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mortal_one's Poker Journey    Friends

Actual Poker Playing

Date: Sat, Oct 4, 2008

Yes, I actually played some poker this week. Three different days - two at FTP and one at UB. All for play money of course (Congressional bastards!).

At FTP I spent one day playing Pot Limit Holdem, and was up considerably. The next day I switched to Multi-table SNGs and "cashed" in all of them.

At UB I played a couple of SNGs cashed in 3 of 4. Then I played two freerolls. I need to build up my patience level for the tournaments. I was one of the first 200 out in one and outlasted 3/4 of the field in the other.

Yes, I know UB has a cheating scandal. But it, as far as I know, didn't extend to play chips.

If there is a site you play at and would like me to play there let me know!

Enjoy the Pokery Goodness!

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Yes it has been Four Years.

Date: Fri, Oct 3, 2008

Yes this blog has been around for 4 years. And considering the content, it is kind of a dubious distinction. There are many poker blogs which have fallen by the wayside in that time. Blogs which were better written. Blogs which had more content. Blogs which posting was done on a more regular basis. Yet here I am.

If you had asked me four years ago where I would be in my poker journey, I would have told you I would be at the WSOP and cashing big. I would have said I had plans to attend most of the WPBT get-togethers. Those things and a lot more should have happened.

What did happen?

Work - and lots of it. I had a very good, well paying tech job, but the commute and the price of gas forced me to leave it. I now make less than half that in a retail environment. (Any jobs out there?)

UIGEA - Those bastards in Congress ruined the Party!! Forcing Neteller, Party Poker, and others to drop US players out of fear of lawsuits and more.

The fine voters of Jefferson County, West Virginia - These people did not see the merit in table gaming at the local race track. Although the voters in the counties of the other 3 racetracks in West Virginia voted for table gaming. Jefferson County Schools, who would have been the benificiary of the Table Gaming revenue, missed out on an estimate 2.5 million dollars the first year and an estimated 4.5 million dollars in each subsequent year. Hopefully they will vote FOR table gaming the next time it comes up. It would be nice to have a poker room twenty minutes from home!

Online poker - I have been playing play money since UIGEA. I know I could play real money at some sites, but it is the principle. Until Congress gets off their butts and acts...

So what little poker skills I have will languish. What little sense of poker blogging community I once felt will stand idle. I will wait. I have patience. Eventually circumstances will change, they always do. And I will pursue my poker journey with renewed vigor. Until then I will be playing for play chips, reading poker blogs, and wishing there were more poker players in Congress.

Enjoy the Pokery Goodness!

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It has been too long...

Date: Mon, Sep 15, 2008

since I last posted. Not too much going on here until last week. The local paper, The Journal, had an article about Table Gaming revenues estimates in West Virginia.

As some background, the 4 racetracks in the state could have table gaming if the voters in the county where the racetrack is located voted to have table gaming. 3 of the 4 counties voted to have table gaming. The fourth, Jefferson County in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia did voted it down.

The article said that the State's Table Gaming authority - the State Lottery Commission had new estimates of how much revenue the track in Jefferson County, Charles Town Races and Slots would have made in the first and second years of Table Gaming. Their initial estimates were low. Jefferson County Schools, the beneficiary of the Table Gaming revenue would have received approximately 2.25 million the first year instead of 1.45 million. And in the second year (and subsequent years) would have received about 4.5 million.

Some county officials thought that there would have been a bigger push to vote for Table Gaming if these numbers had been presented at the time of the vote.

In related news, I was flipping around on cable and caught a local commercial for Charles Town Races and Slots. It was a PR commercial - this is what we have done to help the community type spot.

I can smell another vote on Table Gaming coming up next year. This time, hopefully, the fine citizens of Jefferson County will vote "Yes" so I can have a poker room 20 minutes from the house.

Stay tuned for updates...

Enjoy the Pokery Goodness!

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Life

Date: Mon, Jul 21, 2008

Life has been busting my ass lately. In the last 12 days I have worked 13 shifts at work. So much for the theory of a "convenience store". Poker has been but a distant memory. I want to play, but I either am too tired or don't have time. I guess if I were a true degenerate, I would never be too tired or without time to play.

I have found a little time to read about poker. This blogger has been covering the WSOP as only he can, and that blogger actually went pretty deep this year. Hopefully he will give us a proper write-up. Do we need to supply the Guinness?

Hopefully I will actually get my days off this week and play some poker.

Enjoy the Pokery Goodness!

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SnG Success?

Date: Sat, Jul 5, 2008

Last week I got to play in some 90 seat SnGs at FTP - play money of course at this point. Over three days, I played 10 of them. Yeah, I know, it ain't many, but what can I do on a 14.4 connection. Well anyway, I didn't do too badly. I finished 3rd in one and 1st in two others.

I didn't crush the competition. I just waited out the all-in monkeys, played hands I could win and tried to find reasons to fold. My favorite hand from during these tournaments was when I had KK and the flop came KK2 rainbow. I had limped in UTG and with this flop, I checked. I knew the other two still in the hand would make a play for it and they did. One for a substantial raise and the other called. I waited and then called. The river came with another rainbow card - a 7. I again checked to show my "weakness" and the other two raised and reraised. I again "reluctantly" called.
When the river came with an Ace, I knew it was time to wake up. I checked, the other two raised and reraised trying to bluff each other and me. When it came back to me, I re-reraised all in. the other two thought I was was stupidly trying to steal the pot and insta-called me. They were not too happy to go home when they saw my quad-kings, but that is the way it is sometimes.

So in three days, I am up about 16000 play chips. Not bad. Not great. I think I will play these some more until I can get a little better and build up my chips, then go up to the higher buy-in SnGs and see how much better they play there. Probably not too much better as it is still play chips, but who knows.

Yes, the WSOP is in full gear at this point. And you know, I am not following it too closely this year. I think my level of poker interest has leveled off a bit. I am not following things as ravenously as I used to. I still love poker quite a bit. I just wish I could find a game in the Martinsburg area that did not involve 420. Oh well, I guess I will continue to play for play chips online for the time being.

Enjoy the Pokery Goodness!

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New and Improved Storefront

Date: Fri, May 2, 2008

Hey, I've updated my Amazon.com Storefront. It is now chock full of book you need. How will you get better at poker (or anything) if you don't continue to learn. I need the money, so go forth and buy, buy, buy! Remember, all the commissions I get will be used to pay my bills (and not go towards anything so degenerate as poker, heh heh).

If you, or someone you know, has written a book on poker, let me know and I will put it in the Featured section in the Storefront. Let's see how many copies we can sell. I will even pimp it for free and feature it in a post. Either leave a comment with details, or better yet send me an email.

On the poker front this week, I have not played any online. Unfortunately real life has interfered and I have been busy with work, kid's school, and yard work. Hopefully the coming week will have more free time for me.

Enjoy the Pokery Goodness

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mortal_one's Poker Journey - 2008-04-27

Date: Sun, Apr 27, 2008

I don't know what has gotten into me this month, but I like it. I have played more poker online (still play money - Thanks Congress) than I have in a while. I have also posted more in the past month than I have in a while. And for that I am truly sorry. This isn't the best written poker blog out there. This isn't the most popular poker blog out there. But as the politicians like to say: It is what it is.

Sometime soon, I will have a couple of site reviews to put up. Don't hold your breath though. They may appear here tomorrow or next month sometime.

In the meantime, why don't you visit my Amazon.com storefront. If you don't see something you like, let me know and I will put it up there for you. I promise that all the proceed from my storefront will go towards paying my bills and not something degenerate like playing poker. (heh heh)

Until next time, Enjoy the Pokery Goodness!

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Lucky Me

Date: Sun, Apr 20, 2008

I finally got a chance to see the movie Lucky You on TV this past week. Not a bad film. The story was good, and the poker was not too bad either. Of course the poker degenerates probably found the prop bets more fun than the poker.

I found that the film was a good balance between storyline and poker. I am sure many of my non-poker playing friends would enjoy it. They may not understand the poker, but they would get into the story.

For the poker playing crowd, there is the recreation of the Bellagio's Poker Room. When the B remodeled recently, the film company bought all the furniture. So the film looks authentic.

It is an entertaining film and I will probably get the DVD at some point.

Enjoy the Pokery Goodness!

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I Must be St00pid!

Date: Wed, Apr 16, 2008

Yep, I admit it!

I have been reading this guy on and off for a couple of years now. Awesome blog. He plays more than I do, he wins more than I do, he posts more than I do. And to top it off he actually reads this blog occasionally.

I must be st00pid because he hasn't been on my blogroll until now. Go read!

Enjoy the Pokery Goodness!

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2008 WSOP Schedule

Date: Wed, Apr 9, 2008

The schedule of events for the 2008 WSOP is out.

You can find it at here at Poker Prof's Poker Blog. (A really good place to find Poker Info!)

Enjoy the Pokery Goodness!

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mortal_one's Poker Journey - 2008-04-07

Date: Mon, Apr 7, 2008

Ah, there is nothing like owning a tournament. Even if it is for play money. I only got to play a couple of Sit-N-Go's on Friday, but the results were pretty good.

The first was a single table at FTP. At one point I was last out of seven, then I chipped up a bit and was in a solid third place with four players left (Top three pay out). At that point I got a little impatient trying to either chip up some more or bust out the guy in fourth. I bubbled.

The second was a 90 player at FTP. I was a lot more patient and was consistently above average in chips. Going into the final table I was second in chips and was expecting to pull in a first place because the chip leader had a massive lead and was in sit-out mode. I guess he went to start another tournament.

Then it happened. My wife reminded me that we were going to a play that evening and if I didn't get my butt in gear I would be left home because she was going. At this point, I am almost equal in chips to the leader, and I own the other two.

So, I put myself in sit-out mode, got ready and went to the play. So what happened? I finished third. behind the guy that was in third and the chip leader. Oh well. That will teach me to know what the schedule here at the house is before I start a Sit-N-Go.

By the way, the play was excellent!

Enjoy the Pokery Goodness!

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UIGEA Hearing

Date: Sat, Apr 5, 2008

On April Second, the Financial Services Committee of the US House of Representatives held a hearing on UIGEA. I will deal with the substance a little later. Right now I want to deal with the subtext, or as I like to call it, the pretext of the hearing.



The UIGEA was passed in 2006. Today it is 2008. Both of these years are election years. Senator Bill Frist snuck the UIGEA into the Safe Ports Act because he knew that no one would vote against safe ports, especially in an election year. And he was right. It passed and President Bush signed it.



UIGEA is not before the Committee because Congress is serious about either changing or repealing it. It is before the Committee because politician want other politicians to be on the record. This way they can use the record to bash their opponents over the head with it in the elections this fall. I don't think that Congress will do anything about UIGEA (if they do anything at all) before the Fall of 2009.



With that said, on to the "substance": UIGEA overburdens banks with regulations. It is vaguely worded, and therefore hard to interpret. The cost to financial companies to comply would be "prohibitive", but hard to calculate the exact amount because of UIGEA's vague wording. It is limited in how it can combat "illegal internet gambling" and does not define exactly what "illegal internet gambling" is.

My take: Could UIGEA be used to stop purchases of goods and services via the internet? According to my mother-in-law it could. She views purchasing anything over the internet as a gamble.

Until they sort all this out sometime in 2009 or 2010,

Enjoy the Pokery Goodness!

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UIGEA is Bad, Conservatively Speaking

Date: Tue, Apr 1, 2008

A recent article in PokerNews says a conservative thinktank has come out with a White Paper against UIGEA.

Go read, enjoy, then let your Representatives in Congress know how you feel about UIGEA.

Enjoy the Pokery Goodness!

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Poker Blogger Tournement Series

Date: Mon, Mar 31, 2008

I won't be playing in this series, but if you like poker, and you blog, you might consider it.


See the banner above the posts. Unfortunately it is too wide to display here.


The reason I will not be playing is:

I have no legal way of transferring money to Bodog for the entry fees. (Thank you US Congress! - note the sarcasm)

Enjoy the Pokery Goodness!

Please note that I received no consideration - financial or otherwise for this post. This post was made as a courtesy to a fellow blogger, a real poker blogger unlike myself. Have fun Nadia!

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