Poker Blog and Poker Gossip

I got word from Betfair Poker today that they are doubling my bonus code from $300 to $600 on first deposits!  Along with the amazing Annette Obrestad promotion, this makes it an amazing time to play at Betfair.  If you have never heard of Betfair before, they were the main sponsor for the 2007 World Series of Poker Europe.

If you want to take on Annette and take advantage of this new promo code, sign-up at Betfair Poker today.  (Use promo code WSP600 for a now $600 Bonus on your first deposit!)

Calvin Ayre is pissed, and started his blog the other day with the following:

“I, Calvin Ayre, am challenging 1st Tech’s Scott Lewis to a 3-round Bodog Fight rules MMA face pounding. Think he’ll go for it? I’ve got a million bucks that says even if he does—and wins the fight—I’ll still come out on top.”

Ayre is angry because Scott Lewis of 1st Tech is allegedly the “patent troll” responsible for Bodog’s recent multiple domain changes.

Since I can’t say the story any better than the man himself, check out Calvin Ayre’s first blog entry about the story.  Followed by his next entry where he calls him a Chicken.

2 relatively unknown players (trex313 and luckexpress10) went at it on the high stakes tables at Full Tilt Poker today.  Their game of choice was $300/$600 No Limit Hold’em.  They both started the session off with $60K in chips and shortly after were both all in for all of their chips.  As you can see in the hand history below and what turned out to be the largest hand of the session, trex313 came out on top and took the nearly $120K pot.  At the end of the session both players came out pretty much even with what they started (except for a few hundred dollars more for luckexpress10) when luckexpress10 hit a set of 8’s to win a $50k pot.

Full Tilt Poker Game #3954632414: Table Halbert (heads up) - $300/$600 - No Limit Hold’em - 17:00:49 ET - 2007/10/24
Seat 1: luckexpress10 ($63,896)
Seat 2: trex313 ($60,000)
trex313 posts the small blind of $300
luckexpress10 posts the big blind of $600
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
trex313 calls $300
luckexpress10 raises to $1,800
trex313 calls $1,200
*** FLOP *** [8c 7c Ah]
luckexpress10 checks
trex313 bets $3,000
luckexpress10 raises to $10,200
trex313 calls $7,200
*** TURN *** [8c 7c Ah] [4d]
luckexpress10 has 15 seconds left to act
luckexpress10 bets $21,000
trex313 raises to $48,000, and is all in
luckexpress10 calls $27,000
trex313 shows [6s 5c]
luckexpress10 shows [Ac Qd]
*** RIVER *** [8c 7c Ah 4d] [7d]
trex313 shows a straight, Eight high
luckexpress10 shows two pair, Aces and Sevens
trex313 wins the pot ($119,999.50) with a straight, Eight high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $120,000 | Rake $0.50
Board: [8c 7c Ah 4d 7d]
Seat 1: luckexpress10 (big blind) showed [Ac Qd] and lost with two pair, Aces and Sevens
Seat 2: trex313 (small blind) showed [6s 5c] and won ($119,999.50) with a straight, Eight high

If anyone knows who luckexpress10 or trex313 is on Full Tilt Poker, post it in the comment box below.  There are some rumors that luckexpress10 may be Johnny Lodden but nothing has been confirmed.

Sorry for the lack of updates as of lately, but I spent the last few days in sunny chilly Las Vegas. I went with a bunch of friends for one of my friends’ brothers’ bachelor parties. We stayed 3 nights at the Hard Rock Hotel and had lots of fun. Here are some of the notable events from the trip….

First day/night, Gambled most of the day at Hard Rock (lost about $450) then played some poker at Ceasars Palace. Got busted when my King high flush ran into an aggressive players’ ace high flush. Went to Wing Lei for dinner at the Wynn. My friend and I ran into Young Joc in the hallway. I wasn’t too sure if it was him, but my friend is 100% positive it was. After dinner we hit the tables for a bit. While we were hanging out we caught Charles Barkley hitting the blackjack tables. They shut the table down for him, and the stakes were probably very high (since he has a gambling problem). Our guesses were at least $10K per hand, but probably even higher. Went back to our hotel after going to a few more places, got wasted (my friends’ B-Day) and ended the night.

Second day, slept late went straight to dinner at N9Ne steakhouse. Had a serious dinner… 32oz steak, lobster, shrimp, oysters, and much more, but I could hardly eat anything because I was feeling sick from the night before. We were sitting in the same room (separated by a glass mirror divider) as the guys from Jackass and Freddie Prince Jr. and Sarah Michelle Geller were a few tables away. Went to Moon Nightclub at the Palms, left there in a limo (thank you Palms!), then hit the Rhino (link is to a strip club website), followed by Scores (another strip club) in limos all night… Thanks Gary!

3rd Day… Went to the Las Vegas Gun Store. Shot an AK-47, AR-15, Glock, Tiger Mini and something else. Went for dinner at Mario Batali’s B&B. After dinner took another limo back to the Hard Rock. Went to Body English and shut the place down (stayed til’ close).

Last day, did some shopping, had brunch at the Wynn, then flew back later that night.

All in all, it was lots of fun and I can’t wait to go back to Vegas.

Betfair Poker has released a pretty cool promotion where you can take on WSOPE Champ, Annette Obrestad.  Even if you lose, you can still win!

Here are the details:

WANT to take out Annette Obrestad, winner of the inaugural WSOPE main event? Nothing personal, Annette. Indeed, it was her idea to invite players to take see if they could beat her.

Every Tuesday and Friday, Betfair will hold a $20k Guranteed a bounty on Annette’s head (and hands). Take her out and you’ll gain entry to Betfair’s weekly $50k GTD. Fail, and each time Annette reaches the final table we’ll add an extra $1,000 GTD to the prize pool the next time the tourney runs. You want more? OK, there’s more! When Annette wins, her bounty in the next $20k becomes entry into a WSOPE 08 Final Qualifier worth $525.

The contest:
Tournament: ANNETTE’S $20k GUARANTEED
$200 BUY IN FREEZEOUT
Time: 19.30 BST TUESDAY AND FRIDAY
(This tournament replaces the current $16k)
Format: 5,000 CHIPS, 15 MINUTE BLINDS

If you want to take on Annette and win some pretty good money doing so, sign-up at Betfair Poker today.  (Use promo code BRB300 for a $300 Bonus on your first deposit!)

It appears that the identity of the Absolute Poker super-user, POTRIPPER, has been identified.  According to several sources (Gambling911 and Point-Spreads.com), POTRIPPER’s real name is Alan “AJ” Green (not his REAL name), formerly of Nine.com and the now former Operations Director for Absolute Poker.

According to Point-Spreads.com, “Point-Spreads.com sources in Costa Rica are claiming the Absolute Poker Super-User account scam has been going on for three years and the actual amount that was skimmed from online poker players is estimated at close to $7 million, not the 700k amount that was previously reported. The actual amount is still unknown as an internal audit is underway.

[Point-spreads.com] have confirmed that Scott Tom was using the Super-User to sit at tables as an “observer” as online poker player PotRipper would join the tournaments and Scott would tell him what cards people have so they can win the tourney and split the money. PotRipper is Alan “AJ” Green, formerly of Nine.com and the now former Operations Director for Absolute Poker. Point-Spreads.com has learned AJ’s real name but has chosen to withhold it at this time.

Where did the $7 million go? On September 3rd, 2007 a small jet plane caught on fire before taking off on the runway at San Jose Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica. The two passengers on the private jet were Scott Tom and his pregnant wife. His wife was rushed to the hospital to make sure everything was alright with the baby. The plane’s destination was Colombia and the rumored cargo on the plane was $2-3M in cash. Officials at Absolute Poker confirmed to Point-Spreads.com that Tomm was on the jet, however, deny any money was onboard.”

More on this story as it develops…