High On Poker

I was on Facebook recently, when I came across a post from poker blogger and radio man, Instant Tragedy. If one were to historically chart the different ages of poker blogging, Tragedy would probably come from the group of bloggers that emerged during the poker blogging Silver-age. Blogs were plentiful after the Golden-age had established the format, and online poker provided the perfect opportunity for bloggers to meet and develop content.

Back to Facebook. Instant Tragedy posted on his status how Facebook had replaced blogging. Longform posts have been replaced by brief status updates. I can probably think offhand of at least five different bloggers who have written about the death of the poker blog in the last five years. But I always felt that poker blogging would never really die. It would always live on in some form, when some new blogger found a reason to write about the game we all love.

I still read a handful of poker blogs that discuss actual poker. I read other poker blogs as well, but poker content is light and people have moved on to other topics. But I sincerely believe this is a temporary occurrence. Yes, to a certain extent, sites like Twitter and Facebook have usurped the role of the poker blog. But more to the point, the death of online poker in the United States was the defining moment in recent poker blogging history. No online poker means no opportunity for the poker blogging community to meet up in a virtual setting. No online poker means less enticement for those who first entered blogging for freebies and freeroll promotions. No online poker means no content for players who do not have access to live games.

Instant Tragedy may be right though. Every blogger has at least some level of narcissism. Who else would think their writing is worth reading other than a narcissist? Facebook gives us an easier route to self-promotion and, dare I say, self-importance. But Facebook is not the place to discuss theory in depth, or hand histories, or to discuss a private tournament played amongst people who share a common interest around the globe.

So, I, for one, am hoping that the recent trend toward the legalization of online poker will be cause for rebirth of the poker blog. But if not, at least we still have Facebook.

Until next time, make mine poker.

I love the UFC. Several years ago, I caught a couple of episodes of the UFC reality competition series, The Ultimate Fighter. I am a reality TV nut, and I am a casual fan of boxing, so I really enjoyed the show. One season later, though, and I had forgotten all about it.  That changed around six months ago.

I think the new obsession began when I was going on a trip and wanted to load up my iPhone with TV shows and movies to watch. I am like a 3 year old that way; I must be constantly entertained. I researched via message boards the best season of The Ultimate Fighter, which led to a series of downloads. In total, I probably watched 8 of the prior seasons, or so, often as marathons. I loved watching the fighters develop, but even moreso, I was entranced by the physical skills and determination it takes to be a real fighter.

Fast forward several months, and I had tapped out my resource of The Ultimate Fighter seasons available online. I needed more, so I started to download recent fight cards. Finally, I stumbled upon the payload, all prior UFC PPV events. Like the completest I am, I started with UFC 1, and have now reached UFC 17. It has given me an opportunity to watch some current fighters when they were first starting out in the octagon. But more interestingly, I have been able to see the development of the sport, from its early days when the fighters literally did not know what to expect in the ring, to the development of defined, UFC-inspired fighting styles.

Surprisingly or not, watching MMA (mixed martial arts) develop as a sport has really helped me appreciate the developments in poker over the years, both on a personal level and on a macro level. On a personal level, we all know what it is like first stepping into the poker “octagon” with little skills or understanding of the game and how it works. Even if you’ve read up on poker before your first game, there is no substitution for experience.

But I was even more interested in the parallels on a macro level. The UFC and MMA is constantly developing. In the early events, Royce Gracie was head-and-shoulders above the other fighters because he had well-rounded skills, learned from his family’s own style of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, known as Gracie Jiu Jitsu. He and Ken Shamrock, who was experienced in submission shoot fighting, were literally in a class above the rest, who were a mish mosh of kick boxers, boxers, karate, and other striking fighters. Over the years, the wrestlers took over (amateur wrestling, not WWE), because they had strength and could dominate on the ground. Fighters like Dan Severn and Mark Coleman were main eventers. Power had trumped technique, at least somewhat, but the developments didn’t stop there. Now that I am at UFC 17, where contemporary fighters like Dan Henderson began fighting, I can see the next class of MMA fighters, trained in a particular discipline, but knowledgeable and prepared to use the best (or defend against the best) techniques of the other styles. Henderson, for instance, was a wrestler, but in his UFC debut, he showed off an impressive skill at striking and jiu jitsu defense. We are probably now in the middle of another phase, the super athlete. Now that the UFC has become a big hit, thanks in large part to the popularity of The Ultimate Fighter, fighters are being raised to fight MMA from a very young age. It has prestige, so super athletes like Anderson Silva and Jon Jones are the big dogs, able to combine their natural physical prowess with skills in various disciplines. It was common belief in MMA that there was no room for certain techniques, like Kung Fu, but these super athletes are able to make moves previously thought to be improbable into reality.

Isn’t that the story of poker? It was a backroom game, like the early brawls at UFC 1, where players played on intuition. Players like Doyle Brunson were able to get a leg up on the competition using aggression, something that was uncommon amongst the other players. Over time, the game became more popular and people started to learn different styles, thanks, in large part, to books like Brunson’s Super/System. Suddenly, a new class of player emerged, many of whom became the stars of poker when the poker boom hit. But the developments didn’t stop there either. Math kids got in on the action, finding success. And we found our own “super athletes”, like Jason Mercier or Tom Dwan, raised with poker and able to use a mix of fearlessness, aggression, intuition, and an understanding of the risks of the game to dominate the field.

Maybe that’s why I love the UFC and MMA so much. It’s not unlike poker. On its face, it is a brutish pursuit, but in reality, it is a constantly evolving art form, where the real competition takes place between the individual competitor and the sands of time. Things change, and if you don’t change with them, you’ll end up like a UFC 1 karate fighter. You may be good at your one thing, but it doesn’t apply anymore.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Hey folks. Does anyone play Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for the PS3? I ask because I’ve been playing it lately (a poor substitute for online poker, but a substitute nonetheless) and it is awesome. My good pal Roose has been playing as well and we’ve been communicating via the game mic, like a couple of 12 year old boys. It has occurred to me that some of you might play too and would be down for a session.

So, if you are interested and play the game, hit me up with a comment or email. My email is accessible via the link at the top left of the page, under HoP Links.

Until next time, make mine poker!

The desire to move up in stakes has really gotten a hold of my head. In the past, I had thought about moving up, but it was more of a long-term goal. I was having fun playing in the kiddy pool, splashing with my sometimes mono-syllabic friends, donking around and generally enjoying myself. But since the scoreboard of poker is $$$$, I knew, deep down, that I could not remain a 1/2 grinder all of my life. I just felt no real urgency to move up.

Perhaps it is life changes that have opened me up to the idea of higher stakes. As silly as it may sound, having more responsibilities makes me want to up my game and my high score (once again, $$$$). That extra upcoming responsibility? High on Baby! That’s right. Wifey Kim and I are procreating, so baby literally needs a new pair of shoes.

I remember reading other blogs from back in the day from players who had newborn babies. Late night screaming baby sessions were also met with late night sessions of online gambling on a site like Mansion Casino Australia. Now, I guess I’ll just have to pay attention to baby, since stupid online poker is still illegal. Or I can move to New Jersey, further away from my free babysitters (my parents). What a dilemma.

I suppose I also realize that with the coming baby, my play time will be short. My good pal Dave Roose is always complaining that post-baby, our AC trips will be done, but I try to remind him that it is just AC, a couple of hours away. I’m sure I can still go a couple of times a year. It helps having a wonderful wife.

What an odd thing. Pressures that would normally warrant a reduction of play and stakes actually cause me to crave the opposite. Perhaps it is just the anticipation of less opportunities in the future. It may also be an excuse to escape. When I play poker, I only focus on poker. It is a wonderfully relaxing experience, if you ignore the intense adrenaline surges. Whatever the case, its exciting times ahead.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Hey reader! Nowadays, I’m lucky if I post once a month, but with all the poker I played in the last month, the itch to write has returned. Sadly, with the amount of work ahead of me (and no poker in sight), the posts will continue to be few and far between.

No, I won’t apologize for the gap in posts. No, I won’t write a post saying how I intend to write more in the future. Those posts are by far the most annoying ones to read. Listen, buddy, if you don’t want to post frequently, don’t. There is no need to apologize to me. Similarly, if you intend to post in the future, don’t write a post about posting. Just post a god damn story.

This is my god damn story.

President’s Day weekend was a great one, mostly because of my plans Sunday night. My good poker buddy Andrew (what’s up, Rew?) had a free room at the Borgata in Atlantic City and wifey Kim had something or other going on that allowed me to head to AC without her. The menu: pok — okay, do I really have to say it? Fine. — poker.

I had made up my mind that I had to up my stakes and play some 2/5. I recently began tracking my results again (after losing my old spreadsheet when my laptop crapped out), and while I have not been exactly tearing up the poker world, I know that my wins have totaled multiple five figures at the 1/2 level (and similarly sized smaller tournaments), so the only thing holding me back from making the next step was the fact that my bankroll was super short from raiding it for other purposes.

I want to make money playing poker, but to make money that is worthwhile on a consistent basis, I need to increase my stakes. So, the plan was to play 2/5.

We arrived in AC from the Greyhound bus, and after playing through our $25 free plays at Bally’s (I lost it all, Andrew won $40), we made our way to Harrah’s at Andrew’s request. I like Harrah’s, so I wasn’t going to argue.

Andrew placed his name on the list for the 10/20 Omaha Hi/Lo, Stud Hi/Lo mixed game, and then sat at 1/2 while he waited. I eyed the 2/5 table, but, as per usual, decided to stick with 1/2. It was a smart move. 2/5 at Harrah’s is usually filled with the same regulars. I’d rather play 2/5 at Borgata, where there are more tables open and a greater likelihood to be seated with non-regulars.

My 1/2 session at Harrahs went well. The best part was looking over and seeing Bacini Mary coincidentally at the same table. I love Mary. She is a solid poker player, but (much more importantly) she is such a nice person. I am not always the easiest person to get along with, and at other times, I’m downright obnoxious, but Mary seems to get my obnoxiousness, and that makes her a-okay with me in my book.

I didn’t keep notes about hands, but from around 12:30pm to 5:30 pm, I scratched out a small profit of a bit over $100. I felt that I was playing well, but the table was getting boring and we still had to check in at the Borgata, so we made our exit to our next destination.

The room at the Borgata was great. Its the highest quality casino in the area, except for maybe Revel, which I have never visited and which is now coincidentally bankrupt. Once we dropped off our stuff and I changed (it’s amazing how poker can make a man sweat), we headed down to the poker room.

I sat down to 2/5 NLHE with a $300 stack and enough money in my pocket for several buy-ins. I planned to only rebuy once, so that I would cap my losses at $500 (counting the $100 profit from 1/2 at Harrahs). On the second hand I was dealt, I lost my first stack.

I was dealt 5c 7c in the BB. There were a slew of limpers, so around $30 or $35 in the pot. The flop was all clubs, with the high card being a Jack. The SB bet out $20 and I decided to raise to $60. It folded around to him and he thought for a while before pushing all-in. Usually, this is a sign of strength: act like you are confused about calling and then push, because in reality, you have the nuts. This time, something felt different. I stared him down, subtly, and got the distinct sense that he did not want to be called. He was giving off the no-tell tell (where a player goes into lockdown to avoid giving off any tells because they fear a call). So, I gulped and called. I put him on maybe an Ace of Clubs with an offsuit Jack for top pair, top kicker with a draw to the nuts. I also thought he may’ve flopped two pair. In fact, he showed a better flopped flush, with his highest card as a Ten of Clubs. He explained, “I didn’t want you to call.” I responded, “I know! That’s why I called!” Then I realized that I was giving away too much information and immediately softened my statement by saying, “Ah, who are we kidding! I had no idea what you had there. I was just gambling. Nice hand.”

I consider doing a cut-and-run to lick my wounds, but before my brain could process everything, my hand had placed another 3 hundred dollar bills on the table. I guess I was buying back in.

The session at 2/5 was about 3.5 hours, and over the course of the next 3.25 hours, I won back most of my $300 loss, eventually cashing out down a little under $100. I felt proud that I did not completely lose my shit, and I was okay with taking a loss. It was good to remember that 2/5 is not full of sharks. It’s the same game of poker and there are the same poker archetypes. There may have been a few particularly good players, but you can find that just as easily in a random 1/2 game.

Andrew and I had dinner at the Borgata’s food court. After, we returned for more poker. He found another Omaha Hi/Lo game. I returned to the slums of 1/2 NLHE.

This new table was just weird. A homeless-looking woman wearing a ratty black coat, snow cap, and scarf was hitting everything and getting paid. She really did appear homeless, but her demeanor was fairly normal. I joked about keeping out of her way, and when she finally left, I think the entire table was relieved. She was putting such a hurting on the game that everyone was getting gun shy. Once she was gone, though, the fireworks flew.

I made most of my money on pocket 3s. I called a raise preflop. The flop was 36Q with two spades. I bet out and got calls from a couple of Asian gamblers. The turn was another 6 for a full house. I checked. One Asian open-pushed. The other called. I called. Ka-ching!

That hand alone probably made my night. When I eventually cashed out, I was up around $700 from that one table.

The next morning, Andrew wanted to play some more. I wanted to get the hell out of dodge. After all, gambling on the same day as my exit has always felt desperate and the results are usually not good. If I wanted to gamble, I may as well just play at OnlineCasinoAustralia.com.au where I don’t have to even wear pants.

I may’ve lost at 2/5, but I had a moral victory. Perhaps more importantly, I had an actual financial victory as well.

I don’t have a date in mind for my next poker trip, but the jones is back. Beware!

Until next time, make mine poker!

I probably don’t mention it here much, but I am what you may consider a Howard Stern Super Fan. I’ve listened to his radio show since I was twelve, I now listen to every one of his shows from front to back, and I generally refer to him as my Third Parent (the term “Third” is rather generous to my actual parents).

So, when my good pal Dave Roose was giving me crap about never going to AC with him anymore, I was delighted to find that the Ronnie Mund Block Party was playing at the Harrah’s last weekend, with a special associated poker tournament. Mund, of course, is better known as Ronnie the Limo Driver, and he is known from the Stern Show as being old with a young girlfriend, crass, and a bit of a joke. In fact, part of the appeal of the show is seeing him and staffer J.D. Harmeyer make an arse of themselves, since they actually have no real material or stage talent. Besides the two co-hosts, the show includes comedians, including headliner, event organizer and Howard 100 News Reporter Shuli Egar.

I called Roose with the news, only to learn that he had plans that day. I then went to my backup Stern fan, Mori, wifey Kim’s friend’s fiance. Mori and I get along extremely well, so when he agreed, I knew we were set. About 45 minutes later, Roose called to say that he would break his other plans. And, as usual for Roose, two days before our trip, he told me that he had also invited Robbie Hole. I love hanging with Hole, so its all good, but Roose sure does love inviting more people.

When it was all said and done, there were five of us, since Mori invited his friend Butler, with three going to the show (me, Roose and Mori) and all of us playing the tournament.

As tournaments go, the structure was pretty horrible, but I knew about that well in advance. The buy-in was $200+50, the blinds were 20 minutes, and many of the levels literally doubled. I think it was 25/50, 50/100, 100/200, 200/400, 400/800, 600/1200, 1000/2000, etc. I mean REALLY REALLY horrible. However, it made sense. The tournament started at 1pm and the show started at 9pm. Plus, this was not some professional tournament. This was a glorified meet and greet, with tons of Stern staffers in the mix.

Fortunately, I am used to super turbos. In fact, Roose’s home game is like an inebriated super turbo, exactly like the RMBP tournament. So, despite the tournaments’ obvious shortcomings, I was more than willing to play.

When action started, I had one of the few tables without any Stern staffers. That was fine by me, so I could concentrate on the game. The excitement in the room was palatable. Not only was I playing with a slew of inexperienced players (137 total), but they were also largely all super fans of the Howard Stern Show, and Stern Show celebrities were everywhere. In short, I saw High Pitch Eric, High Pitch Mike Morales (no relation), Sal the Stockbroker, Richard, Rachel Fein, John Hein, Will, Jason, Doug Goodstein, Sour Shoes (he was hysterical), Brian Fallon, Shuli, and Jim Florentine, to name more than a few.  I tried to keep my shit together, since I had bad experiences with celebrities in the past, happy to simply observe from afar.

The great thing about live poker, in fact, the #1 thing to me, is that it is a social game. I would never ever go up to Sal and introduce myself. What they hell am I going to say? It’s enough to sorta be there. But when he sat down next to me after a table change, it was perfectly natural to turn to him and introduce myself. We shook hands, chatted a bit, and then I manned up (or whatever) and asked to take a photo. He couldn’t have been cooler about it.

About two seconds after the photo (and after only playing one hand with Sal), the floor came over and told me that I had to move tables. I gathered my chips to leave and started to say goodbye to Sal, who was already in another conversation with a fan. He turned to me and said, “You busted already?” I replied dead-faced, “No, man. I was told no photos and they are kicking me out.”

“What?! That’s terrible!,” he looked like he felt really bad. So, I quickly told him the truth and we laughed about it. I know its gay, but damn, making Sal laugh was great.

My next table was interesting, but there were no Stern staffers. Earlier, a player at the table busted a staffer and won a bunch of old promotional materials from the Stern Show. There were tons of doubles, so he was kindly offering it to the table. I said I would love something and at first, he gave me shit, “Sorry, newbie. Only people who were here during the bustout.” But two seconds later, he handed me an expired ticket to Howard Stern’s 2006 Film Festival, a program from the same event, and a flier for one of Stern’s book releases.

This is how the day went. At each table, I would strike up easy conversation with my comrades. We all shared an interest in Stern, and it was more like a convention than a tournament. Actually, it was like a WPBT tournament, except no one cares about the poker.

In this environment, I decided to simply have fun. The drinks were coming faster than ever. I guess the cocktail staff knew this was a heavy tipping, heavy drinking crowd, since normally, its hard to get decent beverage service at Harrah’s. Not that day though. Rum and cokes all day long. It was getting to be re-goddamn-diculous.

Meanwhile, my buddies started to bust. Hole was first, followed by Roose and Mori. I was moved again to join Butler at a table where Brian Fallon had the best bounty of the night, a free trip to see the Ronnie Mund Block Party in Jamaica. I couldn’t attend, so I didn’t actually want to win it, but I acted like I did, immediately calling out Fallon in an over the top way.

I also made my best play of the night at this table. I had J7o and decided to raise in late position, since the table seemed pretty weak. I got one caller in the blinds, a guy who looked like he knew a little about the game. I noticed this player pool in general had a lot of looser players, but not loose-skilled players, just loose.

The flop was AJ4. My opponent checked and I considered a c-bet before checking. The turn was another low card and my opponent suddenly pushed all-in for 5,500. I don’t recall the size of the pot, but if I were to call and lose, I would have less than 6,000 myself, which was dangerous. But I thought about the play and it seemed obvious to me. If he had a good hand, he wouldn’t have open-pushed. He was trying to act strong. I thought for a moment more and called. He had 66, and my J7 was good. Sometimes, you have to follow your reads.

I knocked out another player to build my stack up a bit more, but I was hardly a big stack. I missed my chance at Fallon, though, when a guy who had already busted Ronnie (to win a signed VCR tape rewinder…remember those?) busted Fallon for the prize.  He was a loudmouth white guy who acted like he was a hip hop thug, so naturally, we got along really well. By the end of the tournament, he had won another bounty for an awesome Gary Dell’Abate jersey (note: not from Gary, as he was not at the tournament). Lucky guy.

Eventually, I was moved again. The blinds were high and this was a new table, so I remained tight. Jim Florentine, a stand-up comic, was at the table, but we didn’t converse much at first, since he was talking with a cute blonde. Instead, I made small talk with my fellow fans and folded. I stole a couple of times, but finally made a play when I was fairly low on chips, with less than 10 blinds. I was the BB and we saw a flop with two diamonds. I had 5d8d, so I open pushed. When the only other player in the hand folded, I was ecstatic…until I realized that Florentine was also in the hand. He called and showed TPTK. Fortunately, the river made my flush, and I was back in business. I ended up busting Florentine, but sadly, he had no bounty.

I was eventually moved again, when we were down to three tables. I was on real welfare at this point, hovering at around 10 BB, but I was not alone. The structure was fast. I did my best to remain tight and take down pots when I could. I was mostly able to do so, to the point that when it was down to two tables, I was still holding my own, with a middle-to-short stack.

I played min-cash poker, trying to get into the money. It wasn’t my actual goal, but I was getting no cards. Eventually, the bubble burst, rather quickly actually. I had by then pushed all-in and was called once, but that time, I had AA and it held up against AQ. Meanwhile, Butler, who busted when we were down to four tables, kept stopping by and, unbeknownst to me, alerting the crew via text of my progress.

When the final table bubble burst, I was amazed to still be in it. I was playing well, but, frankly, it was all mostly effortless. Perhaps I was not trying too hard, and that helped. I was just enjoying being there and I was less focused than usual on the payouts, etc.

The final table was really cool. It was a TV final table setup, with bleachers around. Howard TV was filming for Howard TV on Demand. I can’t get it on my cable system, but if any of you do and would be so kind as to let me know, I would love to know if I got any decent TV time. There were no hole cams, of course, but it was more about filming the party aspect, rather than a serious poker broadcast.

I was the shortstack and as I waited for action to start, I turned to the guy two seats to my right and asked him a question. “Do you play in AC a lot? You look familiar.” He turned to me and answered, “Nat Geo, Underground Poker.” Then I heard his buddy (the same guy who busted Brian Fallon) yell over, “Go get them, Breezy!” How random. Breezy was featured on a special about NYC underground poker as the card shark of the group. “It was all faked,” he explained. I figured as much. Underground poker looks nothing like the Nat Geo special. “Are you a fan of Stern or just here for the soft money?” I asked. He sheepishly smiled and said, “I like Stern” but he was clearly just being kind. He knew a dead money pool when he saw one.

I ended up pushing all-in with KJo, with barely 2x the BB. I was called by a player in the blinds (I think) with AA. I hammed it up, and joked, “You can only hit one pair, but I can hit two.” It was utter nonsense…until the flop had a King and the turn had a Jack. BOOM!

10th place busted, as did 9th. The action folded to me in the SB and I was again down to around 2.5 BB. I raised all-in with JTc, hoping that the BB had rags and would muck. Nope. He had AA. And I went home. Notably, Richard Chrystie took 7th. I could’ve waited him out, but I was playing for first.

After losing, I said goodbye to the table and nabbed a quick photo with Richard. He held up the same devil horns as Sal, coincidentally.

I had cashed for $807, but it was worth a whole lot more than that. It was so effortless, that it reminded me that poker can be easy. It was also a rare opportunity to mix with people who entertain me on a near-daily basis.

The show that night was great. Ronnie and JD were horrible as expected. Eli Braden, known for his song parodies about Robin Quiver’s jugs, was the best act. Dan Mendelson, an opera singer who sings the “Ronnie Mund scored a Zero on the Ugly Meter App” song, also gave a great, brief performance. Sal and Richard came out in their underwear, but like JD/Ronnie, had no real act. The comedians were impressive. The first guy, Mad Dog something, did all crowd work, but he was pretty damn good at it. Florentine was only okay, but he was probably still reeling from that rivered diamond. Shuli was surprisingly great, surprising since he gets a lot of crap on the show from callers saying he is not funny.

I can say with confidence that this was the best weekend I can remember. It had everything. A show, poker, friends. I’ve never felt so lucky.

Until next time, make mine – BABABOOEY! HOWARD STERN’S PENIS! – poker!

I tried to play poker this weekend. I really did. I even had the car rented and the hotel room booked. But work and Hurricane Sandy got in the way.

If all went according to plan, I was to wake up early on Saturday, take the PATH train to a nearby train station in NJ, rent a car there for 1/2 the price it would cost if renting from New York, and then drive to the PA Sands with enough time to enter their 11:00 AM $150 satellite to the $2,500 buy-in, $500k prize pool guarantee Main Event of their deepstack series. But if you want to make god laugh, tell him a plan.

This is what really happened. I woke early, exhausted from a late night hanging out with cousins who were in town from Florida. I stumbled my way, dreary eyed, to the PATH station. And then I saw the sign. The PATH was closed due to repair work related to Hurricane Sandy. SONUVA! So, I did what any self-respecting person would do, and gave up.

I wish I could have figured a workaround. The only ones I could figure out would involve either a lot of cost (renting a car from the city) or a lot of wasted time (taking multiple trains and cabs to get the rental car. Instead, I decided to spend the day with wifey Kim and accept my fate.

God damn it, government! You need to free poker! Live, online, whatever. It’s gotten so bad that I even returned to one of the underground clubs, where I won $53 at 2/5 NLHE, a minor accomplishment, albeit better than losing.

So, no deepstack tournament for me. My next trip is AC for X-mas, but I may squeeze in a midweek trip to AC or a nearby casino since I have vacation time to burn in December. Now I just need to hope that the necessary transportation will be running.

Lemon!

Until next time, make mine poker!

HELP!!!

For the last year or so, I’ve been writing for Pokerist.com, a site that offers free play money poker (i.e., not real money) via a variety of platforms, including ipads, iphones, Android, Facebook, etc. It has been an extremely rewarding experience.

There is one part, though, that can be a little difficult. As part of my duties, I write two strategy articles a month. Now, admittedly, the articles are written for a particular audience: international free money players. The focus is really on the basics of poker, with some intermediate materials as well. The problem is, with two strategy articles per month (24 per year), it can sometimes be difficult to find a worthy subject. So, I ask for your help.

Can anyone think of some interesting topics worth writing about for beginner and intermediate players using a free money site that has NLHE ring games, SNGs, and shootouts?

Any help will be greatly appreciated, and, to the extent I am able, I will try to include a link in any strategy article to your blog or twitter or whatever, if you are interested. Just leave me a comment with your ideas as well as your preferred link. If you don’t want a link, no problem either.

Until next time, make mine poker!

This has not been a very good year for poker.

It occurred to me recently that I must have played less poker in 2012 than any other year reaching back to when I first caught the poker bug circa 2003. This has nothing to do with lack of desire.  I still yearn for the game.  Rather, it is mere circumstance, and I fear that if I don’t make a conscious effort, 2012 will not only mark my lowest volume of poker since 2003, but also the first year or many that my poker play has become essentially nil.

It’s not that I am entirely not playing. It’s just that without online poker (a common lament, I know) and my distaste for the deep rake at NYC underground clubs, there are really no games available to me. I have thought once or twice about throwing a home game, but I have been so cut off from my poker playing brethren that I am not even sure I can make it happen. Plus, in my experience, if I host the game, I’m not going to win because I am too busy playing host to pay attention and actually play poker.

Of course, a huge wrench in my works was the loss of my poker ledger with all of my stats since 2005. I kept it on a laptop, but the laptop fried along with all of my data.  I know ballpark how much I am up lifetime, but it really took the wind out of my sails. Right now, I’ve been doing a half-ass job tracking my play in the Notes function of my iPhone, but if anyone can recommend a program that is not expensive and is easy to use (I only need basic stuff), I would appreciate the recommendation. As it is, half-ass tracking has made me feel less like a serious poker player and more like a tourist.

Time is an issue too.  I’ve had a couple of my busiest months at the office, not to mention a side project that fills a lot of my evening hours. The side project is an illustrated book, kinda like a graphic novel (i.e., long form comic book), except that each panel is its own page and it is drawn entirely on my iPad. I have no idea how such a thing could ever be marketable, but I am trying to follow the sage wisdom of Wil Wheaton (pronounced Will Hweaton) and just create.

Fortunately, there is some poker on the horizon, provided I can clear my schedule well enough. The Sands, located in Bethlehem, PA, is hosting a deepstack tournament series in December. If all goes well, I will be heading there Dec. 1 weekend to play $150 satellites into the $2,500 main event. If I can satellite myself in, I will return Dec. 15 weekend to play the main event, with a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool. It really is the light at the end of my tunnel. Now, I just have to make sure I can keep this train on the tracks.

Alas, it looks like it will still be a few more years before we have the freedom to play online poker or casino games. Once that happens, though, I am sure it’ll be like 2004 all over again, with sites offering bonus codes like the PartyCasino bonus codes offered now to players who do not live in countries that are not run by nanny states (or are at least run by nanny states that aren’t strict, jerk nannies).

One can only hope.

Until next time, make mine poker!