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DINE ON THE WHALES

 (UPDATED: 08/24/10) Wild Bill's reflections on poker, sports, and issues facing the Gulf Coast:

"The influx of poker players from strategy games like the original Starcraft is evidence the guys at Let’s Poker had tapped into an emerging market for the future of poker. The “Internet” kids are no longer the emerging market, they are the market. For all intensive purposes they’ve take the game, through primarily an Internet poker experience to new heights. Those kids start playing at 16, 17, 18 and log hundreds, thousands, and millions of hands.

That begs the question, if the Gamers like virtual goods why wouldn’t they like them on a casino, sports betting, or poker platform. One quasi-virtual good, though in a sense it’s tangible information, would be for a site to offer betting tips. Information goes hand in hand with the experience but rather than the bettors going somewhere else for wager advice why not buy it through a team of experts on the site.
" [+]

"Bwin - Betting, Online Poker, Casino and Games"

SHORR 'NUFF

[UPDATED  08/23/10] Shannon Shorr has almost graduated.  That's bad news for the poker world because he's terrorized the circuit while also being a full time college student.  Now without distractions, like class every day, the only question is how quickly will he add to his over 3.2 million dollars in tournament winnings.  You can also read Shannon's blog at his homepage:  http://shannonshorr.com/ 

"As I type this I'm sitting in a room at Commerce Casino with my boy Jon Little. Later today we'll play day 1b of WPT Legends of Poker at The Bicycle Casino. This will be my 32nd career WPT, my first of season 9 on the World Poker tour, and the first one I've had time to play since January of 2010. They've dropped the buy-in for this one down to $5000 from $10,000 which I actually think is a good idea as far as drawing numbers.

Since I last posted I'm still not in my condo. There was a hold up with some of the paperwork, but I can now officially move in when I get back to Birmingham next week. Hopefully I'll return as a WPT champion.
" [+]

LITTLE THOUGHTS

[UPDATED  08/09/10] Jonathan Little has over 4 million dollars in lifetime winnings .  He was the WPT Season VI player of the year.  Born in Pensacola Florida, a mere 24 years ago the sky is the limit for this young pro whose online handle is jcardshark.  He also is a poker coach at sngicons.com

"I am currently working on a poker book.

I am actually almost finished with the rough draft. It is going to be called something like �Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker� or something like that. If anyone has any suggestions for topics to put in the book, please let me know. I have racked my brain and am pretty sure I have already covered every aspect of tournament poker in the book but I miiiiight have missed something."
[+]

 Gulf Coast Poker.NET
 

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FLOPPIN' ACES

[UPDATED: 08/22/10]  BRIAN HEPTINSTALL has been called the Nolan Dalla of the Gulf Coast.  His informative blog provides the latest news from an insiders  point of view of the poker industry.  His tournament coverage is second to none. 

"It's become so commonplace to see that Phil Hellmuth made some grand entrance. Is it really good for television, or just a stroke to his ego? Phil has made, yet another crappy entrance into the main event.

This time as a boxer. I'm gonna be one of a million other people who find it repulsing to see this guy parade around like this. Then, I'll be one of the million laughing that he was ousted after just a few hours play. " [+]

JENA'S POKER DIARY

[UPDATED 08/22/10] Jena Delk, isn't an up and coming poker player on the Gulf Coast because she's arrived.  A Florida native, Jena is a fixture on the circuit.  Her blog  chronicles her travels around the country pursuing her poker jones: 

"Today I am looking forward to getting together with my friends of the High Heels Poker Tour. Lauren Failla, founder of HHPT, formed this company is to give women a place to improve their poker skills and provide recognition of their efforts. of all ages the opportunity to expand their skills at the poker table.

 The mission statement of HHPT is “Our Mission at the HHPT is to empower women who want to become champions in the growing world of poker. The HHPT wants to provide the best competitive environment where women can explore, develop, and continue growing and learning top strategies and their “A” game. Opportunities and Recognition are what the HHPT is all about.”
"
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FADE EVERYTHING

[UPDATED: 07/14/10]  Bobby Toye is  a former LSU student and a rising online/live tournament player.  Toye has six live cashes to his name half of which are three first place finishes.  The aspiring screenwriter offers a well-written window into the life of a young poker player.

"Well...I'm leaving Vegas tomorrow. Off to California to play at the Commerce and then to San Diego to see some old friends. A week without poker is all too welcome.

Vegas was a bust. It always seems to turn out that way. The cash games eventually turned around for me, but not enough to pull me out the hole. I still stand by the decision not to play a single tournament. Only one or two of my roommates had much of anything to show for tourneys here, and they're all heavy hitters.."
[+]

MAKING MOVES

[UPDATED 06/19/10]Joey Gross takes you on the wild side of poker.  This tournament rounder isn't afraid to tell you how things really are on the poker road.   Buckle your seatbelt it's a fun ride.

"Well that happened. But, as usual...I have bounced back from crushing small live games and owning HU omaha on Full Tilt. I would also like to add...at any point there are several people I have the uhh..."Power of borrowing" option available to me, but...I dunno.

If I make a HUGE score, which I am at any time capable of doing, I dont wanna cut anyone in on it. Maybe for a tourny situation, but not cash. Well...i say that now...maybe in like huge OOBER game. Anyways...I nickle and dimed myself back to a nice size, playable bankroll, and it feels good!!" [+]

YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT

 [UPDATED: 03/25/09] The Tiltin' Texan serves up a steady diet of crazy late nights in poker rooms from across the coast. To him a 24 hour session is as quick as a traffic light.  His commentary on the sick side of poker is a fun read:

"I sit down with $500 in 1-2 game and this asian girl Linda is at the table with $260 or so. I see 2 hands played and she raised both times to like 30 to 40 bucks preflop. I know plenty about her and know she always goes broke along with her husband who plays fast like a madman too.

Well my first hand i get AK, young guy with over 300 in front of him makes it $15 under the gun. I call. It gets around to Linda on the button and she of course reraises to $50. (i dont think she ever puts anyone on a hand) young guy calls,I call. Flop is all spades low board. I do have a spade but its the King. Initial raiser checks ,I check, Mrs Saigon makes it 100.

Kid calls, i think he has best hand at the moment with QQ or JJ with a spade likely. I think if my two overs hit im good and hopefully my K spade hits its good so i call. Turn is a rag spade so i got my flush but not that thrilled. The kid moves all in for $160 ,I call and Linda calls her last $109. Nice first hand pot!!!" [+]

DA ROCK OF ACES

 (UPDATED: 03/14/09) Da Rock, tells it straight from the dealers' box and the winners' circle.

"HELLO FRIENDS AND POKER FAMILY. IT'S BEEN SOME TIME SINCE I HAVE LAST BLOGGED. A LOT HAS HAPPENED IN THAT PERIOD AND I HOPE TO SIT DOWN AND PUT IT IN A LENGTHY BLOG SOON, BUT FIRST I WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS AN ISSUE ABOUT A VERY GOOD PLAYER THAT'S NOT GETTING THE RECOGNITION THAT HE DESERVES, AND THAT PLAYER IS KENNY MILAM. MANNNNNN, WHERE IS THE LOVE FOR THIS GUY?."[+]

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THE "HONEST PLAYER"

 (UPDATED: 11/19/09) Is there such thing as an Honest (Poker) Player?  Parfait treads the line between deception and head games.  An up and comer, this Honest Player excels at hand analysis and table reads.

"A couple weeks ago I was able to put in a pretty long session at Harrah's with Davey and for the most part it was pretty fun. Didn't get out there till pretty late and it took forever to park but I finally sat down around 10:00 in a really bad game but luckily it broke fairly early and I was moved to a game that much better. I didn't really do anything great but I was able to book a win which is always nice. Never really had any interesting hands except when I straddled and and had 4,6 and flopped open ended with 6 ppl in the hand. I bet it and hit it on the turn and broke the guy next to me who was pretty unlucky and flopped a set. Of course the guy at the other end of the table "knew" what I had, well he said it was either a straight or a flush.....no shit huh, not to much else beats a set.

I was fortunate enough to be dealt 12 pocket pair in one night and connect for ZERO flops. I guess I wasn't trying hard enough, at least that's what Davey told me. Never really had any big hands either. I got the pleasure of playing with a local by the name of Melvin. Melvin is prolly one of the funniest ppl I've played cards with and he's not trying to be funny. He constantly falls asleep at the table and just brutally honest with people. He's been known to tell people they should stay b/c they play so bad he's guaranteed to win. He'll also call complete strangers sweetheart and just create this very weird vibe for the tourist but we all know it's a joke. There was Russian kid at the table and when he asked where the kid was from and he said Russia, Melvin let us know that "Russians are fuckin crazy, you can't trust them at all....they're more nuts than China-men"...needless to say he's not very P.C"
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AUSTIN MARTIN

 (UPDATED: 12/09/09) Austin Martin, former owner and operator of an online poker site brings his expert knowledge and home game expertise to GCP:

"If you have been reading along the last few weeks, you know I have had a terrible run. Finally, I have made a bit of a comeback. I amended my bankroll strategy for the Sunday million double shootout satellite tournaments. It is $11.70 to enter, and there are two seats guaranteed. Late at night and early in the week, these only get about 3o players. So, you are getting a good overlay as well as only having to beat 1 or 2 players to get into the second table. I played four of these tonight and won two of them.

In case you dont know, you can win these and then unregister and get the credit in tournament dollars. My bankroll is back over $500 and I am feeling good about the direction my luck is moving online. I will play a few more of these over the next few days and then covert the tournament dollars to cash in the 45 man sit n go's again
"[+]

JUICEY POKER

[UPDATED: 10/5/09] JASON LIPSCOMB gives you a chance to talk with a tournament director--directly.  Lipscomb will keep you abreast of all the happenings at Harrahs regarding tournaments and poker.  Check here for updates. 

"I know it has been awhile since my last post, but I here and have some good news. I recently signed on as a pro with http://www.feltstars.com/ and I must say the software is second to none. Yes better than tilt and pokerstars try it out and see it for yourself after all it free to try...

They are offering 300% bonus up to 3k total the largest of any online site and rake back deals too up to 30% and the rake back is added to your acct daily. Contact me for rake back deals @ juiceypoker@yahoo.com" [+}

 BRANDON'S BLOG

 (UPDATED: 12/01/09) Is there a guy on the coast playing as well as Brandon Jarrett  has dominated events in Biloxi, with a first at the IP and one at the Beau.  With 140k in tournament winnings in six months, he's one to watch, and one to learn from.  

"Brandon has a training video up here...Check it out folks...just click on the link"  [+].

 

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POKER UPDATE

08.30.10

CHILEAN MINERS CHECKING IN THE DARK.  Surviving on food rations and poker games trapped Chilean gold miners hope they will have enough mental and physical stimulation to make it through.  A daughter of one of the miners said, "It will be difficult, I'm sure, but I'm not worried about him.  I know he is happy and content down there because he is playing lots of poker and cards.  It is good for his mind."  The question is how much in the hole will losers go by the end of four months.  There is no ATM down there, but then again they are in a gold mine.   

MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE QUARTERBACK TOOK A LOAN OUT FOR A POKER BANKROLL.  Dwight Dasher is learning that apparently, the NCAA frowns on this kind of thing.  The $1,500 loan was given to him by Oliver Donnell.  In short order, that money was lost in a local game or two.  Dasher rushed for 201 yards in the New Orleans Bowl against Southern Miss last year and is now in a dash of trouble.

DEVILFISH ULLIOT WRITES A BOOK.  David "Devilfish" Ulliot (devil fish pictured), not to be confused with Darryll Fish, has penned a book. His a man who describes his opponents as "pale as Dracula's feet," so he should be an entertaining and interesting author.  Devilfish, who once burglarized an auction house to steal a grandfather clock so he could play in the home game of an antiques dealer, is definitely an old school character.  Victoria Corean reviews his book here.

DURRRR CHALLENGE TWO BEGINS.  Durrrr already down over 500k after quickly playing over 10% of the challenge.  Daniel "Jungleman12" Cates started slowly then reversed fields and has been crushing Dwan ever since when the two play online poker.  Durrrr started hot and got up almost 250k after just short of 1000 hands. 

By 2000 hands they were battling near even.  Just short of 3500 hands after a large pot, Jungleman12 hasn't looked back.  The closest Durrrr got to even was down a little over 50k near the 5000 hand mark.  Since then he's lost almost 500k. 

2009 SOUTHERN POKER CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS

08.29.10

Yeah we said 2009.  With no 2010 results yet reported here's the first half of last year's tournament.  Enjoy a scroll down memory lane.

EVENT 1: BY GEORGE:  Ronnie George of Douglasville, GA won 65k for first.  Larry Alexander of Grand Bay, AL took second for almost 24k.  Tom Becnel of Belle Chase, LA won 18k for 4th. 

EVENT 2 :CHUCK NORRIS AND AN ESKIMO:  Dan Clemente of Hernando, MS won 65k for first but all eyes were on the Texas Ranger and an Eskimo from New Orleans.  Eskimo Clark took 5th for 14k.  Chuck Norris won 6th for 12k.  Chuck Norris was a welcome tablemate throughout the tournament because nothing escapes Chuck Norris, therefore he doesn't fart.  Jacob Tyler, Birmingham, AL 8th for almost 7k.

EVENT 3: WILD-ING OUT.  Mark Wilds did what he usually does and that's win an event.  He bagged 50k for first.  Paul Distefano of Plaquemine, LA took almost 17k for third.  Jack Miller of Pass Christian, MS won almost 9k for 6th.  And GCP got on the board as blogger Brandon Jarrett won a little over 5k for 8th.

EVENT 4: FESKE 2ND BEST.  Michael Benvenuti of California won 63k for first.  Ron Feske of Folsom, LA took second for 35k.  Gabe Costner won 9k for 6th.

EVENT 5: BOSS BOSTICK.  Bill Bostick of St. Clair, MI won 12k for first.  Art Young of Biloxi, MS took just shy of 3k for 5th.

EVENT 6: TOYE-ING AROUND.  GCP blogger Bobby Toye won almost 9k for 3rd.  "Detroit Al" Green of Florida (Detroit is in Florida?) won almost 30k for first.  Thuy "TD" Djedjos of Jackson, MS won a little over 5k for 5th.

EVENT 7: LOCALS MUSCLED OUT.  No locals made the final table as Russell "The Muscle" Salzer of NY, NY won 16k for first.  Yebin Guo of Brooklyn took silver for 9k. 

EVENT 8: PULLEN IN POTS.  Picayune Mississippi's Thomas "Eddy" Pullens won 33k for first place.  Annie Lu got on the final table for the ladies. 

EVENT 9: DO CALL ME BUDDY.  New Orleans, LA native Thomas "Buddy" Rouzan was the runner-up winning 36k.  Tony Lay of OK City, OK won 70k for first and felt okay about it.

ODDS AND ENDS IN POKER UPDATE

08.28.10

ANDREW FRANKENBERGER WINS WPT.  Despite having a last night of a item that should be on Man vs. Food, Frankenberger could also plays some poker.  He runner-runnered Jonathan Little and from there wielded his huge stack on to victory, despite the local villagers chasing him around with torches on the breaks.  Kyle Wilson finished second, Tom Lee third.  Jared Jaffee finished in 5th.  Frankenberger won 750k, Wilson 370k, Lee 174k. 

BLANCA GAMES ACQUIRES CEREUS POKER.  Seriously.  Though no changes will be made in terms of staff, day to day operations, or really anything?  Looks like Stuart Gordon will be the new CEO but beyond that it's same old same.  Shell corporation?

VICTORY POKER GOING TO CAKE.  They will join Doyle's Room, Unabomber Poker and some other sites.  Currently Victory is on the Everleaf network and will continue until September 1st.  The aforementioned Jonathan Little is a Victory Poker pro.

J. LITTLE 2ND IN CHIPS AT WPT BELL GARDENS UPDATE

08.25.10

JONATHAN LITTLE AT 1.314 MILLION.  Andrew Frankenberger chip leader at 1.958 million.  Two other players above 1 million.  Chip average is 770k.  Only 15 players left.  Everybody obviously already in the money.  Phil Collins yesterday's chip leader lost his golden (invisible) touch and busted.  So too Soi Nguyen, Allen Kessler, Erica Schoenberg, Joe Hachem, Tim Phan and Amit Makhija.  Tom Lee lurks as does a possible catalog of corny Motley Crue and Pam Anderson references.  A Little first place finish will tie him with Gus Hansen and Carlos Mortensen for most ever WPT titles with three.

DARRYLL FISH CASHES.   Fish was able to turn his short stack into a 19th place finish.  The payday was only a little double his buy-in and he just missed a pay jump, but a pay-out is a pay-out.  Great job Fish.  Fish got chomped by Frankenberger whose AK improved and bettered Fish's pocket jacks.

WPT BELL GARDENS AND ONLINE UPDATE

08.24.10

DARRYLL FISH AND JOHN LITTLE HOPE TO BECOME LEGENDS OF POKER.   60 left at the WPT tournament at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California.  They are nearing the money bubble after 462 players signed up to play.  Jonathan Little is 11th in chips with 305k.  Erica Schoenberg isn't far behind at 245k (Erica Schoenberg?!?!?  Erick Lindgren's girl friend?  If you want to see more of Erica Schoenberg google Erica Schoenberg strip poker and you'll get an eyefull).  Joe Seebok and November Niner Soi Nguyen are also just above the chip count average of 193.5k.  Darryll Fish at 143k is hanging around. 

AGAINST ALL ODDS PHIL COLLINS CHIP-LEADER.  We could do the easy Phil Collins references but it's just not in the air tonight for us to be corny.  However, it is just another day in paradise for Collins who is sitting on a giant chip-stack of 898,00 (more than 300k more than second place Andrew Frankenberger).  Take a look at him now, he's been waiting on this moment all his life, and the young Collins is su-su-su-sure he has what it takes to win it all.  Easy Lover Tom(my) Lee is also in the tournament.  Luckily for you he's not the chip-leader.

MATT GRAHAM WINS 73K AND TRISHELLE CASHES.  After agreeing to a four way chop Graham is credit for 4th place in the Full Tilt 740k guarantee.  Trishelle Canatella hosted one of UB's tournaments the Sniper No Limit Hold'em Tournament in the UBOC and min-cashed in her own event. 

NOVEMBER NINER JOHN DOLAN UPDATE

08.20.10

DOLAN MAKES FINAL TABLE IN CYPRUS.  The Full Tilt Merit Cyprus High Roller freeze out.  Prize pool is 873k.  Top five spots pay, 9 left.  Those gone include Michael Mizrachi, Phil Ivey, Sorel Mizzi, Andrew Feldman and Carter Phillips.  Filippo Candio also joined the two November Niners (Grinder and Dolan) in the tournament but failed to not get frozen out.  Perica Bukara is the chip leader (951k), Ori Miller second (546k), and Dolan is third (455k).  Jon Turner, Andrew Feldman, David Benyamine and Carter Phillips are also at the table.  Here's a Pokernews video from after day 1.

 

 

POKER POLICE BLOTTER UPDATE

08.19.10

YOU AIN'T GOT SPIT:  Oh yeah?  One man in California, 52 year old Mesbah Khaffaji, had just that when he projectile spat his dinner at a dealer.  Khaffaji had been running bad and lost a couple of pots.  Had to be the dealers fault right?  He, shockingly, was arrested.  L.A. Times has the details.  If he had been playing at an online poker room all he would have done is dirtied his monitor, instead he got arrested.

LIKELY HOLLOWAY KILLER, A STONE COLD NUT, WHO PLAYED POKER NIGHT OF AND NIGHT AFTER HER MURDER.  Joran Van der Sloot was arrested in South America after busting out of a poker tournament and killing a local girl.  After that arrest a man in Philadelphia, Matthew Biebel, came forward with the tale he told the FBI when they were investigating the Natalie Holloway murder in Aruba.  On successive nights he got into confrontations with Van der Sloot at the poker table of an Aruba casino because Van der Sloot was talking to his friends in the native tongue of the island when mulling over big calls against Biebel.  Words were exchanged, the floor was called, and Biebel thought the kid a punk.

Prior to the arrest in South America Biebel thought that was all Van der Sloot was, because in his mind what young killer could possibly play poker as calmly as Van der Sloot did the night of the murder and the night after.   Now, he realizes how possible it was. Just goes to show, you never know who the idiot is across the table no matter what he appears to be.  Read the Philly Inquirer for more.

JUDGE RULES A CON ARTIST CAN AVOID JAIL BY PLAYING POKER.  We think this guys is a pretty good con artist.  While not quite ruling a man to be someone else's butler, this decision is head-scratching at best.  Samuel McMaster, a New Mexico stockbroker, bilked his clients to the tune of 444k.  The judge will allow him to skip jail time if he can earn 7500 a month playing poker.  He will be allowed to travel in conjunction to play the game. 

What happened to the 444k?  He lost it gambling.  And the judge is sending him to casinos to win it back?  Makes sense.  No pressure there either for McMaster to play his best, because if he whiffs for two months out of six he's headed to 12 years of hard time.

ONLINE POKER UPDATE

08.18.10

MCLEAN KARR STRIKES FOR 417k WINNING FTOPS EVENT.  The one time Gulf Coaster (by the way check out him and others on our updated WHO'S WHO page), beat IReadYrSoul and Shawn Buchanan to win event #29 of FTOPS. 

The 2k No Limit Hold'Em (ante from the start) Two-Day Event Six Max featured a number of well known players in a tough field.  Prahlad Friedman went out 7th and David Pham 17th.

FISH SHORT OF SHORR.  Two Gulf Coasters, blogger Shannon Shorr (you can find his blog to the left) and Darryll Fish finished in 7th and 8th, respectively, in the PokerStars Sunday 500.  Shorr won just under 17k and Fish a little over 11k.

ARCHIVES NOW MAKE SENSE.  We weren't just busy updating the Who's Who section this weekend, click around a bit and you'll see some improvements.  Incidentally, you can email Wild Bill or message us through facebook with stats and a pic if you think you are worthy of being on Who's Who.  What else did we do?  We also trolled through our archives and sorted them in a much easier to read format by date.  Click the ARCHIVES link to sniff around yours and our recent past.

KICK PHIL LAAK WHEN HE'S DOWN.  The Unabomber had a nasty ATV accident where he almost went blind with lacerations to his eye, broke his arm/elbow in multiple places, and received stitches.  We do not know if his vision was impeded by a hooded sweatshirt, but Unabomber poker is giving away a signed one in a freeroll on August 31st.

Whoever knocks out the Unabomber wins the hoodie.  Phil reports he has nothing to do but play online poker at home and cuddle with girlfriend Jennifer Tilly.  He reports she's better than percocet.  He might get injured more often.   By the way, Phil Laak (or a guy posing as Laak) has expressed his like for us on facebook, you should too.  Click the badge and express your like for us. 

ONE SICK DISEASE UPDATE

08.17.10

KEVIN EYSTER WINS EPT TALLINN HEADS UP TITLE:  You may know him better as 1$ickDisea$e.  He's from Lafayette, LA (now living in Denver) and relatively new to the live tournament circuit.  Why new?  Well, he's relatively new to adulthood.  He's younger than most having recently turned 21 (or will so this year) and as such has been playing tournaments in far flung places like Tallinn.  He's primed for a breakout after killing it online for the last few years.  With over a million in lifetime winnings we'd say he's off to a good start.

The final four included Vanessa Selbst on the other side of the bracket.  Eyster won but Selbst didn't.  Eyster beat Hungarian Vlademar Kwaysseri who beat Selbst.  The title paid 41k Euro.  That's approximate 3 million U.S... or maybe a little less.  Read a Google translated version here or learn Estonian and scrap the translation.

A DISEASE OF ANOTHER SORT:  Craigslist killer, Philip Markoff, 24, who gave a bad name to Craigslist killers everywhere by being a Foxwoods poker degen, killed himself in jail.  In a detail sure to not bring a tear to your eye, he killed himself on the day of what would have been his first wedding anniversary. 

A DISEASE AND COMPETITION OF YET ANOTHER SORT:  Man dies in the finals of world sauna championship in Finland.  This competition has been held 12 times with the competitors trying to outlast others in the heat and steam.   Shocking this ended in injury and even death.  The best part of this piece is where it says police are investigating the cause of his death.  Hypothermia?

POKER UPDATE

08.16.10

JACKPOT CITY: Local player and friend of GCP, Davey "Davey16" Bourg gets the high hand in the close to 1/4 million dollar jackpot at the Isle of Capri in Lake Charles last week. Davey had a straight flush and the loser had 4 of a kind (I think 9's) to sweep the big portion of the prize. Our hero walks away with around $65,000 (before Taxes)...and left with a backpack full of cash...we like that ...screw the checks...leave with the bricks.

ONLINE POKER NEWS.: We had a few gulfcoasters rack up some scores online recently:

Bryan "MaravichLSU" Lanoix makes a nice score on Absolute Poker last week with a $5700 score in the "Sniper $20k G". You will see Bryan Spotlighted in the "Online Zone" in the next GCP Magazine.

The Chemist83 makes 2 (two) scores last week for close to $21,000 total. He got 2nd in the $162 buy in "Nightly Hundred Grand" for $13,700. That 2nd place finish came on the heels of a $7200... 4th place finish a few days before in the $75k Guarantee on Absolute Poker

BEWARE OF THE HACKERS: Always beware before you ship people money on any of the sites from IM software as this software itself...can be hacked. Seems Darryll "DFish" Fish had his AIM account attacked last week. Good news is that Fish found out quick...contacted all his contacts...and the hacker didn't get very far...we just spoke to Fish (sick brag)...and all is good.

FLORIDA POKER AND MORE

08.12.10

MIKE THE MOUTH ADDS INJURY TO INSULT IN FLORIDA.  Mike Matusow, front fanny pack aficionado, at a Deep Stacks University gig in South Florida said, that in the Sunshine state "you're dealing with a lot of raw players, and they're terrible."  There seems to be a growing sentiment amongst the pros the waters are rife with fish in Florida because of the recent law changes to allow no limit play to buy-ins at the Florida poker tables. 

Is that true?  Doubtful considering how many good players there are from Florida--just look at the Main Event Final Table with three out of nine from Florida.

Problem is, Matusow didn't just talk a big game he walked it (for once).  Shortly after making those comments he bested 400 players at the Isle Casino & Racing in Pompano Beach tournament  The three day 1k buy-in tournament ended with Matusow winning more than 100k for first.

NFL NO LONGER AN OBSTACLE FOR ONLINE POKER LEGISLATION.  Problem is sports betting was thrown out of the online mix of things trying to get legit.  This keeps the billion dollar pockets of the NFL from lobbying to block the legislation but still means if you want to make a sports bet outside of Vegas and Delaware you have to make a dodgy phone call to an even dodgier guy with a name like Vinnie "No Nuts."

QUALITY JONATHAN LITTLE POKER COACHING ARTICLE.  Gulf Coast Poker Blogger (and another great player from Florida) Jonathan Little talks to PokerNews about a new project he's engaging in: building a bankroll by starting with $300 right here and here. 

FLORIDA IS GETTING THE WPT.  If you believe the Mouth that Florida is full of bad, bad, bad poker players (despite plenty of examples of the opposite like Jason Mercier, the Grinder et al) you should probably be heading to Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida in late April/early May of next year. 

ULTIMATE BET SUPER-USER CHEATING FALLOUT.  The latest in Wicked Chops excellent two (three?) part-er on the scandal.  Read here for more.

WORLD POKER OPEN UPDATE AND MORE

08.09.10

PARTY POKER - BWIN MERGE.  The Euros are coming.  First Anurag Dikshit paid off the U.S. Government, we get a pro poker bill through committee, and now the Euros are putting together a goliath poker site to take over our players and battle online poker rooms like Full Tilt.  We say competition is good and the more the merrier.  Want to learn more about Party's expansion efforts?  Read here.

DURRRR CHALLENGE NOT YET OVER, DESPITE MORE THAN A YEAR OF TRYING.  Wicked Chops has a post on the things that have transpired since the Durrrr Challenge began but what is really strange is the fact that he is already lining up his next victim (and by victim we mean opponent who will slowly grow old with Durrrr before finishing this off in a nursing home).  Who will be the lucky guy to race rascals with Durrrr 80 years from now when the next challenge is completed

Currently, slowly losing his good looks is Patrik Antonius.  One year and one half year later Durrrr is up by two million dollars with 80% of the play completed.   Of note Antonius wins about 3.1k per winning hand and Durrrr only 2.9k however our of the nearly 40k worth of hands Durrrr has won 2000 more.  Aggression wins.  Bet, bet, bet, and bet again.

YOU KNOW WHO ELSE LIKES TO BET, BET, BET, AND BET AGAIN?  Tyler Smith, the winner of the World Poker Open.  Monkey, at right, did a great write up the kid, and the destruction he brings to a poker table at that event, and we'd like to congratulate him again for another win.  The 152k will fatten Smith's bankroll. 

The final table had a few local names in the 91 player event.  Jeremy Drewery took second for 80k, Gene Fletcher third for 50k, Earl Barron Jr (Clarksdale, MS) 4th for 33k, Noel Marsh 5th for just under 20k, Captain Tom Franklin 6th for 25k, Kathy Lehne 7th for 21k, one of our favorites Kenny Milam 8th for 16k and Patrick Mahoney 9th for 12k.

CHRIS FERGUSON TRIES TO WIN HIS OWN TOURNAMENT IN FTOPS ACTION.  Jesus finished 5th in the FTOPS $300 buy-in.  He won 6k for his time.  The other 4,684 who played got to watch the host of the poker game outlast all but 4 of them until he ran his AQ into AA.

WORLD SERIES OF POKER MAIN EVENT AND MORE UPDATE

08.06.10

CAKE FOR HACKERS?  Seems like Cake Poker is undergoing some difficulties in their encryption, SSL protection, double blind redundancy, internet secur...  actually we have no idea what's wrong with Cake but it appears they have a "hole" that allows hackers to come in.  Much fear and hand-wringing going on among Cake players.  Then again the Internet may be cracking, Poker Bots are winning on Pokerstars read here, someone just took a ginzu knife to the GCP server (missed us?  Here's a GCP-esque post that was supposed to tide you over... that you might have missed), and someone named Sarah Connor has released a manifesto saying Skynet is sentient.

THIS GUY WAS A MURDERER?  Ron Fanelli who sported a devious handlebar moustache, dastardly slick backed hair, wore evil sunnies inside when not at a poker table, and went by the nickname "The Mad Yank," had an online handle "NewTeaBag," and started filthy threads like this at 2+2, shockingly is a murderer.  He killed, chopped up and stuffed the body parts of a Thai prostitute into a suitcase.   The former professional poker player cited his internet connection being down as one of the reasons he killed the prostitute.

GUY LIED ABOUT HIS HAND AT MAIN EVENT AND FEELS BAD ABOUT IT.  Second link to a 2+2 thread today, yay message boards as news sources!  Lionel Hutz expressed contrition about lying to a kid in a Kangol hat who said he folded bottom set to him.  Hutz had top set but said he had two pair.  Now, he wants the kid to know he made the right play.  This is a bit ridiculous and sounds like an Onion story, but we think its true and considering the blurb above about a guy chopping up prostitutes, let's celebrate some people with a conscious (sic) that play poker.

NOVEMBER NINE ODDS SET.  John Dolan, second in chips is second most likely to win, behind the guy first in chips. 

Seat 1: Jason Senti — 7,625,000 (25/1)
Seat 2: Joseph Cheong — 23,525,000 (6/1)
Seat 3: John Dolan — 46,250,000 (4.6/1)
Seat 4: Jonathan Duhamel — 65,975,000 (3.75/1)
Seat 5: Michael Mizrachi — 14,450,000 (7/1)
Seat 6: Matthew Jarvis — 16,700,000 (11.5/1)
Seat 7: John Racener — 19,050,000 (9.2/1)
Seat 8: Filippo Candio — 16,400,000 (16.5/1)
Seat 9: Soi Nguyen — 9,650,000 (18.5/1)

WORLD POKER OPEN UPDATE

08.02.10

9 LEFT IN MAIN EVENT:  "Well ...Well...Well...What have we here...Tyler Smith at another Final Table". Does this kid ever cool off???

Looks like we have 3 Gulf Coasters making a run at the cheese in Tunica with Tyler either the CL or 2nd in chips. He pretty much lead the way allthe way thru from what we here. The other 2 are Kenny "Trucker Kenny" Milam...and Captain Tom Franklin. (both pic at right). I know Kenny got a lot of feedback on that "cool ass" 70's shirt he was rockin...LOL

Seems Monkey made a nice run but came up just short of the FT/Money. The hand was described to me as below: (could be wrong)

Monkey raises and gets popped by Kenny...Monkey Flats...Board comes out 5-6-7 rainbow...Monkey jams...Kenny calls with J-J...Monk has 8-8 and bricks out.

OTHER POKER NEWS.  Tim "TK" Miles made a nice run at the Sunday Million yesterday when he decided to play online poker coming in somewhere around 40th for over $3k.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: We want to apologize to everyone about the updates as the technical difficulties we have been experiencing. Seems the server where we are housed spazzed out and the operating system became corrupt. Shout out to Pinnacle Computers in Houma for working diligently to get the server back up.

JOHN DOLAN A NOVEMBER NINER

07.21.10

THREE FROM FLORIDA LEFT.  It's cloud nine for the November Nine (*Brian Heptinstall) and the Gulf Coast has a rooting interest.  John Dolan, a winner of a Winter Bayou Classic tournament late last year and a Gulf Coast Poker Championship tournament, is now in contention to win the big one.  Dolan moved up to second in chips by a steely willingness to steal as the Final Table bubble neared.  That kind of fearlessness has him on everybody's radar.

Dolan got his start when he'd log on to play online poker  as a youngster, and he has been cleaning up in the live tournament game ever since.  Read his profile at this poker blog.

Also, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi and John Racener both of Florida are still alive.  The Grinder was a massive chip leader at one point, almost lost it all and struggled and "grinded" all day to make it to the final nine.  Arguably, the only player to grind better was Dolan.

Gabe Costner had to settle for 35th spot and a quarter of a million pay day.  Costner at one point seized the chip lead, too, but then went cold at the worst possible time.   We will certainly have more on the November Nine in the coming days and weeks.  Congrats to John Dolan and all those rooting for him!

For more news that no longer qualifies as the latest, because... it's no longer recent, follow the link below...

ARCHIVED NEWS BLOTTER>>>

AND MORE

POKER IS WAR

 (UPDATED: 08/21/10) Gene D's outlook on the local and national poker scene:

"So my 1st stop a few weeks ago was in Vicksburg, MS ...where I felt like I "Fell down the Rabbit Hole" in the poker room at the Ameristar. The last time I was in Vicksburg, the only poker room they had was at The Horizon. The Ameristar opened up their room a year ago...and the Horizon shut down their room...nice.

I showed up with the latest edition of the magazine and immediately put a "Target" on my back. The funny part was...I had the same clothes on that day as the picture of me in my article...exact same outfit...Same GCP hat and all. It was somewhat "Cheesy"."
[+]

 

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THE POKER MONKEY

 [UPDATED: 08/22/10] Poker Monkey shares his insights on the tournament poker circuit, life in general, and the battle to make it happen:

"woke up. Fed the dogs. Made Squirrel coffee...and logged on to 'Stars. When the dust cleared, I had made a grand total on the day of $108. I played maybe 25 MTT's, cashed about 14 of them...but nothing more than a $100 score in something I can't remember. Yesterday, I started the day with a WIN in one of those $12/180pp deals for $596. Great way to start the day. But ended the day with a $480 profit total. Had another 14th place finish....ugh! And about two or three other deep runs. Today in my first $12/180 I got to the Final Table with the small stack...but doubled up with QQ vs. A9 then 77 vs. Q5 and thought I might just duplicate yesterday. Nope. Out 7th.

So...I am geeked for tomorrow. Going to play the Sunday Million for the 1st time in quite awhile. Have a seat in the Lamborghini Freeroll too. "
[+}

IF YOU'RE TOO CAREFUL

[UPDATED 08/22/10] ReidG ...who was raised in New Orleans and lives in Mobile brings his perspective on the Gulf Coast scene to GCP.NET.

"150/300 (25a). Folds to my button first hand after break. I open to 700, SB folds. BB announces "re-raise." He makes it 2500 (with about a 10k stack that I cover) and I insta-jam. He lets out a big sigh and finally folds AJo faceup.

This is the standard mistake lots of amateurs make. He thinks I'm stealing, so he 3bets, then is exasperated when I shove. First, when you consider 3betting, have a plan for how you're going to react to certain responses. Second, don't turn AJ into a bluff for 25% of your stack. Not good."  [+]

POKERBAT

[UPDATED: 08/17/10]  THE POKER BAT is an online player from Northern Louisiana who is trying out blogging to help him with his game.  Bat will delve into hand scenarios and discuss issues facing today's online player. 

"Ever seen a large man moonwalk? When the Bat wins his first televised final table that’s exactly what the Bat will be doing. The last time the Bat was online… um about 10 seconds ago the Bat was crushing souls and mindfarting on the faces of the pimpled online elitists that play this game for a career. You want to hear a hero call?

The Bat just made one. In the big blind with Nine Deuce a hand the Bat likes because it can only improve (except when it doesn’t) there are a couple of limpers until the button min-raises. Really? The Bat giggles. The min-raise is a bit like moving the limbo bar down to your shoulders when only midgets are playing. The Bat clicks call quicker than a Gator will eat a Marshmallow on a swamp tour. Get yourself to the Bayou if you don’t know."
[+]

GCP.NET's OFFICIAL FORUM IS THE FULLTILTFORUM:

COME JOIN IN THE THREADS WITH THE LIKES OF COMPTONMASTA, VIRGE, POKERUSKY AND REX55

TALES OF A ROVING GAMBLER

[UPDATED:  08/16/10] Benton is not just a roving gambler, he's achieved most of his success in one place, in front of his computer screen.  Benton is from Thibodeaux originally and been just about everywhere, but currently lives in Houston but is moving to Alabama.

"Bad news going forward is that we are having trouble getting high speed internet. My wife picked up a network card from AT&T so that we could at least pay bills, and I guess write blogs, LOL. I played poker using it for like 5 minutes but the cards dragged pretty bad and I almost timed out repeatedly. Hopefully they can get our internet hooked up soon. I do have my office all set up and ready to go...

...  I just finished framing and hanging all my posters today which inlcude an original Rounders movie poster, a blown up poster of a 2005 CardPlayer magazine cover with Stu Ungar on the cover, and an original 2003 WSOP event poster that I bought at Binions Horseshoe the first year I attended the WSOP after moving to Las Vegas. This poster is cool because it has a picture of all the "Millionaires Club" on it (people who won $1 Mill or more at the WSOP LIFETIME) and it's only like 30 or so people. I'm guessing half that many join the club each year now at the series " [+]

THE NUTS

[UPDATED 06/03/10]Ross L strips down poker to its core, essentially a constant emotional struggle for superiority based on mathematical computations and interpreting intrinsically incomplete information.  The thinking man's blog.

"Enforcement of UIGEA will officially begin on Tuesday 6/1/2010, & will carry a wide range of speculation throughout the online poker community; this speculation will range from having no major impact on most players to complete lockdown of all U.S. accounts. This act does not make online poker illegal or playing poker an illegal activity, yet is it designed to block transfers from US financial institutions to offshore gaming websites. This is just another way in which big government attempts to micromanage our daily lives.

“The WTO Appellate Body did recognize that Internet gambling raises unique concerns, including: the volume, speed, and international reach of the gambling transactions; low barriers to entry; the isolated & anonymous environment in which such gambling takes place. These factors make Internet gambling particularly accessible to minors and addictive, thus justifying special treatment in order to protect the public’s morals and order.”
"  [+]

 

RECOGNIZE AND REACT

 (UPDATED 03/31/09) A new title but the same blog, Goondingy or Big Smoove and pure aggression on the felt examines live poker action:

"Made it over to Harrah's this past Saturday and had to drive around for a bit as the parking garage was closed, but after about 10 minutes of looking for off street parking I head back over and it is opened.

I do not claim that I am the best player but I know my way around the poker table and have had success over the last six or seven years but I discovered a MAJOR LEAK this weekend that I need to get pass or it will eat me up!
"[+]

Poker Fiction

[UPDATED:  05/23/10]PLAYER N scribes a tale of grifters, sleaze balls, and beautiful card sharks all hustling on the Coast.

"My palms got sweaty and my shoulders got tighter with the anticipation of having to make a decision. It only took a half an hour for me to be on the spot. While they were dealing Texas Hold ‘Em Two Times bet the flop and then the turn as he always did, he shook the other two players out the hand, and only Silverback went with him to the river. This was the standard poker game for those two. Yet, it didn't feel standard at all to me.

Action on Two Times and he stared at Silverback’s cards and right through them, I knew he was waiting. Silverback had nothing, complete garbage, and was waiting to make a move if Two Times checked. I was frozen stiff I didn’t know who scared me more. Suddenly I was playing a
Texas Holdem
in my mind.

"  [+]

The cc Line

 [UPDATED: 02/15/10] Shoats, a film school buff, tackles sports gambling, fantasy sports and of course poker but never in the buff.  He also pledges to snap off lunchboxes at every opportunity.

"Pot #1: Limp in from the SB with 5,5 (4 other limpers already). BB raises to $15. UTG calls, UTG+1 calls, other 2 callers call and I call. 6 players. Flop is K,5,2 rainbow - pretty ideal for my hand because I think anyone with a king will want to end the pot on the flop. As I'm first to act, however, I don't want to risk it being checked around if no one has a king and then have someone pick up a draw on the turn. I bet $37 into the $90 pot, figuring any king will call or better yet, raise.

I have $77 behind after this bet. UTG+1 calls and everyone else folds. No way he has AA or KK because he would have re-raised the $15 preflop at a minimum. Turn is an A, still no flush draw. I forget the exact action here but it all goes in for both of us and he has me covered. I have a set, he has 3.4 off...wheel straight. River bricks and I'm felted."[+]

POBODY'S NERFECT

 [UPDATED: 11/07/09]  Matt Bryrant is trying to conquer this poker thing.  He's well armed as he meshes a dealer's insight with his grinder's perspective.

"Is poker all about math? Is poker all about feel? Position? Your cards? Your opponent?

I could go on and on.....

I wanted to talk a little about feel. I think I'm more of a feel player than a math player(I'm not saying this is the better way to be). I will review a hand from the Full Tilt 50-50 tournament I managed to squeak my way through. I'll try to set-up this hand just a little:

At the moment, I have never used PokerTracker. I'm not apposed to it. Actually, I plan to use it in the future when I plan to give online poker a legitimate run. But I have no stats on the "villain" in this hand. What I can tell you, is that this hand is played early at the final table. I don't have much prior history with him/her. I start this hand 4th in chips
.[+]

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THE LONELY ROAD

 (UPDATED 12/20/09) Virge's road is the internet highway, he's now one of the top online (formerly) local players: 

It's fairly obvious since I haven't posted in a while, but I've taken extended break to travel and see the world. I'm more than happy to talk to anyone, but I won't be offering any coaching or any other poker services while I'm away.

Say hi if you'd like to hear some great stories; I may get around to posting them at some point.
" [+]

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