I sat down at an online play-money cash game, and I guy sits down with an odd proposition. “I’ll send someone a $10 gift card for play money.” Obviously it’s a scam, but I’m intrigued nonetheless. Why would you give someone real money for play money? When I asked, “How much?” he responded with, “$10 for $100,000 in play money.” Again, I knew that it was a scam, but I was so intrigued that I agreed. I figured, “It’s only play money. If he’s honest, I’ll get $10 out of it!”
So I sit down heads up with this guy, and I start dumping money to him. After about $50,000 in PLAY MONEY, he leaves the table! I started laughing! “What was the point of that?” Not only did he never intend on giving me $10, but he didn’t even take the full $100,000! Why would you want to compromise your character and integrity to steal “play money?” Even if you could somehow win real money, it just doesn’t seem worth it. If you’re willing to compromise your character and your integrity for money (play or real), you have a skewed sense of what’s important in life. You are a lost individual, and you have no idea what you really need.
I love playing poker, and I really love winning…but I love God more.

It’s time for more poker! For those of you that didn’t make it last month (which was most of you…), our last game saw some great hands, including me grabbing a miracle 6 on the river to grab quads and triumph over trip queens… things just got ridiculous after that. Sorry, Mr. Wiggins. I still kinda feel bad about that. Well, actually, I don’t… but you still won some cash!

We’re going to try something a little different this time, a sort of modified shootout format. This should allow for plenty of poker for fairly cheap, while still allowing the winner to walk away with a few bucks. It’s a 12 player max, so please e-mail me and confirm you are coming… and if you need to cancel, please let me know ASAP so we can fill your seat. This format really works best with all 12 players. And, as always there will be a bunch o’snacks, and eliminated players are free to start up a cash game for nickels.

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Reverends of Poker Invitational II

Sunday March 12th - 4pm

at Ackerman’s house

co-hosted by J-Money and Killdawg

12 players: 2 satellite tables of 6.

$10 buy-in - T800

Top 3 finishers at each table all receive a seat at the final table, in addition the top 2 from each table get $15 and $10, respectively.

The final table will be comprised of the top 3 finishers at each table, plus two available seats for a $10 buy-in for the remaining players. Preference goes to the highest finishing player.

Final table, all chip counts are erased, and we play a T1500 freezeout. No rebuys, no addons, just NL hold em until one player is left!

Poker and I took a much needed break this week. The Sunday RoP Tournament was a blast. Of course, I came out in the black, which always makes things more fun. We had some really great hands (including me sucking out with miracle quad 6s to crack trip queens), and some general fun and mayhem.

The abundance of poker was starting to be too much. The online variety, mostly, was to blame. So today ends my one-week hiatus. I still read about poker, watch WPT, and practice the all-important chip-shuffling, but games were not on the list for the week. I think it was good. Not only did it allow me to refocus some other areas, but watching some various levels of poker without having my own games mixed up in my head allowed me to do some objective analysis and think through some situations and make mental adjustments for when I do play again.

I recommend the hiatus program. It was good for my soul. We’ll see this week if it was good for my game.

the final table at the paris tournament, i came across a situation… this may be a no-brainer for more experienced types, but i’ve been wondering ever since if i played it right. i’m wondering how you would have handled this.

I’m UTG. Bearded guy to my left (on the button) is a non-factor. Loosey-Goosey Greek Guy across from me (SB) was the chip leader, his brother (strongest player at table) was BB. So 4-handed, I’m the short stack. I just doubled through LGGG, so I’ve got a little momentum, but still in dire need of some chips. Cards are dealt, I’m looking at Kd9d. With all the confidence I can muster, I go all-in. Bearded guy folds, LGGG is still reeling from doubling me up, and ultimately lays down what I find out later to be AJ. BB immediately calls, shows me his AA, and proceeds to clobber me in the race by spiking another ace on the flop. I almost draw out a straight, but I’m done. That’s how I left the tournament in 4th place.

Here’s the question: was that the right time to push? The blinds were big and they were a-comin’, I would have only lasted one more orbit before the blinds forced me all in. Should I have just limped in to try to get an indication of the other hands, maybe letting LGGG and his brother fight it out and hope I get another hand to push with real soon? Or was I right to make my stand with a face card and pray for a race, meaning I just got unlucky to come up against the bullets in that situation?

How would you have played it?

This was my second visit to Las Vegas, so I wasn’t entirely in the dark as to what to expect from the city.  I’d never played poker there before… so this was the first chance I’ve had to play live poker outside of friendly home games. The following is a brief (or not-so-brief) wrap-up of what I did, where I went, how I played, and what I recommend.

(more…)

The February 12th RoP NFL Hangover Tournament is officially on! Come drown out your Seahawk/referee-induced sorrows by playing a bit of poker. Start time is 5:00pm, which is when we’ll draw for seats for all present players. Any players who arrive late and are not present for the draw will have seats drawn for them, and their blinds will be posted and hands folded until they arrive. Cards will probably begin to hit the tables around 5:15. Based on limited seating, we’re holding the registration down to 8 players max. If we get more than 12, we might see if we can’t go ahead and open a second table.. info will be posted here as we go along. Also, expect to have your photo taken and prepare to have the game fully reported on here next week. I’m a jerk like that.

Here are the details:

REVERENDS OF POKER “NFL HANGOVER” TOURNAMENT
February 12th - 5:00pm
at the Ackerman House (contact us for directions)

No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em
$10 buy-in/ 1 - $10 rebuy or add-on
800 tournament chips

15 minute levels

8 players max! This tournament is restricted to the first 8 to confirm. Due to space, we cannot seat more than 8 players.

Snacks and beverages will be provided.

Table for side games (dealer’s choice) will be available for eliminated players.

Bring your best poker face. I’d come up with a cool slogan, but I don’t have one.

Hope to see you there! Please RSVP by email (BluffaloSoldier@gmail.com) ASAP to ensure there is an available seat.