Unabomber Takes Top Spot During CPL Week 2

It was a week of big hands (read Quad As and a Straight Flush) and suck outs - live poker is so rigged, but Mike "Unabomber" Bowman is back to his winning ways during Week 2 of the CPL Spring Session!

Unabomber set the CPL single session point record during the last session and was seeded number 1 going into the Fall TOC, however the TOC was not friendly to the Unabomber.  Yet he has not lost his touch and comes back during Week 2 of this Spring session to take the top spot!  And in a CPL heads up matchup that has not been seen since 9-24-08...Unabomber went up against Blind Me Down and in a repeat of that Fall 2008 session, Unabomber comes out on top!
Great Week Unabomber!

Rounding out the CPL points this week:
In 3rd place--Jerry.  Don't look now but Jerry has pointed two weeks in a row...when will the shoe drop.
In 4th place--Greg "NewLife" Durand.  A return to the CPL points grind for NewLife who needs some redemption after his rough TOC in the Fall.

CPL Leaderboard (Unadjusted)

CPL Points Awarded During Week 2

Voni "The Rookie" Takes Down Week 1 CPL Spring Session!

It is becoming very, very hard to continue to call Voni by her moniker "The Rookie" as she continues her stretch of dominance in the CPL!

After taking first place during Week 11 of the Fall Session....then coming in the top 4 in the CPL Tournament of Champions...Voni completes the CPL Trifecta...taking first place during Week 1 of this session!  Talk about a hot streak!  As in her previous matches, Voni had chips move into her stack with her brand of 'reckless aggression' and went up against Mike "El Nino" Wittig in heads up play.  The heads up went pretty quick as The Rookie had El Nino quite outstacked going into heads up play.
Great Win Voni!

Rounding out the CPL Points was Mark "Verbal" Cardenas in 3rd. Verbal is unable again to get into the top spots of the tourney.
In 4th was Jerry, who now has as many points as he did the entire Fall Session! :-)
In 5th was Blind Me Down, who is back to his old self...coming in right at the point cutoff!

CPL Leaderboard (Unadjusted)

Full Tilt Introduces "Rush Poker"

A new type of poker game has hit Full Tilt....if the speed games were not enough action for you....you now have "Rush Poker"!  Check out the video tutorial here!


This new poker format is designed to minimize your wait time between hands and keep you in the action. You’ll join a large player pool and face a different table of opponents every hand you play. When you fold your hand, you’ll be rushed to another table for a new hand right away.


Andy Bloch
"This is what poker should be: a game of action."


From the CPL point of view....this looks awfully interesting....if you like speed tables....you'll really like Rush Poker only on Full Tilt!


Let us know what you think by leaving a comment!

CPL Poker Podcast added to Minnesota Poker Magazine Blogger Stable

After intense negotiations - okay, they liked what they saw and asked and we liked what we saw and agreed - your own CPL Poker Podcast was added to the stable of bloggers at Minnesota Poker Magazine.  Here's a screen shot of our page over there:

MN Poker Mag now sports a dozen bloggers including Vegas pro Roy Winston and 11 Minnesota-based folks.  We'll be posting some unique content there in addition to continuing our posts here.  Of course, this'll be a far better place to access the podcast but be sure to check out the MN Poker Mag pages too!!

2010 is looking very good so far - thanks for reading and listening!!!

Nick "Heads up" Kamholz Crowned Champion of CPL Fall 2009!

December 12th has been a day rich with historic happenings!  On December 12th in1531 an image of Our Lady Guadalupe appeared on the cloak of Juan Diego in Tepeyac Mexico.  In 1787 Pennsylvania became the 2nd state to ratify the Constitution. In 1915 Frank Sinatra was born in Hoboken New Jersey.  In 1918 the flag of Estonia was raised for the first time on top of the Pikk Hermann.  In 1923 Bob Barker was born in Darrington Washington. And in 2000 the US Supreme court released its decision in Bush v Gore.  Well, it is time to add another historic event to this list.  On this day in 2009 Nick "Heads up" Kamholz defeated Malinda "Nemesis" Cardenas to claim victory in the CPL Fall 2009 Tournament of Champions!

As always, it was a great TOC with surprises abound, including a new CPL TOC record 9 minutes into the match as Wanda "Wicked1" was all in for her tournament life (it was also Wicked1's b-day) against the chip leader Mike "Unabomber".  This did not go well for Wicked1 as she was heading for the rail before the 1st level was completed.  But she was able to begin her birthday celebrations early!
Play continued for several levels and the final table did not begin until Level 7!  At the final table the chip leader remained Unabomber as he had taken his starting stack of 10,000 and turned it into 21K by this time.

But then the tides would turn.....

9th place went to "NewLife" Durand.  He was seeded #2, but didn't really get anything going the entire match.  Could it be the return of the second seed curse?
8th place went to James "Bond" Aguilar.  He was seeded #3 and also could not gain traction during the match,
7th place went to "Verbal" Cardenas. Seeded 4th Verbal had a decent chip stack once the final table began and was poised to go deep into the tourney...but a few key errors cost him his stack.
6th place went to "Unabomber" Bowman. The number 1 seed and chip leader at the final table saw his stack quickly leave him as he attempted to bully the table.  A tough finish to a very impressive and record breaking point session by the Unabomber!
5th place went to "Comeback Kid" Lanoux.  Seeded 14th it was a great finish for Bill who picked his spots carefully and moved his way up one spot at a time.  Lanoux's WSOP experience showed as he was able to survive the field with slow moving blinds.

Then the Running Aces ticket winners were known.

4th place went to "The Rookie" Khang.  Voni played a great match seeded in 8th she played her very aggressive style of play and it paid off!
3rd place went to "Karaoke" Phil.  Seeded in 6th, Karaoke had his work cut out for him....and went to work he did, picking up chips here and there from everyone on the table.  At one point Karaoke was the chip leader, but was unable to hold onto the lead.  All in all a great finish for Phil!

Heads up play between "Heads Up" and "Nemesis" was quite the battle.  "Heads Up" had been in this position 3 times previously, often with big chip leads, but has never won.  For "Nemesis", this was the strongest part of her game, she had been in this place before and seeing she was seeded 15th coming into the TOC just getting to this point in the tournament was a huge win.

Out of the gate "Nemesis" took control of the betting and began to whittle away at "Heads up's" chips....and the back and forth began.  At one point "Heads Up" lost the chip lead and we were all waiting for his 4th loss to be realized....but it was not meant to be on this day of history.  Nick took back the chip lead, finished off "Nemesis" and victory was Nick's!

Congratulations to all of the CPL TOC Running Aces ticket winners!  Now go and represent the CPL at Running Aces and bring home some Cha-Ching!

Thanks to all of the CPL Members who made this a great session!

Poker League Management - Home Game Resources

Poker League Management

If you’re going to have a league you’ll want to keep track of points and stats and the like.  At the CPL we went a bit individualistic and cobbled together a point system (basically using the FullTilt algorithm for a certain buy-in level) and use Excel spreadsheets for weekly points, record keeping, etc.  But, there are a lot of league management web sites and software that you can use instead.  And, sure, you can buy things but, here are some free services that we know about and that may cover what you want:

PokerDIY – These guys look to “connect poker players” and offer free league management and other tips. I’d start your research here with them. In full disclosure, Karaoke occasionally does a little cross-blogging on PokerDIY, too.

Poker League Software claims to offer you their resources for managing your league, including the ability to enter in your unique point structure, etc.

Finally, Home Poker Tour says they can simplify your league management tasks.  You can also use them to also post pictures or schedule non-home league tourneys.

Poker back in Dodge City

Wyatt Earp would be happy.   Gunsmoke fans (and the rest of us) now have another reason - maybe, finally just a reason - to visit Dodge City, Kansas.  The Boot Hill Casino and Resort has opened for business.

Boot Hill sports about 20,000 square feet of gaming space for nearly 600 slot machines and 12 table games tables (apparently including craps).  Dodge City is the milieu that inspired Gunsmoke (which ran on TV for two decades).  It's also the place that the famed Wyatt Earp dealt cards.

This is the first casino to open in Kansas from a 2007 law authorizing a total of four in the state.   A 120+ hotel is planned with an opening slated for 2012.