PLAYERS:

Luckbox | Otis | G-Rob

About the Up For Poker Blog

Up For Poker Blog Categories:

2006 WSOP
2007 World Series of Poker
2008 Belmont Stakes
2008 Kentucky Derby
2008 World Series of Poker
2009 WPBT Winter Classic
2010 WPBT Winter Classic
American Idol 2009
B&M Poker
Bad Beats
Betting the Ponies
Bradoween
Craps
Disc Golf
Fantasy Sports
Frolf
G-Rob's Thoughts
Game Review
Home Games
Horse Racing
Internet Gambling Bill
Las Vegas
Lefty's Thoughts
Luckbox Last Longer Challenge
Luckbox's Thoughts
March Madness
Movie Previews
Movie review
NCAA Basketball
NETeller News
NFL Football
Online Poker
Online Sports Betting
Other Gambling
Otis' Thoughts
Pick 6
Playing For Fun
Playing For Money
PLO
Poker Blogger Tournaments
Poker Blogs
Poker in the News
Poker Law and Legal News
Poker Movies
Poker on TV
Poker Players
Poker Psychology
Poker Theory
Poker Web Sites
Pot Limit Omaha Strategy
Reading Material
Sports Betting
The Nuts
The Playboy Mansion
Tournament Action
Tuff Fish Appreciation Society
Tunica Tales
UIGEA
Underground Games
Up for Poker News
WPBT Holiday Classic Trip

Previous Hands:

December 2010
November 2010
September 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
December 2008
November 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003

Powered by:
Movable Type 6.8.8
Poker Blog established in 2003 as the first stop for poker news, poker stories, and bad poker advice.

March 11, 2009

How I became a millionaire

by Otis

I remember the long nights my father spent at the office, his tired face, and his hours of undone work that we helped him do in the middle of our living room floor. I remember the business trips, the budgets, and the work ethic. Most of all, I remember what he said when I questioned why he worked so hard.

"Making money takes hard work, son. No one can become a millionaire overnight."

Dad was wrong.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

March 7, 2009

North Carolina opens poker room at Harrah's Cherokee

by Otis

Legal, live poker just got about four or five hours closer to G-Vegas.

Last night, the Harrah's in Cherokee, NC opened up a brand new poker room.

But, wait! There's more. Because of the vagaries of North Carolina law, the room has no live dealers. All the games are played PokerTek automated tables. Of course, in an ideal world, live poker would be live poker, but after not having a legal room here forever, this will do for now.

Word on the street says the room currently has five tables with room for more. Early reports indicate low limit hold'em games running and 1/2 and 2/5 no-limit also going.

Current news can be found below.

Charlotte business journal

2+2 thread

Cherokee is a little more than two hours from Greenville, SC, if my memory serves me. Feel confident the G-Vegas boys will be making a run up there soon to check it out.

Now, if South Carolina could just get its head...

Permalink

November 2, 2008

Giving it up for the Godfather

by Otis

The poker room of the Fiesta Casino in the Ramada Herradura just outside of San Jose, Costa Rica is a six or seven table area that is just big enough to fit the players, a couple of aimless cocktail waitresses, and Humberto Brenes.

When the men get massages, they do it with their shirts off and buxom, camel-toed therapists kneading away elbow-deep at their fat-backs. Out of simplicity and in the face of a 540-1 colones to dollar exchange rate, the poker games are played with dollar-value chips. Against all better judgment, the first seat I took in the room was at a 5/10 half No-Limit Hold'em and half Pot-Limit Omaha game.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

May 25, 2008

Am I a Poker Cliche?

by Luckbox

Lucky in love, unlucky in cards.

I've heard it quite a few times since I've found Lady Luck. Many a blogger have mentioned that my luckboxing abilities have likely diminished or disappeared since I've found love. I don't believe it, but my experience Saturday night didn't exactly assuage my fears.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

May 22, 2008

What Should I Wear? I Need Your Vote

by Luckbox

Saturday afternoon, I'm heading to the "World-Class" Casino Aztar for my first foray into E-Vegas' only legal poker room. And I need your help to decide just who I'm going to be when I sit down.

Here are my options:

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

June 11, 2007

The $2200 Laydown

by Luckbox

I'm writing about this so the nightmares stop.

Why don't we touch the hot stove anymore? Is it because our parents told us not to? Of course not. It's because we touched the hot stove anyway and we got burned. Or, in terms some of you may understand better, why don't we sleep with the drunk, loose skank at the end of the bar? It's because we did it once and we'll never forget that burning feeling either.

Pain is the world's greatest teacher. Without pain, we learn nothing. The pain I felt yesterday will stick with me for a long time.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

May 25, 2007

Danny's Song

by Otis

Danny looked like the type of man who could fight 50 years ago. His face was the hard kind, the kind that you see in old black and white family photos, the kind that survived the depression, survived the war, and came out the other side.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

May 22, 2007

Running a Bluff

by Luckbox

Imagine spending an entire live session in which your biggest Ace is AQs and your biggest pair is pocket 8s. In each case, I found the hand in a blind.

Not exactly the recipe for a big session... unless your name is G-Rob. And, well, mine isn't. This may be a newsflash to some of you, but when I'm playing cash games, I actually prefer to have the best hand and then have it hold up. I save the Luckboxing for tournaments.

So sitting at that table at the New Orleans Harrah's, I had to reach into my bad of tricks for something with which I'm a little uncomfortable. The bluff.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

April 24, 2007

Bookends

by Luckbox

If the UFP crew had to collectively select their favorite all-time band, I have little doubt that it would be Eddie From Ohio. After my last session at the Coushatta Casino, it was a little bit ironic that the song playing as I started my car was EFO's Bookends.

Between my first and my last hand, I racked up a cool $900 profit. The game is soft, as usual. But that doesn't mean there's no risk. The game is in the cards. And they don't always fall my way. I may be The Luckbox, but no one is always lucky. So why don't you tell me what you would have done?

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

March 19, 2007

Reflections

by Luckbox

I have mirrors on my wall.

This made not sound strange to most readers, but most of you have never seen the inside of anywhere I've ever lived. Mirrors on my wall is a big deal. It's part of the home makeover master-minded by Lady Luck. And it's only the beginning.

Now, as I sit in my living room, on my couch, writing this, I can see light and images bouncing around the room.

Reflecting is good.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

March 17, 2007

A Preview

by Luckbox

It was back to the Coushatta for a little poker action last night. Here's a taste:

***********************
"Watch out, I'm trouble," she said moments after sitting down to my right and stacking her chips on the table.

"Oh.. is that right," the slightly inebriated player to her right responded, "Well, I'd like to be in trouble."

I'll give you a moment to let that crude joke settle in.

What might have been funny was actually a little creepy. He seemed like a nice enough guy,but since he got back from dinner, his shirt was unbuttoned down to the last button. I didn't really need to know that he waxed his chest.
***********************

More to come!

Permalink

March 3, 2007

Soft

by Luckbox

I really just wanted to touch her again.

She looked amazing. Her blouse was cut tantalizingly low, but I couldn't allow my eyes to wander. It was a first date. And I was a gentleman.

But I really just wanted to touch her again.

When I saw her for the first time, I was stunned. She walked out of her house and towards me. I stood there, trying to decide if I should shake her hand.

"Well..." she said, "Aren't you going to give me a hug?"

First impressions are important. I wonder what impression I gave.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

November 25, 2006

Poker at the Golden Moon -- A Review

by Otis

The stretch of two-lane highway rambled through a desolate part of Mississippi. Six months earlier, the road tar bubbled and the summer heat shimmered over the asphalt. On this day, though, it was a mere 70 degrees in late November and the roadside Native American child in her diaper wasn't at all cold.

This was Choctaw country, the road into Philadelphia, the highway through Neshoba County. For the past forty years, this county was famous for the civil rights era deaths of three social workers. You know about it because of Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe or the countless other movies made about the bad old days in Mississippi.

Now, the Choctaw run the show an the Klan is nowhere to be seen.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

October 9, 2006

Underground Poker Poll

by Otis

I played in a $170 live underground event in G-Vegas yesterday and finished a disappointing 13th out of 51. It was an afternoon of poker not to be remembered. However, as I looked around the room at the wide variety of players from all different walks of life, I realized that the poker community in my neck of the woods is pretty active. In fact, just before the tournament started, the organizer took the time to recognize three people in the room who had done very well in recent major events, including one guy who had just won about $100,000 in a WSOP circuit event.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

October 7, 2006

The Donkey is a Luckbox

by Luckbox

I'd like to say I was distracted by the blonde in the white tank top with the great breasts, but she wouldn't show up three tables over until later. No, I'm fresh out of excuses. I got my money in the worst of it and, well, you know what happened.

I'd recount the betting action for you except for the fact that 1) it's all a bit of a blur and, 2) it's boring. Suffice to say, I held pocket 10s, the board read Q72, and I was about to put not one, but two other players all in. These are two players that had either raised my post-flop feeler bet or called said raise.

But maybe I should back up a moment...

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

March 20, 2006

Playing poker with the Europeans

by Otis

"If that's true, yer dead to me." --Iggy, upon being informed of another one of my undeserved poker experiences.

"That's not Bach. That's Vivaldi."

The man was balding, ever smiling, and using a marble-sized opal to cap his cards.

"It's 'The Four Seasons'," he said. Though genial and probably not as drunk as he was letting on, his British tenor, good humor, and slightly slurred words channeled Dudley Moore as "Arthur."

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

January 19, 2006

UFP Takes Over Tunica

by Luckbox

It's true!

Up For Poker is taking a road trip. Okay, so Otis is actually flying. But the rest of G-Vegas is jumping in their cars and driving to Tunica for the weekend.

Sometime tomorrow evening, Otis, GRob, and I will be joined by the one and only Bad Blood at the Grand Casino. There are rumors a certain vertically-challenged blogger extraordinaire may even make an appearance.

At least Otis and I plan to play in Saturday's $1000 NLHE WSOP Circuit Event. Of course, I'd like to thank my Luckcrew for their support (Change100, Maudie, Boy Genius, Gracie, Falstaff, Biggestron, Performify, Slayre, Donkey Hunter and Jen Leo). Here's hoping I can make you all a little money!

The site will likely be mostly quiet between now and next week unless we scare up a way (and some time and a desire) to blog in between our sessions at the table. Wish us luck!

Permalink

January 8, 2006

Stepping Up and Getting Smacked Down

by Luckbox

I like the Coushatta Casino poker room. In fact, I like it even more now that they have their $200 NL tourney every Saturday. It's T8000, 25/50 starting blinds and 20 minute levels. Not ideal, but with 40xBB 160xBB to start, there's time to play poker. Unfortunately, you have to make moves in the later levels to survive.

I played well in the tourney, but it went horribly downhill after when I stepped up to the $5/$10 half NLHE, half PLO, no max buy-in game. That was a first for me, and I learned a valuable (er... expensive) lesson.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

November 13, 2005

Are You F$#%^# Kiddin' Me?!?

by Luckbox

"Come on... we've got poker to play. CLOCK!!" He was bald with a half fu-man-chu, so some other strange facial hair combination. He had donked his way into a pretty big stack, but had just taken a bad beat. Now he's calling for the clock.

"Are you f----- kiddin' me?!?!" I thought, but decided not to say.

I had flopped two pair with K6s. I bet out and got called by a pretty tight player. The turn gave me a flush draw, too. I bet and got raised. The raise wasn't big enough, however, with the outs I had. The river missed me completely. I checked and he pushed for another $250. Time to think.

"Clock! Get the floor."

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

April 9, 2005

In Just Four Hands... It Was Gone

by Luckbox

I was back at the Coushatta Casino today for a little No Limit Hold 'Em. Once again, I tried to get there in time for the noon tourney, but travelling the wrong way on I-10 for 20 minutes put me there as the tournament director was getting things started.

So I got my name on the NL list ($100-$200 buy-in, $1/$3 blinds), and sat down at the 3/6/12 table in the meantime. After giving up $40 there in about 45 minutes, they opened a new NL table and I took my seat.

When the day ended, I walked away with absolutely nothing. It was a losing session at a table I know I can beat. A table I've beaten before. But it came down to just 4 hands.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

March 13, 2005

Omens... Lots of 'Em... All Bad

by Luckbox

Where did I go wrong?

I suppose it started with my overly arrogant "How to Win at Craps" post. I forgot rule number one about casino gambling. It doesn't matter what the system is, the house still has the edge.

Then I played in a FTP $100 tourney last night with Erick Lindgren and some guy nicknamed GambleAB (whoever that is). I nearly knocked both of them out at different times (each had a $100 bounty). Erick folded like a little girl with just T680 when I check-raised him on the river. Punk. I was among the top 5 in chips all tourney and in 3rd place when we reached the final table. Top 6 played. Anyone wanna guess where I finished?

So I went back to the Coushatta and dropped $150 waiting for a poker table. I got there too late for the tourney again, another bad sign. And after dropping that cash and waiting for a table, I decided to grab some food... and missed hearing my name get called. So I had to get back on the list, and wait some more.

Things weren't going well...

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

March 7, 2005

Four Hookers in Kinder, LA

by Luckbox

So I couldn't resist the draw of the Coushatta poker room after having such a successful session last weekend. This time, I decided to try the Sunday afternoon crowd.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived is that the Sunday crowd is much, much smaller. I figured that meant fewer fish and maybe things would be a little tougher this time. I got my name on the NL list and headed to the craps table.

When I heard my name called for a new NL table at 3:00pm, I had $45 left from my $140 in the rack in front of me, and $120 on the table waiting for a 7. It came on the next roll and I finished up about $85. It was a good start... but not necessarily a sign of things to come.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink

February 27, 2005

No Limit at The Coushatta: Turning $200 Into a Grand

by Luckbox

It was a $30+$10 tourney at the Coushatta with a $30 rebuy and a $30 add on. Basically, it was a $100+$10 tourney because you only got T1000 for your entry fee, but the rebuy and add on were each T2000. The tourney started at noon and I hit the road at about 10am so I'd be there about a half hour early. It was a limit tourney, but I want some more B&M tourney experience so I was willing to give it a shot.

When I got there, I was shocked to learn the tourney was full and there was an alternate list 14 people long. I wasn't playing in this tournament and it's the best thing that could have happened to me. I got my name on the 3/6/12 and the NL lists which were both at least 15 deep. I figured I'd get to play eventually.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink