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

August 31, 2008

Up For Poker Does Fantasy Football

by Luckbox

The Up For Poker crew has found many ways to compete over the years. There's been frolf and Euchre and poker. There's even been the Drunk-a-lympics. One of our yearly traditions, however, is fantasy football. It's a league I ran for a couple of years around the turn of the millenium. It's now helmed by Uncle Ted. Our 12 man league consists of a motely crew of current and former employees at our G-Vegas corporation.

This morning was our draft. I report, you decide:

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Fantasy Sports

August 28, 2008

Poker blogs and why I like'em

by Otis

The world was on tilt.

We were in a field--a bivouac for souls simultaneously lost and found--under a Florida moon and looking at the world through glasses you can't buy on eBay. We were headed for shelter, a place where we would gamble but never once open a deck of cards. Gambling was as inevitable as morning, but the method was a matter of choice. It would become a test of endurance, of will, of sheer stupidity.

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Permalink | Poker Blogs

August 27, 2008

English Only, Please

by Luckbox

Anyone who's played poker in a casino is likely familiar with the "English Only at the Table" rule. I believe it's a regulation designed to curb any collusion that might go unnoticed by a dealer unfamiliar with foreign languages. Of course, I always think of the scene in Rounders where Worm is dealing off the bottom of the deck and complains about the Russian mobsters violating the rule.

But I digress...

It seems that at least one professional sport is following poker's lead.

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Permalink | Luckbox's Thoughts

August 23, 2008

Poker Bust: Anxious Cops, Bored Prosecutors, A Lifetime In Limbo

by G-Rob

A good friend of mine was part of a poker bust near G-Vegas several years ago. He and about a dozen other really hardened gambing types, accountants and the like, were playing a freeze out tourney in the clubhouse of a suburban subdivision. The cops had an "informant" and raided the place, charging everyone with a violation of the state's 200 year old anti-gambing law.

The same law makes it illegal to play chess on Sunday.

So after the bust, my friend hired a local attorney named Jeff Phillips for his defense. Nothting of signifigance ever happened again.

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Permalink | G-Rob's Thoughts

August 22, 2008

Scotty Nguyen: Same as he ever was

by Otis

I've received a lot of good feedback about an observation I made a couple of weeks ago regarding the change in WSOP coverage at ESPN. That observation became even more pronounced when we saw Scotty Nguyen's performace at this year's HORSE event.

As Amy pointed out today, people were actually surprised at Nguyen being the bad boy. The surprised people are the people who don't get out much and know poker only from TV.

Let's all agree on something. At least half of the poker community is made up of people you wouldn't want to share a beer with. At least 75% of the poker community is made up of people you wouldn't want to bring home to Mom. In the poker world, the really good folks are the minority. TV can make anybody look good. It made Mike Tyson look like a bootstrapping Horatio Alger story until the whole cannibalism thing. It made Michael Vick out to be one of the best quarterbacks of his time until the whole animal massacre thing. TV can make people what it wants. It made Scotty Nguyen into the Prince of Poker and now it's made him the town drunk.

Amy wrote a great piece a few years ago titled The Death Wish that gives you some decent insight into Nguyen before televised poker made him royalty. Everyone should read it. Especially those people who don't get to hang out in the Amazon Room and see poker people as they are for real.

Permalink | 2008 World Series of Poker , | Poker Blogs , | Poker Players

August 20, 2008

Eddie's big break

by Otis

We've written here many times of the guy we affectionately titled Eddie the Dealer. We've mentioned he got robbed, busted, and broke. We wrote about how he went to Vegas to play and has struggled since.

I've made no secret about the fact I've been rooting for something good to happen to Eddie. At times it didn't seem like it was possible.

Well, it is. How so? Just read this.

Here's your chance, Eddie. Make it happen.

Permalink | Bad Beats , | Las Vegas

August 19, 2008

The Vegas Gateway

by Luckbox

I've never done an illegal drug in my life. In fact, I've never even smoked a cigarette. I'm pretty square, in case you didn't know. I figure I'd be one of those sad cases where a cigarette lead to a joint, lead to some acid, lead to some heroin, lead to some cocaine, lead to a forgettable prison demise. It's the gateway theory.

Well, this weekend, I came across Vegas' own version of the gateway. It's called Dave & Buster's.

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Permalink | Luckbox's Thoughts

August 14, 2008

Your Olympic Poker Table

by Luckbox

I'll admit it... I'm a sucker for the Olympics. I'm a red-blooded American who loves watching the USA beat up on other countries. That means I especially enjoy sports like softball, where the rest of the world doesn't have a chance. No wonder the International Olympic Committee voted to get rid of it (Commie terrorist bastards!). But I digress...

Whenever an event rolls around, I start to wonder who among those involved might make for a good poker table. Let's look at the choices:

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Permalink | Luckbox's Thoughts

August 13, 2008

Watching an old friend die

by Otis

My bankroll in December 2004 was not impressive. In fact, if I had the same amount now, I wouldn't call it a bankroll. I would pinch it on the cheek and say, "You are so cute. I could just eat you up!"

But it's what I carried with me across the moving walkway from the Luxor with Badblood. He'd just cashed in the tournament (an event that cost real $20 bills to enter). I hadn't made any money and felt broke.

And then we walked into the Excalibur poker room and I didn't care. There sat the rowdiest crowd of malcontents in one of the ugliest poker rooms I'd ever seen.

I was in love.

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Permalink | Las Vegas

August 7, 2008

Was It Really a Suckout?

by Luckbox

I'm a big believer in the power of the mind. You get lucky because you believe, truly, deep down in your heart, that you're going to get lucky. It's not that you hope you'll get lucky. It's not that you declare you'll get lucky. It's that you have no doubt, no doubt at all, that the card you need is about to fall.

For a year or two, that was me. I knew I'd get lucky more often than not. I'd ask the dealer and the card would fall. It was simple. And it made the game easy. You don't get the nickname "Luckbox" because you get lucky just once or twice.

My confidence is shaken. For every yin there is a yang. Where there is light, there is shadow. Just as belief in luck will bring luck, believing in failure breeds failure. Just read Waffles for all the proof you'll need on that account.

The Tao of Poker 5-year anniversary tournament was the last bit of proof I needed.

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Permalink | Luckbox's Thoughts , | Online Poker , | Tournament Action

August 6, 2008

Casino Cheating: Shockingly Stupid Edition

by G-Rob

The closest casino to G-Vegas is up in Cherokee, North Carolina. They don't have poker because they don't actually use cards. I've never bothered to go since the appeal of digital blackjack machines is pretty limited.

Still, it is possible to steal from the casino... not in the counting cards, brilliant MIT, Ocean's Eleven sense... but to just plain STEAL.

To wit: Please enjoy this wonderful story of moron-ity from the Asheville Citizen-Times:

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Permalink | G-Rob's Thoughts

ESPN changes stylebook

by Otis

I'm not sure why--because, I haven't in years--but I have watched every episode of ESPN's 2008 WSOP poker coverage this year. Last night's $5,000 Mixed Hold'em event was, for obvious reasons, the best yet.

I am not here, however, to applaud ESPN for good coverage. I'm here to applaud ESPN for finally presenting the game in a somewhat more journalistic fashion.

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Permalink | 2008 World Series of Poker , | Poker on TV

August 5, 2008

Orwell And The Internet

by G-Rob

I'm not much of a conspiracy theory guy. As a rule, most conspiracies involve far too much cooperation and silence to ever be real. I find it hard to believe that the same folks who couldn't get a bottle of water to the Superdome are able to plan 9/11 and keep it quiet. Did the same bozos who planned the Bay of Pigs kill Kennedy?

Doubtful.

I'm a conspiracy theory disbeliever. Not because I think the governement is too honest. I think the government is far too witless to pull it all off.

But I will admit to crafting a tinfoil bodysuit this summer. Three months of bizarre and unexplainable behavior on the internet that have left me scratching my head enough to produce a blizzard warning in three counties.

There were three phases of my conspiratorial fear. Two of them were the real schlemiel:

1. Giant internet monopoly declares war on me.
2. Giant internet weblog service delcares war on my friends.
3. Still larger computer monpoly seems to declare war on everyone.
4. We wonder if anyone still reads the best poker blog on the web.

I have war fatigue.

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Permalink | G-Rob's Thoughts

August 1, 2008

Live Blogging The BadBlood Homegame

by G-Rob

Game is about to start.

Here are the groundrules :

1. We're ether playing ol' fashioned NLHE with a $300 buyin and $1/$2 blinds OR we're mixing in alternate rounds of PLO8. We'll vote when the rest of the folks arrive.

2. We've got props! Badblood's tuned the 400 sq. ft. TV to Charter Cable's "Classic Rock" channel. We'll try to predict the songs. Each player picks a band and song. Band pays $5 from each player, song pays $10. If a song hits all players have the option to change up and ride another horse.

3. We're playing with full table. Frank the Tank is here to deal. Badblood, Otis, Brian the Pro and I are ready to go. We're waiting for some out of towners. Shep just rode in on a Harley..."Just to watch"

Game starts very soon.

Updates here all night.

God bless.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | G-Rob's Thoughts , | Home Games

Online Poker Is Rigged

by G-Rob

How does a forever punchline become a pervasive fear? I'm sure the new punchline involved Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker.

Not long after the most recent online cheating scandal, I resolved to keep playing on the sites I still trust. Right now, there are only two: PokerStars and FullTilt.

For what it's worth, Tilt has softer cash games and Stars runs a better tournament.

I told Otis that just one scandal at either of those sites and I'm done with online poker forever. That just makes sense I think.

Still, despite my professed confidence at those last two sites, I haven't fired up the gamblin' machine in more than a month. I just don't feel confortable with the thing.

Right now, I only gamble in the flesh and I'm really jonesing for THAT.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | G-Rob's Thoughts , | Online Poker