Wow

You know, this blog has been dormant an awfully long time, and no one may actually ever read this, but I have to say it.

We are in the midst of a major recession. People are trying to find jobs, keep their homes, and our federal government is continuing to turn their backs on a revenue stream in online poker, and now, not only are they doing this, but they are now PROSECUTING those involved in the game.

Don't you have anything better to do? Like fix the economy? Fix health care? Fix the stupid situation we're involved with in the Middle East?

No? Oh, ok, carry on then, go after PokerStars, Full Tilt, and Ultimate Bet.

Shame on you, Washington. Shame on you.

You should be embarrassed to call yourselves leaders. If you're so-called "leaders," and the people you're leading don't WANT what you're doing, then who are you leading? That's right, yourselves and your own interests.

I said it once, I'll say it again. Shame on you.

As One Door Closes...

Another one opens. Last night, as I touched on in the forum, I played in a little $10 buy in home-game style tournament at a local Army-Navy Garrison. Just as I was having doubts about my game, and thinking things like "Can I actually play this game anymore?" I go and turn in one of the most dominating performances I've ever seen in a tournament.

The structure there is a little strange--I was invited by my father-in-law, who is a member, and they start with T100k in chips, with 500/1000 blinds, and the blinds double each half-hour. There is a 3 1/2 hour time limit, so with a 7 pm start time, whomever leads in chips at 10:30 is declared the winner.

These guys have no idea about me (or at least they didn't), so I figure I go in there and play a little weak. It's a rotate-dealer game, all NL Holdem, so I make a couple mistakes dealing cards, recognizing whose action it is (to make me appear fishy), and play starts in earnest. I play the first 5 hands I'm dealt (all junk) and watch the other players take pretty much everything to showdown. Bluffing won't work here (as you'll see later), and if you're seeing the flop, if you want to win, you're showing your hand down. No problem. I'll adjust.

I start to accumulate chips and I'm up to about T130K when the first victim falls. He's played every hand so far, so when he limps in, I'm not shocked. I am shocked to see KK though. I raise (with 1k/2k blinds) to 10k and am actually surprised when he calls. The flop comes Jack-high, and he insta-pushes the flop. Reading him for weak, and maybe a set, but having him covered (he had about 50k left at the start of the hand), I call and he shows 22. My kings hold up and he's the first guy out. The first of many to fall at my hands.

To make a long story short, I had 6 at my initial table. I knocked out 4 of the other 5 when they moved players to make another 6-man table. I knocked out two players in the same hand when they pushed into my turned nut-flush, and two hands later, I knocked out two more players when my 87s flopped the nut straight. We were down to 2 at my table, and there were 5 left at the other table, so when the other table made it to 6, we combined to the final table.

I had almost T1.3 million when I went to the final table, my nearest competitor had about T200k. I actually had to use CAFETERIA TRAYS to carry my chips over to the final table. I drew ooohs and aaahs when I brought my tray over, and drew "Omigod"s when the TD brought over the SECOND full tray.

The only bump in the road that I hit was about 4 hands into the final table when I raised to 100k (being a big stack is awesome) with ATs UTG and the remaining big stack pushed over me with his remaining 180k. I called him and he showed (I kid you not) T7o.

We flopped a ten, he rivered the seven, so I doubled him up and he had life. We got to three handed with me having a significant lead (about T1.2 million to about T400k each for the other two), and soon enough, the other two ended up all-in. The T7 guy above flopped a straight, then pushed into a turned flush, so I was heads up.

Heads up went back and forth, and we decided to chop (after I ran card-dead for almost the entire heads up period and gave up the chip lead). Not too shabby, eh?

They figured out just before the final table that I was a pro...Here's the conversation:

Guy 1: "Oh, look at this show-off. All these chips...(sheepishly, kidding around)"
Guy 2: "Yeah, he's been either real lucky, or he's a ringer. Isn't he Bob's son-in-law?"
Guy 3: "Yeah. He's either lucky, or a pro."
Me: "Hmm. Who told you that?"
Guy 2: "Oh shit."
Me: *smiling ear-to-ear*

Shockingly, I was invited back weekly.

More on the Legislation...

In response to Richard (Quiet Lion) Brodie, who honors me by reading my humble blog (and he should read the REAL strategy stuff at the VPP Blog)...and who mentioned in a comment that Orwell's 1984 was written 56 years ago in 1948...

You know, Richard, I didn't even see that in the article. Had I proofread before I cut/paste this morning (note the time--baby was awake), I'd have spotted it in a heartbeat.

Doesn't change the fact that it scares the daylights out of me that our government seems to be chopping away at our liberties in the bogus interest of security and morals...It's seeming like this country is becoming rapidly no better than Orwell's world...

When I first saw the information about the legislation, I was angry. I admit. Now that I've had some time to digest the information, what the legislation means, and what is REALLY going on in this country, I'm infuriated. The large sites have all come to the US government and basically BEGGED to be regulated/taxed a la the UK, but the US government, on its high moral horse, refused. It's amusing, and here I really don't care who I piss off, but a forum that I participate in (not VPP) has several members--who are all outstanding people, by the way--that have very different political views to mine. They toss around words in the off-topic forums like "liberal" like it's roughly equivalent to "child molester." They defend the Republican right like it [as a unit] is their very own child, and defend the policies, because of varying reasons, some starting from 9/11, others starting from the conservative natures of their home states/upbringing.

My question to them is, what now my friends? Our government, led by true POLITICIANS (the real "dirty word" in this equation) have screwed us royally. The great joke of our nation is that we are a "representative democracy." Our politicians have no interest in representing us. They represent only those that line their pockets.

Here's to them learning in November that no matter how much money special interests funnel into their bank accounts, the REAL people that sign their paychecks are pretty pissed off, and we're tired of being repeatedly disappointed by those we elected to office, on empty promises.

...and that goes for BOTH sides of the aisle, boys.

You want to make a difference? Make your voice heard. Call your Senators? No. They couldn't (for the most part) give a damn less. Make your voice heard with your VOTE. Vote these miscreants out--NOW. Let's not make the same mistake twice.

Go, CJ!

Couldn't have said it better myself. Go read CJ at Up for Poker!

The seedy side of politics is ugly. Always has been. Always will be. What today has ensured for me is that I will never, ever vote for Bill Frist for anything. In fact, I will campaign vigorously against him.

Rep. Jim Leach (R-IA) has a great deal of sway over the Republican caucus that will help launch a potential 2008 GOP nominee. Rep. Jim Leach wanted an internet gambling bill passed this session. Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) made this happen. Sen. Bill Frist will be running for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. Quid pro quo is alive and well.

The Port Security Act is a long overdue piece of legislation that's designed to make this nation safer. It took Congress five years after 9/11 to finally make this happen, and in its haste to get it done before a mid-term elections, this Congress "didn't have time" to also protect our mass transit. They did, however, "have time" to add a new bill designed to curb internet gambling.

What this Congress is saying, then, is that it is more important to attack the scourge of online gaming than it is to make sure our buses and trains do not blow up. This is the Congress we elected. This is the Congress we have to get rid of.

By an overwhelming margin of 409-2, the House moments ago passed the Port Security Act. The Senate will soon vote where it will pass by a similar overwhelming margin.

On the bill itself, let's remember that it doesn't make onling gambling illegal. Online gambling is already illegal in most cases. Instead, it makes it much more difficult for existing online gambling sites to do business with Americans. It makes it harder for Americans to perform any financial transactions with online gaming sites.

However, just because it makes it harder doesn't mean it makes it impossible. I have a tremendous amount of faith in the international business community to outsmart this bill. After all, when we're ranking the collective intelligence of different groups, the U.S. Congress ranks just ahead of lobotomy patients and just behind slightly retarded monkeys.

Screw You, Senator Frist...and your Fat-Cat Friends, Too...

Internet Gambling Bill passes Senate attached to Port Security Bill
From EOG.com
written September 29, 2006

Republican leaders reach a port security conference deal and the Internet Gambling bill also was included and passed tonight.

A major maritime security bill headed to the House floor tonight with a last-minute provision that cracked down on the $12 billion online gambling industry but without other controversial additions, such as court security measures and protections for phone companies that cooperate with government wiretapping, House Homeland Security Chairman King told CongressDaily today.

King earlier said the text of the conference report had been completed and would be brought to the House floor tonight for a vote. House and Senate Republican leaders were trying earlier today to attach last-minute measures to the bill. The only one that survived was from Senate Majority Leader Frist that would crack down on Internet gambling, King said.

Sadly, a bill to make 361 seaports safer from biological, chemical or nuclear attacks was passed tonight in the House and Senate. Democrats complained it shorted security for railroads and mass transit. Republicans successfully added a measure to restrict Internet gambling.

The bottom line is that the our government has now passed a bill making Internet gambling a crime for both the operator and any individual or institution involved in online gambling.

All that's left is for the President to sign it before it becomes law.

George Orwell had it right over 20 years ago when he wrote, "1984."

"Big Brother" is indeed watching you.

God bless America, land of the free?



I will be speaking with my vote in November. Now, we're pissed. All of us. To reiterate a London newspaper after the re-election of Bush in 2004, "How can 53 million people be so stupid?"