The Poker Thread

[W]

Mizrachi has overtaken first and one of the two Canadians, Jarvis, is out. No one is really in a position of need, but Dolan is getting close at just under $20 M.

[W]

Senti is out in seventh and Dolan in sixth. The five left look like this:

1. Mizrachi 62 M (USA)
2. Cheong 61.6 M (USA)
3. Duhamel 52.9 M (CAN)
4. Candio 27 M (ITA)
5. Racener 16.1 M (USA)

[W]

Canadian Jonathan Duhamel beat Racener for $8.something million and the championship bracelet, which is more than the winners of the Indy 500, PGA Championship, Daytona 500, and Wimbledon combined.

In other news, Full Tilt now has Five Card Draw, 2-7 Lowball Single or Triple Draw, and a Korean game called Badugi that is fun but I lose at all the time, so don't play often. I've played five card draw the past few days and haven't had a losing session yet. People just don't know what they're doing.

In five card draw, one guy told me he was drawing for the nuts and I said "A Royal Flush?"
He said: "No the nut flush."
I said: "The only nuts in this game is a Royal Flush."
He said: "I know what I'm talking about. I know the hand rankings."

I gave up. Those are the kind of people playing five card draw on Full Tilt right now, so if you're a decent player you should be able to make some money there right now.

[W]

I hit my first Royal Flush today. I wish it was in Texas, but it was in Omaha. I don't know how to put a screenshot on here, but I'll post it to FaceBook tomorrow and then (I think) I can figure out how to put it on here. If not, I'll just link it.

[Shrykespeare]

I play in a free poker league twice a week (Thu and Fri), and I have been on a HELL of a roll since the start of the year.

The normal turnout varies (it averages 3-4 tables), and the prizes are low (bar/restaurant credit cards), but it's really fun because the people I play with are terrific. Last night I had a streak broken; I had made the final table EIGHT straight times, and last night, I came in... ninth. However, I do have one streak still going, having been in points ten straight times.

Here are my results:

1/6 - didn't make Top 10
1/7 - 9th place
1/13 - 4th place
1/14 - 7th place
1/20 - 7th place
1/21 - 4th place
1/28 - 1st place
1/29 - 1st place
2/3 - 6th place
2/4 - 4th place
2/10 - 9th place
2/11 - 1st place

This is the longest and most consistent hot streak I've ever been on. It's not just that I'm getting lucky, because I certainly am. But if I have to chalk this up to one thing, it's that I've learned to not chase crap, or make winners out of mediocre hands. Hope I can keep it up.

[W]

Yep, that's what gets you. Everyone chases every once in a while. Even the most accomplished players. But if you just play solid starting hands, play them aggressively, and use position against other players, you will be on the winning end more often than not.

Here's my Royal: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... 0588846020

[Shrykespeare]

Just got back from Friday Night poker... I won again.

[W]

Reposted from Facebook:

Holy s***! I'm really mad! FullTilt, PokerStars, and AbsolutePoker have been indicted and their web domains stripped from them. They have been alledged as having comitted bank fraud, illegal gambling offenses, and money laundering. I know nothing about these offenses, but I've been playing since 2003 and 04 (the past two years real money) and have always been treated fairly (and actually win).

They say Poker is a game of luck. In the long run, I don't believe that. If you don't know what you're doing and play a champion, you're most likely going to get dominated. Meanwhile, bingo and the lottery are legal, a government numbers game affecting the elderly and poor. My five year old daughter saw a Hoosier Lottery machine and threw a fit because we wouldn't buy one with "little doggies" on it the other day.

The U.S. needs another motto. "Land of the Free and Home of the Brave" just doesn't sum it up anymore. It's more like "We protect you from yourselves whether you need it or not."

[Buscemi]

Bank fraud and money laundering are serious offenses. I don't think you should be defending a company that (most likely) committed them simply because you gambled with them. If you want to gamble online that badly, I suggest you try a new site.

[W]

For me it's not about who and what happened, it's about our rights as Americans being stripped away and Jeffersonian Democracy giving way to more socialist views. The United States is pulling further and further away from the political views of the founding fathers, which is a necessity in some aspects (a few social programs, civil rights, etc) but nowadays is almost completely bad. I believe a smaller government is for the best. When the government crosses the line from protecting citizens from others to protecting you from yourself and doleing out which morals are best for you to have, it is only a BAD THING.

The US government is targeting these sites which offer only a choice to use your money the way you want and were OFFERING to pay taxes on it like they would target the mob or drug trade by using specialized legislation just for them. These charges are because of that specialized legislation. This will affect more businesses than just those sites. We don't have enough problems to deal with without driving business out of the country?

Also the US government is saying that this is illegal while having gambling machines that THEY OWN in grocery stores so that my 5 year old kid can cry about not being able to play the game and condoning lotteries and raffles that serve practically as a tax on the poor and elderly and lose much more than you would almost anywhere else... Give me a break. Maybe bingo halls kick up a vig to the President?

I'm not saying they're in the right for doing what they did, though these crimes are alleged and not been proven in court as of yet (another American Ideal that has gone by the wayside). I'm saying that the United States Government is WRONG.

[numbersix]

But surely these companies are being shut down not because of socialist policies but because they are commiting serious crimes, crimes that exist regardless of the political administration. Fraud and laundering shouldn't happen at all, and any person or company committing it should be halted immediately. Just because you have fun on it that doesn't mean it should be beyond the law. And surely it wouldn't be shut down unless there was serious evidence to suggest it.

Indeed, contrary to your opinion surely internet gambling sites should be ruthlessly watched by a higher authority. Think how easy it is for a site and its developers to screw poker players over by programming the cards.

[W]

I'm not saying fraud is a good thing or condoning it whatsoever, or that they shouldn't be watched. Right now I can vouch for the two biggest ones and say that I've played more than a million hands (maybe two or more), mostly on FullTilt, and have seen exactly nothing pointing to pre-programmed shuffles or anything else sketchy from those two sites. Basically, they don't have to cheat to make billions. They have the same incentive to cheat that any other company does and the same disincentives. We've seen how a couple of places did cheat and were either run out of business or severely crippled.

Now for some background information that may paint a clearer picture of what I'm talking about as a whole. Playing online poker for free or for money is not illegal, that is to say there are no laws against it. About five years ago, the US government passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which oddly enough did not make it illegal to play poker online. It made it illegal for institutions marked "gambling" to accept funds from US banks. There were exemptions for horse racing (because it's largely state-run) which is almost as pure gambling as a roulette table and fantasy sports. Poker was rejected an exemption when they petitioned as a "game of skill". Now, why are two of the most pure forms of gambling (lottery and horse racing) allowed? Because they help fund the US and state governments.

So, the sites were left with a quandry: dump 40% of your customer base--most of who are hard working and play responsibly--or use practices that are unethical, namely fooling banks into accepting payments to and from their sites--because you play a game that takes elements of luck and skill rather than race horses. The ones that were indicted were the three biggest ones that decided not to leave their customer bases out in the cold. What they nailed these guys with were the effect of a law put in place because people were creeping up on a government monopoly and the religous right were whispering in politician's ears. The government should not be in business for itself and should not regulate morals. If you think this is about anything else, you're either fooling yourselves or have no idea what you're talking about.

[Buscemi]

Maybe you were one of the lucky ones, W.

[W]

Maybe you were one of the lucky ones, W.

Maybe you don't have a clue, Busc.

[Buscemi]

But to blame the government instead of the company of something that they possibly did (as I said, the crimes that they are being charged of are very serious and they had the ability to do such a thing) is very selfish of you. You sound like a conspiracy theorist and you will not win any friends or influence anyone in the process.