Dec
14
by Chad Holloway
As some of you may know, I write Fantasy Poker articles for Poker Pro Magazine and the European publication, Online Poke Pro. This has been a great experience and has allowed me to contribute to one of poker’s highest quality magazines. Another benefit from this experience is that my editor and fellow University of Wisconsin Alum, Johnny “Quads” Wenzel, informs me of some great opportunities in the poker world. Most recent he told me of an upcoming online tournament they are holding for a great cause, to honor the armed services. Not only that, the winner of the freeroll tournament will win a seat to the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event plus $2,000 for expenses. I’m looking forward to that and to learn more you can always pick-up a copy of Poker Pro Magazine (plus you’ll get to read some of my articles on Fantasy Poker).
In other poker news, I’ve decided to grind it out at some low stakes Sit & Gos here on UnaBomber. I’m usually playing some sort of ring games, but after scrolling through the lobby, I noticed UnaBomber offers some pretty decent Sit & Go options. My plan is to just grind those out for awhile and see how I do. I’m actually having a good time playing the “Double or nothing” tournaments. I’ve decided to avoid Pot Limit Omaha unless it’s the micro stakes, because it seems no matter what I do, I can’t beat that game.
My other poker plans include a trip to New Orleans in February. I’m going to visit some old friends and live it up at Mardi Gras, but I’m looking forward to putting a session or two in at the poker room in Harrah’s. I used to play there almost every day when I lived in NOLA, and I loved it. It’s a great room and it’s right off Bourbon Street. The 2009 WSOP Winter Bayou Poker Challenge is going on right now and I hate to miss it. Just the same, I can sit home all day playing online poker and avoid the 5 degree weather here in Wisconsin.
I’ll also be glued to the internet checking updates on the WPT Doyle Brunson Classic. I know the Unabomber himself will be playing, so I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed. Speaking of Mr. Laak, he seems to be addicted to Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. I can’t say that I blame him. I’m not the video gamer I used to be (thanks to internet poker) but even I can’t put down C.O.D.2. It is by far the best first-person shooter I have ever played and it is so much fun. You might see me on X-Box live playing under “Hollowayism.” If I’m not there check UnaBomber and I’ll probably be playing under the screenname “LuckBox07.”
Dec
9
by Katrina Lim
Playing poker and Christmas catchup all while smacking zombies upside the head with a cricket bat.
I’ve been runnin’ around all week playing Santa and haven’t accomplished much. Also, this weekend is birthday madness. Mama’s on Friday, G-Dog’s on Saturday, Jensen’s on Monday, Anna’s on Tuesday. I better start thinkin’ of some ideas…ugh.
Been hangin’ out with BFF and I had my yummy chili rellano and pizza “crisp” Monday night at Esther’s. Also had a cadillac margarita and after only ¾ a glass, I was already feelin’ good. Such a lightweight I am! Jank!
Congrats to Pearljammer fer posting back to back final tables this weekend too. 5th in the Sunday Million on Stars!! WOW!! And then the Full Tilt Monday too?! WOW AGAIN!! Most impressive score? Getting out of jury duty!! Bwahahahaha Good job, Jon! See ya soon!
Also, congrats goes out to lil sis who won “another” Bahamas package!!! It’s so hard to win one, so fer you to win 2, lil sis, is although a great feat, I guess I really shouldn’t be surprised…hehe. Nice job too! As for me, still trying to win $7 and the only record I hold is my bad beat streak. Great. So I can’t wait for the year to end and start fresh again. I still have my new motto to live by… “Healthy & Wealthy”. I’m signing up for a 3 hour tennis class and will start spinning twice a week. The other days will be on the treadmill. After watching the Biggest Loser finale last week, surely I can lose 15 pounds?! Geez! BFF says to just “put my mind to it”. Ok, sounds easy enough.
So it looks like if I don’t qualify fer Bahamas, I’ll be going to Cabo, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta instead. I could live with that…bwahahaha I’ve never been on a cruise before, so I’m a bit nervous but also excited. The thought of being on a boat for 7 days is a bit daunting to me. But since they have an onboard casino (how convenient) I should survive. Plus, I hear the food is awesome! Ok, worth a try. Anyway, looks like the cruise is after Bahamas, so I can still go to both…just need my dumb ass hands to hold up. Please baby Jesus, help my dumb ass qualify for PCA.
Haven’t been playing much at all. Just PCA satellites and qualifiers. Can’t make anything happen. So depressing. Maybe Bahamas just isn’t meant to be. Oh well. All I can do is try. I’m still blasting away at zombies with G-Dog, Eugene, and E-Dog. We finished 3 campaigns last week: Hard Rain, Dark Carnival, and just this past Monday, The Parish. I love Left 4 Dead 2!!! Definitely my fave right now. My days are spent runnin’ around shoppin’ fer birthdays and Christmas while my evenings are spent on the couch with the puppies and the 360 with some poker in the middle. Life is good.
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-$1,000 tables, and take on Phil “The Unabomber” Laak. If nothing else, that match would be highly entertaining. We’ve all watched Phil on High Stakes Poker, so we know he’s got the high stakes skills. I plan on keeping my eye on the “Isildur1” saga and I’ll be sure to write on any significant action, so check the blog on a regular basis for any updates.
Nov
23
by Katrina Lim
I’ve switched from poker to more violent games of late. Ha! To celebrate Left For Dead 2 that comes out today, I’ve been playing the original and enjoying the carnage. What a great way to handle tilt too. On a bad run lately? No problem. Just pick up some shotguns and semi-automatics and blast all the zombies that come yur way! Feels great! Monsters ain’t yur thang? Then pick up Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2! Great way to solve tilt. Video games rule! Now and forever!
I played a Ladies Weekend qualifier fer PCA and was 18 fools shy of qualifying. Jank. However, lil sis won so I may just hafta sneak into her luggage. Actually, this may actually be better! While she works at the tables, I may just chill on the beach, cocktail in hand, trashy mag in the other, and enjoy the warm sun in mid-Winter. Hello Bahamas!
We had our family luncheon on Sunday and it was lotsa fun catchin’ up with all the cousins. We had dim sum and dim sum more! Yummy stuff! The Thanksgiving dinner menu is complete and man, we are gonna have some fun! Bro’s gonna bring over all the Rock Band stuff and this will be a first…having real rock stars at my house playing Rock Band!!! Sweet! Can’t wait for Liz and Morgan to show us their rock star skillz and we’re gonna challenge em! And if you haven’t yet, go grab Miss Derringer’s new album, Winter Hill! My cousin rules! I’m also gonna teach em all how to play some poker, so maybe I can make some ca$h off of em too so I can go crazy on Black Friday!! Ha!
I’ve been playing $3/$5 at Commerce and congrats to my friend, Diana Korkis, fer reaching the final table of the $250k Guaranteed of the LA Poker Open this past weekend. Shouldn’t have chopped it though as I know she could’ve taken down all dem foolios! Good job, girl!
Right now, still trying to qualify fer PCA and playing a lotta 360. Also playing some Guarantees on Unabomber Poker today! Come find me! Gonna go get me some Left For Dead 2 later too. Life is good.