It's 5:30 a.m. and I should qu . . . Wait! POCKET KINGS!!!

It was one of those nights that started out innocently enough. I was sitting at a $25 NLHE table waiting for my wife to get off the phone so we could listen to the Johnny Chan interview together (she's a sucker for the special guests). Anyway after I lost 75 cents just sitting there, she got off the phone. So I shut down the Full Tilt program and listened to Chan The Master. Then we watched the PPT, but something was gnawing at me. And of course it was that 75 cents. I'm sick right?

So after I sat down at another $25 table and picked up KK on the button. Everyone folds to me and I bet a buck. The SB folds and the BB goes all-in for $10. I instacall and he turns over A♥10♥. He spikes an ace and my backdoor straight never gets there. Now I'm down $10.75 and I'm just sick. I know, it's not a lot of money, but I didn't even really want to play, and now I'm stuck almost $11.

So now I decide this $25 crap is a waste of time and I could just play my normal $100 NL table and win that back on one hand. So the blinds go by a few times and I'm stuck about $10 more when I pick up AQo. I raise to $4 and get one caller. Flop comes Q♥7♥3♣. I bet the pot and he calls, but not too quickly. So is he on the draw? And if another heart hits I have the A♥, so I have the backdoor nuts. Sure enough the 8♥ hits. I bet about half the pot, unafraid (sorta) of the flush. He pushes all-in for his last $30. Well, there's more than $30 out there and I have a draw to the nuts plus top pair top kicker. I make the crying call and he turns over two baby hearts for the flush. I hit an ace on the river but a lot of good that does me, now I'm stuck more than $50 total.

A couple of suckouts later and my $100 stack was down to $11. I caught A7 on the next hand and pushed all-in. Got a caller with 7-7 (DOH!) but I hit my ace on the turn and doubled up. From there I pushed all-in five of the next six hands and got a caller when I had AQ and he had JJ. I spiked an ace on the flop and had turned my $11 into $60. So now I'm only down about $70.

Then I pick up KK. UTG+2 raises to $5, so I put him on like 88 since that's a little more than what was standard at this table. So I reraise to $25 to go and he pushes me all-in. I call and he has 10-10. He hits his 10 and I'm broke.

At that point it was around 2 a.m. and I was just sick. What started out as an innocent way to kill time had turned into a nightmare. So I decided to buy into the $1-2 game to see if the play there was any better. I won about $30 in 10 minutes and the table broke up, so I went to another one. Played for about two hours at this table and had only about a $30 profit again, so I was now just stuck $40 on the night. It's almost 5:30 a.m. and I have to get up in 4 hours for work. I guess I'll take solace in the fact that I'm only down $40 and will quit the game. As I click off the AUTO PAY BLINDS box I pick up KK again. So far the kings cost me $10 on one hand and $70 on another. My wife likes to call them cursed kings, and believe me I was cursing enough to fill a Comedy Central Roast.

So what do I do? There was one player on my left who I owned at this table. I was bluffing him, showing down better kickers, re-raising him preflop and getting him to fold, etc. I just had his number and I knew if he picked up a decent hand against me when I raised he would push. So I'm on the button and he's UTG. We're at the $200 table now, so the raises are about $7 to open the pot. He bets out $6 and it's folded around to me. I make it $18 to go and the BB waits and waits and smooth calls!!!! Now the original raiser (the guy I owned) pushes, just like I thought he would, for about $200 more.

Now, these kings have been the bane of my existence, and if I lose this pot I will be down about $300 on the night. So I re-re-reraised all-in (or so I thought), but in fact I just smooth-called his all-in by accident (whoops!). The BB thought long and hard about it and then folded. I figured he had AK or 10-10. The UTG turned over QQ and I had his suits covered. The flop: J♥10♥8♠. So now I have to dodge a 9 and a Q. Another 8 hits the turn and a 5♥ comes on the river.

So, I was supposed to quit only $40 in the hole and instead I took down a $380 pot and turned a nice profit on the night of about $150. Kings are the new Jacks. Can't fold 'em, can't beat 'em and can't win with them (well, usually, thanks to the poker gods who knew I needed to get some sleep).

Chris Cosenza

Show #64 recap

MAIN TOPIC

Johnny Chan, two-time World Series of Poker Main Event champion and holder of 10 bracelets, joins us to talk about his new Web site, chanpoker.net, and all things poker. He talks about protege Jamie Gold, the growing Main Event fields, his famous orange, playing on TV, his Rounders cameo and, of all things, bowling with Phil Hellmuth. He also talks about limit poker and his new book, Million Dollar Hold'em.

OTHER TOPICS

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Scott's back from vacationing in the D.R., where he treaded water in Three Card Poker and enjoyed his Scotch, though sadly not his favorite, Johnnie Walker Black.

DERBY LANE: Chris went to Derby Lane to drool over the Bud Girls (and attempted to play poker). The tournament spurred a pretty lively blog back-and-forth in the previous post.

ANTE UP INVITATIONAL III: One day left, so get signed up and win some swag!

VINNY LECAVALIER'S TOURNAMENT: Chris and I are entering - and playing for charity - so come out and say hi at the Hard Rock on Sept. 7. Here's the details.

CLIPS AND MORE: We heard from a couple of listeners, one about monster hands on FullTilt (really?) and one about the Venetian's new poker room. And, don't miss the debut of Columbo's One-Minute Mystery.

HAND OF THE WEEK

Johnny Chan helped us out with some advice for Dave of Ballston Spa, N.Y., who slow-played his pocket Aces into an early exit from an online tournament. Johnny's advice on pocket rockets: get action, but protect your hand. Limping is rarely a good idea, and once someone gets frisky, hammer them.

Well, at least it wasn't the bubble

Last week, as you may have read a few posts down, I went out on the bubble in Derby Lane's weekly 150-player tournament. Today, I went there looking to improve on that finish in the big 400-player tournament. I literally was freerolling because I had a BIG day on Full Tilt on Saturday, so I was feeling pretty good about doing well in this tournament.

As you may recall, last week I got NO cards, the best hand being 99 and one AKo. Well, I played the patient player again today and the best hand I saw was 55. I called a raise with it hoping to spike a set and it didn't come so I folded to a pot-sized bet. That came early so no biggie. Later I picked up KQo in late position and raised to 3X. Got a caller from a little old lady on my left (who really didn't know what she was doing but was clearly there for the $4K top prize) and got another caller from the BB. BTW: The BB caller had NO IDEA what he was doing. On several occasions he tried to make bets of 100 units when the blinds were 100-200 and 200-400. Another guy at the table played almost every hand, and he had no idea you couldn't raise 100 units when someone raised 300 ahead of him. It was really unbelieveable.

Anyway, getting back to the KQo hand. The flop came J♣4♥3♣. The BB checked and I made my continuation bet, about half the pot. The little old lady called and the BB called too. So I was getting ready to shut down when the turn was the Q♥. So the BB checked again and I bet about half the pot again, and the little old lady called again. The river was a complete blank and like an idiot I checked to her. She checked and turned over 10-10. I should have made a value bet. That was a nice pot, and got me on my way regardless of my crap cards.

Remember our bluffing show? Well, remember when I said if you are at a table with a bunch of perpetual limpers and you're in the BB that you should push all-in? Well, the blinds were 100-200 and five limpers came in. I looked down a A♥8♣. I thought about pushing all-in, but then thought if I bet around 800 more it should be enough to do the same thing. So I did, and the guy on my left thought about it and then called. The flop came all rags, but gave me a gutshot. I bet 500 and he thought long and hard and then said GOOD BET and folded. WHEW! I guess I should have pushed all-in instead of making it only 800 to go. But I took down a nice pot there and by the first break had exactly doubled my 2,000 buy-in stack.

Then the wheels came off. I had a bunch of hands that were worth seeing a flop with, like J10 or KJ in the BB, but I just kept missing altogether. Even when I had position they would bet into me so I had to fold. Then came the hand that knocked me out.

In the BB I had Q♣J♠. A guy UTG+2 raised 3X. He had been playing crap throughout the first session so I didn't know what to make of it, but I had a feeling he had AK on this hand. Everyone folded to me and I had more chips than him. I had 3K at this time and the blinds were 200-400. The flop came J-8-2 all clubs. So I have the third nut flush draw and top pair with a good kicker. The pot was 2,600 so I bet out 1K. He pushed all-in for 1,600 more. So, 2,600 + 1,000 + 1,600 = 5,200. I have 2,000 left and it would cost me 1,600 more to win 5,200, which is better than 3-to-1 on my money. I sat and thought long and hard about it. I looked him up and down and he was chewing his gum pretty quick. I figured he was trying to push me off this hand or protecting the hand he had without a flush draw. I thought maybe he had 10-10, but the more I thought about it I had a feeling I was behind. But this was the moment in the tournament where if I fold I only have 2,000 left and the blinds were going up to 300-600 on the next hand. Should I fold? As it turns out, yes I should have. But I figured any Q, J or club wins it for me. So I called. He turned over AA, but no club. The turn paired the board, which took away the queens as outs, and the river was a blank.

I was left with 400 and pushed two hands later with a suited King. You know the rest.

Oh well. You all know I have changed my position on tournaments, and I was only playing in these last two because (a) they essentially were freerolls from what I had won online and (b) I wanted to get familiar with live, MTT for the Vinny Lecavalier tournament on Sept. 7. After that I will be giving up tournaments again for a bit, unless I have another windfall.

One funny side note: I drew Seat 1 at Table 1, and then when they dealt for the button I got it! I have to tell you, I have NEVER gotten the button in ANY of the tournaments I have played there and at Tampa Bay Downs. I even brought my lovely wife, Jeanne, along for good luck. It seemed like all of the stars were lining up for me. I thought it was destiny. Turns out it wasn't.

Show 63 Recap

As I sit here and think about recapping the show, I realize there's really not THAT much to recap. If you want a really good book on bluffing pick up Matt Lessinger's The Book of Bluffs. A lot of the concepts shared on the show are described in great detail in this book, and it's a real good read; not complicated, unlike other works out there. Also, if you want Fatso to come to your house and recite one of the classics, just drop us a line and we can arrange it. He's also available for children's birthday parties, but you have to provide the booze. He works for scale, or a $5+.50 entry into a Stud/8 tournament on Full Tilt Poker. Just remember, we're working on getting Johnny Chan for our next show and it looks like we will be getting Daniel Negreanu for the Sept. 6 show. So, if you have any questions for these world class pros please post them here and we'll see what we can do to get them answered. And please, let's keep the questions pertinent, unlike the ones on Full Tilt. No one ask Mr. Chan if they can be his future ex-wife or if Daniel will pose for Playgirl. 8-)

An interesting evening

Last night at around 10 I decided to peek in on Full Tilt to see what was going on. I didn't REALLY feel like playing, but if there was a freeroll going on I thought I might get in for fun. No such luck. But Clonie Gowen was there in that new PRO CHAT feature. So I decided to submit a coupla questions for her. One was about her MySpace page since I had wondered if the page was really hers. About an hour after I submitted my first question I got a response. If you check our MySpace page, you will see she is now one of our friends. That is the official Clonie Gowen page.

But I gotta tell ya. I love playing poker, but the degenerates who lined up to ask her some of the nastiest, stupidest questions I have ever read just made me sick. My wife and I couldn't believe some of the stupid crap they were saying. If you're wondering why I didn't get an answer until an hour later, it's because of questions like these: "Clonie, can I be your future ex-husband?" or "Will you ever pose for Playboy?" Now, these may be humorous, and a lot of you may actually want to know this information, but for the people who wanted legitimate poker questions answered this had to be frustrating. And you could tell she was getting frustrated on two levels. Her answers were starting to get real sarcastic (i.e. "How long have you been on Xanax?") and she was losing a bundle at her $.50-$1 NLHE table. She was up to like $410 at one point and last I checked she was down and had to re-buy for another $100. Now, she could've posted a win in that session, but it didn't seem likely. She was distracted by the questions.

Oh, and there were more than 120 players on the waiting list to get on that table with her.

Unreal.

I'm registered for Sunday's big tournament at Derby Lane where top spot pays $4K if it's a sellout. Here's hoping I improve on my performance from Saturday.

This week's show is about bluffing, and the Bard is back!

I'll try to remember to post a recap once the show is up, and it should be on iTunes and tbt.com fairly early as we pretaped the show last week. Scott wouldn't call in from the D.R. Guess he's not as devoted as I am.

One final note: Did you see this? Our friend Tom sent me this link about Jamie Gold and his WSOP winnings.

Cheers

Well THAT sucked!

I awoke this morning and thought it would be a good day to play in the Derby Lane tournament. I needed some practice for next week's tourney there and for the charity tourney at Hard Rock coming up in a bit. I called ahead (using my VIP status, heh-heh) and reserved a spot. I got there at 12:50 p.m. and took my seat. I learned early on that my table was going to be one of the final three so I didn't have to move at all for at least three hours, provided I didn't bust out.

I have to admit I played some of the best tournament poker of my life today. Every time I looked down I saw 82o. The cards just ran so cold. The best hand I had all day was 99, and that is no lie. I played position so well and since I played so tight people kept folding the best hand to me. I bluffed in perfect spots and managed to revive my once decimated stack to about $11K as we entered $1K-$2K blinds. My table was short-handed and I was under the gun with A♥J♥. We hadn't seen a flop in about six hands because we were so close to the money that people were folding anything. So I pushed hoping the steal again, and someone with $8K left called with A♠K♠. Oops! My only mistake all day and it cost me dearly. Neither of us paired and I was down to $4K. And guess what? It's break time, color up the purple $500 chips! Well, I didn't have any so I just had $4K even. Also, two people went out on that final hand (at another table) to get us to 19 players. One more and I'm in the money, but they're finally collapsing our table (which sucked because I would have seen at least five hands without having to pay). I got moved to the final two tables and was placed two off the blind.

After the break the blinds went to $2K-$4K so I had one bet left. We were hand for hand at that point and no one went out on the other table. So I looked down at Q8o. Not a bad hand (statistically better than average) but everyone at my table had like $15K-$40K. If I push there I think they all call me and check it down. I don't like my chances, so I fold and wait to see what happens at the other table. Wait! Someone's all-in!!!! Can I make the money? Can this be my shining moment? Nope! All-in won the hand.

I looked down at A♥4♥. BINGO! If I'm going down it's with a suited ace. I pushed and the whole place practically shut down. I got three callers and someone made a spade flush on the turn. Yep, that's right. I was the bubble boy in Saturday's 150-player tournament at Derby Lane.

I was absolutely proud of my play today, except for that one hand. But the push was reasonable and had worked so many times that I really thought I was going to get away with it again. Here's why I think it's reasonable: The blinds are $1K-$2K. People at my table are playing scared. Three players to my left are clutching to their short stacks. A suited AJ is a raising hand when you're playing short-handed like that. Only one guy could have busted me and he was in the BB so I figured I was ahead of a random hand. So that just really leaves me one hand to beat, the kid with $8K. So, AJ is a raise or fold hand. I figure a raise needs to be to around $6K, but that would leave me $5K and the blinds are going up. So I push and take my chances. The odds caught up with me. If I had won that hand I would have had about $20K going to the final two tables. I easily make the money and then who knows?

I guess the reason I'm proud of the way I played (despite not cashing) was I made ZERO straights, ZERO flushes, ZERO two-pair, ZERO trips. I made ONE full house and that was because the SB pushed for only $600 more and it was just me and him and I already had $600 in the BB. I called with A♠9♠. and he had K2o. I flopped an ace, turned another one and paired my 9 for a boat. But, that was the only hand I really hit and didn't need to. I had EXACTLY two pocket pairs all day (99 and 66). I bluffed a guy off a hand with the 99 when he showed 10-10 and I folded the 66 preflop to a raise and a reraise all-in. I would have been killed as one had AK and the other KK.

So, what did I learn? Well, I can still compete at the tournament level despite NEVER playing them anymore, and I should have folded AJ when I was so close to making the money and doing some real damage. Or maybe I shouldn't have. Oh well. THAT sucked!

Vinny Lecavalier's Celebrity Poker Tournament

Hey all,

Last night was fun! Finished second in the PLO SNG. The last hand sucked as I had AKJ9 double-suited and lost when I pushed all-in to JJ24 (or something rag like that.) His jacks held up and I was out in second. I win that hand and who knows. I wish I could have stuck around longer in the cash game but I was beat (as in tired, not bested).

So Scott and I found out this week that we definitely will be playing in Vinny Lecavalier's Charity tournament at Hard Rock in Tampa on Sept. 7. The tournament is $500 and there are other packages you can sign up for. We are working on getting Daniel Negreanu (who is playing in the tournament, he told me via MySpace) on the Sept. 6 show. We may even have him in the studio, though I think a phone interview might be more convenient. Others scheduled to appear are Marty St. Louis and Brad Richards of the Lightning.

Anyway, the cards are in the air at 8 p.m., so even if you can't afford the buy-in or don't want to pay that much anyway, come on out and meet me and Scott. Just in case one of us gets lucky we could use some rail support! It's scheduled to end by 11 p.m. and with getting only $1K in chips to start I don't imagine us lasting long unless we get a nice early double up. I'll have more details as it gets closer, both here and on the show. So stay tuned.

There's also a nice tournament going on at Derby Lane on Aug. 27 for $45. I think I am playing in this as I have a swelled bankroll as of late and am off that day. But you never know.

Hope all is well with you and have a great poker weekend.

Show #62 recap

MAIN TOPIC Dan Hicks, president of Tampa Bay area funding company, joined us to talk about his success at the World Series of Poker. He took 4th place ($107,226) in a NL Hold'em short-handed table event, and made it to Day 2 of the Main Event. He's a regular at Seminole Hard Rock Casino near Tampa, where he does quite well for himself in the $1,000 SNGs. For more on Dan, here's a story the St. Petersburg Times recently wrote about him.

OTHER TOPICS
COLUMBO HAS A HOME!: The very popular Columbo's One Minute Mystery, homeless after Lord Admiral's podcast shuts down, will join the Ante Up! lineup on Wednesday, Aug. 30. All rejoice!
TOURNAMENT/POKER NIGHT: Ante Up! Invitational III is open for registration. Details in the post previous to this one. The more who play, the more the chance Chris won't finish 2nd again. And the first Ante Up Poker Night went well last Thursday. Join us every Thursday and try to take down Blazman in a heads-up tournament and find out why Fasso calls Scott "the worst razz player in the Northern Hemisphere."
MYSPACE: AnteUp goes hip. Be our "friend." Please. Link on the left-hand side of this page.
HOME GAME: Chris and Scott gabbed about their home game. This week, it was Fasso that "turtled." Usually it's Chris - if he sticks around after busting out.
WORLD SERIES: Jamie Gold won the Main Event and the $12-million top prize. Our good friend and listener Gambit posted on the forum a link of a video of the final hand.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Scott jets off to the tropical Dominican Republic this weekend and, yes, the resort has a casino. Duh. No word yet on whether there's Hold'Em ... or razz. Doesn't matter. If Scott can find someone to bet on Chutes and Ladders, he will.

HAND OF THE WEEK
Mark from Oxford, England, lays claim to a large SunPoker T-shirt for exposing the peril that comes with pocket Queens. Our guest Dan Hicks reminds us that it's a hand that's hard to get away from, so playing it aggressively from the start is the smart move. If you don't, flush draws, straight draws and overcards will find it cheap enough to stick around. Thanks Mark, and send us your address.

Ante Up Invitational III

Before you blow your bankroll this weekend, sign up for our next tournament. Here are the details:

WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 31, 9 p.m. Eastern
WHERE: FullTilt Poker (Mac and PC supported)
HOW MUCH: $5.50
GAME: No-limit Texas Hold'em
TO REGISTER: Click on the Private Tournaments tab. Scroll down to Aug. 31, and click on the tournament that is $5. The password is "anteup"
PRIZES: Swag for the winner and the two lucky (and we mean lucky) souls who send Chris and I to the rail (likely for checking a flush draw). Scott is OffDeadline and Chris is WillHopper. Top 10 percent also win cash, as determined by FullTilt's prize structure.
NOT ON FULLTILT?: E-mail us your name and email address to poker@tbt.com, and we'll send you a referral, which will get us each $25 in bonus money after you earn 500 FullTilt points. (Though, to be honest, I think you might find a better sign-up bonus by searching the Web or picking up a poker magazine).
CHAT: Log in to the chat room (using the link on the right hand side of this page) about an hour or so before gametime and chat with us and the rest of Ante Up! Nation.

Good luck, and hope to see you there.

Something for the kids ...

Our Market Research Department says we're skewing toward an older audience (no, not really), so we decided to get jiggy wit it (kids still saying that?) and create our MySpace page.

The Wife tells me people spend hours every day working on their MySpace pages. I was like "Um, really?" And then our newspaper wrote a huge story about how businesses are finding their way onto MySpace, so it seemed like that if Ante Up! wanted to be a "somebody" then it needed to get on MySpace ASAP.

So, check us out. Become our "friends" and let us know what we can do to improve the MySpace page so Ashlee Simpson or someone like that will find us.

Email problems

It turns out we had another problem with our emails. When we respond to emails, they came to you as da@sptimes.com, which stands for Domino Administrator. In other words, this is set up so Scott and I can both get a message telling us that we have poker emails. This way, if I'm on vacay or he is out of the office we can still read and respond to the emails. However, we've been responding directly out of the poker mailbox, which has been sending the emails with that da@sptimes.com address. When you re-responded to THAT address, we weren't getting the responses because they were flowing into the DA mailbox, which we weren't getting alerts to. So, as of around the end of May, we have missed about 100 emails. If you emailed us at that address and it seemed like we were ignoring you, we weren't. WE HAVE THEM NOW! And, we'll wade through them, so if you get a response from us about an issue you brought up two months ago, you'll know why. Turns out we aren't jerks after all, just uninformed.

Sorry about this, but better late than never.

Show #61 recap

Here's a look at Show 61. It's a recap, but for some of you it will be all new information since the show hasn't been posted as of this writing. But that's OK, just don't read any further if you haven't heard it yet and don't want anything spoiled.

WSOP: PPV wasn't going to provide hole cams at the final table of the World Series of Poker, so basically you'd be watching a bunch of guys playing poker. Not as boring as watching paint dry, but could be a close second.
David Einhorn won $660K for finishing in 18th place and was playing for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. "Anything I win goes to that," he told the Associated Press. "My grandfather had Parkinson's. I'm on the board of the charity, and Michael said if I make it to the final table, he'll fly out. Sadly he didn't make it, but it's easily the story of the tournament. Our hats are off to Mr. Einhorn.

POKER ON FSN: If it's poker and it's FSN, then you know what Scott and I are going to say: IT'S CRAP! Why does FSN insist on ruining things? First, they change the playoff format on Poker Superstars, ticking off Scott to no end, and then they schedule the Aussie Millions AFTER sporting events that run long, so we can't even TiVo properly. UGH!

CLIPS: We had a couple of good clips this week from listeners. One was a shot to the ego, referring to the fact that because of us he plays on Full Tilt and suffered three bad bcancelingelling out the tripled income another listener made because of listening to our show. Balance is always with the poker gods. The other clip asked why satellites are named as such. You'll have to listen to our answer. I could never do it justice in a blog.

POKER NIGHT: We have decided to make Thursday's Ante Up! Poker Night on Full Tilt. This doesn't mean we'll always be there, or that there will be anything official.

ANTE UP III TOURNAMENT: Keep Aug. 31 open! That's the tentative date for our next tournament. Pretty much everything stays the same, buy-in ($5), location (Full Tilt), game (NLHE). But Scott is going to try to see if he can make it a deepstack tournament. It'll be at 9 p.m. and that's a Thursday. We're trying to accommodate all of the players who have stuff to do on Saturdays. We'll see how this one goes. Stay tuned as we firm up the details.

LACC: The poker podcasting pioneers of the Lord Admiral Card Club have announced they are calling it quits. These guys were the first and longest running poker show out there and it's sad to see the show coming to an end.

HOUSEKEEPING STUFF: We got a lot of letters, messages and forum posts wondering why we're beeping out curse words. We're a family newspaper. If you can't read it in our paper, we can say it on the show. Nuff said. Also, our blog will be changing soon. We're moving to Type Pad, and this really won't affect you, but it gives us some more options, including a list of categories, which will allow you to read only the posts that are about HAND ANALYSIS or POKER ROOMS, for example. So, the look will change, but the content will still be there.

MAIN TOPIC: Scott's trip to Nawlins.
In case you didn't read the blog or hear last week's show, Scott wanted to book a quick, cheap trip on Southwest Airlines so he could get a free trip elsewhere. So he went to New Orleans for what appeared to be $98, thus saving him a ton of money when he gets his free ticket. But, being the frugal gambler, I took a closer look into this "cheap" trip of my esteemed co-host.

Here's the tally as I see it.
Ticket: $98
Parking at TIA: $7
Parking in N.O.: $11
Rental Car: $25
Lunch: $7
Gambling losses: $105
Lottery tix: $5
Liar's tax: $25 ... this is the tax I add to any story from a poker player, who never loses the amount he admits.
TOTAL: $283, if you minus the $25 liar's tax it's $258.

This morning I checked Southwest: A nonstop flight from TIA to LV was $252. By my estimation he lost at least $6 on this deal, maybe $30. He "claims" he'll be using the ticket to fly to Seattle, which would cost more, but I'm not buying it.

Scott discussed the poker room at Harrah's and said it was very aesthetically pleasing. Of course he came home with the name of the cocktail waiter, but not the cost for entering a tournament. Insert joke here.

HAND OF THE WEEK: This one came from our friend Jeff. The basic lesson we learned was to get the information you need without committing your whole tournament life. If you know exactly how someone plays, and you know they're going to call on a draw, then you have to adjust. We advised against betting so much on the flop when half that bet more than likely would've gotten the info he needed. Then he could've either bet the same amount on the turn or checked. Either way he gets to the river with most of his stack intact, instead of pushing all-in to protect his hand only to be sucked out with the river card. For this he gets his choice of a SunPoker hat, shirt or deck of playing cards. Congrats Jeff, may this will make up for the sting of that horrid suckout.

Cowboy kickin' back

Hey, who's that guy? I don't hardly recognize him with that tbt* hat on instead of his trusty Stetson. Or maybe it's all that weight he's lost! Looking good Kenna! Nothing inspires weight loss like a little wager. And how about that pool!!!!! Gotta get me one of those! One of our devoted fans, Dave from Ohio, who first hooked us up with Kenna, flew out to see the Cowboy and gave him one of our hats. I hear Kenna and Marsha now fight over who gets to wear it around the house! LOL! Just kidding of course. Ante Up!'s favorite guest had a good World Series with a few cashes, but sadly no bracelet. That's OK, Kenna, you had a great year and we're in your corner buddy! Next time you'll come home with the bling!

Big Hurt in the Big Easy

(Well, OK, so it wasn't THAT bad, but it sounds good. Hey, I'm a writer).

I'll save some specific hands and general rooms comments for this week's podcast, but here's an otherwise complete retelling of my one-day trip to New Orleans:

5:30 A.M.: Alarm pierces my ears. Thanks to computer problems at work, I didn't get home until 12:30, and the five hours I was in bed were not restful. But off to the airport I am.
6:44 P.M.: Arrive at Tampa International's new remote parking garage. It's cross between the Lotto and Deal or No Deal. Huge display tells you how many spots are available on each of the 8 floors - which floor should I pick? And will I find one of those 23 open spots when I do?
7:50 A.M.: Take off on schedule. The flight is only 70 minutes. As "we begin our initial descent into New Orleans" I peer out the window. Wow, I had no idea so many people in New Orleans had pools, I think to myself. As we get closer to the ground, I realized it's not pools I'm seeing, but tarps covering roofs. Ouch. Welcome to Katrina.
8:37 A.M. (Central): I arrive at the Thrifty counter. I'm a Blue Chip member (don't be impressed, it's free to join) so I usually just scribble my name and jump in my car. But not here. I have to wait in line. Ugh. "We can upgrade you to a minivan for free, sir." Um, I really wanted the economy car because I don't plan on putting any gas in it. But I can't tell him that. "You got anything else?" "Not that's ready, sir." Grrrr.... I'm not going to waste any time at the casino, so I take it. I toss my one small bag in the huge back, and think, "Wow, I could fit Chris, Fasso and the entire Ante Up! Nation in this thing." Off to Harrah's.
9:02 A.M.: My first bad beat of the day. You always used to be able to park in Harrah's garage for free with validation. No more (unless you're a Diamond or Platinum member. Puh-leeze). For us small fish, we can park for free with 30 minutes of play on our Total Rewards card. Does poker count? No one around to ask. I decide to chance it. Ah, but you need to swipe your card BEFORE you enter. I didn't bring my card. $12 for 6 hours?!?! I'll try somewhere else. I find a spot on a desolate street. Free! But as I walk away, I think, "Man, it would really suck to have the rental car stolen or towed. I move it to the Riverwalk parking lot, and cough up $11. Ugh.
9:33 A..M.: Cards in the air. Two games are going - $2/$5 no-limit and $3/$6 limit. I was hoping for something more like $4/$8, but $3/$6 will do. I survey my table. One or two regulars, and the rest drunks who have been there all night. Aside from the stale beer smell that wafts from the mouth of the guy on my right every time he slurs "That's a bluffffffff," I think I'll do just fine.
10:37 A.M.: First status check on my chips. I've been playing tight, waiting for monsters since every pot is raised preflop and the drunks stay in til the end. While my stack hasn't suffered too much, it hasn't grown much either.
11:12 A.M.: Stomach wakes up and realizes it's in New Orleans. It demands jambalya, muffuletta, maybe red beans & rice. I dash over to the sandwhich shop. No muffuletta. Are you serious? I choose the roast beef instead. And not half bad. While they skimped on the beef, they give you a side of their "famous" gravy. I can put gravy on anything. I choose the chips over the potato salad. Good move. I dip the chips in the gravy. Tastes great, but not the best poker table-side fare.
11:23 A.M.: My my first true pocket pair. Queens. All unders on the final board, but the only person at my table that's better than me makes his straight on the river. Grrrr....
11:54 A.M.: Pocket rockets, baby! This is the hand I've been waiting for with all the preflop raising going on. Flop has a K and a 10. Action, baby! I raise it up. The turn? Another 10. C'mon, dealer! I bet out, am raised and another caller sticks with us. I know I'm beat, but I chuck in $6 hoping for a miracle Ace. It doesn't come.
12:36 P.M.: The last of the drunks stumbles away. And man, we hated to see him go. At one point, he took money off the table and put it in his pockets. A player called him on it, telling him his money had to stay in play. He got steamed and threw four $100 bills on the table and said "Chips please!" By the time he left, only one black chip went with him.
2:22 P.M.: Man, the table has really changed. When the drunks were here, every flop cost at last $6, and usually $12. Now, it's Calling Station City. No one raises preflop, but if they do, everyone comes along for the ride. A maddening table indeed. I'm probably at the height of my chip stack, though. Up about $60.
3:34 P.M.: I officially enter panic mode. I have only about 45 minutes left, and a series of quality starting hands went south. My stack has now dwinded to nothing but red (though a decent amount of it). I start to loosen up, hoping for a big score. Big mistake (as it always is).
4:14 P.M.: I pick up the rest of my red chips, bid the table a fond farewell, and hit the cage. "$95, sir." I had lost $105, but had a good time.
4:32 P.M.: Stop at the Exxon station to buy $5 worth of Powerball tickets (hey, it was $204 million). Fill up the tank? Ha.
5:10 P.M.: I literally walk through security. Why exactly did I think I needed to get to the airport this early for a 6:30 p.m. flight?!?! I easily lost an hour of poker to bad planning. Grrr...
7:05 P.M.: After a long weather delay, I'm finally airborne and headed back to Tampa.
10:06 P.M.: Ah, nice to be back home. Let's fire up FullTilt ....

Now THAT'S the smile of a happy man

See? I told you Doyle Brunson was smitten with Pamela Anderson. Or is that Pamela Anderson-Rock? Or is it just Pamela Rock?

Either way, Doyle's got himself a Cheshire Cat grin there. It's no wonder he gave her such a glowing recommendation in Us Weekly.

Has anyone checked out her site yet? I have a Mac, and a wife, so I won't be going there any time soon.

Show #60 recap

Don't ask why it's taken us 60 shows to think of doing a recap of the weekly show, complete with links, but hey, you know us. We're not the sharpest dealer button at the table.

But anyhow, here's a recap of this week's show:

MAIN TOPIC
Michael Bolcerek of the Poker Players Alliance returned to update us on the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act and other threats to online poker.

OTHER TOPICS
- Ante Up! listener Loren called in to tell us he qualified for the World Series of Poker Main Event ... and wrote us later to tell us his visit was brief. But, hey, neither Chris or I made it. We also forgot to find out whether Mikey the Chimp was allowed to play in the Main Event. Fortunately, some listeners wrote us to let us know that he was denied. To see why this was a good idea, check out these videos of Mikey. (His handlers need to explain to him the concept of a "string bet").
- Chris tried to explain his reasons for not going back to Foxwoods after cleaning out the place. It's OK to be cheap, Chris, but to deny a hard-working waitress her tip ... (For some help deciding how much to tip to make up for Chris, click here.)
- Then Scott tried to explain why flying to New Orleans and back in the same day isn't crazy. If you're in the Big Easy on Saturday, stop and say hi to Scott here.
- We corrected our earlier rumor that the Professional Poker Tour had been canceled. It's merely looking for a new TV home for Season #2.
- Scott pimped his latest Bet On It column, which played off of a recent Ante Up! show on Rounders. He lists his top 7 gambling movies of all time. Disagree? Post here.
- And finally, Scott ranted about radio stations playing Loverboy's "Working for the Weekend" too early in the week. (101.5 The Point played it again for him on Thursday's drive to work. Good, Point, good.)

HAND OF THE WEEK
Alan from Corydon, Ind., falls victim to a flopped boat when he flopped trips. Lessons the hand offers us:
- Be careful of trap hands, even when they hit.
- Most times, slow-playing without the nuts will be an unprofitable move.
- Bet on the flop and turn to get information.
- If you face a check raise and a check reraise, you're likely beat.

Alan gets a snazzy Sunpoker hat for sending us this week's Hand of the Week. Congrats, Alan!