Entries from April, 2009
2009 World Series of Poker preview – Las Vegas cash games
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
As the poker world continues to gear up for the 2009 World Series of Poker, there are some other things to consider other than which tournament will get your hard earned money. There is a separate group of players out there, the cash game grinders, who see the nearly two month series as their prime fishing season.
Dead money floods the streets as the amateurs come to town for their shot at fame and glory, they also take their shot at cash games around town that are most likely way above their bankroll. There are some pros who skip the series all together just for a chance to pick off these tiny fish in the big pond.
But I’m sure you know better than to get caught up in that mayhem, you are a level-headed player who stays within their bankroll and takes building it up seriously. In that case, where should you look for the juicy cash games that are being spread around town. “Tropical” Steve brings us a guest post with a few suggestions in town, downtown, and out of town.
Cash Game Action in WSOP Season
By Steve Horton
So you’re in town for one or more World Series of Poker events, but you don’t want to spend ALL your time at the Rio. Understandable – it’s a big Vegas, and that Rio floor carpet pattern can make you dizzy after awhile. But you still want to play poker the entire time you’re there, whether to wallow in the sorrow of busting out, or try different environments of players, or different restaurants. Or perhaps you’re staying pretty far from the Rio and want someplace a little closer to home base.
We all know that nearly every card room in Vegas runs tournaments frequently. What you might not know is that cash game action is also in full force during the summer. I spoke to the managers of three card rooms in different parts of the city to find out what games they offer, and how they’re changing things around this summer.
Popularity: 40% [?]
Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, Tropical Steve, WSOP
Poker From The Rail Freeroll #3
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Another week and another chance at some money from my bankroll.
While the crazy house gets the resources together to bring you wall-to-wall coverage of the 2009 World Series of Poker, I’ve thrown together another crazy little freeroll for your entertainment. I threw one of these two weeks ago and it maxed out at 900 players. That is a big dump truck full of crazy. Since it went off so well I’m doing another.
Popularity: 36% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail
Synchronized Breaks and Phil Ivey’s Man Bag
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
I was all set to tear into a blazing post about all the changes that have popped up on Full Tilt Poker with the last software upgrade and the retooling of the main website. A lot of fine changes were incorporated and it was going to be a dozy of a post. Then I realized someone let Angry Monkey out of his cage and he beat me to it.
You can check out all the details of the change over here but I wanted to reiterate what I think is the coolest part of the updated.
Synchronized Breaks during MTT’s. As all the cool poker players say these days, “That’s the nutzzz!”. I don’t know many MTT specialist or players who sit in only one tournament at a time, they will testify what an inconvenience it was with the breaks hitting at different times at all the tournaments. Until now it was just a fact of life for the online poker players. That’s just the way it was and if you needed to sit out temporarily to relieve your bladder, oh well.
Now things have changed and Full Tilt is leading the way. Most multi-table tournaments (you can check out the specifics here) will go on break 5 minutes before the top of each hour saving you from making the decision which tournament will be used for your bathroom break, nicotine fix, or cold beverage run.
So far I’m hearing near unanimous praise for this change, but we want to hear what you think. Let us have it in the comments.
As a reward for your reading this far, I bring you a special gift from last week’s WPT World Championship. WPT Queen Amanda Leatherman grabbed Phil Ivey in the Bellagio and got the lowdown on his “man bag”. Video after the jump.
Popularity: 36% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Phil Ivey
The New Full Tilt Poker!
Posted by One Angry Monkey | Filed under Bloggers Corner
Good day Tilt-Land, it’s been a long while since I’ve written a post. With so much going on these days at Full Tilt Poker, the powers that be decided to let me out of my cage for a few minutes to tell everybody what’s happening.
First off, our website has been redesigned! We’ve given the site a major face lift so it has a sleek new look and feel. Go to www.fulltiltpoker.com and check it out for yourselves.
Popularity: 31% [?]
Tags: Friday Night Fights, FTOPS, Full Tilt Poker
2009 World Series of Poker preview – Gavin Smith profile
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
As the WSOP Commisioner keeps telling everyone who will “listen” on twitter, the 2009 World Series of Poker is less than a month away from kicking off. Full Tilt Poker is in the process of putting together a team to bring you all you need to know from the floor of the poker room to the backroom interviews with your favorite pros to the pre-game post-game parties and festivities. No stone will be unturned.
As we quickly approach the series, we will start running some profiles of various Full Tilt pros as they attempt to put their stamp on poker history.
Gavin Smith is our first profile from Tuscaloosa Johnny. I’m very familiar with Gavin from his exploits around the poker world as well as the skill he shows at the table and the generosity away from it. Back in the fall of 2006 I was running a little charity function for Cystic Fibrosis and Gavin offered his time and services. In no time flat we had ourselves a little $1,000 charity SnG with all the proceeds going to charity and the prizepool coming from the man himself.
Then he stuck around and the rest was Gavin Smith lore.
Gavin Smith is one of a kind
Known for both his prodigious talent and ability to have a good time, Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith is a fan favorite among poker connoisseurs.
It was actually another casino game that got Smith hooked on poker about 15 years ago. He traveled with some friends to a charity casino in Ontario to play blackjack. A $5-$10 limit Hold’em game broke out and Smith took a seat and won. He kept playing the game for fun and side money until 1998 when he went with a friend to Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut for the World Poker Finals. Smith made two final tables and was hooked. He went home and sold out his interest in an underground poker game he helped run and hit the tournament trail.
“It was impossible. It was so hard,” Smith said of his start into the poker life.
Popularity: 32% [?]
Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Gavin Smith, Guest Posts, Tuscaloosa John, WSOP
Relay for Life Charity Tournament – Play with the Pros
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
The Relay for Life Charity Tournament is being hosted today by Michael Craig and benefiting his Relay For Life challenge. The tournament is a $5 + $5 NLHE tournament with the tournament entry fee going to the charity. This is a great opportunity to play with some of the top Full Tilt pros and help out a great organization. All proceeds from the Relay For Life go to the American Cancer Society.
For more information you can go to Michael Craig’s Full Tilt Poker Blog. The tournament can be found under the private tournament tab.
Tournament: Relay For Life Poker Tournament
When: Sunday, April 26th at 18:00ET
Game: NLHE
Buyin: $5 + $5 ($5 buyin goes to prizepool, $5 entry goes to charity)
Password: relay
Update: That didn’t take too long. It played like a freeroll. Any suited Ace was gold. They did raise just short of $1,000 for the charity.
Click to enlarge and experience the joy
Popularity: 34% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail
Mike Matusow and Andy Bloch video interviews
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
The last chance for a Full Tilt red letter pro to final table the WPT World Championship rested on the shoulders of Jennifer Harman. Unfortunately she busted before they halted play for the day in 11th place. Ross Boatman also ran deep for the Hendon Mod, Jeff Madsen made the final two tables but David Grey busted early in they day.
Poker legend Scotty Nguyen goes into the day with a chip lead. He is looking for his 7th WPT television table and second WPT victory.
While no big name Full Tilt pros will be sitting at the final table, that doesn’t mean we don’t have a few video interviews / snippets left for your enjoyment. After the jump you can see Mike Matusow all fired up and Andy Bloch going through nailing a straight flush.
After the jump.
Popularity: 35% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Andy Bloch, Bloggers on the Rail, Jennifer Harman, Mike Matusow, WPT
WPT World Championship update – Jeff Madsen video interviews
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Jeff Madsen in the running of the 2009 WPT World Championship
Photo credit: PokerNews.com
There were plenty of chances to set a Full Tilt heavy table at the 2009 WPT World Championship but players were falling at a regular pace. It took a little while to reach the money bubble and then they blew right past it without going hand-for-hand. That happens when two people go out in the same hand.
Mike Matusow and Steve Brecher dropped before making the money. Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Barny Boatman, and David Singer cashed in the Championship but were unable to make it to Day 5. Four players are still alive with a shot at the first place prize over $2.1 Million. Jennifer Harman, David Grey, Ross Boatman and Jeff Madsen continue to carry the flag for Full Tilt Poker. Also alive are Scotty Nguyen, Shannon Shorr and Elky Grospellier.
They’ll play down to the final 6 for the TV table for later broadcast.
Jeff Madsen sat down twice with Amanda Leatherman and you can find the video interviews after the jump. You may have heard of his rapping abilities, now you can get a little taste.
Popularity: 35% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Jeff Madsen, WPT
Erica Schoenberg and Kristy Gazes video interviews
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
With the 2009 WPT World Championship going on at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, queen of the WPT Amanda Leatherman sits down with the top players during breaks for short, informal video interviews. I’ll be posting some of them over the next few days so you can get some inside info on your favorite players. They have a bunch from the Full Tilt pros and I’ll start with two of my favorites.
After the jump you can find interviews with Erica Schoenberg talking about beer pong and Kristy Gazes discussing many things.
Popularity: 31% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Erica Schoenberg, Kristy Gazes, WPT
2009 WPT World Championship update
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Phil Ivey and David Singer head into Day3 of the 2009 WPT World Championship
The $25,000 buyin WPT World Championship is taking place this week at the Bellagio in Las Vegas with the kind of field you would expect for a premier event. The tournament started with some serious deepstacks that gave plenty of play in the early stages. Each player started with 1000 big blinds and a very slow structure.
This meant they played 2 full days (3 if you include Day 1a and 1b) and just over half the original 377 players were eliminated. Then they hit Day 3 and the field dropped an even 100 players, going from 162 to 62. Only 12 players remaining until the bubble bursts and players start making a profit on their buyin.
There are some big time Full Tilt pros still in contention and dreams of an all-FTP final table are floating around. Although I’m sure the pros hope not, they would prefer a softer table. Leading the way for Team Full Tilt are Phil Ivey and David Singer followed by Chris Ferguson, Mike Matusow and Jennifer Harman, as well as the Brothers Boatman. Barny Boatman and Ross Boatman.
The players return to the tables today looking to move up the leaderboard to position themselves to win the first place prize over $2 Million. Full chip counts for the remaining 62 after the jump.
Popularity: 32% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, David Singer, Phil Ivey, WPT
