Didn’t get the table draw until the very last minute, but here it is: 1 Richard Woodall 81,000 2 Andrew Brokos 30,800 3 Mario Nagel 18,600 4 Douglas Johnson 33,000 5 George Kalaitzis 37,000 6 Mike Beasley 34,300 7 Cliff … Read more…
Day got off to a good start: I made some big hands and won some big pots during levels 1 and 2 to go on break with about 50K. I’ll post more details after the event is over but basically … Read more…
Today marks my first public appearance sporting the PokerStars Team Online patch (assuming I successfully meet up with fellow PSTO’er Kevin “WizardofAhhhs” Thurman, who is supposed to have some for me). I hopefully won’t be able to post a blog … Read more…
At the end of 2010, I urged poker players to send me write-ups about their favorite charities in order to encourage year-end giving and paint a broader picture of just what the non-profit sector looks like and how many diverse … Read more…
This is an update concerning a post I made a few weeks ago about some strange goings on in my old UB account. I requested a security audit as several people on 2+2 suggested. To their credit, UB support was … Read more…
I know where I’ll be May 8-22: PokerStars is guaranteeing $45 million in prizes over the course of two weeks in the third annual Spring Championship of Online Poker. They’ve released the schedule, and just looking at it gets my … Read more…
Edit: The buy-in for the tournament will be $5+$.50. Second edit: The invite code is “foucault”, I’m told you need that join. Sorry for the confusion. Third edit: Invite code is all lowercase. I’m pleased to announce that I’m starting … Read more…
A Hungarian poker site picked up on my recent post about money disappearing from my old UB account. Curious to see what they said, our Esteemed Webmistress ran it through Google Translate. Playing around with GT is always fun, and … Read more…
I recently had an experience with Ultimate Bet that can best be described as “shady”. I don’t feel that the evidence warrants accusing them of outright theft, so I’m just going to post a factual account of what happened and … Read more…
Thanks to Short-Stacked Shamus for calling my attention to this fascinating article from a 1967 issue of Sports Illustrated. The writing is spectacular and evokes the atmosphere of the California cardrooms of half a century ago, doing justice to the … Read more…
I’m going to be hosting (and hopefully playing! fingers crossed…) the final table of the $215 Poker Stars Sunday Warm-Up today. They tell me the final table should start somewhere around 20:00 server time (which is also US Eastern Standard … Read more…
My girlfriend was kind enough to let me plan our Valentine’s Day around an interview with Mike and Adam. We spoke for a little over half an hour about all kinds of stuff: blogging, coaching, traveling, and of course strategy. … Read more…
Hi all sorry for the short notice but I’m going to be recording an interview for the 2+2 Pokercast tonight and I’d really appreciate any suggestions you have for topics we ought to discuss. Obviously we’ve got a lot of … Read more…
I’ve had an account at PokerStars for more than five years now, and though I don’t remember exactly when I created my avatar, Mr. Bananagrabber has been with me almost since the very beginning. Sadly, Arrested Development has been off … Read more…
A few weeks ago, I hinted at a big announcement. It got delayed by a few weeks, but today I am proud to announce that I will be a member of Poker Stars Team Online this year. I can honestly … Read more…
Fellow Poker Savvy Pro Andrew “achen” Chen is at the final table of the PCA $5000 Bounty Shoot-Out event, set to begin at Noon today. There were prizes for winning the first two tables, but now everybody has same chip … Read more…
This Op-Ed by Michelle Minton in today’s Washington Times is probably the single most favorable piece to online poker that I’ve seen in any mainstream media outlet ever. After profiling a few very sympathetic professional or semi-professional online players, she … Read more…
This is the fifth and final part of my Setting Effective New Year’s Resolutions for Poker Success series. If you haven’t already, please check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. Today’s goals are smarter and not … Read more…
This is the third part of my Setting Effective New Year’s Resolutions for Poker Success series. If you haven’t already, please check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Goal 4: Create the Conditions for Success When I Play … Read more…
This is the third part of my Setting Effective New Year’s Resolutions for Poker Success series. If you haven’t already, please check out Part 1 and Part 2. Goal 3: Make a Name For Myself I feel like I am … Read more…
This is the second part of my Setting Effective New Year’s Resolutions for Poker Success series. You can see Part 1 here. Goal 2: Publish the Book I have a solid draft and some very good feedback. Now it’s time … Read more…
I recently posted about Setting Effective New Year’s Resolutions for Poker Success. Today, I’m going to start sharing my poker-related resolutions. Goal 1: Make Some Money Dolla dolla bills, y’all. Average At Least 20 Hours of Poker Each Week This … Read more…
From Annie Duke’s website: It’s bittersweet, but I’ve decided to leave UB. I have nothing but positive things to say about UB and my experiences with the brand, management team, and dedicated employees who work hard every day to deliver … Read more…
Tournament Statistics Certainly an above average year in tournaments, with an FTOPS win, a WCOOP final table, a SCOOP final table bubble, and a top 100 finish in the WSOP Main Event. No room to complain about anything here. My … Read more…
Thanks to everyone who submitted their favorite organizations for the Cheque-Raising for Charity project. If you haven’t already, please consider making a charitable donation before the end of the year. You may choose to give to one of these organizations … Read more…
There is obvious untapped potential for poker games playable on mobile devices. Full Tilt Poker’s fast-paced Rush Poker in particular is a great fit for this format. The relative speed of the game makes one-tabling it more tolerable, and the … Read more…
As poker’s self-proclaimed master debater (sorry Siola), I feel like I should have been the one to write this excellent article on how the PPA and other poker proponents ought to be selling online poker to the American public: As … Read more…
Obviously I’ve been closely following discussions of the “Reid Bill” that would pave the way for licensing of US-based online poker operations following a “blackout period” during which it would be unlawful to offer such games to American players. I … Read more…
I’ve played more tournaments than usual in the past few months, and while I certainly can’t complain about how they’ve gone for me this year, I nonetheless find myself feeling frustrated at the end of virtually every Sunday. Last week, … Read more…
A few days ago, Poker Grump asked me what Harry Reid had ever done for internet poker. It wasn’t until I saw this article in the Wall Street Journal that I remembered I hadn’t responded: Staffers for Senate Majority Leader … Read more…
It’s been a while, but with only one month left in the year, it’s time to assess my progress on my goals for the year and consider how I should allocate my remaining time. Goal 1: Average 15 Hours/Week Playing … Read more…
Sunday’s Washington Post ran an article on high school poker clubs, after-school activities where teens learn math skills by playing poker: Fletcher had been on a tear during the past few meetings of the high school poker club – part … Read more…
Happy Thanksgiving! Here in the US, today is a day for reflecting on all that you’re thankful for in life. Here’s my poker list: 10. Sharron Angle- Thanks for being so goddamn crazy that you couldn’t even get elected as … Read more…
Before I became a serious poker player, I loved to watch poker on TV. Now, I can hardly stand it. I did watch a few episodes of this year’s WSOP broadcast, mostly from the days I expected to be on … Read more…
…and it isn’t me. Or you. Unless Jonathan Duhamel is reading this, in which case, congratulations, bro! In honor of the event’s conclusion, we’ve now got up a page with links to my 2010 WSOP trip report plus interviews and … Read more…
I finally got around to buying a new phone today, after having run out my contract with Sprint months ago. I’d been wavering between a Droid and an Iphone for a while, and then Full Tilt went and made the … Read more…
Sorry I’ve been slow in getting the link up, but I was actually on the ESPN WSOP broadcast again the week after the clip I already posted. The hand is around the 12:00 mark in this clip. It’s Eric Baldwin … Read more…
The indefatigable Tony Dunst has just been named as the host for a new segment on the World Poker Tour broadcasts called “Raw Deal” which will apparently feature “an edgy, yetinsightful look at hands from the week’s broadcast”. Although he … Read more…
Following my 3rd place WCOOP finish, someone commented, “Congratulations on the win. Seems a little weird though that you have your best day ever and your just kind of meh. You should look into that.” In fact, I was mostly … Read more…
As I predicted, my huge post-flop coin flip against David Baker made Tuesday’s ESPN broadcast. I’m pretty happy with how I came off, though I wish I hadn’t been calling for cards. I don’t ordinarily do that, but when the … Read more…
Boston-based poker radio show House of Cards recently aired an interview with me that was recorded not long after my exit from the WSOP Main Event. The host of the show, Ashley Adams, is actually a union negotiator who works … Read more…
Their flawless software that is now the best and most secure in the industry apparently produced this little gem in the UBOC O/8 event the other day. The bet sizes were all screwed up, enabling people to limp in for … Read more…
I was telling my girlfriend about the latest online poker gossip/scandal involving an alleged chatlog in which Thorladen and Imperium discuss multi-accounting with the help of services like GoToMyPC that allow you to access other computers remotely from a different … Read more…
Here’s a sad but humorous exchange I had with FTP support today. For what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure I would have folded the river anyway, though that’s hardly the point: I just played a hand in the $1000 NLHE … Read more…
I don’t know how many of you will find this relevant, but for what it’s worth, several of my articles are now available in Russian at a site called Poker Moscow. Even if you don’t speak Russian, it’s worth a … Read more…
I know a lot of you have seen these already, but I promised a few people big clear links in the body of a blog post, so here we go: Poker News Video Interview Poker News Hand Analysis Let me … Read more…
Thanks to piefarmer for finding and posting this. Seat 1: David Baker (951000) NOT Bakes of FTOPS final table fame, I’m told Seat 2: Andrew Brokos (1223000) table chipleader Seat 3: Eric Baldwin (292000) Basebaldy online, 2009 Cardplayer player of … Read more…
I woke up this morning convinced that I would be assigned to the table of tournament chipleader Tony Dunst- the first time we met in real life was just moments before learning we’d be seated next to each other in … Read more…
Couldn’t find much on most of these guys, which is probably a good thing: Vincent Lodato 134,700 AMAZON/322/1 Andrew Brokos 503,300 AMAZON/322/2 Andrew Jeter 124,300 AMAZON/322/3 Simon Ravnsbaek 233,200 AMAZON/322/4 (couple of shallow cases on the circuit: WSOP, WPT, EPT, … Read more…
For those that didn’t see PieFarmer’s comment, here’s his summary of my Day 3 table draw with my parenthetical additions: Danny Dam 198,000 AMAZON / 264 / 1 No info Vincent Van Patten 174,200 AMAZON / 264 / 2 Celeb/Pro … Read more…
Day 2 underway, live updates on twitter. Messages are slightly encrypted because the A key is broken, but you’ll get the idea: twitter.com/thinkingpoker
Thanks for all your comments and encouragement. They mean a lot to me. Thanks especially to Todd and Emily, who both found and posted or sent me my table draw for today. Google didn’t turn up much, but here’s what … Read more…
Gross table, gross day. Can’t recall the last time I was so miserable playing poker. Pretty much never got above my starting 30K all day. Had some crap luck especially last hour and was down around 12K. Table was crazy … Read more…
Well, today’s the day! I’ll be playing Day 1C, beginning in about 3 hours. I know I don’t tweet much outside of poker tournaments, but I will be sending updates from my phone about chip counts and big pots. You … Read more…
Thanks to everyone who’s asked how the series is going for me or what my WSOP plans are- I’m flattered by your interest. As you’ve probably figured out, I’m not in Las Vegas now. I will be playing the main … Read more…
The first in a series of four videos reviewing my play at the final table of the FTOPS $2K event that I won has just been posted on Poker Savvy Plus. The video contains a lot of insight into managing … Read more…
This is a very thin river shove to begin with. It’s not that Villain is all that likely to hold better, but it’s also hard to see him paying off with worse. My hand looks very strong here and could … Read more…
Huge congratulations to David Baker, 2+2’s own “Bakes”, who took down the WSOP 2-7 NL event last night. For those who don’t know, this is a 5-card draw game where the objective is to make the low hand. Aces are … Read more…
I’m embarrassed to say that I’d never heard of Praz before I played with him during this year’s PCA, but I could tell immediately that he was a great player. He has this intense table presence that you rarely see, … Read more…
Over two weeks ago, I won the FTOPS Tournament of Champions, the prize for which was a seat in the WSOP Main Event. I never received the money or any further information, so eventually I wrote them to ask about … Read more…
Last night, as I was sleep-deprived and caffeine-jittery and getting deep in the $300 SCOOP 4-Max, I was also on the phone with Mike Johnson and Adam Schwartz, hosts of the 2+2 Pokercast on which I am this week’s feature … Read more…
Isn’t it pretty? Plus, now that my avatar is no longer the black guy with the Afro, I expect to see 17% less racist vitriol directed at me in the chatbox!
Wow. Thanks to everyone who was watching and following along. For those who weren’t, here’s the quick version: With 10 left I was in 8th, which was a tough spot because Bakes was swinging his big stack extremely well. I … Read more…
A third of the year is officially behind us. Am I 1/3 of the way to achieving my Yearly Resolutions? Goal 1: Average 15 Hours/Week Playing My “Regular” Games I’ve found that 15 hours/week enables me to earn a pretty … Read more…
Another month, another monthly review of progress towards my Yearly Resolutions. Goal 1: Average 15 Hours/Week Playing My “Regular” Games I’ve found that 15 hours/week enables me to earn a pretty healthy income, far more than I could make at … Read more…
The vast majority of people who contact me about “advertising” are actually looking for some shady shit like this, though some of them express it more subtly: “I work for XXX and we are looking for you to publish some … Read more…