I haven't talked much about poker on here, but I am still playing. As a matter of fact, last week I played in a 4,000 player free satellite (satellites are tournaments where you win a seat into a bigger tournament, usually at a very low price) and came in 72nd. By placing in the top two hundred, I'm in a tournament to win a seat to a World Poker Tour tournament (WPT is the poker show that's on Bravo).

While I doubt that if I do win a seat I'll go very far at the WPT (though stranger things have happened in the poker world), if I do win this tournament on Sunday not only do I get a seat in the tourney valued at over $5,000, I also get $2,000 spending money.

This tournament is going to be about 2,000 people, so cross your fingers that I'm the one that comes out on top. Would definitely make the weekend a good one!

.: 163 words at 08:34 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (2) :.

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I sat down in a 300 player freeroll (no entry fee) poker tournament and managed to get some really good cards (including flopping four of a kind) and I finished in seventh position.

.: 33 words at 12:21 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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I just got done with a ten player $11 poker tournament that I somehow managed to come back and get first place for $50. It got down to me and one really erratic player which kind of bothered me since I was having problems putting him on hands.

On one hand I got pocket kings, so I didn't raise before the flop hoping instead to trap him and double up. The flop came jack, eight, nine rainbow so when he bet I raised him hoping he didn't have the straight. He reraised me all in and turned his cards to show a ten-five offsuit. The turn came a queen, giving him the nut straight (that's the problem with slow-playing; sometimes it can really hurt you). I realized, though, that if one of the remaining tens were to hit, I would have the straight to the king, beating him. Sure enough, the river was a ten, doubling me up and putting me back in the tournament.

I had a few more lucky hands and then, on the last hand of the tournament, I played king-eight suited in the small blind. He reraised, but since he was almost all in, I figured I might as well see the flop. The flop came five, two, and eight, giving me the top pair. He bet and I raised him all in. I then caught an eight on the turn, giving me the winner.

Bet that guy was pissed that I came back and won it. Just goes to show why they say all you need is a chip and a chair to win.

.: 269 words at 11:38 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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Just finished up in another multi-table poker tournament, topping my other places. This time, out of 3,073 players I placed 36. Getting better.

.: 24 words at 03:53 AM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (3) :.

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Just finished up another multi-table freeroll poker tournament and had an even better finish than yesterday. Out of 2,621 players I came in 44. Seems my no limit skill is improving.

.: 31 words at 03:47 AM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (2) :.

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I just had my best finish yet in one of Paradise Poker's multi-table tournaments - 66 out of 2,553 players.

.: 20 words at 03:33 AM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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I'm playing in one of Paradise Poker's one table tournaments and I just got a straight flush, quite a rarity.

I was in the small blind with a 6 of diamonds and the 8 of hearts. The flop comes 6-7-9 all hearts, giving me an open-ended straight flush draw (meaning either the 10 or 5 of hearts will give me a straight flush). The flop is bet, raised, and reraised, but since it's early in the tournament, I figured it would be worth the money to call especially since there's lots of players in.

Sure enough, the turn is the 10 of hearts giving me the unbeatable straight flush. I check, a guy behind me bets, one guy stays in, and I raise. The guy who bet reraises, the other guy stays in, and I reraise again. We end up capping it, so I figured the guy had a high heart and was betting not seeing the straight flush.

The river came another six, but since the straight flush beats even four of a kind, I wasn't worried about it. I bet, get raised, and we end up capping it with the other player folding. The guy shows his cards and he had the ace of hearts, but like I said, my hand was unbeatable at that point.

We're still early in the tournament, but I just had to come and put this hand down so I can remember it. When you've got the straight flush, you always want some guy in there to have the ace and not realize what you could be reraising him with.

I don't have anyone to talk cards to anymore, so y'all just have to put up with my long rambling card posts.

Update: I managed to place third despite a poor card run and win $20. Whew.

.: 304 words at 01:01 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (4) :.

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Nothing like being way down in a poker tournament and coming back to finish second place. Talk about close!

.: 19 words at 02:57 AM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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I had another pretty good finish in one of Paradise Poker's multi-table tournaments - 105 out of 2,500. Of course, that only nets me $0.50, but I'm still proud.

.: 29 words at 01:21 AM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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I made my best placing in a multi-table poker tournament tonight - 88 out of 2,500. Not too shabby.

.: 19 words at 11:26 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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Paradise Poker (where I play online) has recently started multi-table tournaments where literally thousands of players can play against each other.

They had a free one tonight and I had my best placing yet. Out of 2,113 players, I came in 138th place and won the princely sum of $1.00. Still, it's a pretty good finish and I'm pretty proud.

.: 60 words at 11:36 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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I love it when I accidentally sit down at a no-limit poker tournament (I like limit better) and still manage to place (and second place at that).

.: 27 words at 11:42 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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I accidentally sat down at a $11 no-limit hold 'em tournament.

I usually play limit and there's a big difference between the two styles. I got pretty good at no-limit a few years ago, but now I never play so my immediate thought was, "Oh, shit!" as soon as I noticed.

Luckily, I squeaked into third place and made $10.

.: 61 words at 07:44 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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I played another $11 poker tournament tonight and won again, so another $50 has been added to my account. I am so stoked!

.: 23 words at 07:40 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (3) :.

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Even though my BlogShares fortune is fake, the money accumulated in my poker tournaments isn't.

Tonight I got into a $6 tournament as I do most every day. The payouts for the top three places (ten people in each tournament) is $10, $15, and $25. I couldn't catch any hands and ended up something like seventh which is abysmal.

So, I figured screw it and I sat down at a $11 tournament. The tournament's twice as much to play (just about), so the payout's twice as high.

I caught a few good hands and managed to stay in the top four places or so the whole tournament. It finally gets down to four people. The next one to get eliminated gets knocked out of the money, so needless to say, fourth place always sucks as a finish.

It was inevitable that the guy to my right always would call my raise or raise my blind and he and I went back and forth. He'd catch a hand, then I'd catch a hand. I finally get pocket tens and raise him at which point one of the only players actually says, "Grudge match #6?" He calls and the flop comes 8-8-4. He bets and I raise him all in. He had an ace, but since I had a pair, all I had to do was dodge an ace and I did, eliminating him from the tournament and assuring me a money spot.

The next person was knocked out rather quickly by the other player and then it was just me and him. We went back and forth for a while until I got a money lead and called his race with jack-eight suited. Two spades came on the flop, but he had a pair of queens. Luckily for me, the river was a spade giving me a flush and leaving him with only a few hundred dollars. He was all in on the next hand with an ace-six, but I had an ace-seven and caught an ace on the flop to win first place and $50.

I never play these higher tournaments so I had to come record my first place finish for posterity. Of course, I may just start playing them since the payout is much higher and the player's not any better.

.: 383 words at 11:19 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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I play in quite a few poker tournaments over at Paradise Poker. They run promotions on and off, but I've never been able to win one.

The one they're running right now is from midnight until 4:00 a.m., approximately every ten minutes, they have a Happy Hour game. The winner of the hand gets $100 and everyone else gets $10. We were down to four people and my table gets dealt a Happy Hour hand. The chip leader bets $200, the guy behind him raises all in with another $150, and I call on the button since I've got small suited cards. The other player calls all in too. The flop comes 7-7-K. The chip leader bets and I have to fold. The turn and the river I can't remember except they were both clubs. Everyone shows and the chip leader hit runner runner clubs to catch a flush. He knocks the other two players out guaranteeing me a second place finish in addition to the $10 I just won for being in the hand. I jokingly asked him if I got to win the tournament now ($15 for second and $25 for first) and he said yes. Despite having a $4,000 lead on me, he folded every hand and let me win.

I ended up $35 up for the game, but I was so happy that the other player was so nice. Color me happy!

.: 237 words at 11:59 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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Woo hoo! Another first place finish in a poker tournament and another $25 in my account. I've been playing so good lately!

.: 22 words at 06:15 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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I played two poker tournaments tonight to get 4th place in one and win no money and 2nd place in the other to win $15 for a grand total of $3 added to my account. Well, it's better than a poke in the eye!

.: 44 words at 01:07 AM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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Just ignore this if you don't know the terminology:

Argh! How can you call with third pair all the way down to catch a card on the river? How can you call with NOTHING on the flop to catch runner runner for a flush? How can you be so stupid and so lucky? Die, you idiot fucking players, die!

.: 59 words at 09:45 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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Just gone done playing in a couple of tournaments over at Paradise Poker. After getting my ass kicked royally in the first one, I came back and got second place in the next one. Grand total of money made: $3. Since we are leaving for Vegas this Sunday, though, I figured I better get in a couple of hours of play before we go. I've been getting home so late from work lately that I haven't played at night in weeks.

.: 82 words at 11:25 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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If you look over in the sidebar, you might notice that right now I am feeling accomplished. The reason for that is on Wednesday, Thursday, and today I've played in one tournamet at Paradise Poker and I've won first place ($25) all three times despite having crappy cards and not being able to make any hands until several rounds into the tournament. Yeah, me! :-)

.: 65 words at 06:40 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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