Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
It’s seems to be standard practice to commit yourself to resolutions with the beginning of each new year. It’s usually things which you should be doing anyway, but with the flip to a new calendar some try to make some changes. Poker players are no different and bloggers usually take it a step further. They tend to put their resolutions down in print for everyone to see and call them out if they get out of line.
My resolution is always the same, don’t be a donkey. And I never follow through as I continue to be one of the worst players in the world. This year I’m going to try something different.
From January 1, 2009 to December 31st, 2009 I am going to run the Chris Ferguson Challenge and see how much money I can pull together starting from zero. I’ll update my progress here as the year goes along and I’m calling out fellow FTP blogger Michael Craig to see if he’s willing to do the same. I’m sure we could come up with some kind of side bet to make it interesting.
This week I hit up some of my blogger friends to see what kind of New Year’s Resolutions they had lined up for this year. Check them out after the jump.
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail
(0 votes, average: 0 out of 5, rated) Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Here in the states, poker players had an extra consideration during our last presidential election than other citizens. While the legal status of online poker is obviously takes a backseat to issues concerning the economy and global politics, we always had in our minds to wonder what would happen to the backdoor way the government jammed through the legislation.
With the new administration taking over next month, it’s time to examine what the future holds for online poker players in the U.S. of A. “Tuscaloosa” John brings us his analysis of what we can possibly expect wants the new president is sworn into office.
Comments at always welcome.
After Obama takes the oath, will online poker be legalized?
We will soon inaugurate a new president and welcome a plethora of new Congressmen and women to the capital. The question for poker players is with the historic elections of 2008, will we see a reversal of the government’s previous stance on online poker and see it legalized?
From a political party standpoint the climate is certainly more favorable. For one, we have an admitted poker playing new president in Barack Obama and are sending out the highly conservative Bible thumping George W. Bush. Granted, Obama has a lot more important issues to worry about when he takes office (such as the tanking economy), but when online poker comes up down the road he is likely to be more in tune with the opinions of poker players than our previous Republican leadership.
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, Tuscaloosa Johnny
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5, rated) Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Scott Fischman ran deep in The $100K Double Deuce
I picked Scott Fischman as my sacrificial lamb to put at the top of the Big Money Sunday writeup. He survived the big donkament to finish in 27th out of nearly 9,000 players. It seems like no big deal that a red letter pro made it deep in a $20 buyin tournament but this event isn’t your average hourly small buyin game. The action continues to be mind boggling but it seems Michael Craig has come up with a workable strategy against the field.
“…avoiding ace-paint except in late position for a big raise, not playing any strong starting hand without an over-bet raise, and limping in late position with any two cards. All these ideas were in response to four or five players limping into every pot. It was remarkable to me that so many people play that way. I definitely had to adjust to playing with so many players who limp.”
Fischman was high on the leaderboard as were dropping quickly, I actually considered we might have a red letter pro finally make a final table in the Double Deuce. But as the field was reduced he seemed to find a bullseye on his back. If he opened a pot, 9 out of 10 times he would get three-bet. And not a small re-pop but most likely a big overshove that would take post-flop play out of his hands.
Certainly a valid strategy when going up against a superior opponent, but you could sense the frustration and he was eventually eliminated in 27th.
We had plenty of big names in the other games on Sunday. Philip “USCphildo” Collins made the final table of the Sunday Brawl, Thayer “THAY3R” Rasmussen just missing the final table of the Sunday Mulligan, and “drunk mashimaro” making the third Sunday Mulligan final table in a month.
Big Money Sunday details after the jump.
Tags: AlCantHang, Big Money Sunday, Bloggers on the Rail, Scott Fischman
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5, rated) Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Today brings us the first Holiday $100k and I’m going to try something new and crazy. I will be attempting to live blog my trip through the 10,000 player field for the $100,000 prizepool. The structure is solid and deep. It should be an interesting tournament, the field is full and the waitlist is growing. We have several red letter pros in the field including fellow FTP blogger Michael Craig, Aaron Bartley, Lee Watkinson and Jon “Pearljammed” Turner.
Hop into the game, get on the waitlist, do whatever you need to do to play. I’ll be back at the start to begin the grueling job of live blogging, unless I crash out on the first hand. Then you are on your own.
Tournament: Holiday 100k
When: Saturday, December 27th at 15:15 ET
Buyin: 2,000 Full Tilt points
Prizepool: $100,000
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, holida
(0 votes, average: 0 out of 5, rated) Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Happy Holidays from the bunker gang at Poker From the Rail. I’ll be stuck in my frozen lair playing and watching as the mass of players take advantage of their time off from the real world jobs and jam the site full of dead money and huge fields in the daily guarantee games. You will see the tournaments fill up quickly as players take a much needed break from their familial obligations throwing money into small buy-in / big prizepool events.
There are quite a few promotions going on during the Holiday season that you should use to your advantage. Full Tilt is following up the success of the The Holiday $100k with an Extra Holiday $100k. Both tournaments will have $100,000 prizepools and the buyin is only 2,000 Full Tilt Points, plus satellites and freerolls are available. No cash buyin, just those points you’ve been saving around to get that FTP mousepad or golf tees. The tournaments are set for December 27th and 28th at 15:15ET, the max number of players is set at 10,000 and the first tournament already has over 9,000 players registered.
Get in there and register now before it’s too late to get your chunk of free FTP cash.
Also during the next week you can earn triple Happy Hour FTP points in the 3Xmas Happy Hour promotion. Triple points and you can easily get yourself into one of the Holiday $100k games, bonus all around.
These events, combined with the full compliment of daily guarantee tournaments and Big Money Sundays, will give you plenty of opportunities to pad your bankroll and make your family forgive you missing that big dinner at Uncle John’s house or the rock solid fruitcake.
The full schedule is after the jump.
Tags: AlCantHang, Big Money Sunday, Bloggers on the Rail, Holiday $100k
(0 votes, average: 0 out of 5, rated) Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Annette Obrestad was just one part of Big Money Sunday
As I followed along with the 4 major tournaments occurring on Full Tilt yesterday, it was tough to figure out who’s picture to use at the top of the post. Annette Obrestad holds the record for the youngest player to hold a WSoP bracelet by winning the 2007 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event. Thanks to reasonable age restrictions outside the U.S. of A., Obrestad was able to enter the London event at a chippy age just short of 19 years old. She finished last nights Sunday Mulligan in second place.
Kristy Gazes made it further through the weekly $100,000 Double Deuce Fish Tank game than any other red letter pro, that certainly could have her picture at the top of the post and she would obviously be a welcome draw.
I could have picked Steven “UFman2″ Burkholder or any of the other big online names at the $1,000,000 Guarantee final table that included smfit29 (second straight big game final table), previous Sunday Brawl winner bellbop and Frank “Gator93″ Hernandez.
My decision was completely subjective and went with Annette.
Click after the jump for the game details and results from Big Money Sunday.
Tags: AlCantHang, big money, Bloggers on the Rail
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Posted by One Angry Monkey | Filed under Bloggers Corner
Greetings and salutations to everyone out there in Tilt-land, it’s been a long while since I’ve made a post. The powers that be finally decided to let me out of my cage – let’s just call it some time off for good behavior (plus, the electroshock therapy machine has broken down from overuse).
I write to you today on the heels of the announcement that Full Tilt Poker pro© John “The Razor” Phan has won the Card Player 2008 Player of the Year award. To say that John has been on fire this past year is something of an understatement. He’s had perhaps one of the best years in the history of tournament poker, winning two WSOP bracelets, one WPT title and over $2 million in combined prize money. For those of you counting at home, $2 million is still a lot of money – even with the dollar being at about the same level as the Thai baht – especially if you get paid out in one dollar bills (strip club, here I come!). Coolio ain’t got nothing on John, let’s recap the Phan-tastic voyage that was 2008:
• Mr. Phan-tastic started his great run by making the final table of the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars event in March, finishing in 6th place. He also came in 5th at the WPT Bellagio Cup IV in July, adding another final table to his resume.
• But it wasn’t until the WSOP started up that John really caught en fuego. He won two events, thus fulfilling his contractual obligation as a poker player to have at least one article of bling on each wrist (or is that for gangsta rappers only?). John’s first bracelet came in the $3K No-Limit Hold ‘em event, and then one week later took down the $2,500 Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw Lowball event. Not bad Johnny boy, not bad at all.
• And yet he wasn’t finished with his slicing and dicing (you know, because he’s “The Razor” and all, never mind) of the tournament circuit. The Phan-tastic one decided to finally win one of those damned WPT events, taking down the Legends of Poker tournament in August for more than $1 million (which is approximately equivalent to about 300 Euros).
At this point, I believe it’s accurate to say that John Phan is certainly the hottest player who makes a living playing the pokers these days. And he just might be one of the best as well. So let’s all raise our metaphorical glasses and toast the sharpest poker player out there – this one’s for you John.
If you’d like to learn more about John Phan, please visit his pro site (and no, I’m not just saying that because I have to). And now, it’s time for me to head back to my cage. Merry Christmas, chappy Chanukah, krazy Kwanza and frivolous Festivus to you all…
(0 votes, average: 0 out of 5, rated) Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Nick Schulman led most of Day 4 at the 2008 Five Diamond Poker Classic
Photo credit: WorldPokerTour.com
The 2008 Five Diamond Poker Classic is down to the final two tables and three Tilters are representing. Nick Schulman spent a large part of the day with the chip lead but took some hits as the day went along. Robert Mizrachi is sitting 9th in chips and Mike Matusow is looking to add to his Foxwoods WPT final table from earlier in the year.
Allen Cunningham, David Oppenhein, and Andy Bloch all came up short on Day 4 but added to the list of Full Tilt pros cashing in the $15,000 Main Event. Day 4 played down from 55 to 18, Day 5 will kick off at noon Vegas time and they will play down to the final 6 for the TV table.
Chip counts and payouts after the jump
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Mike Matusow, Nick Schulman
(0 votes, average: 0 out of 5, rated) Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Mike Matusow playing in the 2008 Five Diamond Poker Classic
Nick Schulman leads the long list of Team Full Tilt members heading into Day 4 of the Five Diamond Poker Classic at the Bellagio. He is joined by Allen Cunningham, David Oppenheim, Andy Bloch and Mike Matusow. Several Tilters were knocked out near the bubble and four made into the money but not onto Day 4.
Several World Series of Poker Main Event champions were also eliminated on Day 4. Poker legends Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan joined the tournament host Doyle Brunson on the rail after the bubble burst. 55 players start out the day still holding onto a chance to win the $1.5 million first place prize.
After the jump you will find chip counts for the Tilters going into Day 4.
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Mike Matusow, Nick Schulman
(0 votes, average: 0 out of 5, rated) Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Allen Cunningham is among many Full Tilt Pros ready to cash in the Five Diamond Poker Classic at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Your humble blogger has returned successfully from a Las Vegas vacation with my liver and bankroll intact. There are many tales to come from playing in the charity poker game, watching bloggers donk their way through a deepstack tournament at the Venetian and playing too many -EV games. I’ll have those stories later in the week.
There are a couple of really big tournaments going on these days and Full Tilt has their representatives. The World Series of Poker Circuit event in Atlantic City is down to their Main Event final table and the Five Diamond Poker Classic at the Bellagio will have the money bubble burst later today. Those details and the final payouts from the Big Money Sunday tournaments after the jump.
Tags: AlCantHang, Allen Cunningham, Big Money Sunday, Bloggers on the Rail
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