Podcast Awards and more

So, as most of you probably heard on our show already, there is this podcast awards site that gives awards to the best shows in their categories via public vote. But I can't for the life of me figure this site out. It looks like each category needs a sponsor to pony up some cash? I'm sure there are a lot more smarter people out there who listen to the show so if you can click the link and figure it out then report back here that'd be great.

WPT: I noticed a thread started on the forum about the WPT championship and Courtney's swan song. My wife and I watched that interview with James Van Alstyne and we cringed with every word. It was like driving past a car accident. You don't want to be a rubber-necker, but when there's banged up cars and bloddy bodies strewn across the asphalt you just have to take a peek. I still have her home phone number. I thought about calling her and playing back our interview with her so she could hear how ridiculous her comments actually sounded. It's no wonder they fired her. Imagine her practically dissing Shana by saying all she did was nod. I can't remember the last time Courtney handled an interview properly. As a journalist, I was taught you NEVER go up to someone who was just dealt a tragedy and ask "HOW DO YOU FEEL?" "How do I feel? I feel like ripping your lungs out and using them for bagpipes!" And half the time all she did was nod too. Sad, really.

Full Tilt Poker: Been having much success as of late, sitting in on the $.50-$1 short-handed tables and picking guys off left and right. I've been real careful with my hands and making some very good folds. For instance, the other night I had 6-6 on the button. I limped, but the SB raised and the BB reraised. I thought about it and then said you know what, I bet I'm beat, and not only that, but I bet this is one of those set over set over set hands. So I folded 6-6 and watched the SB push all-in for like $65. The BB called and turned over 7-7. The SB had AA. The BB caught a 7 on the flop and the aces didn't improve. And here's the kicker: A 6 fell on the river! I would have made a set and lost to the slot machine (7-7-7 for the uninitiated). So it pays to lay down a hand. And I know laying down 6-6 is no big deal, but I made the conscious effort to remember what had happened to me in the past on FTP, and sure enough I would have made a smaller set.

AnteUp! Fantasy League

OK, folks, here's something you KNOW you'll beat Chris at, since you know his fiery hatred for fantasy leagues.

FullTilt has started a World Series of Poker Fantasy League. Pick a stable of 15 horses for each of 36 events, and earn points based on where they finish. You can sign up here.

Players who do the best in each event are entered into freerolls, which could lead to a seat in the 2007 Main Event. You can also win some FullTilt swag.

And, the best part for AnteUp Nation, is that you can create a private league so you can smack talk with friends. I've created the "AnteUp" league for us. It's easy to find on the "Join/Create Private League" tab. The password is "poker."

So sign up, and let's show Chris how lame it is to be on the outside of a fantasy league.

Sorry I've been gone

Hey all,

I've been terribly swamped at work the past two weeks, plus I have some personal things happening this week so I haven't had much time to play or post. I lost a bundle about a week ago on Full Tilt and then won some of it back the next day. I still can't steer clear of the bad beats on FTP, and they always seem to involve kings. Our next show is pretaped so you won't hear how Scott did in Vegas since he's still there. We got a bunch of emails so if you don't hear them on the show, now you'll know why. Sorry to spoil the illusion that the show is live, but we couldn't swing it with him three hours away.

I'll try to post more when I get some time to play. I have been wondering about your thoughts on the CBS poker show Intercontinental Poker Championships, but I haven't had much time to watch it and analyze.

Sorry again, but will do my best in the near future to get you up to date.

AnteUp! Tournament feedback

OK, kids, if you listened to today's show, you know we want some feedback and direction on where to go with AnteUp! Invitational III. So here's your chance to be heard: What days of the week? How often? What types of games? Any interest in a Heads-Up championship? "Double stack" or not? Payout structure - keep it the same, or pay more people? FullTilt or PokerRoom? Or some other site? Restrictions on how much Chris is allowed to gloat?

Let us hear 'em.

Makes you go .... hmmmmm

OK, I'm not one to add grist to the "Internet poker is rigged" rumor mill, but I did find this pretty darn strange.

This weekend, I flopped quads.

Not once.
Not twice.
But three times.

But before you call Oliver Stone, no, no one flopped a boat in the same hands (or even made a hand later on), so this isn't one of those "set vs. set vs. set" things you've heard about. I won all three hands, yes, but certainly didn't cash in.

Now, The Wife was out of town, so I was putting in some serious hours, but certainly no more than hard-core onliners who have no life. And certainly no more than when I'm in Vegas with Fasso. And I can't tell you when the last time (if ever) I flopped quads. But I do know this, it hasn't happened often. And certainly not this often.

I really, truly believe that this nonsense about Internet poker sites rigging their RNGs for 'action' flops is just that - nonsense. But I gotta say this made me go .... hmmmmm.

I won the Ante Up! tournament*

*OK, OK, so I won one of the Post-Party tournaments, but that's still one more tournament than my co-host won Saturday night, now isn't it?

Seriously, though, all hail STATIKKLING, who won the Ante Up Invitational II on Saturday night, and in the process crushed all the hopes and dreams of Chris Cosenza, who was beating up the Final Table until two late suck-outs meant he'd have to settle for a still-impressive 2nd place. But I'm in no place to make jokes, as I slinked off the stage in 28th place out of a field of 36 (hmmm, 36 players. Who could have guessed that?). ElSnarfGrande crippled me with a set of aces, and Foggy89 picked up the bounty when my favorite hand, Q-10, couldn't hold up. (I take solace in knowing that Foggy went out 27th. he he he he).

Once again, it was great getting together with all of you for the tournament, the chat and the several post-tournament tournaments (where I totally dominated - or got lucky - to pick up a $26 satellite token). E-mail or call with your stories or comments, and we'll see you next time.

Ante Up! tournament chat

Gambit, the so-called "tech guru" for Ante Up!, has come through with a great way for us to chat before, during and after Saturday's tournament. Here's what he had to say: "I think I came up with a good solution for a global chat area we could use before/during/after the Ante Up tournament. I created a java-based chat room called "Poker_Lobby"; no sign-up or download required."

You can access it here.

Let's give it a try on Saturday, and if it works out, it opens up a whole new range of cool stuff Chris and I can cook up.

A new addition to the blog

Hey everyone,

Look to the left of the blog. See that new photo? Click it to watch a funny promo video Scott and I did a while back. Our good friend Adrian here at the Times/tbt* decided he wanted everyone to know what a PODCAST was, so we decided to put together a fun video in the same vein as THE OFFICE. There's more to the video, but this was our segment, and I thought it would be fun to put up on the site. Let me know what you think.

SunPoker and Ante Up!

Some of you may be wondering what Kenna was talking about when he mentioned the Hand of the Week and SunPoker on the show. The web site, which sponsors Kenna, has agreed to send us about a dozen SunPoker shirts and hats so we can give them away to our listeners if we use their hand of the week. So, if you submit one, be sure to mention whether you'd like a shirt or a hat. I'm not sure if the shirts will be coming all in one size, so you may want to opt for a hat if you're a big person and all we have is large, or if you're a small rounder and all we have is XL. So, anyway, this is exciting. Now you'll be able to get something other than Scott and my stellar advice when you hear your hand on the air.

We'll also need your address so we can mail it to you. So, don't hesitate, send those hands in now! I'll have more info as soon as the swag arrives.

Hope you all enjoyed the show. Kenna's always a class act, and he always brings his "A game" as Scott likes to say. Here's to another year of Ante Up!

Sick as a dog

Here's another reason I hate cruises: the inevitible cold I suffer afterward. I don't know if I caught it on the boat, but just about my whole family has had it so my guess is yes. I've been sick since last Tuesday and I even suffered through our home game on Saturday while hacking and wheezing. I lost it all again, btw, and found it difficult to focus. Both times I have played in the home game with a cold I lost. So I won't be doing that anymore.

Last night I played online and caught one of the most incredible run of cards I've ever seen. In a span of about 20 hands I caught pocket rockets three times and big slick three times. I also had A-10 and called a short-stacked all-in who had AQ and managed to flop an Ace and a 10 to win. It was a cash table, but only a $25 NL table. I started with $25 and when I left I had about $88. If I got that run at the $200 table I'd be retired.

I needed that win as my confidence had been shaken in the past week. I keep losing a ton first and then scrambling to recover and make a slight profit. I don't know why this happens to me, but it does. And it's not like I play stupid or loose in the beginning and then buckle down, it's just coincidence. I mean, when KK loses to Q8o preflop for $50, it's not me playing poorly. Right?

A priest, a rabbi and a poker player walk into a bar ...

... and the poker player goes home and enters a SNG. Yes, last night I was reminded of one of the great drawbacks of online poker - not being able to see your opponents to know whether they've been hitting the bottle harder than Courtney Love at a bar mitzvah.

On the very first hand (in the BB), I get into a tangle with the SB. I flop an open-ended straight draw. He bets into me; I call. Turn puts a flush draw on the board. He bets into me; I call. The flush hits on the river (the straight does not) and all of a sudden he checks. Foolish to put him on having played a flush draw here, I think, so I bet pot. He goes over the top all-in; I lay it down.

Having donked off 2/3 of my chips on the very first hand, I start wracking my brain, trying to figure out how I misplayed this hand. And then, I start seeing this from my opponent - all-in with J5 off, all-in with Q7 off, etc. And then, the kicker - he types this message: "Playing drunk is FUNNNNNN %^&$%^&$@#%^&"

Sighhhhh. I immediately go back to the first hand, and realize that I wasn't so much outplayed as I was outdrunked. Ugh. Sadly. my shortstack doesn't improve and I become an early railbird.

I take a break, and jump into another SNG. And guess who follows me into the water? That's right - Jack Daniels. None of the other players at our table were in our original table, so I'm guessing the odds are pretty good that no one but me knows this guy reeks of Boone's. And that's some powerful information to hold, I think. For example, I'll be less likely to be aggressive preflop with hands that can't stand all-ins. Also, I'll be less likely to run bluffs or even semibluffs on later streets if he's in the hand.

Ugh. He's seated two to my LEFT, a terrible place for an unpredictable maniac to be. My game plan has to really change now. I'm going to be forced to wait for monster hands or for someone else to win the Drunk Lottery tonight and take this hobo's ripple. But it doesn't take long for me to get my chance. Three hands in, and I pick up AK off. I make the standard pot bet, and, to no surprise, I'm raised by Jim Beam. I smooth call, thinking I'm going to want my hand to improve before committing my entire stack to the Great Unknown. Flop comes A-3-8, all clubs. Yes! Sure, the clubs are scary - a fair chance that he's holding one, but I seriously doubt he's holding two (I have none). I bet the pot, and yes, he pushes all-in. I happily call, and am am even happier to see he has 99 - but one club. I sweat out the turn and river, send Johnnie Walker back to the corner liquor store and take a commanding lead by making a call I never would have if I hadn't known he was stinkin' drunk.

So kids, a few lessons:
1. Don't drink and drive.
2. Don't drink and deal.
3. Punish those who drink and donk.

Check out our new digs

Hey,

Some people have been asking for us to post a shot of the studio, so I got this one from our engineer, Dave (he's the guy with his back to the camera). If you click on it, the image will enlarge to full size. As you can see we're all professional now, with sound absorbing panels, a glass window and all kinds of gadgets. I'm on the right and Scott's on the left, just in case you haven't looked at our ugly mugs on the left-hand side of the blog recently. It's pretty cool, and there's even a RECORDING light outside the soundproof door, just in case someone gets the idea of barging in on us. Not bad, eh? We have to thank the Times for this. It is awesome!

Here's why you need to get involved

One of our listeners, Dennis from Kalamazoo, MI, alerted us to this story.

Can you believe that? Online poker players will be treated the same way child pornographers will be in Washington. Go to CardPlayer.com/savepoker right now!

Full Tilt Follies

Some great action tonight on Full Tilt at the Rock Port $25/$50 NL Table.

From the chat box:
Mike Matusow: fking rigged
Mike Matusow: ill never play here again

He's joking (at least about not playing at FT again), but what just happened was that John Juanda, with 66, flopped a set and reraised all-in a player with AK who flopped a pair of Ks. AK called, and the river was a K. Just before that, Juanda raised all-in with 43 suited, something like $3,000, gets called by K9 offsuit (amazing in itself), and the K-high held up.

Juanda (about his 43): You mean that's not a good hand?

I was looking for a SNG, but these guys were too much fun.

Random poker thoughts

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! I can't believe Scott and I have been doing Ante Up! for a year, and what a year it's been. I love listening to the early shows just to see how bad we were. Neil Peart, drummer of the Canadian rock trio Rush and the greatest drummer of all time, puts it best for me. He once said, and I paraphrase: People like for us to play a lot of the older songs when we're touring, but for us, those songs represent a time when we weren't very good. It's like a famous artist looking at his finger paintings from preschool.

That's how I feel. When I hear Scott and me basically reading from our crib notes in this monotone voice I laugh. Now we're loose and having fun. Plus, look at the things we have done: Ante Up tournaments, big guests such as Kenna James, Jennifer Harman, Andy Bloch among others (Fatso, Courtney); a new studio, the occasional sponsor, a blog and forum, and so much more. Even the Chicago guys think we're the second-best podcast out there, though we're hoping for the No. 1 nod this year!!!

I'd just like to thank everyone out there who has been listening and contributing. We really enjoy it when the listeners send us hands of the week or just comments about the show, etc. It makes us feel like we're not just getting together for the hell of it.

POKER DOME: Has anyone seen this Poker Dome show yet? I watched it last night (still catching up on my TiVo recordings from a week's worth of vacation). Anyway, what's the big deal? I mean, there's this dome they built at the Tropicana soley for poker, and I guess an audience can watch them but the players can't see the audience. So what! They made it sound like it was going to revolutionize the game.

And they open the place with a Speed Poker challenge. I like speed poker because there's no room for commentators to babble on and on about useless information, etc. I swear, Mike Konik needs to take some valium. Last night he was going off the wall when people called an all-in. On one hand in particular, someone went all-in for a half-bet and he said "HE CALLS!!!!! HE CALLS INSTANTLY!!! It was a half-bet to win a huge pot Mike, relax. Sometimes I could just zip his mouth shut.

But speed poker doesn't prove much. Anyone who has played on the Internet is used to this type of poker. It may take a little adjustment, from 30 seconds to 15 seconds, but really, how often do you use the whole 30 seconds when you are online. If you're honest, you'll admit that you bitch everytime someone takes 10 seconds to make their move. But the Dome is no big deal. I don't see what the big deal is.

CELEBRITY POKER CHALLENGE: What a mistake Bravo made. I still don't know the whole circumstances surrounding Phil Gordon's departure, but Phil Hellmuth can't fill his shoes. Gordon has personality, he's likable. In the few minutes I watched the debut episode I knew right away that Hellmuth was too focused on play-by-play and analysis. I understand that's why he's there, but it just seems to me that the fit isn't there. He's not personable enough. Plus, no one likes him. I predict a crash and burn after one season.

POKER PLAY: I went on Full Tilt Poker last night just to dabble in some NL (but low stakes) Hold 'Em and PL Omaha, and I won a tiny bit. Nothing to brag about, but it was nice to get my feet wet again. I hadn't played either game in almost two weeks. I had to adjust to the No Limit game after a week of Limit on that godawful boat. But it was cool. I did a little hit-and-run action last night instead of staying at one table too long. Every once in a while I like to do that, get in there, win a decent hand and then split. Anyone else like doing this?

OK, that's about it. I hope everyone enjoyed this week's show, and don't forget next week is our one-year superextravamazspectaculoveablefest!