The Muck
The Micros
Weekly Rant
Phil Hellmuth
Photoshop
Life On the Road
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MAY 24
The Micros: Right Here Waiting for You
Let's face it. We've all been there. Where? You know that break-up you just can't seem to shake? You know it's over, but you still think about that person all the time, and you think — maybe next time it'll work out. (FYI, it never does.)
In this week's web comic from The Micros, Chase is pining over his long lost love and Balls has had enough.
Visit The Micros' Facebook fan page for more photos, including some teaser posters for the web comic.
Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
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MAY 23
Daniel Negreanu's Weekly Rant: May 23 — Fantasy Poker
We didn't have enough coffee this morning to be able to handle Daniel Negreanu's Weekly Rant this week. He is so hyped up in this week's rant that our heads are spinning.
To start, Negreanu announces a WSOP contest for his fans where he's giving the first place winner the opportunity to win 1 percent of what he cashes for during the WSOP. There are other prizes up for grabs too. He also plugs the $25,000 fantasy poker draft, then breaks down a hand he played at the WPT World Championship.
Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
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MAY 22
Tell Phil Hellmuth What You Like, and Don't Like About Him
On Tuesday, Phil Hellmuth launched his new site. And to welcome everyone, he posted this video, showing off his new car. What we can't figure out is why there was no elaborate entrance or celebrities hanging out in the video.
Hellmuth's new website is "not just a look into the world of yours truly, but also a place where you can share great stuff with fellow fans," and of course Hellmuth himself. This means, you can tell the Poker Brat what you like about him, and what you don't. Yes, what you don't like, he said so himself in the video below.
Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
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MAY 22
Is Howard Lederer Moonlighting as a UFC Referee?
Thank you TwoPlusTwo for coming back online. Now, we're pretty much guaranteed a chuckle a least once a day again. The latest thread that had us wanting more is titled "Lederer's new career as UFC ref?" and was started by "baved."
We have to admit, the ref really does look like Howard Lederer. Nine posts into the thread, "Wilfred" had Photoshopped the ref out of the photo and let the masses have at it. We're a bit disappointed that there aren't more Photoshops, but we've picked out some of our favorites. What we can't decide on, is what's better, the Photoshops or the "Is MMA UFC?" battle that's raging on.
Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
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MAY 19
Life On the Road: Seoul
It's been a little while since my last Life On the Road. In all honesty, I've just gotten a bit back-logged in chronicling my adventures. The last edition was about my time spent in São Paulo, Brazil, and all the fun I had during Carnival week. Since then, I've been on one work-related trip and that was to Seoul, South Korea, for the Asia Pacific Poker Tour.
After Brazil, I really got back into full-on grind mode and was banging out the hours on the felt. Mainly playing live cash games at Aria, I went through a bit of a downswing which came from a combination of my game being a bit rusty and also some run bad. It happens and you just have to battle through it. I'm not here to rant about that, though. I'm here to tell you about my travels. The reason I brought it up was because when I go into grind mode, I tend to not want to leave the felt. This also means not looking forward to my work travels much. I know, I know, I shouldn't complain and I should be happy to go. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying that I get in the zone and want to grind, grind, grind. Also, I was trying to get myself back into shape and all the craziness of traveling had knocked me a bit off track. Wanted to stay focused and it's hard to when traveling.
Needless to say, I wasn't exactly super ecstatic about heading to Korea, but I was still happy about it. I guess what I'm saying is that if the APPT was held in Las Vegas and I didn't have to travel, I'd have been much happier going into it. To me, the big thing that can put a damper on the trips is the travel itself. I've done enough of it to understand exactly what goes into making a long trip. Sitting around in airports, on planes, in cabs, trains, buses or what have you, can become very, very tiresome after several hours. The lack of nearly nothing to eat besides fast food is discouraging and the people you have to deal with can drive you mad. This trip to Korea was going to be no short journey, either.
Once I landed in Korea, it was exactly what I had pictured it to be; everything was very clean, the city of Seoul seemed to be extremely technologically advanced and I expected just that. It was great to see and a rush of adrenaline hit me.
Once settled into the hotel, I opted to get a workout in. I had planned on taking it easy on this trip and not drink at all. After Brazil, I told myself I wouldn't be drinking for one month. After that month, it would be time for a planned vacation to Miami with my best friends for Ultra Music Festival and some time on the beach. That adventure will be the focus of my next Life On the Road.
A couple of months ago, I saw that David "Doc" Sands tweeted about always trying to get a workout in once you get through with a long day of traveling. He claimed that it helps to reset the body and deal with jet lag. I've been blessed with being able to deal with jet lag rather easily, mainly due to all the practice I've had, but figured why not give this a shot and see if it helps. It did and I'm now going to make it regular routine after traveling.
With my plans to take things easy, I did not drink for the entire trip. I got some exercise in every day and sometimes two times a day. I was feeling great, but the smoke in the casino and the food provided wasn't the best situation. When I say smoke in the casino, I mean a thick layer blanketing the air above all of the tables. It was terribly bad, but nothing one can do. This is what happens in most Asian casinos and I've just grown used to it. It sucks while you're enduring it, but what can you do? On top of that, there weren't many food options available at the casino so the staff was ordering in pizzas and Burger King daily for the players and staff. Although I really respect the staff for doing this and catering to the players, trying to eat healthy pretty much went out the window. I tried to compensate for this by working out a bit more than usual.
With most of my nights being boring, there was one when I got dragged out with a group of friends from Hong Kong into the city of Seoul. We went to some crazy hip-hop nightclub and it was pretty out of control. The fact that I didn't drink was definitely a different one, but I still had a blast. I wish I could remember the name of the club or where it was, because I'd for sure go back if I was ever in Seoul again. Even sober, I was out until five in the morning and needed to be back downstairs for the start of the next day in just six hours. I wouldn't have traded in the night for the world, though. Sometimes you just have to sacrifice a little bit of sleep to have a crazy, fun night with friends you don't get to see too often.
When we did make it out of the casino for food, it was always the never-ending search for Korea barbeque. One night, we were pointed just a short minute's drive down the hill from our hotel to a restaurant that was supposed to have amazing Korean barbeque. It was a bit pricy, but we all took the extra hit to our pockets in order to enjoy the amazing food. I've had some good Korean barbeque in my day, but this was absolutely amazing. Everything, and I do mean everything, we tried was seriously delicious. We paid a good amount for the food and knowing what it tastes like, I would easily pay double. Not only way this the absolute best meal of the trip, but it was also probably the healthiest.
After what I would consider a rather tame time in Seoul, it was time to head back to the States. I was looking forward to getting back, but did enjoy my time in Korea. It was a place that I actually wish I didn't go with work to be done because from what I saw, I'd have loved to just explore, explore, explore. The nightclub we went to was crazy and I can only imagine there are more to be found. The people were so very nice and welcoming the entire time and the food we had outside in the city was great. Given everything that I took away from the trip, Seoul is definitely a place I'd like to return to on my own agenda. Here are some photos I snapped while over there.
After Seoul, I returned back to the States on March 12 and it was just a week and a half before my trip to South Florida. That was an epic party and I can't wait to tell you all about it, but you'll have to wait until next time.
One thing I want to add is that I'm extremely excited that poker is returning to Aruba. At the beginning of May, the Player's Poker Championship took place and was a blast. Ever since I went to Aruba for the last Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic, I've always wanted to go back.
Many players have always asked me why a tournament doesn't go back to Aruba, to which I never really had an answer for. I always figured that because it was such a hit with the players and an awesome exotic location that one of the other sites would jump on the island right away, especially PokerStars and all of the reaching they have done around the poker world. That has yet to happen. Honestly, there's no better place to get a great vacation in and play some poker than in Aruba. It was a great way to relax and get your mind right before a nice, long World Series of Poker.
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MAY 18
@AsianSpa Blogs: Being Qualified, Mending Friendships, and More
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of PokerNews.
Another week down and another week closer to the WSOP! Not much to report again this week. It seems like a trend for me before the WSOP. With the remodel of my condo complete I am finding it hard to find the energy to leave my condo. I am enjoying the new features, and it’s almost like living in a new place.
Twitter did not disappoint this week. First, PokerNews' own Tony G was on Twitter fire hammering out tweets, so I sent a tweet asking if I was “qualified” and got the reply “Definitely!” So with that I know I’m qualified to be speaking the truth.
The other classic tweet was from Annie Duke tweeting that on Celebrity Apprentice both she and Aubrey were "robbed!!??" As the self appointed #TruthSpeaker of Poker I couldn’t let this one slide. I tweeted back “Your Brother @HowardHLederer robbed me of $6,975 on Full Tilt.”
Daniel Negreanu was in rare form with his weekly video blog. This week he went after Jeffery Pollack and his lack of tweets since EPIC was imploded. Classic Daniel rant!
I did mend some fences with WSOP bracelet winner Jon Friedberg. He is back following me on Twitter after a year or so. He is the power behind the team at All Vegas Poker and the Poker Atlas — both great resources for the Vegas poker scene. The same can’t be said for Zak over at QuadJacks. Zak isn’t a Spa fan and after trying to bury the hatchet with him via Skype it seems he isn’t interested moving forward.
I am excited the WPT Championship is getting underway this weekend, but with the elimination of the Fontana Lounge, I hardly call it a great venue. I never enjoyed Bellagio when they placed the tables out in the middle of the casino and subjected the players who dropped $25K to play to be around cigarette and cigar smoke and tourists grinding the penny slots.
The Women in Poker Hall of Fame has just opened-up the nomination process for the 2012 inductees. I am pulling for two this year. First is Nani Dollison who is a three-time WSOP bracelet winner and second is the #SpaApproved poker ambassador at the MGM Karina Jett.
There will be plenty of tournament venues and buy-in choices this summer in Vegas. Binions, Golden Nugget, Caesars, Bellagio, Wynn and Venetian will all be running their special events. Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler tweeted a link to a Google doc that had them all listed. Tweet the Chainsaw if you didn’t see it.
I only played once this week and it was Wednesday evening at Bellagio. I played about six hours of $2/$5 no-limit and fared well. I had a late lunch at PF Changs and after reading my fortune cookie I know I am on the right path and living right. Below is my fortune.
I am going to be taking it easy till the WSOP kicks off and getting a lot of personal stuff completed so I can have a fresh mind during the series. It’s the year of the SPA.
Till then I send you #GoodJuJu™ & #SpaRunGood™
Spa
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MAY 18
Fantasy Poker Strategy for the World Series of Poker
In Daniel Negreanu’s latest Weekly Rant he mentioned the $25K Fantasy league that he and a few other high-stakes players competed in during the 2011 World Series of Poker. Fantasy poker hasn’t caught on as much as other fantasy sports, but during the WSOP, it’s a perfect way to get a sweat. And, since there is very little fantasy poker, there’s also very little fantasy poker strategy published online. Let’s change that.
The $25K Fantasy league was a 15-team rotisserie (as if there’s any other way to do it) league that scores players based upon their placement in tournaments. Here are all of the scoring rules from the website:
Finish Points 1st 50 2nd 45 3rd 40 4th 35 5th 30 6th 25 7th 20 8th 15 9th 10 10th-18th 5 Cash 1 - All points are worth double in events with a $10K buy in or higher.
- An additional point per 100 entries is awarded to players who finish in the top 18. No rounding off.
- To receive points, a player must cash.
- In a heads-up event, players finishing in the same position would split the points for that spot. For example, 5th through 8th would get 22.5 points.
- The Main Event counts, but points will be awarded to any players making the November Nine based on chip count. If your player sits in 6th place, you’ll receive 6th place points for his/her result.
- Points will only be awarded in open events. No Seniors, Ladies or Employees events will count.
- The draft for this league is an auction – each team has $200 to spend on 8 players.
There are two ways you can attack an auction draft: you can go the “Stars and Scrubs” route or the “Balanced” route. These ideologies are pretty self-explanatory, and they both have their pros and cons. Stars and Scrubs is awesome because you usually come away from the draft with one of the top five players in the game. It’s not so awesome when you spend most of your budget on Albert Pujols, and he only hits three home runs in the first month and a half of the season, or you spend half of your budget on Phil Ivey (cough Barry Greenstein, cough) and he decides to boycott the WSOP. If your star players don’t perform, then you’ve dug yourself a deep hole. The balanced attack protects you from individual injuries and poor performances, but it also limits your upside. With a balanced team, you’re hoping that maybe one player has a great season or WSOP, and the rest of your players win you a war of attrition.
In a league like the $25K Fantasy league, where there are a lot of teams but the rosters are shallow, Stars and Scrubs is the way to go. You can build a core of three players who are great, and that you know are going to put in a lot of volume, and then fill the rest of your team with purely volume players. The most important thing is that your “scrubs” must be proficient in mixed games — if they’re just no-limit hold’em grinders, then you’re increasing your variance and decreasing you’re volume.
The following is a dream team I put together based upon the draft value of eight players from last year’s $25K Fantasy league auction. I used the Stars and Scrubs strategy, spending $182 on three players, and filling the rest of my team out with very capable yet inexpensive players.
Jason Mercier ($74)
Every time I enter a draft planning to employ the Stars and Scrubs strategy, I circle the top five players and commit to getting the best one at the best price. If you consider last year’s prices, Jason Mercier is certainly that guy. Last year, Phil Ivey ($108), Daniel Negreanu ($89), and Daniel Alaei ($80), were the only players to go for more than Mercier. They scored a combined 11 points, but Mercier shipped his second bracelet en route to a 119-point summer.
2012 has been rough year so far for the Florida native — he’s bricked four six-figure buy-in events and even more five-figure buy-in events, and he only has about $100,000 in cashes — yet Mercier is still without a doubt one of the top-five tournament players in the world. He’s a steal for any amount less than $80, and I’d be willing to bid as high as $90 for him, unless I could get another member of my personal top five for cheaper.
The rest of my top five is as follows: The aforementioned Ivey and Negreanu, who both tend to be overvalued in drafts unfortunately, Tom Dwan, who is the king of volume, and the next player on our dream team...
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MAY 17
Phuoc: My Life — An Autobiography by The Micros
Let's face it, video production isn't cheap. So we understand why Chase, Max, and Balls were out of our lives for so long. Luckily, John Wray and Jay Rosenkrantz found another way to bring us our favorite animated versions of ourselves (oh come on, like you don't see a little bit of yourself in at least one of these characters).
The latest web comic features an all too familiar scene that occurs quite frequently in our office.
Visit The Micros' Facebook fan page for more photos, including some teaser posters for the web comic.
Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
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MAY 16
Daniel Negreanu's Weekly Rant: May 16 — Santa Monica
It's Wednesday and unless the Zodiak Rights group gets in the way, you know that you can pretty much always expect a Weekly Rant from Daniel Negreanu. This week, Negreanu applauds the WSOP for some rule changes, rants about ballerina flats (hey, they're comfortable — at least that's what we hear), and goes on a tirade about Jeffrey Pollack.
Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
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MAY 15
Five Thoughts: Deeb SCOOPs up Multiple Watches
The 2012 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) is drawing to a close this Sunday, but not before three main events with $1 million, $1.5 million and $2.5 million guarantees are offered. A staggering 115,004 unique players have played in one or more of the 72 events thus far, generating a total prize pool of $35,873,599. There have been 155 countries represented, and 131 countries have cashed at least once.
At the top of the SCOOP 2012 Leaderboard is Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb (Mexico) with 470 points. His closest competitor, JRADF79 (Belgium), has only 305 points, and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (United Kingdom) is tied for third with 290 points.
1. Waffle Crushing SCOOP 2012
Over the first nine days of SCOOP 2012, Shaun Deeb has recorded nine cashes, three final tables, and two wins. Unlike Blom, who won no-limit hold’em events on consecutive days, both of Deeb’s victories came in seven-card stud. His first victory came in SCOOP 10-H: $2,000 Limit Stud ($25K Guaranteed), where he bested a field of 64 entrants to take home the top prize of $41,600. Joining him at the final table were Team PokerStars Online George “Jorj95” Lind (8th, $5,120), Pat Pezzin (6th, $7,040), Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer (4th, $12,800), and James “Andy McLEOD” Obst (3rd, $19,200).
In the end, Deeb found himself heads up with ”TheMuppet”, who had a slight chip advantage. Initially, TheMuppet extended the lead, but eventually Deeb came roaring back to win his second career SCOOP watch.
Three days later, Deeb took down SCOOP 19-H $2,000 Triple Stud ($50K Guaranteed). Deeb was second in chips entering the final table, trailing only Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov, and eventually the two were three-handed with British pro Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick tagging along. Despite having Deeb out-chipped, both Chidwick and Katchalov were willing to make a deal that would’ve paid Deeb more than the value of his chip stack. Deeb turned it down however, and three hours later, he had every single chip.
shaundeeb shaun deeb
Another scoop tilte for me, super tough and long 3h match between stevie and @EugeneKatchalov both played well but turned down a +ev chop
May 13 2012With the win, Deeb joins Calvin “cal42688” Anderson as the only two players with three career SCOOP watches. More importantly, Deeb continues to master mixed games, which sets him apart from basically every other young online poker player. Over the past few weeks, I’ve heard various players say — in one way or another — that no-limit hold’em is “solved.” There are so many standard plays, and so many people understand these standard plays, that the edge in the game is becoming thinner and thinner. Conversely, very few people are playing stud variants, and when they do, they rarely have a discernible edge over their opponents.
Poker, like many things, is cyclical. Once upon a time, five-card draw was the most popular game played. You’d be hard-pressed to find a dozen casinos in the country that will spread five-card draw for you today, that is unless you’re a whale or a high roller. The game is restricted to home games and a few tables online. That’s it. No-limit hold’em will continue to be the most popular game for a long time, but the gap between hold’em and Omaha is closing before our eyes. Soon, the stud variants will catch up as well.
The best poker players adapt, and drift to where the soft money is. Deeb has been grinding mixed games at the Aria for many months now, and it’s clearly paying off. Along with his two recent SCOOP victories, Deeb finished fourth in the six-handed 10-game event at the 2011 World Series of Poker. Don’t be surprised if you see him at another non-hold’em final table this summer.
Tweet of the Day
- Evelyn "Evybabee" Ng
- I made friends with a tiny bright blue jellyfish today at the beach. He looked like a colored contact lens on a floating eyeball, but cuter.
Eric Froehlich joins Kristy to talk about World Series of Poker satellites, packages, and more.
The White House recently released a response to the "We The People" petition regarding online poker.
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