Let the maniac do your betting

I had been on this guy's left for about 20 hands and it was so clear that he was a maniac. He played almost every hand and raised just about every pot as well. If anyone would check to him he would bet big and people would fold their marginal hands. His stack's not exactly indicative of his play because he called an all-in with only a gutshot and one card to come and he made the wheel to double through a guy with two pair. So I folded to him a few times, which is why I was under my $25 buy-in. But then the following hand came up, and it's not the greatest hand ever, but it shows how a maniac who is desperate to not lose a pot can just shove with reckless abandon, praying (or assuming) the other player would fold like a cheap tent. Plus this gives me a chance to use the Pokerhandreplays.com tool.

Gotta love having him turn over his cards and know he was drawing. And the quads on the end was pretty sweet, if not overkill. A few hands later he got it all-in A7 vs. my QQ and I cleaned him out. When he left I typed in the chat box: It was only a matter of time boys.

The moral of the story? If you have a maniac at your table, be sure to have him on your right and then let him bet your monsters.

-- Chris

High Stakes Poker cancelled? UPDATE!

I awoke this morning to news that High Stakes Poker on GSN may be in trouble. Numerous sites are reporting the HSP folks haven't filmed a new season yet and there doesn't seem to be plans to either. Pokerati.com quoted AJ Benza in its report as well, and AJ doesn't seem happy: "Far as Gabe and I know ... the show isn't coming back." Also CardPlayer talked with Mori Eskandani of POKER PROductions and he confirms that GSN hasn't ordered any new episodes yet. Here is the story.

Dennis Oehring at Poker PROductions emailed me today and here's what he said: "Many decisions about poker are currently being made by GSN, which is under new leadership since the departure of ex-CEO Rich Cronin. But I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that POKER PROductions has never been notified of the show being cancelled, despite what you may have read from the so-called pundits out there. I suspect we will know a lot more about the course of GSN's future programming after next Saturday (May 24), the deadline for them to decide whether to renew the WPT's contract for Season 7. Once we hear, I will be sure to let the poker community know."

If this news becomes official I'll be handing in my digital cable box ASAP! GSN is the only reason I got the box in the first place. For those of you who haven't listened to our latest show yet, I mentioned High Stakes while I talked to Justin Bonomo. Will HSN go the way of Courtney Friel, Sabina Gadecki and Shana Hiatt by joining the curse of Ante Up? For the first time I truly hope not.

Sad day for poker if this is true.

UPDATE: Mori has gotten back to me and he apparently read the blog because here's his response when I asked him if GSN cancelled his show: We have gotten no such a notice. Our relationship with GSN remains as strong as ever. We respect any decision that they make regarding poker in general and HSP in particular. Last time I spoke to them, the network was trying to figure out if poker can work/exists in the direction that they like to take their future programming. It is totally possible that we get a call tomorrow and receive an order for more seasons. NO ONE KNOWS. Please don't return your cable box just yet.

-- Chris

Episode #153: Justin Bonomo

JustinBonomo.com

MAIN TOPIC
Pro Justin Bonomo, aka "ZeeJustin," gives us a ring to talk about his meteoric rise in the poker world, his string of recent final tables, his new affiliation with Team Bodog and, yes, his past and how he's dealing with it. Click here to listen to the show.

OTHER TOPICS

Race for the Hundy: Chris is still out of breath from his prop bet win against Fasso. If you missed it, check out the story and video.

AIPS: Event #5 (NL hold'em rebuy) is just a week away. Click here for all the details.

MySpace poker: That's right - this hideously hard site to read has started a poker room. You can even order virtual beers. (Well, not Chris. He's doesn't even drink virtual booze).

Trump does it again: This time, The Donald will install 12 electronic poker tables in the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City by June. Booooooo!

Get your stock on: CNBC has launched a stock-picking contest. One of the prizes? A seat in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event.

More on the WSOP delay: Scott is hung up on just how success or failure will be determined in the World Series' biggest gimmick of the year. Give it up. (Or, keep the debate alive).

Hotline: A caller lets us know of a soccer player named Ante Razov. Close, but no banana ...  and Roger calls in to let us know we can catch NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship on the Internet.

Tampa Bay Poker Replay: Help out a good cause and get a legitimate reason to say "boobs" by participating in the Bikers4Boobs & Walkers4Boobs Poker Run and 5K Walk on June 8. Click here for the details.

One Minute Mystery: Columbo is on vacation, no doubt solving a crime. He'll be back soon.

HAND OF THE WEEK
Alright, we took a chance (you know what that means). It was our first single-draw no-limit 2-7 lowball HOTW. Neither Chris nor I nor Justin, who stuck around to help us out, have played this version of lowball.

Jan, an Ante Upper playing in a loose 5-person dealer's choice low-limit home game, is in the big blind with 2-3-4 and two paint cards. Everyone limps, and Jan checks. The small blind draws three, Jan two and the rest of players: two, two, three.

Jan improves to 8-7-4-3-2, and after the small blind checks, he bets 6 units into a 5-unit pot. He gets one caller, and then the small blind check-raises to 20 units.

The bet smelled fishy to us, and Jan called, just as we would have. Good move. His 8-7 beat his opponent's rougher 8-7.

NEXT WEEK'S SHOW
TBA, but in two weeks, St. Pete Times' rockin' music critic Sean Daly joins us to talk about music and poker.

- SCOTT

What occupations create the best poker players?

Associated Press

I'm catching up on back episodes of one of my favorite new TV shows, FX's The Riches, starring the dreamy Minnie Driver and the very funny Eddie Izzard.

The two play the married head of a family of cons who have assumed the identity of a dead family. In a recent episode, Driver's character tries to come clean with a parole officer, only to be dressed down by him after he could easily tell that he was being lied to.

And immediately, I thought "I bet parole officers make good poker players." We've all heard actors say they are good players because they can fool their opponents with their acting skills. And dealers love to tell us that they make good players because they've watched thousands and thousands of hands.

What other occupations do you think breed talented poker players?

- SCOTT

How will success be determined in the WSOP's delayed final table?

Argue if you will over whether the World Series of Poker was right in deciding to delay this year's Main Event final table for 117 days, but a more interesting debate I think is:

How will delay's success or failure be judged?

I'm a fan of WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. A reasonable debate can be had over whether his, and Harrah's, aggressive commercialization of the WSOP is fuel for poker's continued popularity or a tragedy to tradition, but I don't think you can debate whether he listens to players and acts quickly on their suggestions.

Case in point: The tent used for some of the events last year is gone this year. Folks didn't like it, and he figured out a solution. But in that example, failure was easy to diagnose. Players - lots of them - grumbled loudly about the playing conditions.

But what's the benchmark for success or, more importantly, failure of the final table delay?

Will a mass outcry of opposition from players be as convincing when in reality only nine players - not the hundreds like in the tent example - are affected? And how many of the nine will have to argue against it for their concerns to carry weight?

Short of ESPN saying, "Hey, we didn't get the ratings we were hoping for," or a PR nightmare if one of the nine finalists doesn't make it the final table (death, visa holdup, etc.), do see any way at all this experiment can possibly be labeled a failure by WSOP officials?

- SCOTT

Analyze This: Conclusion

The opponent was holding 7-8 of diamonds and rivered the straight.

The 2X raise was used because it had reached the stage where 2X had become the raise of choice about half the time (and was getting the job done).

Thanks for the input. Shoving on the turn sounds better.

Analyze This

This is from a $2+0.25 rebuy tournament on FullTilt.

We are past the rebuy period, down to 21 players from 77 (nine paid), and I have about 4,500 chips with blinds at 150/300/25.

UTG on a seven-handed table, I am dealt KK. I raise to 600 and get one caller, who has about 20K.

Flop is 9-5-K, two spades (the K is one). I bet 1,500 into an 1,825 pot. Opponent calls.

Turn is 3 of spades, the third spade. I check; opponent checks.

River is 6 of hearts. I bet 1,500; opponent raises me all-in. I call.

Race for the Hundy video ... and mug winner

We missed the 11 p.m. SportsCenter, but here's Snuffy's great video from the Race for the Hundy:

And congrats to 2cunning4yew, who wins the highly sought after Bicycle-brand coffee thermos for his Nostradamus-like prediction ability. He picked all three questions right (Cosenza to win, Cosenza for fastest lap, one walker and then boldy picked 9:03 as the winning time, just a mere 6 ticks off of reality.)

2cunnning, e-mail me with your address and we'll get that prize out to you. And thanks to everyone who made a guess. I'm trying to keep the prop bet fire burning at Ante Up! HQ.

- SCOTT

Race for the Hundy winner is ...

Jeanne Cosenza photo

SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. - On a beautifully breezy 88-degree day, two warriors went to battle on an unpopulated asphalt track in this quaint burg, just a card's throw from Old Tampa Bay.

The Official Arrival Ceremony lived up to the hype. Fasso, escorted by Scott Long, entered the arena from the North, sporting a Fly Emirates red cap and slurping a Dunkin' Donuts coffee, venti. From the South, Cosenza stalked the track, escorted by Ante Upper Erik, with a 67-ounce bottle of Gatorade pinned to his lips, a WSOP ballcap screwed on backwards and an iPod Shuffle dangling from his neck.

For a death-defying 33 minutes, the combatants exchanged quips, threats and taunts. Negotiation over the rules was tense at times. Cosenza refused Fasso's demand that he run in Lane 6 the entire way, but did agree to not step to the left of the inside white line - until he was way ahead and Fasso couldn't see.

The roaring, collected crowd (population 4) smirked at a request to station track stewards at each 100 meters.

Shortly before kickoff, Chris' wife arrived, offering moral support and photographing the historic event for posterity. Fasso's wife never arrived, not much of a surprise, seeing as he doesn't have a wife.

Like buckin' broncos at a rodeo, the fighters were restless and wanted to start early, but the crowd booed and made them sweat out the next 4 minutes.

At the stroke of 11, the gun (really just Scott yelling) sounded, and they were off!

Cosenza blasted from the blocks and scorched to a race-best 1:33:06 lap on the first trip around the asphalt. Fasso, using his patented "recumbent bicycle" stroke, was slow and steady, finishing the first lap in 1:42:34.

At the 600-meter mark, the tank clicked "Empty" on Cosenza's gut and he was forced to walk. (BIG surprise). Fasso didn't take the bait, keeping his slow and steady strategy intact.

At the end of three laps, the noticeably dying "athletes" crossed the line at the same time, setting up a bell lap for the ages. They kept neck and neck, ankle to ankle, for the next 200 meters, when Fasso made his move. He boosted his mph from 1 to 2, and left Cosenza in the dust ... for about 3 meters.

Chris dug in and put on the turbo boost (and you don't want to know what his "turbo boost" is. We got a whiff of it prerace) and streaked (fully clothed, thankfully) to the finish line, taking the Race for the Hundy in a startling 9:09.01.

Fasso, to the polite encouragement of the peanut gallery, finished in 9:21:17 - never having to walk a step.

Congratulations to both of these bold men, who have inspired couch potato turtles everywhere.

Stay tuned for the video report, expected from Snuffy later tonight or Sunday.

And after the Ante Up! Home Game, which begins in just 10 fateful minutes, I'll go through the several Race for the Hundy predictions, and crown a winner. That lucky soul (not as lucky as Rant, but still ...) will be shipped a Bicycle-brand coffee thermos.

Maybe you can loan it to Fasso for Race for the Hundy II.

- SCOTT

ZeeJustin on Show 153

The once-controversial (but always talented) poker player Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo will be on Ante Up! for Episode 153. The 22-year-old pro just signed with Team Bodog and we'll be sure to ask him all about it. But what would you like to know? You may think he's all about NLHE, but he was the youngest player left standing in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the 2007 World Series of Poker so he'll fit right in with the Ante Up! Nation. Please post your questions here, and time permitting we will do our best to ask them.

-- Chris

Photo courtesy of Bodog