New Casino for Vancouver

Downtown Vancouver is getting a new $450-million casino and hotel complex to anchor its new "entertainment epicentre," B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell confirmed on Friday morning.

Campbell made the announcement with David Podmore, the chair of the B.C. Pavilion Corporation, at a news conference at the proposed site for the complex — a parking lot between BC Place and the end of the Cambie Street Bridge.

The casino, which will be similar in size to the River Rock in Richmond, will also include two major hotels, five restaurants, and more than 100,000 square feet of gambling facilities, said Campbell, who called the project a catalyst for development of the area.

The new facility will be run by Las Vegas-based Paragon Gaming, replacing the company's Edgewater Casino in the old B.C. Expo 86 pavilion across the street from the new site.

That location has had troubles with poor access and parking, but the new location is expected to be more easily accessible to the public.



This new casino was announced just last Friday and is great news for the city of Vancouver. For those of you that have never been to Vancouver this casino will be located on the old Expo 86 site which is adjacent to BC Place which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Also located on this site is GM Place which hosted the Olympic hockey tournament.

I know there is some opposition to this but I think its a totally positive move for the city. I just hope they put a great poker room in there.

I Hate Live Poker

No that's not my thoughts. You know I love playing live poker and view the Internet game as a time passer and that's about it. Those words came from the mouth of Shaun Deeb (pictured above). Shaun (no relation to Freddy) is a young, fairly successful poker player who I happened to be watching play in last years WSOP Europe Main Event. They finally got around to televising it up here and its in an eight hour installments. Anyways I think this was in hour 3 if I remember right. He was sitting in the BB and Negraneau was in the SB. Daniel was being his usual chirpy self (which adds to the game). Anyways Daniel made a joke that if I just call (which he did) you will probably raise me (which Shaun did). Everybody else had folded. Battle of the Blinds. So action was back on Daniel. He made a comment about popping it back up which he did by throwing in the call with one hand and the raise with another. He didn't actually say the word raise and Shaun immediately said that's a string bet. Daniel said no I said I was going to pop it up or words to that effect. Shaun was livid and basically losing his cool. He asked for a floor ruling. The floor sided with Daniel.

That's when Shaun made the comment about I hate live poker. Okay Shaun whether you believe it or not or agree with the ruling (and the ruling was marginal) it's time to reign your anger in. Did you not know the cameras were on you?? You sounded like a 10 year old who had just had his T.V time taken away or something. It's not a big deal. Either call the re raise or fold. Simple right. If you don't like live poker stay home play the internet game. Very simple.

It seems Phil Hellmuth still can't take losing. Antonio Esfandiari took him out with a better hand and Phil went on and on about how Antonio has his number and whatever. It was quite embarrassing to watch. What was funny was when Doyle Brunson criticized Phil for his entrance. He came in like a Roman Emperor. Phil thinks its good for the game while Doyle said if people wanted to see that they would go to the theatre. I agree with Doyle. This is not pro wrestling. It's poker!!

Even though I know of course the eventual winner I love watching the hands and how they are played out. I still have 5 episodes to go.

Chloe

Yesterday afternoon I went and saw the movie Chloe. I had seen some early reviews of the film which had all been mostly positive. The movie stars Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried. The movie is directed by Canadian director Atom Egoyan and was shot in Toronto. This is the film Liam was working on when his wife Natascha Richardson was killed in that horrific ski accident. I am not sure how much of it had been filmed prior to the accident but it must have been incredibly difficult for him to finish filming.

The premise of the movie is Liam and Julianne are a successful couple. He is a College Professor and she a Gynaecologist and they have one over achieving son. Sounds dreamy right. They have a great life or so one would think. Then Julianne suspects Liam is cheating on her with his students. She hires Amanda (who is a high class escort) to meet him accidentally and see where it goes. She wants Amanda to report back to her what happens. Without going into to much more of the plot you can see where this is heading. Or can you??

I thought Julianne was outstanding in her role. Here is a woman who has a successful job (doctor) yet was insecure in her relationship with an equally successful man. This movie delves into those insecurities with some twists you might not expect.
I can say I mostly liked the movie with only the last 5 minutes being a bit of a letdown.... I definitely recommend it if you like adult dramas.

Short Tournament

I played a live tournament last night. There was about 50 entrants and it was a pretty short night for yours truly. I was really card dead for the first two blind levels. When we hit blinds at 300/600 I got dealt J9 in the BB. Just the SB and myself in everyone else folded. Flop comes Q 10 8. Always nice when you flop a straight. SB checked so did I hoping he would catch up a bit. Turn was a 4. Check Check. River was a 6. He checked and I made a small bet and he folded. That would be the only hand I would win.

With Blinds at 400/800 and 100 anti. I got deal KQ in the SB. Two limpers to me. My original thought was to just push as I only had 3200 in chips but I decided to just call and the BB checked. Flop comes Q 10 10. Pretty nice flop. Not really wanting to see any more cards I immediately pushed. Pot size was already 4000 plus my push of 2800. SB called as did one of the limpers . I knew I was in trouble. Turn and the River and I didn't improve. BB had K10 and the other player QJ so I was out. Not sure if I had pushed pre flop if the BB would have called anyways. He had a lot of chips and with K10 knowing the way he plays I think I was doomed no matter what I did.

Rush Poker

I finally got around to trying the newest online craze Rush Poker. I know its been around for a few months now on Full Tilt but I don't have a money account there just play chips. So I hardly ever go on there but I thought I would give it a whirl. I played for half an hour twice yesterday. Once in the afternoon and once at night while I was watching boring TV. Anyways both times in that half an hour I more than tripled up what I brought in chip wise. I started with 5000 both times and the first time I had just 15000 when I turned it off. The second time I had over 18000. What did I think?? Well It was okay...... Now I know I was only playing with pretend chips but as far as Internet poker goes it wasn't bad. At least it was fast. That's one of my complaints with online poker. What do you do when you are not in a hand?? Stare at the avatars??

In live poker I am watching the other players. That keeps my mind active.

Anyways in that total hour of playing I had pocket Aces 4 times(won with 3 of them). Hit quads twice (yep really happened). Now would I play it for money.. Well as you know I have never invested a cent online but I do have a money account at Pokerstars. If they had it I would certainly give it a whirl.

Bluff Article

I didn't go to my regular Sunday night tournament as I was pretty bagged after playing 7 hours on Saturday night so I caught up on my reading. I usually read a couple books a week and I always try and get the latest poker magazines.

So I am reading this months Bluff magazine and there is an article about Jeremy Fitzpatrick (pictured above). If you don't know who he is (I didn't). He is Bluff magazines Online player of the year.. His online handle is daisyxoxo. Of course everybody knows my disdain for the online game so I won't get into that here. What I will get into is how much this guy played last year. He played 9,639 online tournaments made 522 final tables and won 99 of these tournaments. He won over 1.8 million. All I can say is WOW. It's not a good wow either. Well those are impressive stats. Very impressive. My question is WHY?? Why would you play so much online?? Its mind boggling..

I did the math (with the help of a calculator). That's over 26 tournaments a day. That's each and every day..... I know he multi tables. Nobody could possibly do it any other way. He also multi screens.. But why..In the article he said some days he was playing for 15 hours. That's 15 hours of staring at a computer screen..Can you imagine? I can't. Heck I get bored after a couple. That's why I love the LIVE game so much.

In the article it says his girlfriend was there supporting him. She deserves a medal. Either that or she needs some help. Why would you sit there and watch somebody else play poker on a screen for that length of time?? Is it the money...... 1.8 million is really nice..

Of course one wonders when he had time to eat, drink, go the bathroom etc. Then I remembered that Pokerstars has that 5 minute break each hour... Gee that's almost enough time.........of course there is that other necessity in life which I wont go into here but 5 minute might not cut it with that.........

All I can say is Jeremy Fitzpatrick congratulations. You did something I could never do. Heck I wouldn't last one day doing what you did and I have run several marathons...

Charity and Poker

I played in a charity poker event last night to raise money for a local person that has some medical issues. It turned out to be a fun day/evening.

It was a cheap entry 30 dollars of which 10 went to the charity portion. We started with 20,000 chips and blinds started at 100/200 and went up slowly so lots of play for the money. We also had a 5 dollar bounty on each person. I believe we had 30 entrants with 4 tables. I loved my opening table. I had played with everybody before so I was expecting to do well knowing how they all played. It didn't start out that way though. I lost an early hand when I was dealt Ace Jack in the SB. With it folding to me I raised hoping to steal the blinds. SB called. Really decent player so I knew he had something of a hand. Flop comes J88. Pretty decent flop for me. I bet out and he took forever to call but did which sent red flags for me . Turn was 6. I decided to check and so did he.. River was a 4. I decided to bet the same amount and he just called. He had A8.. flopped trips but the said he was worried I had pocket Jacks...... I wish and I wouldn't have played it that way if I had..

By the first break I was down to under 9500 chips and a little worried. Then I went of a 4 hand rush where I got dealt pocket 10s, AK twice and Pocket Queens which either won the pot before the flop with my raises or after with my continuation bets. Suddenly I was back in 27000 range and looking good. A few hands later I got dealt pocket 6s, UTG. I limped in with the two blinds. Flop comes Q64 rainbow. There was about 5000 chips in as the blinds had gone up. Both blinds checked and I thought why not check (I got greedy) and knowing one lady to be aggressive she would think my check was weak and probably bet on the turn. Turn brought an 8. SB checked. BB bet 2000. Perfect. She only had about 5300 left so I took a second and pushed all in. SB folded. She called and turned over 57 for the turned straight. The river didn't pair the board and her hand held up. Serves my right for getting greedy . It happens too much.. A definate leak in my game which I am working on fixing. Take the small pot and be happy. A bet on the flop and she would have folded for sure.

I gradually built my stack back up to well over the average and by this time we were down to 15 players I think. With blinds at 1500/3000. I raised to 12000 with AQh. Got one caller. Same lady who got the straight on me. Flop comes K73. She pushes all in . I got her covered but not by a lot. To call that on on an AQ is tough. I know she bluffs but being a bit gun shy from before I laid my hand down. She showed AJ....... GRRR . Still logically I made the right play.

I managed to pick up two bounties. The last when a guy decided to push with 54 in the SB and I had KJc in the BB . I called and he was out when the board missed.

I made the final table but was the short stack by lots... I went all in on the second hand with pocket 2s which held up and I tripled up but still very short. Then two hands later I got dealt A8 and with the blinds hitting me next pushed again. Everybody folded but the button who also pushed. He was the chip leader. The blinds folded. He had pocket Jacks. Hit a Jack on the flop but also two spades. Another spade on the turn gave me hope as my 8 was the only spade. The river was a black 4 but clubs and I was out..

They only paid top 5 but still got a lot of play for my entry and managed 2 bounties so it was a great evening and glad we could raise some money for her.

Parking and Poker

So yesterday I am driving in the parking lot at my favorite grocery store and I have my signal on to pull in a parking spot that is right by the door and is just being vacated. I back up to let the lady out and then put the car in drive to pull in. Well what happens but some guy whips into the spot and I am shocked. I lean on the horn a bit and then think oh well if he wants to be a turd about it I could care less. I back up a bit and pull into another. In the meantime the guy who probably was a bit younger than me pulls out of the spot and also parks in another spot.. Geez I think I intimidated him or either that he had a guilty conscience. Or maybe he though this guy (me) might key my car when I am out in the store. Anyways he got out of his car but wouldn't make eye contact with me. I even smiled as I thought maybe he really didn't see that I was waiting for that spot with my signal on.. That's all he had to do was say that. I would have said no problem.. Hey things happen. I am not very confrontational. You gotta love parking lots....

So I have booked my week in Vegas for June and the hotel I am staying at sends me an offer of 150.00 less per week....... Wow you gotta love it ... it already was a pretty good deal... I seem to be getting offers almost everyday from some hotel there. Anyways called them up and they adjusted my price. That's why I love dealing direct with the hotels and not using Expedia or any other travel sites..... With Vegas they are always changing prices and last year my hotel went down 3 times. Each time I called and got the new price....... I love a deal. More money for poker, food and beverages!!!

So I played a live tournament last night and I think there was 60 entrants. I was card dead for one blind level until I was dealt A10c in middle position and with blinds at 200/400 I bumped it to 1300. Get one caller who is a young guy. Never played with him before but he seemed aggressive on a couple earlier hands. Flop comes 10,6,3 two diamonds. I bet out another 1300. He calls. A little too quickly.. Turn is a 2 spades... HMM I decide to check worried that he has pocket jacks or something. He checks too... which tells me he doesn't. The river is a 7 of clubs. No flush draws although a possible straight. I decide to push with my remaining 2200 chips. He thinks about it and decides to call. He has pocket 8,s?? Said he called thinking I was trying to buy the pot with a missed flush draw... Anyways kind of a weird call but I will take his chips.
I am sailing along and by the end of the third blind level I have almost tripled my starting stack. Not the chip leader but well above average....

Then I went brain dead. I made a couple very questionable calls. Not sure if I was tired or just had a case of the stupids but that's what happened. I was in the BB with A,9 and lady UTG raises to 3000 with Blinds at 400/800. Everyone folds to me and I stupidly call. The flop completely misses me. All under cards. I check and for some reason she checks too. Turn is another low card. I decide to check and she bets huge and I fold of course. She had pocket Queens. Not sure why she didn't bet on the flop and not sure why I didn't fold preflop....... I just whittled away my stack until I barely have enough for the blinds. I won't bore you with details but I played awful. I finally pushed with Q9c when the blinds were coming. Everybody folded but the BB who was priced in anyways. He had Q8. I had hope especially when I hit a 9 on the flop but he managed to hit his straight on the river and I was toast...

No Poker tonight but have a tournament on Saturday day time.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Decisions basically rule our life. From early childhood they begin. At first your parents make them for you. They decide what you wear, what you eat and what you do. Then you begin school and your decision making starts. You decide what kids to hang with, how much effort to put into school work etc. You might even decide what clothes you like. By the time you reach high school you are already making lots of decisions everyday.

Then the fun begins. Your decisions now will start to shape your life.. You are offered cigarettes, weed and alcohol over the next few years. Should you try them?? Peer pressure affects your decision making. Gee if I don't smoke this joint will my friends still like me. If I don't get drunk like everybody else on a Friday night will I have any friends?? These are all tough decisions but they are your decisions..

Your hormones kick in. Who should you ask out?? Which girl or boy depending on your sexuality or in today's world maybe both. These are all critical decisions.

Then you start dating..One wrong decision here and you could be a father or mother at an early age... See how decisions rule our lives..... It goes on and on.

It's the same in the poker world.. Every time you sit down at a tournament or ring game you are faced with decisions. Should you fold preflop... should you raise with a marginal hand and try and steal the blinds?? How much to bet?? Should I do a continuation bet on the flop?? Are my Trips good or does she have her Flush?? Its almost mind boggling. You might make 50- 100 decisions in a hour depending on your cards and the speed of the game.

The secret to a successful poker player is making the right decisions the majority of the time. Oh sure you can make a right decision and still get sucked out on. It happens to all of us. It hurts knowing you did everything right but still lost. Yet I can live with that.

What I can't live with is when I make bad decisions and lose. To me that is way worse. Then again you learn from your bad decisions. At least I know I do.

All those decisions I made in school a lot were bad. I smoked cigarettes for about a year.(never since), Tried a lot of weed (it just made me goofy). I drank alcohol (still do but moderately)

I had unprotected sex at 14 with a 16 year old girl (true story). I had sex with a lot of other girls almost all of it unprotected and I guess I was just lucky that a baby didn't come of it. Those were bad decisions (unprotected part that is). Some would say the sex part at such an early age too. It was a different world then though.

I think I learned from all those decisions. I try and learn from the wrong decisions I make now......

Now I have to decide what to go make for lunch.......... Soup or Sandwich??

Kings!!!

Last night I played a live tournament with I think around 54 entrants. I was seated at a very passive table which I liked because I am not a passive player. I am not a big believer of limping unless I have a very marginal hand in late position and I just want to see a flop. Usually I am raising or folding. Anyways second hand in I get Pocket 4s UTG. I really hate small pocket pairs and especially being first to act. I thought whatever blinds were cheap enough so I limped with the thought any raise and I am folding. 5 limpers behind me. Told you it was passive. Flop comes 10,6,3. Not a horrible flop but not great either. I check, guy next to me min bets and everyone calls. Action back to me. I was thinking of folding but thought whatever its cheap enough. Turn is a 7. I check and everybody checks. Geez what is this?? River brings a lovely 4. I now have trips but also with 5 other people in the pot and with a straight possibility I am not loving my hand. Guy who was in the BB bets but its only twice the Min so I thought whatever I called as did one other guy. My trip 4's were good. So I take down a decent pot. That hand played weird though.

I then preceded to get Ace Jack 3 times in the several hands and with me raising I took two of those hands preflop and also got a couple limpers off their hands. So I was slowly building my stack. Definitely the chip leader at my table. The third time I got Ace Jack I raised preflop got one caller. Flop comes KQ4. HMM. I did a continuation bet and the old guy folded. Not sure what he had but probably Ace something.

I was sailing along when I got 10,3 clubs in the BB. Blinds were now at 400/800. Two limpers to me I checked. Flop comes AAQ with 2 clubs. I hollywood it a bit studying the flop and decide to check. One guy bets out 1200, other guy folds and trying to show confidence in my flush draw I come along. Turn is a 10. Okay card but not if he has a Queen. I make eye contact and smile and then I check. Reading his look he has me on an Ace. Too funny so he checks too. River is 5 of diamonds. I bet and he disgustedly throws his hand away and comments you had trips right. I just smiled.

We were down to 22 players when I got dealt Pocket Kings in early position. Blinds were now 500/1000. I raised it to 3500 and surprisingly two very tight players (both the blinds) called. Flop comes J 8 4. Rainbow. SB checks. BB goes all in. BB is an older guy who plays pretty tight. Action is on me. I have him covered but not by much. What does he have?? Ace Jack?? Pocket Queens?? Aces?? In the back of my mind I think did he really hit Trip jacks. I decide to call. SB takes a long time and decides to fold. We flip and yep he had pocket Jacks and hit his trips. I am severely crippled. SB said he had pocket 6's.

Very next hand I get pocket 2's and with the blinds coming I go all in which only covers the BB. 5 Callers. Flop comes 10,3,5. Checked all around, Turn is a 6, Check check. River is a 7. Everybody checks. Somebody caught their 7 on the river and my night is over.

I am not sure if I could have folded the Kings but I did consider that he had the pocket Jacks and should have gone with my gut feeling. Tough to fold though. That's twice in the past 3 weeks were Kings did me in on a relatively safe board. Both times guys caught their trips. it's one of those times where you just got to shake it off and look forward to the next game..........

She's Out of My League

We all remember someone who we thought was Out of Their League. For me it was back in high school and the girls name was Starr( Yep real name). I remember watching her walk the hall in her short skirts and I was like a puppy. She was perfect. Of course she was totally out of my league. I don't think she knew I existed. Then suddenly in grade 11 Í wasn't such a nerdy guy anymore and she still looked incredible. We actually got to know each other. I occasionally drove her and her friend to school but any romantic thoughts on my part were just that thoughts. I realized that I had no chance with her but it was still nice to just talk to her.

That's the premise of a movie I saw last night. Without giving too much of the plot it involves a guy who was just dumped by his girlfriend and wants to get back with her. Basically he lacks self confidence and really has a kind of dead end job. Then he meets this perfect girl who is totally hot and way out of his league. I won't spoil the movie but I have to admit I laughed a few times. It reminded me of the film Something about Mary. There is a scene that involves shaving that had me really laughing. Should you run out and see this?? It's worth seeing but I might wait for video.

So that was my Saturday night. I was invited to a home poker game which would have been fun and certainly could have been profitable.

Annie Duke Win and an Early Exit

In case you missed it NBC had its annual Heads up Invitational event at Caesars Palace on the weekend. They invite 64 of the top pros (with a couple of online qualifiers mixed in). If you haven't played at Caesars you need to. It is my favourite poker room. I know people on the AllVegas poker site go on and on about the Venetian but until they stop pumping floral crap into the air I will avoid it like the plague. I love Caesars tournament room with all the pics of the pros hanging on the wall. Classy Place.

Anyways Annie Duke managed to prevail in the final over Eric Seidel. Annie reached the final with wins over Andy Bloch, My man Darvin Moon, Paul Wasicka, Jerry Yang and Dennis Phillips. So congrats to her. I was glad to see a lady take it down with Vanessa Rousso so close last year. NBC will televise the event over a few weekends starting in April. Be fun to watch it!!

I played a Live tournament last night with 59 entrants and it was an an early exit for me. First hand in my two pair ran into Trips, which depleted my stack somewhat but soon after my table got broke down and I got moved. Second hand at a new table I got dealt J,10 in late position with a couple limpers before me I also limped along with the two blinds. Five of us to the flop. Flop comes KKQ. Early position guy bets. I am open ended so I call as does one of the blinds. Two people folded. Turn is a lovely Ace. Early position guys bets again and looking at what I have left I push. The BB calls and early position guy then pushes. BB calls him too. The river is a 6. BB has two pair Kings and Queens. I have of course a straight. Early position flips over KQ for the flopped boat. I didn't see that coming.

Tournament Second place and a little Roulette

One of my favourite blogs that I read has nothing to do with poker but the lady is a very entertaining person and always has great stories and insights into her life. You can read her here. Well yesterday she had a post about a new chat site called chat roulette so the curious person I am I checked it out. Yea it was weird. Linda called it creepy. I just found it weird. All of a sudden you have this random face on your computer and if they don't like you or vice versa you hit the next button and a new face appears.You can see them and talk with them. Oh and of course the odd body part appears. Yea there was some of that. I did talk briefly with this 30 something married lady from Vermont. Is it Weird?? Yea. I could see it filling a void with some shy people. Would I try it again?? Not likely but check it out and see what you think.

I played my regular live tournament last night. I think 47 people showed up. I started off the night the right way. First hand in I was in the SB with pocket 10's. With 5 limpers to me and blinds at 100/200 I bumped it to 1400 and everybody folded. Just what I wanted. Happy to take the first pot. A good omen.

I then went card dead for awhile which was a shame as I felt comfortable as this table and felt I could do well. Our table broke down with a few eliminations and I got moved. Then I started hitting hands. Pocket Aces which after I raised preflop with one caller held up. I had J9 offsuit in the BB which rivered a straight on an unraised pot. The queen on the river gave it to me and also gave another player his two pair. That was the end of his night. I was sailing along until I got pocket 8's. A young guy in early position raises 3.5 times the BB. Knowing how he plays I doubled his raise which was my mistake. I should have pushed. Anyways he called. The flop comes 10,7,3 rainbow. He checked blind which made me think. Should I push or see another card. I checked. Big mistake. Ace on the turn. Check check. I knew he hit his ace though. The river was a Jack I think. He checked and so did I. Of course he hit his ace. I mucked. Boy was that dumb play or what.

I was still in though and gradually started building my stack back up. We were down to 6 players I think when I got those pocket 8,s again. Same guy raised in EP and this time I pushed. He called . He had pocket Aces. Yikes. You know where this is going. I hit my 8 on the river and doubled up huge. He was crushed and went out shortly after. You gotta love those 2 outers well you love them when you are on the right side of them...

We got down to Heads up with a lady who I had never played before. We played for a long time with both of us ahead in chips and back and forth. With her ahead in chips slightly I was dealt Q10.The flop comes KK6. I checked and so did she. The turn was a nice 10. I checked hoping she would bet but she checked again. The river was a 2 I think. Figuring I was good I pushed. She snap called me. Yep she had the King. She had slowplayed it all the way. Good play on her part. I was down to a couple thousand and went out a couple hands later. Still it was a good night and happy with second place. Wish it was a win though.

Lowering the limit

Every Friday night we go out to one of the local pubs or restaurants for dinner mainly because I am sick of cooking by that time. When I go I usually have a couple glasses of Red wine(that's my beverage of choice) and of course a meal of something. The pubs are usually packed with couples and people who come straight from work. They have a few drinks and then head home. The parking lot is also packed with cars. Why is that important? Well they are proposing to lower the limit on what makes you impaired from .08 to .05. That's a pretty big drop. If I drive I can have 2 glasses of wine now and be well under .08 but probably right around the .05 mark. So what this will mean is that I of course will now only have 1 glass of wine. Do I think this is a good thing? Absolutely. I never have more than 2. If we stay longer I switch to pop or juice. The thing is that I am in the minority. While we were there Friday night I counted the drinks people were having at 3 nearby tables. Most had 4 mugs of beer at least in the time I was there. Would that make them over the limit? Without a doubt. Yet they all got in their respective cars and drove home. Pretty scary isn't it. The police could stamp out drinking driving by just watching and stopping people as they leave the bars on any Friday night. I think most people don't realize that it doesn't take much to put you at the limit and that's not the only issue here. You don't have to be at the limit to suffer loss of driving skill and reaction time. It's really made me think. So from now on Friday nights will be one glass of wine and that's it. If I want any more I walk to the pub or take a cab home. I wish more people would follow my lead but as you people just don't think.

I didn't play any live games this weekend but I did play a couple online tournaments. I usually play a cheap buyin 45 player tournament. Anyways in one we were down to 11 players and 7 get paid and I got dealt KK in middle position. The blinds had gotten to the point that really my only play was to shove as any 3 times or higher preflop raise was more than 2/3 of my stack. There was already 1 limper in the pot. So I shoved hoping really to take the blinds and antis and maybe 1 caller. I did get one caller who had just a few more chips than me. What did he have? Jack 9 off suit. Yep. He of course caught his 9 on the flop and Jack on the river and I just stared at the screen. No more comment is needed on his call.

Later that night I thought I would play another. We were down to 21 players. I think I was sitting at about 7th of 21 in chips. I got dealt pocket 9's on the button. Already 2 limpers and still the blinds to act. I popped it 6x the BB hoping to take it down. The BB called and everybody else folded. I was a little worried and thought he might have an over pair. Anyways flop comes JJ9. Yep I flopped a boat. He checked and I of course checked behind hoping he would catch up a bit. Turn was a 10. He made a half pot size bet (I was hoping he thought I had nothing) and I took my time think of all my options. I finally just called. Well the river was the worst card possible(well at least in my mind). Yep another Jack. He instantly pushed and even knowing I was beat (yea I know very dumb play) I called. He had King 10. Yea he got his boat on the river. What bugs me about this hand (well the way I played it was bad) but he also called my preflop raise with King 10 off suit. Would you make that call? Not me.

Love is Blind (no poker content)

Earlier this week I reconnected with someone who I had known very well several years ago. For the sake of this story lets just call her B. We had played on the same mixed ball team, we had skied together and someone who I considered a pretty good friend. She worked with my wife yet I was probably a little closer friend than my wife mainly because of the ball connection. At that time she was living with a guy who was the father of her child but everybody could tell it was not going to last. They were just two different people and they never did anything together.
So they broke up and B was on her own for a couple years. We still maintained contact but our ball team had split up so I didn't see her very much.

Anyways I heard she met someone else and it was getting serious. I was really happy for her and then I heard they were getting married, I was surprised but again if she is happy that's great. I hadn't met the guy. So both my wife and myself got invited to an engagement party for her. Anyways we went and I got to meet the guy who we will call S. I have always considered myself a pretty good judge of character and immediately I got this bad vibe. That was my first reaction but I thought okay I will give this guy a chance.

Anyways part way through the party I was chatting with B and laughing about something that had happened while we were playing ball and S came over gave me this look and instead of joining or listening to us talk basically steered B away from me. It was really weird. Was he jealous?? I mean I was there with my wife and me and B were just great friends. Was he jealous of that? I was concerned and upset. Then later on at the party I noticed S chatting a way too friendly to another lady there. That was weird too. I think my initial reaction was bang on. As we left the party I turned to my wife and said B is making a big mistake and my wife was quite surprised although she had also noticed S being a little too friendly to other ladies there. Yet B seemed so happy.

Anyways to marry this guy B had to quit her well paying job and leave her friends and move to another city which also brought up red flags for me but that is what happened. They decided to get married in Las Vegas and then we lost contact with B. A couple years passed by and then we moved from the city where we used to live.

I think you can see where this story is going. B and S are no longer married. I am not sure what happened but B told us she is back living and working where we used to live. In the emails she seemed happy so that's good.

It's just that I don't know how she couldn't see that this guy was a jerk. It was obvious to me right away. He was an insecure flirt. She deserved much better than that. I guess love is blind.

Is Online Poker Rigged (Part 2)

About 11 months ago I wrote a post here regarding the online game. I had read a bunch of comments about people doubting the validity of the online game on the All Vegas Poker site in the discussion forum.

If you go back to that post you can see that a lot of people have some serious doubts about the game. I have never had so many people leave comments regarding their experiences online. I still get comments regarding that post.

As you know I am not a big fan of the online game. I have never made a deposit but I do have a money account at one of the major sites (won it in freerolls).

The biggest complaint I hear from people is getting called with hands that shouldn't be in the pot and somehow they hit their one or two outer on the river. Does this happen in live poker?? Oh sure occasionally but it almost seems that these people know what card is coming in the online game. Do they?? Hopefully not but why were they in the pot. Are they just bad players who get lucky?? That could be.

The other biggest complaint is the amount of high hands that show up online. I know playing a 1.00 buyin tournament on February 3rd on a site which will remain anonymous I had quads 2 hands in a row. Quad 8s and Quad 10s. I kept the hand history as I know people wouldn't believe me. What are the statistical likely hood of that happening?? I know playing live tournaments and I play 3 or 4 times a week I can go months without quads but online I get them about every other week at least. Of course some people say its because of the amount of hands dealt online but to me it seems a bit out of whack to what happens live.

The online game is now a multi million dollar business with all the leading poker pros having sponsorships and such. So they would never kill the golden goose. I wonder if any of them have ever investigated the actual mechanics of how these sites are run. Have they ever been to the center of where the online is run out of?? Or do they just take their sponsorship money and close their eyes. I think the latter is more likely. I admire Darvin Moon for not taking a sponsorship offer before the Main Event Final Table last year.

I know most of my poker playing friends play far less online now than they used to. Why?? The bad beats they were getting. Way over over proportional to what happens in the live game. It seemed if they moved up in dollar value it happened more. Does that make sense??

I think the online game could be great if it was run like our lotteries with government overseeing the operation and taking a certain percentage and say putting that into health care or education. They would still have lots for sponsorships of the poker pros. Now these sites are run and we have no idea where all the money goes. It certainly doesn't help the people of Canada or the U.S. I know this might not be a popular viewpoint but if the online game in my mind is going to be legalized here in Canada and the U.S. that's what needs to be done. Otherwise how do we know everything is above board?? Right now we don't. When people make a deposit they trust that it will be run fairly and that the percentages will hold up on a consistent basis. That's the least they can expect.


I am not saying it isn't above board right now but there sure are a lot of doubters out there. It would be great to wipe out that doubt and know when you sit down at your laptop everything odds wise is exactly the same as live play.

I know personally I love the live game. I love the interaction with the players, the dealers and the chips. I played poker long before there was an online game. The online game does have a huge place in poker today. It has opened up the game to millions who might never have played and that's a good thing. What are your thoughts on the online game??

End of the Games and some Poker

So I along with 80% of Canadians (according to polls) watched the final gold medal hockey game between the U.S. and Canada. What a game. Ends in an overtime win for Canada. Two evenly matched teams just like the women's final. Having said all that I actually enjoyed seeing the true amateur athletes win their medals much more. The joy on their faces after all the years of hard work makes the Olympics what is. Don't get me wrong I am a huge hockey fan but these players all go back to their million dollar jobs afterwords while the speed skaters, figure skaters and skiers go back to their real life. That is for them a 9-5 job and massive training afterwords. Sure some get corporate sponsorship but its not like they get rich doing what they love. They do because they love it. That's a huge difference than getting paid millions to play a sport. One thing the Olympics did was bring out the patriotism in this country like I have never seen it before. We have never been a huge flag waving nation but this Olympics seemed to unite the country in support of our athletes. if we gained nothing else from these games this feeling of all being united was worth it.

I played a live tournament on Sunday night with I think about 44 players. I ended up 6th. Two memorable hands that got me to the final table. I got dealt AK in middle position. I raised and got two callers. Flop comes Q,10,6 rainbow. Surprisingly one of the callers bet, I called (it was cheap enough) and the other guy folded. Turn was a lovely Jack. He checked and so did I hoping he would catch up or something. River was a 9 and he went all in. I of course called and won a huge pot. He had King 10. Guess he didn't put me on Big Slick.

The other big hand I was dealt on the button A2 Clubs. I limped in and the flop J 9 8 with 2 clubs. 4 people in the pot and 1 lady makes a less than pot sized bet so I come along and the other 2 fold. Turn is a blank and she makes the same bet. Still cheap enough for me to see another card although I am not a flush chaser but the bet was so small. The river brought me a lovely 5 of Clubs. She immediately pushed all in and I of course called with the Nuts. She was out as I had her covered. She had relatively slow played a flopped straight and under bet a flushy board. Got to the final table and I badly overplayed a high pair to a flopped straight and I was crippled but still a pretty good night