The Railbird's Nest

Recap from Fowler Memorial Tournament

2007-08-20T11:33:00.000-05:00

Once again, I forgot a notebook (surprise, surprise). Thankfully, Ken has a much better memory than I do. I hope he doesn't mind that I'm stealing his recap!!

Fowler Memorial Poker Tourney
Saturday, August 18th

Fourteen players participated in the Brandon Fowler Memorial poker tournament on Saturday. That started the prize pool off at a respecatble $350, but after the rebuy period was over that had almost tripled to $1035! After $235 was taken off the top for the charity, the remaining players squared off for an $800 prize pool.

There were many interesting hands and decisions throughout the night, but perhaps two of the more exciting hands that would have made the "ESPN coverage" happened after the rebuys were over. Ed flopped quad nines in the BB and got some all-in action from JJ. This wasn't the first time the Engstrom Poker Room has seen quads, as we did actually have a quads over quads hand back in December of 2005, but we did have our first royal flush ever last night. A severely short-stacked Joe had just enough to post his big blind and got four way action. Ken hit a set of fives on a 5dJcAc flop and bet out. After everyone folded, Joe tables the Kc4s and at this point was a 93:7 underdog. Everyone called out for a club or straight card to make the river interesting, and we weren't disappointed when the Qc came off the deck. The last card was the miraculous Tc to complete the royal and the room went nuts!

Here are the final table finishers.

9th Marc D.
8th Fran E.
7th Pete E. (ran JJ into AA on the bubble)
6th Joe D. ($40 and 37.89 WSOP points)
5th Scott B. ($60 and 41.51 WSOP points)
4th Ed M. ($95 and 46.41 WSOP poitns)
3rd Ned C. ($140)
2nd Ken E. ($215** and 65.63 WSOP points)
1st Jim Z. ($250** and 92.82 WSOP points)

**Jim and Ken cut a deal before playing a single hand head's up giving Ken an extra $30 and Jim first place WSOP points. The totals reflect the post-deal pay-outs.

A huge pot between big stacks Ned and Jim had Ned holding top pair and Jim holding top two pair when all the money went in on the turn. Jim went into heads up holding a 77300 to 9700 chip advantage over Ken when they cut the deal which gave Jim the title and Ken an extra $30.

With $235 already going towards the charity, donations from the top three finishers brought that number up to $400 (almost 40% of the total prize pool), which is an even $200 each for Lindsey and Griffin. The way college tuition is rising, that'll probably be enough to pay for about one day of school in 2023!

Thanks again to everyone who played!

Ken

Thank you for the recap, Ken!! Also, thank you to Ken and his wife, Fran, for hosting. It was a great time!

Humans 1...Computers 0

2007-07-25T10:22:00.000-05:00

Congrats to Phl Laak and Ali Eslami for taking one for the mortal world over the computer age in the first-ever man versus machine poker challenge. Click the link below for he full story as reported by The Associated Press.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070725/lf_afp/lifestylecanada

Yay!!! I got a new toy!!!

2007-07-24T08:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I finally broke down and picked up an MP3 player. I went with the 30G Microsoft Zune. I had a couple Best Buy gift cards laying around and one of those wonderful discount coupons they send to their Reward Zone members. I couldn't decide between the Zune and the 30G IPod. The Zune has the FM transmitter, the ability to send songs, pics, and videoes wirelessly to other Zunes (anyone out there with a Zune want to see a picture of my dog or perhaps my wife posing with the Chick-Fil-A Cow???) and a bigger screen which were huge perks but the IPod was much lighter and had way more attachments and toys, also huge perks. The kicker came in when the sales guy told me that I couldn't use my 12% off coupon on the IPod (thanks, Apple) but I could use it on the Zune (which was already on sale this week for $229...$20 less than the IPod). So, all in all, I was able to get the 30G Zune for $50 less than the 30G IPod. Can you say no brainer???

I spent all day yesterday adding music and pictures to it. The thing is super easy to use. It takes approximately three minutes to rip a full length CD to the Zune software and upload it to the Zune, about two minutes faster than an IPod. And WOW!!! Does that thing have great sound!?!?!? I never imagined getting such great surround sound quality from two little earbuds! I may have to splurge and get a real nice pair of Bose headphones to go with it. That would have to be the closest thing to hearing it in person!

I'm just so happy that I get to look like the rest of you cool cats at the table. I really think that this is going to help improve my game in the sense that it will be a diversion. I've noticed that the last few times I've played I've gotten rather impatient. I've really loosened up my starting hand requirement and I've become almost maniacal when it comes to protecting my BB. I am definitely going to put a few smooth jazz CD's on it and label in the "Anti-Tilt Playlist" to calm me down any time I start feeling the need to play pot after pot.

My Advice Column...looking for some, not offering any

2007-07-22T07:48:00.001-05:00

Ed and I went to Potawanomi Casino in Milwaukee for the first time Frinday night. It was part of a sporadic trip to go see the Brewers play the Giants (and watch Barry Bonds do absolutely nothing). The casino portion of the trip was an interesting one, however, in no way was it profitable. I was involved in two hands, both of which I lost, that stuck out in my head and I'm curious to see what some of you have to say about them.

Hand #1

This is my fourth hand at the table. I have not been able to observe much, but in the first three the dealer has been saying things like "Six to the flop". There has been a lot of limping and a lot of people who are calling small raises after limping in. I'm in the SB ($3/$5 NL) and I'm doing my best to pay attention to two players specifically, a young kid who has almost $1,800 in front of him and the player to his left who has been very talkative. The UTG player limps, my monster stack limps, then something really catches my attention and sirens go off. My talkative guy, losing track of the action due to his conversation, bolts up in his seat and, very intently, asks the dealer, "Is the action on me?" He seemed way to eager to enter the pot, however, he only limped. I found this action extremely peculiar. We pick up two more limpers. I look down and see QcJc and I complete the bet from the SB and the BB checks. Seven to the flop.

The flop comes J-9-3 rainbow. With top pair and a decent kicker, I bet out $10 into a $35 pot to get a better feel for where I stand. The player two seats to my right calls, monster stack folds, then my talker bumps it to $40. Action fold around to me. I think for a second and my mind goes back to the pre-flop sirens. I have to call another $30 in a $95 pot. I'm struggling to put him on a hand, but for some reason, I pick AK as the strongest hand he can have and that there's a reasonable chance I'm ahead plus I'm gettin better than 3 to 1 and unless he's holding 33, 99, JJ, QQ, KJ or AJ, the odds dictate a call. After deciding that he's not on one of those six hands, I call. The other player who called my $10 bet folds.

A 10d hits the turn. I now have an open ended straight draw to go along with my top pair. However, I can't get those sirens out of my hand so I check to the aggressor who checks it as well. I'm lost. At this point, I'm not even sure what my name is.

The 4d hit the river, putting a diamond flush draw on the board leaving me with top pair and Q kicker. I check again and he checks. His check makes me feels pretty safe that the $125 pot is coming my way and I announce top pair. The talker flips over AA! A fricking A!!!!!! He then admits to playing that hand terribly to which the old man sitting to my left quickly replies, "You sure did!"

What the hell just happened? Was it a mistake to call his post-flop raise? The only thing I'm thankful for is that he didn't value bet the river because I don't see how I could have folded to another $25 - $30. Plese tell me if you think I made a mistake in the hand and what you would have done differently.

Hand #2

This hand comes about an hour or so into my session. There is a player at our table who moved in just after hand #1 and has been stuck on mega-tilt ever since joining our game (who will be referred to as Tiltboy for the purposes of this post). From overhearing a conversation he had with a floorperson, he had an interesting situation occur at his previous table that really, really upset him. From what I've been able to piece together, this is his story.

Tiltboy is at another no limit table and raises a hand pre-flop and gets a couple callers. He makes a strong bet after the flop and gets one caller. After the turn, he bets out enough to put the other guy all in. This is where the fun begins.

The other player is torn on what to do in this situation. So what does he do? He shows his hand to the player sitting next to him and asks him what he would do. This gets Tiltboy all bent out of shape and he tells the dealer to kill his hand because it should be one player to a hand. The floorperson I saw Tiltboy have the conversation with was called to the table for a ruling. According to the floorperson, since the person he showed his hand to did not give a response, verbally anyways, the player's hand was still live and the hand will continue. The guy calls and eventually wins the hand. That was the last hand Tiltboy played at that table and after telling the floorperson how big his mistake was and how at "real casinos" (I loved that line...I almost laughed when I overheard that part of the conversation) that decision was a "no-brainer" and that guy's hand would have been ruled dead.

**Just a side note, I agree with Tiltboy completely in this situation and because of this situation, I may think twice before going to their poker room in the future. I do not agree with how that hand was ruled. I think the only reason Tiltboy wasn't escorted out of the poker room was because the floorperson knew he goofed up.

So, thanks to a little drama, we have a new player at our game. Yay.

Our tilting maniac held true to form, raised hand after hand in the vicinity of 5x - 12x the BB (7 hands straight at one point). He continued his ruthless (and brainless) aggression post-flop as well. He showed down several miserable hands like betting out $100 on Q high and getting all ticked off when someone calls him with top pair to take the pot. I had the "pleasure" of tangling with him in the next hand.

We're now 10 handed. I'm third to act pre-flop. The two players in front of me both limp in. I look down and see Kd9d. Not a killer hand by any stretch but I decide it's worth $5 to try and see a flop with it. Two more players limp before the SB also limps. Tiltboy announces, "I'm on tilt guys, come get it" and makes it $25 straight. Normally, I'd see that as a sign of true strength and run for the hills, but, this guy was just telling us the truth. The two players in front of me both call. There's now $95 in the pot. I figure, "eh, what the hell" and I join the fun as my odds improved with the two calls in front of my and they got even better with two calls after me (SB was the only player to fold to the raise) $155 in the pot.

The flop come 9c-8d-3d. I'm extremely happy with that flop. I'm assuming that nobody with a hand worth 5x the BB hit any of the rags on board plus I have the second nut flush draw. Tiltboy is first to act and he does exactly what I want him to do...bets out $50. The next player to act folds and the second guy calls. The action is to me with a $255 pot and I have $160 remaining. Calling pretty much commits me to the pot and really doesn't offer a power move on the turn or river. If I want to play this hand, I decide that the remaining chips in my stack have to go in the pot. The bestt possible scenario for me is to get heads up with Tiltboy. Action folds around to him. He calls (was that even a question?). The original caller is torn. He has to call $110 more in a pot that's already hit $525. He folds and claims to have held 89 for top two pair. Heads up...mission accomplished

The Ah hits the turn. I think that by now I have to be behind because I could see him making this play with A high but Tiltboy looks up at me and says, "Don't worry, you're good". The 7h hits the river and Tiltboy jumps out of his seat and turns over J10o for the rivered nut straight. One of the players who folded to my re-raise laughs and says, "Wow, I folded that." I'm beyond pissed and get up from the table while I listen to Tiltboy praise his play and that it was the "perfect play". Does anyone else find fault in how he played this hand or am I just crying over spilled milk?

So that's the tale of my Potawanomi adventure. Buy-in bye-bye. I did, however, feel slightly better when he lost a $700 pot a few hands later when he pushed with 10-10 on a board of 9-8-7 and his opponent's KK held up.

Brandon Fowler Memorial Charity Poker Tournament

2007-07-18T10:43:00.000-05:00

My friend, Kenny, is hosting a charity tournament on Saturday, August 18th at his home in Mundelein. The tournament is in loving honor of a close family friend of his whose time came far too soon. The following is a note from Kenny regarding Brandon and the game he is hosting.

Brandon Fowler was born February 2, 1975, in Palo Alto, California. He and his family moved to Tigard, Oregon in 1977. Brandon's scholastic achievements include earning his high school diploma from Tigard High School and a bachelor's degree from Bradley University. In 2000, he was married to Holly Rusch. Unfortunately, Brandon has recently passed away and leaves behind his loving wife and two wonderful children, his two-year old daughter, Lindsey, and his nine-month old son, Griffin.

The tournament will be a $30 NL Hold'em Re-Buy Event. 25% of the prize pool will be used to create a college fund for Lindsey and Griffin. Pizza, beer and soda will be provided at the event.

Assuming all the details are worked out in time, this event will also double as our first "WSOP League Tournament". Kenny has helped me out quite a bit over the last couple of days to create a points system that really lends itself to our needs. Remember, any player who would like to participate in our league will pay a $10 fee that will be completely separate from the prize pool. That money will be used to award our league winner a seat in a 2008 WSOP Bracelet Event of his or her choosing. I will be e-mailing more information regarding the league as it becomes available. If you are available on August 18th and you are interested in playing, please e-mail me at railbirdsnest@yahoo.com. I will send you all the information including the breakdown of levels and the re-buy/add-on format that will be used at this event. Kenny, Kim and I hope to see you all there!

OH!!!!! CANA--HUH?!?!?!

2007-07-18T06:14:00.000-05:00

Just when it looked like Tuan Lam was going to double up for the second time off chip leader, Jerry Yang, the unthinkable happened.

Tuan pushed all in (22.2 million all day) and was called rather quickly (Yang had been very deliberate with his actions all day a la Chris Ferguson) after a pre-flop raise from Yang. The players turn 'em over and Yang's 88 is in a neck and neck race with Lam's AdQd. The flop comes 5-Q-9 and Lam takes control of the hand and the 44.4 million chip pot that was seconds away from bringing him to within a 2 to 1 chip deficit. Lam thinks things are wrapped up and has wrapped himself in the Canadian flag and began celebrating with his railbirds, which didn't really go over well with many of those in attendance (it prompted a smattering of USA! USA! chants that would continue throughout the hand). The turn, as always, makes things a little more interesting as the 7 gives Yang four extra outs in the form of a gutshot straight. Jerry Yang completes his straight with a miracle 6 on the river to take down the pot and the 2007 WSOP Main Event Championship Bracelet.

Before the bracelet presentation, Yang has the traditional interview with Norman Chad where he gives us some background as to who he is and how he got to where he is today. He talked about Communists invading his native country of Laos and how his family, after being threatened with death by the regime, successfully escaped the country on their second attempt. This was a truly moving moment. After being asked if coming to America was still the best day of his life, Yang, humbly agrees but that today ranks pretty high as he is now sitting between Norman Chad and $8.25 million dollars. Yang has pledged 10% of his to three charitable organizations including The Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children in Oklahoma City, and the Ronald McDonald House. I felt bad for him as I felt Norman Chad took a bit of an unwarranted jab at him when he asked, "Do you believe that the Lord has watched more poker today than any other day?" For those, who did not watch, Yang was literally praying during every hand where he was involved in an all in situation while kissing a picture of his six children. Upon winning, he credited God with his win countless times in one of the most memorable bracelet presentations ever. Phil Gordon later commented that he has never seen a more humble champion and that there were even a couple moments during Yang's interview where he found himself tearing up.

Congratulations, Jerry Yang, on capturing the 2007 WSOP Main Event Championship!

The Bracelet Will Stay in North America

2007-07-18T03:42:00.000-05:00

The last of our overseas competitors has been eliminated.

Raymond Rahme is in the BB facing a raise to 2.6 million from Jerry Yang. Rahme re-raises an additional 6 million which Yang calls. The flop comes Ad-Jh-8h. Rahme checks. Yang bets out 10 million and Rahme immediately moves all in, pushing his remaining 27.4 million chips into the pot. Yang tanks hard and talks himself into thinking that Raymond is on a draw. Rahme then starts talking, telling Yang, "It's your decision". Yang asks, "Do you want me to call?" which Rahme replies, "It's your decision, not mine" while giving a slight shake of the head. This triggers Yang to call and he shows A5o and asks Rahme if he has him beat. Rahme says no, asks the dealer for a king and flips over KK (one heart). Rahme can catch runners for a straight or flush but those draws disappear when the 4s comes down fourth street leaving Rahme drawing to a K which doesn't come on the river. Rahme earns slightly more than $3 million for his 3rd place finish while Yang takes more than 100 million chips heads up against Tuan Lam for the title.

The J-Train Gets Back on Track After Doubling Up Two Opponents

2007-07-18T03:03:00.000-05:00

After a string of misfortunate hands where he found himself all in with the best of it against Rahme and Lam in separate hands only to get outflopped each time (QQ vs Lam's Ah5h and QQ vs. Rahme's AQ...both players flopped Aces and Yang couldn't catch up), Yang gets himself straightened out at Alex Kravchenko's expense.

The blinds are 300k - 600k with a 75k ante. Kravchenko, fourth in chips with just under 20 million, gets them all in the middle with AKo. Yang looks him up with pocket 8's. It's all but over when the flop comes Q-8-9 leaving the Russian looking for running cards to make Broadway. The 4d hits the turn and that will do it for Kravchenko who takes home over $1.8 million for his efforts.

Here are the current chip counts.

Jerry Yang (USA) -- 67.3 million chips
Raymond Rahme (South Africa) -- 36.1 million chips
Tuan Lam (Canada) -- 24.075 million chips

Has Yang lost his touch???

2007-07-17T19:24:00.000-05:00

The magic carpet ride Jerry Yang has been on seems to be coming to an end thanks to Alex Kravchenko. Yang has just doubled the Russian up for the second time since taking his massive chip lead. Both times, Jerry has made extremely suspect calls.

The first hand saw Alex move for 4+ million from the blinds and Yang called his all in with J10o. Yes, J10o. Kravchenko shows A10 and his hand holds. The second double up saw Yang raise to 1.5 million in the cut off. Kravchenko comes over the top for just under 10 million. Yang stands up, kisses a photograph of his six children (as he regularly does when calling an all in) and show KQo. KQo for close to 10 million!!! Yang has married himself to almost every two cards given to him by the dealer. Kravchenko shows 33 and the race is on. the flop comes 8-3-2 and the hand is over before it's begun. Yang finds himself drawing dead and is now down to 67 million (that sounds odd doesn't it?). He still has almost a 40 million chip lead on 2nd place but the next time he doubles someone up, he could find himself in serious trouble.

Phil Gordon has been praising Alex Kravchenko's patient play on the short stack and has predicted that this second double up could propel him to the bracelet. Alex has undeniably been the strongest player at the table. He has been the short stack ever since play began. It will be interesting to see how he changes gears now that he has amassed 18 million chips.

NEWS FLASH!!!

Jerry Yang just folded to a re-raise!!! That's the first hand he has released after raising all day!

Yang's not the only one who can bust a player...

2007-07-17T18:46:00.000-05:00

Raymond Rahme raises the action to 2.7 million (blinds still 150k-300k -- 5 handed) in early position. Action folds around to Jon Kalmar who immediately pushes all in and has around 13 million all day. Rahme says, "If I have more than you, I'll call. So you better hope you have less." After the chip counting was done, Rahme found that he had Kalmar covered by about 3 million and makes the call. Jon shows AKo while the 62 year old from South Africa, Rahme, shows JJ. Gentlemen, start your engines! It's a race. The board avoids Jon completely and Raymond's JJ hold up. Kalmar takes down a little more that $1.25 million for his 5th place finish and Rahme moves into 2nd place with more than 29 million in chips....still 40 million behind our chip leader, Jerry Yang.

The J-Train Keeps Chuggin' Along

2007-07-17T18:35:00.000-05:00

Another level, another victim for Jerry Yang.

Things slowed down a bit at the beginning of the second level of the day (150k-300k, 40k ante), but the level ended with a bang. Yang raises in early position to 1.5 million. Hevad "Rain" Khan of PokerStars fame (not the best endorsement Stars could have hoped for...the guy is an idiot at the table...Ali Nejad made the comment that he thought Rain was playing with a "49 card deck" after seeing one of the stupidest celebratory dances ever seen at a poker table) re-raised to 6 million, conspicuously leaving only 3.4 million behind. Jerry tanked and kept saying "I don't think I can lay this down. He finally acted, mistakenly calling the bet when he thought he had Khan all in. After realizing the mistake, Jerry measured out 4.5 million chips to complete Khan's bet. Before the flop is dealt, Khan announces that he's all in blind and pushes out his remaining 3.4 million. After a flop of K-2-4 with two clubs comes out, Jerry calls and flips over JJ. Khan shows AsQs and needs help. The 3 on the turn offers a bit giving Khan a wheel draw, but the board pairs on the river (3 or 4) and Jerry Yang has busted out his fourth opponent while collecting the 19.8 million chip pot and has pushed his stack to 73 million. The other four players only comine to 53 million. Can you say Jamie Gold Part Deux??? Jamie Gold...Jerry Yang...hmm. Let the conspiracy theories begin!!!

BTW, you have to see the footage of Hellmuth wrecking the race car. Classic!

More after the next break!

Who the F@$* is Jerry Yang???

2007-07-17T16:35:00.000-05:00

The guy who has gone from 8th place to having half the chips in play (while knocking out three players) by the end of the second hour of play, that's who!

Does this mean he's a great player? Um...I'll let you decide.

Wang, who has played poker for just two years and won a $225 satellite for his seat in this event, started the day firing at almost half of the pots with completely random raises (2.5x the BB to 10.5x the BB) and had doubled his stack without showing a hand. After putting Lee Childs all in on a 7-2-4 flop (two clubs), Lee folds QQ face up and Jerry rakes a pot putting him in the top three.

Then Jerry picks on chip leader Philip Hilm. Jerry raises to 2.5 million pre-flop (blinds are 120k-240k with a 30k ante) and Phil calls out of the BB. Flop comes A-10-8. Phil checks. Jerry pushes out 3 million. Phil calls...trapping??? Turn comes out (I forget). Phil checks again. Jerry pushes all in and get Phil off his hand. Jerry takes the chip lead and is close to 24 million.

Very next hand...

Jerry raises to 1 million pre-flop and Phil calls in the SB. The flop comes Kd-Jd-5c. Phil checks. Jerry pushes 3 million (could be 5...not writing things down) and Phil comes over the top all in!!! Jerry makes the call and turns over AKo for top pair and Phil shows 8d5d for bottom pair and the flush draw. The board bricks out and our opening chip leader has just busted out in 9th place while Jerry is up to 44 million, more than twice the 2nd place stack.

A few hands later, Jerry is in the SB and raises to 1 million. Lee Watkinson in the BB goes all in for 9.715 all day (I remember this because they took FOREVER to agree on a total count). Jerry calls of another 8.715 million with A9o!!! Ya know what's sick? Lee flips over A7o and is in sad shape. The board misses everyone and Jerry's 9 plays. Wow!

Fast forward 6-7 hands. Jerry's at 55 million. Second place is only 20 million. Action folds around to Lee Childs in the SB who raises 3x the BB to 720k. Jerry, in the BB, moves all in. Lee, still showing the effects of laying down the ladies to Jerry over an hour ago talks himself into a call saying, "7th's not bad...I call" and puts his last 7 million or so in the pot with KhJc and Jerry sheepishly turns over Js8s. The flop comes 4d-4c-6c. Lee is still way ahead...until the 8c peels off the turn. Lee looks like some just shot his puppy but has a shot as he need a K or a club on the river. That...um...didn't happen as the 9d floats down the river and we have just lost our third player in the first two hours of play. Jerry's run has already been compared to jamie Gold's dominance at last year's final table where he knocked out 7 of the 8 other players in route to the bracelet. At the beginning of the PPV, Phil Gordon was commenting that with all the chips in play and how bunched the field was, he didn't expcet the first bust out to take place until the 3rd or even the 4th hour and has set the over/under for the last hand to take place at 5am PST, 17 hours after the first hand was dealt. Ummm....way to go Phil???

Break's over. More updates during the next break!

WSOP Final Table Tonight!!!

2007-07-17T07:57:00.001-05:00

Somebody's gonna make a boatload of cash tonight!!!

Actually, nine somebodies are gonna make a boatload of cash tonight. One of them, however, has a little more to play for.

According to the blog on pokernews.com, Lee Watkinson is the only player left in the field who qualified for the WSOP via Full Tilt. Full Tilt has an agreement with any of the players who qualified through fulltilt.com that states if they win the main event, FT will drop an extra ten million in cash on them (just to see that in zeros...$10,000,000!!!). Maybe the first prize award is only $8.25 million (yeah, chump change), but Lee's playing for $18.25 million. Good luck, Lee!

Don't forget, ESPN is offering the event live on PPV starting at 2pm CST. The cost is $19.95 and worth every penny!!!

Results for the AWL Charity Event

2007-07-16T15:01:00.000-05:00

Freddy the Poker Dog would like to thank the twelve generous poker superstars who made it out for this special event. Freddy would also like to congratulate our winners Randy for his first place finish, Ed for his second place finish and Shelly for her third place finish. He also offers each of our money finishers a super slobbery puppy kiss for being extra generous and donating an extra $20 from their winnings to the Animal Welfare League! By the end of the evening, $200 was raised and will be donated to the shelter in the form of dog food, treats, cat food and kitty litter. Thank you again to all who attended! I hope to play with you again in the very near future! For details regarding this event, please visit http://www.hellaholdem.com/ and read Shelly's post from the evening.

Anyone interested in winning a seat for a 2008 WSOP Bracelet event???

2007-07-16T14:50:00.000-05:00

Got your attention, didn't I? Keep reading!! I'm not joking.

I had an idea...which is scary...

I am considering putting together a WSOP league. I've been following the various blogs (mostly pokernews.com which has been great) regarding the main event and I'm amazed at how many people are playing as part of home game leagues. Either they had a big tourney where 1st place was a seat in the WSOP or they set up elaborate points systems and held events for a year very similar to NASCAR and the point leader at the end went to the WSOP on behalf of the group. I am interested in tryin something like this. Here was my idea...

At every tournament hosted by one of our poker locals where the buy in is $40 or more ($20 or more in case of re-buys), we set up an optional system where players who want to be rated and earn points toward a WSOP seat pay an addition $10 per tourney (which does not go towards the prize pool for that evening). Each player who chooses to be a part of this then earns points based upon their finish. At the end of the year, the player with the most points gets to play in the WSOP event of their choice (assuming we won't have enough people and events to get someone in the main event). Everybody who has earned points during the "season" gets a small stake in that person's finish in the even. So, if there is 10,000 total points (all players combined) in a season and the player with the most has 4,000 (40% of the total points available), he or she gets to play in the event of their choice and gets to keep 40% of whatever they win while the other 60% is divided among the rest of the players who have earned points over the last year. Then a player who may have finished with 1,500 points would then get 15% of the action. The reason for splitting the pot is because there will be a number of people who (hopefully) will contribute to this pot and it's only fair that everyone have a chance to earn a return on their investment. I ran the idea across a few people who were at my last event and they all loved the idea and would be for it.

The biggest benefit to this is that I think we'd get better turn outs for our games because the more events a person plays in, the more points he or she can earn, the better chance he or she has of playing in a WSOP event. I'd like to try to get a game every three weeks if at all possible at random locations (whoever feels like hosting). This would give us over 15 events between now and the next WSOP and even if we just have 10 players at each event get rated, that's enough to get a player in one of the $1,500 events!

I haven't thought about a points system yet. PokerStars has a Tournament Leaderboard points system that they use for various things including the players who gets the most TLB points in a given week gets to play a PokerStars sponsored pro head-up every Sunday for $1,000. Their points system takes several things into consideration including buy-in, size of field and a player's finish. They have a sick formula that figures everything out.

Bonus!!!!

I just found their formula! They offer it in an excel download where you can see how they determine their TLB points. I doctored the formula to offer points to player who finish in the top half of a field (PokerStars only gives TLB points to players who finish in the top 15%). You can plug in any values you want! This could really work. Wow! So, um, points system has been established.

Think about it. Discuss it with some of your crew and let me know if you think this can work. I'd love to give it a try. I encourage anyone who is interested in this to e-mail me at railbirdsnest@yahoo.com and give me your input on this!

ESPN Announces WSOP Final Table PPV

2007-07-03T12:17:00.001-05:00

ESPN has announced that they will once again offer live coverage of the World Series of Poker Main Event's Final Table live on Pay-Per-View on Tuesday, July 17th. From what I have gathered, the broadcast will be similar to last year's with Ali Nejad and Phil Gordon giving us the play by play and color commentary. Added to the broadcast this year is a "sideline" reporter who will be dropping in from time to time with interviews of the players' family, friends and fans. This year's broadcast will also be more interactive than last year's show as ESPN will also include surveys via text message and Q and A sessions where viewers from home will be able to e-mail questions to Ali and Phil to have them answered live on the air. According to www.directv.com, the event is being offered for $19.95 (I would assume the other cable providers will be offering the PPV at the same price) and will start at 3:00PM EST...that's 2:00PM CST for us Chicago folk.

I watched the PPV from beginning to end last year and really enjoyed it. No, you don't get to see hole cards. No, you don't see all in's every third hand. Heck, sometimes the chip counts aren't 100% accurate because they haven't had three months to comb over the video to make sure their figures are right. What you see is a classic poker tournament from hand #1 to the handing out of the bracelet. You get to see the deliberation and thought process players go through each hand. You get to listen in on all the table talk. It's the next best thing to seeing it live...which is the next best thing to playing in it.

I strongly encourage everyone to plunk down the $20 and enjoy 8 to 10 hours of some great poker. Kim and I may put a little something together and have people over and order pizzas or something (maybe I can even talk her into making her patented poker cupcakes!). If you're interested, you know what to do!

The Polish Pride Poker Party

2007-07-02T08:32:00.001-05:00

Last night, I had the opportunity to play in a new game hosted by my friend, Sebastian, and his buddy, Brian. Don't mind the goofy name for the event as nothing better came to mind. The guys had a great turn out for the first of what I hope is many tournaments they host. The game was a $30 NL Hold'em with one re-buy during the first four levels (you had to be knocked out in order to re-buy...only 4 people used their re-buy option). We started with 22 players on three tables and paid the top four finishers.

Here are some quick notes from the final table.

Our bubble boy was the host, Sebastian. I believe the blinds were 800/1600 with a 100 ante. Sebastian was in the BB with less than twice the big blind left. Action folded around to John in the SB who, before looking at his hand, said "I guess I have to, right?" referring to putting Sebastian all-in. Sebastian calls with K3o. John shows Q4o. Sebastian hit a 3 on the flop only to see John catch a 4 on the turn. Sebastian couldn't return the favor on the river and bowed out in 5th place.

Several hands later during the same level, our new short stack, Mike, found himself with less than 2x the BB. Mike pushes all-in from outside the blinds and Ed called (small blind??? didn’t mark that down in my notes). The cards are shown and Mike’s in bad shape as his 9d8s is in a world of hurt against Ed’s Ad8d. Mike goes from three outs to four on a flop of Jh As 7d as he goes into prayer mode hoping to catch a 10 for a nut straight. Ed’s top pair improves to a set when the Ac peels off the turn. The 6c floats down the river ending Mike’s tournament who took down $75 for his fourth place finish.

A side note, Mike was also responsible for taking me out in 7th when I made a button move with Ad4d and Mike woke up with AQo. He flopped a set and diamonds weren’t my best friend as I couldn’t catch a runner-runner flush which left me crippled. A couple hands later, I was UTG and moved blind with slightly more than 2x the BB. Mike, trying to offer some help, makes a huge raise that goes uncalled so we go head’s up. He shows QQ and I’m stuck with Jc10c (could’ve been worse). The flop offers no help and Mike “earns the checkmark” when the turn leaves me drawing dead. Nice playing Mike!

Our third place hand was a classic case of the big stack playing big stack poker and winning with it. The blinds are now 1,000/2,000 with a 200 ante. Ryan who has been the dominant force at the table thus far makes it 7,000 straight on the button. John makes the call in the BB. The flop comes 4h 10h 2s. John bets out 5,000 and Ryan immediately pushes back all in. John count up his remaining stack and finds that he has about 17,000 left before making the call. John flips up Kc10d for top pair with a strong kicker and Ryan show the all-powerful 2d4c for bottom two pair. The turn brings a 5d giving John a couple more outs but Ryan fills up with the 2c on the river. John earns $110 for his 3rd place finish. Nice work!

Our head’s up combatants are Ryan and Ed. At the start, Ryan has almost a 3:1 chip lead on Eddie. They play about a dozen hands before the blinds grow to 1,200/2,400 with 200 antes. Ryan’s lead has grown to almost 4:1 over Ed when we get to our final hand. Ryan limps in from the SB and Ed raises to 7,400. Ryan pushes Ed back and goes all in. Ed makes the call and finds that he fell into the trap set by Ryan. Ryan shows AcKc and Ed, sensing defeat, shows his KsJh. The flop begins construction with three bricks in the form of 5s 2h 5h. The turn shows paint, but the Qd hits nobody. The As comes on the river giving Ryan a pair and Ed is knocked out in 2nd place which earns him $160. Ryan wins $300 for his victory. Congrats to you both!

On behalf of Sebastian and Brian, thanks to everyone who came out. I hope that many of you can make it out to our charity game on the 14th!

Check this place out!

2007-06-30T12:03:00.000-05:00

I just stumbled upon a new online poker supply store.

www.discountpokershop.com

I was really impressed with their selection and prices. They even offered a 5% online coupon right on their site! I picked up yellow poker chips to use as another denomination at home games and tourneys as well as a bunch of chip racks. The last few MTT home games I've played in has required a bunch of table hopping and more often than not, chips have hit the floor.

Check these guys out. I'm sure you'll be impressed!

Registration for The AWL Charity Tournament Continues...

2007-06-26T09:59:00.000-05:00

Thank you to those of you who have already registered for the event. For those of you who haven't, you have until Sunday to qualify for the pre-registration bonus of 750 chips! Please contact me via e-mail at railbirdsnest@yahoo.com or via phone (if you have my contact info with is on the flyers I've passed out at various games).

Because this is a charity event, there will be no house fee. Finger food and non-alcoholic beverages will be stocked and available. If you're the mixing type, feel free to hit the bar in the basement but everything else is BYOB. Anyone interested in pitching in for pizza is free to do so as well, otherwise, make dinner plans beforehand.

Thanks again for your interest in my event and keep checking back for further updates!

Pre-Registration for AWL Charity Tournament has begun!

2007-06-01T09:14:00.000-05:00

Pre-Registration from the Animal Welfare League No Limit Hold'em Charity Tournament on Saturday, July 14th is now available. As an incentive to confirm your seat early, any player who registers before July 1st will start with a bonus 750 chips (regular buy-in without the bonus is 2,000 chips) at the beginning of the tournament. This bonus will only apply to your initial buy-in to the tournament and will not apply to any re-buys or add-ons.

In order to pre-register, please contact me via phone (home or cell) if you have my number or by e-mailing me at railbirdsnest@yahoo.com.

See you on July 14th!!!

Thoughts on the National Heads Up Semi-Finals...

2007-05-24T10:02:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer -- I have not watched the finals yet. I have no clue who won. I've been trying to avoid the results in any poker mags and websites I've seen and have been pretty successful thus far. SO DON'T BLOW IT FOR ME!!!

I have to admit, thus far the event has been pretty ho hum in my humble opinion. Phil Ivey dropping out in the first round (again), the big match-up between Kid Poker and The Mouth that....um...wasn't, watching "da chaak!!" (a.k.a. Brenes' shark routine) and his corny hats and enduring Gabe's Brunson-esque 10 gallon hats has been less than heart-stopping television. The semi-finals, however, saved the entire event.

I'll start with the Smith-Brown match. I think every poker player can relate to what Gavin experienced. No matter what you do, you're not going to win. The poker gods had it out for him. I've never seen one player be dominated in so many hands! Gavin flops top pair, Chad has him outkicked. Gavin picks up a pocket pair, Chad has an over pair. It was sick. I mean, even when Gavin spiked a 5 on the river to win his first all in hand, you knew that it meant little and that Chad was going to pick up a hand and drive home the final stake. I would never wish that type of a run on anybody. I would, however, be interested in seeing Phil Hellmuth in that type of situation. The quotes you would get from that one heads-up match would be enough to fill up an entire two hour special including revisiting Phil's infamous "if luck weren't involved..." quote from the WSOP telecasts.

On to the Elizabeth-Wasicka match...

WOW!!!

I watched Shannon advance through the field and, along with Cheadle upsetting Ivey, thought that this did nothing to promote this event or the overall game of poker. It made the event seem like nothing more than a crapshoot and that the sun could shine on any dog's behind on any given day. Boy, was I ever proven wrong!

Shannon played an excellent game, pushing when she needed to and backing off when her senses warned her of danger...until her bad river beat. For those who missed it, Shannon (AQ) had Paul against the ropes when she hit a pair of queens to put Paul's pocket 10's in a very bad spot. The turned made things interesting (doesn't it always?) when a K fell putting the whole family on board and leaving Paul open-ended. Paul hits his 7 outter when an ace floats down the river. With that beat, the match changed and Shannon became a completely different player.

Shannon crawled into a shell and outright refused to come out. Paul was able to push her around with strong bets on every street to push Shannon off of what was a winning hand several times. Probably the most glaring of these moments was when Paul pushed pre-flop with A8o and after mulling it over, got Shannon to muck AJo. You just got the sense from Shannon that the white flag was out and she had given up.

I sat there and begged for her to pick up a hand! The person who I originally saw as a fluke and possibly the worst thing to happen to this tournament was now the person who I'd have given anything to see pull out a win. She played great (and made me feel like a heel in the process)! She wasn't afraid to make the bold move and she didn't change up her game when she amassed better than a 4 to 1 chip advantage. I really hope this isn't the last we've seen of Ms. Elizabeth. Maybe she can become the next actress to take home a WSOP bracelet a la Jennifer Tilly.

As for the final match, for some reason I find myself pulling for Paul Wasicka. He's one of the few young faces that I have seen recently that doesn't annoy the crap out of me. He's professional, quiet and very business-like. When you watch him, you can never tell how his day is going. The man looks the same whether he's up six figures in a high stakes cash game or if he's drawing dead on his final hand in a tournament.

Good luck Paul! I hope you win a tournament that took place last year! (Do I sound stupid or what!?!?!)

The Sunday Million...how I've missed you so...

2007-05-21T08:43:00.000-05:00

YAY!!! I FINISHED IN 1,275th PLACE!!!

Seriously, and it's not a bad thing.

Yesterday, PokerStars added $250,000 in the prize pool of their weekly Sunday Million $200+$15 tournament and it brought out everybody (including me who hasn't played on PStars since the new legislation). 10,894 players ponied up the $215 to build a pot of over $2.4 million! The top 2,619 cashed.

My exit hand was Jc9c (J9 suited...how surprising) versus 88. I caught my J on the flop and the bugger turned an 8 for his set. I had been chipped down to approximately 35,000 chips (blinds were 1200/2400 and they were a minute or two away from 1600/3200) after going straight card dead for an hour straight before that hand. I pushed all in in early-mid position hoping to have some credit for a hand, or at least be thought of as an ultra-tight rock, because I had not played a hand in forever but the player in the cut off position had the eights (I guess I couldn't have been in a better situation) and, after thinking about it for a few seconds, looked me up. The only premium hand I saw in that hour was KK which I moved all in with after being re-raised and was called by what else? KK! I had a "heart" attack moment when three hearts fell on the flop (obviously, I was not holding the Kh), but I luckily avoided a heart on the turn and river to stay alive.

My Inaugural "Go Fish" Game

2007-05-20T11:08:00.000-05:00

Last night, Scott, Ed and I made our way south to a new game hosted by Mario who I met through my aunt last year and FINALLY found the chance to sit down and toss some chips around with. Whenever I post regarding games Mario hosts, I think I'm going to refer to them as the "Go Fish" games, as Mario used that once in one of his e-mails and I feel it's only fitting that I steal it from him.

The night consisted of two $25 NL Hold'em SNG's. The first game had 10 players and the second had nine. I think Scott's air hockey table has some competition as we used Mario's pool table for the game in order to fit the whole crew at one table.

The most amazing thing to happen throughout the night was that Scott hit a straight flush and quad aces (which he's still kicking himself for not pushing harder as he was paid off on that hand) and STILL didn't cash in either game. That was mostly due to the fact that Mario and I caught cards like bassmasters all night against him, a fact he won't soon let me forget.

The first game saw the host, Mario, take the top spot earning him $150 after knocking off Ed heads-up, who earned $75 for his efforts. While heads-up, (I can't remember exactly when...somebody needs to staple a notebook to my hands so I can remember to jot this stuff down) Ed pushed all in with K10o with a flop of K-7-7 and Mario called off his remaining chips with A10o. Mario spikes an A on the river and Ed can't believe it! He didn't know what to be more upset about, the call or the beat. Ed's tilt button is stuck and Mario eventually finishes him off for the win. Mario's brother Russell finished in third place to get himself a refund.

One other note in the first game came in level 7 with the blinds at 400/800 with a 50 ante (5 handed). Scott is short stacked (less than 4x the BB) in the BB with Kd9d. Action folds around to Russell who is on the button and limps with JJ. Mario limps in the SB with Ks5s. After the limps in front of him, Scott pushes his remaining 1800 into the pot, putting himself all in. Russell then announces that he is making a terrible fold and mucks his hand (I totally agree but...). Mario tanks for a second, counts up the pot, checks his stack and concludes that he can take the blow and calls. Upon flipping up the cards, Scott says there is nothing to fear and Mario will hit his 5. Good call, Scott. The flop comes K-K-5 giving Scott a set and Mario a boat. A 10 falls on the turn giving Scott 3 outs for a chop but a brick hits the river and Scott bows out graciously. Discussion regarding the hand the rest of the night reveals that had Russell pushed with his JJ, Mario would have been forced to lay his hand down and Scott plays with Russ for the rest of the night blaming him for the 3-outter beat.

The second game saw 9 of the 10 players remain. Bill, who was knocked out first in the early game took off shortly after his exit. The action was fast and furious in the first couple of levels as we made quick work of the first four players to exit the game. Wanting to get in on the fun, I limp in the cut off with J7o for 50 chips (thinking I saw K7). Scott completes the SB and the BB checks. The flop comes A-K-7 and the action is checked to me. I bet out the pot (150) and Scott check-raises me an extra 500. Without checking my hole cards, I call it. Another 7 hits the turn and THEN I get back to my hole cards to find out that I was just bailed out. Scott moves all in and I call. His aces and sevens don't improve and my set knocks him out. Scott was having so much fun railing me for calling him down with bottom pair I didn't have the guts to tell him I misread my hand. Lucky for me, the poker gods took mercy on me :)

The finish saw Kenny (an excellent player...always cracking about how whenever you make a bad call just tell your table you had "implied odds"...I'm going to use that...lots) take first place and $135 when his Ah7h cracked my 66. Kenny caught two hearts on the flop and then had to sweat it out until the Ad ended the game on the river. I took down $65 and Mario got his money back for finishing third.

Big thanks to Mario for hosting last night. I look forward to playing with you all again in the near future (how does 7/14 look for you guys?).

I have implied odds!!!!

Animal Welfare League Charity Tournament Announcement

2007-05-19T14:31:00.000-05:00

Mark your calendars!

The Animal Welfare League Charity Tournament will be held Saturday July 14th at my house. It will be a $20 NL Hold'em tournament with unlimited re-buys and a one time add-on. 25% of the entire pot will be donated on behalf of the Chicago Poker Crew (anyone who plays in any of my charity games is a member of the CPC whether you like it or not...who wants to design the t-shirt?). There may be a cash game to follow. If so, it will be $1/$2 NL with a 10% rake ($3 max) which will also be donated to the AWL.

If you would like more information or want to RSVP, please e-mail me at railbirdsnest@yahoo.com!

See you on the 14th!!

Results from ACS Charity Tournament II

2007-05-11T09:53:00.000-05:00

Here's the money finishers from our most recent game...

$20/Re-Buy No-Limit Texas Hold'em Charity Tournament

2,000 starting chips
2,000 re-buys (unlimited during first four levels)
3,000 add-on (one time only during first break)

15 Participants -- 4 Places Paid -- 25% of total pot donated to the American Cancer Society

$1,140 Total Pot

1st Place -- $342 -- Jim (that's me!)
2nd Place -- $228 -- Shelly (from hellaholdem.com fame)
3rd Place -- $171 -- Steve (our gracious dealer for most of the evening...thanks again!!)
4th Place -- $114 -- Scott (thanks again for hosting this year's game!)

Charitable donation -- $285 for the ACS Walk and Roll 2007

I wasn't taking any notes because I was having too much fun goofing with the tournament manager software and playing like a fool during the first hour (which earned me a couple re-buys...eh...it's for charity!) and spending the second and third hour busting my butt getting back the chips I previously donked away. Shelly has a few more details of the game at www.hellaholdem.com.

In the two charity events we have hosted, over $500 has been donated. We are looking to branch out and add a second yearly event. My loving wife and I are looking to get more involved in some Chicagoland no-kill animal shelters. We adopted our "son" Freddy (good ol' German shepherd/beagle muttzilla) from the Animal Welfare League in South-suburban Chicago two years ago and we couldn't imagine life without him. We are looking to do our part (however little it may be) to keep these great organizations up and running. People may not realize that most of these organizations heavily rely on volunteers and donations to function and the quality of care they can offer homeless pets greatly depends on the generosity of people like us. With that in mind, let's shuffle up and deal and find some puppies some homes!!

I am slightly torn as to what type of game to have. The re-buy charity format has proven to be successful however I'm wondering if there is something different we can do. One suggestion was to run a $1/$2 NL cash game and institute a 10% rake ($4 max) all night and donate the entire rake. I was intrigued by that idea (especially since I've been involved in some rather loose cash games recently...could be a profitable night for the AWL). I'm looking for thoughts and suggestions. Has anyone out there ever hosted charity events? What has worked? What...um...didn't. A little help people!!!

ACS Charity Game II

2007-05-10T18:01:00.000-05:00

Welcome home ladies and gentlemen...

Fresh off his too long of a break from the felt, The Railbird is back to entertain you with him wonderfully funny tales of poker hi-jinx.

This past weekend we ushered in the second annual installment of the American Cancer Society Charity Game. I will include details when I don't have 5 strangers banging away on my roof but I wanted to take a quick minute to thank the 15 participants that helped to raise $285 for the ACS this year ($50 more than last year!). Thank you so much to my buddy Scott for offering to host the game and to his wife Ann and my wife Kim for keeping us all well nourished throughout the event (more dip, please!!!).

Yes! I'm still alive...barely...

2006-06-13T14:44:00.000-05:00

The Railbird is back from the dead...and with a question for all of you no less :)

O.K. I sit down at a $1/$2 NL cash table on PokerStars last night. I'm sitting out while I wait for the BB to get to me (and to watch the rhythm of the table for the majority of an orbit...something I always do). The table is playing ultra tight. In the six hands I watched, not one pot exceeded $15. Now I know that six hands isn't enough to gauge a table's play but as I played for a while it was spot on...except for my very first hand.

I'm in the BB with AdQd. There are three limpers before the SB who pops it up to $10 all day. Hoping to start my session of with a bang I call and two of the three limpers follow suit. So we have a $39 pot (minus $3 for the maxed table rake) and the flop comes 3h 5h Jd. I whiff. The SB, original raiser, bets out $6. I think for a second. I'm getting better than 7:1 to stick a worm out there...possibly better if one or two of the players after me come along for the ride. Both of them fold and we are heads up to the turn which comes 10d. Now I have the gutshot straight draw, nut flush draw and the royal out there. The SB bets $10. I call because I'm a donk. The Kh falls on the river and I hit the straight BUT there's three hearts. The SB bets out $12. Hmmm....did he hit??? My instincts say no (experience says most players check in that situation) and I decide to find out right away with a 3x raise to $36. He calls immediately...and then mucks! I check the hand history and see that the guy flopped a set of Jacks (I don't know why PokerStars lists player's hole cards as long as he was involved in a showdown in the hand history...a glitch I hope they never fix). He immediately begins to trash my play. The call on the flop, maybe. After the flop with the crazy draw on the turn and calling a $10 bet into a $61 pot...I'm gonna call that every time! My pot odds dictated a call even if I put my opponent on a set.

In my opinion, had he checked the turn (when he still had the best possible hand) I would have been in the position to make a strong bet, in the $20-$30 range (1/3 to 1/2 the pot). He could have come over the top with a big raise that would have put me to a major decision. I most likely fold to a check raise that commits everything I have in front of me. I chalked this up as a case of my opponent trying to get too cute with a monster and paying for it in the end. I thought he may have had me on two hearts. If that were the case, why would he have called the raise after the river had he thought he was beat? So I assumed he either put me on TP (AJ perhaps), an overpair (AA or QQ...can't count KK because he would have been beat by three kings on the river), a lower flopped set or a stone bluff.

What do you think? Was it that horrible of a play? Let me know!

So that's how you finish 4th with AA!

2006-05-26T09:53:00.000-05:00

I think I really did something to upset Lee Jones recently because this kind of thing has been a regularity since I hit in the $3/Re-buy...

Yesterday I'm in another one of my lovely re-buys when I catch AA UTG 10 minutes before the first break. Blinds are 50/100 and I'm in the middle of the pack with around $9,000 in chips (once again I'm at a real live table...lucky me). Seeing that all in bets have been pretty common pre-flop I decide to join the fun. One caller...two callers...BB thinks...three callers!!! We have a $34,000 chip pot. The other hands: 1st caller - KK, 2nd caller - QQ, BB - J9o.

This is how you go from dominating favorite to practically drawing dead in three cards.

The flop is K-Q-10. The two under pairs catch sets and the BB, as Mike Sexton would say, caught lightning in a bottle. Needless to say, one of the remaining J's does not hit the turn or river and the straight holds.

One day soon I hope to have happier news to report regarding my PokerStars exploits. Until then, I'll keep stacking up the fun beats and tell the stories here.

The "Prophet"

2006-05-24T10:05:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I was wasting away in PokerStar's $5/Re-buy with a $25k guarantee. I was getting no love in the first hour and came across a player named Payed24_7. The two of us start jabbing back and forth about absolutely nothing when I agree during the first break to place a side bet with him to see who would last longer. Here's a hint...if a guy has a 2:1 edge on you, don't take the bet!

Well, I did. A couple hands into the second hour, I make a prediction. I told him that I forsee a big pocket pair running into a bit of bad luck for him. Two hands later, I pick up 77 UTG and raise to $450 (3x BB). Payed comes over the top to make it $1,050 and immediately says, "Maybe this is it." Did he really telegraph his hand to me or is he just full of it? I came back over the top for the rest of my $5k that wasn't already in the pot (sadly, I was the shortest stack by 6k to everyone but one player at the table so I was looking to make a move...average stack was already nearing $10k). He calls and shows KK. Can my prophecy come true??

Sadly, the board comes nothing but blanks and he takes me out. I make the transfer and pay the guy off and sit back to enjoy a bit more verbal sparring. Unfortunately, Payed24_7 couldn't put my chips to good use as he was knocked out about 200 places away from the money.

Thanks for the game and friendly competition, Payed! Hope to see you at the tables again soon (to exact a little revenge!! Hee hee hee!!!).

ForPeyton.com

2006-05-19T12:23:00.000-05:00

As posted by Shelly on hellaholdem.com...

Many of you have probably already read about a little girl named Peyton Novoa. She's 2 1/2 years old, and lost her mother recently to small cell ovarian cancer.

I've been working with Spaceman and Bobby Bracelet (RIP One2Many) to put together a web site for Peyton. We're working to raise money to help Peyton and her family through this tough and tragic loss. Several poker pro's have already contributed to the cause. Gavin Smith and Phil Hellmuth have made generous cash donations of $2,000 a piece for Peyton. Phil Ivey, Michael Mizrachi, Mark Seif, and others have donated items for an upcoming auction to benefit the cause. I hear that a poker tournament with Gavin Smith is in the works.

You can make cash donations via PayPal through the ForPeyton.com web site. Help us reach our goal of raising $100,000 for Peyton. Thanks!

http://www.forpeyton.com/

See Card Player Magazine's article about ForPeyton.com: Poker Community Opens Its Heart

Official Announcement of my next game

2006-05-18T07:28:00.000-05:00

Drumroll pleaaahhh......nevermind.

Check your calendars, everybody! Saturday, July 15th will be the date of the next tournament hosted at my house. It will be a straight $50 MTT (no re-buys or add ons). I want to start as close to 7:30pm as possible. I'm telling those who are typically the "fasionably late" crowd that we're starting at 7:00pm. If there are enough interested participants and assuming the first game ends before sunrise, we can have a second tournament style game or a cash game (most likely $1/$2 NL with a $200 max buy). Please e-mail me to reserve a seat and to get directions (if you need them) at railbird129@yahoo.com!

Also...

A new idea I want to toy with...team play!

Start thinking of who you'd want to include in a four player-team style event. Each player will play in a heads-up match against a random player from another team and an eight player one table tournament. Earn points for your team with each cash finish!! The team with the most points takes down a sweet pot!

**Exact detials to follow once I figure them out :)

Worst...beat....ever...

2006-05-17T10:50:00.000-05:00

Well, maybe not. But it sure felt like it at the time.

I was in PokerStars' $10R with a $55k guaranteed prize last night when I was at the most violent table I've played at in months. The player before me was all in literally every hand. I was BB with Jd8d and it was folded to him and he, as expected, moved all in. I called figuring I at least had live cards. Wouldn't you know, I made a great call! He shows 5c7c.

Now the fun...

The flop comes J-J-8c. EUREKA!!!!!! I struck gold!!! The turn...6c. It couldn't happen, could it? The 4c falls on the river to bust my boat. The bum hit a runner-runner straight flush.

I know there are worse beats (one outters and such), but that really stung.

Your turn! I want to hear the worst beats you can remember taking. Making them up doesn't count!

WARNING!!! Sarcastic remark forthcoming!!!

2006-05-16T10:04:00.000-05:00

My friend Ed is the greatest poker player I know!

O.K. Now that I have that out of the way....

This past Saturday I hosted my first charity poker event. Kim (my loving wife) and I are participating in The American Cancer Society's Walk-and-Roll fundraising event. Instead of hounding our friends for donations. I figured that we'd have some fun with it and host a $20/Re-buy tournament with $5 from each entry, re-buy and add on going towards the ACS.

We started with 13 players (thank you to the new faces who came...I hope you all come to the next game!!) and paid three places. After the 80 minute re-buy period was over, the pot had reached $960. The pay outs are as follows:

1st: $340
2nd: $240
3rd: $140
ACS: $240

This was the first tournament that I used the PTM software that I posted about yesterday. I'll only say it one more time...I love this program!!!!

We broke down to our final table with 8 remaining. We had a fun grop with a bit of verbal sparring (Scott, can you see my blue chips???). The final three were Ed, Ann and myself. Ann is short stacked and moves with the first hand she can find and is knocked out. Heads up starts slow. Neither one of us can find a hand worthy of limping. Lots of folding pre-flop and limping and checking down. About 25 minutes into heads up, I wake up with 77 and find Ed raising into me. I have about a 2:1 edge on him and push my stack all in. He call with A4o. Ed, the greatest player I know (WARNING!!! SARCASM!!!), flops his ace and takes down the pot. More posting and folding back and forth for another 10-15 minutes until the ugliest final hand I've ever been involved with. I'm in the SB with 3c5c and Ed checks. The flop comes K-3-4 rainbow. Ed checks and I, assuming that he didn't have the K thinking he'd have raised it pre-flop, try to end the hand with a huge overbet and push all in with my 3's. Ed calls. I ask him, "You got the king?" He said no and then flipped over 2s4s to give him middle pair. I just laugh and throw out the turn and river, neither of which help me and the game is over.

Congrats to Ed, who had a very eventful day for other reasons. First, his car was ready to blow up and cost him another $500 in repairs. He took down $250 at a micro-blind NL cash table on PokerStars. Then he gets to my place and almost breaks his skull when the chair he sits in breaks when he leans back. To top it off, he won a $100 side bet with Derek when the two agreed on a wager to see who would get knocked out first (Derek even offered a $30 bounty on Ed when the tournament began)! Hey, your car repairs were free! What a day!!!

Thank you to all who came to support the ACS. Kim and I really appreciate you assistance in this fundraiser. I look forward to see you at my next game in July...details to follow...

Woo Hoo!!! My first tournament win!!

2006-05-15T14:11:00.000-05:00

It's been a few years and I've come close several times, but last night it finally happened. For kicks, I signed up to play in one of PokerStar's $3 and Re-buy tournaments. The kick was I only had $4.20 left in my account. I said to myself, let's see just how far this $3 can go. During the re-buy hour I was a set flopping monster!!! I was at $13,000 at the first break (lost $6k in a pot with AsKs to a pair that held just before...could have been at $25k).

I was on a dream run! My big hands were holding, I was catching my drawing hands. Nothing I did was wrong. The best example of this was possibly my worst move of the tournament. We were down to four tables and I find myself in the BB with J5o. Everyone folds to the SB who limps. I check it and we see three cards. The flop comes 9-7-5 rainbow. SB bets out the minimum ($40k) and I put him on a steal...possibly overs...so I bump it to $120k. After a pause, SB commits the rest of his stack to the pot and moves all in. I curse myself because with what little he had left (under $200k...I forget the exact count) I was priced in to make the call. He shows 10h9h for top pair which held.....until I hooked the river with a J for Jacks up to steal the pot.

The final table was slow...too slow. Everybody was so defensive because they wanted to last one more place and make $300 more in prize money. We finally get down to three when the short stack (MACH9...solid player) asks for a chop and the second largest stack (a player named "redargoe" who had quite the attitude) berates him. After 30 minute of three-way action, I find my self slightly out-stacked by "redargoe". I raise from the button with QJo and he calls. The flop shows 2-2-9. He checks and I make a position bet of $480k which he calls...oops. A 10 comes off for the turn, leaving me open-ended. "redargoe" bets out $720k and I push the rest of my stack into the pot leaving the call at $1.8 million. I get my opponent to fold and from there I never let go of the led. Several hands later, I raise with sailboats and my familiar foe comes over the top. I put him on a bit of a tilt (his first pre-flop all in at the final table) but unless he has 33, 22, or A2-4...we're racing). I take a shot and sure enough,AQo. It's a dead heat. The flop comes 6-5-6 which makes me none too happy...giving him three more outs. The turn is a 7 leaving me open-ended (not that it mattered). The river...6!!! 6!!! 6!!! My 4's improve to a 6's full boat and we are now heads up. I have a $9.5 million to $3.2 million advantage over MACH9...a brilliant player. We play a couple hand...fold back and forth. I ask him if he's still interested in the chop he mentioned a couple hours back. We get a PokerStars Host, Patrick (nice guy), to run the numbers. After a tiny amount of haggling, we agree to a chopped pot where I take $4,000 even and he got $3,067.54.

Congrats MACH9 on a very will played final table and I hope we meet up again...hopefully in the same predicament!

Poker Tournament Manager Software....WOW!!!

2006-05-15T13:06:00.000-05:00

I recently purchased a copy of the Poker Tournament Manger software. All I'm going to say about it is if you host home games that involve more than one table, it's worth the $59.95. It does everything but play for you! We used it at a charity tournament I hosted (which I will post at a later time) and it was so helpful. We had re-buys and add-ons and the program kept track of everything! User friendly would be an understatement when describing PTM. This program will undoubtedly be a mainstay at every home game I host from now on!

I purchased the program from a very helpful site called www.wedoitallvegas.com. I found PTM at other sites but their price was better by $10 and they send you an e-mail so you can download the software the same day...NO SHIPPING! You can find just about anything there. I've got a few new decks of cards and other supplies coming from them, too. Sweet KEM cards...oh yeah!! Please check them out.

If you have used PTM (or a similar program), please post your comments and let me know what has...or hasn't...worked for you!

Welcome to the Railbird's Nest!!!

2006-05-15T10:58:00.000-05:00

Welcome!

For those who don't know me, my name is Jim and I am an avid poker player on Chicago's South Side. After being inspired by my friend and fellow blogger, Shelly, I have decided to start a blog of my own. I'll use this little piece of internet real estate to post results of all the tournaments I partake in (as well as host), share thoughts and opinions on my favorite pastime and pick the brains of all my friends to learn more and expand and improve upon my game. I hope that you find everything on here useful, informative and, above all else, entertaining.

Thanks for checking out The Nest!! Enjoy!!!