CPL Week 7 Goes To Wally!!

Wally "The Cowboy" Behr took down week 7 of the CPL this week in a display of card superiority that I haven't seen in the CPL for quite some time!

Wally not only took out yours truly....but managed to take out several others throughout the night.

The Cowboy had timing and was catchin cards faster than his 10 gallon hat!!

I saw The Cowboy with Rockets twice, Cowboys once, The Ladies at least twice, and Fishhooks. Talk about crushing the deck!!! Take this man directly to Grand Casino and have him buy a Powerball while your at it!!

Congrats Wally for a great win!

CPL Honorable Mention goes to both New Life and Urkelnator for holding on to the take 3rd and 2nd place!

CPL News of the Week! Jeff "Matusow" Matson made a comeback into the Winter Session this week to make a run at the coveted CPL Tournament of Champions!!

We had a whopping 18 CPL members this week at CPL Headquarters in Blaine.

Below are the results!

Wally--39.6
Jeff K--23.1
Greg--16.6
Phil--13.2
Wanda--11.0
Mark--9.6
Shane--8.5
Pam--7.7
Bill--7.0
Jill--1.0
Tim--1.0
Mike--1.0
Jeff M--1.0
Jodi--1.0
Damon--1.0
Gene--1.0
Steve--1.0
Brad--1.0

Below is the CPL Leaderboard with Adjusted Totals (removing each players worst 3 weeks thus far)

JP--80.10
Bill--73.50
Damon--68.10
Gene--61.10
Shane--59.20
Tim--55.00
Jill--53.30
Steve--51.90
Mike--46.30
Wally--42.60
Jeff K--41.70
Wanda--38.30
Greg--27.80
Brad--25.90
Pam--24.70
Mark--20.80
Phil--16.20
Jodi--14.00
Malinda--10.40
Jeff M--1.00

Jill Takes CPL Week #6!!

Congrats to Jill for taking the top spot in the CPL week #6! Gotta love home field advantage!!!!

There were 12 CPL members who attended week 6 and below are the results!

Jill--28.2
Gene--16.6
Tim--12.1
Wanda--9.7
Greg--8.2
Brad--7.1
JP--1.0
Shane--1.0
Bill--1.0
Jodi--1.0
Mike--1.0
Wally--1.0

Thanks again to Brad and Jill for hosting last minute while I was out in Pittsburgh and for running the league in my absence!!

--
CPL Director Mark Cardenas
and
CPL Co-Director Phil Fuehrer

Find the Podcast on ITunes: CPLDirectors Podcast

The Blind Me Down "Hand of the Week" - Hand 4 by Mike Behr

So we left off last week with a difficult decision to make. Do we
call all in on the money bubble with top set on a dangerous board or
fold and try to make it into the cash. After much thought as usual I
decided that I couldn't lay this down. I felt as though I was being
pushed around in a spot that the chip leader knew would be tough for
me to call in and so I made the call. He rolls over 10d Jd. In this
case, almost the most powerful hand in poker. His play makes sense on
the turn as it may be what anyone would have done in his shoes. The
river was a 4 of clubs and we took down a monster pot to put us in
the chip lead and in great shape to make some real money. Pat
yourself on the back if you had the stones to call here. Not an easy
decision.

Now onto our hand of the week for week 4:

It's a $3 KO tournament that started with 938 players. We're down to
436 and the blinds are at 40/80 with 14 minutes to go until the first
break. Obviously a loose game as this type usually is. We have
carefully built our stack up to 7985 which is a little more then
twice the average at this point. Rock is sitting in the big blind
with a Qd 10c and it folds around to the button who just calls. The
small blind throws in an extra 40 for a call and we just check. The
flop comes Qh 7c 10s rainbow. Fantastic. We have top two. The small
blind checks, we check and the button checks. The turn is the Kc. The
small blind checks. We bet out 180 into a pot of 240 to see if
someone hit the king and because we don't need the board to get any
more dangerous before we put out a bet. The button folds and the
small blind raises to 360. We take a moment and then just call. The
river is the 5h. The small blind bets out 560 into a pot of 960. He
has 2540 left and we have 7545. What do we want to do here? At a
minimum we make the call. But the question is, what could he have and
should we push for more chips and try to get his entire stack in
there somehow and taking down yet another bounty.

CPL Week 5 results!

Congrats to JP for his second win during this 2008 Winter Session!

Below are the weekly point totals and the CPL Leaderboard!

 

Week 5 Results

 

JP	28.2
Bill	16.6
Gene	12.1
Brad	9.7
Shane	8.2
Damon	7.1

Phil

1.0

Wally

1.0

Wanda

1.0

Jill

1.0

Jodi	1.0
Greg	1.0

CPL Leaderboard (unadjusted totals):

JP	80.1
Bill	74.5
Damon	69.1
Shane	52.7
Steve	51.9
Mike	46.3
Gene	45.5
Tim	43.9
Jill	26.1
Wanda	20.6
Brad	19.8
Jeff K	18.6
Pam	18.0
Jodi	14.0
Mark	12.2
Malinda	10.4
Greg	5.0
Wally	4.0
Phil	3.0

 

 

--
CPL Director Mark Cardenas
and
CPL Co-Director Phil Fuehrer

Find the Podcast on ITunes: CPLDirectors Podcast

The Blind Me Down "Hand of the Week" - Hand 3 by Mike Behr

First we will start off again by answering last weeks dillema. If you need a refresher, please scroll down and read through the hand before going any further. This was a seemingly great hand for our hero Rock Lobster. We had a great draw, we hit our ace with a decent kicker and still had an out if we were beat on the turn. But instead we had a perfect storm brewing from the beginning. We have to give props to the Villian here whom played this hand perfectly. (that may or may not be the correct use of the word "whom" there. I so rarely get a chance to use it.) There are any number of hands that he could have here at the end and his bet of 1500 is such that it begs to be called. So if he was trying to bluff our hero off the hand, he has to be worried that it will get called. Unless, he caught his flush too and doesn't figure us for the nut flush. We have committed too much to the pot at this point to not call 1500 at the end when we have what could be good enough to win here. True, the board looks scary but can't let this one go. We will still have 2450 left after the call and for me that's good enough to come back with. Unlike last weeks hand, our tournament will not be at stake by paying this guy off if he does have a full house. So, we put in a lot of thought and run through our timebank and finally put the chips in the pot. He flips over pocket nines and takes it down with a full house. A very well played hand to the end for the villian who was ahead the entire time.

Now onto our hand of the week for week 3:

We are sitting in an 18 player 20 dollar sit and go and the blinds are at 150/300 with 5 people left in the game. For those unfamiliar with this game on full tilt this would be known as the money bubble. A dangerous place to be in any tournament especially when you have less then the average chip stack. We have 3950 in chips and need to pick up some ground in this tournament. There is one person with less chips then us at 1710 sitting on the button and has been folding his way into the money for the last 20 minutes. Just over 10 times the big blind we have too much to expect a call from a pre-flop all in and too little to be messing around with too many non-premium hands. Our hero Rock Lobster is under the gun and picks up 2 red aces. Nice. Getty as a 10 year old in a candy store we start dreaming of all the things we could do with the chips we are going to rake in on this hand. Not wanting to scare anyone away, because we do need at least one caller here, we raise to 1050. It folds around to our villian in this hand who is sitting in the big blind with 7320 in chips. The flop comes As 10s 2s. Our hero crys out "why me, why me". Not the flop we were hoping for here even though we have a set. We could either go forth cautiously, not wanting to get knocked out on the bubble or move all in here hoping the chip leader isn't holding at least one spade. In a situation like this I like to act as if I may or may not have hit something and proceed cautiously. I think if we push all in here he's going to know we don't have a spade and is going to call even on a draw hoping to hit his flush. Our villian checks and Rock bets out 1050 again. This is for two reasons. It still leaves us with enough chips to get away from the hand if another spade comes on the turn and it says to the big blind that I'm not betting enough to try and scare you away so I might have something here. Almost as if we are trying to draw him in. He calls and the pot is now 4350. If he's on a flush draw we just gave him 3 to 1 to call to catch his flush which is exactly the odds he needed to call in that situation with two cards to come. The turn is a Jc. Ouch! Now there is a straight and a flush on the board. Our villian now bets out 2000. Enough to put us all in. The fourth spade didn't come but the board just got even more dangerous. Are we good enough to get away from this hand and survive being knocked out on the bubble or do we roll the dice in this treachorous terrain and see if we have the best of it doubling up through the chip leader. If we fold we will still have 1850 in chips and doubling up gets us back to where we were. Do we really want to play for an hour and a half and walk away with nothing because of the endless allure of our two red aces? Remember, there is good money to be made here if we can make it to the cash. What do we do?

--
CPL Director Mark Cardenas
and
CPL Co-Director Phil Fuehrer

Find the Podcast on ITunes: CPLDirectors Podcast

A Boy in the Woods - "What a Mess"

Okay: You have got to hear this song and it can be found here:

http://www.garageband.com/artist/aboyinthewoods

Click on the green play arrow next to What a Mess (upper right hand area) to hear it. And, enjoy!!

Karaoke Phil

CPL Podcast - Week 5, Winter 2008 Released

Interview with week 4 winner and French Canadian descendant - Bill Lanoux.

We tried to again to play Phil's song choice from the group: A Boy in the Woods but it just will not come through....major frowns. The track from Troop of Echoes come through though in full hi-fi.

Plus, the hand of the week coverage and a review of the CPL league.

--
CPL Director Mark Cardenas and
CPL Co-Director Phil Fuehrer

Find the Podcast on ITunes: CPLDirectors Podcast

The Blind Me Down "Hand of the Week" - Hand 2 by Mike Behr

The inaugural post of the "Hand of the Week" went fairly well. We had
a somewhat diverse group of thinkers weigh in on the hand and now you
get to hear the results. The villain in seat five had re-raised our
hero, Rock Lobster, on the turn. Rock took up his entire time bank thinking
this through and finally decided to fold. Rock thought "I'm behind. I'm
putting my tournament life on the line for the miracle card on the river.
That's just not how I rock-n-roll." The villain decided to show Rock his
hand at the end and it was A Q. He hit top two pair on the turn and
typed in that he was worried about Rock hitting the flush on the river
- pinching the pot away from him. Very smart on his part and I think
very smart on Rock's part. Sorry to Greg and Mark who would have
had the "nuts" to call in that spot and probably lose the rest of their chips.

And now on to this week's "Hand of the Week"

The blinds are 100/200 and our hero, Rock Lobster is sitting in middle position. We
start out the hand with 6520 in chips. We are the chip leader at the
table and seem to have control at the moment. The cards are dealt and
we look down at A of clubs and Q of clubs.Seats 1,2,3 fold. Rock bets out
600. Seats 5, 6 and the button fold and just the small blind calls.
The small blind has been somewhat choosey of his hands so far and is
sitting on a stack of 4850. Pot is now 1400. Flop comes 4c 9c Jh. A
pretty good flop for Rock. He didn't hit a pair but he has the nut
flush draw and two cards to come. Villian checks. Rock makes a continuation bet of 800 in
an attempt to sweeten the pot in case he hits and if he takes it down
at this point with ace high then Rock is very happy as well. The small
blind calls. Pot is now 3000. The Turn comes the Ah. Villian checks again. Rock bets out 1200,
less than half the pot, hoping for a call. Rock has a great hand at
this point with a nice draw. Villian again, just calls. The pot is now
5400 and we have spent 2600 each on this hand. The river comes the
Jc. Villian leads out with a bet of 1500. We just made the nut flush. What do we think Villian
has and what is our next move?

Post your responses and check back next week for the results.

-Blind Me Down

Week 4 Goes to Comeback Kid!!

Congrats to Bill "Comeback Kid" Lanoux for fending off 17 other CPL members to take the top spot in Winter Week #4!

Bill played both strong and weak cards and capitalized on each to gather everyones chips into his stack!! As seen in this photo, Comeback took out Jill with 7-2 suited for the win!

****

CPL Honorary Mention goes to Jill for a great finish in classic "comeback" style! Jill was short stacked early in the night and doubled up several times while on 'life-support' and just kept hanging around until the cards finally started falling her way and the next thing she knew she was in heads up play to take the second spot of Week 4!

Congrats Jill!!

****

****

Here are the finishes and the points for Week 4!

1-Bill "Comeback Kid" Lanoux--39.6

2-Jill--23.1

3-Jeff K--16.6

4-J.P.--13.2

5-Steve--11.0

6-Mike-9.6

7-Pam-8.5

8-Gene-7.7

9-Damon-7.0

10-Malinda--1.0, 11-Jodi--1.0, 12-Tim--1.0, 13-Wanda--1.0, 14-Mark--1.0,

15-Shane--1.0, 16-Brad--1.0, 17-Greg--1.0, 18-Wally--1.0

Run Time 3:13

****

****

Below are the Unadjusted CPL Point Totals through Week 4!

Damon--62.0

Bill--57.9

JP--51.9

Steve--51.9

Mike--46.3

Shane--44.5

Tim--43.9

Gene--33.4

Jill--25.1

Wanda--19.6

Jeff K-18.6

Pam--18.0

Jodi--13.0

Mark--12.2

Malinda--10.4

Brad--10.1

Greg--4.0

Wally--3.0

Phil--2.0

CPL Podcast for Week 4 Released

This week Mark and Phil review the CPL week 3 results, talk some strategy with the new Blind Me Down Hand of the Week, and discuss the Battle of the Blinds! Musical Segment by A Boy In The Woods. Bumper music by Stew and Boss Saint Tony. Enjoy!

 

Please post your comments regarding:

A Boy In the Woods:

---This was Phil's first shot at the musical segment.  I personally thought this needs to be Phil's last shot.

 

The Hand of the Week:

--I enjoyed review this hand and can't wait to see how it turns out

 

The Battle of the Blinds:

--If you are the small and have a decent hand...do you limp or shove?

--
CPL Director Mark Cardenas
and
CPL Co-Director Phil Fuehrer

Find the Podcast on ITunes: CPLDirectors Podcast

The Blind Me Down "Hand of the Week" - week 1

So Here's how this will go. I will post a "Hand of the Week" once a
week on Saturday and Sunday. Then during the week I would like people
to post as to what they would do in that situation. At the end of the
week I will then post what happened in the hand and we can see who
would have made the smarter play. Hopefully we can learn from this
and become better poker players. So here we go. Week 1!

The blinds are 40/80 in a $10 multi table tournament with over 400
people. I have 4250 in chips and it is the fifth level of play.
Things have been going well for the first hour. The hand gets dealt
and I look down at A K offsuit. Your in early position at a full
table 2 off the blinds. Our hero (me) raises it to 3x (240) and gets
3 callers. Seats 5, 6 and the big blind call. The board comes 10c 3s
As. Pot is now 760. I bet out 600 into a pot of 1000 and get called
by the person in seat 5 (the chip leader at the table with over 6000
in his stack). All others fold and the pot is now 2200. The turn
comes the Qs. I lead out again with a bet of 850. My goal here is to
make it look like a value bet showing him that I have something and
begging for a call. Player 5 comes over the top with a bet of 1850.
What do you do and more importantly what do you think he has?

Post your responses and check back next week for the river and results.

-Blind Me Down

Dudeman1228 Goes Deep In FT Ferguson!

Okay....so I only cleared 55 cents....that's not the point! :-)

 

The point is that I finished 158 out of 1190 in the Full Tilt $1 Ferguson Tourney!

And....the only reason I went out that early is because my Cowboys were outdrawn by AQ....

 

It was a great time....started off with Pocket A's...went all in and took two people out on the first hand...not a bad way to start!

 

Anyhoo....thought I'd share!

--
CPL Director Mark Cardenas
and
CPL Co-Director Phil Fuehrer

Find the Podcast on ITunes: CPLDirectors Podcast

Damon Wins CPL Week 3!

Congrats to Damon for taking down CPL Week 3!

It was a roller coaster week 3 with a CPL record of 18 members playing for the top point prize. The chip lead changed hands faster than stocks of Yahoo! What a crazy week!

Yet once Damon grabbed the chip lead he did not let go and went into heads up play with Blind Me Down with a massive advantage and waited until he had Mike on the ropes and eventually took him out to win the week.

CPL Honorable Mention goes to Steve 'The Chaser" who was down to 500 in chips with the blinds at 250/500 and not only did he survive by doubling up on the big blind (The Cowboys sure helped too) but he went on to take out both Gene and Jodi and temporarily took the chip lead....all from one chip and a chair....way to hang in there Chaser!!

Points for week 3 are below:

Damon--39.6, Mike--23.1, Steve--16.6, Gene--13.2, Jodi--11.0, Jeff K--9.6, Shane--8.5, Bill--7.7, Wanda--7.0, Malinda--1.0, Mark--1.0, Greg--1.0, JP--1.0, Jill--1.0, Pam--1.0, Brad--1.0, Tim--1.0, Phil--1.0

CPL Leaderboard for Week 3:

Damon--55.0

Shane--43.5

Tim--42.9

Steve--40.9

JP--38.7

Mike--36.7

Gene--25.7

Wanda--18.6

Bill--18.3

Jodi--12.0

Mark--11.2

Pam--9.5

Malinda--9.4

Brad--9.1

Greg--3.0

Wally--2.0

Jill--2.0

Phil--2.0

Jeff K--2.0

Jeff M--0.0