Stars FTW Once Again

I may suck at the poker but I run super good in accumulating tickets thanks to the incredible generosity of PokerStars.

Now all I have to do is convert something into, you know, cash money.

Oh wait, that's where the whole sucking at poker things comes back into play.

Sigh.

If you need me I'ma be playing some 8 game mix.

Oops

Sorry about the screwup over the Mookie/Buddy. I plain forgot what day it was yesterday.

Anyway, more for my own reference than anything else, the SCOOP schedule:

01	May 2 13:00 ET	NL Hold’em [6-max]	Low: $22 Med: $215 High: $2,100
02	May 2 17:00 ET	NL Hold’em [2-day]	Low: $22 Med: $215 High: $2,100
03	May 3 14:00 ET	NL Hold’em -6-Max, Rebuys]	Low: $5.50 Med: $55 High: $530
04	May 3 17:00 ET	FL Badugi	Low: $16.50 Med: $162 High: $1,575
05	May 3 20:00 ET	PL Omaha [Turbo, 1R1A]	Low: $11 Med: $109 High: $1,050
06	May 4 14:00 ET	PL 5-Card Draw	Low: $11 Med: $109 High: $1,050
07	May 4 17:00 ET	NL Hold’em [Heads-Up Match Play]	Low: $16.50 Med: $162 High: $1,575
08	May 4 20:00 ET	NL Hold’em	Low: $11 Med: $109 High: $1,050
09	May 5 14:00 ET	Mixed Hold’em [6-Max]	Low: $22 Med: $215 High: $2,100
10	May 5 17:00 ET	7-Card Stud High	Low: $33 Med: $320 High: $3,150
11	May 6 14:00 ET	PL Omaha [Heads-Up Match Play]	Low: $22 Med: $215 High: $2,100
12	May 6 17:00 ET	NL Hold’em [Knockout]	Low: $27 Med: $265 High: $2,100
13	May 7 14:00 ET	NL Hold’em [Ante Up!]	Low: $16.50 Med: $162 High: $1,575
14	May 7 17:00 ET	FL Omaha Hi-Lo	Low: $55 Med: $530 High: $5,200
15	May 7 20:00 ET	NL Hold’em [2X Chance, Turbo]	Low: $16.50 Med: $162 High: $1,575
16	May 8 16:30 ET	NLH - Quadruple Shootout NLH - Triple Shootout NLH - Double Shootout	Low: $22 Med: $215 High: $2,100
17	May 8 17:00 ET	PL Omaha [6-Max, Rebuys]	Low: $16.50 Med: $162 High: $1,575
18	May 8 20:00 ET	FL Hold’em [Turbo]	Low: $22 Med: $215 High: $2,100
19	May 9 13:00 ET	NL Hold’em [Big Antes]	Low: $22 Med: $215 High: $2,100
20	May 9 17:00 ET	NL Hold’em [2 day]	Low: $22 Med: $215 High: $2,100
21	May 10 14:00 ET	PL Hold’em/PL Omaha	Low: $16.50 Med: $162 High: $1,575
22	May 10 17:00 ET	NL Hold’em [4-Max]	Low: $33 Med: $320 High: $3,150
23	May 10 20:00 ET	NL Hold’em [Turbo, Rebuys]	Low: $11 Med: $109 High: $1,050
24	May 11 14:00 ET	2-7 Triple Draw	Low: $11 Med: $109 High: $1,050
25	May 11 17:00 ET	7-Card Stud Hi-Lo	Low: $22 Med: $215 High: $2,100
26	May 11 20:00 ET	NL Hold’em	Low: $11 Med: $109 High: $1,050
27	May 12 14:00 ET	Razz	Low: $22 Med: $215 High: $2,100
28	May 12 17:00 ET	NL Hold’em [Rebuys]	Low: $11 Med: $109 High: $1,050
29	May 13 14:00 ET	8-Game	Low: $33 Med: $320 High: $3,150
30	May 13 17:00 ET	PL Omaha Hi-Lo	Low: $11 Med: $109 High: $1,050
31	May 14 14:00 ET	NL Hold’em [1R1A]	Low: $22 Med: $215 High: $2,100
32	May 14 17:00 ET	FL Hold’em [6-Max]	Low: $55 Med: $530 High: $5,200
33	May 14 20:00 ET	NL Omaha Hi-Lo [10m levels]	Low: $22 Med: $215 High: $2,100
34	May 15 14:00 ET	PL Omaha [6-Max]	Low: $55 Med: $530 High: $5,200
35	May 15 15:30 ET	NL Hold’em [Heads-Up Match Play, 2-Day]	Low: $270 Med: $2,600 High: $25,500
36	May 15 17:00 ET	HORSE	Low: $22 Med: $215 High: $2,100
37	May 16 13:00 ET	NL Hold’em	Low: $22 Med: $215 High: $2,100
38	May 16 17:00 ET	NL Hold’em Main Event [2-Day]	Low: $109 Med: $1,050 High: $10,300

Scheduled All To Hell

No poker being played so this will be a content-free update.

The BBT5 continues with the Mookie (or whatever it's called now) this evening TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY. 10:00 PM ET, pw vegas1, it'll be the $10+1 private tourney with over 100 entrants. I'm about 95% certain that I won't be there - really need extra sleep to deal with things right now - which means that I still won't have played an event in this series. I don't know if I'll make a Mookie or a Monday night Poker From the Rail event before it's over but there are a few weeks left so who knows.

Probably the next meaningful poker I'll play will be the SCOOP series over on PokerStars. Thanks to Stars I have a ticket to use on a low buyin event and I may try one or two others. More than anything else it depends on timing - I really think one of the reasons I moved away from playing tournaments several years ago is that I just find it impossible to block off any meaningful amount of time to focus. There's always something else that I should be doing. Or in the case of golf season that I'd rather be doing.

Speaking of which it was an odd weekend. The forecast was dismal - 70% chance of rain Friday night, 70% chance on Saturday, 80-100% on Sunday. Instead it rained overnight Saturday night for a while and there were a few drops on Sunday. Nice going weather people but thank you. Bonus thanks to the wonky low pressure system that had the lines of precipitation moving all over the place just not here.

Pairings

{ed: Sorry about the width issues, too lazy to fix.}

Hello blog readers. Today’s topic is one which in my opinion is tremendously underexposed. I really can’t understand why there aren’t more posts about it. Let’s break it down.

Point One: Many poker players like to watch poker videos. Watching training films is a proven way to improve your game.

Point Two: Many poker players also enjoy a fine beverage. With so many to choose from, selecting the right beverage is something of an art form.

You see lots of talk and TV and stuff about pairing food and wine. Why don’t we see posts about pairing poker videos with the correct beverage?

That was a rhetorical question by the way. I’m all over this topic and right here, as a public service, I'm going to clue you in on some basic poker video-beverage pairings.

Let’s start with an easy one. This is a video of Phil Helmuth demonstrating how to correctly play the Hammer:



Because it’s Phil, the obvious pairing is with a fine whine wine. Specifically one that’s both sickeningly sweet and highly acidic. This makes for an obvious choice - I recommend a nice expensive ice wine.

See how easy that was?

Next up is a video from PokerStars, how to play badugi.



You have to be kind of weird to play badugi. You know who else is kinda weird? People that like the Insane Clown Posse. You know what those people drink? Faygo.

So let’s pair badugi up with a nice tall glass of Faygo Rock ‘n Rye.

As a bonus Faygo is non-alcoholic so you can keep your wits around you as you try and figure out this crazy game. And once you do (somehow) master badugi you can go crazy, mix Faygo with a wide variety of booze and get drunk right off your ass. It’s the perfect beverage for badugiots everywhere.

Moving right along we have another video from PokerStars, how to play 8 game mix.



Look, let’s face the facts. Only weird people with strange facial tics play 8 game mix, so it’s important to select a beverage that fits. My recommendation is a nice Japanese beer. And I don't mean one of those mainstream beers that everybody knows like Asahi or Kirin or Sapporo. I'm talking something from way out there:

Yeah, I have no idea either.

So anyway, further study is needed but I have a working hypothesis that the same people that actually like 8 game mix are the same people who have a Japanese beer fetish. Don’t agree? Go do a dozen sake bombs and check back with me later.

Right.

So I was going to do a couple more, but I've found that just plain old beer pairs really well with poker blogging and I've kinda lost initiative. So go experiment with your own pairings and remember one key phrase: If you overdo it, it's not my fault.

BBT5

Back and better than ever, the BBT5 is a chance to win one of several WSOP seats by playing blogger tournaments. I could explain it better, but instead I'm just going to link you to the man behind it all.

The series kicked off tonight, I think, with some kind of invitational. I'm kinda fuzzy on that one. There are Monday and Wednesday tournaments each week for the next six weeks and then a tournament of champeens.

I don't think I'll be playing too many events - 10:00 pm starts and oh, yeah, right, I suck at poker - but it's a great series reworked so that you don't have to kill yourself to have a chance.


I have no other pokerings to talk about. I did sign on to check out Rush poker tournaments, but I didn't have the patience to wait 2 hours for one to start. ADD FTL.