Apr
5
by jake
MarketZero, the company behind the poker stat tracking portal PokerTableRatings, was recently purchased by Zynga, the company behind numerous highly successful social games for Facebook.
Zynga has been on a company buying tear having bought 11 studios in the past 11 months. The PokerTableRatings purchase is particularly interesting as its their first poker related purchase. Zynga described MarkeZero as a "pioneering force in the online poker world.”
Could Zynga, with its 37 million free play Texas Holdem players, be possibly gearing up to dive into the real money online poker game? If so, you can expect they'll be significant player in the industry.
Apr
1
by Katrina Lim
I made a 24 hour trip to Vegas so my family can spend the week for free at the Palazzo. It was good to check up on the condo too. Same ole, same ole. Spent the evening sitting on the couch looking around the room wondering if it is worth keeping. Like the rest of America, my condo is one of the millions of underwater mortgages that is begging for mercy from BofA, also known as the Great Satan. I should hear from Satan any day now regarding a loan mod and will decide if I should continue to sell my soul to him.
Had dinner at Naked Fish with XTracey and Pearljammer and we enjoyed some of their famous sushi rolls. Yum! Spent some time at the Ballys tables and it was nice to see my dealer friends again. But it sure sucked losing $500 last night. Worst beat was when my set got rivered by the villain’s 2 pair when he rivered a flush.
Driving home on the 15 was the worst case of jank ever! I was stopped by CHP and the fool gave me a ticket for 78. Yes, I was speeding considering the limit is 70. Yes, other fools were passing me up but of course he has to stop me. C’mon! How fast can a 115 horsepower Honda Civic really go?! I think my Decepticon sticker just attracts Blue. Anyway, fine! Gimme my dumb ass ticket cuz it’s almost the end of the month and I know you have a quota to meet! Dumb ass CHP! They’re all slaves to Arnold now that the Governator has demanded more tickets issued. Start with your dumb ass wife getting caught on TMZ talking on her cell phone…twice!
Anyway, here is where I get really janked…about 10 miles after I get my ticket, the same dumb ass CHP officer is behind me in the fast lane and I’m going exactly his recommended 70 mph limit. He flashes his headlights at me to move over so he can pass me up cuz now I’m going too slow!!! OMG!! Sure enough, Decepticivic moves over to the next lane and Mr. Officer passes me up real fast. I actually laughed cuz I realized the fool just janked me up without even knowing it. But he made a big mistake for picking on LimShady!!! No one screws LimShady and gets away with it. So, I truly believe Mr. CHP just cursed himself and sooner or later, the next gangsta he stops is going to put a cap in his dumb ass cuz no gangsta is gonna accept what happened to me today. Mr. CHP is just asking for a 187.
Mar
24
by Katrina Lim
I’ve been grinding like a fool trying to qualify for Monte Carlo. This past weekend I got janked with 99 vs QJ. Only 7 fools away from winning a seat too. So brutal. Oh well, next weekend. Been playing a bunch of sit-n-gos too and $1/$2 cash games. Also played a tourney to waste an hour away…10 hours later, I placed 15th of 355 and thought to myself did I really just play for 10 hours to win $67? Why am I so jank?
Gonna head to Vegas this weekend to meet up with the pals. Justin and Anita got their ping pong table today so when I get back from Vegas I’m gonna show em how it’s done. The first bet is high tea. I love high tea. Scones and finger sandwiches. Some good sheeeet! Gonna ping and pong my way to a free tea…sweet!
I am debating whether or not I should sign up for Netflix. Everyone I know is a member. My concern is once I sign up, I won’t use it. But then again, maybe I will. I have so many flix to catch up on. And I guess I can stream stuff on my 360 too if I sign up. That’s what I find myself doing nowadays. After the 9-5, I come home, eat a quick dinner, and either play online or watch tv. Too tired to do anything else. Man, corporate America is already wearing me out again. Been on the job for more than 30 days now and I realize now why I left corporate America to begin with. It really sucks. Nothing like being your own boss. My job is fine and my boss is the greatest, but it’s the political machine within each company that really irks me. All I’m waiting for is one nice score and I’ll be my own boss again. Maybe this summer at the Rio? That would be nice.
I am tempted to go back home to the muthaland in the Fall for a week or so. I miss Singapore a lot. It’s the greatest city in the world for food!!! My sister and nephew will be going and I really wanna go. I just hope BFF still plans on celebrating her birthday in the Maldives and we can hit both places!!! That would be so awesome!!! Back to Singapore and Bali and throw in the Maldives!! Sweet!! Life is good. As a matter of fact, a year ago today, BFF and I were in Asia…started off in Hong Kong, then Singapore, then Phuket, then Bali…so much fun!!! HK and Phuket were ok, but Singapore and Bali we will never forget. If y’all ever get the chance, do visit!!!
I have yet to touch European soil. One day. Hopefully. Trekked throughout Asia but have yet to venture across the Atlantic. So I find myself grinding like a fool to find my way to Monte Carlo. God willing, I guess.
I haven’t played Uncharted 2 for a while and still stuck on Chapter 9. But now with the release of Heavy Rain for the PS3, I am torn. This is my kind of game and I know if I buy it, I will continue to ignore Uncharted, ha! So I guess I will wait…price drop will be good too. Anyway, time for bed. It’s a school, uh, I mean a work night.
Dec
14
by Katrina Lim
Celebrated family birthdays all weekend. Started with Mama’s on Friday, G-Dog’s on Saturday, and Jensen’s today! Eating out all weekend makes tummies expand…I am Balloon Girl now. Although we had a nice birthday dinner last night for Jensen at Romeo Cucina in Laguna Beach, today there is a party for him at his school and another family dinner tonight to celebrate all 3 birthdays…again. Mama insists on having her Peking duck tonight and at $12 per quack, the deal is irresistible.
I’m supposed to head to Vega$ tomorrow morning but I just found out Anna is sick and I sure don’t wanna get the flu! Right before Christmas too! Ugh…so, I may just wait it out til New Year’s now. Today the Bellagio 5 Diamond Main Event starts and good luck to all my pals playing!!! Win something. Also, at her insistence, hafta give a shout out to my pal, Marilou Morelli, fer killing Aces full of Kings at HG to win the jackpot! Her quad Kings earned her an extra $20k…a nice surprise. But wow, the full house loser won an extra $60k+ just fer losing. Must be nice. Hmm, and I am still trying to win just $7.00 and that’s hard enough. Adding her $20k jackpot surprise to her $78k 3rd place WSOP Ladies finish this year, Marilou told me she’s made more than $100k in 2009 with her poker hobby. Hmm, sure beats needlepoint bwahahaha!!
Marilou offered to take me to dinner since she has lotsa extra disposable ca$h now cuz she didn’t expect her hobby to be so profitable in the last 6 months. I told her just for saying that, I predict Marilou will go on a really hot streak in 2010 and will start ca$hing a lot more than $100k…just so she can treat me to more meals next year. I win too! Marilou is a great player and 2010 will be her breakthrough year! $100k is just a tiny taste of how much she’s gonna win next year. I told her to get ready and be prepared for the upcoming publicity that comes with winning a lot. I’m sure she will handle it all very well. Most importantly, I’m gonna make sure fer each time she ca$hes, she’s gotta take me to lunch lol. Hmm, sounds good. Thanks, pal!
As fer me, I played in a fun home game satellite Saturday night for the LA Poker Classic. Seven players and I only knew 2 of them. Ended up winning it (Good job, me!) and now I have an entry to one of the $1065 buy-in events in February. Thanks to John and Margie for graciously hosting us. Looking forward to winning lotsa ca$h in February for me and my new team.
Bahamas is still a distant dream. Still playing qualifiers and still getting bad beat after bad beat. Amazing. Making good decisions pre-flop but hands just won’t hold. Still have a coupla weeks left to try. For some, it is more exciting to win a seat before the week of the tourney. For me, I always like to know what I’m doing months in advance so this sucks. Boo.
For those of you also reading Phil’s blog, he is absolutely right. Playing video games absolutely relates and can impact one’s poker game. I’ve been killing zombies so much that I notice my game is more aggressive. I find myself coming over-the-top more often now…especially with my favorite hand, Kobe (2-4)! Bwahahaha!!
I am considered to be a very tight player, so maybe this is good cuz I’m really mixing it up more often now. Yeah, it’s good killing zombies. Yeah, it feels good winning with 2-4. So, I’m gonna keep playing more M rated games cuz although these games can be so twistedly violent and skewed, they undoubtedly give a great adrenaline rush. The rush being a nonstop race to survive your surroundings…just like tournament poker. Wonderful! Bwahahahaha!! Anyway, gonna meet up with my sister soon to help her with Jensen’s birthday party at school. His entire class gets kool birthday cupcakes from Mrs. Beasley’s. Sis ordered gourmet Mocha, Chocolate, and Red Velvet. What happened to the days when yur only choice was Vanilla or nothing? Kids today…so spoiled. I remember when I was in 3rd grade and I wanted a Cabbage Patch Kid so bad fer Christmas and mama could only afford a knockoff Kid…a Lettuce Kid?! Bwahahaha!! But I loved my Lettuce Kid all the same. This Christmas, I really think Jensen will not only get his much anticipated 360, but also a PS3…and he’s only 10 today. Last night alone for his birthday, G-Dog gave him 5 video games! One being Left 4 Dead 2 (he doesn’t even have a 360…yet.) and G-Dog knows he doesn’t have his 360, yet. I guess we are all proud of the kid fer getting straight As this semester. But then again, yur Asian, lil guy! Yur expec ted to get straight As!!! Bwahahaha!! Damn nerd! But he’s a good kid…good ole Boogs!
So Happy Monday y’all! Be good to yurself and each other. Win big and share the wealth this holiday season. It will come back to you 100 fold!