The Nuts: N 82 50 24 / Nat Arem Blog

Wonder how the Absolute Poker cheating scandal broke wide open?

Got a question about who was cheating players on Ultimate Bet?

Wonder why your page rank suddenly dropped from 3 to 0?

Curious as to who launched the poker database that tracks online tourneys and players?

If you do have these questions, that means you haven't been reading one of the most imformative poker blogs on the web. Nat Arem has been a poster on the 2+2 forums for a few years and was central to uncovering the Absolute Poker scandal. He has also played a role in investigating who may have been one of the cheating superusers at Ultimate Bet.

Nat Arem's blog is the latest edition of the The Nuts on Up For Poker. This is real journalism we're talking about. And since the G-Vegas crew has a bit of a journalistic background, we certainly appreciate poker bloggers who are willing to do the hard work for the rest of us.

So head on over and give him a read (if you're not already). And if any of you designers want to give him a hand, he's looking for someone to help him redesign his page. I think he's done enough for the online poker community that perhaps one of you talented people out there may want to help him out!

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The Nuts: World Series of Poker Blogs

You smell that don't you? It's a combination of stale coffee, body odor, and residual cigarette smoke. It's anticipation, fear, and desperation. It's the 2008 WSOP.

Even though it's going to take us a few weeks to get on the ground there, we here at the Up For Poker Blog are excited about our friends and colleagues who are already wheels down.

That's why, for the next several weeks, we are giving The Nuts award to the WSOP Blogs.

The people behind these blogs are the hardest working people in poker. They give us what we can't have: an inside look at the World Series reality.

We took a little time to collect a list of the people we'll be reading over the next several weeks. You'll find the entire list on our WSOP Blogs page. We'll keep it linked in The Nuts section on the left just in case you want to use it as your portal to all the World Series news you can stomach.

If we missed your blog, shoot us a note and we'll see about linking you up.

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The Nuts: Hard-Boiled Poker

The goal of "The Nuts" here at Up For Poker is to point you in the direction of a poker blog that should be at, or near, the top of your daily reading list. (Unless it's alphabetical, in which case our latest pick will fall somewhere in the middle.)

Hard-Boiled Poker has quickly become a must-read for the Up For Poker crew. Short-Stacked Shamus consistently delivers thoughtful musings on everything poker. He's a self-described micro-limit online player, but if great writing was his bankroll, he'd be sitting at the Big Game at Bellagio.

I'd suggest you check out his report on the UB cheating scandal, his thoughts on the future of PLO and his insightful conclusions on the WSOP final table delay.

If it's not on you blogroll, add it. If it's not in your RSS reader, add it. You won't be disappointed. Our latest edition of The Nuts: Hard-Boiled Poker.

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The Nuts: Katitude

Before entering Sunday night's Blogger Big Game, I decided whoever busted me would get to be the latest edition of Up For Poker's "The Nuts." I feel bad, because it was really Astin who crippled me. Short-stacked, I made my stand with A9o vs. his pocket 3s. Miami Don had also folded 3s on that hand. But, nonetheless, I lost the race (I forgot my running shoes and was 0-3 in races).

Down to just 78T, I was forced all-in out of the SB. My 89o never improved against Katitude's Q3o. And that was it. Out in 17th out of 46 runners. At least 17 is one of my lucky numbers.

But I digress... This is about "The Nuts." And "The Nuts" is Katitude does poker.

If you're not reading her, you should be. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't she invent the best of all the blogger tourneys, The Blogger Donkament? Is there a tourney better suited for poker bloggers than a $1 +$1, unlimited rebuys? It really harkens back to the days of micro-limit push-fests at the PokerStars tables.

For that alone, I'm proud to make Katitude does poker the latest entry in Up For Poker's "The Nuts."

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"The Nuts" Is Back

As I've alluded to before, changes are a-comin' to Up For Poker. Since our launch waaaaay back in September 2003, very little has changed here. We settled into our all-star roster of Otis, G-Rob and The Luckbox, added a third column to make a few bucks and that's about it.

For a short time, we included something called "The Nuts." It was a chance for us to highlight some interesting, but not-yet-widely-read blogs that deserved some attention. It disappeared, but we're bringing it back.

It was in October 2005 when we spied a little blog out of that cozy hamlet of Los Angeles. She called herself Change100.

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She Is "The Nuts"

The guys at Up For Poker are pretty easy. I'm not going to lie. And when one self-nominee for "The Nuts" used this line:

I'll hike up my skirt and stick my leg out

We were sold. Please go say hello to change100 at Pot Committed. She's another one of those LA bloggers, but I won't hold that against her.

By the way, there were many fine nominees, and I will be trying to get as many of you in the spotlight as possible. And for those looking to get on the blogroll, consider it done (as soon as I have a minute).

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Are You "The Nuts?"

Why aren't you on my blogroll? Okay, I'm sure it's my fault. You sent me an email awhile back and I meant to add you and forgot. Or you left a comment hoping I'd see it and put you on the list. Well, now's my chance to right that wrong.

Please leave me a comment with your poker blog and, if you'd like a special spotlight, tell me why you should be "The Nuts." By Wednesday, you'll be on the roll and I'll pick a new winner. And sorry, but you're not getting any cool PokerStars gear out of this. Up For Poker has no budget. Although I'm thinking of merchandising... but that would only confirm fears that my ego is too large (check the comments).

On a completely unrelated note, I've now managed to redirect UpForPoker.com and UpForPoker.net. Makes it a lot easier to tell people how to get here. Next step will be moving this over completely... but that's way down the road. I'm an idiot, it was hard enough to figure this out!

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The Nuts

It's not everyday that a poker blogger makes the final table of one of the world's premier poker events, but that's exactly what Ben "Milky Bar Kid" Grundy did in Monte Carlo at the European Poker Tour Championship.

And that is more than enough to get you a spot in "The Nuts." Go check him and tell him congratulations!

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Who's Got the Nuts Now?

Okay, so maybe the guy who finished 7th in last year's main event at the World Series of Poker didn't exactly need a traffic bump from this little 'ol web site, but they earned it. There's still some great stuff over at Ship It Poker.

But now it's about time for a change. And this time, I've got a blogger with current credentials. As far as I can tell, he's the only blogger in Card Player Magazines top 40 poker player of the year standings.

It's Chris from over at Twenty-One Outs Twice. He's currently 37th ahead of such notables as Freddy Deeb, Max Pescatori and Scott Fischman. Not bad, huh? You'll have to head over to his blog to find out how he got there. It's just another edition of "The Nuts!"

(And in case you're wondering, to get 21 outs twice, just have an open-ended straight flush draw with two overcards. Pretty simple, huh?)

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Changing The Nuts

It's like holding the nut flush when the board pairs on the river. Sometimes when you think you have the nuts, the cards slap you across the face.

The change in "The Nuts" here at Up For Poker is not nearly as dramatic. Now that Otis' adventures in France are over, I had to drop the European Poker Tour blog in favor of something new.

That something new is three friends blogging about poker and strategy. Sound familiar? Think of it as Up For Poker but at much, much higher levels. Where G-Rob and I grind at the $2/$4 tables, the boys over at Ship It Poker are beating the $25/$50 NL tables.

It starts with WSOP final table participant Matt Dean. But it also includes Gamecock Lloyd McGuire. Maybe he can take a roadtrip up I-26 to Greenville for a little homegame action with the boys in G-Vegas. And rounding out the trio is U of I No Limit specialist Taylor Caby.

You won't find a lot of home game write-ups over at Ship It Poker, but you'll find some great strategy advice. These guys obviously know what they're doing!

Maybe we should set up a little single table action... Up For Poker vs. Ship It Poker. What do you think?

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Who's Got the Nuts Now?

I don't know if you noticed, but once I added Otis' Poker Stars blog to the highlighted section known as "The Nuts," his visits went through the roof. On Tuesday alone, he had nearly 35,000 hits. I never realized Up For Poker was so powerful!!!

Now it's your turn to land in "The Nuts." Although I can't promise similar success, I'd like to highlight a different blog there each week. Do you think you've got what it takes? Send me an email at pagemaster -at- upforanything.net and tell me why. Or just leave a comment.

If you're not already on the blogroll, you should definitely drop me a line. And even if you're on the blogroll but don't think you get the recognition you deserve, let me know!

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