WSOP 2009 Main Event Day 4 results

Day 4 of the Main Event of the WSOP 2009 concluded just a few minutes ago. And now the 789 who started... 407 players are all that are left. Everyone is now in the money, in fact for the last couple of hundred they have been.
The current chipleader is Ludovic Lacay, with over 1.6 million in chips. Here's a quick rundown of other still in the hunt: Matt Affleck, Blair Hinkle, Bertrand "Elki" Grospellier, Phil Ivey, Theo Tran, Hung Pham, Kenny Tran, Nick Schulman, Lou Diamond Phillips, Nasr El Nasr, Dennis Phillips, Kara Scott, Joe Hachem, Eric Cloutier, Joe Sebok, Joe Serock, David Benyamine, JC Tran, Amir Lehavot, Antonio Esfandiari, Dan Shak, Sorel Mizzi, Bobby Baldwin, Vitaly Lunkin, and Rolf Slotboom.

Bustouts for the day: Mike Sexton, Victor Greeley, Phil Hellmuth, Justin Bonomo, Van Nguyen, Paul Wasicka, Chris Ferguson, David Williams, Kristy Gazes, Brian Lemke, Hevad Khan, J.C. Alvarado, and Greg 'FBT' Mueller.

407 players remain... and now I'm heading down to the beach!
Regards,
cheer_dad

WSOP 2009 Main Event Day 2a done, 2b today

Day 2a of the WSOP's Event 57 - $10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold'em concluded a little over 3 hours ago. 1,476 began the journey yesterday but only 630 survived to play another day. The current chip leader is Eric Cloutier, sitting on 384,000 in chips. The best known name currently in the top 10 (7th) is Greg 'RBT' Mueller with a sizable stack of 311k. However, a much larger field will begin Day 2b today, and stacks may certainly swell. Patience, we'll just have to wait and see!

Other notable names who survived 2a are: Andy Black, Mike Sexton, Sorel Mizzi, Chris Ferguson, Jimmy Fricke, Thor Hansen, Pamela Brunson, Vitaly Lunkin, Tom Schneider, Kara Scott, Greg Raymer, Joe Sebok, Jason Alexander, Sam Farha, Van Nguyen, Dewey Tomko, Erik Seidel, Rolf Slotboom, Carlos Mortensen, Joe Serock, Bill Edler, Bruno Fitoussi, and Roland de Wolfe.

Casualties include: Eli Elezra, Juha Helppi, 'Amarillo' Slim Preston, Mike Matusow, Gavin Smith, Todd Brunson, Alex Kravchenko, Michael DeMichele, Mel Juday, Erik Cajelais, Hoyt Corkins, Beth Shak, Micheal Craig, Shaun Deeb, Jason Mercier, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Tilly, Tony G, Phil Laak, Mike Caro, Katja Thater, Brian Townsend, Barry Shulman, Jon 'PearlJammed' Turner, Johnny 'frickin' Chan, and Gus Hansen.

There's still lots of poker to be played here people. Day 2b as I said returns today after which we'll be to the point at which the entire field of remaining players will be part of one big pool, which will be playing simultaneously. Players will get a day of rest, on Thursday, while instead a media event will take place, beginning at 1pm. Then, the action gets going again on Friday for Day 3.

I leave for family vacation Friday night, to Myrtle Beach, SC. So, yes the laptop will be packed and the idiocy that is my blogging will continue. I wouldn't want any of you to miss me! I'll be thinking of you all as I pickle my liver... and slowly turn myself into a Chicken Nugget while lying on the shore. Hope they don't mistake me for a beached whale again and try to roll my ass back into the ocean.

Right in the "brow hole!"

Regards,

cheer_dad

Meanwhile back at the "poker" blog

back at the ole "poker" blog...

Yes, boys and girls once upon a time this was a blog about all things poker, at least in the low stakes, not very good at it; sense of the word. From time-to-time I meander off topic, but the few poor saps/devoted fans of this here blog seem to keep coming back. And eventually I get back on target with a post on that game we all love to hate, poker. I thought about posting my thoughts up about the 60 Minutes airing of the piece on the UB/AP (Ultimate Bet/Absolute Poker) cheating scandal, but honestly that's been done, and quite well I might add by some others. Go check out Shamus' synopsis here: http://hardboiledpoker.blogspot.com/2008/12/on-60-minutes-cheaters.html or you might even just read the transcript for yourself over at CBSNews.com: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/25/60minutes/main4633254.shtml. Either way, you can formulate your own ideas and opinions. For my sake and your own sanity though, just avoid the gloom and doom hypesters who are running about screaming "the sky is falling, the sky is falling!" Honestly, get over it.

I won't say that some things won't change over time in the poker world, but I don't know how much sway the show 60 minutes actually has over the populace anymore. Let's go back a bit and look at some other things that have happened in the past few years that were thought to be a death blow to online poker. Neteller was muscled out as the premiere online payment processor for all us degenerate gambler types, and various yaahooo's promptly started wailing and moaning. In the end, however we migrated elsewhere. Party Poker then pulled the plug on its U.S. operations and focused elsewhere and this was talked about around the virtual water coolers on various forums as a nail in the coffin of online poker. Now, there were a number of other online poker room casualties which opted to abandon the U.S. market, around this same time. But others stood fast, and to boot, a new crop of poker rooms sprung up as well. The numbers went down, but I rarely find myself waiting for a game online, even playing over at Bodog, which isn't recognized as the heaviest of hitters in the online poker community. The UIGEA (boo hiss hiss) was analyzed, debated and cried about when it came out, and still we were put on hold awaiting enforcement guidelines, etc... Well those came out... and they were late and continue to be argued. Now, many it seems blame this whole "poker-thing" on the Bush administration and seem to think that President Elect Obama's going to fix it all up. I very seriously doubt that too. If poker's the only thing he's got on his mind right now, we are in some sad shape indeed people. What I see are just the normal obstacles that seem always to crop up. I don't think there's a cure all for any of it. In the end American's are an ingenious lot, and we tend to find a way of working around a lot of government stupidity. We sometimes thrive despite it. I think there is still a long haul ahead, but eventually I think things will eventually turn around. The U.S. market will re-open its doors, and ultimately online poker will re-emerge from the shadows. Once again, I'll be free to risk the pennies, nickles and dimes that I've been risking all along, without concern for a pack of jack-booted thugs to come storming in guns-a-blazin'! Okay, that's bit over the top. You see, this is why I stay out of the arguments and discussions about poker and politics for that matter.

I've run off at the mouth long enough though.

Anyway, in the coming weeks leading up to Christmas, there's a lot of poker playing on tap for my fellow NDPT'ers and I to participate in. And in addition I hope to wade back out there on Bodog and reinforce the walls of the ole fledgeling bankroll. But next up on the agenda is #18 (last of the regular NDPTNDPT points season games) on December 6th at my house. The following weekend the Yanok's are pulling out ALL the stops and hosting their December qualifier(s) on December 12th, followed by the their End of the Year freebie tournament, where close to a Grand is on the line, and making me salivate right now. The following weekend again the action will shift back to my house, for the NDPT Year End Extravaganza, our annual $50 buyin game. A win in this one, could turn the whole year around for some lucky bastard. And I'm hoping to resemble that remark!!! Dare to dream cheer_dad!

I'm mulling over another post that I hope to put up tonight, but there are some pending actions which need to occur before I can do it the way I want. Hey, if it all works out, you'll know later tonight. If not, just pretend I never mentioned it. You didn't hear nuthin' 'bout nuthin'!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Sometimes I can type faster than I can think

By the way, the weekend arrived early at least for me. I took Friday off... and it was a group decision. Big Red told me that I was sleeping really well that morning and so she decided to let me sleep. Ahhh, ain't that sweet? No, not really since what it really meant was that I had really tied one on the night before at the drawing at the Eagles and I was snoring so loud it was registering on the Richter scale. Hey, give me some credit for at least having the decency to sleep on the couch! Anyway, energized to some degree by the extra sleep, remarkably without much of a hangover. That's one thing I can say nice about the accursed Jack Daniel's, he seldom revisits you courtesy of an earth shattering headache. Now if I'd been throwing back draft beer all night, ouch! But I didn't get off all that easy folks. Big Red did have some "honey do" in mind for my lazy carcass. Both of the kids abandoned me just before she gave me the assignment. The little friggin' traitors, I think they must have known. Anyway, Whit headed to the mall, with JoJo, and Cole went bowling with mamaw and some of the other kids in the family. I on the other hand got to enjoy the pleasures cleaning out the damn garage. I hate cleaning. I'm not a slob, I'm not overly on the side of disorder. And from time-to-time I get a wild hair up my ass and decide to clean up something on my own. This was different. This was the garage, and furthermore it wasn't my idea, it was Big Red's and she expects you know... like results! I swear baby, I'll give up the bottle, just don't make me clean the garage! Well that didn't work, and she knew I didn't mean it anyway (damn her woman's intuition.) But I did survive the horror. I did learn one thing while I slaved away. You know, most of this shit, ain't even mine! How many old pairs of shoes do you people need? When did the Home Interiors nick nack crap begin to be "stored" out here? And exactly how many bicycles can you kids ride anyway!?! Alright, I'll stop complaining now, it really did need cleaned up. I didn't die, but when she assigned me the task I still think she secretly had hopes! Like I said, the weekend came early.

I actually played a little poker. By little I mean for a little while, and for some horrendously little stakes. I was bored, Big Red was watching Mama Mia (shudder) although I must admit I knew every ABBA song that was being belted out, in show tune stylings... I grabbed for the laptop and checked email, caught up on my blog reading and writing for that matter, and in the midst of things I fired up Bodog and thought I'd kill some time. I looked for something to occupy the time, but nothing too serious. I've only got a modest bankroll online anymore, and I don't want to squander it off on some poker ego trip. I play online most often to unwind and relax (though there are days when I wonder what the hell I was thinking when I came up with that idea.) Now, if I went bustola, it wouldn't be painful to the wallet. I'm not wagering the milk money (although the sums are similar.) If I lost it all, I'd be upset, cause I'd have this empty feeling but then again I could turn around a drop a few C-notes back out there again and be back in business. But I don't want to. I haven't redeposited "new" money in a very long time. Granted I'm not cashing out either. But that sum is there for my pleasure and it has served me well now for a few years. That first $90 I deposited so many moons ago, has definitely grown. I bought a few things along the way with it too. I'm happy with it. I don't need (right now) those big scores and grinding out for hours and days on end to enjoy poker. I love the game, and anyone who knows me, knows that. I play, talk, and write about it all the time. It is my hobby, and as hobbies go, this one has on occasion turned me a little profit. How many hobbies can people say that about? Over time, my game has improved. My opponents suckouts don't surprise me anymore, and I still feel my pulse quicken when I flop the stone cold nuts and some "guy" on the other side of the felt is betting in to me. Those are the moments I live for. Last night's 2 games were played at the SNG tables. And for a quick laugh I sat at two $2.20 SNG's! These differ from normal SNG's at least on Bodog, in that they payout the top 4 places instead of the customary 3. I played in some of these the other day too, and had a lot of fun, and cashed in like 3 out of 4. Last night I cashed in both of them. Now, I'm not going to get rich here and I know it, but I made a deal with myself, that I'd breach the $200 mark on Bodog before moving up to anything else. The cash tables I enjoy, but when you sit down, you've got to be willing to sit down for the long haul. Surprisingly these little SNG's are not exactly the donk fest that I had expected. There are actually some good players there. They aren't chatty and trash talkin' each other's mothers either. Without knowing or seeing them, they're just a bunch of guys like me, with a little cash online to mess around with. We're not trying to get rich quick, or get rich at all for that matter. We just love to play the game. We just love to improve our game. We just enjoy the learning of the thing in all its forms.

I think that more than anything is what bothered me most about the UIGEA when it came out, and then they (the DOJ) ultimately smacked Party Poker around (among others.) The "law" was passed to protect us from ourselves and to stamp out indecency and illegal activity. But what was really going on was they were taking away a beloved pastime from me and a lot of the folks that I know and for that matter from a lot of the other low stakes/working class stiffs that I played with every once in a while online just to let off some steam, and actually use my brain a little in the process. We weren't hurting anyone, and we resented feeling like it too. The government wasn't going to make any money off of us. We were the fish in most people's minds and we were just contributing at the bottom end of the food chain. We had no aspirations of greatness (at least none that we were telling anyone about.) We just liked playing. We still do, but there for a while our lives were a little out of kilter. Our paltry sums of money were tied up in the "war" against illegal online gambling and a few of the payment processor fiascos. But I didn't lose any sleep over it. I don't play as often as I did during that poker boom that was online poker, but that's been a choice for different reasons. The UIGEA scared some people and inconvenienced some of us for a time, but for us little guys down here at the bottom the effect was minimal, except that it took away from us a very enjoyable pastime. Some guys tinker on cars, some guys watch sports on tv, some guys do other things... but what we and a bunch of us other "little guys" play poker. And we like to play live games, for small stakes most of the time and make an occasional trip to an honest to goodness casino, but it was great and affordable for us to be able to play more often online. You can't go to a live casino and play micro stakes games. AND us playing at those micro levels online wasn't hurting traffic to the casinos one little bit. What the UIGEA really did was squash the fun of the little guys for a little while. But slowly, surely, it's all coming back. It's still poker, we still play it, and we love doing it.

Sorry I've gone on and on a bit here, but I've done it before and you seem to let me just type what my brain is thinking and you don't seem to complain. So, if you made it clear to the bottom of this post, thanks! If you left me somewhere along the way, that's okay too. Thanks for stopping by, hope you come back my way again. I'm all about low stakes, and low standards... and I'm one of those friends that you've got in "low places."

Enjoy your day...

Regards,

cheer_dad

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

Treasury and Federal Reserve officials have been warned!

I stumbled across this remarkable article over at TheHill.com, which told a story I had not yet heard from the front lines of the fight against the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.) According to the author, Susan Crabtree (as of 04/22/08 03:45 PM EST,)

"A bipartisan group of House Financial Services Committee members have warned U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve officials not to waste any more time trying to implement a ban on online gambling."

Yes, I recognize that is a direct quote (hopefully cited sufficiently)but what an opening line for an article! I don't want to have to quote the whole article, but it's really tough because it's just chock full of facts that I'd like to re-iterate. But suffice it to say that Representatives Barney Frank, Luis Gutierrez, Ron Paul, and Pete King sent a letter putting the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve on notice NOT to proceed with developing regulations which would be used to enforce the provisions of the much debated UIGEA. They didn't pull punches with the letter sent Tuesday and the recipients were Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke!

I acknowledge the fight that Rep. Barney Frank has put up in his efforts against the UIGEA, but this move seems quite bold. I think it demonstrates his commitment to the effort and I for one applaud him for it! I'm currently trolling around looking for the letter that was sent in its entirety. As soon as I find it...I'm posting it or at least the link. Basically what I gather from the article is that the lawmakers involved believe there are much more pressing issues with which to deal than waste time and effort on establishing policy for enforcement of the UIGEA, which Frank and his colleagues plan to actively oppose.

Sorry blog dwellers, I'm struggling for words to write here, without plagiarizing the whole article. Just go read all about it RIGHT NOW! Right HERE! Hopefully you'll be as excited about it as I am.

I'll stop rambling and head out looking for the elusive letter now!

***REVISION***
Ha, armed with an internet connection and the forces of Google on my side I found the smoking gun (errr letter) that was sent to Bernanke and Paulson... Here you go: http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/press042108.shtml

Make sure to read BOTH of the letters that were sent out, which are for the most part identical except for the following passage in the letter sent to Chairman Bernanke:

"We realize this is not a task you requested. We also appreciate the candor with which your representative answered our questions. In fact, her honest answers and the testimony of the other witnesses confirmed our view that this is an impossible task."

This is the good stuff folks... : )

Regards,

cheer_dad

Battle against UIGEA wages on and on...

I posted a comment over on Lou Krieger's blog following his article/post linked here, regarding a decision being rendered in relation to the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.) I read through the post and as always I remain skeptical, so I went out to the iMEGA.org website to read just what was being lauded as a "victory" on the side of internet gaming (more importantly and specifically as it relates to poker.) That statement on their site included a link to the actual "Memorandum Opinion" that was rendered, found here. Unfortunately for Mr. Krieger and other journalistic venues including http://www.gambling911.com/online-gambling-031008.html have one fact reported incorrectly. The statement that a judgement came from "a U.S. Supreme Court Judge" is not accurate. The Memorandum Opinion was issued by Judge Mary L. Cooper, of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. This merely granted iMEGA the standing to pursue a challenge of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). As well within the 29 page opinion, I'm not finding the language which agrees entirely that potential criminal liability by financial institutions with regard to the UIGEA has been absolved by the judge's opinion. Trust me... I wanted to find it, but I don't see it there. Then again, I've missed things before and I'm not an attorney so I'll be the first to admit my inadequacy. If some additional documentation exists to add credence to the assertion that this element of the UIGEA has been thrown out, please someone let me know! I'd love to see it, and I'd start showing it to my own bank/credit union and pump more money into the poker economy forthwith.

Do NOT construe my comments as criticism of Lou Krieger who I greatly admire and respect. I believe he has reported consistently and kept the poker blogging community very well informed on the subject of the fight against the UIGEA. I for one am grateful.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Pick a card, draw a straw...

Whatever floats your boat (or in this case my boat) there are A LOT of great choices for me to choose from to play poker. So many so, that my online play has all but disappeared, although last night I dropped .15 on PokerStars when my frackin' Suddenlink modem decided to drop me! Suddenlink, much like Charter before them sucks! But I digress. Anyway back to the options of poker play. Of course as regular readers here some of you will already have read about my adventures in Donk-Dom (a.k.a. Wheeling Island.) So, as always that's a casino just a short drive up I-77/70. But this months options have really exploded. Friday night I have two great options to pick from. Juicy cash game at my good friend Shuman's house or head over to another great Yanok's qualifier tournament. Saturday is spoken for by me, as I'll be hosting the NDPT 3-ish tournament of the year. To further complicate things, Matt called last night saying that Bob was hosting a cash game (that night.) It was later when I got in, I was tired and didn't go. Besides I've already committed and overextended myself on playing lately. But I'm not even done with the options available to me for the month. The following weekend some of us will likely be playing while the ladies are attending a PartyLite party. They'll of course invade after the orders and invoices have been signed. And then finally we round out the month on the 29th, with the game at JR's for a little BIGGER than usual game. He'll be hosting a $100 tourney, for a single full table game. I feel my bankroll withering or growing exponentially as I type this. Eventually though I do want to get back to the bigger game, and take another shot. Granted it ain't 3 stacks of high society, but it'll have to do!

Thanks to Del for getting "us" access to the "TwoPlusTwoForums" through the proxy again!!! Now if I can resist the urge to be out there reading all the time and get some actual work done! :) Can't say as I've actually succeeded in the effort today! Also, last night my new CardPlayer magazine showed up in the mail, but I may never get the chance to even read it. On the cover this month is none other than Patrik Antonius and my wife immediately seized the magazine to commit some tawdry act I'm sure! Yeah Big Red likes her some of that man candy!!!

At any rate, hope all is well with each of you out there toiling away in the blogosphere. Keep grinding it out!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Weekend wrapup, and Happy B-Day MEGAN!

Tournament night at JR's last night was once again a lot of fun! I cannot complain at myself for any poker move that I made all night. No mistakes, some good cards when it counted, but all that still was not enough to take it down. You can do everything right in this game...and still lose. And I'm okay with that. Play the game... play it right... hope for the best.

I received further confirmation of my old addage in one hand in particular. When you have a pocket pair at the table, invariably someone else will too. In an uncharacteristic move for me, I limped into a pot from middle position with KK, figuring that someone would raise it up, and it happened. Unfortunately, it was Big Red who raised it up...but then there was more. Robert shoved all in, and it comes back to me. Now I pause. Does he have 'em? The Accursed Bullets? This is gonna leave a mark, is stuck in my mind... but these are the hands for which we wait. I shove, over him... in hopes of isolating to just him, which worked out for me. He tabled his pocket 10's, so I breathed a sigh of relief. I nearly put him on the Aces... I hit a set of Kings, and took it down. Big Red revealed that she'd folded pocket Queens. WOW! That was a phenomenal lay down. I'm really proud of her. Robert... I always end up in situations like this with you...ALWAYS.

In the end I made it only to 7th place... sans a payout. Big Red made it to 4th! The big one... went to Steve "All-In" Allman! Congratulations man!

Some of us ended up at the Eagles. I know, what a shocker! Had a great time as always. Glad to share yet another evening with each and every one of you.

Oh and in today's news, SEVERAL of us headed to Pizza Place today, to wish lil Megan Brothers a Happy 1st Birthday!!! Congratulations and many happy returns. Thanks Chris and Laura for letting us share in the Big Day!!!

And with that, I'll wrap it up.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Back to the grind

Back to the daily grind. Yes, I've returned to work. I managed to get to the bottom of my email Inbox, after sorting sifting and reading 1,001 email messages and meeting invitations. I'm scheduled for 3 meetings already today. Gee thanks guys! I was greeted this morning by cold weather, brisk winds, and about an inch of snow was beginning to fall. Roads were no issue, but I was the first set of tire tracks to touch the road in my development and on over to Martown Road.

It feels a little strange being back to work, or at least feels different not being in Shepherdstown. I miss the comraderie... I miss the interaction... I miss a number of the people with whom I shared a 2 week chunk of life. Those strangers who became valued friends aren't there to chat with over lunch, or run on the treadmill next to, in the fitness room, or to belt out a fractured karaoke song in the hotel bar. I have already placed our class picture here at my desk, so I can at the very least see the smiling faces. I hope all is well with each of them. Would that life causes our paths to cross again.

JR has sent out the next poker tournament seating assignments. I've played twice already since getting back home. Once at the Yanok's where I just broke even and also got qualified for the year end game. Then the following night (Saturday) at JR's house, I officially finished 2nd, to Vince, although we chopped the remaining prize pool. It was a good choice since it could have gone on and on for quite a while. Our styles are very similar. Neither of us is gonna get flustered and do something rash. We would have continued to grind for quite a while unless something crazy happened. Let's see if this weekend I can continue the winning way. I'll confess I've been reading "Zen and the Art of Poker," and I actually think it has helped my game. Not for any element of strategy, but in the calm peaceful approach to the game. Remaining at ease while those around you are on edge and playing with emotion, using the concepts from this book, you will have a decided advantage.

I made it out to Borders yesterday with my 40% coupon. I picked up a couple of titles that I'll share later. I want to start "reviewing" things that I think are worthwhile reading or watching in the case of movies/tv... I'm working on doing just that for the Zen Poker book. I encourage you to pick up a copy of that one right now, but if you must, wait for the review. I'll get something crafted and posted soon.

Everyone try to stay warm out there. I'll continue to struggle with staying awake.

Regards,

cheer_dad

ouch

After one helluva day in downtown Vegas we made it back to the Imperial Palace. At first I play a cheapie Let It Ride table. I quickly drop $80... I hit nothin'. Absolutely nothin'. Decide to hit the Poker Room. I sit at the $2/$4 Limit table for a while waiting for the list to go down. Finally the NLHE table opens. I sit...and once again look like the fuckin' tight bastard that I am. Play it straight...no bullshit...no nuthin'...the only hand I see is with a 67s when I flop the open ended straight flush draw. I missed...and show to the guy who continues to bet. I continue patience play... From the BB I look down at Q6 of hearts. No preflop raise. Flop comes 669...Lookin' good cheer_dad. I check, knowing the guy on the other end has been betting all night with nothing. I call. The turn is a Q... For those of you not payin' attention, yeah...I've got the BOAT. I check.. He bets out for $10. I make it $30 to go he calls. Regardless of the river we all know I'm going all in. Like a good little poker player. The river brings an ace, I shove. Insta call from the "guy" that was there from the start. He shows his...pocket ACES! I slink away from the room, feeling rather squishy in some very awkward areas. Ouch! Okay, friggin' ouch...no...FUCKIN' ouch! $120 down on that hand. Ouch! I find the cooler.

Oh well...that's poker. Ah bullshit...still sucks.

ANyway, very good day downtown today. We all made money on free sign up money today. Many drinks, many comps, and lotsa fun... Thank you Vince for driving us around. You rule. All of us are more than willing to stay downtown on the next trip after what we've seen there. Very nice and much cheaper. Go figure.

It's late, I'm tired...I'm drunk...time to call it a night.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Greetings from Vegas

The adventure continues... we were checked in before 10:30pm PST last night, flying in on a Saturday night is different. Our plane was just over 1/2 full, so there was room to move and breath. Oddly enough, we were chastised when we boarded because they insisted that we should have checked in 15 minutes prior. They were actually calling for the Wolfe's and Murray's over the airport intercom. Hey we were just next door at the bar. Anyway, no one was left behind.

The shuttle from the airport to the Imperial Palace was quick and painless. After checking in and stowing luggage, we grabbed a quick bite and then headed for the casino floor. Frank and I headed for the Poker Room while the Snappers headed for table games over at O'Sheas for some reason.

The Imperial was VERY busy last night. VERY!!! It took a while to get a seat at a table, and when that happened it was a $2/$4 Limit table. I heard later that it took nearly 2 hours for the guy that signed up at the same time as I did to get seated at a $1/$2 NLHE table. Like I said it was busy. Frank just reminded me that the poker room actually RAN OUT of $1 chips and was actually putting the orange-ish $4 chips in common play. Folks were showing up with those exclusively in their racks, when first getting seated. The dealers and poker room manager all said that THIS had never happened. One dealer who was just starting his shift, asked "What the hell are all the $4 chips doing on the friggin' table?!" Yeah I think he actually said friggin'.

I was pleased to find that the IP had gone hi-tech. For those of us who have played at Wheeling Island, you'll feel right at home. The electronic tables, with the auto shufflers, and dealers LED display, and card swiper are all identical. I talked to some of the dealers last night about them, and they said they really like them, and are a vast improvement over the old ones. Everything is tied in to the computer system and they have a flat panel display to let you know where you are on the waiting list, and what games are currently being spread. They've also expanded the bad beat and high hand bonuses. Between 8 and 11 AM each day, if you get Aces cracked you'll get the $100 bad beat money, or $50 for Kings. There are progressive payouts for high hands as well, such as quads, straight flushes and royals. The highest one currently on the board is the Club Royal Flush, which when I last saw it last night in the WEE HOURS was at $2,987. Frank, got up this morning before the rest of us, since he wussed out early : ) and headed for bed. He got his Aces cracked and took down the $100. That'll work.

Last night, I played $2/$4 and drank, alot, and decided the drunk was more important than the poker and decided the cards were just something to do. From 11:00pm to around 5:00am I was in the poker room. I was up for a while, a modest 40-50 bucks but I was tippin' and drinkin' and havin' a great time. There was a preponderance of eye candy to behold. How do they get such little tiny Asian girls, with big boobs. Must be in the water... Anyway around 4:00am Big Red stopped by to tell me she was still on the casino floor, playing and was UP, but didn't wanna jinx it by counting yet, she said not to leave without her, and she flitted off again. Shortly after that I got my Kings cracked (sadly no bonus) by a guy with a pair of Jacks. Then I proceeded to have Big Slick busted twice, once by a J-3os, ick... I would win with crap like Q2s, and lose with the biguns. I missed hitting open enders about 7 times in under an hour, and watched the stack begin to dwindle. So around 5:00am I decided to cash out down $68. Not bitter, just getting bored. I found Big Red at the 3-card-poker table, still continuing her winnin' ways. I sat down and played too. Had a few Jack and Cokes each and just enjoyed the table and some really great dealers. I sat with $100, cashed out for $200, even after dropping some RED tips to the dealers, who continued to hand me 6 to 1 straights! Around 6:45am we decided a few hours in bed would be a good idea.

Oh, and Big Red finally decided to let me in on her winning streak. Between Let It Ride, BlackJack, Crazy 4 Poker, and 3 Card poker all night, she was up a whopping $500! Hell yeah!!! Lady Luck is a fickle little bitch though so she's not gonna do anything stupid and blow it all. Yeah we'll see.

Won't be long til we head down to NYNY. Yeah I know, we're behind schedule, so bite me, I'm on Vegas time baby! We're just about ready to go though, so I'll wrap up now. I've gotta call a few of you, to put you at ease. We did make it, we're not in jail, and so far will not need a shot of penicillin to take care of any anomalies.

Stay tuned.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Absolute Poker response to Kahnawake Gaming Commission

The following article details the response of Absolute Poker, to the findings presented by the report of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission:
http://www.pokerpages.com/poker-news/news/absolute-poker-responds-to-kgc-report-30279.htm

The Absolute Poker scandal was first brought to light by players (on Absolute Poker in October) who alleged that other players "were demonstrating the...'super-user' ability to see opponent's hole cards." This final report by the Commission comes more than two months after the incidents were perpetrated.

The statement from Absolute Poker seems very happy to put the matter behind it finally, and get on with business. They refer to the conditions (penalties) including audits and the $500,000 fine as a "severe penalty," however I'm not sure the online community of poker players and bloggers will be so quick to forgive and forget. I'm not sure that everyone would agree that this penalty was "severe" enough.

STILL, players do continue to play at Absolute Poker, despite this controversy. Perhaps now that Absolute finds itself under a microscope and a seemingly ever watchful eye, players may feel safer playing at this online poker room than at any other.

I'm reminded of the scene with Robin Williams in "The World According to Garp" when the plane crashes into the house that he and his wife have just been shown by the realtor. Garp consoles his wife who is obviously in shock at the incident, and tells the realtor that of course they'll take it, then tells his wife, "Honey, the chances of another plane hitting this house are astronomical. See? It's been pre-disastered. We're going to be safe here."

We shall see.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Kahnawake Gaming investigation report released

Following completion of it's investigation into cheating and impropriety by Absolute Poker, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission has released its report into the incidents and made it's rulings in the matter, which includes:

• Removal of all those involved with the cheating incident(s)
• Provision for continued reporting of business functions
• Random audits provided for, and to be paid by Absolute Poker
• Fine in the amount of $500,000

For the full text of the Commission's findings and report, please visit:

http://www.kahnawake.com/gamingcommission/KGC-AP-0111.pdf

The following user names were specifically included in the report as having been involved in the impugned activites and the Kahnawake Gaming Commision mandated their removal from involvement with Absolute Poker:

• GRAYCAT
• PAYUP
• STEAMROLLER
• POTRIPPER
• XXCASHMONEYXX also known as SUPERCARDM55
• DOUBLEDRAG
• RONFALDOXXB also known as ROMNALDO

This story received a great deal of coverage in the news, a number of blogs and forums, and the online poker community as a whole. The allegations and subsequent investigation put a black eye on the face of online poker and only served to tarnish the image of poker, and fueled efforts to ban US citizens from playing online poker. I am glad to see that the Commission has acted upon this incident, and perhaps this will disuade others from engaging in these types of activities in the future.

Probably the best coverage of this incident that I have viewed has been by Lou Kreiger, and I urge you to visit his blog at http://loukrieger.blogspot.com/ and read back through his coverage of the Absolute Poker debacle.

Regards,

cheer_dad