Thursday, July 31, 2008

Tri-State, Bodog, Borgata, etc...

I liked Frank's coverage over at http://frankwolfe.net/riversedge/?p=110 on the Charleston Gazette article which spoke about the obvious public relations problem that Tri-State Racetrack has brought upon itself. The stalling and dragging of feet have the public and now the lawmakers questioning why the hell the approved table gaming in the first place for the Kanawha County, WV casino. The only positive note (though once again hints are dropped that there is no certainty) is that:

"Tri-State hopes Aug. 21 will be the kickoff date for poker. The track will run a charity tournament on Aug. 18 and 19, Lawrence said. Other table games should be ready by mid-September."

Frank, buddy... stop holding your breath! I hope they open the Poker Room by then too, but thus far Tri-State's been donkin' it up!

Next, I'll point you over to a recent article by IGGY: http://guinnessandpoker.blogspot.com/2008/07/bodog-in-trouble.html in which he discusses the "legal trouble" that Calvin Ayre (former/current) founder/owner of Bodog. The U.S. Department of Justice sunk its teeth in to the company's assets to the tune of $24 Million! The line that reads: "the court papers detail an elaborate international structure put together to allow Bodog to collect money and write checks to winning gamblers in the U.S." doesn't sound so good for Calvin. No one currently seems to be absolutely sure of Mr. Ayre's whereabouts, though he denies he is in hiding through postings to the web. I encourage you to visit Iggy's Blog for his full coverage and wander around and check out some of his other, excellent writing. Aside from that though, I wonder if my paltry sum out on Bodog is still safe. Oh what's the difference... lose it at the tables or having it seized by the friggin' DOJ! wtf...

And I got a great laugh out of this article http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hv6UShWgSXLt7AMSH5aFP9rd1prgD928G7T06 which tells the tale of Michael Wax who on Tuesday was told that "he stinks!" Okay, that was newsworthy in this case because Mr. Wax who tips the scales at 440 pounds happened to be playing poker at the Borgata in Atlantic City for going on 17 hours, when the rest of the table had had enough and complained to the casino staff that they couldn't take his odor anymore. When asked to leave because he smelled so badly he asked for a "free room" to go clean up. Uhmmmm, hmmm how 'bout no, you stinky bastard! Okay, the Borgata just declined the request. No Mr. Was would like an apology. I for one applaud LOUDLY for the Borgata in this instance. I've suffered through the stench of a few friggin' behemoths a time or two in a casino. There's just not enough alcohol to numb my senses, or Vick's to shove up my nose to cover the stench of some forms of humanity. Maybe he should stick to online play. "In cyberspace, no one can smell your funk!"

Oh well that's enough of my pseudo plagarism. There was another article I wanted to comment on but I've misplaced the link, and it's nearly time to head up to the Eagles for another drawing night. The weekend is nearly here!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

1-800-GAMBLER


An article appeared in today's Charleston Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.com/News/200807290142 under the title of W.VA gambling help line logs 7,000 calls. It was short and sweet and to the point, so take your time and go read it for yourself. Really, go ahead I'll wait...


I had some questions related to the subject of the article, but this required me to go do a little research for myself. Some facts about the 1-800-GAMBLER gambling help line and the costs associated with it have me scratching my head. Here are some of my observations. Oh but first just a pet peeve and maybe it's not absolutely insisted upon by any style manual but would it be possible to just use the "WV" 2-letter abbreviation for the state of West Virginia? I mean, it's only been that way officially since 1963 when the United States Postal Service adopted this little time-saver. What say we give it a whirl after 45 years? What do you think?!?


On to the facts of the article:

Fact #1 Since the toll-free help line 1-800-GAMBLER was set up 7,000 calls have been received!


In all fairness the "unnamed" author did mention that the hotline was created eight years ago, but fails to point out that this totals out to an average of 875 callers per year.


Fact #2

"Calls come not only from gambling addicts, but also their family members or loved ones."


Of course there is no break-down of the statistics for repeat callers (although that's difficult with an annonymous hotline I suppose, so I'll let that one slide. But it is absolutely conceivable that somewhere among those calls was a repeat caller. And it's possible that a concerned family member called about a loved one only to provide the number to that same person with the problem who later called for themselves.


Fact #3

Kanawha County accounted for 1,141 of the calls.


That leaves 5,859 calls, to be accounted for, but also means that only 143 calls per year were received from residents of Kanawha County on average per year.


Fact #4

Wood County (my home) came in second in calls to the help line.


Of the 55 counties of West Virginia, Kanawha was 1st, Wood was 2nd. Kanawha had "more than twice" the number of calls than those which came from Wood. So, let's call that less than 570. (570.5 X 2 = 1,141) So, in the county of Wood the gambling epidemic is causing under 72 people on average per year to call in to the help line.


And further the remaining 53 WV counties accounted for 5,289 calls to the help line. That totals out to just under 100 callers per county in the total eight years or just under 13 calls per year per county.


Fact #5

Nearly half of those who called (or were the subject of the call) had full-time jobs.


Which means just over half of those who called didn't... I don't know what that means, but I thought I'd point it out.


Fact #6

1,176 of the callers reported income of $50K or more.


I'm assuming they meant income per year, not lifetime... but the statement also means that 4,683 callers had less than $50K incomes.


Fact #7

4,348 callers said that video poker machines were the main problem/cause of their gambling habit.


That leaves only 606 callers suffering from something other than those damned video poker machines. Funny, there are no fingers pointed at the WV Lottery, Keno, dog or horse racing, or Bingo for that matter.


But frankly we all know the real culprit here don't we people. All those problem gamblers out there are also compulsive liars as well, for their real problem isn't the video lottery or any other form of "state sponsored" and "state sanctioned" gambling. No, my friends the real culprit is, come on say it with me... ONLINE POKER!!! C'mon you know it, and I know it. My goodness, why it'll be the ruination of this great land. Our monthly NDPT tournaments (conspicuously in Wood County) are obviously skyrocketing the problem gambling of our area. And damn near everyone of those degenerates makes at least the reported $50K per year. Coincidence? I don't think so. And I just know that my grinding away at the micro limits online is just gonna break me and what will my family do then?


Here are some of my conclusions:


The 7,000 callers over the last 8 years of the roughly 1,818,470 residents of the State of WV, according to the U.S. Census Bureau website http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/54000.html make up roughly .0038%. Sadly, per year the 875 callers on average make up .0004811% of the population.


Okay, in all seriousness addiction is a bad thing and I get it and I don't wish it on anyone. But I'm sorry these numbers just don't add up to much of anything but maybe some sort of whacked out "new math."


The deeper I started digging the more obsessed I got about it all and I came across some other eyebrow raising tidbits. I wandered over to http://www.1800gambler.net/ and started crunching some numbers. Available on this website are 3 years worth of annual reports from the Problem Gamblers Network of West Virginia (a.k.a. the 1-800-GAMBLER folks.)


In Calendar Year 2005, the Problem Gamblers Help of West Virginia spent the following:

Outreach, Advertising, Public Awareness $770,594.00

Diagnostic Assessment and Outpatient Treatment/Therapy $296,826.00

Administration $263,418.00

Training (new clinician; continuing education; clinical supervision $89,192.00


In FY 06, the Problem Gamblers Help of West Virginia spent*:

Outreach, Advertising, Public Awareness $440,274.00

Diagnostic Assessment and Outpatient Treatment $267,613.00

Administration ( rent, utilities, supplies, etc) $252,434.00

Training (new clinician; continuing education; clinical supervision) $80,183.00

Help-line Personnel (salaries, benefits, payroll taxes, travel) $309,339.00

*This does not include administration fee taken by the Department of Health and Human Services.


In FY 2007, the Problem Gamblers Help of West Virginia spent*:

Outreach, Advertising, Public Awareness $472,130

Diagnostic Assessment and Outpatient Treatment $226,780

Administration (rent, utilities, supplies, etc) $216,519

Liability Insurance $21,920

Training (new clinician; continuing education; clinical supervision) $84,989

Help-line Personnel (salaries, benefits, payroll taxes, travel) $303,926

*This does not include administration fee taken by the Department of Health and Human Services.


The three year available breakdown of funding from the website adds up $4,096,137.00. Let's call that roughly $10 Million for the 8 years that the 1-800-GAMBLER help line has been set up, having helped 7,000 callers at a cost of a little over $1,400 per person. Hmmm.


Regards,


cheer_dad

Ramblings and musings

Just some odd ramblings and musings today. My thought for the day to the team I suppose expresses a degree of frustration; you decide:

If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.
~Abraham Maslow

Then, after stepping away from the edge of the abyss, and deciding to press on through another day, I read through some of the news on my iGoogle page. I saw an announcement of a new search site which will "rival" Google. That's a bit premature don't you think! Besides maybe Google should have just squashed it in their algorithmic search. Anyway, the site is www.cuil.com pronounced "COOL." Check it out for yourself. It does share the "minimalistic" front page, of course I say that having replaced the minimal norm with the uber content iGoogle page. I'm a glutton for punishment.

I decided to give "CUIL" a chance and try my hand at a search. I took a shot with my own vanity and plugged in "ndpt" to see how my little creation would come up. Ouch, several pages deep before NDPT actually was found/cited by the search engine. Sorry guys that'll have to improve by leaps and bounds before you get me as a repeat customer!

Others who happen to share the acronym to which I've tried to give additional life:

NDPT

  1. National Democratic Party of Tibet
  2. National Deaf Poker Tour
  3. National Danish Performance Team
  4. Next Day Printed Tees, Inc
  5. Nonequilibrium Dynamic Phase Transition
  6. National Democratic Party of Tajikistan
  7. Non Destructive Performance Test
  8. Normal Deformable Plate Theory
  9. Nebraska Doctors of Physical Therapy
  10. N Debt Poker Tour
Well at least only 10 of us have anything to do with poker. I guess I can share. It's not like I'm a threat in popularity as of yet. : )

It's time to get back to the grind, and I'm not talking about on the felt. Episodes 1 and 2 of the WSOP 2008 will provide the background noise which will hopefully see me through the day. I finished downloading it yesterday for a repeat view/listen. I'll listen this time. The first time I watched it, without the sound (not by choice I was sitting in a bar where the barbarians were more interested in listening to some DJ pop/dance mix.)

And away I go...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Recap of last night's game, weekend's nearly gone

The Yanok's poker game went on into the wee hours of the morning, since always there were two tournaments to be played. I didn't fair so well in game #1. I mean I made the final table of 8, but didn't make the money. I shoved from late position with a K-10 in hopes of adding to my swiftly dwindling stack, only to be called by Matt, with a healthy stack. I was dominated by A-10. I threw out that it was a split pot, which raised a few eyebrows, for a second, but quicker minds took over. I got a few comments of "how much you drinkin' boy?" So I grabbed another beer and took a breather outside while i waited for the next game to begin. Big Red took down 4th in game #1 helping to pay for the evening. Congratulations! Matt was the winner of the tourney, and also put in a big win which got him qualified for the year end event!

Game #2 had fewer players but still a two table affair. A little short handed action, which was cool change of pace. A lot looser style for even me. Big Red and I both made it to the final table, and actually we both got paid. She took 3rd place and I took 2nd in that one, and had to go heads up against Mike. It was a short lived heads up session as the blinds were expensive, and he went on a roll when he hit on subsequent hands JJ, QQ, and then JJ again! Congrats Mike!

Of course it was after 2:00am when we dragged ourselves home. So we slept in. I actually unwound with a couple of el cheapo SNG's on Bodog, before nodding off to sleep. I cashed in them both, so the night went pretty well. Our poker run for this year, so far (knock on wood) is going pretty well. We're both qualified for Yanok's year-ender game, and currently in the NDPT standings I'm holding the top spot, by a small margin over my wife! Still lots of poker to be played, so I'll have to continue to bring the "A" game.

Back to the grind tomorrow. Jump right back in to the insanity. I can't wait to hear from my wife later in the day on how things went at work, in light of what happened on Friday. Stay tuned for that update. I hope the karma kicks in and pays a visit to the previously mentioned weasel. Like I said before payback's a bitch.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Saturday, July 26, 2008

WARNING, the F-bomb will be dropped in this post...

A friend of ours has been wronged, by a cowardly, lying, insignificant, little man. She was fired without cause yesterday! (Don't stop and question that statement to yourself, it is what it is, she got fired for nothing.) The girl was fired from her job of 1-1/2 years having never been written up, reprimanded, or otherwise informed that she wasn't doing a good job for her employer. All that she was told when she was fired Friday evening at "closing-time" was that she and the worthless bastard of a boss just weren't going to be able to get along anymore. Oh and by the way the sniveling little weasel didn't even have the balls to fire her on his own, he called the manager of the other office and had him do it while he pretended to run off on an errand. When our friend asked what she had done to deserve being fired she was told "nothing." She reminded the other little weasel of a man that did the firing that she had never been written up or reprimanded in any official manner. Further, reminded him there was nothing like that in her personnel file. He agreed. Then, she paused to ask, was there something in her file that she wasn't aware of... This wasn't answered, so much. She asked to see what, if anything, was in her file and then she was told that "he didn't have to show her anything as she was no longer an employee." What a miserable fuck! Only the guy who caused her to be fired can possibly eclipse his degree of "fuck-ness" in my mind at the moment. I'm not sure what the girl will do now. Of course, life will go on, it always does whether we like it or not. She'll find another job and hopefully a better working condition for herself. Big Red and I will do anything we can to help her. We went out with her last night and some of her other friends to console her, make sure she ate, and help get her at least somewhat liquored up. She has my deepest sympathies. Her enemy is also my enemy. She will seek legal counsel, which I can't blame her at all. There are additional matters with which to be reckoned (i.e. harassment and behavior bordering on stalking.) I hope she shoves them all straight up his ass. I reserve for him my worst condemnation... he's a Motherless Fuck!

Okay, to those of you who think I've gone a little "blue" on you here. Cracked the "profanity nut" so to speak... You know me. You know it takes a great deal to make me angry. I have had 40 years to tame and train a temper, and honestly playing cards and avoiding tilt for the last several of those years has benefited me greatly. BUT, there is a time for anger. There is also a time for revenge. Yes, there are times every once in a great while someone really does deserve an ass-kicking. And on top of that sometimes only one thing'll make you feel better, and my friend Erik P, once summed that up quite well. "Sometimes, the only thing that will make you feel better is just to punch someone in the face!" I know, I know civilized society dictates otherwise. But how many times have you really just wanted to a little "Sopranos-style" justice? Take the guy down to pavement, and just kick the shit out of him!

Anyway, as I do on a number of occasions, I look for a quote to sum up my mood and general outlook on life. I've taken to finding one throughout the week and emailing it to my team at work, as a way of provoking thought, reflection, and a small attempt at building team unity. The jury's still out on whether or not it helps, but it does tend to get people talking. That's never a bad thing... I think. Today, I needed a quote to help me grasp it all. So I headed over to the Subjects page of http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/ to find one. My thoughts and mood are anger and revenge. Luckily, for me they had both. Unfortunately, most quotes on the matter, were a bit mamby-pamby for my taste at least for today. "Live and let live," "turn the other cheek," "hug a friggin' tree," gimme a break! These weren't what I was looking for. I wanted a quote with teeth, and searing venom. I got your Chicken Soup for the Soul right here! I was very nearly about to settle with a Klingon quote of "Revenge is a dish best served cold," when I came across these two, and although my interpretation may not today be what the author had in mind, it made me feel better, so just deal with it:

"I have a right to my anger, and I don't want anybody telling me I shouldn't be, that it's not nice to be, and that something's wrong with me because I get angry." ~Maxine Waters
I liked the sentiment here. Anger is an emotion that's mine, and I'm entitled to it. Right on Maxine...

The other, gets a little more old school:

"If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared." ~Niccolo Machiavelli

Take that one either way you want, but I think of it this way. If you're going to do a thing be prepared for the fallout, otherwise you'd better make sure to beat someone down so far that they can't get up to do anything about it. In this particular instance he hurt her, knocked her down... but she got back up. Has he never heard of "Hell hath no fury, like a woman scorned!?!"

In closing... payback's a bitch. See the picture above? Better lube up.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Staying busy

The week has luckily flown by. The week following a long vacation is generally sheer drudgery, but this one has gone quickly. I'd like to say it had gone smooth, but that'd be a stretch. It hasn't been a walk in the park dealing with all of the inventory and configuration management woes (real or imagined.) Unreasonable expectations and lofty, idealistic goals by upper management have been a common theme throughout the week. Of course "they're" doing it for our own good, and we should thank them. NOT! Anyway, I think we have made some headway in our efforts, not just in fixing what they said was broken, but instead in making them understand that what they are asking for isn't as easy as they seem to think. Tools designed for a Windows-centric infrastructure do not port well over to the Unix flavors. For that matter, once you throw in virtualization options into any platform, you could actually pitch the whole management tool. But as usual I digress.

Let's see what's up for the weekend...

Cash game night on Friday at my buddy Shuman's house. Looks like a crew of all the usual degenerates. Depending on how things shake out Big Red and I may make it over for a few hands at some point. Now that baseball season is over, well our calendar isn't so full. Cole is also going to a local production of The Wizard of Oz with his Mamaw, so that leaves only Whitney to deal with, and she's normally all too eager to ditch us.

On Saturday night, which we had already committed to earlier in the week, is the Yanok tournament. Game #1 of the night will be the monthly qualifier. Big Red still hangs on to quite a nice little sum in that race. He runs it a bit differently than the NDPT points system. He collects $5 from everyone at every game to make up the total pot for the year end game. The total accumulated points you gather for the year, equate to your starting chipstack for the last game. This adds some interesting twists to an already highly competitive group of players.

So, despite all that's been happening in the 9 to 5 world, everything's actually okay. I'm good. Despite tough times there's always the fantastic network of friends that I have. Thanks all for being there, and for listening and/or reading from time-to-time. Since I tend to treat the blog as a bit of therapy for my mental well-being, there's probably more than a few of you who'd like me to get the hell off the couch already.

I'll see some of you this evening for the drawing at the Eagles, or if not there then one of the games I mentioned above. Bring lots of money! : ) You'll be needing it. : P

Regards,

cheer_dad

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Where ya been boy?!?

It's been a while people. I haven't posted in a very long time for me. BUT, remember I was on vacation and then I got back, and then there was Big Red's family reunion to attend in the hills of Ellenboro, WV. Yeah, we drove through a lot of BFE, if you get my drift! In fact, one wrong turn forced us to ask for directions. The response came... "ummm, yup, you done made a wrong turn, ya need to go back thataway," from the man with but a few remaining teeth in his mouth. Big Red of course nodded in agreement, politely; all the while with another onlooker of questionable intellect, sporting the latest fashion, a pink pajama bottom print, coupled with a Make 7 Up Yours t-shirt. All I and the kids could read from behind her, was "Up Yours!" We took the advice, and then got the hell out of there. We did eventually get where we were going. All the while my 9 year old son showed wisdom beyond his days... with the statement, "you should never ask a redneck for directions. That's brilliant.

Anyway, we got to see Teresa's cousin Mike, in from Florida again. We really like spending time with him. He's a talker and just good to be around. In fact, as the reunion ended, we invited he and his son to come with us later that night (Saturday) to go to the Wolfe's for NDPT #10! The both came that night to play and despite not winning, we all had a great time. Although, of all people to take me out at the final table, you guessed it Mike. My A-9os to his K-7os, and he drew four cards to the King high straight. Argghhh!

Sunday was a wash, as I didn't feel real chipper the next day, likely due to too much libation, though I admit nothing. I was off on Monday and my honey do list was more than enough to occupy the day. I had to seal some cracks in my concrete block wall of the house. Nothing major, just unsightly. Of course the grass needed mowing, and unfortunately the landscaping had gone native on me as well.

Now I'm back to work, but very busy. The big boss is once again on a warpath related to Configuration Management of servers. Inventory sucks. And if it weren't for the convoluted method in place, it wouldn't be such a problem or an annoyance. Hate is a strong word, but applicable here. Another work oddity was that IE7 was inadvertently pushed to all the computers in the office, without proper security settings, and we couldn't change 'em. Long story short, no https addresses were working anymore for me, and even though they pushed a "fix" for the problem and large number of us are still dead in the water. BUT, on a positive note, I downloaded Firefox for the first time, and now find that I'm surfing just fine! Case-in-point, I was able to get back out here to Blogger to say hello.

But duty calls and its time to get back to it.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Anyway, I wanted to let you all know I haven't fallen off the face of the planet.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Governor Manchin wants answers from Tri-State Racetrack

West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin is not happy with Tri-State Racetrack, according to the following article http://www.dailymail.com/Business/200807170126 which appeared yesterday in the Charleston Daily Mail. In the article by Jake Stump, titled Manchin says racetrack owners need to be accountable for delays; it seems clear that the governor is upset over the time which has elapsed thus far in which Tri-State Racetrack owners have failed to open their table gaming operations which were approved last August. Not only has the track not opened table games they have not even broken ground on a promised "$250-million-plus expansion much less the creation of 1,000 jobs." It is mentioned that Tri-State had initially planned to open its table games by the end of 2007, but according to management plans were stalled because of "financial reasons and because of difficulty in finding instructors."

Oddly, I've never seen a lack of people on my visits to the casino/dog track, so "financial reasons" seems to be a weak excuse. In addition, my (and my friends') trips north to Wheeling Island Casino for poker and table game fun could have just as easily been turned 180 degrees and headed south to Charleston, which is a closer trip from Parkersburg. So, I know it's not due to a lack of interest. But, I know it's not all about me. As for the "difficulty in finding instructors" what kind of horse-hockey is that?!? Uhhhm, maybe you boys at Tri-State haven't been paying attention but two casinos in the northern panhandle of West Virginia were able in very short order to get their operations up and running, and from all reports PROFITABLE!

The latest report is that Tri-State will open its doors for Poker by Labor Day. The Poker Room is still under construction. Frankly though, there has been no official announcement or advertising effort on the part of the casino, so what gives?

The casino also only recently applied for its 1.5 Million Dollar license for its first year of operations. That cost will go up to 2.5 Million thereafter.

I'm not sure what the real reasons for Tri-State's delays are, and neither is Governor Manchin. If he gets his answers I sure hope he shares them with us all. For something that the casino owners and the public fought so hard for and for such a long time the current management is allowing it all to fall flat.

C'mon guys get the cards in the air already!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The November Nine, of the WSOP are...

After I went to bed last night after covering what I could of the Main Event, the players were headed off for a break. As you can imagine play has become very tight. Play continued after that, obviously without me following along. They continued on and as the approached the next break for dinner, at which time there were only 14 players remaining with an average stack of 9,778,000.

In the countdown to the final 9, which is where play will end until the the final table reconvenes, later so as to create suspense. Gert Andersen was eliminated in 14th Place for $463,201.

Nicholas Sliwinski was eliminated in 13th Place for $463,201, by Dennis Phillips who had flopped a King high flush.

Chris Klodnicki was eliminated in 12th Place and takes home $591,869.

Joe Bishop is was eliminated in 11th Place for $591,869. The details of the hand that did it were a bit brutal. Joe Bishop had moved all-in for 2.4 million. Chino Reem called from the BB and showed 2h 2c, while Bishop held Ac 3h. The flop came Ah 3c 5s, which was good for Bishop. The turn was a blank, Qc. However the river brought the 4h, giving Chino Reem the WHEEL!

According to the folks over at PokerNews.com all the players redrew for their seat at one table as follows:

Seat 1: Dean Hamrick 12,460,000 Seat 2: Dennis Phillips 21,500,000 Seat 3: Craig Marquis 12,000,000 Seat 4: Ylon Schwartz 10,500,000 Seat 5: Scott Montgomery 20,635,000 Seat 6: Darus Suharto 16,425,000 Seat 7: David "Chino" Rheem 10,100,000 Seat 8: Ivan Demidov 18,700,000 Seat 9: Kelly Kim 4,430,000 Seat 10: Peter Eastgate 10,430,000.
The button will start in Seat 4, with Ylon Schwartz. Shuffle up and deal!

Dean Hamrick was finally eliminated in 10th Place for $591,869. This finally allows play to come to an end, and the final "November Nine" will return on November 9th, to finish out what they started.

The official chip counts for the remaining final table players are as follows:

Official November Nine Chip Counts and Seat Assignments

On November 9th, 2008, the following nine players will return to the felt with 21 minutes and 50 seconds left in level 33:

Seat 1: Dennis Phillips - 26,295,000 Seat 2: Craig Marquis - 10,210,000 Seat 3: Ylon Schwartz - 12,525,000 Seat 4: Scott Montgomery - 19,690,000 Seat 5: Darus Suharto - 12,520,000 Seat 6: David 'Chino' Rheem - 10,230,000 Seat 7: Ivan Demidov - 24,400,000 Seat 8: Kelly Kim - 2,620,000 Seat 9: Peter Eastgate - 18,375,000
At this point each player takes home $900,670 that is guaranteed to be paid out to even the next person to be taken out of the tournament. Of course, the remainder that the players win, will be paid out come November, with interest. The remaining prizes to be paid out are:
1st $9,119,517 + the gold bracelet 2nd $5,790,024 3rd $4,503,352 4th $3,763,515 5th $3,088,012 6th $2,412,510 7th $1,769,174 8th $1,286,672 9th $900,670
Play for these players will resume in117 days on November 9th and 10th. Stay tuned folks, there's still more to come!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Monday, July 14, 2008

WSOP Day 5, 6, and 7...

Well of course I've fallen behind. After our second All-Star game on Saturday, the family and I headed South for Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Unfortunately it wasn't until today that I was able to secure a network cable to attach. I had assumed wireless connectivity was available here at the Baywatch complex. I thought wrong. But before we cover beach time, let's recap where I left off with the Main Event of the WSOP.

Way back on Day 5, players returned to finish out about 38 minutes of Level 19 and then continue on playing an additional 5 levels. A number of ups and downs occurred, including a "down" for Phil Hellmuth. As players headed into Round 20 Mr. Hellmuth asked to remain in the Amazon Room which doesn't happen for anyone. He said he wanted to pace. Officials directed him to the hallway where he could pace his little heart out.

Ahhhh man Hoyt Corkins has been eliminated. One of those hands where you've got pocket Queens, and they run into pocket Aces, and don't improve. Ouch!

Other notables who were eliminated are Chip Jett, Gus Hansen, Jeremmiah Smith, Justin St. John, Allen Cunningham and Shawn "Sheiky" Sheikhan, and Kara Scott.

Somewhere during the action, Phil Hellmuth was directed to his new seat right next to Mike Matusow in Seat 6.

Tiffany Michelle is on top of one helluva stack, looking as lovely as ever.

And as much as you gotta love to hate the guy, Phil Hellmuth has gone deep into the Main Event, but his journey came to an end as welll, as he finished in 45th place and takes home $154,400 for his efforts. I'm still he hasn't stopped his whining yet.

Aww man Mike Matusow was eliminated in 30th place. Pre flop his AJ was best, but a turned nine gave Paul Snead two pair aces and nines to take down the pot. Congratulations, on going so deep in the tournament and for a cool $193,000.

Day 6 came to a close with only 27 players remaining. Dennis Phillips found himself on a mountian of chips with 11.9 million. Tiffany Michelle is way up there as well with over 9.7 million.

Day 7 then fired up...One of the most notable events was that Tiffany Michelle busted out in 17th place. She's had an amazing run.. Congratulations, and I look forward to watching you on TV when ESPN runs the series later this year. For her fantastic showing she takes home $334,534.

There are currently only 14 players remaining, and play will have to get down to the final 9 and then comes the extended break. But for tonight, I'm done with my coverage. I'll check back in, in the morning gang to see what went down. It's late, I'm tired, and the sound of the ocean is slowly putting me to sleep.

Good Night.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Almost there...

Only 189 players remain and will return to face off in Day 5 of the Main Event of the World Series of Poker. The current chip leader is young Jeremy Joseph with 2,187,000 in chips. Nikolay Losev close behind with 2,110,000, followed by Cristian Dragomir with 2,065,000, Brandon Cantu with 1,981,000, and Davor Lanini rounding it out in fifth place with 1,958,000. All this of course according to and THANKS to the fine folks over at PokerNews.com, watch the action for yourself at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/.
Let's take a look back to when I left off, in need of my beauty sleep, and as the players were headed to their dinner break.

Here's a problem I'd like to have at least one time...

Posted by F-Train
Here's a New Problem
Brandon Cantu just complained to a floorperson that he had too many chips on the table. His stack was so big, and comprised of so many yellow (T1,000) chips, that he had no room on the table in front of him to actually play his cards. The floorperson quickly vanished, only to return a few moments later bearing some orange (T5,000) and green (T25,000) chips. Cantu changed out 600,000 worth of yellows, and in the process cleared quite a bit of real estate.
And oops not the time bluff:

Posted by MeanGene

Um, Yeah, I CallAfter an intriguing 5c 5s 5d flop Nicholas Sliwinski checked and Ross Smith moved in for his last 255,000. One imagines that Sliwinski called as fast as is humanly possible because he held Qh 5h for quad fives and Smith was drawing completely dead. Sliwinski is now up to 1.37 million.

Apparantly one player has had a "rule" named after him the "Mark Vos Rule" which the tournment officials have implemented. Players are not permitted to stack their chips in an unstable manner. Okay, think of it as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and it makes perfect sense.
And as play came to a close for the day as I said before they are down to 189 players. Notables still remaining include Shawn Sheikhan, Mark Vos, Gus Hansen, Victor Ramdin, Alexander Kostritsyn, Allen Cunningham, Jeff Madsen, Tiffany Michelle, Mike Matusow, Kara Scott, Hoyt Corkins and, of course "whining" his way through the pack the last remaining WSOP World Champion in the field, Phil Hellmuth.

Oh and here on the homefront, one more All-Star game to play at 1:30, and our clan is outa here! Beach Time!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Friday, July 11, 2008

WSOP Day 4 up to the dinner break

Once again, posts such as these prove that the guys playing in the Main Event are a lot like the rest of us twisted poker degenerates:

Posted by MeanGene Refer to Your Tournament Director's HandbookNo doubt quite a few players were out last night celebrating the fact that they cashed in the Main Event. One such player is sitting at Table 6 and looking a little green around the gills, and he asked the dealer, "If I throw up on the table, is that a penalty?"

Just over 5 hours ago Robert Mizrachi's Main Event journey came to an end. He got in in with the best of it but was rivered by his opponent.

And not long after he made his exit, Mountaineer qualifier Brian Schaedlich made his final stand with A-9os, he was called down by Darren Grant with a Q-7os. A queen came up on the turn and Schaedlich makes his exit in 456th place and $27,020 in his pocket. Not a bad return on a $135 tournament entry fee back at the Mountaineer Casino in Chester, WV. : ) Congratulations to him!

According to postings at PokerNews.com the first level of play on this Day 4, has taken its toll on the field. They have averaged a bustout a minute throughout the level.

Wow, Table #6 in the green section doesn't sound all that fun, at all! Five hours ago, Jeremy Joseph found himself there, with two empty seats that were filled by Alexander Kostritsyn with 900,000 in chips, and Johnny Chan joined soon after. ESPN setup shop, soon after!

Oh there's a surprise, Phil Hellmuth has a blow up after losing a hand with a great big pot... and openly berates his opponent.

Just as Round 17 was about to begin, the T500 chips are no longer required and the color up took place just before a quick break. The price of poker is going up! 350 players remained.
Maya Gellar-Antonius was eliminated in 331st place for a $32,166 payday. Congratulations, and hubby Patrik should be proud!

Hevad Khan was busted by the lovely Tiffany Michelle, and makes it up to 660,000 chips! Did I say lovely? Okay, yeah... I did.

Just over an hour ago another lovely and talented lady makes her exit from the Main Event. Evelyn Ng has been eliminated, but congratulations on her deepest finish yet in the Main Event!

An hour ago, Gus Hansen was moved to Mike Matusow's table, amid cheers from the spectators.

And oh look another blowup by Phil Hellmuth. You know he really is an ass...

And the stack of Jeremy Joseph just keeps growing and growing, an hour ago, he was at 2.5 Million!

And with that, or there abouts, the players head off for dinner break. Upon their return at 9:30pm PDT, they will play one final level before calling it a night.

The field now stands at 218. Still much poker yet to be played, but with that I'm calling it a night. We have 2 baseball games tomorrow, the first of which is at 9:00am. By the way, tonight the boys won, against "Tubby's" Team, Nate and Kevin know what I'm talking about. We pounded them, 30-6 before they finally cried uncle at the end of the 3rd inning. That is the boys first win in tournament play, against a team that beat us previously, that we just knew we could beat! : ) Cole may not be of much use in the games tomorrow, since he was injured running to 2nd base. His ankle is pretty swollen and stiff, but he seems to be getting around, albeit slowly and a bit tender. Sorry buddy.
As soon as the games are over, cheer_dad and family will start the drive SOUTH to Myrtle Beach!

Regards,

cheer_dad

P.S. Oh and one other really cool item of interest, Big Red's mom (the original Big Red) called us while we were at the baseball game all excited. Seems she was at BINGO, and playing the tips, and she was playing my son, Cole's birthday numbers, and she hit for a COOL $9,000!!! $6,500-ish after taxes!!! Since it was his numbers, does that mean he gets splitsies?!? Yeah like he wouldn't anyway from his Mamaw!

Sure honey let's go on vaction...NOW!



My wife, the lovely Big Red... will one day send me to my grave. Probably sooner than later! When she gets an idea, damn the girl can run with it! You've all obviously been up on current events in my life, which I've inter mingled in the words about the WSOP and other pokerosity. I'm talking about All-Star baseball and my life as a dad, coach, husband, blahblahblah... Well we're playing again tonight in Belpre against South Parkersburg "B." Plus a couple more games tomorrow.

Here we gets tricksy.

The Morrison clan (including Jeffrey who's on the team with Cole) have a beach trip that starts tomorrow. So, we've known he wouldn't be there to play, but no prob, we've still enough kids to play. Then, somehow the conversation emerges about, "hey, why don't you guys join us in Myrtle Beach, SC?" That conversation fired up maybe a day and a half ago. It was sheer talking out loud. I wasn't even involved in it. Fast forward to this morning... and I'm checking with my boss about taking a week off beginning NOW, shuffling some other duties, sorting out baseball since I won't be here to coach, and a million other things. Meanwhile, my wife's on the phone booking a room for yup tomorrow night. She's already figured out we'll stay for tomorrow's game (maybe) and then get the hell outa Dodge! Yes, she's worked all this out in her head while on hold with the Beach Realty company. AND she got dropped on the call once, put on hold twice, and one lady tried to charge her about $500 more for the room than she quoted, when the "system" mysteriously crashed in the middle of the transaction. Sadly, said lady had NO IDEA she was dealing with Big Red. Not only did a demand for a manager ensue, and when she was conveniently disconnected and left dangling on hold for 20 minutes, she grabbed a 2nd phone line, and gave 'em what for and got a room for the price originally quoted. And this lady in the same office, said yes it was a madhouse, but she wasn't aware of any system crash. Hmmm. Manager's Special, my ass!

So anyway, I went from Thank God It's Friday, to feeling like I'm going into OVERDRIVE!!! So, thankfully this is my short day, and I get off work at 2:45pm. I can rush home, and break out the lawnmower and get that done, before changing and going to the baseball game in Belpre, gotta be there by 5:15pm. Hopefully, done by 8:30-ish. Go home, clean up, eat, attack the laundry with a vengeance, pack, organize, make a couple of plans, check up on the status of the WSOP Main Event. Get to bed, get up the following morning at the crack of dawn, and get ready for baseball game, be there by 8:30am! Finish that, and then we'll either hang out for the other game at 1:00pm or say fuggit and head SOUTH! Oh I haven't mentioned, that we're also taking along JoJo, at least my daughter Whitney is checking on that right now. No wonder I'm fully medicated for stress and anxiety.

Oh and let's get one other thing outa the way, I am not prepared for the beach. I'm likely to have a herd of Eco-Tree-Hugger types trying to help coax me back into the water when they find me laying on the sand (if you get my blubbery drift.) My man titties may actually lactate in the heat. I dunno...

Someone sympathize, just a little. Maybe I'll follow the lead of SirAlCan'tHang and go to a bar when I get to Myrtle Beach and just do dial-a-shots all day! I just hope I don't need a vacation AFTER this vacation to recuperate!

Well that's all I got folks, I'm tapped, spent even. I wonder if this complex will have wi-fi? Laptop, balcony, mass quantities of alcohol and an already dwindling online bankroll. Oh yeah I see great things happening! At least there'll be some great bad beat stories to be told after the fact!

I'll try to continue to blog, even if I have to drive around w/the laptop to find a hotspot!

Regards,

cheer_dad

WSOP Day 3 Aftermath

And now to catch up.

I logged in to see how things were going at the WSOP after the baseball game and the Eagles' drawing, and found myself still wading through the bloggers' recaps of the goings on until after midnight, before I said enough, and it'll have to wait til morning. Now it's morning, and I've got a spare few minutes, so it's time once again.

I rejoin the Live Coverage as the field of players has been reduced to 687 from a Day 3 starting number of 1,307, according to the fine folks over at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/main-event/day3/. The plan when they get to 675 (9 away from the money) the action will go hand-to-hand. None of that slow-playing nonsense!

Phil Hellmuth is now up and a bit healthy with 470,000 in chips.
Minh Nguyen busted not long after that, when his pocket Kings met an opponents pocket Aces. Nenad Medic busted out of the tournament when his AK was torpedoed by Sigurd Eskeland's AQ, when another lady appeared on the river. Nenad exits the tourney, while Eskeland became the new chip leader with 950,000 in chips!

Around 7 hours ago, the action went to Hand For Hand, when they hit 675 players. Not long after Jeremiah Smith became the first player to crack the One Million Chip Mark, currently the average chip stack is at around 200,000.

This hand posting while they were still going hand for hand was brutal:
Posted by donpeters Big Stack Power... With Some LuckDavid Peters raised under the gun and action folded to Jeremiah Smith who was still reorganizing his chip stack. Smith stopped talking rubgy with a tablemate and pushed out two tall orange stacks totaling 200,000 from the small blind. The big blind folded and Peters looked at his stack, then to Smith, and then said "I call," and had his last 160,000 on the line.
Smith rolled over 9c 6c and Peters held Qh Qs . Before any action was dealt, the table was swarmed by media and other players, even some railbirds made it into the fray.
"I'm sorry," said Smith. Implying that a beat would be delivered. "It's your standard race situation."
After the camera crew cleared up the preflop action, the flop came 10c 8d 7c , and Smith flopped the straight right off, with a club redraw.
"Running so good!" yelled Greg Mueller from the edge of the crowd.
The turn brought some outs for Peters with the 10h and the crowd took a gasp.
The river was the As and that was it for Peters. He quickly made his exit from the room with the ESPN camera team hot on his trail to get some more shots.
OUCH!


Only two former WSOP World Champions remaining, Phil Hellmuth at 310,000 and Johnny Chan at 336,000.

And finally I have reached the point in the story at which a Bubble Boy has been found. Here's the post from MarcC, found here, http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/main-event/day3/page7.htm
Bubble Boy.
It had to happen sooner or later to someone, and that unfortunate soul is Steve Chung. His adversary was Jesse McEuen holding Kd Ks , and it was with 8c 8h that Chung decided to gamble, and it all went in preflop.
The board ran out 2h Jh 2c 3h 6s to eliminate him.
It would normally be the worst position of all to finish, but thanks to Milwakee's Best Light he already has his seat for next year's Main Event locked. Bad luck nonetheless.


The gang at Table #7 in the Orange section sound like my kinda people. When they found they were in the money, they ordered a round of shots of tequila for the whole table. Glasses in the air, shots downed and here we go.

Then the $100 chip is being colored up now that the ante is 500, and then level 15 (and the final level of the day) will begin.

An uber shortstack (Juan Hernandez) at Table Blue 41, with only around 15,000 chips left, ordered a round of drinks for his table. An on camera toast ensued, and then level 15 began.

Blinds at 2,000/4,000 w/ a 500 ante.

Vanessa Rousso was eliminated most heinously... glad you made the money, but I'm sure that's small conciliation to you.

Men "The Master" Nguyen was eliminated by Frank Russo. The Master moved all in for 30K against Russo who opened from late position w/ a raise to 21K. Men showed pocket 10's... Russo 3-5os. Two 3's showed up on the board and Men Nguyen departs in disgust.

Mike Matusow moved up to 485,000 chips.

Maya Antonius chips up to 240,000, while hubby Patrik already out, sweats her via the PokerNews.com feeds.

Notables Brandon Adams, Thor Hansen, Chau Giang, Rolf Slotboom, were all eliminated during the final level of play for the day.
The chipleader at the beginning of Day 3, recall Brian Schaedlich (from Mountaineer Casino satellite) who had a whopping 801,000, has only 22,000 heading into Day 4. Glad you made the money, and it's been great watching/reading about your WSOP Main Event Journey!

The new chip leader heading into Day 4 is Jeremy Joseph sitting on 1,470,000 in chips. The field stood at 474 players as the day ended. Play will resume at 1:00pm PDT.

According to the current chip count 3 players are above the One Million Chip Mark, Jeremy Joseph, Jeremiah Smith, and Owen Crowe. Oh, and remember the guy, Alan Jaffray, who showed up in drag to play in the ladies only event? Well, he's currently the 7th largest chip stack with 865,000.

There's still a lot of star power and kick left in the Main Event. Stay tuned! And once again a huge thank you goes out to the bloggers of PokerNews.com who are doing an outstanding job of keeping us updated in real time. http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/main-event/day3/. You're the best!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Thursday, July 10, 2008

WSOP Day 3 cont. (more of my random observations)

Jennifer Harman out... c'mon!
Tony Hachem gone.
Heidi Northcott's out of it too!?! (Nice parting shot picture of her though on PokerNews.com.)
Liv Boeree gets her Aces cracked AND she's out.
All the lovelies are being eliminated! What gives? Are the poker gods, gay as well as mean spirited?

Thank goodness at least there's mention of Tiffany Michelle chipping her way up.
Scott Clements is gone. Victor Ramdin continues to climb. Jeff Madsen had not shown up as his stack was slowly chipped ever downward. MeanGene mentions that his iPod (which he uses as his friggin' alarm clock) was out of juice and someone was going to have to go wake his dumb ass up. Okay I added in the dumb ass part...

Brian Schaedlich got tangled up with Jeff Kimber and chipped himself back into some lower chip levels. Schaedlich had AA, when Jeff Kimber found himself with QQ and another beatiful Q on the flop. Schaedlich shoved and was insta-called. Jeff Kimber dragged the largest pot thus far of the series at a whopping 681,000. Damn!

Oh and there's a report that Vanessa Rousso has climbed up a bit as well to 78,000 chips. : )
And Phil Gordon is now out, failing to improve with A-10. And then minutes later, so is John D'Agostino.
Hey, not long ago, just a coupla hours... Gus Hansen doubled up to 202,000. Men Nguyen appears to have gotten himself in good position just before the dinner break, and from reports appears quite jovial and entertaining the table. At the dinner break there remain only 733 players of the original 6,844. 67 more will fall before the bubble bursts and the rest in the room can at least breathe a sigh of relief assured of at the very least doubling up.

As of this writing, it looks like Jeremiah Smith has taken the chip lead with 766,000.

Regards,

cheer_dad

And they're off...

Cards are once again in the air at the WSOP Main Event (now on Day 3,) with blinds at 800/1,600 with a 200 ante. The schedule is to play 5 levels to the bubble. In other words, get it down to everyone who's in the money before calling it a night.

Play immediately turned into an All-In-A-Thon...with those in need of chip life support going after it with all they've got left. As I write this, former Main Event Champion Chris Moneymaker has been eliminated.

And just a few minutes later, Patrik Antonius has been sent to the rail. Sorry Big Red his KJos lost to A-10s!

Vanessa Rousso just chipped up, after an all-in with a pretty pocket pair of ladies. She's now got a little more breathing room with 61,000 in chips.

I'm checking in on the series now, since I'll be headed for the ball fields of Belpre for our next All-Stars Tournament tonight. Game time is 6:00pm. It's going to be a LONG night... I'll check in at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/main-event/day3/ when I return and start wading through all that I've missed. Maybe I do have a problem.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Chip count update shows a new 2b chipleader...

According to http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/main-event/chip-counts/day2b/ the chipleader for Day 2b is now shown as Peter Biebel 531,000, as opposed to earlier reports that Alex Outhred was the front runner. Sorry!

Also, Leland Smith is now showing up, as making it through to Day3 with 55,100 in chips.
Darren Horvath is "still" not listed in the "official" chip counts. He was listed as still having chips after Day 1c, but doesn't show up at all in the 2b listings. I'll ask some of the PokerNews bloggers, if they have any ideas or thoughts. I'd at least like to report whether he's in or out.

Regardless though Brian Schaedlich is still on top of the whole pack right now with his 801,000 chips. His closest competitor is 270,000 below him! Hang in there! Or roll over 'em! : P

Regards,

cheer_dad

WSOP Day 2b comes to an end.

A little over 3 hours ago, Day 2b of the WSOP Main Event came to a close with a congratulatory announcement that those still seated with chips had made it through to Day 3. I noted last night a number of the "high profile" bustouts including Jerry Yang, Clonie Gowen, Antonio Esfandiari and Shannon Elizabeth. As I catch up this morning, I see that Phil Laak, Joe Hachem, and Liz Lieu as well have been added to the list of casualties, but I'm just now getting started reading through the Live Reporting commentary. On the other hand there are some who are alive and well, including Victor Ramdin, Nenad Medic, Phil Hellmuth, Jean-Robert Bellande, Jeff Madsen, John D'Agostino, Phil Gordon, Shawn Sheikhan, Gus Hansen, and Mike Matusow, according to http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/main-event/. Some calculating is still going on, but it appears that approximately 1,308 players will resume play today at noon, when everyone gets together for Day 3 of the Main Event.

The chipleader of Day 2b is Alex Outhred at 486,800, however overall he's second in chips to Day 2a's chipleader Brian Schaedlich with his uberstack of 801,000. Still there are some tough customers with healthy chipstacks to be dealt with before anyone is going to lay claim to the top spot.

I'm having trouble finding Leland Smith and Darren Horvath listed on Day 2b. According to tallies from 1c and 1d they were headed for Day 2, but I can't find them at all. Recall that these two also qualified at the Mountaineer Casino. Brian Schaedlich and Doug Craine are still pretty easy to find with their impressive Day 2a finishes.

I'll keep looking for more news and keep you posted.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

WSOP Main Event 2b or not 2b from way far away...

We had a short practice session tonight for baseball, so I was back in time to start my catch-up session on the WSOP Main Event Day 2b.

Somewhere along the line I realized my girlfriend Clonie Gowen was still in the Series albeit sitting on a short stack! BUT in bigger news she opted to leave the hallowed halls of the RIO and wander over to the Bellagio Cup IV, and play in the $5,000 NLHE event. According to the boys over at http://pokerati.com/2008/07/09/clonies-big-score-second-chance/ she bested the field of 235 players to take down a $437,775 payday!!! http://pokerati.com/author/danm/ posts that they should start hanging out all the time like best friends... but honestly Clonie, remember I was offerin' up a shoulder to cry on when times were tough over in another corner of Las Vegas. I'm here, don't forget me!?! But congratulations on the victory! I'm only just now sitting down to see where things stand in Day 2b, and I'm crossing my fingers for you!

Sorry gang a rotten work week required and demanded a trip to the Eagles for a minor skirmish with the accursed Jack Daniels. He and his evil horde will eventually be defeated. I for one will not rest... No, really sleep is optional!

Anyway, here's the random observations of your drunken (yet happy) servant. : P

Wait... did I mention Clonie... oops yes I did, moving on... (call me)

We rejoin our program already in progress.

The first article I see is by MeanGene a favored Pittsburgh blogger! He made mention of a hand involving Emanuel Seal and some other unknown player in which the unknown got it all in with QQ preflop, wherein the flop came 555, then an Ace fell on the turn for Mr. Seal but was invalidated by the rivered case 5!!! Joe Hachem, good guy that he is, had to call the "unknown" back to the table for the chop!!! : ) Honestly, how many times have you wished that happened for you?

Ahhhh hell, as I catch up, MeanGene also announces the fate of my beloved... Clonie has been eliminated, when her 8's were bested by 10's. Sorry. : ( No, really I'm not a stalker, honest.

Jerry Yang, defending champion, has also been eliminated, but as reported, he exited with class, shaking the hands of ALL those at his table and wishing "good luck to everyone." ( I know Allman, 'it's something you say, not something you mean.'

The agile, pretty Tiffany Michelle crossed the 100K chip mark just over 6 hours ago. I say agile based on pictures of her "perched" in her chair while at the tables. Okay, I'll stop.

Hmmm, Hevad Khan is keeping his mouth shut, and is just under the 100K mark.

According to http://my.pokernews.com/MarcC/ when Johnny Chan's not happy "nearly" no one's happy. Johnny's complained about the chairs in the Brasilia room as being "the worst in poker history!" Meanwhile behind him another player hit a royal in the same friggin' chair. Go figure...

Not long after, Mr Chan chips up to the 130K level, according to yet another of my fave bloggers Shamus... http://my.pokernews.com/Shamus/

Oh super, in Shamus' same breath, he announces the demise of one Shannon Elizabeth!

Jean-Robert Bellande has eliminated Howard Lederer. JRB's pocket 9's held up against Howard's AKos.

Back to back picture posts on the PokerNews.com live reporting confirm to me that two lovely ladies still remain, Evelyn Ng and Jennifer Harman. Okay, they've both got much more than their looks on their side!

And yet again, round and round up and down Gus Hansen is still in there, now, back up to 102K.

Argh... someone has eliminated Ms. Isabelle Mercier!

About 3 hours ago, Evelyn Ng chipped up to 116K on AKos!!! (Honestly NDPT'ers quit bitchin' about that hand!)

Just under 2 hours ago, Antonio Esfandiari was eliminated when his pocket cowboys met pocket ladies and then it all went south on a "turned" queen. His opponent Paul Andrzejewski apologized... to which Antonio replied, "Never say sorry, it's poker."

And just like that... I'm all caught up! Hmmm, this bloggin' thing ain't so hard! Okay, sorry folks (guys and gals alike) I envy you the gig, but appreciate the job that you're ALL doing!!!

According to http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/main-event/day2b/ the field is down to 1744 out of 6844.

I'll update tomorrow... I promise. The sandman demands it... as does my employer tomorrow morning.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort WSOP Satellite winners doing well!

After mentioning Brian Schaedlich who is the current WSOP Main Event chip leader (with a now reported 745,000 in chips) and Ohio native who won his way into the WSOP via winning a $135 Satelite at West Virginia's own Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort; I got curious as to how all the other winners from the Mountaineer are doing.

So, here's what I've found...

Doug Craine finished Day 2a with 201,600 chips. Leland Smith will enter Day 2b play with 63,025 chips and Darren Horvath with 24,550.

All others noted on the Mountaineer Casino website do not appear to have played in the WSOP including: James Retton, Daniel Whitaker, and Leland Smith.

I'm still trying to wade through and search the players roster for any of the other names. But congratulations to all of them for winning the package and doing so well thus far!

Wheeling Island's website however has no mention of the WSOP Satellite's OR their winners. This has honestly been "par-for-the-course" for Wheeling's website though. They should really get on the ball with this. They're really missing out on some GREAT advertising if any of their winners even went to the WSOP, let alone if they happen to still be in the running!

Ron White was right... "You can't fix stupid."

Regards,

cheer_dad

WSOP Main Event 2a aftermath, and local boy Brian Schaedlich

According to the head counts available from http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/tourney/updatelander--new.asp there are 2,852 players remaining of the original 6,844 who began the journey that is the 2008 Main Event of the World Series of Poker. Still to come is Day 2b of the event, where the herd will continue to be thinned. It has now been announced that the top 666 will be payed out. (Look momma, it's the devil in the poker.) The field will be easier to maintain and track once all players remaining come together in one room at the same time, to allow play to continue. Needless to say, I'm really interested to see where things stand after Day 2b. But that being said let's take a look at what happened yesterday.

Off the cuff, the first notable point is that both Scotty Nguyen and Robert Varkonyi have both been eliminated from the field. They were the only remaining previous winners of the Main Event remaining entering Day 2a. Other players that I had my eye on fell by the wayside as well, including Barry Greenstein, Paul Wasicka, David Grey, Greg Mueller, Kathy Liebert, Dario Alioto, Barry Schulman, Nick Schulman, Erick Lindgren, and Svetlana Gromenkova.

The top 10 players after Day 2a are Brian Schaedlich 745,000, Hunter Frey 400,000, Jeremiah Smith 390,000, Brandon Adams 371,000, Kellen Hunter 360,000, Patrick Fortin 355,000, David Rheem 320,000, Farhad Sinaei 312,000, Garth Paul 265,000 and Soren Peterson 258,000. With a field with an average stack of 47,994 chips... these guys are pretty healthy at this point.

Recall that I had my eye on the following players, and I'm holding out hope for them: Vanessa Rousso is very short-stacked but I'm holding out hope for her and her 28,000 in chips. Patrik Antonius with 64,125. (I have to add in to my watch list MRS. Antonius (Maya Geller-Antonius) who is currently sitting on 130,000 in chips! Erik Seidel with 145,000, Hoyt Corkins 131,000, Thor Hansen 117,000, Chau Giang 115,000, Robert Mizrachi with 237,000 and of course Brandon Adams who I've already noted (because he's in the top 10) with 371,000 chips. And I can't believe I left out Vince Van Patten, who is above the mid stack with 53,000. Hang in there gang!

Another VERY COOL thing to note is that the current chip leader Brian Schaedlich (745,000) is a local boy, having won his way into the WSOP by winning here in my home state of West "by god" Virginia at the newly opened poker room of the Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort. A Big Thanks to Frank for pointing this out over at his blog and reminding me of the fact! He's also being noticed as is pointed out by this article http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/news/article.asp?newsid=2150. Best of luck to you Brian! You've already done well for yourself, now just keep doin' what your doin' and make for yourself a big payday!

I also can't believe I didn't make mention of the fact that Erick "E-Dog" Lindgren has been named the 2008 Milwaukee's Best Light Player of the Year with a total of 5 cashes AND $1,348,528 in earnings. Congratulations! Check out all the standings at http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/players/2008.asp.

The action gets back underway today at Noon for Day 2b when those who survived Days 1c and 1d will gather to battle on in search of the elusive Main Event WSOP bracelet and ultimately a $9,119,517 payday!

We'll be watching, or rather reading all about it, over at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/main-event/.

Back here, close to home I was told last night what our baseball schedule is like for the Belpre Tournament for this "extended" weekend. Thursday 6:00pm, Friday 6:00pm, Saturday (ugh) 9:00am, 11:15am, and 3:45pm. We'll likely be done after that, as I don't expect us to advance in the finals. Particularly, since there is NO DIVISION between the "A" and "B" All-Stars. In other words, our B team will be going up against A teams too. What kinda idiocy is that?!

Anyway, it is what it is...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

WSOP Main Event Day 2a, starts today at Noon PDT

On the very near horizon is Day 2a of the 39th Annual World Series of Poker Main Event (a.k.a. Event 54.) Players who began their journey on Days 1a and 1b and survived, will return to battle it out for the bracelet and the top spot. The current chipleaders from the combined 1a and 1b groups are as follows:

Mark Garner 194900, Ben Sarnoff 177500, Brandon Adams 176450, Brian Schaedlich 160725, Kellen Hunter 155200, Stefan Mattsson 154275, Patrick Fortin 145275, Robert Mizrachi 142400, Jeff Frerichs 138025, Soren Peterson 135475

BUT, I'll have my eye on all of the following players on Day 2a, for no other reason than I really like them... and they have more chips than they started with on Day 1:

Barry Greenstein 21500, Scotty Nguyen 23600, Paul Wasicka 26950, David Grey 37100, Greg Mueller 37725, Kathy Liebert 39550, Vanessa Rousso 48450, Dario Alioto 51875, Barry Schulman 58350, Patrik Antonius 64125, Erik Seidel 64925, Hoyt Corkins 67525, Nick Schulman 69000, Thor Hansen 78850, Chau Giang 87625, Erick Lindgren 92325, Svetlana Gromenkova 94125, Robert Mizrachi 142400, Brandon Adams 176450

As for Day 2b the chipleaders in this one as combined from Days 1c and 1d are as follows:

Henning Granstad 242950, Curt Kohlberg 173050, David "Bakes" Baker 163450, Howard Berchowitz 160075, Arnaud Mattern 157650, Steve Austin 149000, Mohamad Kowssarie 146000, David Stucke 140525, Sami Rustom 140450, Dylan Linde 138425

BUT, I'll have my eye on all of the following players, for no other reason than I really like them... and they have more chips than they started with on Day 1.

Howard Lederer 28975, Erik Cajelais 29350, Scott Clements 29800, Jerry Yang 30350, John D'Agostino 35400, Steve Dannenmann 37500, Isabelle Mercier 40725, Phil Laak 45200, Men Nguyen 48025, Allen Cunningham 49000, Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier 49900, Mike Matusow 52000, Jeff Madsen 52300, Rolf Slotboom 52425, Chip Jett 52450, Hevad Khan 54600, Phil Gordon 58700, Jennifer Harman 63050, Liz Lieu 68025, Chris Moneymaker 68525, Shawn 'Sheiky' Sheikhan 69825, Jean-Robert Bellande 70700, Phil Hellmuth 78900, Brian 'sbrugby' Townsend 85650, Nenad Medic 93200, Antonio Esfandiari 93775, Gus Hansen 102900, Heidi Northcott 103075, Carlos Mortensen 109825, Evelyn Ng 110225, David Oppenheim 114400, David Singer 119425, Victor Ramdin 124600.

Thanks to the folks over at PokerNews.com who are doing such a fantastic job of keeping all of this updated. Please visit and give them your support!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Monday, July 07, 2008

All Day 1's are complete. Day 2 begins Tuesday.

Day 1d of the WSOP Main Event has been completed. 1,362 players survived the day. All told there have a been a total of 6,844 players who entered the Main Event this year. There will be a break in the action for today as the Main Event takes the day off. Action will resume on Tuesday, with Day 2a getting underway.

Notable bustouts on the day were: Chuck Liddell, Annie Duke, Andy Bloch, Jennifer Tilly, Phil Ivey, Vinny Vinh, Paul 'Eskimo' Clark, Chris Ferguson, Karina Jett, Dario Minieri, Todd Brunson, Michael Mizrachi, Layne Flack, and Cyndy Violette.

Folks who are still in running for the top spot: Victor Ramdin, David Oppenheim, Carlow Mortensen, Gus Hansen, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Harman, Phil Gordon, Hevad Khan, Chip Jett, Allen Cunningham, and Howard Lederer.

At any rate have a good "lull" in the action gang, there's more poker brewing for the rest of the week. Stay tuned, and read all about it over at http://www.pokernews.com/poker-tournaments/2008/05/2008-world-series-poker.html.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Sunday, July 06, 2008

WSOP Day 1b and 1c...

I'm only just now getting back to take a look at how things are going in the 39th Annual Main Event of the WSOP. I spent most of my day yesterday in Vienna again for the baseball tournament. Festivities from the day before were "postponed" until today due to the rain. It was like monsoon season around here for the past couple of days. We needed to dry the boys out. Anyway, we are done with the tournament. No more for us... we weren't doing so hot. But together we've identified some areas that we need to work on as a team, and some for the individuals as well. They are a good bunch of kids and we want to help make them all better ball players. The goal is to make 'em better than we found 'em. Somewhere in there's a life lesson I think.

Anyway, back to the WSOP. On Day 1b 1,158 players started the day but only 615 survived. The numbers are lower than the day before, and low in general BUT let's not go jumping to conclusions folks, there's no reason to start pannicking just yet. Notable bustouts on the day were Humberto Brenes, Jamie Gold, Greg Raymer, Kenny Tran, Scott Fischman, Dewey Tomko, Daniel Negreanu, Ted Forrest, Lee Watkinson, and Kristy Gazes.

Patrik Antonius rode high throughout the day but on the last hand of the day he took a big hit and was dropped to 64,125 in chips. My boy Erick "E-Dog" Lindgren is still in the fight, along with Thor Hansen, Hoyt Corkins, Erik Seidel, Vanessa Rousoo, 'Captain' Tom Franklin, Kathy Liebert, and David Grey.

As for Day 1c, 1,928 players began but only 1,026 survived. Notable bustouts on Day 1c included Larry Flynt, Huckleberry Seed, Max Pescatori, Mike Sexton, Gavin Griffin, Mimi Tran, Marco Traniello, JC Tran, TJ Cloutier, Paul Darden, Tony G, Marcel Luske, and Sam Farha.

Notable players who still remain include: Evelyn Ng, Nenad Medic, Brian 'sbrugby' Townsend, Shawn 'Sheiky' Sheikhan, Chris Moneymaker, Rolf Slotboom, Mike Matusow, Clonie Gowen, and Isabelle Mercier.

Day 1d is underway now, but updates for it are very far away. Have a great day folks.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Friday, July 04, 2008

WSOP Main Event Day 1a is over, 1b begins today

The 39th Annual World Series of Poker Main Event Day 1a began yesterday with 1,297 entrants and that field was whittled away down to 636 after five levels. The chipleader is currently Mark Garner. But we all know that's a fleeting title which will change hands more times than I've been sucked out on when I was holding pocket aces.

I started skimming through the list of names of the players who were still in the race, but I realized something. I watch a lot of poker and a lot of these names, whether sponsored or not, look quite familiar to me. That and there are still a whole bunch of them in the running. So instead I just decided to focus on the names of the players that have busted out of the event already. There's quite a laundry list there too. Sadly, here's my incomplete least of the notable bust outs: Tom 'durrrr' Dwan, David Benyamine, David Pham, Freddy Deeb, Allyn Jaffrey Shulman, Eli Elezra, Mori Eskandani, Taylor 'Green Plastic' Caby, Katja Thater, Jason Alexander, Roy Winston, Dan Harrington, Gavin Smith, Roland De Wolfe, 'Miami' John Cernuto, Josh Arieh, JJ Liu, Erica Schoenberg, and Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliott.

Day 1b is expected to have a turnout greater than yesterday. Hang on folks it's gonna be a bumpy ride. My hat's off to the bloggers covering the madness. Thus far, they've done a terrific job! More coverage will be on the way as soon as it happens over at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/main-event/.
Back here on the homefront, today's tournament baseball games were cancelled (or rather postponed) until tomorrow. Too much rain. We did play last night though, despite the rain, which at times was heavy. I'd like to report a win, and by all rights I should be reporting one, but heading into the 4th inning, the bottom just dropped out from under the boys. The melt down was epic, there's just no other way to put it. The first few errors just fed the others. Pitching and hitting have been killing us. But the emotion of the thing, the wave of the inevitable win being plucked from their grasp has been a thing which almost appears tangible in that you feel like you can touch it, and feel it. It's a thing to behold. Somehow we've got to find a way to get them past it, and pull out a win in this season. It'll come together for us...we'll work on it best we can.

But it's time to call it a blog entry, and get on with the day.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Thursday, July 03, 2008

WSOP continues, Main Event tomorrow!

Event 52 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em has concluded with David Daneshgar having bested the field of 2,693 players. He takes home the WSOP bracelet and $625,443 for his efforts. Congratulations.

Event 53 - $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout the battle rages on, even now. They are down to the final 2 in the event, and seemingly no end in sight! The bracelet and top prize of $278,180 remains to be won. Matt Graham and Jean-Robert Bellande continue to battle it out. According to blogger "compncards" over at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/event-53/day2/ they expect to go on until at least 7:00am PDT, if not later. I'm thinking later!
***UPDATE***
Jean-Robert Bellande has been eliminated just after 7:00am PDT and Matt Graham takes down the bracelet!!! Congratulations on a long fought battle.

The 39th Annual World Series of Poker Main Event Day 1a will begin at NOON today. It's gonna be a long and winding road people. Pace yourself.

Meanwhile back here on the home front... the Vienna All-Stars Tournament began yesterday. Our team had its first game last night, beginning after 9:30pm! Yes, it was friggin' late. Playing under the lights was nice, but as in many things in life it's more fun when you're winning. To put it softly... we weren't having much fun, ahem. We played Worthington, and their lead off pitcher really put it to us. You can't score runs, without a few hits. Our pitching staff has some promise, but at this point lacks maturity. But the season is young, so are the boys, and our greater objective with this team was to continue to develop the players.
I was tough on my son, more so than I should have been. I wouldn't mind it all so much if he had more hustle. I just don't think he has the desire or drive yet. I don't know how to motivate him, and I find myself utterly frustrated. I don't know how to fix it, maybe it's not mine to fix. So, my strategy for tonight... and the rest of this tournament will be to try not to be such a dick. Find some way to be positive. Whatever bullshit approach you've been trying thus far with your son, well, it ain't workin'. If it's not... it's time to try something different. I deserve to catch some shit from my son for being meaner than I had intended. I didn't help matters any. Fuck, this wasn't in the manual. Maybe I missed it in Fatherhood 101. Once again a mistake. Continue to repeat it, or make it right; it's your choice.

Well my shrink tells me it's time to get off the damn couch...and get back to it.

Regards,

cheer_dad

P.S. After a "forced" conversation I just had behind closed doors I have a new thought for the day. Get your own damn house in order before you come messin' around in mine.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Happy Hump Day!

Event 50 - $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship has ended with Marty Smyth taking down the win, having bested the 381 entrants to the event. He takes home his first bracelet and a smooth $859,549 for his efforts. Congratulations. Former chip leader Michael Mizrachi entering into the final table finished in the number 3 spot and takes home $331,279.

Event 51 - $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. finished up as well, crowning James Schaaf as its winner. He takes home his first bracelet on this, his first trip to the WSOP. It is reported over at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-world-series-of-poker/event-51-1500-H-O-R-S-E/ that he was down at one point in the tournament to only 200 chips, and was able to make a comeback and take down the win. He takes home $256,412. Congratulations. Recall that Phil Hellmuth was chasing his 12th bracelet in this event. Unfortunately, this was unrealized for him and he takes down the #3 spot for $93,168. My earlier joking (okay half joking) comments aside, it was noted by blogger "shorton" over at PokerNews.com that Hellmuth's "...performance this time certainly proves a point. Hellmuth can play non-hold'em, and it appears to only be a matter of time before he'll add #12 to his wrist."

Event 52 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em will enter Day 3 today, having just recently finishing up for the "day/night/whatever." They are down to the final 9, having started at 2,693 entrants. The top spot will payout $625,443. Stay tuned.

Event 53 - $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout is down to 72 of the original 823. Play will resume today at 2:00pm PDT.

Read My Lips... NO NEW EVENTS BEGINNING TODAY!
Honestly, do you really need to ask me why?
If so, you need to get out more...
Everything else needs to get wrapped up in order for the MOB to converge on the Amazon Room at the RIO for Event #54 people! I'm talking 'bout the 39th Annual World Series of Poker Main Event.

JR, this is your 2nd warning. As of this writing the Main Event begins in 1 Day, 7 Hours, 4 Minutes. You can safely view the blog up to that point. Beyond that I will ruin your day with as many spoilers as I can get my hands on!!! You have been warned.

Now a little closer to home... Vienna's All-Star Tournament gets underway tonight. Our boys hit the field, under the lights at 9:15pm EST. Win or lose guys, I'm proud of the effort you have put forth!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

A little WSOP, a little baseball, yaddayaddayadda

Event 49 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em has completed and J.C. Tran has emerged as the winner, having outlasted the field of 2,718 players. He takes home his first bracelet and a $631,170 payday! Congratulations.

Event 50 - $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship is now down to the final 9 having thinned the field from the initial 381. Michael Mizrachi will enter Day 3 of the event as the chipleader. Still up for grabs is the top prize of $859,549!

Event 51 - $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. will enter its 3rd Day today, with 21 out of 803 players remaining. Currently Phil Hellmuth is on top of the pack with the chip lead. Of course it's far from over, but if he wins this one, there'll be no shuttin' him up! Okay, okay... sorry Phil. This event (if he ultimately would take it down) would be his FIRST bracelet in a "non-hold'em event!" $256,412 remains to be claimed as well as the WSOP bracelet.

Event 52 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em will enter Day 2 with 223 of the initial 2,693 starting field. It's still much to early to make any speculations on this one. The top prize of $625,443 remains to be won.

The only event on tap to get started today is Event 53 - $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout. Which will usher us into Thursday's wondrous chaos, also known as Day 1a of the Main Event. I'm already excited and nervous and I'm not even there! Maybe I should tweak the meds or something.

JR, if you're still reading the blog, you should probably CEASE AND DESIST by Thursday, if you don't want to read any spoilers about the Main Event. While I hate to lose any of the regular readers to the blog I also don't want to diminish any of your viewing pleasure, for when ESPN televises it all for you. Me, I'll just borrow that "flashy-thingy" from Men In Black and get to enjoy it all over again!

In All-Star Baseball news, I was just informed last night of a portion of our schedule for the Vienna All-Star Tournament. We begin on Wednesday at 9:15PM! Yes, I said frackin' PM! Who was the brainiac who put together a schedule that has 9 and 10-year-olds, starting a baseball game at that hour? Can I get a WTF from someone?!? Beyond that all I know is that we play another game on Thursday, two on Friday, and at least one on Saturday, and beyond that it'll depend on our performance. So much for a nice laid back holiday weekend.

Regards,

cheer_dad