There's Doings Going On

Still more than a few details to be worked out, but it's looking like I may get to cover the WSOP Main Event this year for a major online poker site as a blogger/reporter/general writer type. Which would be pretty dang exciting and cool, if it does indeed come to pass. I'd much rather be, you know, playing in the Main Event, but covering it would probably be the next best thing, so that'd be very, very cool if it happens.

Speaking of playing in the Main Event, I managed to final table the Sunday night $200+$15 Main Event qualifier on Full Tilt, going out in 9th. Top three spots won a $12,000 package, and 4-6th got paid, with 6th taking home something like $950. So chalk up yet another close but no cigar in my growing collection, but this one at least was in the no regrets category, as I did everything I could with crap cards for nearly two hours to stay afloat, and went out with AQs in the BB, pushing over the top of what was seemingly yet another steal attempt by the button when it folded to him and he bet out 3xBB. Bad time for him to wake up with KK, and even more frustrating when I flop an A but he turns another K.

The backstory, though, was at least as interesting, as I satellited in through a single table SnG, with just the winner getting the entry into the Sunday night qualifier. I think I was as low as 350 chips early, got donkfish lucky on a few occasions, and managed to get heads-up. We went back and forth for forever until I lost a big hand to slowplayed AA, and I had something like 1,000 chips versus 11,000. At that point my opponent said something about how we'd each played well, it was a tough match, and that we should agree that whoever won would give the other person 50% of anything they won in the qualifier later that night.

Given the chip deficit I was staring at I was like, umm, sure, whatever, and quickly agreed to the deal. Then managed to come storming back to win the SnG and the seat in the qualifier. Then managed to go on a nice run in the qualifier, with a real shot there at the end of making some noise.

The interesting part there is obviously what the hell you'd do, if you made such a deal and then actually won a $12,000 package. Do you honor your word and ship $6,000 to a complete Internet stranger, who has no idea who you are and no real way of contacting you, with the entire agreement based on a couple of lines of chat in the chat window?

Not to pat myself on the back, but I'm pretty sure I would have forked over half the cash if I'd won anything. Probably immediately, before I had the chance to talk myself out of doing it and pocketing the whole kit and kaboodle. Obviously a moot point, though, but still kind of an interesting situation.

Also managed to go deep in a $28,000 guaranteed money, going out in 12th when the chip leader (and only stack at the table that could bust me) thought cold-calling off half his stack with QJo after two raises went in before me and I over-shoved with AA. Of course the flop is 8 9 10 and IGHN. It's things like that that seriously make me question why I even bother with poker sometimes. I honestly believe that I might have better results if I played patiently for a few hours, built a decent stack, and then just blindly called with any two cards, anytime there was a big raise or all-in in front of me. Yeah, I know, I'm bitter and over-exaggerating, and I do indeed want him to make that call, all day, every day, but Jebus freaking christ, that crap gets old.

Still crazy busy in general, but managed to sneak away with the wife last weekend for a quick stay at a bed and breakfast in Smithville, Texas. Not a lot to see in Smithville, unless you're very, very excited to see the town that Hope Floats was filmed in. I also was somehow coerced into riding around on the tandem bike the bed and breakfast had, despite not having ridden a bike for twenty years or so. We only nearly died once, which would have been a pretty pitiful way to go, killed by a tandem bike in the town where Hope Floats was filmed.

Poker Hate Me

Poker is weird. I could stop right there, really.

Managed to satellite into FTOPS #8 cheaply, and actually acquired a big honking stack early, due to assorted fun like flopping quads and getting paid off, flopping sets twice in heavy multi-way action and having them hold up, bullying a lot and stealing smallish pots, etc. Had a top 20 stack with about 450 remaining when the wheels absolutely came off, sending me to the rail in the span of fifteen or so short minutes.

I was going to recount all of the gory details, but really, there's not much point. On the interesting side, I got my money in good every single time, yet managed to lose all six hands that contributed to my doom. Kind of hard to do, that, but I managed it.

I've never seen much good in the "Waah, I'm due" mentality, as it's an obvious fallacy on many levels (and annoying to boot), but man, I'm due. But enough about that.

Nice to see Hoy, Grubby, and cmitch make good runs in the FTOPS Main Event last night. I took a mini-break from my manual labors and played a couple of the crapshootastic Super Turbo SnGs to try to qualify at the last minute, but got no love. They might as well just add blackjack, too, as I'm not sure of the skill involved in starting with 100 in chips and the normal 15/30 blinds, but hey, I was more than happy they offered such a beast, when I ahd 45 minutes or so to try to win a seat.

Online-Casinos.com - Gambling Guide

The following is a paid review for Online-Casinos.com - Gambling Guide:

Online-Casinos.com delivers exactly what you'd expect, all sorts of resources, reviews, and information regarding online casinos. Below is just a taste of what you'll find there:

A varety of free training game programs for popular casino favorites such as blackjack, video poker and roulette, allowing you to sharpen up your skills first without risking any real money at the tables. They also offer free no-download casino games to play, too, once you've got all the basics down pat.

Visual learning aids and instructions for poker and casino games such as 7 Card Stud, baccarat, craps, roulette and more. These Flash based videos are actually pretty cool and include sound, with the trainer walking you through the various rules and nuances for all the popular casino games.

A dedicated poker section with reviews and recommendations for online poker rooms, as well as poker tools such as a poker odds calculator and more.

A daily updated gambling news section that covers a variety of news from the gaming world, covering both poker and casino news.

Reviews of tons of real money gambling sites, covering more than 100 casino and poker sites in-depth, from the player's perspective. These are actual reviews, too, and pretty detailed, so it's not your standard "I love this casino, it's great, sign up and deposit there you'll love it" stock review that you see on many sites.

Paying the Bills, Bodog-Style

I'd like to welcome Bodog to the roster of sponsors in this little corner of degenerate cyberspace. Not only does Bodog offer lots of juicy poker action, but they've got something for the sportsbook and casino degenerates as well.

And they're still happy to accept US customers, which is sadly a rare thing in this day and age.