Cheated

I received an interesting e-mail from Full Tilt this morning.

Dear Lucki Duck,

The Full Tilt Poker Security department has recently concluded an extensive investigation and we have determined that some of your opponents were in violation of our site terms.

We have permanently closed all of the offending accounts. In cases of proven cheating, 100% of the confiscated funds are returned to the players who were victimized. The reimbursement calculation is based on the number of tournaments or hands played against the offending players, and the amount won or lost against them.

We have determined that you are entitled to a refund of $7.13 which will be placed in your account in the next 72 hours.

For a number of reasons, we are unable to provide any other additional information regarding this case, including the players involved and the game type where it occurred. We thank you for your understanding in this regard. The vigilance of our players in reporting suspicious behavior is an important addition to our ongoing diligence against unethical conduct, and we carefully investigate every concern of suspicious activity.

If you believe you have witnessed unfair play at our tables, please don't hesitate to contact us at security@fulltiltpoker.com. If there is any other way we can be of assistance, please let us know.

Full Tilt Poker Security

It got me thinking about how easy it is to cheat on any poker site. Just get a friend (or two) at your table, get on the phone and let each other know what cards you have. What a huge advantage.

Or register multiple accounts and have access to several hands at the same table.

Assholes.

I never really worried too much about being cheated, mainly because it didn't make much sense to me to cheat at such low buy-in ($6) levels. Wouldn't it be wiser to do the same thing at a $50 buy-in? No more risk and 16 times the reward.

I guess I'll have to be a little more vigilant in the future.

Too bad.

Online Poker Going Good! Live, Not So Much

We had a big crowd Friday for Tin Man's $5 Buy-In NLHE Tournament with 14 runners showing up.

I was seated at table two, which in front of the TV and I was able to keep up with the TCU/SMU football game while we played. Bondo Chris was seated to my left, followed by Music Man James, Philly Phanatic, Random Order, Ron, and Big Daddy.

Big Daddy and Debbie had missed the last few weeks, as they were attending high school football games. And believe me, high school football is serious business in Texas! It was good to have them back as they are both a lot of fun.

I was card dead the first couple of rounds, but managed to steal a pot or two to keep my stack at a respectable level. The pots were big at both tables and it didn't take long to get to the final table, which wasn't in front of the TV. FAIL.

The new table didn't change my run of bad cards, and I was unable to enter any pots since almost all of them were raised pre-flop. My bust out hand was Q-J soooted. I open shoved from middle position for 6BB and was called by Josh. Josh plays pretty tight, so I figured I was in trouble. My fear was confirmed when he tabled A-Q. I didn't improve and busted in ninth place. At least Josh used my chips well and ended up chopping the first and second place money. I managed to play the entire tourney without winning a showdown.

I couldn't see the $2 cash game being any worse than the tourney, but I was wrong. I had two new players to my left, both were loose passive players and I couldn't wait to get in a pot with one of them as they were calling all the way to the river with hands as weak as 6 high. Unfortunately, I still could not get any hands worth playing.

Finally, I was dealt A-Q UTG and raised 3.5X to 70 cents. One of the fish called and we saw a heads up flop of Q-6-9. I bet my TPTK, as I knew the villain would call anything. I didn't improve on the turn or river, but kept betting my queens until I got all my money in. I tabled what I thought was a winning hand, but my fish got off the hook when he flipped over pocket sixes for a set. Bye bye chips.

Dammit.

I managed to go thru five buy-ins without winning a hand.

Not.One.Single.Hand.

I blame it on Bobby D. He went the whole night on Thursday at J-Dawgs Poker Extravaganza without winning a hand and I was sitting next to him. Obviously, I was infected with his bad luck.

Hopefully, next Friday will be MUCH better!

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I had a nice set last night on Full Tilt. I played nine $6- 18 man SNGs and had one fourth place cash and two firsts. In addition, I placed sixth in a $6-90 man KO tourney. Including rakeback and a Full Tilt bonus I received, I'm within $7 of my all time high bankroll. I hope to make a new high tonight!

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy trails.

"Have You Ever Played Poker Before?"

Burgers and brownies were on the menu at J-Dawg's Poker Extravaganza last night. J fired up the ol' grill and turned out a mighty fine sammich! Grilled meat is hard to beat! Larry the Mailman brought some brownies for dessert.

Health food.

We had 11 runners, with "Riverboat J" making an appearance after missing the last two weeks. Riverboat is probably the most accomplished player in this game (other than me, of course!) and he was seated two to my left. Not the best position.

Bobby D was directly to my left and managed to play the entire night without winning a pot. "A new record" he exclaimed!

Congratulations Bobby.

I won two of the first three pots in this $20 buy-in mixed limit cash game. The first pot I won was a rivered full house (Q over J) in a game of hold 'em and the second was a nut flush in Omaha high.

I was up about $20 after the two wins and also had a grip on the High Hand Jackpot with my boat. Farmer Harry took that away from me when he flopped quad nines in Omaha high. But, Woody later took down the HHJ with quad jacks, also in Omaha and also hit it on the flop. I guess there's no need to wait till the last minute to make your hand.

My favorite hand of the night was in a round of hold 'em. I was in the cut-off and looked down at 3-2 sooooted. Of course, my only option was to raise with such a strong hand!

I had five callers and we saw a flop of 2-6-J. Checks all the way to me, and I fire out a bet with my awesome bottom pair. Three folds and we were down to three of us in the hand.

Turn is a king. Check, check, and I bet my powerful pair of ducks.

River?

A deuce of course!

Oh my.

Two checks in front of me and I bet my trips. Both villains fold, but I HAVE to show my hand. Right?

I table the 3-2 and the Pissing and Moaning Club meeting is called to order.

"You raised with that crap?"

"What the hell are you thinking?"

"Have you ever played poker before?"

LOL. Priceless, plus I'll get action on my big hands for the next couple of weeks.

I cashed out with $38, not quite a double up, but still a good evening. Riverboat J was the big winner, cashing for a little over $50.

Tin Man's $5 Buy-In Tourney is tonight. I don't know how I'll do, but I do know I won't let myself blind out again like I did last week.

Happy trails.

Baseball Promotion Goes Bad

I saw this story on The Onion website the other day and thought it was hilarious!

As you may have guessed, my sense of humor is a little twisted :o)



16,000 Diamondbacks Fans Killed On Complimentary Rattlesnake Night



PHOENIX—The Arizona Diamondbacks organization apologized to fans, their families, and the community at large Thursday after more than 16,000 people attending the previous night's game were killed by the poisonous Western diamondback rattlesnakes given out as part of Complimentary Rattlesnake Night.

"I feel terrible," Diamondbacks general manager Jerry Dipoto told reporters as emergency personnel working out of temporary triage stations around Chase Field injected antivenom into the estimated 23,000 victims who survived the initial wave of snakebites. "All we wanted to do was give people something that was symbolic of the Diamondbacks, something they could take home and keep to remember the team by."

"I don't think they'll be taking their rattlesnakes home after this, though," Dipoto said. "They probably won't want them now that all those people are dead."

The rattlesnakes, which average 4 feet in length, weigh about 10 pounds, and account for the second-highest number of snakebite fatalities in the United States, were given out to the first 20,000 ticket holders who entered the stadium. While some volunteers initially suffered bites that destroyed their muscle tissue and caused major paralysis, event organizers said the promotion seemed to go smoothly at first.

"Other than a few hundred fans who complained of swelling, dry mouth, and blurred vision, most seemed to really like their rattlesnakes," said promotions manager Dustin Payne, who doctors believe will make a full recovery after the loss of his left arm due to venom-induced cytotoxic tissue necrosis. "They were twirling them around by their tails, you know, sort of like a Terrible Towel thing, and we were all thinking we had maybe started a great stadium tradition."

Observers said that even prior to the initial deaths, a number of isolated incidents seemed to indicate that the night was headed for disaster. One particularly rowdy fan had to be escorted from the game after waving his rattlesnake in a female attendee's face, and later, outfielder Gerardo Parra was poisoned and had to be carried off the field after a fan asked the hard-hitting lefty to autograph his rattlesnake.

When Diamondbacks reliever Blaine Boyer was spotted in the bullpen wildly convulsing in a writhing knot of rattlesnakes, the stadium grew quiet, save for a steady undercurrent of rattling.

Videotape of the event later showed thousands of fans toppling over and clutching their chests as the snakes' neurotoxic venom caused massive respiratory malfunctions and heart failure. Though most of the Western diamondbacks ultimately sought refuge underneath the stadium seats, by the seventh inning half the people in the stands were dead.

"Everywhere you looked, snakes were lashing out and biting people. I saw a man get bit in his calf, reach down to grab his leg, get bit in his face by another snake, fall down, and then get bit several more times on the top of his head," said Graham Rossini, the Diamondbacks' director of Special Projects and Fan Experience. "It's weird because they were such beautiful snakes, too. I think the problem was that we gave out a lot of older rattlesnakes, and apparently they can deliver much more venom."

"We probably should have given out baby rattlesnakes," he added.
The Diamondbacks organization has announced that it will donate all unclaimed rattlesnakes to a local children's charity next week. Until then, ticket holders who did not receive their rattlesnake may do so by sending the team a self-addressed stamped envelope and $8 to cover shipping and handling.

I hate when that happens!

Hat tip to theonion.com.

Poker And Bowling

Poker has been kinda meh for me the last few days.

I dropped $11 last Friday at Tin Man's $5 Tourney and $2 cash game.

I committed the cardinal sin of blinding myself out in the tournament. I was pretty much card dead the whole time. We were down to six of the starting 11 players, when I looked down at K-8 from middle position. My $100 starting stack had dwindled to $55. With blinds at $25-50, I decided to open shove before I had to take the blinds again. One BB doesn't give one much fold equity (LOL), and I was called by Tin Man, who I had covered, Chasity, who was the chip leader, and Josh, who also had $55.

I can't remember who had what, but Chasity won the hand with a rivered flush, taking all three of us out. As a matter of fact, of the 11 players, Chasity felted nine of us and ended up splitting the first prize money with Lil' Annie Okie.

Gotta watch them womenz.

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Internet poker has cooled for me. I'm back to losing to three outers on a consistent basis. I've dropped about $70 in the last week, but hopefully things will turn around soon.

I'm still five tabling the $6- 18 man tourneys on Full Tilt, occasionally slipping in an $11 buy-in. I've also six tabled a couple times, but dropped back to five until I hit my next hot streak.

******************************************************************************

In non-poker news, we finished our bowling league last night. It's been quite a while since I've broken 200 at the alleys, but finished strong, rolling a 208 and 217.

WHEEEE!

I hope all of you are off to a good start this week.

Until next time... happy trails.

Record Night

We had 11 runners show up for J-Dawgs Poker Extravaganza last night. I should have expected it was going to be a special night when I won the dealer button when I was dealt the ace of spades to start the evening.

Farmer Harry won the initial pot in the $20 buy-in mixed limit game when I dealt him the wheel straight on the river in a game of Omaha High. I lost $1 on the hand and it was the only time I was down the whole night.

I won the next hand, also Omaha High, with a king high straight and never looked back! It seemed like anytime I had a draw, it hit. Flushes, boats, straights, and quads... twice.

I also won the High Hand Jackpot. We were playing Pineapple and I looked down to find K-K-3. After several limpers, I raised to $1. No one folded and six of us saw a flop of K-K-A.

CHA-CHING!!!

Farmer Harry bet out of position, so I didn't have to lead out with a bet. I smooth-called to disguise my hand strength and mucked my 3. Four of us saw an 8 on the turn. I checked, figuring Harry would bet. He didn't disappoint, but only Larry the Mailman called. The river was another ace. Harry checked and Larry bet what I was sure was a full house. One of the house rules is that you have to showdown your hand to be eligible for the HHJ, so I didn't re-raise, but just called. Harry folded and Larry tabled aces full of kings. I took down a nice pot with my flopped quads and the hand held up all night to add another $13 to my stack.

The most anyone has cashed out for in this game is $80, but I broke the record, cashing out for an amazing $88!

SAH-WEET!!!

Friday is Tin Man's $5 Buy-In NLHE Tourney. Tonight will be a tough act to follow.

Happy trails.

The Party's Over

Well boys and girls, it looks like Lucki Duck's hot streak on Full Tilt has come to an end.

But what a ride it was!

After running hot for almost six weeks, I had two losing sessions last week and dropped a little over $50. Yesterday for instance, I got felted when my K-K ran into Q-Q. When things ars going your way, this hand holds up. You guessed it, queen on the flop.

I was sitting on 7BB when I called an EP raise with 6-6. The villian tables 3-3. Good call, right? Wrong. There's a three in the window and the Duck's goose was cooked. I must have bubbled half a dozen tourneys over the weekend.

One interesting (interesting = hilarious) hand I witnessed was at the second level of a $6- 18 man tourney. The player to my right was UTG and open shoved for 30BB (not the best move in the world, but it IS a $6 tournament), I fold, the player to my left calls, as does the player to his left.

The original raiser tables A-K, the first caller shows Q-Q, and the third caller,

the player that called a shove AND a call of that shove...

for 30BB, has...

wait for it...

...........

........

.....

..

4-3 offsuit!

I wonder what range he was putting his opponents on?

Flop? Why 3-4-4 of course!

BAM!

Gotta love this game.

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My live play is still going well. I won a little over $13 at J-Dawg's Poker Extravaganza last week. Farmer Harry won the High Hand Jackpot with a straight flush to the five. Nice one Harry!

I won Tin Man's $5 Buy In Tourney on Friday night, not because of great play, but great luck. We were late in the tourney when Tin Man shoved for 5BB from early position. Tin Man is a tight aggressive player, so I knew he had something decent, but because he was short- stacked, his range would be wider than usual. I looked down at A-T soooted and re-shoved to isolate. Tin Man tabled A-J and had me dominated.

Crap.

It looked bad until a ten fell on the river, sending the Tin Man off looking for an oil can.

One pivotal hand occured on the bubble. Sonny Boy open raised 3X BB from UTG. Random Order folded and I called with pocket jacks. Ron also called.

I had decided that I would live or die with this hand if their were no overcards on the flop, which came 5-6-7. Sonny Boy checked, I bet 3/4 pot, committing me, and Ron called as did Sonny Boy. The turn was an ugly 8, but it was too late to turn back now. Sonny Boy checked and I shoved.

Ron tanked before folding his sucker straight (so he said). Sonny Boy also tanked before saying, "That nine is the worst card in the deck," and folding his set of sevens face up.

WHEW!

I wasn't going to show, but Random Order rabbit hunted the river, which was another jack, so I turned up my hand to let Sonny Boy know he had avoided disaster.

I won the tournament when I shoved A-5 and was called by Random Order's K-J. The ace fell on the flop and that was that.

Including the $2 cash game, I walked out with a $30 profit. Fun times!

Happy trails.

Update On Hurricane Mikey

Linda Lou has some good news to share on Mikey.

Click here to go to Linda's blog.

The Dad Life

For all you Dads out there ...

Tin Man Tourney

We had a good turnout for the $5 NLHE Tournament at Tin Man's house, with 13 runners.

I was seated at table 2, which is good, because it's in front of the TV. Pastor Henry was seated to my immediate left, followed by Bondo Chris, Sonny Boy, Philly Phanatic, and a new player, Chastity. Chastity hasn't played much poker and was making the typical rookie mistakes, such as overvaluing her hands and calling down three barrell bets with second and third pair.

Bondo Chris got into several hands with her and profited the most. I was card dead at the beginning before finally being dealt pocket jacks UTG. I raised 3X the BB and was called by Pastor Henry and Chastity. There were three undercards on the flop, so I led out with a T15 bet into the T21 pot. Pastor Henry mucked and Chastity made the call. The turn was another low card, so I tossed T30 into the pot and was called again. The river was an ugly ace, so I checked, hoping to show it down. Chastity quickly shoved her remaining stack.

UGH.

I tanked for a couple of minutes, wondering if she truly had an ace or was she overvaluing a mediocre hand again. There was over T100 in the pot, but I would only have about T20 left if I lost the hand. I finally decided it was +EV to make the call and Chastity tabled a king high. Yea me!

We moved to the final table shortly thereafter. Bondo Chris bubbled in fourth and I finished third when I shoved from the SB for 9BB with J-8 soooted. A new player, Ron called with A-T. The flop gave him top two pair, but also hit me with an open-ended straight flush draw. Unfortunately, I didn't improve and that was that. Sonny Boy finished second, cashing for $20, with Ron shipping the $35 first prize.

The $2 buy-in cash game was wild and wooly! By the end of the night there was almost $80 in chips on the table. That's a lotta re-buys!

I was involved in the hand of the night. I limped with pocket eights from middle position. Philly Phanatic called, James raised, and Bluffing Bev shoved for $3.50. I called, figuring if I hit the set, I could take down a nice sized pot. Philly Phanatic and James also called, building a nice $14 pot.

The flop was K-7-7, with two spades and was checked around. The turn was an offsuit ace and was checked around again. The river was the beautiful eight of spades, giving me the full house and possibly completing a flush for one of my opponents. I shoved my remaining four dollars, but both Philly and James weren't on flush draws and mucked their hands. Oh well, a $14 pot ain't too bad!

I tabled my boat and Bluffing Bev commented that it was a good hand. I could tell by the excitement in her voice that I was in trouble. "But not good enough!" she exclaimed as she flipped over her pocket sevens, for flopped quads and started stacking chips.

UGH...women! LOL.

I lost $8 in the cash game, but won $5 in the tourney, netting a $3 loss. Pretty cheap for four hours of fun with friends!

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy trails.

"Riverboat J"

We had a new player last week, Jeremy, a friend of J-Dawg's. Jeremy seemed to be a good player, catching on quickly to some of the "unique" types of poker we play. He enjoyed it enough to show up again this week and brave the shark-infested waters known as "J-Dawgs Poker Extravaganza."

We had 10 runners when we started, but added one more when David the Cable Guy arrived about an hour into the $20 buy-in limit game.

The festivities began with Bobby Dee's awesome brisket. The man is an artist with a smoker... big ups for Bobby! Some chips on the side and a couple brownies for dessert, and we were pitching cards.

My first two starting hands were good. The first was A-Q offsuit from early position playing hold 'em. I raised hoping to thin the field. It kinda worked as I ended up with three callers. I flopped top pair and a Q on the turn gave me top two. I lead out both times and was down to heads-up with Jeremy. A king on the river didn't scare me, so I threw in a $1. Jeremy raised, I called, and he tabled K-Q for the rivered full boat.

Dammit!

The second hand was Omaha, and I started with A-A-K-Q with two clubs. The flop brought me the nut flush draw and an inside straight draw. Needless to say I bet out. After raising the first two hands, not everyone was interested in folding this time. Even after raising pre-flop and post-flop, I still had four hanging around for the turn. I didn't improve on the turn, but bet on the come, thinning the field to just Jeremy and myself. The river was the club that I needed, but also paired the board. As in the first hand, I bet, Jeremy raised, I called, and he tabled another rivered full boat.

What the hell?

After my bad start, I stormed back, cashing out for $55, a $35 profit. Jeremy won the high hand jackpot when he rivered quad sevens in Omaha. He also rivered full boats on two other hands, that luckily, I wasn't involved in, which earned him the nickname "Riverboat J."

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy trails.

Hotter Than A Pepper Sprout!

Life on Full Tilt is still good!

Sunday was busy, so I was only able to get in two sets (10 games). I played nine $6-18 man tourneys and decided to try one of the $3 "Step 1" tourneys. I had never played one, so I don't really know the proper strategy, but "what the heck, let's give it a shot," I thought.

I won two of the $6 tourneys, and finished second in two others. I also cashed in one or two more, finishing the day with a $123 profit.

Nice.

The "Step 1" tourney wasn't a turbo, so it took longer than the rest. It was also an 18 man, with the top 10 winning another "Step 1" ticket, and the top four finishers winning a "Step 2" ticket.

I made the final table (which meant I was ITM and now free-rolling), with around 2,000 chips, 500 above my starting stack. The stack sizes were all in the 2,000- 3,000 range, except for one HUGE stack of 10,000 chips, which belonged to none other than Very Josie!

I was the small blind, and open shoved for 9BB with K-7 soooted. Unfortunately, the BB woke up with A-K. I wasn't able to hit my three outer and was down to 750 chips, or 3 1/2 BB.

Not good.

Josie gave me some good advice, "You need to double up!" Gee, thanks VJ! LOL.

I did double up, twice, which is what happens when you're running "hotter than a pepper sprout," and suddenly was back in it! The table was tight as we reached the bubble, and I was able to steal quite a few blinds from the player to my immediate left, keeping my stack at a workable level. Josie and her big stack was two seats to my left, so there wasn't gonna be any stealing from her.

After a third double-up, I was in decent shape and soon after, the bubble burst and both Josie and I were moving on to a "Step 2" tourney, which just goes to show... don't mess with poker bloggers!

And now, the "Man In Black."



Thanks for stopping by.

Happy trails.

Record Month!

The August multi-table experiment was a big success! I'm currently up to five tables without any downswing in my ROI.

As a matter of fact, my profit for August on Full Tilt (including rakeback) was $570. My previous high month was $400, so needless to say, I'm very pleased with the results!

Another benefit of multi-tabling is not having to witness the suckouts. I stack my tables, so once I make a decision, my TableNinjaFT program takes me to the next table that requires attention. So when the villian hits his two outer on the river, I never see it.

I think my blood pressure is down 10 points because of this feature!

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As always, the Very Josie was a lot of fun. Just like last month, Josie had a good hand to shove with (J-J), but ran into my pocket aces.

Remarkably, the aces held.

Rakewell had the big hand of the night at the final table, hitting a spade royal flush, and getting paid off with it. Not to be outdone, MemphisMOJO hit quad aces a short time later.

My bust-out hand was pocket sevens. I shoved from early position with less than 10 effective BB and was called by Rakewell's J-J. Memphis came over the top of both of us with K-K and took down a huge pot, parlaying it into the win!

Congrats to Memphis for shipping the tourney, and also to Rakewell and Thorn In Side for the place and the show.

A lot of good players in this tourney. It's always a challenge and a very entertaining evening!

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I played one set of five $6- 18 man tourneys after the Very Josie and was able to turn a $15 profit for the night, including the $11 I dropped at the VJ. A good start to September, which hopefully, will be another profitable month.

Happy trails.