Reed Poker Room

Street Cred on Wall Street

2010-06-01T10:22:00.000-04:00

Read this on pokernews.com and thought it was worth reposting...

Street Cred

Generally speaking, getting a job on Wall Street isn't easy. It seems that poker players could have an edge when it comes to securing one of those lucrative positions. Wall Street firms are recruiting poker players because the skill set required to succeed at poker translates to the Financial District.

Apparently all you poker players out there have a "penchant for risk-taking and a dispassionate regard for large sums of money," and it's hard to find that in individuals who have never "put the money on the table at some point in your life." Danon Robinson, partner at Toro Trading has been quoted as saying that a "lack of interest in poker was “a red flag” and “almost the equivalent of not reading the Wall Street Journal.”

Mint.com has the whole story.

Bestselling Book Author Joe Navarro Releases "Louder Than Words"

2010-04-04T09:28:00.000-04:00

LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwire - March 18, 2010) - With a slew of best selling books in circulation, behavior expert Joe Navarro reveals the long-sought answer to why some people seem to own all the elements of success. His new book "Louder Than Words: Take Your Career from Average to Exceptional with the Hidden Power of Nonverbal Intelligence" teaches readers how to master nonverbal intelligence -- a field in which Navarro is an undisputed expert. The international bestselling author and behavior specialist also gives tips on how to interpret and use nonverbal signals or "tells." Whether looking for helpful tips at the poker table or the boardroom, "Louder Than Words" can help job seekers, business owners, and poker players to assess and influence others.

With decades of proven experience and practice in behavioral sciences, Navarro shows us how to use his simple yet powerful "comfort/discomfort" model to decode what's really being said at meetings, interviews, negotiations, presentations, business dinners, the poker table, and more -- including casual exchanges that often impact decisions and reputations. Navigate the business world and the poker felt by understanding what others are really thinking.

Chapters covered in "Louder Than Words" include "Influence at Your Fingertips," "The Foundation of Nonverbal Intelligence," "How the Body Talks," "The Power of Your Behavior and How You Look," and "Curbside Appeal."

This book can help you to close the deal, keep your customers and secure new ones, read an opponent's signals at the poker table, or just be a confident leader. The effects of Navarro's teachings have already been hailed by World Series of Poker Academy students and "Read'em And Reap" co-author and world renowned poker player Phil Hellmuth. "Louder Than Words" takes a fascinating look at the effects of one's own -- and others' -- established body language. After reading, you'll wonder how you ever missed the signals -- yours and others'.

A 25-year FBI counterintelligence special agent and supervisor trained in nonverbal communications, Navarro lectures internationally and is described by audiences as "dynamic," "superb," and "captivating." A consultant with Fortune 500 companies, he continues to work with the FBI, the U.S. State Department, and other members of the intelligence community. He continues to make media appearance on popular shows such as "Hardball with Chris Matthews," "The Today Show," the CBS "Early Show," CNN, and Fox News. Other books by Navarro include "What Everybody is Saying," "Advanced Interviewing Techniques," and a still relevant non-fiction read, "Hunting Terrorists: A Look at the Psychopathology of Terror."

For more on Joe Navarro, his best selling books, products, and testimonials, visit http://www.jnforensics.com/

March Results

2010-03-19T00:41:00.000-04:00

We had a good turn out for the March Event with 12 players and a few new faces. Mitch had lots of chips most of the night but managed to still finish 3rd after Chad played his short stack well and managed to take all of Mitch's chips with two double ups. Sean ran good tonight as well and kept a healthy stack most of the night as well. Kevin D had a good night but managed to bust out on the bubble, to be the March Bubble Boy. Heads up with Chad and Sean at approx even chip stacks. At least on three occasions they both go all in and turn over the same hand to only end up splitting the pot. After a big loss, Sean managed to get back chips to put them close to even. Sean moves all in after a raise, reraise with 8-8 and Chad calls with 4-4. Chad catches the 4 in the window leaving Sean very short. A few hands later Chad takes it down for the win. gg guys.

Champion - Chad
2nd - Sean
3rd - Mitch

As for the Player of the Year race both Sean and Chad are tied with 47 for 2nd while Trinity maintains a lead with 67.

See you guys next month.

UB: SNG Challeng Gets Wacked. Okay, Maybe Just Muffled.

2010-01-28T19:48:00.000-05:00

So it has been some time since I gave any updates on my UB Challenge. Well that is because there really hasn't been any action to speak of. On 1/17 I did play a six game session that did not go well and cost me about $10 which is okay considering $33 was at stack. My session of six tables was at the same time where as I usually only four table. When this session ended I decided it was best to quit for the day.

I resumed play the following day but this time on PStars. Bad results that we will not speak of.

I had renewed my Deuces Cracked subscription a couple of days before so I decided it best that I take a break and watch videos. Also I had started reading The Godfather of Poker which I highly recommend. It is a great and easy read. Doyle Brunson has some outrageous stories that are so wild and crazy, you could not make this stuff up.

I took a stab at Full Tilt's latest craze. Rush Poker. It is fun, fast and can be very tilting but also satisfying. Still though I feel as though my game is in a rut. Until 1/21 I am feeling good and confident in my game. This night is the January event of the RPL. I take it down with confidence. My game is back.

Thanks to Pokerstars and this blog I was able to be in their World Bloggers Championship of Online Poker which is a tournament for bloggers and runs multiple tournaments over multiple days. Since I was already on Stars, I decided to play some MTSNGs. While I managed to mincash (a ticket to a SCOOP event), I also managed to cash in two of four other tourneys for an ROI of 134%. The following day, while I did not cash in the WBCOOP#2, I did manage another two out of three cashes for an ROI of 166%.

Today after I played in the WBCOOP#3 and four other MTSNGs I thought I would go back to UB and pick up where I left off 12 days ago. I felt good about my MTSNGs so I thought what better place to start. How wrong could I have been... Nobody was playing. While I have been typing this post I have not seen a single 18, 27, 45 or 90 man even get players (other than 1 90 man that went from 8 to 10 registered players). So then I went back to the 9 man tables and they are slow to fill up. At this rate I don't know what to do. I may try to see if any fill up in the 9 man and go from there. Maybe 730pm is just too early for action on UB.

Forecast of reaching the $500 bankroll by Feb. 1. not so good. But I do feel that my break was needed and had I not taken the break it could have been more costly to my bankroll and goals. We will press forward and continue the goal into Feb.

February has a lot of poker action to come. RPL on Feb. 11th which will be interesting with a $20 buyin and a $20 single rebuy and $20 add on. Plus we have a crew going to Indiana's Horseshoe for some tournament action. We're hoping for a good month.

Days Remaining:....................... 4
Bankroll:................................ $302
Need:.................................... $198

RPL Event #1 Results

2010-01-23T10:39:00.004-05:00

January Event 1 brings a new year and a fresh start for all players. Event 1 was light on attendance but heavy on the action. We started with seven players (Sean, Vern, Kevin, Trinity, Dave, Andy and Aris) Shuffle Up and Deal...

Before the button makes a full revolution Dave and Andy face off in a pot. With a flop of T-T-Q, it checks around. When the Ace comes on the turn Dave gets it all in and Andy debates and calls with T-2 vs Dave's flopped boat with Q-Q. Andy is still left with approx 3k and sees a long road back as the short stack.

A couple of hands later, Vern raises a pot, Kevin pushes allin, Andy calls, and Vern folds (not 100% on the betting here). Andy is all in vs Kevin and both players turn over A-A. Split pot#1.

Andy still fighting the short stack, gets all in on a flop of Q-T-8. Dave calls with Q-J vs Andy's Q-T. Dave does not improve and Andy doubles up with two pair.

Kevin and Andy face off in a hand on a board of 6-7-9-K-5 all clubs. Kevin bets out and Andy folds. Kevin shows the 8 of clubs for the straight flush. Andy shows he folded the Jack of clubs.

There was a hand that Trinity took down on a board of A-7-A-7. It was highly debated what he had but Trinity would not tell promising to share it only here. Trinity reveals here that he folded 8-6.

Vern "The Snake" raises a pot preflop to only be called by Trinity in the SB. Trinity check called the flop causing Vern to check behind on the turn. Trinity checked the river on an 8 high board only to have Vern bet approx third pot. Trinity recalled Vern's previous action on the hand and called with only Ace high (AK) Vern surrendered his busted bluff attempt with Q-T.

With blinds at 600/1200, Dave bets out 3k UTG (w/ approx 4300 behind) action folds around to Kevin in the SB. Kevin thinks it over and decides to push allin with his remaining 7900 in chips. Action is on Trinity, who looks down at 7-7 and goes into the tank. Counts out the chips, thinks what Kevin probably has and what Dave might have... then calls the clock on himself. With about 20 seconds left, Trinity calls. Dave goes in with the rest of his chips. Two players are all in. Dave shows 5-5 (17%), Kevin shows AJs (41%) and Trinity shows 7-7 (42%). The board, 9-2-Q-K-8, does not improve anyone and two players, Dave (7th) and Kevin(6th), bust out at the hands of Trinity.

At the 500/1000 blind level, Sean on a short stack goes allin with his remaining 2300. Trinity in the BB comes along as does Andy. They check it to the river on a board of J-J-J-7-Q. Trinity bets 2k on the river, Andy reraises and Trinity calls. Both players show a Q for Jacks full of Queens. Sean could not believe it when he tabled his 7-7 for a turned worst hand Jacks full of sevens. Sean busts 5th. Split Pot #2

Andy bets out and Trinity calls to go heads up in a hand that produced a flop of 5-A-5. Andy bets out on the flop and Trinity pushes over the top with Andy calling. Trinity (A8) vs Andy (A6) the board improves both players when two more fives come to give both players quad fives with Ace kicker. Split #3.

Vern gets all in vs. Andy (who has made a nice come back from the short stack). Vern tables 4-4 and Andy shows A-Q. The board (T-5-3-8-A) improves Andy on the river to send Vern to the rail 4th.

We have reached the bubble with three players remaining (Trinity, Aris and Andy) Trinity has the chip lead with Andy 2nd stack and Aris on the short stack with approx 14k.

Andy pushes allin into Aris' short stack. Aris calls after seeing he had Q-Q vs Andy's 5-6 (oops!). Aris doubles up to 27.4k. This puts Aris and Andy close in chips.

Trinity and Andy go at each other when Trinity raises and Andy pushes all in. Knowing what Andy is capable of Trinity calls with A-4. Andy shows K-T, board comes J-7-9-8 leaving Trinity drawing very thin to Andy's straight.... The river brings a T to give both players a board straight. Split Pot #4.

Andy and Trinity do it again a few hands later. Trinity shows A6s vs Andy's J8s. This time Andy hits successfully on an 8-5-T-3-Q board. Andy doubles up. Trinity maintains chip lead but has been dented.

Aris pushes allin, Trinity folds, Andy ask for count but when its 16.9k he decides to fold.

Andy raises into Aris. Aris reraises allin and gets called by Andy. Andy A5s vs Aris AQo. The board comes 8-6-6-3-3. Split Pot #5

The wild boys, Aris and Andy, go heads up again when Aris on the short stack pushes for 17.5k. Andy calls. Aris shows KQs vs Andy's pocket pair 7-7. Aris pulls ahead on a flop of Q-6-T, the board just rubs in the double up for Aris when it comes the turn K and river K giving Aris a boat. Andy is left short stacked.

Shortly there after, Trinity raises and Andy pushes allin. Trinity insta-calls showing A-Q vs Andy's K-2. The board does not improve with J-3-7-J-9. Andy bust the bubble in 3rd.

We are now Heads Up! Blinds 1k/2k. Trinity and Aris face off. Heads up is uneventful until the last hand. Trinity continued to let Aris see flops cheap against his better judgment. The flop comes 7-5-T. Trinity bets out the same 3k into a 4k pot as he has been doing consistently. Aris raises to 6k . Trinity pushes over the top and Aris calls showing A-T for top pair vs Trinity's T-7 for top two pair. Aris cannot believe it. The board only improves Trinity to a boat with another T on the turn and meaningless deuce on the river. Aris bust 2nd.

Congratulation Trinity on the first win of 2010 and to Aris on a second place win. February is scheduled for the 11th. See you on the felt.

Poker Thursday Night

2010-01-16T13:12:00.005-05:00

Thursday night is Event #1 of 2010. Don't miss out as you have to play a minimum of four (4) events throughout the year to qualify for the Main Event in December-January. Also, rack up Player of the Year points by playing every month. Player of the Year wins a $150-$200 bonus at the end of the year.

RPL rules and information will be available to players that show up Thursday.Seats are limited to 20, so hurry and register!!! Bring a friend too as we need to grow some this year!!!

$45 buy-in w/ no rebuys or add-ons. 7pm start time. If you need directions contact Sean or Trinity.

UB: SNG Challenge Hits Upswing, While My Pstars Takes Downswing

2010-01-16T12:52:00.001-05:00

This week was a bit of a roller coaster. My play on the 10th was a bit of a downer with only two cashes out of eight games played. I seem to have rough weekends lately. But with the play starting on Monday I was able to find my zone and start getting positive results for the four days I played during the week. Thursday gave a big boost to the UB bankroll. Donna was gone and I was feeling good, so I loaded up 4 11$ STTs. I finished 1st in two for $45 each. And as a bonus I cleared part of my deposit bonus and got a little rakeback for an additional $10. I stopped play when D got home early from class rather than load up more.

Friday I was exhausted so no play but Saturday I decided to see what was going on at Pstars... BAD IDEA. I added a 90man to the 4table mix and played too tight I think. The seven STTs I played resulted in only one second place finish. I then donked off another 10.50 @ a HU table. While it sucks that I dropped approx 40$ on Stars BR, it's not part of the UB Challenge. This was just a bad run so I will move on.

UPDATE: So I guess it's my fault knowing it was Donk Day on Stars that it would probably be Donk day on UB as well... I dropped 55$ to find out that the fish were hitting everything (even though it might take floating to the river to get it they were committed with there flopped nothing and calling 3/4 to pot size bets. I have never seen so many fish be the CL... bygones.

Days Remaining:....................... 16
Bankroll:................................ ~~$368~~ $313
Need:.................................... ~~$132~~$187

2010-01-13T13:43:00.001-05:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: 460082

UB SNG Challenge to resume today

2010-01-10T12:36:00.000-05:00

After a few days off from online poker due to a busy week of video shoots etc. I plan to use today to get back on track and in the swing of things. I did manage only two SNGs on Saturday before our home game Main Event, but because Holdem Manager was not working properly I opted not to play any more until I could get that issue resolved. After my QQ was flushed on the river in the ME, I managed to get my HEM back online.
I will start the day as follows:

Days Remaining:....................... 22
Bankroll:................................ $293
Need:.................................... $207

2009 Main Event Results

2010-01-10T00:36:00.000-05:00

Game started with eight players and Andy is our dealer for the night. Derrick is in for free thanks to the freeroll Tournament of Champions. Everyone is hoping his hot streak from the TOC has come to an end.

Aris check raises Chris on a flop of As-4d-6d. Chris moves all in and Aris, known for busting early in the ME, calls. Chris shows A-4 for two pair and Aris is on a flush draw with Ad-Kd. The river brings the flush busting Chris in 8th place.

Sean and Mike got into a big pot where Sean bet 10k on the river and Mike pushes. Sean has to fold knowing he is beat. Mike shows his set of sevens.

Later Sean and Mike run at each other again for another big pot where it gets all in. Mike shows set of fives and Sean holds a set of sixes. This takes Sean off the short stack and back in the game.

Brian goes all in on a T-K-3-8 board. Derrick pauses for long time and calls with a set of eights vs Brian's KQ top pair. Brian is out 7th.

Vern and Mike face off on a three spade flop where Mike pushes on the river. Vern with the larger stack, calls showing the A8s nut flush. Mike mucks. Mike is out 6th.

500/1000 blinds. In the SB, Aris raises 6500. Trinity thinks about the hand and pushes over the top with QQ. Aris debates it and puts Trinity on QQ and calls with AKs. Aris has Trinity covered. The board comes 8d-6c-8h-2c-7c to give Aris a runner runner nut flush. Trinity bust out 5th. Aris is a significant chip leader.

And we are on the bubble with four players (Sean, Derrick, Aris and Vern)

Aris raises into Sean who reraises. Aris, who has Sean covered, pushes allin. Sean calls. Both players show AK (Sean is suited)... board does not improve the hands. Split pot.

Blinds 1200/2400
On a Qc-4c-8s-6s board Aris bets to put Vern allin. Vern ponders for some time and folds. Aris shows 2s-3s to this reporter.

Blinds 1500/3000
Sean raises and Derrick pushes allin. Sean calls showing J-J vs Derrick's 8-8. Sean gets a third J in the window (board Ks-As-Jh-4h-7c)to put Derick out in 4th.

We are now in the money.
Aris raises, Vern reraises allin causing Aris to fold. A few hands later with only 5min left in the blind level. Vern pushes allin for 29,500 on the button. Sean calls leaving him with 36,500 behind. Aris (Chip Leader) counts out the 29,500 and then ask how much Sean has behind. Aris just calls. Family pot. The flop comes 8h-Th-3d. Sean is first to act and pushes allin for 36,500 more. Aris shaking his head and talking about how sick this was... calls. Sean - Ah-Jh for (a flush draw), Aris - 4d-8d (second pair) and Vern - Ac-Kc (Ace high). Turn gives Sean the nut flush with the Kh and then a meaningless 7s on the river. Vern is out 3rd. Note: It was determined that Sean was favored 53% vs Aris' 46% to win that hand after the flop.

We are now Heads Up. Blinds 2k/4k. Sean is the new chip leader with approx 162k to Aris' approx 80k.

Flop comes 9c-Tc-8h. Sean moves all-in with A-A. Aris says what the heck let's do it and shows 7-5 for an open-ended straight draw. The Jh on the turn makes his straight and cracks Sean's Aces. Leaving Sean with approx 33k.

Sean moves all-in with 6-6 and is called by Aris' J-Q. Sean's hand holds up on a 2-9-2-A-T board, doubling him up to 66k.

Blinds 2500/5000. Sean is all-in. (not sure who moved in first) Aris Kd-Jd vs Sean Ad-5c.... board comes 5d-9d-7s-4d-2d. Making both players a flush but the river gave Sean the nut flush. Sean now has approx 122k and Aris approx 118k.

Aris moves all-in with A-8 Sean calls with Ah-6h and the board comes 6d-Ks-9s-2s-3c. And Sean's pairs his six, giving him the pot and the win!

Both players battled long and hard heads up with chips flying back and forth. But as they say... In the end, there can be only one. Congratulations to both players for a great game. And especially to Sean who not only won the Main Event but secured his first win in RPL history. Also we would like to thank Andy for coming in as the dealer which made playing much easier on our winner.

2009 Tournament of Champions Results

2010-01-09T17:28:00.002-05:00

The tourney starts out with five players. Mike,chris,trinity,Brian and Derrick. Thirty minutes in Trinity and Derrick face off and get Allin on a J-8-7 board. Derrick shows 9Ts for str8 vs Trinity's QQ. Trinity is out 5th.

A family pot preflop. Comes 9-2-3 all hearts. Brian pushes and Derrick calls with 22 vs Brian 6h8h. Derrick hits a 3 on the river for a boat. Brian left with 800 and in the SB 400/800.

Next hand both Brian and Derrick have K-Q. Brian manages to hit 4 to the flush to double up.

Later Mike puts Brian who is Short stacked all in. Mike's AQs hits a Q to put Brian out. We are now three handed.

Mike raises to 2300 and Chris RR allin for 3400. Mike calls with AQs vs Chris' ATs. The board comes J-2-3-K-A. Chris bust out 3rd. We are now HU.

Derrick and Mike face off for the free buyin to the Main Event. Blinds are 600/1200.

On a 9-6-K-J-5 board. Mike pushes allin and the CL Derrick calls. Mike says you win and mucks as Derrick shows K3.

Derrick wins the seat into the Main Event. gg.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

2009 Tournament of Champions & Main Event Qualifiers

2010-01-08T22:55:00.001-05:00

Just to remind everyone start times and such for tomorrow. All qualifiers for the Tournament of Champions, we will start at 4pm "sharp", so if you're going to be late let me know and we'll blind you in.

Main Event qualifiers will start at 5:30pm "sharp" as well. We will have pizzas delivered between 6:30pm-7pm. We should have a full table for the Main Event and 1st place will be $400 paying and payout will be 1st, 2nd and 3rd. If anyone else wants to come hangout, watch NFL playoffs, etc then you're more than welcome to come.

Remember Thursday, 1/21/10 at 7pm will be Event #1 "January Freezeout" that is open to all players. 20 seats available!!!

UB: SNG Challenge

2010-01-04T21:46:00.007-05:00

As I noted a few weeks ago I am starting 2010 with a personal goal/challenge to turn $100 on UB into $500 by the end of January. I started off strong in my early days of UB but then between 12/22 and 12/28 (only played 30 SNGs) I dropped down from $293 to as low as $234. I attribute this to variance but it still did not come easy. I took a slight break and ran reports on my play to see what I was doing wrong and managed to find a few leaks. Also I think I got a bit cocky on UB thinking I could not lose.

I started things back up on Jan 1 with $253 and have had four short sessions totaling 18 SNGs over 2 days with positive returns each session to manage to finish Sunday with $315. With the holidays and being sick I did not get in as much poker as I would have liked over New Years weekend but... oh well. I will probably not get too much play in this week either since I will be on location for a photo shoot in Chicago for three days and then the RPL Main Event on Sat. That will just make reaching the goal more of a challenge.

Days Remaining:....................... 28
Bankroll:................................ $315
Need:.................................... $185

Running Hot

2009-12-31T20:19:00.002-05:00

After running hot in cards in 2009, Trinity managed to finish the year by running hot one more time. Trinity participated in a nuclear hot wing eat-off on Daytime Tri-Cities. The challenge: to eat 20 Beef O'Brady's Nuclear hot wings in less than 20 minutes. "I feel pretty confident that I can do this in under 10 minutes," Trinity said when ask prior to the beginning of the challenge how he thought he would do. Friends and co-workers were all in agreement that Trinity would go untouched in this challenge.

The Results: Trinity (1st on left) finished in 6min, Mike 7min (2nd from right), Kevin 7min45sec (1st from right)...

To quote Andrew T (2nd from left) from Beef O'Brady's "Impressive".

Trinity hopes to continue his hot streak with a win in the 2009 RPL Main Event on January 9th. Trinity was also the 2009 Player of the Year and is going into the Main Event as the defending champion.

Phil Ivey's Marriage gets Flushed on the River

2009-12-29T15:41:00.001-05:00

Phil Ivey, one of the most dominant professional poker players in the world -- isn't suited for marriage ... dude was just granted a from his wife Luciaetta. full story

2009 Reed Poker League Tourney of Champions and Main Event

2009-12-28T16:12:00.011-05:00

First of all, thanks to everyone for playing again in 2009. We have had 70+ different players play in our game over the 3+ years. Our numbers fell off somewhat this year, but that's expected the economy and "real life" has been over the past 12 months. Hopefully, we can get back to two tables in 2010. Before we can get into 2010 we have the 2009 Tournament of Champions and Main Event to play. Both will be played on Saturday, 1/9/10 with the TOC at 4:00pm and Main Event at 5:30pm.

The TOC is a winner-take-all freeroll for a $75 seat into the Main Event. The Main Event is obviously a $75 buy-in deep stack finale with added money to winner, trophies, non-playing final table dealer (hopefully), etc.

Looking towards 2010, the first tournament will be played on Thursday, 1/21/09 at 7pm. If anyone has any suggestions for changes in 2010 please let me know. I think the $10 rebuy was a success, so I see another one of those. Let us know! Thanks!

Tournament of Champions Qualifers 4PM 01/09/10
Shorty - confirmed
Brian R - confirmed
Mike K - not coming
Derrick N - confirmed
Adam B - maybe
Chris S - confirmed
Daniel
Trinity L - confirmed

Main Event Qualifers 5:30PM 01/09/10
Sean - confirmed
Trinity - confirmed
Vern - confirmed
Adam B - maybe/maybe not
Kevin D - not coming
Mike K - not coming
Brian R. - confirmed
Derrick - confirmed
Aris - confirmed
Chris S. - confirmed
Bean - not coming
Shorty - confirmed

Hot Turns to Cold, at Least For Today

2009-12-22T21:46:00.002-05:00

I played nine SNGs tonight and managed to mincash once, bubble once and the other eight times were not good. I probably should not have been playing tonight. It didn't exactly feel right before I started but I pressed on anyway (especially since D was not home). I managed to drop 8 buyins for the evening. I attribute this to my mood and of course variance. I like to think this is my hot streak with a minor correction. I decided to stop while it was going downhill and not donk off another 8-10 buyins. I am still up a significant amount but just wanted to move past the $300 mark as I work to reach $500 before the end of January.

My overall ROI for UB is 60.1% over 46 games with my bankroll at $252.

A Short Snow Session

2009-12-20T23:54:00.001-05:00

I got back from Pigeon Forge Sunday morning to find lots of snow and no cable or internet. Around 4PM I got both the cable and the internet back.

Around 10PM, I decided to play a quick session of four to six tables before going to bed after a full weekend. I managed to do well on two of the four for most of the session and then on one of them I got to around 10BB and ran AA into QJo, all in preflop... and of course he hits two jacks for the win and bust me eighth. oh well. Instead of opening another table I decided just to play my three remaining tables and call it a night. On the second table I managed to get in the money and run into a bad run of cards only to bust out third to a better pair. I'm gonna need more than that cash to keep climbing to break $500 in January for my UB bankroll. On the remaining two tables I am sitting comfortable on one and very bad on the other which was on the bubble. I finished the third table in first fairly easily especially HU. The last table was four handed for some time and the blinds were climbing. With the blinds at 150/300 I was down to just over 900 in chips and managed to stay alive and then take a calculated move and regain a comfortable stack. When I got HU I had a 5:1 chip lead and took it soon into the HU play.

My overall ROI for UB is 94.6% over 37 games with my bankroll at $292.

After Four Days of UB

2009-12-18T13:18:00.003-05:00

I made a $100 deposit on UB on Dec 13th. I have since played approx 33 nine man $5 SNGs and have turned a pretty profit ($160 profit) along with maintaining a beautiful ROI (88.4%). Here is my graph so far.

and here is my graph for SNGs between PStars (mostly $3 SNGs and UB $5 SNGs combined for approx 375 SNGs. While I was turning profit on Stars it was a serious grind as I would go up then would drop down some due to the usual variance. The players on Stars are just so many and seemingly much better than those on UB. (totals approx $250 profit and 45% ROI)

I contribute my steady climb to a number of things which include playing multiple tables at a time (4-6). Holdem Manager software to track my hands and those of my opponents and the book Sit'n Go Strategy .

I am going to probably take the weekend off since it is my anniversary and then hit the tables hard again next week. I would like to grow my UB bankroll to $500 by the end of January.

Setting Goals for 2010

2009-12-14T14:22:00.004-05:00

As we wind up down 2009, it's time to start thinking about 2010 and
set some goals.

My goals for 2010 as far as poker go are to blog more. I was way down
in 09 in keeping the blog updated. While we have added Facebook to the mix I think the updates to the blog have been way down. I would also like to find some interested in writing for the blog to help out as Sean and I are currently the only authors.

I would like to find additional home games to play in where the rake is not killing you. I have a few possible games so we will see.

As for online poker, I hope to build a nice bankroll and move up in buyins. Currently I am multitabling 4-6 tables at the $5 SNGs and turning a decent profit. I have after much debate joined UB and started playing there with rakeback. The players at UB are not as good in SNGs as those at Stars, at least from what I have seen so far.

I also plan to review more of my sessions using Holdem Manager to close up any of my leaks. I have been using HEM since September and the HUD has made multitabling much easier.

I plan to set monthly bankroll goals that will help grow the roll.
In the Reed Poker League I hope to continue to run hot for a third
year. I would like to have at least another three months of taking
first, win POY and start the year by winning the 2009 Main Event.
What are your poker goals for 2010?

Thursday Night Poker Extravaganza

2009-12-08T11:13:00.000-05:00

Thursday, Thursday, Thursday!!! 7pm, $10 rebuy to close out the year's regular tournaments!!! Bring ALOT of gamble with you!! Unlimited rebuys for 3 levels and one add-on at the end of the rebuy period! Depending on prize pool, you may win a seat into the Main Event (Regardless if you qualified or not). We have 9-10 committed right now...the more the merrier! Reserve your seat before they are gone (20max). Email Sean or Trinity to reserve a seat or with any questions.

Preview of Dec. 3 Committee Hearing

2009-12-03T11:10:00.001-05:00

Internet poker will be the topic Thursday on Capitol Hill as Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) leads a hearing of his two poker-related bills in the House Financial Services Committee of which he is chairman. (Full Story at PokerNews)

UIGEA Delayed

2009-11-26T11:58:00.000-05:00

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is expected to make a statement Friday that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner granted the Poker Players Alliance's petition to delay the compliance date for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

The Poker Players Alliance declined to comment on the possible delay until official word comes from Frank or the Treasury Department. Joe Brennan, chairman of the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association, confirmed that he did hear directly from one of the parties to the agreement that Geithner granted a six-month delay. The six months would be a compromise to the year requested... (read full story at Pokernews)

Six Kentucky Congressmen Support Pushing UIGEA Deadline Back One Year

2009-11-24T12:05:00.001-05:00

The Poker Players Alliance's petition to delay the fast-approaching compliance date for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act received a boost Monday when all six Kentucky congressmen submitted a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to support pushing the Dec. 1 deadline back a year. (full story)

Patrik Antonius and Isildur1 Play Largest-Ever Online Pot at $1.3 Million

2009-11-23T10:43:00.001-05:00

For the second time in less than five days, Patrik Antonius and "Isildur1" broke the record for the largest pot in online poker history. see full story at pokernews

TRIP REPORT @ TRI-STATE RACETRACK AND CASINO (CROSS LANES, WV)

2009-11-10T20:30:00.000-05:00

I made it to the casino about 5:30pm or so and was pleasantly surprised the place was all non-smoking. The poker room was huge. Only half was used this night. I was going to play $1-2 NL until the 7pm tournament started. I went ahead and registered for the tournament and bought $150 in chips for cash games.

Fairly uneventful first session of cash games (-$1.00) for alittle over an hour of play. No real exciting hands or players. Boring...

The tournament started at 7pm and was $65 buy-in + optional $10 add-on for dealers fee. I took the option and started with a $4k stack. The blinds were 20 minutes and it was about the equivalent to a turbo online tournament and the play equaled a $4.40 180-man on Stars. Terrible players!!! 124 players started and paid 12 places. I had a good first hour getting my stack to 7850 at break #1 with 87 people left. Hour #2 sucked for me as I never could get past the 12k chip mark, but I stayed out of big pots and made it to break #2 with 47 left. Hour #3 was my hour as I stacked up to almost 60k in a series of about 10-12 hands. I won 6 pots in a row with KK, QQ, flopped straight, flush, big bluff and set of J's. I was sitting with a top 5 stack and the field narrowed to 20 people at the end of hour #3. Only 8 more to go before the money and I am sitting about 5/20. I raise fold a couple of times early which hurt because the blinds were pretty high relative to the stacks. I look down a KK and raise UTG 3x the BB. I get min. raised by a guy in mid-late position I decide to just call and shove any no ace flop. Flop comes 734 rainbow and I shove my KK. The guy instacalls with Ac8c and has me covered. The turn is a club and the river is a club to give him runner-runner flush to bust me. No reason at all for him to call there except he was an idiot. Good game me in 17^th place only getting a $5 restaurant voucher which I gave away later.

I walked around for a bit to get over my bad beat in the tournament and then headed back to the cash games. Once again, I played $1-2 NL and bought in for $149.00. I sat at a full table with 9 players and the largest stack had about $500-600 in front of him. I never dipped below $100 the whole time and finally won a decent pot to get to $300+. There was only myself and 2 others whom I could tell were pretty good players. The others were terrible or wasted. I won another big pot when I had 1010 and the flop 1088 and a guy bet into me on every street and called my big river raise w/ AK. Finally, the lay down of the year for me…I had about $450+ stack at the time and I get 33 in the SB. Early position player raises to $12 and get 3 callers to me in the SB. I elect to squeeze here and make it $36 to play. Two others call me and we’re 3 handed to the flop. The flop is great coming 392 rainbow. I obviously check here to hopefully check raise someone. The next guy makes it $75 and other guy instantly shoves in $200-250. It was a Phil Hellmuth type shove where he knocked chips over and so on. I am sitting here with middle set and two guys putting money in the pot like crazy. I sit there annoyingly for about 3-5 minutes thinking through hand and somehow I decide to fold my set of 3’s. The first guy calls and they both showed there cards and it was AA and 99 with the set of 9’s winning the big pot. I think if this had happen a 100 times that I am folding hardly ever, but something told me I was beat and laid the hand down. After that lay down, I felt like Phil Ivey or Durrrr and was so confident in my game. I ended up quitting about 1:30am and cashed out $563 for $410 profit – tournament buy-in.

Overall, the poker room is nice, the action was good and I would and will go back soon.

-Sean

October Tournament Results

2009-10-24T10:58:00.003-04:00

October Event started with 12 players on two tables. Many regulars were missing due to schedule conflicts, but we had three to four new players to pick up the slack. When it got down to five players and everyone not wanting to bubble Mitch made a move against the massive chip leader, Daniel, only to end up the bubble boy. Now in the money Daniel held over half the chips in play with Brian, Sean and Trinity close in chip count. Trinity made two aggressive all in moves, one worked and the other was called by Daniel. Trinity bust 4th with JKs vs Daniel's 96o. Play continues until Brian's AQ is busted by Daniel. As Heads up begins Sean has approx 2-3 big blinds remaining. Sean goes on a tear and manages to continue to win races against the massive CL Daniel. Daniel finally busted Sean for the win. gg.

Trinity maintained the POY points lead, while Sean moved within range to make it interesting.

Look for emails as to when the November game will be scheduled as well as scheduling the makeup for the missed August game. See you on the felt.

Champion - Daniel
2nd - Sean
3rd - Brian
4th - Trinity

October Poker Tournament Scheduled for Oct 22nd

2009-10-08T20:19:00.004-04:00

It's been awhile since we played, so we wanted to let you know that we will be playing our October event on Thursday, October 22nd at 7pm. Please let Trinity or Sean know if you'll be attending.

With only two more months of play before the December Main Event you still have two chances to secure your seat in the Tournament of Champions Freeroll for a Main Event Seat... See you on the felt.

Training Sites, Mult-tabling and Grinding

2009-07-27T10:54:00.002-04:00

After getting frustrated with the direction my game has been going lately, I signed up for a membership at deucescracked.com. They are one of the only training sites that does not have a sign up fee and they have a seven day trial. I took full advantage of the trial and watched a number of videos, particularly a SNG series (Real Life Micro SNG Grinder) by Vandweller. Hearing Vandweller coach a player that I consider in the same situation as myself was very enlightening. I picked up so much good information that I was able to put to use rather quickly. It all seemed to just click. It helped me understand why I was unable to multitable with any real success. I was over thinking my hands in the early rounds. The most tables I have ever played was three and maybe four but I was only comfortable with two. After watching a few videos in the series I tried four then six. I have to say I can now comfortably six table. My ROI in the first six table session was 87.5% (not too shabby). While I have always been one to read the latest in poker lit, I have found the training site videos to be a useful tool in extended my poker knowledge. I am now also experimenting with Holdem Manager to see how this software can help me find and close leaks in my game. I have finally come to the conclusion that while I have been playing seriously for a long time I was really only a casual player online, NOW I am making the change to being a grinder. As a casual player I will never be profitable to the degree that I have money to spend. My goal is to be profitable and have money to spend. After I absorb all that I have learned fully, I plan to continue my use of DC and the great videos they offer.

Online Poker... Keep It Legal

2009-07-14T16:54:00.002-04:00

Let your Congress and Senate know where you stand.

Sign the Petition

Dear Members of the Congress and the Senate,

I want to register my strong disapproval and disagreement with the recently enacted bill concerning the prevention and/or regulation of Internet Poker/Gambling. The bill was initially introduced by Representative Bob Goodlatte in the House of Representatives and was attached to "must pass" legislation in the Senate by Senator Bill Frist.

I strongly believe that the government should not attempt to ban online poker by adults as poker is a game of skill and not of chance. I support the legalization, regulation and taxation of online poker by the government of the United States of America.

Sincerely,
The Undersigned

NC tribe votes to allow casino alcohol sales

2009-06-07T19:27:00.000-04:00

CHEROKEE, N.C. — Alcohol sales at a North Carolina mountain casino have been approved by members of the Cherokee Indian tribe as a way to boost profits used to run tribal government and pay its members.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians approved alcohol sales by 1,847 to 1,301 Thursday after nearly half the tribe's registered voters went to polls, The Asheville Citizen-Times reported Friday.
see full story

May Event Results in First Time Winner

2009-05-22T12:56:00.001-04:00

Our May Event started with 12 players on two table. On Table 2, Derrick was running good vs new player (and his friend), James. James ran into Derrick's big hands on multiple occasions. James was first to bust out in the second level.

Blinds 300/600
On Table 1, Brian is busted by Jason with only six-minutes left before the end of the rebuy period. With only ten players left, we break down a table to just one.

In the last hand of the rebuy period Jason and Sean get into a hand together. On a board of 8c-4d-9s-2s, Sean puts Jason all in. Jason debates on his ability to rebuy if he bust on that hand. When it was determined he could still rebuy, he called. Sean turns over J-T vs. Jason's J-A. The river brings Sean a Th for top pair. Jason double rebuys and double add-ons as everyone goes on break.

Blinds 400/800
Kevin and Derrick get into an all-in decision on a board of 4h-Ks-As-8h, where Kevin pushes all-in. Derrick thinks long and hard but folds. Kevin mucks his cards without showing.

Blinds 500/1k 100 Ante
Trinity and Jason themselves mixed up in a big hand when the board show Js-9d-4s-10c. Jason pushes all-in on an already decent sized pot. Trinity debates for a long time but since he could afford it (sorta), and Aris just knew he would fold. He called. Jason shows As-Ad vs Trinity's 7s-Ks. Now knowing it was only a 68/32 probably should have folded. The river brings a 6h and the aces hold up. Jason is now sitting on a big stack with approx 45k.

Three players see the flop of 5d-Tc-9d. Adam and Bean check. Derrick bets out for 7k, Adam calls and Bean folds. The turn makes the board 5d-Tc-9d-9h. Adam checks Derrick pushes all-in with Q-Q and Adam instacalls with Ah-9s for a set. the river brings a 4h.

Blinds 300/1200 Ante 100
Seven players limp in to see a flop of 8s-8d-6h. It checks around to Chris who makes it 7k to go. Aris raises all-in. Trinity in the small blind puts his remaining chips in. Chris calls the all-ins. Aris has both players covered. Aris turns over 8c-Th vs. Trinity's 8h-Js vs Chris' 6s7h. The turn and river change nothing. Trinity takes the main pot for approx 35k, Aris takes the side pot and bust Chris 10th.

Derrick pushes all-in for 6200 preflop and was only called by Trinity who felt good with his new found chips.Derrick shows A-J vs Trinity's K-Q. The board only improves Derrick's hand on a board of 7c-5d-Jc-4d-2d for a pair of Jacks and a double up.

Blinds 700/1400 Ante 200
Adam raises to 4k preflop. It folds around to Vern who pushes all-in for 21500. Adam calls with his Ad-Ah vs Vern's Qs-Qd. Vern figures he is busted but the flop brings him a free pass when the board comes 9h-8s-Qc-5c-4c. Vern doubles up with the set. In a discussion of the aces showing up alot this evening Bean mentions he had had them a few hands earlier but never had to show down.

Not long after Vern finds himself in another all-in situation with Bean. Bean pushes all-in and Vern with more chips, instantly calls. Bean shows the AA vs Vern's KK. The aces hold up on a Ts-5h-5c-Td-2h board. Vern is still alive.

Jason takes a big pot from Bean on a 6d-8h-Ac-7s-Ks board. Jason checked the turn and Bean led the betting until Jason came over the top all-in on the river and Bean folded. Jason mucked his cards.

Blinds 800/1600 Ante 200
Jason raised 4k preflop. Sean then came over the top, all-in for 20300 more. Jason folds.

Trinity, Aris and a few others see a flop of 7d-8d-4c. Trinity pushes 16600 all-in. Everyone folds around to Aris who calls without much debate. Trinity shows 8-Q vs Aris' 7-7 for a set. The board of 7d-8d-4c-Jc-Ac did not improve Trinity's hand and he is sent to the rail in 9th.

Kevin pushes 18100 all-in and when it gets around to Aris he shoves all-in over the top to isolate. It works. Kevin shows Jd-Qs vs Aris' Ad-Kd. While Aris is ahead, Kevin has two live cards. The board makes Kevin happy, when it comes 8h-9d-Qh-5s-6d for top pair. Kevin doubles up.

Blinds 1200/2400 Ante 200
Sean and Jason face off in a hand on a board of Qs-3d-Th-3c-3h. Sean shows A-A vs Jason's 9d-Qd. Sean's boat beats Jason's boat.

Adam pushes all-in and gets one caller in Bean. Adam shows a mere 9c-Jd vs Bean's 9h-Ac making Adam's nine all but dead. The dream board of 7s-4s-Td-6h-8c for Adam to make the straight to double up.

Vern pushes all-in preflop with 9-9. Derrick who has fewer chips calls the all-in with K-Q. The flop provides a K for Derrick allowing him to double up.

Adam pushes all in and Sean comes over the top to isolate. Sean and Adam get heads up for a board of Td-9c-Kc-2h-6s. Sean's K-Q is dominated by Adam's K-K for a set.

Jason raises 8k it folds around to Vern who pushes for an additional 8k on top. Jason calls with his Ad-8h vs Vern's 4h-Kc. The board of 8c-6s-7h-2s-6d giving Jason top-top. Vern bust 8th.

Blinds 1500/3000 Ante 400
Folds around to Bean who limps in on the button. Derrick folds the SB. Aris without looking (only Adam and the dealer noticed this) pushes all-in. Bean calls. Aris shows A-7 vs Bean's A-T. The board comes 4s-Ks-2d-Qh-Js giving Bean the Ace high straight and sending Aris to the rail in 7th.

Kevin pushes all-in and gets called by big stack, Jason. Kevin's Qc-Js is behind Jason's As-5s. The Ace high hand holds up on a board of 6s-Kh-7c-4c-2h. Kevin goes out 6th.

Blinds 3000/6000 Ante 500
Five players remain and the time is 12:45am. We are on the bubble with Jason, Derrick, Bean, Adam and Sean remaining.

Sean and Adam face off in a hand with a flop of T-J-Q. Adam may have ended up all-in here. Sean shows A-9 vs Adam's Q-8. Adam only improves when the board comes T-J-Q-6-Q.

Play is slow as no one wants to be the bubble boy. Few flops are even seen.

Blinds 4000/8000 Ante 500
Jason and Adam get micked up in a hand after the flop of 8d-Ac-9c. Adam shows J-A vs Jason's T-9. Jason does not improve when the turn/river of 3c-4c hits the board. Jason bubbles in 5th.

We are in the money... finally, with Derrick, Bean, Adam and Sean remaining.

Derrick pushes all in preflop with K-J. Adam calls with 8-8. The board shows 9-J-2-6-A. Derrick makes pair of Jacks. Both players are still have chips.

Derrick and Bean get into an all-in situation with Bean all-in. Bean shows Ac-5c vs Derrick's 5-5. After a board of 3-T-2-6-3. Derrick's pocket fives hold to send Bean to the rail. Derrick managed to bust both of the guest he brough this evening.

We are three handed and it's 1:10am. With Derrick, Adam and Sean remaining.

Sean and Adam get it all in. Sean shows As-9s vs Adam's 7d-7h. The board of 2-8-5-6-K helps no one and Adam bust Sean in 3rd.

We are now heads up with Derrick and Adam. With it after 1am, play is expected to be fast.

Adam pushes all-in in the SB on the button. Derrick calls with his Ah-4h vs Adam's 3s-8c. The board of 4-7-2-6-6 only improves Derrick to a pair of fours. The clock is stopped to check the chip count. Adam is left with approx 20k and Derrick sits on approx 260k.

On the next hand, Adam, in the BB, puts in his remaining 20k before the cards are dealt. Derrick looks at his cards and says I call. Adam shows T-K vs Derrick's pocket pair 6-6. The board of 3c-2d-2c-4c-7h changes nothing. Adam takes home second place and...

Who's the big winner!!!! Derrick wins.The win puts Derrick in the race for POY and a seat in the Tournament of Champions in December.

Derrick, who takes home his first win. Derrick has put his bubble boy curse behind him.

Champion - Derrick N

2nd- Adam B

3rd- Sean R

4th - Bean
5th - Jason H
6th - Kevin D
7th - Aris W
8th - Vern K
9th - Trinity L
10th -Chris S
11th - Brian R
12th - James

April Event Results (Part 2)

2009-05-18T11:02:00.004-04:00

continued... Read part 1 here

Blinds 700/1400

Aris and Trinity get into a hand together. Flop comes 9-8-T. Both players check. Turn brings a 3. Aris pushes All in. Trinity insta-called with his J-Q, flopped straight. Aris holds 9s-4s. River makes Aris’ two pair with a 4 but the flopped straight holds. Aris is out 6th.

Sean and short stacked Mike get in a hand when the flop shows J-4-5. Mike bets, Sean reraises and Mike pushes All-in and Sean calls and shows AA vs Mikes pocket TT. A nothing 6 comes on the turn and then Mike hits his two outer on the river when a ten hits. Aces cracked again.

Blinds 1k/2k 10:30pm

Tony pushes all-in. Sean has Tony covered and calls. Tony shows 66 for a pocket pair. Sean turns over AQ. The board brings 7-4-3-K-2. The sixes hold and Sean is short stacked after two bad beats.

Shortly after the previous hand, Sean pushes all-in for $6k holding K9. Trinity called with A8. Flop comes 3A8. Giving Trinity two pair and no improvements on the turn or river send Sean to the rail in 5th at 10:40pm

We are now four handed with Trinity, Mike, Tony and Shorty. It’s Bubble Time!

Tony and Shorty get mixed up in a hand where Shorty pushes all-in preflop and Tony calls. Shorty shows K9c. Tony shows A5c. The flop comes 2-9-5 giving both players a pair and Shorty the lead. Then the turn comes Ace. The river another Ace. Runner Runner giving Tony a boat to Shorty’s two pair. Shorty is our bubble boy busting 4th.

Now three handed and in the money (10:55pm) Trinity, Tony, Mike.

Trinity and Tony find themselves in a hand heads-up. Tony has Trinity out chipped. The flop comes 9-J-T. Both players check. The Turn brings the A. Both players check. The river brings an 8. Trinity pushes all-in. Tony calls thinking Trinity is trying to bluff him out of the hand. Trinity shows Q-K for the flopped nuts which only improved on other streets. Tony shows A-4 for a pair. Trinity doubles up and now Tony is the Shortstack.

Tony and Mike face off. Tony 5Js. Mike AKo. Board comes 9-T-J-K-9. Giving Mike two pair Kings and Nines over Tony’s two pair Jacks and Nines. Tony finishes third.

We are now Heads-up at 12:03am

At 12:20 Mike's AK vs Trinity’s 77. Mike flops a King to put both players about even in chips.

Not long after Mike pushes all-in with 2-2. Trinity calls with A-K. board comes 2-2-A-3-3. Leaving Trinity with about 27K.

12:30am
Next hand. Trinity all-in with K7 vs Mike’s Q-J. Board comes J-T-6-T-T. Mike wins the April Event and Trinity takes second.

See you at the tables.

New Poker Show Coming to NBC

2009-04-30T21:03:00.002-04:00

April Event Results (Part 1)

2009-04-19T00:23:00.001-04:00

Online pokerResources
Offered by PokerNews.com

The April Event had nine players for a full table. Brian R is in to defend his March win and a few players who missed March are back. (This will probably be the most comprehensive update thanks to some criticism of previous post j/k and my little black book...lol)

Play was tight and not note worthy until blinds got to 300/600 Trinity and Tony see the flop of , , X. Trinity is first to act but Tony says All In. Trinity contemplates and studies Tony and even shows the . Tony tells him he has Aces. Trinity claims to have the same and checks. Tony checks. Turn is . Trinity checks. Tony pushes AI (with Trinity covered). Trinity snap-calls. and shows for the straight to bust Tony's

Very next hand. Blinds 300/600. Vern pushes all in and gets two callers Mike and Shorty. Mike has everyone covered with two players AI. Vern shows , Mike shows . Vern shows . Board comes . Giving Shorty the win with a triple up. Sending Vern home 9th and leaving Mike with about 3100 in chips.

Shortly after Mike who is short stacked pushes All In and gets called by Aris. Mike with vs. Aris with board flops Aris a set and Mike takes runner, runner for a heart flush on the river. Allowing Mike to double up.

Blinds are up to 400/800. Aris pushes All In with Sean with calls after deliberation. Board comes . Aris doubles up.

With blinds still 400/800. Mike, Shorty and Aris got involved in a hand that could lead to a bust or two, depending on the result. Mike bet, Shorty looked at Mike's short stack and said he puts Mike all in (forgetting that Aris is still in the hand) Aris comes over the top of both players by going all in. Mike, on the short stack calls with his favorite hand . Shorty folds. Aris shows . Board comes . Mike triples up with a set that improved to the unnecessary flush, leaving Aris with about 9k in chips.

Soon thereafter with blinds at 500/1000, it folds around to Shorty and Aris in the blinds. Aris pushes all in and Shorty who thinks Aris is on tilt thinks about it but folds. Aris shows

Derrick pushes all in and gets two callers, Aris and Sean. The two check it down. Aris wins with on a board. Sean and Derrick muck it. Derrick bust 8th.

At 9:37pm with blinds at 700/1400 Aris and Sean tangle when Aris raises to 4k. Sean reraises to 10k. Aris goes all in with Sean insta-calling. Sean shows vs. Aris' . Aris has Sean out chipped by only 600 for a pot of over 38k. on a board of . Sean's aces hold and Aris is all but gone with 600 in chips.

Aris who is UTG the very next hand puts his 600 in, in the dark with blinds still at 700/1400. It folds around to Mike in the small blind who pushes all in to isolate. Shorty folds his 1400 big blind. Mike shows vs. Aris' . With a flop that all but seals the deal, Aris hits his runner, runner for a straight. Board is . Aris triples up to 1800 in chips.

That was the beginning of Aris' rush of hands... with blinds at 700/1400 Aris is in the BB and puts his 1800 in, in the dark. Brian, UTG+1, pushes allin for 5900. Everyone else folds. Pot was 4300. Aris shows vs Brian's . On a board of , Aris' kings hold.

The very next hand at 9:45pm, Aris and Brian face off again. Brian's vs. Aris' . Flop comes the nuts for Aris with the the turn and river did not improve Brian's hand. Brian bust out 7th and Aris now up to 8200 in chips.

Online pokerResources
Offered by PokerNews.com

More to come... but I wanted to get this much out there...leaving for NYC @ 6AM

See Gus Play...

2009-04-09T16:38:00.003-04:00

When you just cannot get enough poker on TV... Check out GusHansenTV.com. It is easy to get absorbed into it. It's quite entertaining.

Cornbread_TN makes HOTWon Ante Up Magazine Podcast

2009-04-02T13:44:00.002-04:00

LISTEN TO HAND OF THE WEEK

Here is the hand history for Hand of the Week as sent to Ante Up Magazine so you can follow along.

The first hand of the AIPS PLO satellite.

PokerStars Game #25357050925: Tournament #136757771, Freeroll Omaha Pot Limit - Level I (20/40) - 2009/02/25 21:00:00 ET

Table '136757771 5' 9-max Seat #1 is the button

Seat 1: contra42 (1500 in chips)

Seat 2: CdnMedium (1500 in chips)

Seat 3: heffmike (1500 in chips)

Seat 4: enyguitar360 (1500 in chips)

Seat 5: Beaker D (1500 in chips)

Seat 6: cornbread_TN (1500 in chips)

Seat 7: AngelEyesGBU (1500 in chips) is sitting out

Seat 8: ownthedream (1500 in chips)

Seat 9: jwthoma (1500 in chips)

CdnMedium: posts small blind 20

heffmike: posts big blind 40

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to cornbread_TN [Qh 9c Jd 9s]

enyguitar360: folds

Beaker D: folds

CdnMedium said, "oh god"

enyguitar360 said, "lol"

cornbread_TN: raises 40 to 80

AngelEyesGBU: folds

ownthedream: folds

jwthoma: folds

contra42: folds

CdnMedium: calls 60

heffmike: calls 40

*** FLOP *** [Jc 9d Th]

(I’m feeling good about this flop, but I know someone probably already has the str8. I figure I have outs to tie and outs to win)

enyguitar360 said, "apparently they only play nlhe in brazil"

CdnMedium: checks

heffmike: bets 160

CdnMedium said, "lol no idea what i'm doing"

cornbread_TN: calls 160

CdnMedium: folds

*** TURN *** [Jc 9d Th] [3d]

(Now I still feel the same about my outs so I have no problem continuing… it is a freeroll after all go big or go home, I still put him on KQxx)

heffmike: bets 475

cornbread_TN: calls 475

*** RIVER *** [Jc 9d Th 3d] [Tc]

(Easy decision…doubt he has TT)

heffmike: checks

cornbread_TN: bets 785 and is all-in

heffmike: calls 785 and is all-in

heffmike said, "freeroll"

AngelEyesGBU has returned

*** SHOW DOWN ***

cornbread_TN: shows [Qh 9c Jd 9s] (a full house, Nines full of Tens)

heffmike: shows [Ks Qc 4h 8s] (a straight, Nine to King)

cornbread_TN collected 3080 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot 3080 | Rake 0

Board [Jc 9d Th 3d Tc]

Seat 1: contra42 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 2: CdnMedium (small blind) folded on the Flop

Seat 3: heffmike (big blind) showed [Ks Qc 4h 8s] and lost with a straight, Nine to King

Seat 4: enyguitar360 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 5: Beaker D folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 6: cornbread_TN showed [Qh 9c Jd 9s] and won (3080) with a full house, Nines full of Tens

Seat 7: AngelEyesGBU folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 8: ownthedream folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 9: jwthoma folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Florida Considers Legalizing No-Limit Poker as Part of Gaming Expansion

2009-04-01T02:32:00.003-04:00

As reported by PokerNews
If a new proposal in the Florida Senate prevails, true no-limit poker will soon be available at Seminole Tribe resorts and parimutuel outlets across the state. Last week, the Senate unveiled a sweeping new plan to liberalize gaming laws statewide, with the aim of raising revenue and transforming the Sunshine State into a major gaming destination.

At present, Florida law restricts no-limit poker players to a maximum buy-in of $100. That law is anathema to many players, who have complained that it blunts skill and actually promotes more gambling, since players who can never lose too much on any given hand are more likely to risk all their chips in marginal situations. Pro player and Florida native Vanessa Rousso argued that skilled players "don't have enough chips in front of them to play out the bets and raises that are required in the skillful aspect of the game." (read more)

Cherokee NC Gets PokerTek Tables

2009-03-30T09:24:00.004-04:00

MATTHEWS, N.C., March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PokerTek, Inc., the industry pioneer and worldwide leader in automated poker tables and related software, is pleased to announce that they have installed five PokerPro tables at Harrah's Cherokee Casino & Hotel in Cherokee, North Carolina. The new poker room opened Friday March 6 at 4:00 pm. This is the first time that Harrah's Cherokee has offered live automated poker at the property.

"Installing PokerPro at Harrah's Cherokee is a great thing for the poker players of the South," said Chris Halligan, PokerTek's CEO. "This will be the only live automated Texas Hold'em offered within almost 350 miles, and we're confident that players in the region will appreciate the benefits of automated poker. At last, the good people of Asheville, Charlotte, Atlanta and Knoxville have a room they can call their own."

"The games are very popular in other markets, and we're confident our customers will be pleased also," said Ron Hager, Director of Table Games for Harrah's Cherokee Casino. "Players will find Texas Hold'em, Seven Card Stud and Omaha cash games and tournaments, with a wide variety of limits and buy-ins."

The Poker Room at Harrah's Cherokee expects to offer $1/2 No-Limit, $2/5 No-Limit and $3/6 Limit Cash games. For tournament players, $115 sit-n-go's and a variety of multi-table tournaments are coming soon, pending regulatory approval. For more information about the Harrah's Cherokee poker room and their specific game offerings, please visit their website: www.harrahscherokee.com.

PokerPro tables are cutting-edge electronic gaming devices that simulate live poker and allow players to play against one another. Players can privately view their hole cards and place bets using their individual screens. The community cards, pot and player table stakes are all displayed on a large center monitor for all players to see.

Harrah's Cherokee Casino & Hotel is located in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains and is owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The expansive property boasts a 15-story hotel and conference center, along with a multitude of restaurants and cafes. The casino offers a variety of gaming options, including the popular lock-n-roll games, raffle reels, video poker, digital blackjack and mini baccarita.

April Event Moved from 9th to 16th

2009-03-30T09:19:00.004-04:00

Due to some scheduling conflicts the April Event has been rescheduled for April 16th. Reserve your seat as soon as possible to guarantee your spot. See you at the tables.

March Event Results

2009-03-13T15:00:00.001-04:00

We have a couple of first in the March Event. Trinity and Sean went out early, but still after Adam. Derrick cashed (no bubble this time). And a first time winner, Brian took down the top spot when he busted Derrick. Kevin D, who started out the night putting Sean on the short stack when they both flopped a set of Jacks, finished third. Kevin, Brian and Derrick maintained good stacks for much of the evening...

It may not be the way it happened but it's the way I remember it.

cheers. see ya in April.

Champion - Brian R.
2nd - Derrick
3rd - Kevin D

High Stakes Poker Season 5 Debuts Sunday Night

2009-03-01T08:45:00.000-05:00

Original Posting on PocketFives.com
While you're hitting up the Sunday majors this weekend, make sure to turn on your television for the debut of the fifth season of "High Stakes Poker." The popular ring-game series is back after an extended hiatus, with A.J. Benza and Gabe Kaplan set to provide commentary once again. Also returning to action are several well-known poker pros, including Doyle Brunson, Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Negreanu, Eli Elezra, and Phil Laak. This season, according to reports, features some of the best poker played thus far. Let's take a look at what you can expect when the show airs on Sunday, March 1st, at 9:00pm ET on GSN. read more

February Event Results (Finally)

2009-02-25T17:03:00.000-05:00

We had a great crowd for the February Rebuy Event. We were getting so many reservations I had to start a waiting list since our seat limit was close to being exceeded. We ended up with 18 players with many new faces. Play started tight and of course no one went out before the end of the rebuy period. Brian was the first to go at 8:48 when he was busted by Mike. Steven C. followed when he was busted by Steven W. Jason was sent to the rail by Shorty. Soon after Adam B. was driving home when Trinity’s QK busted his A6 All in move. Andrew was busted by Chris S. Kevin’s AA was busted by Tony’s QQ on the turn. Vern was out the door thanks to Sean. Steven W. was busted by Tony who was on a heater.

That bust brought us to a single table with nine players remaining. Brett was busted out by Jeff. Four minutes later Derrick was sent packing by Sean (no bubble this time). Trinity moved all in and was called by last month’s winner,, Shorty who was shorter stacked. Trinity’s AQ quickly overtook Shorty’s pocket eights. Chris S. who admitted he would be pushing soon was busted thanks to Aris. Tony who had had a huge CL early was busted by Sean. Play went almost an hour before another bust. But Sean got short stacked when Trinity’s 99 held vs his A8 push. Aris took out Sean shortly there after, giving Sean the title of bubble boy. Now in the money, play continued for 40 minutes with chips going back and forth between the four remaining players. Mike was busted by Aris. Three handed play lasted only eight minutes before Jeff was sent packing thanks to Trinity.

Now heads up Trinity and Aris prepare for battle. Aris has a decent chip lead when heads up began. The big hands of note were when both players limped into pot to see the flop. Trinity pushed all in on a 835 board with 86 and Aris insta-called with his 35. Trinity was able to catch a river 8 for a set to win a pot of just over 200k. The very next hand (I think), Trinity casually looks down at his hole cards and pushes all-in while stacking the winning from the previous pot. Aris calls quickly with J10 and sees it’s a coin toss situation against Trinity’s deuces. The deuces hold and Trinity takes the title and Aris takes second. gg.

Champion - Trinity

2nd- Aris

3rd- Jeff

4th - Mike

5th - Sean
6th - Tony
7th - Chris S
8th - Shorty
9th - Derrick
10th - Brett
11th - Steven W.
12th - Vern
13th - Kevin D.
14th - Andrew
15th - Adam
16th - Jason H.
17th - Steven C.
18th - Brian R.

Poker Face

2009-02-22T09:04:00.002-05:00

Reed Poker February Event #2 This Week

2009-02-16T10:56:00.005-05:00

I just wanted to remind everyone that we're playing at 7pm, Thursday 2/19. It's a $20 rebuy, so bring some monies. We currently have about 15 people who have verbally committed, so we have about 5-6 spots left. Let us know if your name isn't on the list and you plan on attending. Once the seats are filled, anyone else will be alternates for empty seats at game time.

~~UPDATE: All seats have been reserved. I have started a waiting list if seats open before game time. We will not be seating any players beyond 20.~~

7:30PM WED UPDATE: two seats available due to canceled reservation

Two Hands, One Target, Max Profit

2009-02-13T11:30:00.000-05:00

PokerStars Game #24846910020: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2009/02/12 0:48:02 ET

Table 'Alsatia IV' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: 8==========B ($25 in chips)
Seat 2: PeterNorth77 ($24.40 in chips)
Seat 3: cornbread_TN ($29.50 in chips)
Seat 4: knakeddefguy ($20.25 in chips)
Seat 5: virtua_fish ($25 in chips)
Seat 6: BaRutal ($43.85 in chips)
Seat 7: Combsy53 ($29.80 in chips)
Seat 8: ollielead709 ($23.45 in chips)
Seat 9: rofflemayo ($25.10 in chips)
knakeddefguy: posts small blind $0.10
virtua_fish: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to cornbread_TN [As Ks]
BaRutal: calls $0.25
Combsy53: folds
ollielead709: folds
rofflemayo: calls $0.25
8==========B: folds
PeterNorth77: folds
cornbread_TN: raises $0.75 to $1
4x seems like a good place to start here esp on the button.
knakeddefguy: folds
virtua_fish: folds

BaRutal: calls $0.75

rofflemayo: calls $0.75

*** FLOP *** [Kc Kh Kd]

Well, I didn't see that coming. I figure I will not see any action here...

BaRutal: checks

rofflemayo: bets $2

oh look, a taker, I'll just give him all the rope he wants. Especially since he is first to act.

cornbread_TN: calls $2

BaRutal: folds

*** TURN *** [Kc Kh Kd] [3c]

rofflemayo: bets $3

seriously, I don't mind. I figure he must have a wired pair.

cornbread_TN: calls $3

*** RIVER *** [Kc Kh Kd 3c] [7c]

rofflemayo: bets $6

now I have to decide how much I can extract. I did not want to push all in fear of him folding feeling like I must have the case King. He only has $13.10 behind... I'll raise 1.5 his raise. I'd rather have $9 more vs no $$ more. Am I leaving him with $4 that I could probably get, who knows. He can have it.

cornbread_TN: raises $9 to $15

rofflemayo: calls $9

*** SHOW DOWN ***

cornbread_TN: shows [As Ks] (four of a kind, Kings)

rofflemayo: mucks hand

cornbread_TN collected $41.25 from pot

rofflemayo said, "LOL"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $43.35 | Rake $2.10
Board [Kc Kh Kd 3c 7c]
Seat 1: 8==========B folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: PeterNorth77 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 3: cornbread_TN (button) showed [As Ks] and won ($41.25) with four of a kind, Kings

Seat 4: knakeddefguy (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: virtua_fish (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: BaRutal folded on the Flop
Seat 7: Combsy53 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: ollielead709 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 9: rofflemayo mucked [8s 8c]

rofflemayo rebuys table max just before this next hand...
---------------------

PokerStars Game #24847056514: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2009/02/12 0:55:50 ET
Table 'Alsatia IV' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: 8==========B ($36.45 in chips)
Seat 2: PeterNorth77 ($22.90 in chips)
Seat 3: cornbread_TN ($48.75 in chips)
Seat 4: knakeddefguy ($20.50 in chips)
Seat 5: virtua_fish ($25 in chips)
Seat 6: BaRutal ($42.50 in chips)
Seat 7: Combsy53 ($29.55 in chips)
Seat 8: ollielead709 ($13.20 in chips)
Seat 9: rofflemayo ($25 in chips)
rofflemayo: posts small blind $0.10
8==========B: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to cornbread_TN [Qc Qs]

I am UTG+1. I decide to play hand aggressive. Also my plan was to call it a night when blinds came back around.

PeterNorth77: folds

cornbread_TN: raises $0.75 to $1

knakeddefguy: folds
virtua_fish: folds
BaRutal: folds
Combsy53: folds
ollielead709: folds

rofflemayo: raises $1.75 to $2.75

Based on his range I felt confident and the fact he wanted revenge from the previous pot. 2.3:1 PO

8==========B: folds

cornbread_TN: calls $1.75

*** FLOP *** [2c 2s 6c]

rofflemayo: bets $3

Preflop reraise, doubt he did that with a deuce so... Also he expects me to trap like I did previous hand if my hand was good.

cornbread_TN: raises $7 to $10

rofflemayo: calls $7

*** TURN *** [2c 2s 6c] [8c]

rofflemayo: bets $12.25 and is all-in

I really doubt he has a set here... plus I have over pair with a flush draw. Easy call based on past observations.

cornbread_TN: calls $12.25

*** RIVER *** [2c 2s 6c 8c] [Kc]

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Queens were enough but I'll take the flush.

rofflemayo: shows [Td Th] (two pair, Tens and Deuces)

cornbread_TN: shows [Qc Qs] (a flush, King high)

cornbread_TN collected $47.80 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $50.25 | Rake $2.45
Board [2c 2s 6c 8c Kc]
Seat 1: 8==========B (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: PeterNorth77 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: cornbread_TN showed [Qc Qs] and won ($47.80) with a flush, King high
Seat 4: knakeddefguy folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: virtua_fish folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: BaRutal folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Combsy53 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: ollielead709 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: rofflemayo (small blind) showed [Td Th] and lost with two pair, Tens and Deuces

Sigh...May Have Cost Me $34,000!

2009-02-05T11:57:00.003-05:00

I was deep in the largest field I have seen in Full Tilt's nightly $163 buy-in $65k gtd. First place was just above $34k and I was sitting in the top 10 w/ 33 left.

Here's the hand history:

Full Tilt Poker Game #10442598988: $65,000 Guarantee (78245429), Table 9 - 2000/4000 Ante 500 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:54:22 ET - 2009/02/05
Seat 1: montymole (93,680)
Seat 2: Trond Eidsvig (56,468)
Seat 3: jomama7769 (30,096)
Seat 5: itreeeee (86,785)
Seat 6: KJulius10 (104,083)
Seat 7: Steve Wong (109,936)
Seat 8: All In Reed (113,203)
Seat 9: boykee (304,259)
montymole antes 500
Trond Eidsvig antes 500
jomama7769 antes 500
itreeeee antes 500
KJulius10 antes 500
Steve Wong antes 500
All In Reed antes 500
boykee antes 500
Steve Wong posts the small blind of 2,000
All In Reed posts the big blind of 4,000
scarface0928 (Observer): GL KJ
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to All In Reed [Ks Kc]
boykee folds
KJulius10:
tymontymole has 15 seconds left to act
montymole folds
Trond Eidsvig folds
jomama7769 folds
itreeeee folds
KJulius10 calls 4,000
Steve Wong folds
All In Reed has 15 seconds left to act
All In Reed raises to 14,800
KJulius10 has 15 seconds left to act
KJulius10 raises to 32,777
All In Reed has 15 seconds left to act
All In Reed has requested TIME
All In Reed raises to 112,703, and is all in
KJulius10 calls 70,806, and is all in
All In Reed shows [Ks Kc]
KJulius10 shows [7s 7h]
Uncalled bet of 9,120 returned to All In Reed
*** FLOP *** [6h Ac 7c]
*** TURN *** [6h Ac 7c] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [6h Ac 7c 2d] [3h]
All In Reed shows a pair of Kings
KJulius10 shows three of a kind, Sevens
KJulius10 wins the pot (213,166) with three of a kind

I am still upset because I played so well throughout this tournament busting two Full Tilt Red Pros on the way. I was also seated several of the top ranked online players in the world. This KJulius10 guy's play was horrible starting by checking preflop on the button with 77, then calling my raises to get all-in with 77 when he had nearly 30 bb's. This pot put him 2nd in chips. By the way, he did go on to win the tournament.

Another Good Week...

2009-01-31T09:38:00.003-05:00

I had another decent week playing online. I finished 2nd in Full Tilt's $75 Big Daily Double Wednesday night for just shy of $2k. Friday night I finished 3rd in Cake Poker's $55 $10k gtd. tournament for ~$1,200.

Next couple of weeks are big with the FTOPS which Full Tilt's seasonal tournament series with big buy-ins and big prize pools.

Sean has a nice Sunday...

2009-01-19T10:33:00.002-05:00

Sunday night is typically a big poker night for me online. I will play about 6-15 tournaments. The fields and prize pools are usually larger on Sundays. Last night, I played 14 tournaments and cashed in 3 of them. I had a couple where I was 3 outed for big stacks that could've been interesting if I'd won the hands.

My big winner was 3rd place in Full Tilt's nightly $26 $28k gtd. it had ~1,200 people in it. I went into the final table 8/9 in chips and ended up finishing 3rd for $2,835.00. 1st place was about $6k and I had one the guys all-in with my A5 vs. his 95 and the board ended up giving us both a 5 high straight. If I had not chopped that pot then I would have had a great chance of winning the tournament. I also finished 13th in a Stars tournament. Overall winnings were just over $3k for last night.

Keep the heater going please...

RPL Event #1 (2009) Results

2009-01-16T13:39:00.004-05:00

Our first event of the had 11 players buy-in for a chance at taking home the cash. Play early was slow and fairly tight.

Results:
Vern made an untimely bluff that Derrick picked off with 2nd nut flush to send Vern home in 11th place.

Sean was pretty card dead most of the night and finally made a move in the hijack position w/ A6o and Shorty instacalled with AK. No three outer there and Sean finished 10th.

Moments later, hands folded around to Adam in the SB and he threw a raise in w/ AK. Derrick thought he was being bullied and shoved A10 to protect his BB and never improved to bust in 9th place.

Mike K. grind a medium to short stack for a while. I could not remember his bust hand, but he finished in 8th place.

New player Daniel also grinded for a while after losing a big pot early on. He played a good short stack game only to be outdrawn multiple times. He finished 7th.

Mitch, who's stack went up and down all night, finished 6th after failing to get back to even.

New player Jason J. nursed a less than 1 BB stack back to a playable stack, but ended up finishing 5th two shy from the money.

On the money bubble, Jeff raked in several pots throughout the night busted the bubble to finish 4th.

With money bubble busted, Adam, Trinity and Shorty all swapped chip around for a bit. Shorty held a nice chip lead. Adam moved in severals times and finally got bit to finish 3rd.

Trinity was behind in chips to Shorty when HU play started. Trinity played aggressive HU and got lead. However, Shorty got some hands and proceeded to get the lead back. The final hand, Shorty came over the top of Trinity's raise and pushed allin w/ Q10, Trinity insta-called with JJ. A Q came on the river and Shorty won the 1st event of 2009.

Sean may be getting his online groove back...

2009-01-16T13:25:00.003-05:00

After a few weeks of final table bubbles and disappointing results, I made 5 final tables this week and had winnings of ~$2,600 things may be looking up. In December, I had chip leads very deep in the FTP $65k and lost 3 hands where I was ahead pre-flop with 12 people left (1st place: $26k), FTP 50-50 same scenario (1st place: $10k) and FTP $32k (1st place: $7.5k). It was brutal and really will make you comtemplate your abilities and play.

Variance is very tough to handle while playing online MTT's at the volume I play per month (~200 MTT's/month) which low compared to the online pros. I am learning to deal with it and just trying to get my game better. I started using Poker Tracker 3 software and I am a member of www.PokerPwnage.com which is owned by an aquaintenace of mine. I also discuss strategies with some great online players on a regular basis.

I hope 2009 will bring many final tables and wins for myself and all RPL members.

Reed Poker January 2009 Event this week

2009-01-12T09:15:00.002-05:00

Don't forget that the January Event will be held this week at Sean's place. If you have not let us know you are coming please do so. While I'm sure we will have plenty of room, the Reed Poker League is growing and we can currently only hold 20 players. It also helps us plan for snacks and drinks. And as always its BYOB. We look forward to another great year as we start our third year of the RPL. Good luck and I'll see you at the tables.

Photos from the Main Event

2009-01-08T01:01:00.002-05:00

Instead of posting all the photos here, I decided just to link to the photo album from the Main Event. (unfortunately we did not break out the camera until we got to the money)

Main Event Photos

New Year New Winners Same RPL

2009-01-05T08:48:00.004-05:00

Now that the holidays are over, it is time to get the 2009 Reed Poker League started back. With the new year everyone starts from zero. It could be anyone's game this year. Will it be a repeat year or will it be a year of new champions? I cannot wait to find out. I want to thank everyone for making 2008 a great year for the RPL and I hope to see it continue in 2009. Good luck and I hope to see you at the tables.

I want to leave you with an image that you should keep burned into your cornea for the new year.

Adam and Trinity pose with their winnings after Trinity bust Adam in the 2008 Main Event.

If you forgot how 2007 went down...

2008-12-16T16:26:00.001-05:00

If you forgot how the Main Event went down last year (2007), You can read all about it here.

Reed Poker League Main Event Results

2008-12-14T08:20:00.003-05:00

Another great year finished with the RPL Main Event on Saturday night. With 11 players who all qualified by playing three or more events throughout the year. This year was a tournament of destinies (I will explain as they appear).

We started the at 5pm with 11 players on two tables with Sean and Trinity dealing. Trinity started out strong and aquired a decent chip lead early on. Play continued for an hour and ten minutes before the first bust out when Aris reraised Adam with a straight draw against Adams set. Adam improved to a boat and Aris was out first (destiny #1 - Aris was out first last year thanks to Adam). At seven Brad sent Shorty to the rail. About 30 min later Sean pushed with JJ and chip leader Trinity called with AQ and flopped the ace to put Sean out. Within five minutes, Trinity send Jeff home when they both flopped top pair but Trinity had the better kicker. Another hour before short stacked Vern busted when he did not believe Trinity was betting top pair. Just after nine, Adam and Brad got into a hand and Adam came out on top, leaving five players.

The bubble lasted about 30 minutes before destiny #2 would be fulfilled. Derrick had A7 and shoved preflop and Adam, who held AQ called. Derrick did not improve, sending him home on the bubble and fulfilling destiny #2 (Derrick has bubbled the most of any RPL player... sorry man)

Its 9:30 and we are in the money with four players left. Final four play consist of Trinity, Adam, Brian and Jason. After about 30 minutes. Two players saw the flop and Jason pushed over the top of Adam's raise, when he made top pair with a Jack on the flop. Adam who had a large stack was pretty much committed to the pot at this point. Adam thought about it and apologized if he won but he had to call with his King rag hand. The river gave Adam a King, Trinity's A7 would later bust Brian's AK suited when the flop comes 7 X X with two hearts. Brian pushes and Trinity calls suspecting the flush draw. Flush never comes and Brian is out third.

Heads up play would begin at 10pm with Trinity and Adam, brother-in-law vs brother-in-law. Trinity had Adam out chipped about 2 to 1. Adam started out strong by pushing all in almost every hand. Not being able to call Trinity would have to fold. This eventually gave Adam the chip lead. When they both got it all in the first time Trinity managed to survive when his AQ outlasted Adam's A3. This left Adam very short but he managed to work back up to over 100K by playing his aggressive style. Trinity threatened to call the floor on him when Adam continuously would go allin out of turn. (Since they are brother-in-laws they of course pick at each other). Thirty minutes after heads up began, it ended with the chips allin preflop. Trinity's AQ out did Adam's A6 suited. For first, Trinity took home the Main Event bracelet and $400(Destiny #3 - Player of the Year and four time regular season winner takes down Main Event)

Thanks goes out to Sean for making the RPL a well organized monthly tournament and taking care of all the money and prizes. Also thanks to Adam for hosting the Main Event.

gg

(Main Event photos will be posted within next day or two)

Champion - Trinity $400 (Player of the Year)

2nd - Adam - $280 (last year's Main Event champion)

3rd - Brian - $160

4th - Jason -$60

5th - Derrick

6th - Brad

7th - Vern

8th - Jeff

9th - Sean

10th - Shorty

11th - Aris

Tournament of Champions Winner

2008-12-13T16:54:00.000-05:00

With only four players in the tournament of champions, Adam, Trinity, Brad and Vern. The winner of the TOC gets a free buyin to the Main Event. Adam was the first one out thanks to Brad. Vern was the next to fall to Brad. And Trinity and Brad started HU. Early HU Trinity rivers a flush to double up but not much later Brad rivers a flush on Trinity after the chips got all in on the flop. Congrat Brad...

My First Royal Flush

2008-12-02T19:48:00.000-05:00

This hand was a turning point in the game. When Heads Up started, he had me by about a 6 to 1 chip count. I ended up winning the game. Three straight hands of AK after that didn't hurt either.

December Main Event and TOC

2008-11-26T15:29:00.008-05:00

It’s almost December which means it’s time for our 2nd Annual RPL Main Event! The date will be Saturday, December 13th. We are still finalizing the location at the moment. We’re working to find a place where noise and so on will not be a factor. I will email again with this information or if you have any suggestions let me know.

We will NOT be making up the missed August Event since Trinity has already locked up the Player of the Year award. Since we missed an event, I am lowering the qualifying number to 3 events played to be eligible for the Main Event.

Please let myself or Trinity know if you will be coming to Tournament of Champions and the Main Event, so we can make the proper arrangements.

Here’s a list of players who are eligible to play the Main Event:

Trinity - confirmed
Sean - confirmed
Derrick - confirmed
Brian - confirmed
Mitch
Chris Sloce - confirmed
Vern - confirmed
Jason H. - confirmed
Duffy
Donnie
Brad - confirmed
Aris - confirmed
Adam - confirmed
Anthony - not attending
Shorty - confirmed
Mark - not attending
Jeff - confirmed
Bo

Tournament of Champions Qualifiers:

Trinity - confirmed
Vern - confirmed
Brad - confirmed
Adam - confirmed
Rick
Chris Daniels - maybe
Andy

(The winner of the T.O.C. wins a seat in the Main Event regardless of number of events played.)

Main Event Saturday 12/13/08 Details:

Tournament of Champions:
Buy-in: Freeroll (See list above for eligibility)
Start Time: 3pm
Format: Freezeout w/ Turbo type structure

RPL Main Event:
Buy-in: $60.00 + $5.00 (Food/Drinks)
(See list above for eligibility)
Start Time: 5pm
Format: DeepStack Freezeout w/ 22 minute levels
$300 added to prize pool

60 Minutes Online Poker Segment to Air This Sunday

2008-11-26T15:27:00.002-05:00

According to the CBS News website, the long awaited
"60 Minutes" segment on online poker cheating will
air this Sunday, November 30th. An e-mail to the
"60 Minutes" subscriber base has also confirmed
this information.

The segment is titled "The Cheaters", and will
apparently be the lead segment for this Sunday's
program. The story is described as a "joint
investigation" between the Washington Post
and "60 Minutes". (full story)

November RPL Event Results

2008-11-15T09:48:00.003-05:00

The November RPL Live Event had a good crowd and a lot of new faces. We started the evening with 17 players and six hours later only one was left standing. When play got down to the bubble a deal was made to allow everyone to get $40 back and play out the rest as planned. The final five consisted of Rick, Wally, Donnie, Duffy and Trinity. Shortly after the deal was made, Rick busted out. Donnie was next to go when he called Trinity's allin with Trinity showing KK and Donnie 44. The flop came 4xK, giving both players a set. Play continued three handed for some time with chips moving around to each player. Wally was getting short but managed to double up when Trinity called his all in with sevens which never improved against Wally's pocket eights. Around 12:30 Wally and Duffy got allin. Duffy was way ahead with KK vs Wally's QJ(I think). Duffy flopped another King for a set sending Wally to the rail.

Heads up started with the blinds at 5K/10K and Duffy holding about a 3 to 1 chip lead. Trinity took an aggressive approach and managed to take over the chip lead. The chips got all in with Trinity's Kx vs Duffy's AQ. We thought the game was over when the board came J5K5 only a 10 to come on the river to give Duffy the straight (which no one noticed until Trinity pointed it out). This hand put both players at close to even. A few hands later Trinity pushed allin with A9suited and knowing he might be behind Duffy called with KQ and neither hand improved. Trinity took down the title for his fourth RPL title and extending his POY points lead even more.

Champion - Trinity
2nd - Duffy
3rd - Wally
4th - Donnie

Good game everyone. Hope to see you next month for the makeup for August and the Main Event (must have attended four RPL games to qualify). If your name is not on the list as qualified email Trinity or Sean. Hopefully we will have the list updated shortly. We will also note all those who are one game short of qualifying so that if you are one short you can attend the Dec 11th game to qualify for the Main Event on Sat Dec 13th.

See you at the tables.

UIGEA regulations pass

2008-11-15T09:46:00.000-05:00

Letter from PPA...

I have unfortunate news to report. Despite the efforts of the poker community, the opposition of the banks and the recent news exposing inappropriate influence by the White House, today the current administration finalized the UIGEA regulations to be made effective on January 19th the day before president-elect Obama officially takes office. A copy of the final UIGEA regulations and the PPA’s response can be found on our Web site.

I am sure that you share my outrage over this last-minute "midnight rulemaking," but I have not lost my drive to correct this injustice and I call on you to join me and the million strong PPA to help continue our fight. In fact, the Politico Newspaper reports on 11/12 that Congressional leaders are already plotting legislation for next year that will undermine the White House's "midnight" regulations. We must make sure that UIGEA is part of this regulation reversal.

There are 4 things you should do to respond to the government's actions:

1.   Call your Member of Congress and let him or her know how disappointed you are by the lame duck administration's implementation of UIGEA and subsequent erosion of your personal freedom.

2.   Send an email to the Obama Transition team and tell President-elect Obama that once in office he should immediately turn back the UIGEA and other "midnight rules" issued by President Bush.
3.   Help the PPA help you. Become a Premium Member of PPA if you are not already. For only $20 you help us be effective advocates for poker and your membership put us in a strong position to defend your rights. If you are already a Premium PPA member please consider making an additional contribution to our fight.

4.   Forward this to your friends and stay updated on the latest developments regarding the UIGEA regulations.

This is not the time to bow our heads in defeat; rather we must continue our efforts with renewed vigor. Thank you for your support and dedication to protecting the game we love.

Proud to play,
Alfonse D'Amato, Chairman
Poker Players Alliance

Shorty in the news again with his blue Sebring

2008-11-09T13:37:00.000-05:00

Found this article from the Sunday Johnson City Press about Shorty and his dad's electric car...

Pulling plug on gasoline: Kingsport father-son tandem go electric
KINGSPORT — Gasoline prices may be dropping, but that means nothing to someone who drives an electric car. That person would pay next to nothing anyway.
And that’s true even for an electric vehicle that is three decades old, like the “Lectric Leopard” driven by Jim Leatherwood of Kingsport. Jim and his son, James, both drive electric cars. Jim’s car was purchased in October 2007 and James bought his several years ago. (Read Full Article)

November Nine Blackout

2008-11-09T09:44:00.002-05:00

Today is the beginning of the final table of the WSOP and the November Nine. To avoid knowing anything about who wins or who is ahead, I am having to maintain a poker blackout from all poker news sites, blogs and poker sites. Since the purpose of delaying the final table was to build hype and allow us to see the final table "as it happens" somewhat delayed, I might as well get that benefit without it being spoiled. Is anyone else planning a blackout?

I also think that there was not enough hype built up about the November Nine. Does a one hour episode about nine players really do the justice deserved. You would think ESPN would show much more.

[UPDATE] I made it all the way to Tuesday afternoon before my blackout was for naught. While talking with a female co-worker, she said, "Oh yeah, I saw on Yahoo that xxxxxxxxx won $9 million dollars." My hands went to my head with a loud NOOoooooooo. And I let her know that she ruined my day... and now I know way too much information. I will try to watch the final table and pretend I don't know what I know. (luckily she did not give me a name but enough information that if I looked up the players again I would know the answer within a few seconds)

November RPL Event Scheduled for Nov. 13th

2008-11-05T15:57:00.000-05:00

The email has been sent out for our November event (not to be confused with the WSOP event also held in November). We will play on Thur Nov 13th. If you plan on playing please either respond to the sent emails or use the SIGN UP NOW option in the right hand column on this page. If you need directions note that in the email/sign up now option.

See you at the tables.

November RPL Event to be Announced

2008-11-03T15:57:00.000-05:00

We are working on scheduling the November game. An email will probably be sent out within the next 48 hours with the schedule. So stay tuned.

October Reed Poker League Results

2008-10-21T16:38:00.002-04:00

We played the October RPL game on the 16th with a good turnout of ten. We had two new faces in the mix. The evening was record breaking in that Derrick cashed for the first time in his RPL history. Congrats. Other winners were Trinity who finished 2nd and Ricky (new face) who finished 1st.

Champion - Ricky ($200)
2nd - Trinity ($140)
3rd - Derrick ($60)
4th - Jason
5th - Vern
6th - Sean
7th - Wally
8th - Shorty
9th - Adam
10th - Mitch

Trinity maintains the points lead for Player of the Year with Sean in second.

September Reed Poker Results

2008-09-19T00:24:00.000-04:00

Even after we missed a month of play, the crowd was low tonight. With it being a rebuy we built a decent prize pool with only eight players. The night finally ended with a split between Adam and Shorty. Both were very close in chips, once Shorty took Sean out in 3rd, but Adam was still the chip leader and now qualifies for the Tournament of Champions. Congrats to Adam on his first win of the year and his most humble win to date.

..::CHAMPION::..

Adam Bradley ($225)

2nd - Shorty ($225)
3rd - Sean ($80)
4th - Derrick
5th - Brian
6th - Vern
7th - Jason
8th - Trinity

Good game guys, hope to break you all next month.

Also as a side note... Congrats to Brian on his Reed Poker Open Online win on Wednesday in the H.O.R.S.E. tourney. While the points have not been updated, I think it is safe to say Brian is leading the RPO.

Congrats to Aris on His Big Win

2008-09-13T10:19:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to Aris on his big win at the Daniels Fall Big Game Event. I don't have any details on the game other than that. When I do I will post the details. Maybe I can get Aris to write it up and then post it.

September Reed Poker Event Scheduled

2008-09-13T10:11:00.003-04:00

Reed Poker League LIVE is back! We all missed not having a game in August but we are coming back. Due to work and schedule conflicts RPL had to take its first month off in two years. The missed August game will be made up before the December Main Event. Meanwhile, the September event has been scheduled for Thursday, September 18th @ 7PM. This will be a rebuy event with unlimited rebuys for the first three blind levels, with an add-on at the end of the third. Buy-in will be $20. Hope to see you at the tables. Please email us (use the link in the right column) if you plan to play so we plan accordingly.

Where have all the poker books gone?

2008-09-13T09:17:00.002-04:00

Donna and I enjoy hanging out at the bookstore, sipping coffee while reading books and magazines. I should also note that I am not a complete freeloader... I actually buy the books I find worth buying after reading a bit. Of course, I always make a B-line for the Poker section. (I know its not a freakin' library, but hey have you been to the library lately? Nothing but old books and homeless people trying to stay cool/warm)

This past weekend, my favorite section took another hit. The poker books are right between Chess and video game strategy guides in the "Games" section at Barnes & Noble. I have witnessed over the past couple of years (since the passing of UIEGA) the shrinkage of the poker book real estate. Back in the day, It took an entire section (5-6 shelves) plus at least two additional shelves in another section. Over time that section has slowly been reduced to approx. two shelves. WTF! And it looks like no new books are coming in either. I was actually shocked to see a single copy of Gus Hansen's new book and equally disappointed to find no new Harrington Cash Game books. Meanwhile it seems that the number of chess books and vg strategy guides have increased. And don't even think about going over to the magazine rack and flipping through a Card Player, BLUFF, All In or even Ante Up! Magazine... cause they ain't there like they used to be.

While I know it's easy (and usually cheaper) to order books online, I do like to actually flip through it myself to judge whether it is worth the money. And reviews can only tell me so much.

Has anyone else noticed this trend or is it just the three bookstores I visit?

August LIVE Event To Be Rescheduled

2008-08-06T11:44:00.002-04:00

Due to scheduling conflicts for most of August the Reed Poker LIVE Event has been postponed until a suitable date can be arranged. Once that date has been determined we will post it on the blog as well as send an email blast to those on the mailing list. I'm sure that if we are unable to fit it into the month of August we will make it up in September.

Sick Run Continues in July? Possibly...

2008-07-08T02:00:00.002-04:00

June: $20k + in online cashes w/ 15 FT's

July: $7k in cashes w/ 4 FT's

Sunday night, I FT'd both Big Daily Doubles again (3rd time) and finished 6th and 8th, but took $5.2k with all the bonuses. Here's a rundown of my cashes when I doubled FT'd. 1st) $10.2k, 2nd) $4.3k and 3rd) $5.2k. I LOVE these tournies...small fields with big potential results.

Wild and Crazy RPO #18

2008-06-25T23:55:00.003-04:00

Reed Poker Open #18 Results:

We had 10 players show up for the $3+1 rebuy event. Play was fast and loose with the prize pool building to $219.00. It paid 3 spots.

Champion:
airwave16 $109.50

2nd: Merchdawg $65.70
3rd: Chef106 $43.80
4th: Dumont81
5th: All in Reed
6th: rascony
7th: Zerkaboid
8th: Blazman
9th: car_guy_67
10th: OutlawJesco

Final Hand

Reed Poker Open #18 Rebuy Tonight

2008-06-25T10:08:00.001-04:00

Name: Reed Poker Open #18
Password: RPO18
Date: Wednesday, June 25th at 9pm EST
Game: NL Holdem
Buy-in: $3 +1 w/ rebuys
Where: FTP

Reed Takes Another Big One

2008-06-25T08:34:00.001-04:00

Reed Poker Live June Results

2008-06-20T09:43:00.003-04:00

Champion - Trinity "The Hitman"
2nd - Anthony
3rd - Duffy

Trinity won his third event of the season and second consecutive win. He continues to rein as the points leader, as well as the knockout king with 19 total (6 last night). Anthony who was short stack from early on put up a good fight and made it to HU. The two battled HU for almost two hours before the final hand... [more to come].

My vote for Player of the Game goes to Anthony who played a great short stack from early on and came very close to winning Heads Up. Good Game.

Reed Poker Open Event #17 Results

2008-06-18T23:04:00.004-04:00

Reed Poker Open Event #17, Double Stack made for a great game tonight. Congrats to dman1331 who came back from behind and took out the two (Outlaw and Carguy) that had been back and forth CL from at least the bubble.

Final Results
Champion - dman1331 - $45
2nd - OutlawJesco (co-host) - $27
3rd - car_guy_67 - $18
--------------------------
4th - merchdawg
5th - Detroit Grinder
6th - ChipsVillian
7th - All In Reed (co-host)
8th - sundog17
9th - madfox54

Join us next week same time.
Name: Reed Poker Open #18
Password: RPO18
Date: Wednesday, June 25th at 9pm EST
Game: NL Holdem
Buy-in: $3 +1 w/ rebuys

Reed's Great Sunday Run...

2008-06-16T08:45:00.004-04:00

I hadn't really played any poker in about 7-8 days. I was anxious to get back to the grind. I played Saturday night and laid an egg cashing in 0 of 9 MTT's played. Mostly to some bad beats, but that's part of it.

Sunday was a different story. After spending most of the day on the lake with Colby and friends (Lisa's still recovering from back surgery) for Father's Day, we headed home for dinner. I knew I was going to get to play the 7pm MTT's so the night started then. I played 11 MTT's last night and had a remarkable 5 cashes. Four of the five were final tables too. First, I FT'd the $20 rebuy on FTP. It was a 6-max tourney only having 6 people at the FT. I came in 4/6 in chips and after a few hands got 66. I call a small raise and flop a set. I check and the raiser bets, so I go all-in and he calls w/ suited rags for a flush draw. He hits and I finish 6th.

Next up was AP's $75k gtd. final table. First place paid $18,500 and I came into FT 6/9 in chips. The chip leader was a maniac and I had chipped up from him a couple of times. The short stack busts to the donkey chip leader's rags and we're down to 8 players. I get AQ in late position and there's a early raiser, the chip leader re-raises and I figure I am way ahead of him. I decide to go all-in and the chip leader instacalls me with 10-4off. Of course, he hits one his napkins and I am out to the donk. By this time, I am tilted some, but still in a couple of other mtt's.

I bust out of one and I am left short stacked in both of FTP's Big Daily Doubles ($75 buy-ins). If you recall I doubled final tabled these back in January for a $10k+ score. Well, I play a good short stack and eventually chip up to top 10 stack with about 15 to go in each of them. Play continues and in "A" I double up twice in a row to get a top 4 stack and cruise to the FT easily. I end up making the FT in "B" barely going into FT 8/9 in chips. A couple of players go bust in "B" and I end up moving up in the money before I shove in the BB to the CL and go bust for 7th place. I make some moves and end CL with 4 left in "A", but we played for a long time 4-handed and chips came and went. I finally trapped one of the other players with my straight and get a nice chip lead. Eventually, I get HU w/ a girl and she's been pretty loose aggressive not wanting to fold her hands. We play about 5 hands with nothing really happening. I get 6d8d and call her min. raise. The flop comes 97A with two diamonds. I bet out, she raises, then I call. I insta-shove after the turn diamond. She calls w/ KK and I take this tourney down.

The crazy thing is that 3 people made both final tables, so we split the double final table bonus. and one of the finished 2nd and 4th, so he got the best double finish bonus. Pretty sick!

Here's the final totals:

FTP $20r- 6th place for $444.00
AP $75k gtd.- 8th place for $1,950.00
FTP Big DDA- 1st place for $3,078.00
FTP Big DDB- 7th place for $425.00
Bonuses for Double FT- $900.00

Almost $7k in cashes...Happy Father's Day!!

Reed Poker Open #16 Tonite on FTP

2008-06-11T15:55:00.001-04:00

Join us on Full Tilt for tonights game. You will find us under the Tournaments / Private tab

Name: Reed Poker Open #16
Password: RPO16
Date: Wednesday, June 11th at 9pm EST
Game: HORSE
Buy-in: $5.50

What are the Odds

2008-06-04T22:38:00.004-04:00

Is was great to have merchdawg in the RPO but when the following hand happened I had to send him to the rail... barely

RPO 15 Results

2008-06-04T22:27:00.003-04:00

Congrats to cgcpointledge for winning the Reed Poker Open #15. car_guy_67 finished 2nd this week after winning last week. And OutlawJesco finished third after a bad attempt at a steal against cgcpointledge. Also cgcpointledge managed to take All in Reed out early on when All in Reed was short stacked and his preflop all in with pocket 77 ran into cgc's AK who then flopped two pair and ended with a boat.

Final Hand

Next weeks game info
Name: Reed Poker Open #16
Password: RPO16
Date: Wednesday, June 11th at 9pm EST
Game: HORSE
Buy-in: $5.50

RPO 14 Results

2008-05-28T23:27:00.003-04:00

With a table of nine in a $2 rebuy...
Final Hand

champion - car_guy_67 - $41
2nd - rascony - $24.60
3rd - madfox54 - $16.40

Thanks to all those that played. Hopefully we will have more next week when we play $5+.50 NL Holdem in the Reed Poker Open #15 (password RPO15). To receive email reminders just email OutlawJesco

I'm Feeling A Little Flushed

2008-05-28T19:56:00.002-04:00

Brian splits one at Caesars

2008-05-22T16:04:00.004-04:00

Brian got away for a few days this week. He and Kathy ended up at Caesars, IN. Tuesday night. Checked to see if any tournaments were going on. Every Tuesday night at midnight they have a nl holdem $65+15. So they got a room for $79 a night.

Started play with 1500 in chips and 50 people in the tourney. After the 3rd round a $5 addon for 1000 chips.

By the end of the 3rd round Brian was the short stack with 600 in chips,got the addon so started the 4th round with 1600 still the short stack.Slowly started to get some hands and by the time they were down to 3 tables Brian was the chip leader. took a big hit when he raised with KQo got 3 people to go allin so he called. Player to his left had pocket AA and won the hand. By the time they were down to 15 players he was again the CL.The final table played for about an hour and down to 4 players. Chip leader had 24k and Brian had 21k 3rd had 19k and 4th had18k.Play continued for another 15 mins no one got any where so they split the $2583 at 4:15 in the morning 600+ each.

Reed Poker Online Championship is Back!

2008-05-19T15:55:00.002-04:00

Starting Wednesday, 5/28 at 9pm on Full Tilt Poker we will resume our RPO Championships. I am inviting some other online players that do not normally play with us to play. Hopefully, the will add to our attendance.

The passwords will change...for example, if the event is named "Reed Poker Open #14" , then the password will be RPO14. And the will continue like that throughout the rest of the year.

Join us every Wednesday night from now til the end of the year!

May RPL Event Results

2008-05-16T16:54:00.004-04:00

After the date being moved and being played on a Wednesday instead of Thursday, we still had 9 players play Event #5. The event was a $20 rebuy event and the prize pool ballooned up due to the rebuys. All players made it thru the rebuy period.

About 2 hours into play, Duffy, Trinity and Adam got invlolved in a pot where Duffy was all-in. Adam and Trinity checked it down to the river where Trinity went all-in and Adam called quickly. Trinity shows the A-high flush to beat Adam's two pair and Duffy's mucked cards.To give Trinity a huge chip lead with approx. 1/3 of the chips in play.

Almost 2 hours later of 7 handed play, Chris S. KK held vs. Aris' 77.

It took 15 min. until Brad and Brian hooked up in a pot where Brian got Brad all-in and busted him in 6th place.

Five players left, Sean raised UTG w/ 77 and Derrick was in the BB. He decides to go all-in and Sean goes into the tank contemplating the call. He thinks he's ahead with his pair and calls to see Derrick's K10. The 7's hold and Derrick finishes in 5th place.

The money bubble arrives, Chris' stack was up and down all night but Trinity decided he needed more chips to his fortress and busted Chris in 4th place when Trinity's A5 held against Chris' QJ

Sean, Trinity and Brian all are close in chip count and in the money. play continues 3-handed until Brian gets Sean off a big pot when a possible flush and straight hit the board. A few hands later Sean's small pair go up against Trinity's 10-10 to send Sean to the rail.
When heads up began Trinity had a slight chip lead. Brian ask if he got the lead would Trinity be willing to make a deal so he could qualify for the TOC. Trinity was not willing to make a deal since he had made that mistake in the past.
The chip lead passed back and forth until a hand where the flop came 6-9-5. Trinity thought long and hard before deciding to push allin. Brian insta-called and shows 9-4(not 100% on the 4)... Trinity turns his cards over and thinking he had a 9 with a higher kicker only to realize he had merely a 7-8... and oh but wait he flopped the nuts. This left Brian with only about 26K with over 200k in play.
The next hand Trinity folded on the button knowing Brian would push with any two. The next hand had Brian (66) pushing and Trinity (A3) insta-calling. Brian's hand only improved to finish with a boat to double to about 52K.
The very next hand Trinity (A4s) pushes and Brian (33) calls and the pair holds. Brian is now back to just over 100K.
The very next and final hand, Trinity has AKs to Brian's KQo... Preflop Trinity puts Brian all in. Trinity flops an Ace to end the night with his second win of the year (January).

Trinity, who was the first to bust out and rebuy (5 hands into the evening), ended the night with five knockouts (hitman leader with 13 for the year) and first place. He also regained the points lead over Sean and became the first two time winner in 2008.

Wow, what a rush!

2008-05-05T12:57:00.004-04:00

I have had one heck of rush the last 5 days playing online.

2nd in $10 rebuy on FTP for $2400.00
1st in $9k gtd. on AP for $2700.00
2nd in $30 rebuy on AP for $2708.00
3rd in $20 rebuy on Stars for $2,633.00

I sure hope this continues...

Protect our Freedom...

2008-04-12T07:54:00.004-04:00

http://pokerplayersalliance.org/index.php

Do it!!!

April's Event Results

2008-04-11T09:42:00.004-04:00

Last night was our 4th event of the year and had 9 players. It had a $45 buy-in for $15,000 starting stacks, so there was plenty of room to play. Play was 9-handed for nearly 3 hours...

Trinity was the first person out when he and Chris D. got it all in on a low flop. T's AK could not catch up to Chris' JJ.
Derrick was next in line when he basically got priced into a pot where 3 players were all-in. Newcomer Mark got credit for the knockout.
Chris vs. Chris with Sloce holding A-X and Daniels holding 88. The 8's held sending Sloce to the rail.
Newcomer Mark evetually busted to past champion Brad as Mark was all-in in the dark.
Brad didn't last long though because Chris D. added to his stack by busting Brad.
Down to the bubble, Sean looks at JJ in the BB and Chris D. raises in the SB causing Sean to shove. Chris instacalls w/ QQ and Sean is the bubble boy.
Brian's stack was up and down all night until he got in Chris' crosshairs and busted in 3rd place.
Aris and Chris D. were heads up w/ Chris holding a nice chip lead. After a couple of hanbs, Aris shoves w/ KJs and Chris calls w/ A9off. A 9 on the river seals the victory for Chris D.

Sean takes over the RPL POY points lead w/ Trinity and Brad not far behind.

***Hand of the night***

Sean raises a couple of limpers since he held AA. Mark was the only caller. The flop came 55J rainbow. Sean bet and Mark called. Turn was an 8 and Mark decided to go all-in and Sean called holding A's and 5's. Mark turned over the "NUTS" w/ quad fives and Sean instantly mucked only to see a A hit the river for a sunken boat. Nice hand!

Payout:

3rd place: Brian $50

2nd place: Aris $100

Champion: Chris D. $200

Reed gets a nice score Sunday!

2008-04-07T13:38:00.006-04:00

I played some online tournaments late Saturday night cashing in 2 early tournaments. About 11pm, I wasn't tired at all so I bought in for $11 to play a 6-max tournament. There were 969 entrants. I got a great table draw with some really bad players. I doubled early when I shoved AA pre-flop and got called by 33. Then the journey began. I eventually busted all the original players at my first table to build a top 5 stack and I held a top 5 stack til the final table.

At the final table, I came in 3rd in chips and lost a big pot when my AQ was beat by A10 and got KK cracked by 1010. Once it was 5-handed everyone was asking to chop it for about $1,200 each. I said "no" because I felt I could win the whole thing. Play continued until 3-handed and I was the chip leader. They kept asking for a even chop and I told them I would take 1st place money and they could chop 2nd and 3rd. That pissed them off and they gunned for me. I trapped one of them with my straight and then I was heads-up w/ a 3:1 chip lead. My opponent had over $40k in PokerStars winnings, so I knew he could play and he was very aggressive. The 3rd hand I had 33 and he raised, I re-reaised, he shoved and I called. The 3's held and I won the whole thing!!!

Ship the $2,228.71 my way!!!

Fairwell to Matt...

2008-03-21T08:50:00.004-04:00

Matt played his last RPL event last night. He's moving back to New Jersey in April. I just wanted to say that it was nice meeting you over the last year or so. Good luck in life and at the poker tables. Maybe we can get a trip to Atlantic City and meet up again soon.

Keep in touch and we'll still play on FTP on Wednesday nights!

Sincerely,
Sean

March RPL Results...

2008-03-21T08:28:00.002-04:00

Last night was RPL #3 and it had a record turnout with 19 players making for a nice payout. Play went on for about 45 minutes until the first bust.

Last year's Main Event Champion, Adam was the first to go busto by Patrick.
Only minutes later, Patrick busted two more in the same hand by sending Chris S. and Brian to the rail. Patrick had a nice chip lead after 3 early knockouts.
Newcomer Bo was the next victim after Trinity busted him.
Play continued for a while til Donnie and Brad got busted by newcomer Andy.
The first knockout at table #2 was Matt who was busted by Elmer.
Elmer got moved to table #1 and didn't last too long after Trinity busted him.
At the final table bubble, Sean knocks out Duffy in a blind vs. blind matchup.
Patrick get his 4th victim when busts Jason.
Mitch lost his "tall" stack to Anthony in a huge 3-way pot.
Jeff hung on as long as he could, but Vern finished him off.
Mr. Unlucky, Derrick had his QQ cracked by Trinity's 88 to finish 7th. Brutal!
Anthony went from chip leader to bust when Andy takes out another person.
On the bubble, Sean luckily sends Patrick to the rail when he rivers a K to beat Patrick's A-high.
With 4 players in the money, Trinity gets crippled a hand before Vern busts him with 2 pair.
Only a couple of hands were played 3 handed when Sean's middle pair w/ A kicker ran into Andy's set of 4's. Sean finishes in 3rd for the 3rd time this year.

Vern and Andy played a few hands before the decided to chop the money and Andy gets the "victory" since he was chip leader at the time of the deal.

Top 4

Andy- Champion ($252.50)

Vern- 2nd ($252.50)

Sean ($120)

Trinity ($80)

Daniels Heads Up Tourney Continues

2008-03-13T20:03:00.003-04:00

Jeff lost in the first round in the Heads Up Tourney when he faced off with Chris Daniels. Sean moved forward after winning his round and will be playing his second round next week. Trinity beat Chris Sloce in the second round to advance to the final four and will probably play his third round match next week.

I thought about giving some hand results from my Heads Up against Chris S. but that might give away too much information. I will say Chris made some big laydowns that the average player could not have gotten away from.

RPO #10 - HORSE Results

2008-03-13T19:59:00.002-04:00

Wednesday nights RPO Event was the smallest number of players we have had all year, with only four players. This game also would decide who would take the RPO points lead.

Champion - Brian ($12)
2nd - Trinity ($7)
3rd - Jeff
4th - Sean

Tonights win gave Brian the points lead. Congrats.

RPO Event #9 Results

2008-03-05T22:20:00.006-05:00

With five players,tonights game was NL Hold'em.
And the winner is....

final hand can be seen here
Champion - Outlaw Jesco
2nd - Jzwired
3rd - Harley1998
4th - All in Reed
5th - Brian

"21" Coming to Theaters March 28th

2008-03-03T23:38:00.000-05:00

New Poker Song...RPL Theme?

2008-02-29T13:50:00.002-05:00

This song is hilarious and will remain in your head for weeks...

RPO #8 Results

2008-02-28T19:56:00.001-05:00

Rebuy Tournament this week with six players.

Champion: Jeff
2nd: Brian
3rd: Matt
4th: Trinity
5th: Jason
6th: Sean

Seat Opens Up in the Daniels Heads Up

2008-02-28T19:51:00.004-05:00

A seat has come available (Brian's Seat) for anyone interested in the Heads Up Tourney. Email Trinity or Sean if you are interested. (or click chat if Outlaw Jesco is Available). Buyin is $50. If you win your first round match you get $25 back. Payout continues with each round.

Congrats to Chris S., Sean and Trinity in winning their Round One to move on to Round Two.