Nov
30
by Phil
But not the first time writing.
First things first, if you have not seen the new Prahald Friedman rap then do yourself a favor and watch it now...
(this is not the "practice avoidance" rap that he did back in the day.. this is new fresh stuff!)
It absolutely rules.
(I dont know how to make a link for you.
Please go to you tube.. and type in "Poker Rapper - Prahlad Friedman - In the Main Event.")
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And while you are at it.... you might as well check out my second favorite poker video of all time.
In youtube.com type in the search for "Bing Blang Blaow (remastered)"
It is full out genius.... (and sorry Prahlad.. I am switching back... it is my favorite.. you will have to be nmbr two this time.
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What else.. Got the new Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2 game and it is maybe the best video game made EVER. This week it actually got in the way
of something I love even more. Poker. There was a 40 100 nlh 6 handed game at the Commerce last week (rare) with two spots and all
I could think of was more weapon upgrades and getting cooler missle launchers. I sat there and just xboxed myself into a stupor. Missed the poker game. Pathetic.
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Turkey day was great... just super duper enjoying some chill time here in LA... it seems like months since I have had so much chill time.
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Oh yeah.. one more random thought before I log off. I started (finally) to watch the ESPN WSOP09 this last week... (Tivo rules)
Was planning on just crushing it. Doing 6 hrs a day. Thought I would just finish it all up in no time flat.... when something funky happened to
the TV system and it all froze up. Arghghgh. Couldn't sort it out and have a tech guy coming to help me manana. I want to finish it all up before
I head off to Vegas next week. (Dec 8th to the 20th or so... Cash games and WPT event at the Bellagio.)
Later
Phil
0569d934-f58b-41cc-afe3-8cf5e5bfcd3f|2|5.0
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Nov
27
by Chad Holloway
"Isildur1" is on a quest to beat some of the best online poker players on the planet.
Now I am a fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and can appreciate the reference to the one-time holder of the ring, but I’m afraid that name is soon going to become synonymous with high-stakes online poker action. For those of you who don’t know, “Isildur1” is the screenname of a mysterious player from Sweden who has been playing some nosebleed stakes over at Full Tilt. In the past few weeks he has logged heads-up sessions against the likes of Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Cole South, Illari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, David Benyamine and Brian Townsend. Nothing too special about that, right? True. But the stakes and the amount of money changing hands is simply astounding.
Most of the matches have been played at the $500-$1,000 No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha tables, with millions of dollars changing hands. “Isildur1” recently took Tom “durrrr” Dwan for $3 million while booking other wins against Antonius and Sahamies. These sessions put “Isildur1” up more than $6 million in the month of November; however, that didn’t last long. Antonius and Ivey ended up multi-tabling “Isildur1” later in the week and things did not go smoothly; in fact, after playing nearly 4,500 hands in about nine hours, he was down $3.3 million and decided to call it quits (Ivey was up $1.2 million while Antonius got $2.1 million). One of those hands ended up being the largest pot in online poker history worth $1,356,946.50. Needless to say, Antonius took it down. The hand developed when “Isildur1” raised to $3,000 in PLO, Antonius reraised to $9,000, “Isildur1” 4-bet to $27,000, and Antonius 5-bet to $81,000. There was a call and the flop fell 5c 4s 2h, leading Antonius to bet $91,000. “Isildur1” raised and was reraised to get all of the money in. Antonius was ahead with Ah 3s Ks Kh for a flopped wheel while “Isildur1” had massive draws with 6d 7d 8h 9s. The turn came 5h and river the 9c and Antonius made online poker history.
The action continued over the next few days with “Isildur1” dropping in profits to as low as $750,000, at least according to some estimates. He notched some wins after that bringing his total profit over the past five weeks to $2.5 million. These million dollar swings are truly historic in online poker history. It’s going to be interesting to see how things pan out, because “Isildur1” isn’t backing down. He is still playing on a daily basis and taking on anyone willing and able. One thing is for sure, it’d be nice to answer the question: Who is this mystery Swede? Other than that, I’d like to see “Isildur1” pay a visit to Unabomber Poker, fire up the $500-$1,000 tables, and take on Phil “The Unabomber” Laak. If nothing else, that match would be highly entertaining. We’ve all watched Phil on High Stakes Poker, so we know he’s got the high stakes skills. I plan on keeping my eye on the “Isildur1” saga and I’ll be sure to write on any significant action, so check the blog on a regular basis for any updates.
Nov
25
by Katrina Lim
It's almost turkey time!
Only one more day til Turkey Day! Gonna help mama tonight with the all the preps. Then early tomorrow morn mama stuffs the bird and bakes it fer hours…just in time fer dinner! Bro and sis and cousins are making dishes and hmm, hmm, goodness fer all.
Yday was a blast with BFF. We lunched at Charlie Palmer’s at South Coast Plaza. Good stuff. Started with Charlie’s version of French onion soup, covered with a puff pastry. Wow! Then we shared a steak salad and the steak was really WOW!!! So yummy!! I’m not the biggest salad fan as I’m not into rabbit food, but man, this salad was yummy! We also tried a duck meatball appetizer that was just ok. Prolly cuz it’s duck. I had a crème brulee trio fer dessert!!! OMG! Vanilla, pumpkin, and espresso!! All 3 were so sinfully delicious! Washed everything down with a glass of “Kung Fu Girl” Riesling and another wonderful time with BFF.
Then later in the evening we went to a holiday boutique at a neighbor’s place and I got a cute hoodie. Something new to add to the poker wardrobe. I always like wearing hoodies cuz the casinos are so cold. We stopped at Kelly’s house and she showed me her backyard! Wow! I thought I was at a resort, not someone’s backyard! It had its own huge bar with seating fer 10, 2 plasma TVs, beers on tap, and custom built heaters fer the chilly evenings. Right next to it is a huge fireplace with additional seating. And with the pretty pool and spa combo, I really felt like I was at a hotel. So nice!
Played a couple SNGs yday morn but didn’t cash in either. Thus another losing workday. I am planning my calendar through end of April 2010 and if all works out well and how I want it to work out, it means I will be in Europe playing in the Spring. Hoping Bahamas will be in my future in January. February is LA Poker Classic, March will be in Vega$, but April will hopefully be in Italy and Monte Carlo as I am gonna try hella hard to qualify fer both EPT tourneys on Stars. Since BFF and family will be in Europe during that time, it would be so awesome if we can meet up and tour Europe together. If I don’t qualify, then I’ll be playing sats fer Bellagio’s Five Star Classic. Then lo and behold, WSOP 2010 is back! Time is flying by quickly.
In the meantime, just gonna be thankful fer good health, a good family, good friends, good food, and hopefully good opportunities to pursue the above. Turkey fer everyone! Extra gravy please!
Nov
24
by Katrina Lim
The Bahamas are calling!
AARRGGHH!! I played another Sunday qualifier fer PCA and finished 6th! I needed to finish in the top 2 to win my way to the Bahamas!!! ARGH!!! Felt janky fer a good hour or so…ugh. Then I played Left For Dead and after a few successful campaigns, was feelin’ good again. Had fun killing all those zombies! OMG, this game rules! And I was playing online with bro, E-Dog, and Eugene so it was even more fun! I’m also Xsporean on XBOX Live!
So last night I played and won another pre-qualifier so I’m in fer cheap fer this Sunday’s PCA qualifier again! Man, I better qualify this Sunday or else! I can already see the beach, cocktails, trashy mags, and FOOD! Never been to Bahamas! Never been to Atlantis! People tell me it’s paradise! I don’t believe them so I need to find out fer myself. And with lil sis already in, it’ll be such a fun trip!!
Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I’m hungry! Will be fun eating and chilling and eating some more. Check out the menu, yo!
Big ass bird (Thanks Uncle Joe!) with mama’s famous Chinese stuffin’!! Her secret ingredient? Shitake mushrooms and chestnuts, yo! And we also gotz green bean casserole, fruit salad, homemade mashers, and even sweet potater casserole! Throw in a pumpkin pie and homemade tiramisu and wash it all down with some pinot noir and sparkling cider and you gotz a couple extra pounds, easy! Oh, but so worth it! Thanksgiving is the only day where we’re supposed to overeat and feel good about it! So I only want to do my part and continue this great American tradition! Hmm, I will hafta check if Kobe is on! A Lakers win will complete my holiday.
Then Black Friday! I love Black Friday cuz who doesn’t like shoppin’ fer cheap?! And it’s also a tradition to wake up at an ungodly hour and support our economy! And fer those newbies that don’t know how to handle the masses, please be extra careful and don’t get hurt! Holy hell! Every damn year some poor shoppers let others walk all over them (literally!). Be safe out there! Hopefully, I can drag my sis to come with me to all these places and we can snag some deals! When else can you get yurself a slow cooker, coffeemaker, toaster, etc. for $3 each??!! Ah, Friday starts the holiday shopping season! December is an expensive month fer me. With birthdays on the 11th, 12th, 14th, and 15th, I am a broke bee-at-ch. Jank. Throw in Christmas, and by the new year, it’s true jankity jank. I am really tempted to pick up another PS3 just to have another blu-ray player in the house to go with the new 50” plasma and it comes with free copies of Batman’s Arkham Asylum and Infamous. These 2 games are right up my alley and I’ll also get a free blu-ray of The Dark Knight. Anyway, gonna make my shoppin’ list later today.
Watched the WSOP final table and ESPN sure made poker look like more of a crapshoot than a game of skill. Would’ve been nice to see Phil win it. And what’s up with Jeff “Grizzly Adams” Schulman?! Yo, I know you can afford a razor! I need to find out from Joe Cada how he knows when Ducks and Tres’ are gonna flop sets! You’re a genius! Congrats!
Playin’ some SNGs today and then meetin’ up with BFF fer lunch at the beach. Then gonna go to her neighbor’s holiday boutique tonight with the gang. Should be fun! Have a winning day everybody!