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Poker Blog established in 2003 as the first stop for poker news, poker stories, and bad poker advice.

July 30, 2004

Cocky

by Otis

Welcome to the South Carolina Welcome Center.

First, we'd like you to enjoy all the amenities of our clean rest rooms. We have information services and free maps to help you navigate the foothills and beaches of the Palmetto State.

Please be sure to be careful as you cross over Lake Hartwell. Don't eat the fish, either.

And please pay no attention to those signs advertising poker casinos. First, we've gotten rid of them all. Second, it was only video poker, anyway.

Lastly, if you brought a rabid, amphetamine-crazed, homicidal chicken with you, please report to Agriculture Commissioner Charles Sharpe.

He's been expecting you.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Other Gambling

July 29, 2004

Poker in Louisiana

by Luckbox

As I watched the WSOP on ESPN, I caught a commercial for the Mighty River Poker League. It's a Louisiana based poker club that promises to send someone to the 2005 WSOP.

Of course, I had to check it out. It turns out there's a Baton Rouge league and a Lafayette league. You pay a membership fee ($50) and monthly dues ($15) to enter and receive 5000 points. You use those points to enter tournaments and the top 200 points winners at the end of the season get to play in a tournament for one seat in the 2005 WSOP.

I think it's a brilliant idea. Each tournament also has a separate prize pool for those who want to play for money as well (extra $25 entry fee, and 100% of entry fees are paid back out).

That's all the good news. The bad news is that the Lafayette tourneys are played on Thursday nights at 6:00pm, and I'm lucky if I'm out of work by 6:45pm. Still, I think I'll look into it. The first points tourney is on August 19th. Maybe by then, they'll push back their start times!

Permalink | Poker Web Sites

Otis in the Quarter

by Otis

If you're looking for some good non-poker content from some poker writers, be sure to check out this month's edition of Pauly's Truckin'.

Oh, yeah. I was a contributor this month.

Permalink | Reading Material

July 27, 2004

2004 WSOP Episodes #7 & #8

by Luckbox

The broadcast networks have wisely decided to forgo any Democratic National Convention coverage tonight. After all, with the World Series of Poker on ESPN, who's gonna watch Teresa Heinz Kerry?

If you want to watch some impressive women, tonight's your chance. ESPN kicks off with the $1000 Ladies Limit Hold 'Em championship followed by the $5000 7 Card Stud event.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Poker on TV

Summer 1990, plus 14 years

by Otis

The swimminess, those shimmers that rise over the red cinders, the way the humidity hangs a burlap curtain over your mouth... they are all things I remember from the summer of 1990.

I remember the run lasting longer than it normally did and being almost deathly afraid to stop. I remember, but barely, opening my mouth and letting the cold ice water shoot from my stomach and on to the football practice field below my feet. It had barely had time to mix with the contents in my gut, so it didn't taste too bad.

Over my shoulder, I knew he was standing there, his hand likely grabbing at his crotch, at the cancer that would one day kill him.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Playing For Money

July 26, 2004

Poker's small world

by Otis

...just a brief entry to freak out a little.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Otis' Thoughts

July 24, 2004

Sam Walton and the Great Poker Sale

by Otis

"Be the ball, Danny."

If you say that to a friend of mine, she'll look at you and smile. It's the smile of a person who knows she should be smiling, but really isn't sure why.

You might follow up with the tell-tale "Na-na-na-na-na" golfing Zen phrase.

The smile will fade slightly. She'll look at you and offer something like this:

"You're talking about the 80s, aren't you?"

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Reading Material

July 20, 2004

2004 WSOP Episodes #5 & #6

by Luckbox

Here we go again...

After dabbling in 7 Card Stud and Omaha Hold 'Em the past two weeks, ESPN will stick to just the classic card game tonight. We've got the $1500 NLHE final table followed by the $5000 NLHE final table.

While last week's events featured familiar faces like Paul Phillips, Mike Matusow and John Juanda, this week's events don't seem to have any top pros. Some have made it to some big final tables, but there's no Phil Iveys in this bunch.

That doesn't matter much, though, because poker is poker, and I love watching. As usual, go here and listen to "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy.", and then head back here.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Poker on TV

July 18, 2004

The Bad Beat Jackpot

by Luckbox

As I drove home in the early morning hours, the lightning danced from cloud to cloud, but, to my relief, it wasn't raining. The roads in Hessmer, LA were dark enough as it was. I kept one eye on the winding two-lane highway and one on God's impromptu light show. That's when I hit the armadillo.

I didn't just tap it, it was the 55-miles-an-hour, no-time-to-slow-down, flush-with-the-front-right-tire kind of hit. I'm sure I killed it. I think it's the first armadillo to die under my car.

But you're not here to read about how the armadillo lost. You're here read about how I lost, and, unlike the armadillo, I lost in style.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Bad Beats

July 17, 2004

Back to State Park

by Otis

The danger in writing about poker is that people will read about it.

That may read strangely to you, but it was something I'd never really considered when I sat down to write up my first trip to the State Park game.

It was something I didn't really consider when I mentioned how the host's wife's beauty put me on tilt. It was something I didn't really consider when I wrote the game sat on a razor's edge between dangerous and safe.

It was something I didn't really consider, indeed. That is until I decided to go back tonight and one of the player's said, "You know, I read that web site you have."

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Tournament Action

July 16, 2004

The Best Poker Rooms in Vegas

by Luckbox

I need your help. I've got a project to do concerning the best poker rooms in Vegas, and I value the input of my readers and fellow poker bloggers. I'm looking for your recommendations, your experience, your thoughts. You can email them to me by clicking here, or just leave your thoughts in my comments. Your guidance will be greatly appreciated!

Permalink | Las Vegas

July 15, 2004

Otis and the Mea Culpa

by Otis

I've always thought of a "mea culpa" as something you might run into in a back waterway in Venice. It sounds slimy and, perhaps, a little on the dangerous side.

In reality, it's something people don't say enough.

Which is why I need to take a brief diversion from our regular poker passion to consider the value of our community of poker players and writers.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Poker Web Sites

July 14, 2004

What's Next for Televised Poker?

by Luckbox

Right now on Fox Sports Net, you can watch the LIVE broadcast of the final table of the American Poker Championship. It's delayed 5 minutes to lessen the chance of cheating.

I suppose it's still possible for someone to jack into the feed before it goes out live and then transmit that info to a player at the table. It's just very unlikely.

One of the biggest problems with live poker is the potential to be very, very boring. I'll say this, though... so far so good!

Permalink | Poker on TV

July 13, 2004

2004 WSOP Episodes #3 & #4

by Luckbox

It's back...

Tonight, we get the $1,000 No Limit Hold 'Em final table and the $2,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hold 'Em final table. The NLHE event shouldn't be anything special, although I'm hoping for more than a series of all-in bets. The Omaha event, on the other hand, is highly anticipated!

As usual, before reading on, I suggest you go here and listen to "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy." That'll get you fired up!

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Poker on TV

wil's going fishing

by Luckbox

Head on over to wil wheaton's blog for fish on -- part one. His poker reads are not to be missed!

Permalink | Poker Web Sites

July 12, 2004

From Ducks to Rockets

by Luckbox

Aside from chip-shuffling, nothing makes you appear like a poker pro in a room full of amatuers like the use of solid poker lingo. Since mentioning pocket 9's and it's lack of a good nickname, I've had a few searches for "poker hand names" funnel people to Up For Poker.

With that in mind, let's see how much we can help people out:

Play Online Poker
More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Poker Theory

July 9, 2004

The Cincinnati Kid

by Otis

The multi-table tournament had just started. The $200 Pot Limit game was going very well. I'd flopped a set on my first hand. The Hilton Sisters held up on the second hand. The fourth hand was big slick. I made the ace on the flop and forced an angry BB to lay down his cowboys. He kept vowing, "I'm coming to get you, Otis." That surely boded well for me. I was already up nearly two hundred dollars.

But DirecTV was nudging my noodle every couple of seconds. It's coming on! The Cincinnat Kid is coming on!

If only I had TiVo.

I thought for a couple of seconds and decided I would swallow my pride and do it the old fashioned way.

I grabbed an old VHS tape, popped it in the bedroom VCR, and went back to my game.

A few hours later, I finished my game $250 up (the cards ran a little cold after the initial lightening ride). I busted out in 9th (that's the third time I've done that) in the multi.

Although it was starting to get a little late, I decided that perhaps Steve McQueen might be able to offer me something in the way of guidance.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Poker Movies

July 8, 2004

Avatars that growl

by Otis

Those of you who play on Empire Poker might have heard a growl from across the ethereal poker room last night. It wouldn't have been hard to spot the source of the noise. It sprung, nay, erupted from the avatar known as Otis.

While I'm the first to defend online poker rooms for the massive task of managing tens of thousands of players at once, I'm also not going to be a mindless shill for them either.

So, please step inside for a rant against my homesite and, well, one of its players.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Online Poker

July 6, 2004

2004 WSOP Episodes #1 & #2

by Luckbox

On some Tuesday nights, I plan to live-blog the WSOP telecast on ESPN, as long as Texas Hold 'Em is being played. Enjoy.

I think we've all waited for tonight with anxious anticipation. Well, except, perhaps, for PokerProf who was there when it happened. For most of the rest of us, this will be our first chance to see the 2004 World Series of Poker. Before reading on, I suggest you go here and listen to "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy." It's the catchy song you've been hearing on the ESPN promos.

Okay, now that you're ready... read on...

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Poker on TV

Danger, Otis Robinson!

by Otis

Boredom can be a sadist.

It shoves a poorly-manicured thumbnail in your navel and twists. It drags you by your nose into dark corners where ne'er-do-wells skulk and rodents feed on trash. Perhaps more dangerous, it hangs you from a mountain summit and says, "So, you wanna play, huh? Well, then let's play."

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Online Poker

July 5, 2004

My Independence Day

by Luckbox

I didn't want to play the pair of fives... especially after it got raised behind me, but I was in the hand now. The flop didn't hit me one bit. I should get out, right? The raiser bet out and there were a couple of callers in front of me. It's just 4 bucks, right? What the hell...

4th of July checklist:
Watch patriotic parade... CHECK
See fireworks... CHECK
Go fishing... CHECK

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Playing For Money

July 3, 2004

Bloggers Busted on the Bubble

by Otis

Hypothesis: Poker, while always a wonderfully American and often suburban event, has become popular enough to overshadow our nation's independence.

Proof? I drove an hour from my home today to a Fourth of July party (complete with red, white, and blue decorations) that was more poker tournament than family gathering.

Analysis: That's exactly the way it should be.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Tournament Action

July 2, 2004

Runs in the Family

by Luckbox

I guess I'm not the only family member winning poker tourneys these days. And, in fact, I've never bested 468 other players to take a title. Those Ultimate Bet tourneys can get pretty crazy, so here's to Lefty! Looks like "Huck Finn" is doing just fine on the river!

Permalink | Tournament Action