Posts Tagged ‘Gambling’
Dead Again (Poker)
Monday, November 30th, 2009Dead Again
(Posters Warning : CJ told me this blog now has a more diverse focus. I still plan to stick to gambling in some sense. Because I am a problem gambler
this still leaves an immense range of topics about which I can
and will
post. I just felt like writing again.) I saw a wookie bounce off the hoods of three cars. He streaked past me
with clumped hair flapping and woozy knees wobbling
presumably running FROM something that only he could see. With wookies there’s an equal probability that he’s running from : A) The Law. B) His Past. C) His Imagination D) Soap. He’d just run down our aisle when he darted between cars
bouncing off one
into another fender
then off a hood. I thought he got away. I later heard he was slammed down by three cops. For those of you playing at home
that’s “A”. Now
generally I like to get all settled in before wookie watching
but since this is the first Dead tour in years I was prepared for anything. My wife
brother and I got to Greensboro at least 3.5 hours before showtime. Presumably enough time to either drink a dozen beers or wait once in the porta-potty line. The good news is that most of the salesmen were pretty savvy. That’s unusual for a wook. The two most active undercover cops were a big burly guy in a yellow shirt that said “Dead” and another guy
also burly
but at least 6 foot 6 with a crew cut and a blue ‘do rag. I saw douche-rag guy hit up one pipe vendor near our car. Pipe vendor was holding his glass in a black case and strolling down our lane when douche grabs a random pipe and whips out a wad of cash. My car was blasting tunes at the time and I couldn’t hear everything said but I saw douche-rag point several times to the “bowl” portion of this young wooks glass. Wook
again
was savvy. The only part of the conversation I actually heard was wook telling cop
“These are for tobacco man. I could hook you up with THAT if you want.” Cop grabbed his money back from the wook
put the glass back
and stormed away without a word. That’s the gamble that is the Dead lot these days. I remember back in the day
we’d see more of everything than you can imagine ( I mean wow
really
everything) and the cops did nothing. It used to kinda freak me out the way cops would just ignore all the obvious
illegal activity at a GRATEFUL DEAD show. Maybe Jerry was responsible for greasing the locals
but the cops ain’t cool these days and they haven’t been for quite some time. Granted
like the wookies themselves
some people deserve what they get. One kid
a girl who I’d say was about 17
came by our car holding a ticket in her hand. She showed it to me….busted for drinking in the lot. Now
here’s where she got super-extra-mega-dumb. Her girlfriend was in the process of getting busted by yellowshirt guy (who again
could have just worn the uniform for all the subtlety he brought to undercover work) and our kid goes up to give her friend a hug. During the bust. While holding an open beer. Sigh. These are tomorrow’s leaders. So once inside we take totally excellent floor seats just to by the soundboard (Philside) and I continue the now standing bet I have with Pauly. We each pick 3 songs for 1st set opener. 3 more for second set. 3 more for encore. I took $20 off him when Phish opened with Fluffhead at Hampton. We pushed all three for the dead. Here’s the setlist for those who care : Set 1 Music Never Stopped Jack Straw> Estimated Prophet > He’s Gone > Touch of Gray I Need a Miracle > Truckin’> Miracle Set 2 Shakedown Street All Aong The Watchtower Caution Jam Drums Space Cosmic Charlie New Potato Caboose Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower Donor Rap Encore: Samson and Delilah Some notes : I love Music Never Stopped but am unable to NOT hear Donna scream OHHHH YEAH at crucial parts of the song. I’m not sure what that means. I’ve never actually SEEN Donna but that’s w
hat years of bootleg cassettes will do for a man. My brother and I really
really
really
really
really
wanted to see Estimated Prophet simply because we like screaming AH NA NA NA NA along with Bobby Weir. We’re amused by simple things. He’s Gone was written long before Jerry died but when you’re touring without him you do know the audience assumes it’s ABOUT him now….right? Miracle was the highlight of the first set. I got stuck in the beer line during Touch of Grey and missed part. In fact
I missed so much that I missed Truckin’. I was so oblivious to it that I PICKED Truckin’ as one of my 3 second set openers with Pauly. It was a dumb bet. I enjoy the song Shakedown Street very much. I also Enjoy All Along the Watchtower and Warren Haynes really shredded it up on this one. Caution was awesome and this is the best thing about having Warren play with the band. He can actually sing the blues. Not the douchey Bobby Red Rooster blues but the good ol’ Pigpen brand. If you get to see the Dead this year
hope that they play this song. During Cosmic Charlie my wife said
“you know the DEAD never played this but all the after-bands (Phil
Ratdog
the Dead) play it all the time. I wonder why.” Then they played New Potato Caboose. Wow. I don’t even own a bootleg version of this soon. I couldn’t remember the name until it was half-over. I do remember that “touching makes the flesh cry out loud.” That counts for something. The band started the Help>Slip>Frank at 11:30. That’s 4 hours in. My brother and I assumed all day
it being Easter and all
that we’d see either Promised Land (my guess) or Greatest Story Ever Told (his). Samson and Delilah is what we got. C’est la vie. This is the kind of crap I blog about now. It did contain some gambling. That counts.
The Luckbox Last Longer Challenge
Let’s start with the breaking news: PokerStars will be adding $2000 to the Luckbox Last Longer Challenge prize pool. Let me say that again. The awesome folks at PokerStars are once again showing their support for the WPBT by adding $2000 to the prize pool for the Luckbox Last Longer Challenge at the Winter Classic (and find it on Facebook). Let’s just say this little contest of pride and wills just grew into something awesome. Now let’s get to the details. With this much money now at stake
we’re putting down some rules. Read carefully! Teams of three must be formed before the tournament begins and submitted to The Luckbox. Team entries can be left in the comments of Up For Poker on THIS POST
sent to cusephenom -@- yahoo DOT com
or done in person in Las Vegas. The Luckbox will be at the tournament site at Noon
one hour prior to the scheduled start time of the tournament. Live registration ends at 12:45pm
15 minutes prior to scheduled start time of the tournament. Sorry
no exceptions. Each team requires a $30 entry fee ($10 per person). If you are unable to find two teammates prior to the end of the Last Longer registration
you are ineligible to participate in the Last Longer competition. It is each team members’ responsibility to notify The Luckbox (or his representative) upon his/her elimination. If notification is not made at the time of bust out
the player will be assigned the same amount of points he or she would have earned for busting out first. At the end of the event
each players’ bust out number will be added together and the lowest total finishes first
2nd lowest finishes second
etc. If two teams finish with the same total
the tie-breaker is the team with the top finishing player. From the added prize pool: $1
500 to winning team ($500 apiece) and then $500 for for second place team ($170 for top player on team
$165 for other two players). The added prize pool will be transferred into your PokerStars account. From the entry fee prize pool: 50% to the winning team
30% to 2nd place and 20% to 3rd place. The entry fee prize pool will be handed out at the conclusion of the tournament. (As
tin asked in the comments about people with no PokerStars account. First
it’s free and easy to sign up! Second
you can provide us with whatever Stars account you wish if you’re on the winning team. So if you want it deposited into someone else’s account
we can arrange that.) Any and all disputes will be handled by The Luckbox and thisisnotapril. All decisions are final. By paying an entry fee
you are agreeing to the rules set forth here. We want to make sure that the great people at PokerStars know how much we appreciate this so when you talk about the Luckbox Last Longer Challenge (we’re going to call it the L-cubed)
please give PokerStars some love (your blog
twitter
facebook
etc.). If you have any questions about this
leave them in the comments or email me at the email address listed above!
Since We’re Talking About Frolf…
I have a scabbed over gash that runs from the top of my left triceps down past the elbow. The left hand has a few nasty scratches that make it look like I lost a catnip fight with a panther. My special “frolf shoes”
actually Teva trail shoes
are so badly torn I haven’t even tried to wear them in a week. Plus
I had to buy a new skeeter. Still the worst part of my past week was the following admonition from my wife : “I don’t think you should play alone anymore. If (Otis) can’t play
you should just go to the gym instead. It’s too dangerous.” She actually said that! I’m so ashamed. I started playing frolf regularly
by which I mean almost every day
about 8 years ago. That first initial infatuation lasted a good two years before taking a 5 year snooze. Then
last summer
Otis and I rediscovered what we loved about it in the first place : It gets us out of the house. It gets us outside. It gets us away from our wonderful and better-than-we actually-deserve wives. We can pretend we’re competitive without
you know
skills or talent. I’ve played pretty much every day for the past year. But even a true love needs a fresh look
a new position to try
a fresh approach. After playing almost exclusively at “Timmons Park” we we thrilled to get a new course out in Greer. So without further yammering nonsense
here’s my take on the new “Century Park” course and details of my latest frolf humilation. Now that the leaves are coming in
the course is looking good. The city of Greer had to redesign the course last year and brought Innova in for the course architecture. That led to a complete clear-cutting of all the underbrush. Before the spring it had a real zombie apocalypse feel. If you’ve read Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”
this is the landscape you pictured. Now with some leaves on the trees it looks like the apocalypse…with chlorophyll. That’s an improvement in my book. The layout is actually quite superb
a mixture of tricky elevation changes
long bombs
and at least a few relatively easy birdies. Notable are : – The third hole which is over 400 feet and has a tough uphill lie that begins about midway. – The 7th
which should be the easiest in Greenville but has caused me to develop a frightening mental block. There is only one tree to hit. I always hit it. – The 10th which lies to the right of the teepad with that path obstructed by heavy trees. It’s a pretty easy birdie for a lefty who can get a good long range fade but is tricky for a righty who has trouble with a turnover disc. – The 11th is the hardest hole in the area IMHO. Otis’ too. 397 feet with a steep uphill and some pretty dense tree obstructions about midway. A par here is very impressive. – The 15th. Notable because
while long
it is not a particularly difficult shot. Somehow
this is an Otis mental block hole. – The 16th. A case could be made that this is actually the easiest hole on the course. I
however
have now lost two midrange discs here…including my daughter’s “Skeeter”. Last week I threw a fade shot that I thought would curve into the bask
et. I had the range right but actually pulled it a bit and caught the side of a tree. That sent my skeeter a good 50 feet away and at a 90 degree angle from the hole. When I crossed the creek and found my disc
I found that there is actually a SECOND creek perpendicular to the first. My disc was beyond a good 20 feet of dense bramble on the opposite bank. After sloooowly stepping through the thorns
I got to the near bank and devised a retreval plan : Step down about two feet onto the near bank with my right foot. Quick step with left foot across 2 feet width of creek to far bank. Scoop Skeeter. Push back onto right foot. Climb out. Resume play. In my defense
a strategy much like this has worked thousands of times before. Instead it went bad fast. When I stepped down
my right foot sank a good 8 inches in the mud. When I lunged forward it wouldn’t come loose. I tried to re-adjust and threw my weight backwards
my arms flailing in a spiral. With my left hand I reached backward for something to grab and stop my fall. With my right I tried to break my fall into the creek. The left hand found something to grab. A thornbush. It ripped my hand open (my throwing hand no less) and I finally let go falling entirely into the mud. The mud was so soft now that I couldn’t stand to get out. I had to find some sturdy sticks nearby to get solid footing for the climb from the creek. When I did
my right shoe stayed behind. I had to get on my stomach and pull it out. I left the skeeter behind. Now I’m not allowed to play alone. And
sadly
this is my SECOND major frolf injury of the year. This one
luckily
was without witnesses. The last was in a competitive tournament. /Frolf Content
Related posts
Strip poker free online – South Carolina poker call to action
Monday, November 16th, 2009South Carolina poker call (Free gay strip poker) to action
Sunday, October 18th, 2009South Carolina poker call to action
I am naturally suspicious of people who use phrases like “call to action.” It’s one of those marketeer phrases that makes me cringe. That said
if you are a South Carolina poker player or one who travels here to play in some of the best home games around
you should be interested in this. Moreover
if you live in Greenville
South Carolina and don’t join me on Monday night
you don’t care about poker and your right to play it. Monday March 30 at 5:30pm
South Carolina Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell will be holding two public hearings on a bill that would legalize home poker games and also expand charity gaming (including charity poker tournaments) in South Carolina. I will be there and you should be
too. Here’s why. Every Monday night I play in the best home game I’ve ever known. The action is great
the location is perfect
and the players are great people. The game has been running for years and shows no signs of dying off. There are games like it all over the state–friendly folks who just want to play cards in a safe environment. Under South Carolina law
local law enforcement could come in at any time and cite every player for violating the state’s gaming law. That we’ve never been raided is no great comfort. Even though this is a friendly game where the only rake goes to pay for drinks and snacks
it is still illegal. And if you think the local constabulary won’t bust a game of this sort
you are sadly mistaken. Last month I covered the trial of five people who were playing in a $20 max-buy no-limit hold’em game in Mt. Pleasant. The max rake on the game was 50 cents and the house owner
according to several people who testified
stopped taking rake the moment he had enough to cover the pizza and beer. The players were put on trial and
despite the magistrate’s obvious distaste for the law
convicted. [See the April issue of Bluff Magazine for my article on the trial.] A few years back
I held what was then my annual Bradoween poker tournament. It was not a huge affair. We had 43 people from around the country in town and crowded into my small house. The buy-in was insignificant and I charged no juice. People from other states laughed at me when I took the buy-in cash to my neighbor’s house and left it there. They laughed harder when I programmed my police scanner to listen for a raid and put a couple friends outside to watch the door. If I had watched myself that day
I might have laughed
too. It was ridiculous. It was a game among friends that wasn’t even charging for the BBQ and sweet tea. Still
if the raid on a similar game in Greer (a nearby suburb) a couple months before was any indication
I stood an uncomfortable chance of getting busted. It had happened to one of my friends just weeks before. He’d been playing in a similar game and had been handcuffed in front of his wife and kids. To people in less-antiquated states
this probably seems inconceivable. The simple fact i this: playing any game with cards or dice in South Carolina (read: Monopoly
bridge
poker
etc) is illegal. President Pro Tempore Glenn F. McConnell
a Republican from Charleston County
wants to change that. His bill would decriminalize social gambling (including poker) in a private homes where no rake is taken. It would also allow for charity poker tournaments for churches and charities like the Lions and Elks Clubs. Opponents of the bill suggest that opening the door to kitchen table poker is the equivalent of opening up the state border to the likes of MGM and Harrah’s casinos. Nothing could be farther from the truth. You can read the full text of the bill HERE. The language is specific
more restrictive than even I would like
and would in no way allow for casinos in the Palmetto State. All of the above is to say nothing of the rampant hypocrisy surrounding the debate. South Carolina is a lottery state. The South Carolina Education Lottery program is lauded by many of the same p
eople who fight against decriminalizing home poker games. It’s nearly impossible to go to a convenience store or turn on a TV without seeing an ad for South Carolina scratch-off tickets or Powerball jackpots. Make no mistake: South Carolina is
in fact
a gambling state
as long as the state is taking the rake. McConnell held a hearing on his bill in Charleston last week. If news reports are to be believed
the pro-poker crowd outnumbered the anti-poker folks by 20-1. The Greenville hearing could be a lot different. The Upstate of South Carolina is a great deal more conservative than the Midlands and Low Country. In the past
I’ve seen giant protests over similar issues. Even the legislators are worried about bringing the issue to Greenville. Said Senator Robert Ford to Charleston poker players
“Y’all get a couple of buses. I’m always afraid of Greenville on these kinds of issues.” It’s my hope that we won’t need Charleston poker players to defend our rights to play in Greenville. I know there are hundreds of poker enthusiasts in the Upstate who care about this issue. The question is
do you care enough to show your support in public? You don’t have to speak. You don’t even have to give your name. You only have to show up. It won’t take but a couple hours out of your day. I know poker is a solitary pursuit
but the battle to legalize it is not. Don’t be the kind of player who complains but does nothing to remedy the situation. If you don’t show up
don’t complain about the law. When you finally have Republicans and Democrats agreeing something needs to be done about the antiquated South Carolina gambling laws
you know it’s time to give just a little bit of yourself. So
you coming? Monday
March 30th 5:30-7:30 pm Greenville County Council Chambers 301 University Ridge Greenville
SC 29601 The South Carolina Poker Players Alliance is trying to get a good idea on who might come. If you’d like to RSVP for the hearing
you can do so HERE. If you have any questions
feel free to leave a comment here or send them to my e-mail address: rapideyereality — @ — gmail dot com
BREAKING: Betonsports CEO pleads guilty to federal charges
Today
former Betonsports.com CEO and Director David Carruthers pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the Betonsports organization’s conspiracy included: “Creating and disseminating advertising throughout the United States which represented that its Internet and telephone gambling operations were legal and licensed. They failed to disclose known material facts
namely that the U.S. government and most state governments viewed such operations as illegal
and that they did not have a license to operate legally anywhere in the United States.” “Representing to potential customers that money transferred by them to BetonSports on account was safe and readily available to be withdrawn at anytime. BetonSports was actually using the funds to support and expand its operations
including the purchase of Easybets. When BetonSports ceased operations in July 2006
it could not repay its customers over $16 million held on account.” Carruthers now faces up to 20 years in prison and up to $250
000 in fines. He will be sentenced on October 2nd. The man who hired Carruthers also faces charges along with four other individuals. Those charges range from RICO conspiracy to mail fraud to the interstate transportation of gambling paraphernalia. That trial is scheduled for September.
Poker’s frequently asked questions on Google
Remember that time you four-bet pre-flop with aces
flopped your set
and got your opponent to get it all in? Remember when he shoved his chips in and then asked
“Do you have the ace?” You probably thought
“What is this guy doing playing poker?” We sometimes think the same thing about the search referrals we get here on the Up For Poker Blog. Here are just a few re
cent questions that Google has thrown our way. Q. Who is the High Stakes Poker guy who looks like Jabba the Hutt? A. We here at Up For Poker are huge fans of both the Star Wars series and High Stakes Poker. So
when we saw this question come in
we wondered if we had missed a few episodes of HSP. After looking at the cast list from the past several seasons
we narrowed it down to two possibilities. The first is David Benyamine
for obvious reasons. The second is Doyle Brunson. Either way
that’s just mean
and we’d dare whoever asked the question to call either of the above players Jabba to his face. And either way
if you’re hoping to play poker and you don’t know Brunson or Benyamine
you’d best stick to watching Return of the Jedi and pleasuring yourself to your Princess Leia action figure. Q. Is an UTG limp raise always the nuts? Yes. We polled every poker player in three countries. The results were staggering. No player in our millions of respondents has ever limp re-raised under the gun with anything other than the nuts. Every player indicated it would be irresponsible to play a hand in such a way that it led others to believe he might have aces instead when he actually held kings
queens
or 9c-7c. We suggest that if you are ever limp re-raised by a player under the gun
fold your kings immediately. You are behind and will never catch up. Q. (From Sweden) How does WSOP poker works? A. This is a tricky question and one not taken lightly. It assumes that WSOP poker (translated World Series of Poker poker) actually works. We are not ready to make that assumption. If we did
we might answer that the World Series of Poker poker takes a decades old tradition of poker mastery and devalues it by creating dozens of events that award dozens of bracelets and charges millions of dollars in juice to play tournaments with dubious structures. Of course
we wouldn’t ever actually say that. We’re just saying
if we made an assumption
we might think about saying something like that. In the meantime
if you’re reading from Sweden
we like your women. How much for them? Q. Suppose that you have played F five times but you don’t yet know your wins and losses. Would you play the gamble a sixth time? A. You just blew our mind
sir. We love you as a reader. We’d love for you to stay. However
we think you’d be better suited reading the “Handbook of the economics of finance” by George M. Constantinides
Milton Harris
Ren M. Stulz. But to answer your question
we’ve played F several times. We’ve got a lot of experience in the world of F. We may not yet know our wins and losses
but you give us a sixth shot at F and we’ll take it every day of the week. Twice on Sunday
in fact. Would we gamble a sixth time? Silly question. Q. Are cops allowed to bust poker games? A. That all depends on where you live. If you live where we do
cops are allowed to bust poker games
take all the money
take all the cards
take all the chips
rummage through your house
make eyes at your girlfriend
and use your bathroom without flushing. You probably won’t ever be officially prosecuted
but you’ll sort of wish you had been. A real prosecution makes it feel less like a shakedown. Just sayin’. Q. Why is poker bad? A. Poker is not inherently bad. It’s naughty sometimes. Sometimes it’s downright dirty
nasty
naughty little poker. It’s not bad
though. Look at it this way: if poker was good all the time
you’d sit around wondering if you should’ve taken your shot at the game with the tattoos
nipple rings
and questionable grasp on hygiene. Trust us on this one.
