Blogger Poker Tour WSOP Freeroll

Last week I came across the Blogger Poker Tour hosted by Poker.com and played in the WSOP freeroll qualifier on Saturday. The top 4 finishers each week move on to the final event (I placed 4th) where the winner receives a main event WSOP seat (and several other places pay nice prizes like monitors and iPods). There a three great things about these events. 1. They are free! 2. The prizes are good. 3. The fields are small! There were only about 40 runners in Saturday's freeroll and the final event is capped at 50 players! Yes, just 50 players! How refreshing not to have to beat 569,900 monkeys in one of these things! All you have to do to join the tour is sign up and post a banner on your blog.

The Idiocy and Hypocrisy Of Online Gambling Prohibition Legislation

Prohibition doesn't work for anything! Not drugs, sex, alcohol or gambling. It never has and it never will, period. Prohibition simply takes a booming market and forces it underground, thus making it more dangerous and expensive for all participants. Meanwhile, the government misses out on billions of dollars of tax revenue. There is no disputing this fact, which is why I find the Goodlatte and Kyl bills floating through Congress so idiotic.

Beyond the idiocy are mountains of hypocrisy. State lotteries (where you get the worst odds imaginable), bingo parlors, raffles, riverboat gaming, online bets on horse racing - those types of gambling are okay. Wait a minute, online bets on horse racing are exempt from the bills??? How could that be, we are talking about ONLINE gambling prohibition here! What gives? Ah, that’s right, The National Thoroughbred Racing Association is one of Virginia’s Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s biggest supporters. Idiots and hypocrites that pander, that’s what we have in Congress!

Fortunately, massive enforcements issues (especially on the part of banks and ISP’s) will ultimately keep this bill from passing the Senate.

PokerStars Blogger Tournament

I'm all-in.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 7330476

The code above will look like the following:

Online PokerI have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 9091590

Double frequent player points at PokerStars

Right now is a great time to play at PokerStars because you'll receive double FPP's, which means you can work off those bonus dollars twice as fast as normal. Just remember to at least play 3/6 LHE or 0.50/1 NLHE or PLO b/c you don't earn FPP's unless the rake is at least $1. The promo is running between May 12th and May 21st. I have about 4 stacked bonuses of $120 at Stars so I'll be playing there all weekend.

Fun at Harrah's poker room

I met my brother and dad at Harrah's for the Prime Rib and Shrimp buffet, which was delightful, especially at half-price. After eating a mountain of shrimp, it was time to go to the ATM machine known as the poker room.

Here are some hands I witnessed/played:

2/5 NLHE. EP raises to $15, MP calls, everybody else folds. FLOP: Ah7h8c, EP bets $30 and MP calls. TURN: 2h, check-check, RIVER: Th, EP bets $50, MP raises to $120, EP goes all-in and MP calls off the rest of his $150 stack with Qh5h vs AcKh. My favorite part of that hand is MP’s check on the turn to give his opponent infinite odds to draw and beat him. Sklansky’s head just blew up!

3/6 LHE. Two limpers and I raise OTB with TT, SB folds, BB and limpers call. FLOP: Tc5s6c, it checks to me, I bet and all 3 call. TURN: 8c, BB and EP check, MP bets, I call, BB calls, EP raises and MP re-raises! I fold in disgust (Boo me, I had odds to call), BB calls and shows me and the player directly to his right Kc9c, EP caps and they both call. RIVER: 9s, BB checks, EP bets, MP raises, BB calls, EP re-raises, MP caps, BB calls and EP calls. EP delightfully tables Ac5c and MP shows Jc7s. That’s right, just a straight. He misread his hand for a flush which, even if he would have had, is still a major donkey play.

3/6 LHE. LP raises to $6 and is all-in (LOL), I re-raise to $9 with AA, SB folds and BB calls. FLOP: TJJ, BB checks, I bet and he calls. TURN: 8, he checks, I bet and he calls. RIVER: K, he checks, I bet and he reluctantly calls with QJ??? I show my AA and he says, “I was worried, there were a lot of ways I could have been beat there.” HUH?! Nice hand sir.

Despite some misfortune, I still had a profitable night.

Life running bad, poker running good

Due to some fairly serious family health issues, I haven’t been able to play much poker lately. Fortunately, I’ve made the most of what few opportunities I’ve had. I cashed in a Stars multi and 4 consecutive SnG’s (3,2,2,1) and also tore up the PLO and NLHE cash games. During my last trip to Harrah’s, I played 2/5 NLHE and doubled my buy-in within a couple hours. My big hand was basically a no-brainer, dream situation. UTG nearly raises to $20 but then decides to limp, one more limper and then I raise to $25 OTB. It folds to UTG and he makes it $75, limper folds, I act weak for a little bit and then stack my two black chips between my two tall red stacks and push them in. He insta-calls and proudly rolls over KK before grimacing at my AA. Why can’t it always work like that?!