Tin Man's Home Game

We had a light turn out for the tournament at Tin Man's last Friday, with only seven showing up. Jaime and Chas were in Shreveport donating big bucks to the Louisiana casino gods, so that thinned the crowd.

Bluffin' Bev busted me in third (bubble). The blinds were high and even the chip leader Random Order had less than 10BB, so it was really a bingo game at this point.

I was down to 6BB when I looked down at pocket tens. Bev limped, RO folded and I raised 2.5X, looking for action with a strong hand. Bev called and the flop came A-J-10 rainbow. Bev min bet and I put her on an ace, maybe even two pair. I shoved my set and she insta-called. I was confident I was good here, until Bev flips over K-Q for the flopped straight.

Wimmens!

The board didn't pair, so I was out and headed over to the $2 cash game.

I had more success there, leaving with a $17 profit. I know that doesn't sound like much, but that's over 8 buy-ins. Not bad.

There were a couple of interesting hands played. In one, I raised three limpers pre-flop with 2-3 offsuit and took it down. Of course, I HAD to show that one!

"Okay, we're at war now!" said Tin Man. LOL.

I tried to buy an orphan pot on the river a little later, but learned it's hard to push someone of their hand when they've slow-played quad jacks.

"I told you we're at war!" hollered Tin Man as he stacked chips, most of them mine.

We cashed out at midnight and Bluffin' Bev asked if I would give her a ride home. "Give a ride to the lady that busted me out of the tournament?" I asked.

"That's right...loser."

So, after dropping Bev off, I headed back to the Duck blind.

Sometimes, I think I'm just too nice :o)

Till next time, win the flips!

The Moneymaker Effect (Updated)

Update: Through day 2, Moneymaker is fifth in chips, with ~650K. There are 173 players left.

Did you see where Chris Moneymaker is in the top ten after day 1B of the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure Main Event in the Bahamas?

The $10K buy-in event began with over 1,500 runners, creating a top prize of $2.3 million. Going into day 2 today there were 645 players left, including Moneymaker, who was sitting in sixth with over 217K chips.

As you probably know, Moneymaker won the WSOP Main Event a few years ago, but has pretty much disappeared since. He is credited with creating the poker boom of the '90s with his win over Sam Farha, but I think his victory is only part of the reason for the rapid expansion of poker.

The "pocket cam," created for the World Poker Tour is just as important (if not more so) for the popularity of the game we love to play. Have you tried to watch some of the ESPN replays of the WSOP Main Event from the late '80s and early 90's? Without the pocket cam, it is B-O-R-I-N-G! Almost as exciting as watching paint dry.

Unwatchable.

If the ability to see the player's hole cards had not come along, no one would have seen Moneymaker's run to the championship. And poker would not be nearly as popular as it is today.

That being said, I hope Chris Moneymaker makes a deep run in this tourney, maybe even a final table. He seems to be a good guy and it would be nice to see him get the monkey off his back.

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I played three sets of four games on Full Tilt tonight. I bricked the first two sets at the $6 level (18 man) for a $52 loss. I had been dabbling at the $11 level the last few weeks, so I decided to play my last set of 18 man tourneys at that level. I managed two firsts and a third in the four tournaments, which turned an ugly night into a big winner.

Gotta love that!

Till next time, win the flips.

J-Dawgs Poker Extravaganza!

We had 11 runners show up at J-Dawgs last night. Farmer Harry brought pizza (double topping, YUM!) and J-Dawg was trying to get rid of the last of his Christmas candy. He hired the right bunch for that job!

Left to right on your radio dial we had J-Dawg, Cell, Bobby Dee, Ollie the Accountant, Jimbo, Farmer Harry, Stamps, Ray-Ray, Woody, Riverboat J, and yours truly.

We all started this dealer's choice limit game with $20. Stamps was the big winner, cashing in a little north of $60. Riverboat J doubled his buy-in, cashing a little over $40. My evening ended with a $1.50 profit.

WOOT!

A buck and a half doesn't sound like much, but considering I only won one hand in three hours of play, I was pretty happy. The hand I won was Omaha. I rivered quad 8's and Farmer Harry had a full house, so we had built a large pot. My quads held up all night as the best hand and I won the High Hand Jackpot, which was almost $13.

That's how you show a profit for the night when winning just one pot boys and girls!

We hadn't been able to get together in quite a while because of the holidays and I think everyone had a lot of fun. Hopefully, we can get back to playing weekly again now that things have settled down.

Till next time, win the flips!

Happy trails.

Good Start

I just finished a nice set of SNGs on Full Tilt.

I played four $6-18 man tourneys and finished with two firsts and a third. Cha-ching!

Off to a good start in 2011!

Till next time, win the flips!

Happy trails.

2010, A Look Back

I guess I'm a few days late on reviewing the past year, but promptness (is that a word?) has never been my strong suit.

I was pleased with my 2010 online results. My big score was definitely winning a seat to the WSOP last summer. (Click here for the details). While there, I had the opportunity to have lunch with Jonathan Little, who has won a couple WPT tournaments and a WPT Player of the Year title. Part of the package was also three nights at the Rio in Vegas. Nice!

Full Tilt is where I played the majority of my online poker. I purchased the NinjaFT software in the summer, which enabled me to multi-table and still turn a profit. I ended 2010 up a little over $1,100 for the year on Full Tilt.

Although on a much smaller scale (small potatoes), I like to do the same thing that Barry Greenstein does and donate my online tournament winnings to charity. I require two things of the charities I support. First, the charity must benefit children. Second, at least 75% of the donations must go to the kids that the charity benefits. I've seen too many 501-C-3 designated charities that keep way too much of the donated money to pay for their overhead. Not on my dime.

Here's the list of charities that will receive a check from Lucki Duck.

Make A Wish Foundation
St Jude Children's Research Hospital
HOT Sertoma Club
Special Olympics

My live poker winnings? Sorry, I keep those. Gotta keep building that bankroll!

Till next time, win the flips!

Happy trails.

Time To Cash Your $25,000 Bellagio Chips

Remember the robbery at the Bellagio last month? A man wearing a riding suit with his face hidden by a motorcycle helmet walked in and pulled a gun, escaping with around one and a half million dollars in Bellagio chips valued up to $25,000 each.  The suspect fled the casino on his motorcycle and remains at large.

The Bellagio has announced that it is discontinuing use of its $25,000 chip. The chips must be redeemed by April or will be worthless. Of course, if you walk in and cash a pocketful of them, unless you're Doyle Brunson, Sam Farha, Tom Dwan, or one of the other regulars at the "Big Game," security might want to have a discussion with you.

As Josie likes to say, "Play smart." I think MGM Resorts (owners of the Bellagio), played this one very smart!

Because I'm a small potatoes player, I don't have any $25K chips that I need to cash, but you "Whales" like Memphis MOJO and Wolfman, might want to get to Vegas right away and cash in!

Till next time, win the flips!

Happy trails.

Champagne & A Kiss. Hello 2011!

I brought in 2011 at Tin Man's $5 NLHE Tournament last night. We had a nice spread of munchies. I brought a couple of pizzas, Debbie came with sandwiches, Big Daddy showed up with chips and dips, Philly Phanatic made brownies and also brought drinks and hosts Tin Man and Lil' Annie Okie provided snackfood and a bottle of champange.

Music Man arrived with a cake that read "Happy New Year Donkeys!"

LOL.

The tourney went well. We had 12 runners, with the top three getting paid. We were on the bubble with two big stacks (Rudy and Music Man) and two shorties (Chas and me). Chas had been the chip leader for most of the final table, but lost most of her stack on an interesting hand.

Tin Man pushed from UTG for five BB, Debbie called, Music Man reraised all-in, Chas called, and Debbie called, putting her all-in. Chas had everyone covered. I couldn't wait to see what everyone turned over, there had to be some huge hands for this much action!

Here's what was tabled;

Tin Man, J-J
Debbie, K-K
Music Man, A-A
Chas, K-2 soooted!

Yep, Chas called an all-in, a call, and a reraise all-in with K-2 soooted!

Guess which hand won?

Wrong, the aces held! Tin Man and Deb were felted, and Chas was now the short stack.

She didn't die easily, winning three consecutive all-in bets, but I finally knocked her out when I rivered three of a kind. After that, I went on a rush and ended up chopping first place with Music Man.

I also picked up another $5 in the cash game, winning a nice pot on the final hand of the night and of the year. Gotta love going out a winner!

As midnight approached, we opened the bubbly and I poured glasses for everyone. When the clock struck twelve, we toasted the new year. Tin Man and wife Lil' Annie Okie kissed and then Tin Man laid one on me!

Luckily it was on the cheek!

With a start like that, it's gonna be an interesting year.

Till next time, win the flips!

Happy New Year everyone!