he played some great poker.

The final table was a bit more aggressive than I am used to remembering. Lots of raising and reraising and/or betting into other players. I think this is going to make for great viewing once it is edited and reaches ESPN, and I'm looking forward to seeing the pocket cams.

The two hands that stand out the most in my mind were Jamie Gold's limp raise against Richard Lee, when they were 1 and 2 in chips. Lee was in the BB, Gold limps. Lee raises, Gold springs his trap and reraises. Lee is hypnotised by his hand, pocket jacks and moves it all-in, only to run into pocket queens. The pattern/play suggested Aces-Jacks and AKs/o. There was really no "need" for Lee to make that move, especially considering there were two short stacks in the house. I think he had that level 0 moment, where he wasn't even aware Gold had two cards.

The second hand that stands out in my mind was Cunningham v. Wasicka v Gold hand. Allen raised, and Paul and Jamie both called. Flop came down Ah-9h-Jh, action checked around. The turn delivered an Ace of clubs. Paul Wasicka led out with a suck bet of sorts on the turn. Cunningham put in a raise, making it 3 million more. Paul moves allin, Gold obviously got the hell out of the way with the initial bet. Allen Cunningham thinks and thinks, before laying his hand down. This was a huge laydown, as he claims he had pocket tens, with the ten of hearts in hand. Paul shows KdQd, revealing his ginormous bluff. Once again, WOW!

I think if we were in a wrestling arena, we'd get the "holy shit" chant going.

These two hands, I believe cemented the outcome of the WSOP Main Event.

Live WSOP Main Event Coverage
Real Time WSOP Main Event

Mike

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WSOP Main Event Coverage…

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Final Table with chip counts

Seat 1 - Richard Lee - $11,820,000
Seat 2 - Erik Friberg - $9,605,000
Seat 3 - Paul Wasicka - $7,970,000
Seat 4 - Dan Nassif - $2,600,000
Seat 5 - Allen Cunningham - $17,770,000
Seat 6 - Michael Binger - $3,140,000
Seat 7 - Doug Kim - $6,770,000
Seat 8 - Jamie Gold - $26,650,000
Seat 9 - Rhett Butler - $4,815,000

Elimination hand - Jamie Gold calls from early position and Dan Nassif raises from the button. Jamie Gold makes the call. The flop comes 532 and Nassif pushes it allin. Gold immediately makes the call and shows 22 for a set. Nassif turns over AK and is behind. The turn is the A and Nassif needs a four for a chopped pot. However, the river is the 10 and Dan Nassif has been eliminated in 9th place.

Elimination - hand - Friberg eliminated. Allin preflop with Gold... JJ v. QQ - gold set on the river, flop and turn missed everyone. 8th place for Erik Friberg and worth $1,979,189
Elimination - Paul Wasicka raises to from mid position and Doug Kim calls from the button. The flop comes 443 and Wasicka bets out. Kim moves all in and Wasicka calls with a quickness. Kim shows 99 but runs into QQ. Kim is in trouble. The turn is the J and the river is the 7. Doug Kim has been eliminated in 7th place.

Chip Count Update
Jamie Gold $38,000,000
Richard Lee $19,300,000
Paul Wasicka $14,200,000
Allen Cunningham $12,900,000
Rhett Butler $3,100,000
Michael Binger $2,800,000

...break and I now have live feed...

10.15pm EDT - Parade of Champions, Hachem, Fossilman, Jesus, Scotty Nguyen, our first WSOP millionaire Brad Dougherty, Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Tom McEvoy all introduced...

10.20pm EDT - Discussion of Gold claiming he would rather finish second and may throw the game.

10.25 EDT - Players back from break and action is underway. Six handed...

Blinds 120,000-$240,000 with a $40,000 ante

Chip Count

Jamie Gold T37,400,000
Richard Lee T17,030,000
Allen Cunningham T15,230,000
Paul Wasicka T14,870,000
Rhett Butler T 3,365,000
Michael Binger T 2,280,000

Lee steals pot.

Cunningham-Gold battle. Gold raises, 10-9-8 flop. check check. 8 turn, 1.1 million bet from Cunningham. Gold raises into him and raises 4 million into the 3 million pot. Cunningham folds.

10.30pm EDT Next hand, Allen Cunningham moves allin. Call from Michael Binger. 22 v A6. Binger's Tourney life on the line... Flop comes As-6d-4d. Turn 5 of hearts, giving Allen outs with 3's or 2's. River misses and Michael Binger doubles up, sits around 4.5 million.

10.35pm EDT - Binger moves into 5th in chips

Butler moves allin, sitting with an M of a bit under 10. Butler steals on Gold’s blind.

Rough Count
Gold 40 mil
Lee 17 mil
Cunningham 14 mil
Wasicka 11mil
Binger 4.5 mil
Butler 3.2 mil

Wasica raises to 800,000 UTG. Cunningham flat calls in position. Flop comes AA9. Paul checks, Cunningham bets 1.1 million bet and takes down the pot just as Hellmuth shows up in the booth.

Wasicka call BB on the Cunningham UTG raise. 2-3-4 flop. Check from Wasica, followed with 1 million chip bet. Wasica does in fact lay it down.

Wasicka v Gold 5-5-7 -9-9 check down to the river. Gold takes it down with an Ace.

Butler raises 900K, which is 1/3 of his stack. Binger seemingly has a hand but he throws it in.

Lee limps, Wasicka raises it to 1 million, Lee calls the raise. Qd-9s-6d. Check check. 7s. Lee bets out 2.5 million, and Wasicka folds.

10.52 - Cunningham enters the pot making it 750K preflop, Butler moves allin from the Big Blind. Allen folds the hand.

Cunningham raises to 750K again. Gold calls from the button. Blinds fold. Flop comes 4c-8c-3s. Allen Cunningham bets 1.1 million. Gold, in position lays the hand down, Cunningham rakes it in.

Gold bluffs and shows with 2-3 in position and takes down a pot.

Gold raises in the cutoff Wasicka reraises in the SB. Gold folds.

5 deep limped pot As-Jd-9d. Gold bets 1 million into the pot. 4 folders... Gold takes down the unraised pot uncontested on the flop.

Gold in the BB. Jd-10c-7c check check. Ac. Binger picks up the pot.

11.05pm EDT - Cunningham raises and takes down another pot.

Gold enters pot on the button. Lee enters from the BB. Flop comes 10s-2c-9c. Lee takes the pot down.

Binger takes it down preflop.

Big hand - Gold raises to 800K, Cunningham puts in 560K from the BB to make the call. 8-8-3. Allen checks. Jamie bets 1 million allen calls. 2 clubs on the turn. Cunningham checks, Gold checks. Q comes on the river. Cunningham checks, Gold bets 2 million. Gold is talking around about his hand, straight up taunting Allen, saying he'll show his bluff. Allen Cunningham calls with A-9 and takes down the pot! Wow...

11.20 - Butler moves allin, takes the pot down.

Cunningham raises to 750K. Gold calls. Flop Q-J-5. Gold checks, Cunningham continues with 1.2 million. Gold folds. Cunningham continues to dominate Gold.

11.25pm EDT Cunningham raises. Binger moves overtop and allin. Roughly 3 million is the allin. Cunningham counts out his chips as he ponders the decision. Makes the call. Cunningham QsJs- Binger AQ.

Flop comes all clubs and misses both. Binger has Qc, Cunningham needs one of two jacks. River delivers a blank. Binger doubles through Cunningham to 7 million.

11.30pm EDT - Cunningham raises preflop takes the pot down uncontested.

Cunningham raises to 750K UTG. Gold took a walk, has been autofolded last two hands. Lee calls from the SB. From the BB, Wasicka reraises to 3 million into the 2 million pot. Cunningham folds. Lee folds.

Lee limps from the button, Wasicka completes, Cunningham checks on BB. Ah-2c-9h. Check, check, 900K. Call from Wasicka, fold from Cunningham. Ks Check, check on the turn. River 2d. Check from Paul, check. Paul Wasicka takes the pot down with two pair, after letting Richard Lee bluff some chips off to him. Wasicka moves into third place.

Gold limps UTG. Paul makes it 900K from the button. Gold Calls. A-K-10. Million chip bet from Paul (less than half pot). Gold folds and 3.4 million to Paul Wasicka.

BB Gold vs. Richard Lee (raise mid position preflop) 2h-7h-5d. Lee bets 1.1 million. Jamie Gold checkraised, making it 3 million total (1.9 million checkraise). Richard Lee folds.

Wasicka makes it 800K. Gold calls from the SB. Flop comes 9h-5h-10h. Check from Gold. Paul checks. 3d. Gold pushes 2 million in and takes the pot down.

11.45pmEDT - Gold raises on the button to 800K. Lee lays down the BB and Gold takes three in a row.

All-in :Gold limps from the cutoff. Lee is raising OOP from the SB to 1.2 million. Wasicka in BB folds. Gold re-raises 4 million additional. Gold seemingly has a monster, based on his posture. Richard Lee moves allin, Gold calls.

Gold has QQ v Richard Lee's JJ. Flop comes: x-K-K. Turn and River are blanks and Richard Lee has been eliminated. We're five handed with Jamie Gold having more than 1/2 the total chips. Wow!

Rough Chip Count

Jamie Gold T54 million

Paul Wasicka T14 million

Allen Cunningham T13 million

Michael Binger T7 million

Rhett Butler T3 million

Dinner Break... See you in 90 minutes.

Commentary: Like him or not, Jamie Gold has a presence about him at this final table. I do not find him to be the best player at the table. He seems to lack focus at times. He has made players (i.e. - Lee) make huge, costly mistakes. Allen Cunningham is by far the better player at this table, which is not really a surprise. He's taken his shots at Gold, picking and choosing his spots. I'm liking the way Cunningham has been playing. He and Wasicka are still alive, despite Gold seemingly running away with the chips. Binger and Butler do have the short stacks, but I'm not feeling the whole chip n chair story from them. I do foresee a Gold meltdown on the horizon.

The players return from dinner and we're nearly underway...

This commentary of the WSOP Final Table brought to you by the Shark Powered Network. SPN members CheckRayz, Shark Poker Tour, Online Shark bring you the best in freeroll and money added poker tournaments on the net. Sign up at all the SPN sites and get started playing free poker.

Blinds 120,000-$240,000 with a $40,000 ante

Rough Chip Count

Seat 1 - Paul Wasicka - T14 million M of 25

Seat 2 - Allen Cunningham - T13 million M of 23

Seat 3 - Michael Binger - T7 million M of 12

Seat 4 - Jamie Gold - T51 million M of 91

Seat 5 - Rhett Butler - T3 million M of 5 - Red Zone

1.45am EDT - money is on it's way into the room. $12 million allegedly being brought out to the table. Money comes forever.

1.50am EDT play resumes for real this time. 28 minutes left at these blind levels.

First hand after the break Rhett Butler UTG+1 moves allin. Paul Wasicka calls from the button. Blinds fold. Butler A10 v Wasicka 88. And the flop comes... k-q-10, which reall helps Rhett. K on the turn, river is a miss and Rhett Butler doubles through Paul Wasicka.

Binger and Butler are roughly tied for last in chip count now with Binger doubling through.

2am EDT - Gold raises and takes the pot.

Cunningham steals from the cutoff.

Scotty Ngygen joins the commentary.

Gold steals from the button, raises from the cutoff next hand. Cunningham calls from the BB. Cunningham bets out on the turn, call from Gold. Possible straight on the board at the river, check/check. Allen flopped a straight flush draw, takes down the pot.

Gold limp raises after Binger raising initially. Binger lays down the hand, respecting the limp raise move. Gold had done this twice earlier both times with pocket Queens.

Butler raises on Jamie's BB and takes the pot, showing A10 UTG.

Chip Count

Seat 1 - Paul Wasicka - T10.5 million

Seat 2 - Allen Cunningham - T15 million

Seat 3 - Michael Binger - T7.2 million

Seat 4 - Jamie Gold - T50 million

Seat 5 - Rhett Butler - T6.3 million

Cunningham raises to 750K, Binger calls in position Q-10-6. 4d on turn. Cunningham moves at pot with 1.1 million (50% pot) call. J on the river. Check/check. Binger two pairs, Cunningham mucks. Binger takes in roughly 4 million.

Gold raises button Wasicka calls. Ks10s6s. Check check. Gold bets 1 million. Fold from Wasicka.

Gold raises again Qs-8c-3h. Gold bets 1 million again. call this time. 9c on the turn. Gold 2 million. Paul lays down OOP.

Gold is not letting up, staying active and aggressive.

Paul calls on the button. SB completes, BB checks. J-7-5 on the board. Checks through. 5d on the board from the turn. Binger comes out with 600K. Paul calls on the button. 7s on the river. Paul wins the pot with an ace high kicker to Binger's king high.

Big hand alert - Paul raises cutoff to 800K. Gold calls in the BB. KQ2dd. Check from Gold. 1.1 million continuation from Paul. CheckRaise from Jamie Gold of 4 million more. Paul is in all-in or fold mode here and moves. Gold calls with AK vs. K10. Wasicka is in trouble here. 10 comes on the turn, and it's looking good for Paul. AQJ hurts Paul. River is eight of diamonds. Get Paul a towel, as he sucks out on the turn and doubles through Jamie Gold in roughly a 18 million dollar pot.

Jamie Gold is disgusted, saying over and over "I can't play any better than that."

Blinds are up, now at T150K/T300K, ante of 50K as they color up...

2.30am EDT - updated chip counts

This commentary of the WSOP Final Table brought to you by the Shark Powered Network. SPN members CheckRayz, Shark Poker Tour, Online Shark bring you the best in freeroll and money added poker tournaments on the net. Sign up at all the SPN sites and get started playing free poker.

Seat 1 - Paul Wasicka - T18 million M of 24

Seat 2 - Allen Cunningham - T12.8 million M of 17

Seat 3 - Michael Binger - T6.8 million M of 9

Seat 4 - Jamie Gold - T46 million M of 61

Seat 5 - Rhett Butler - T6.2 million M of 8

Cunningham enters the pot with a million dollar raise. Butler moves allin from the SB. Alan folds.

Gold takes it down preflop.

Wasicka limps on the button. Cunningham moves and Binger and Wasicka fold.

Paul raises a million, Binger reraises to allin. Paul Wasicka looks at his chippage trying to get a count and determine what he's wanting to do. He folds.

Cunningham raises utg. Gold calls in position. Paul Wasicka calls on the BB. 8c-ah-2s. Allen bets out 1 million Jamie calls, Paul folds. Turn delivers 6d. Check/check. River 2h. Gold takes down the pot with a bet on the end. Chips got spilled from Butler, so they're going through to recalculate the pot.

2.45am EDT - Binger raises. Wasicka moves allin from the blinds. Binger lays down.

Gold raises UTG. Binger calls from the bb. KJ3 is the flop. Gold bets out. Binger moves allin on the CheckRayz. Gold calls with top pair. Binger v Gold, each with K-10, chopped pot.

Wasicka limps on Gold's BB. Flop As-9-4s. Gold checks. Wasicka bets and takes her down.

Wasicka makes it 1 million from the cutoff. Cunningham calls as does Butler calls from the BB. 8-6-2 rainbowed greets the players. Rhett checks, Wasicka continues, Cunningham moves all-in and folds everyone up.

Binger raises 1 million on the cutoff, Gold calls on the button. Wasicka moves 4 million more, squeezing. Binger folds. Gold calls. Paul shows AK and takes the pot down.

We're nearly 8 hrs into this tournament today.

Wasicka limps on the button yet again. AsAdJs. Check Check and Paul takes the pot down.

Wasicka is really pressuring, seemingly active in every pot recently, as he takes another down from the cutoff preflop and yet again from the UTG.

Wasicka in the BB, Gold raises. J-3-4. Gold bets and wins.

Butler raises from the button and wins the pot.

Paul limping button again. 7-3-2, three handed. Cunningham bets out from the SB. Binger raises to allin from the BB. Binger takes down the pot.

Paul moving on the cutoff again. Jamie calls the blind. A-4-7 on the board. Paul continues and wins.

Big hand - Paul raises 1 million UTG Binger moves allin from the button. 5.7 million more to call. Call is made! Paul has KQ vs Binger's KK. Flop comes: Q-7-3. Turn is an ace. River brings the 2 of hearts. Binger has doubled through Paul Wasicka.

This commentary of the WSOP Final Table brought to you by the Shark Powered Network. SPN members CheckRayz, Shark Poker Tour, Online Shark bring you the best in freeroll and money added poker tournaments on the net. Sign up at all the SPN sites and get started playing free poker.

Commentators kinda forgot there was a game going on as they talked over and through everyone.

Updated Chip Count

Seat 1 - Paul Wasicka - T13.9 million

Seat 2 - Allen Cunningham - T9.6 million

Seat 3 - Michael Binger - T13.5 million

Seat 4 - Jamie Gold - T46 million

Seat 5 - Rhett Butler - T4.8 million

3.25am EDT - Paul raises small blind, Allen calls from the BB. Flop comes A-10-8 rainbow. Paul leads out on the flop, which is out of character, given his past OOP play. Allen throws his hand away.

Gold raises UTG 1.2 million, Paul calls on the button. A-3-9. Check check. J turns. Gold bets 1 million. Paul calls quickly. River 2h. Check Check. KJo v QJo. Paul takes the pot down.

Paul raises cutoff, Binger reraises, Paul folds yet again.

Note: I'm no longer going to do hand for hand updates, only big hands...

3.37am EDT - Butler All-in from the button Cunningham folds despite the math nearly working out.

All-in 3.44 - Butler allin after limp limp. Cunningham calls. Gold calls. Flop: Jh-6d-5d check/check. 2c. Gold bets, Cunningham folds. Gold's KJo vs Butler's 44. 3 or 4 keeps Butler alive. River is the ten of clubs. Gold takes down the pot and Rhett Butler is eliminated.

We're four handed...

"The Mouth" doin commentary, really critical of the earlier move by Richard Lee. Huge, huge mistake, though Mike is citing fatigue from the marathon as being a factor.

3.50am EDT - Updated Chip Counts

Seat 1 - Paul Wasicka - T14.2 million

Seat 2 - Allen Cunningham - T10 million

Seat 3 - Michael Binger - T12 million

Seat 4 - Jamie Gold - T52 million

3.57 - Gold limps, Binger raises. Gold asks for a chip count and calls. Flop comes A-10-2 rainbowed. 1.5 million into the pot. Gold folds.

Over/under betting going on via ESPN's email on when the WSOP will end. Over/under is 6am. Mattesow is pushing the over.

4am - Binger reraises, knocks Cunningham off a hand.

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All-in - Cunningham v Gold. Ac-Jc-3h. Cunningham small bet. Gold raises. Cunningham allin 4.2 million to go. Gold talks at Cunningham, asking if he's ready to go home. Gold folds up shop, Cunningham takes the pot down.

Gold raises from the button. Paul re-raises 2 million more. Gold folds up.

Chip Count through 184 hands

Seat 1 - Paul Wasicka - T13.8 million

Seat 2 - Allen Cunningham - T12.15 million

Seat 3 - Michael Binger - T12.85 million

Seat 4 - Jamie Gold - T51.9 million

4.20 smoke break...

4.25 - 3 way action Allen raises, Paul and Jamie call. AJ9hhh Ac. Paul sends out a small seemingly suck bet on the turn. Cunningham raises it up 3 million more. Paul all-in. Allen folds. Paul shows Kqd for a huge huge bluff. Allen claims to have folded pocket tens, with the ten hearted. Huge huge huge bluff by Paul on Allen. WOW!

4.30am EDT - Cunningham moves allin from the button on Paul’s raise. Paul lays it down.

This commentary of the WSOP Final Table brought to you by the Shark Powered Network. SPN members CheckRayz, Shark Poker Tour, Online Shark bring you the best in freeroll and money added poker tournaments on the net. Sign up at all the SPN sites and get started playing free poker.

As an aside, it's really nice to be watching each and every hand played, as opposed to the soundbite highlights on ESPN, even if we don't get the pocket cams.

Gold vs. Cunningham. Cunningham bets on the turn. Gold raises. Little commentary back n forth between the two. Scratch that, lot's of talk. Gold can't seem to keep his trap shut. I suspect this is going to give Allen enough info to make the correct read. Fold.

Blinds will be 200K/400K 50K ante after the break.

Chip Count at the Break

Seat 1 - Paul Wasicka - T18.7 million

Seat 2 - Allen Cunningham - T7.6 million

Seat 3 - Michael Binger - T15 million

Seat 4 - Jamie Gold - T49.35 million

Jennifer Harman has joined the commentary booth. She thinks Gold was worried about Cunningham, however, Paul's been surprising Jamie. She thinks Jamie should be playing small pot and in position, so he doesn't risk doubling anyone. Essentually, it's his tourney to lose.

9 hrs 30 minutes of final table poker played at the WSOP thus far.

5.10 am EDT - 3 handed. Paul raises, Mike, and Jamie. Flop comes 3-3-8. Paul bets, Michael Binger raises and takes the pot. This has been occuring regularly, with Michael coming over top of Paul.

Gold continues to limp UTG. Binger raises from the BB. Gold calls. Qd-6-5. Check/check. 10d turns. 1.5 million bet from Binger. Gold calls. Big pot, and the 9 of spades on the board. Binger checks. Gold bets out 4 million. Binger folds to the big bet. Gold shows 6-4.

Commentary on players raising and not continuing vs. the big stack. Gold seemingly stealing pot after pot due to weakness, and no one playing back at Gold.

Elimination - Binger raises, Gold calls, Cunningham allin.Binger fold, however Gold calls KdJd v Cunningham’s 10-10. Flop comes: A-K-8. Cunningham is in trouble. Turn card is a 7. River is the 3 of spades. Allen Cunningham is eliminated in fourth place.

Chip Count at 5.25am EDT

Seat 1 - Paul Wasicka T15.475 million chips M of 20

Seat 3 - Michael Binger T12.35 million chips M of 16

Seat 4 - Jamie Gold T62.325 million chips M of 83

Chris Ferguson joins the commentary.

Wow, Jamie's "Sea" of chips is impressive.

Michael moves allin, folds Jamie up after his 1.2 million raise. Jamie folds.

Chip count

Seat 1 - Paul Wasicka - T15.9 million

Seat 3 - Michael Binger - T12 million

Seat 4 - Jamie Gold - T62 million

Binger moves all-in from the BB on Gold's button limp. Gold talks to him asking for him to help him decide, saying it's 50/50. Jamie Gold folds.

Q-9-4 Binger and Gold, SB - BB. Jamie bets, Michael calls. Ad on turn check check. 8s river. 4.15 million pot. Jamie bets and tells Michael he's probably bluffing. Jamie was in fact bluffing, as advertised. Michael folds and Jamie shows the Jack three unsuited, running a stone cold bluff.

Andy Bloch states that Binger has never “called” a bet on the river during this entire final table.

9-5-5 - Paul raises 1.2 million, Gold calls. Check from Paul, still no continuation from Paul. Ace on the turn. Paul bets the turn, Gold calls quickly. 6 on the end. Check/check. Jamie shows pocket tens and takes the pot down.

update: Gold - 66.125 million, Wasicka 13.225 million, Binger 11.25 million

Gold raises and Binger reraises. Binger seems the most willing to play back at Gold of the two.

5.50am EDT - Binger-Gold SB-BB. 6-2d-3d 1 million called by Gold. Qc check check. Kd on the river. 55 v 6d-8d. Gold takes another pot.

The action is relentless in that there are a shitload of flops seen.

Binger raises, Gold reraises, Binger folds.

2 limpers, Binger raises, takes down the pot.

Paul vs Gold Ad-8c-2c. Paul continues, Gold calls. Turn brings Kh. Check by Gold. Paul checks behind. 4c on river A-3 from Gold, Paul mucks.

Gold is doing well in keeping the pots small.

6am - Paul played stop n go and Jamie paid his two pair off.

Elimination - Binger calls Gold's all-in on the flop Binger A10 v 34... flop was 6-10-5. Turn is the 7 of clubs. River is a queen of spades. Binger is eliminated in third place. We're now heads up. This queen would have given Paul the flush.

Chip count for the heads up. Gold - 78.125 million, Paul Wasicka 12.025 million.

This is a monsterous lead. Paul needs to double through twice to come back.

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Replay of the Hachem win last year.

SB/Button acts first preflop and last after the flop, in case we're keeping score.

chip count roughly 78 mil to 12 mil, blinds 200k/400k 50k ante - Paul's M is 17.

And we're ready for head's up action. Money is on the table and we're shuffled up n dealin at 6.30am EDT.

6 of the seven final tablers have been eliminated by Gold.

1st pot taken down by Gold on the flop. Wasicka was being weak post flop when there were more players left. Let's see if he plays the same while head's up.

Paul raises preflop, Gold folds.

Gold shows he has standards and folds.

Min raise by paul. Jamie calls. Flop bet by Paul on a js-9s-9h board. Jamie calls cleanly. Turn comes Ks. Jamie fires the turn. Paul calls quickly. River comes 6s, making the board four flushed. 2 million bet by Gold. Paul asks Jamie if he has it. Jamie says he cannot talk anymore and then Jamie tells him either he's got it or he doesn't have a spade. Paul shows A-7s and takes the pot. Wow!

Jamie bets into the river with the board 6-4-3-7-A. Jamie tells him "you go allin, I probably fold." Paul lays the hand down.

Jamie Gold is limping on the button quite often. Paul raises from the BB and auto-calls. Flop comes Qc-8h-5h. 1.5 million by Paul. Jamie moves all-in. Asks if Paul has a Queen, then a pair, then balls and says let's do it. Jamie says he has not a good hand but is gonna win. Call!

10-10 v Q9 of Gold.

Turn: Ad

two outs remaining for Paul, as he must draw a ten

River: is the 4 of clubs.

Jamie Gold is your 2006 world series of poker main event champion, taking down the 12 million dollar first prize and the bracelet.

Mike

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Live WSOP Main Event Coverage
Real Time WSOP Main Event

Jamie Gold should be banned from the world series of poker main event final table

Today is the day. The biggest prize in poker history will be paid out. $12 million dollars and one kickass bracelet goes to the winner. A player by the name of Jamie Gold sits in the lead. He’s played aggressive and given attitude to players at his tables, making sure they, everyone he encountered, knew his name.

Some time yesterday, ESPN broke a story regarding Mr. Jamie Gold, though I’d have sworn they were quoting someone as "out there" as John Rocker. No, he didn’t say anything racist, but he made a really stupid comment to the media. He tells ESPN “There might be a story,'' Gold said, "if I dump at the end because I don't want to be famous.”

In the interest of fairness and getting the proper contect of this quote, he goes on to say:

"I don't want to be famous,'' Gold said while sitting in the Bodog lounge before Day 6 of the event Monday. "I'm not sure if I want to win. And I'm in control of that.

"I just thought about what would happen if I won,'' Gold said. "Out of the goodness of their heart, a lot of people would feel like they needed to talk to me, they'd want to know what I was doing, cameras would follow me around. I don't want my life on display. I don't have anything to hide. I'm just not that person. I've always been behind other people. I like making other people famous. I'm not comfortable being in the spotlight. I like my private life.

"I also don't want to be responsible for being the ambassador of poker or anything like that. What Greg Raymer does is amazing. Good for him. I'm not looking to quit my job. I like the job I do. I don't need the money. I'm not doing this for the money. I love the competition.''

And they (The WSOP... ESPN) expect me to actually pay to watch the WSOP Final Table live with this hanging over our head?

In MY OPINION

The “right thing to do” would be to set another first. For the first time ever, a person got disqualified from the main event for placing their chips in their pocket while transferring tables, which is something I agree with, by the way. Chips must remain visible. They do provide trays in case anyone did not know. They also discourage cheating, or so we’d think.

Jamie Gold has implied, scratch that, he came out and said he may dump chips, because that allows him to remain in control. Is that not throwing a game? It sounds as if Jamie Gold is wanting to totally control his destiny. It sounds as if he’s wanting to more than that actually, he’s wanting to play God in this 2006 WSOP Main Event. I say banish the sorry SOB. Take his chips out of play from the opening moment. Remember, you cannot guarantee victory… you can guarantee defeat. Point shaving in college basketball is illegal. Chip dumping is virtually the same thing. Get him out of the WSOP Main Event.

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Nuff said,

Mike



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WSOP Final Table Chip Count, Studying

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WSOP Chip Count (in millions)

Courtesy of Cardplayer Magazine…
1. Jamie Gold - 25.65 - Seat 8
2. Allen Cunningham 17.77 - Seat 5
3. Richard Lee 11.82 - Seat 1
4. Eric Friberg 9.605 - Seat 2
5. Paul Wasicka 7.97 - Seat 3
6. Doug Kim 6.77 - Seat 7
7. Rhett Butler 4.815 - Seat 9
8. Michael Binger 3.14 - Seat 6
9. Dan Nassif 2.6 - Seat 4

Final table was formed when Fred Goldberg made a move from the cutoff position with Q3, only to run into Richard Lee’s KK in the SB. Goldberg is rewarded for his 10th place finish with $1,154,527. Wow.

David Einhorn, the player I mentioned yesterday who was donating all his winnings to charity, took down $659,730 finishing 18th place. He was eliminated by Jamie Gold. Blinds T30,000/T60,000 with a T10,000 ante.

David raised to T250,000 from the middle position with Kqoffsuit, and he’s four handed when the flop comes Qdh, Jd, 6c. David bets T1 million (about ½ pot), Jamie Gold raises to T3 million. David Einhorn reraise to allin. Gold calls and shows Q6 suited to David Einhorn’s KQ offsuit. Turn is the three of clubs and the river is the 8 of hearts. No help there as David Einhorn is eliminated in 18th place and Jamie Gold moves up to over 22 million in chips at this time.

It sounds as if Jamie Gold is playing very aggressive and correctly using his chip stack.


CheckRayz Update

Speaking of using one’s chip stack, way to go Bob in taking down the DonkFest, our CheckRayz money added rebuy at Noble Poker last night. If we take a quick look at the Leaderboard, we see that someone needs to be knocked off their high horse the top of the Leaderboard. That dude has an ego, from what I hear and can get real obnoxious from the lead.

The CheckRayz Clash of the Titans is booked. Well, the date is set. Next Tuesday at 10pm EDT, our first quarter champion Clayshooter, fresh off his return from Disney Land will take on our second quarter champion ReelCrazy. A fifty dollar credit is on the line, whether it’s for pokertracker or at the Beer Guy’s Five Star Deal Store. Lot’s of neat stuff at 5 star deal…Poker Chips, Casino Items, Poker Supplies, and Other items.

Do you Study?

Over the weekend, I finished David Sklansky’s NLHE book. Yea yea, I know… I started that thing like seemingly a million months ago, right? Sounds like I do not “study” often. Actually, to believe that, you not could be more incorrect. I am constantly studying to improve my game. I have the drive and the desire to improve constantly. Even if I “made it” and was playing the big circuits and the bigger cash games, I’d still continue to study as one cannot improve or evolve “enough” if they’re striving to be the best. I spend roughly 15 minutes to one hour reviewing my own hand history. Additionally, I spend another hour reviewing the hand history of other players. All of that is done, of course, after I spend an hour or so reading. My attention span is a bit different than most. I’m not disciplined enough with respect to said attention span to read a book several times over. Typically, I am good for a once over. Maybe… maybe I will be good for a second read, but there’s no guarantees. Consequently, I try to read the first time for mastery level. I’m not ever sure if I can pay attention the second time through, as I begin assuming I can complete David’s sentences and roll my eyes in the back of my head while reading the second time around. I’d do this with any book, not just David’s. For that reason, I crawl through at a pace that a snail would snicker over, uttering under his breath “and they think a snail’s pace is slow?”

Anyway, slowly but surely, I move on to Harrington on Hold’em vol III: The Workbook.
I suspect the way this book is written, in problem… question and answer format, keeping score as we go along, I will be able to read this book much quicker. Additionally, I’d be able to go back through and re-read it with no problems. Dan takes several hands, both live and online, and puts them out there offering play by play and awarding points for making decisions. I’m answering the questions as I would be inclined to play, given the online time restraints - not having much time, needing to instantaneously make decisions.

The next time around, I plan to think the answers over. I’ll keep everyone updated on my progress, which reminds me… my point. Ah, my point! Yes, in order to improve, one must study and practice. I spend 1-2 hours a day studying, because I believe that amount of time will get me where I wish to go. How much you study is entirely up to you. There’s no magic formula to this, but one will not improve/evolve in their understanding and mastery of the poker game without incorporating a study routine into their practice.

Off my soapbox. More tomorrow.

Be sure to stop by and check out the live wsop main event coverage here on the poker pub, brought to you by CheckRayz.

Mike