PokerStars Free Bonus Gifts
POKERSTARS MARKETING CODE   |    POKERSTARS BONUS CODE  |    POKER FORUM
What's a PokerWonk?

Poker Blogs by Popularity

Footer

Poker Blogs by Type

Footer

Poker Blogs by Wonk

Footer

Recent Blogs

Footer

Poker Articles by Blog

Footer
Write about Poker. Read about Life. PokerWonks, the Poker Blog Community.

BadBlood on Poker    Friends

Mastodon / Metal

Date: Mon, Mar 8, 2010

Let me just say Mastodon Weekend was a resounding success. From Thursday's 5-star dinner at Rick Erwins, to Friday's poker marathon at Azia's, to Saturday's Trivia Contest / Bar Crawl, not a whole helluva lot could have gone any better.


Shout out to the BustoutPoker.com folks who added to the prize pool and paid for the food. Jeff and Nikki - we both know who the poker player among you guys is. :)

(Also - special thanks to the experts who helped my wife's uber-drunk friend into our minivan. All was well by Sunday. Except for the smell...)

I have tons of video to post and hopefully I can put it all together somewhat coherently. In the meantime, I leave you with a Metal Monday video and a snippet from the bar crawl.

This band could easily remind you of some old Pantera. Check out Throwdown's This Continuum:


And lastly, just to show you all how low-brow our humor is at Mastodon, I call this next snippet "Gastodon:"

Read Full Poker Blog Post

State of the G-Game

Date: Tue, Feb 23, 2010

No, I'm not stuttering. The G-Game is simply a reference to our lovely town of G-Vegas and the poker community herein. It's now been about four years or so since I started playing semi-seriously in various games around town. Those include home games, away games, and the slightly infamous underground scene that was in its hey-day back in 2007. To say the environment has changed would be a pretty large understatement. What follows is simply my own personal musings on the matter. Take them for what they're worth.

The game I've played in most consistently has been Monday Night at GucciRick's. The people attending have slowly changed over the years as new folks who get the highly-coveted invite replace those who either are no longer interested in playing as much or who simply cannot afford to. The stakes are not high, at least not upon initial inspection. The blinds remain $1/$2 with a $5 straddle put on roughly 30% of the time. You can buy-in for $300 and re-buy for $600 should you get stacked. This doubling of the re-buy makes the game rather deep in the late stages of the evening and it's not uncommon for players to post four-figure profits and losses. It's this latter fact that has had the most impact on the game as the swings can get large. Enduring a loss of $1000 or more takes some getting used to and not everyone does. As such, some players no longer play and some take occasional breaks. With all that said, in the end it is Gucci Rick's game and he manages it very well. It's lasted as long as it has due directly to some decisions he's made about the game and hopefully the game will continue to blossom.

The old Thursday night crew I believe still plays quite regularly. I've not been to one of those games in a while mainly due to other players having dibs on seats once I could no longer commit to a weekly attendance. That game is structured a bit lower in steaks which is probably why it is still going very strong.

The always insightful Peter Birks has frequently made comments about skinning and shearing a sheep and how the longevity of a poker community could very well depend on such decisions. The player turnover on Monday night vs. that of Thursday night could be an example of such a notion. I used to think that accelerated re-distribution of poker money would not ever effect the landscape of our local scene, but that was before the economy took such a downswing. There are many players who no longer have the expendable money they used to dedicate to poker.

Other home games I've played in have been my own, one up in Charlotte, and one hosted by Lee Jones in Asheville. Besides my love for playing poker, my primary reason for trying to get to these out of town games as often as I can is because of the reciprocity in player base. Lately, if I want to host a game at my house, I depend on some out of towner's making the trip so that my game is viable. Without them, there have been multiple occasions where I've not had enough people willing to play and had to cancel a game. I do enjoy hosting and cancelling a game is something I'm loathe to do.

The underground scene has also had some consolidation. I'm not as much of a regular as I used to be. After the issues that occurred in late 2007 (if you're a long-time reader, you know what I'm talking about), I ceased playing in a raked environment. Late last year however, one of the games moved from its location inside an abandoned commercial building to a residential location. The new setup is more amenable to my preferences and I was able to convince my better half to allow me to play there once again.

But even then, the games are not necessarily as busy as they used to be. Many of the other underground games around town are no longer operating. The environment is certainly not conducive to the longevity of an underground game. You still need to dodge the legal aspects and the rake-induced acceleration of alleviating the poorer players from their money.

I recently got invited to another home game locally and had a great time. I'm hoping that the player base of that game will mix into the player bases of the other games I play in as the new blood, so to speak, could really be helpful in keeping the life of the games going. Getting to play live, local poker a couple of times a week is a luxury I don't want to give up.

And Toby, if you're reading this, hopefully someday I can play a pot with the best player in South Carolina.

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Welcome to eBlood

Date: Thu, Feb 11, 2010

Before I go eBay or craigslist this stuff, I figured I'd post here about a couple of items I have for sale. No reasonable offer refused and I'll take PayPal, Stars, or Tilt transfers. Just looking to get rid of things I no longer need:


1. 160GB iPod classic. 2 years old, very good condition, great battery life and black silicone protector. (UPDATE: SOLD)

2. Blackberry Curve 8330. Just under 2 years old, excellent condition, car charger, wall charger, USB cable and black silicone skin.

Shoot me an email if you're interested with your offer and proposed method of payment. I'll update this post should anything sell. Thanks for looking.

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Running Update

Date: Thu, Feb 4, 2010

I will be crushing G-Rob in our bet. Just an FYI. With that said, I will be posting songs from my "Master Run" playlist. I have 52:30 of music on a playlist all set for my run. I promised PokerPeaker I'd get him my list and eventually I will get those .mp3's to you. In the meantime, this song is on the list.


No, I've not gone soft. Yes, there are keyboards in this song and you can actually understand the vocals. I'll fix that in the next few songs, but in the meantime, grab some Gus G. magic.

Oh yeah - hot chick helps out singing too (Tara Teresa).

Read Full Poker Blog Post

SuperBowl Party

Date: Wed, Jan 27, 2010

If you know me, then you probably know TheMark. He's the G-Vegas version of Tony Soprano. He gets things done and he knows how to throw a party.

On SuperBowl Sunday - February 7th for those of you unaware - he's hosting a massive party at the local Azia restaurant.


The cost is $50 but it includes tons of food and drink. If you're interested, contact me and I'll get you TheMark's contact information so you can buy a ticket.

I'll be there, but don't let that dissuade you.

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Doubt and Data

Date: Tue, Jan 12, 2010

Generally speaking, human beings lie, and data doesn't. Visual evidence, statistical evidence, it was all there. Anyone who thought Mark McGwire did not take performance enhancing drugs was just ignoring the data. Baseball is a very statistically driven game. In no other sport do you get thousands of samples per player (i.e. pitches, which lead to at bats). When you get enough samples, you can make very good statistical predictions on players. A player with a lifetime batting average of .310 will probably hit somewhere between .290 and .320 the next year. More samples, less variance, it's pretty basic.

So when a player undergoes a dramatic shift in his performance based on previous history, something is usually amiss. Injuries cause players to perform worse and those scenarios are very explainable and occur quite frequently. But when a player makes a dramatic shift in the other direction without much to explain it, America's eyebrows become raised with doubt.

McGwire admits in his confession that much of the reason he took steroids was to avoid injury and stay healthy longer. This could very well be true. Baseball certainly isn't football or hockey or any other contact sport, but its regular season lasts 6 months and 162 games. It's not difficult to see how it can become a grind both mentally and physically for a player; and without the aid of performance enhancers, it would be very reasonable to expect minor dings to add up over the course of a season.

Take a look at this page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_players_who_have_hit_30_or_more_home_runs_before_the_All-Star_break

With the exception of Roger Maris in 1961, no player who hit more than 30 home runs by the All Star break hit more than 20 in the second half of the year.

Until 1996.

Then look at the list. Beginning with Brady Anderson (a guy who hit 50 home runs that year and never more than 24 in any other season in his career), there were 12 instances of a player who hit more than 20 in the second half of the year. Most telling are the 30+ home runs hit in the second half of a season by Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds.

That's data. And I'm sorry, but when you couple that data with each players' changes in physical appearance over the years, performance enhancing drug use just screams out at you. It's my contention that one of the reasons steroids changed the game is that players are more able to maintain their peak performance throughout the year than they would without them. Never mind the additional distance and power the hitters were able to achieve, just look at how they maintained their health for the entirety of the season.

Here is some more minor data to support that, in this case, Alex Rodriquez: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rodrial01.shtml

From 1996 when he was 20 years old to 2000 when he was 24, he had only 1 season where he played in 160+ games. Beginning in 2001, when he was 25, in 5 of the next 6 years he played in at least 161 games. Not coincidentally, in 2001, he hit over 50 home runs for the first time. By his own admission, those were the years he began using steroids. Play longer at your peak and inflate your numbers. Don't you think you'd be more likely to play a full season when you're 20 or 21 than when you're 29?

The bottom line is that baseball statistics are nearly sacred to American sports fans. If I say 61 or .406, you know exactly what those numbers mean, and who achieved them. So when something taints those numbers and their meaning, it taints the entire sport and its legacy. It's a shame really. Let me ask you this question: if you were offered a guaranteed contract for $114 millions dollars in exchange for taking steroids and negatively impacting your health seven years later, would you do it? Jason Giambi did.

But I'll close out with a little bit of, OK maybe a lot of, cynicism. It's not just baseball folks. It's just about every sport there is if there's enough money involved. Golf might be an exception. It's simply not possible to compete in professional sports without them. If someone's doing it, they're skewing the average and I just don't think that there are any natural athletes able to compete with those who do. So the pressure will always be there to do it. Look for athletes that respond with "I never failed a drug test" as their response. Big deal. Do I suspect Lance Armstrong used them? Yes, I do, but only because of the statistical improbability that he was such an outlier in a sport of probable users for such a long time. Do I suspect Brock Lesnar used them? Yes, I do, but only because of the environment he was in with the WWE and the physique he had back then. It's just not physically possible to carry that much muscle mass and so little body fat with out drugs. Sure, you could be the one in one billion genetic freak that does, but I'm not buying it. He was with the WWE, an organization forever associated with steroid and other drug use. Is Brock clean now, ever since he began his MMA career? He could very well be, and I wouldn't necessarily doubt it. But he's softer now, his physique is more in line with that of a natural athlete than a professional bodybuilder.

I'm just at the point where it's getting tougher to be a fan of any sport, because I'm simply so suspicious about anyone's ability to perform so well for so long. Do I hope the truly outstanding athletes like BJ Penn and George St. Pierre are drug-free? Absolutely. Would I be surprised if they weren't? Sadly, I wouldn't.

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Proposition Wager

Date: Mon, Jan 11, 2010

This should be good.....


We have a prop bet that is just now going public. Feel free to find a betting parter and make your own wagers.

Who is "we" you ask?

It's me and G-Rob.

Here's the bet and the background.

On July 10th, 2010, G-Rob will have a weigh in and must have lost at least 75 lbs. from his 334 lb. starting weight. He must get down to 259 lbs. by that date or pay me $300.

My end of the deal is as follows: On July 11th, 2010, in Gaffney, South Carolina, I will run a 10k road race in 52:30 or less. That's effectively 6.21 miles at an 8:27 pace. I have never run more than 5 miles at once in my life.

If we both succeed or both fail, the bet is a push. For the payoff to occur, one must succeed and the other must fail.

Of course, he's already sending me texts and calling me to quit now and just ship it because he can't looooose. He ha' full house!. Not.

I started my program yesterday, and with the help of a secret weapon, plan on destroying him, his lack of self-discipline, and his penchant to give up after 2 months. I told him to stop texting me until he hits the 275 lb. mark and cries that he can't lose any more.

As I just told him, I'll be having steak for dinner, with a full tasty glass of.....

here it comes....

BEER.

Mmmmmm...can you taste it? I can.

SHIP IT!

Read Full Poker Blog Post

New Year's Day Tourney Pic Dump

Date: Sun, Jan 10, 2010

With apologies to Pauly and the term "pic dump," here are a few taken after I was unceremoniously eliminated.

MrsBlood trying to get a read on the uni-GRob-bomber.

Brian the Red - a Charlotte regular.

TheMark - with my chips. Bastard! The Gooch looks on in the foreground.

Jim the Knife massaging his chip stack.

Another side view of TheMark, smiling, with BadBlood's chips.

Alan Shaw and new guy John Teer.

The always jovial Falstaff, a staple at the BadBlood poker table.

Losers Lounge - Wolverine and Frank the Tank

The Rankster (left) and The Rocket (center), guys from the old Thursday night game.

Good ole Shep, Falstaff and Alan Shaw.

Special K knee deep in the action.

Your eventual winner acting camera shy. It's not like he's on TV or anything.

Random101, Tressa, and Jim the Knife.

Special K looking mean.

The Gooch, MrsTheMark, and Papa Skoon from front to back.

Danny smiling, even though he's just been eliminated with....

KK vs. AA.....

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Count me in....as always.

Date: Sat, Jan 9, 2010

Online Poker

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! PokerStars.com is the home of Free Online Poker Games, bloggers can play for free in the exclusive WBCOOP tournament, register here to play: WBCOOP

Registration code: 361182

Read Full Poker Blog Post

6th Annual New Year's Day Tournament

Date: Tue, Jan 5, 2010

It started back in 2005. I'd met a couple of local poker players via the Intarweb; and in an attempt to foster a local home game community, decided to host a poker tournament on New Year's Day. We had a small 14-person turn out that year and some small stakes cash games followed. The next year, I figured I'd do it again. And somehow, along the way, it became a bit of a tradition. This year was no exception, 24 players showed up to play in the 6th Annual BadBlood's New Year's Day Event.

Of the previous champions, four of the five were in attendance to try to become the first repeat champion, none so much so as last year's holder of the luckbox, G-Rob. Only TeamScottSmith was missing from the lineup of former winners. As people arrived for the 2pm start to eat and drink, I was anticipating only one thing. Not winning.

While my NLHE tournament game has never been really sharp, I'd spent the last year playing almost exclusively cash games - NLHE live, and PLO online. Occasionally, maybe a dozen times, I'd play a PLO tournament on Full Tilt, but any skills I may have had in NLHE tournaments has languished in mental atrophy. Sound like an excuse? That's because it probably is.

I lost half my stack within the first 30 minute level to a turned set and a turned nut straight with a straight flush redraw against Gucci Rick. My expectations were being met. Somehow, I survived into level 4 with about 3k left of my 5k starting stack. Frank the Tank and former champion Wolverine had already met their fate and were relegated to the loser's couch to watch college football.

My fate would soon be the same as I lost a race with AK to TheMark's QQ all-in preflop. I had TheMark barely covered, but thanks to doubling him up, he'd make a run at another cash. I was forced all in on my next big blind and lost to the nut flush of Brian the Red, out in 22nd. Not a very good showing. I wandered around the house a bit and snapped some pictures to commemorate the event and continue to run the tournament. The cash games wouldn't be starting for a while it seemed.

Slowly, but surely (if you followed my Twitter feed that day), a certain name kept coming up in conversation as acquiring chips in the most varied of ways: G-Rob. He was pushing around his table and getting there when behind and holding up when ahead. The most egregious of hands that I heard was when he called the Ranksters all-in preflop bet with 7,5 suited. The Rankster had pocket Queens but was quickly behind on the 77x flop. He never improved. The last I saw of the Rankster was him shaking his head and walking to the kitchen, flumoxed at yet another G-Rob confrontation.

The tournament was paying the top 5, and the bubble seemed to last quite a bit longer than normal, with 3 out of the final 6 all related. TheMark, his brother GucciRick and his wife MrsTheMark all were left alive. Unfortunately for TheMark, he bubbled the tournament, and left to go host his regular Friday night game.

Gucci Rick bowed out in 5th to MrsTheMark, his pocket Tens no good against her Jacks. Brian the Red was next out in 4th and SteveJax, brother of TripJax, was the next victim of a G-Rob attack. SteveJax's AQ lost to G-Rob's AT with a ten on the river. It was heads up for the title and G-Rob was relishing the assignment of the #defendingchamp Twitter hash tag.

We had since started a $1/$1 $100-max cash game and some players were waiting for a 2nd game to start. I walked into the heads up match and informed G-Rob and MrsTheMark what the prize pool would be if they were to chop. Coupled with splitting the last longer bet, the dollar figure was sufficient for G-Rob to relinquish his chip advantage and take the even money split with the last hand determining the official champion.

G-Rob had A4o, MrsTheMark had J2o. A two hit the river. But of course it gave G-Rob the wheel, the title, and the right to say he's the only two-time winner of the BadBlood New Year's Day tournament. Then he made perhaps his smartest poker decision of the day. He opted out of the cash game and went home, guaranteeing a start to 2010 firmly in the black.

Here are the final results, congratulations to everyone who cashed:

1. G-Rob
2. MrsTheMark
3. SteveJax
4. Brian the Red
5. Gucci Rick
6. TheMark
7. Rocket
8. Tressa
9. NewGuyJohnT
10. Jim the Knife
11. Alan Shaw
12. TripJax
13. Rankster
14. Shep
15. Skoon
16. Falstaff
17. SpecialK
18. MrsBlood
19. DannyVanA
20. Random101
21. Stan the Man
22. BadBlood
23. Wolverine
24. Frank the Tank

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Just Because

Date: Wed, Dec 9, 2009

I am 36,000 feet in the air. That is all. Wait! Ty to Otis for the free drink ticket

Read Full Poker Blog Post

One

Date: Tue, Dec 8, 2009

The loneliest number

The song Metallica played at the Grammy's the year Jethro Tull won Best Heavy Metal Artist
- (e^(i*pi))


Days until I'm in Vegas

See y'all soon, recaps when I get back.

Read Full Poker Blog Post

RFI

Date: Fri, Dec 4, 2009

Are there any readers out there who have signed up for the Full Tilt security token? If so, care to share your experiences? I have one for my work VPN, so I'm aware of how they work and what they do. I'm just looking for anyone's experience with ordering and activating it.


There are two options - physical token, and software-based token that will run on your phone.

Thanks in advance.

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Nine

Date: Mon, Nov 30, 2009

Wikipedia states, "9 (nine) is the natural number following 8 and preceding 10. The ordinal adjective is ninth." Oddly, no mention on that site about the number of days before I'm in Vegas. What a garbage site, no utility whatsoever.


I'm wearing a hefty pair of lollerskates thinking about how much work I'll get done between now and then. Here are some things I am thinking about:

Number of work days until Vegas: 7
Number of workouts until Vegas: 5
Number of live poker sessions until Vegas: 2
And in the totally random department, number of free mp3 downloads I received from Amazon for ordering my kids Christmas presents there last week: 5
(For those who care and for those who don't)
i. You Shook Me - Loudness
ii. No One Gets Left Behind - Five Finger Death Punch
iii. The Air That I Breathe - The Hollies
iv. Cracklin' Rosie - Neil Diamond
v. I Only Wanna Be With You - Volbeat

Live poker at the Gooch tonight. See you folks in 9 or 10.

Read Full Poker Blog Post