CPL Poker Podcast and Blog

CPL Poker Podcast 2010 Fall Episode 98 Released

2010-12-20T11:49:00.000-06:00

Episode 98 (1:06:04) has the following segments:

CPL Poker News
CPL Best of Music countdown #11 with White Light Riot
CPL Historian, Live from Vegas
CPL Hand of the Week
CPL MN Music replay with Justin Bell and the Lazy Susan

CPL Director's Mark Cardenas and Phil Fuehrer

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CPL Poker Podcast 2010 Fall Episode 96 Released

2010-12-06T20:27:00.000-06:00

Episode 96 (53:27) of the CPL Poker Podcast has the following segments:

--CPL Poker News

--CPL Fan Topic

--CPL Poker History (Poker Hall of Fame)

--CPL MN Music featuring While Light Riot

Enjoy!

CPL Director's Mark Cardenas and Phil Fuehrer

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CPL Poker Podcast 2010 Fall Episode 95 Released

2010-11-29T23:35:00.002-06:00

Episode 95 (1:21:25) of the CPL Poker Podcast has the following segments:

--CPL Hand of the Week

--CPL Rant

--CPL Review of the Big Bash II

--CPL MN Music featuring Calhoun

Enjoy!

--
CPL Director's Mark Cardenas and Phil Fuehrer

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CPL Poker Podcast 2010 Fall Episode 91 Released!

2010-10-26T00:30:00.000-05:00

Episode 91 (46:59) of the CPL Poker Podcast has the following segments:

--CPL Intro
--CPL Poker History (4 Kings)
--CPL MN Music featuring West of Aldine
--CPL Politics

Enjoy!

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Watch us live on UStream.tv!

Driving County Roads: THIS HOUSEHOLD SUPPORTS HORNER

2010-09-13T19:22:00.001-05:00

A nice post from Nicollet County Commissioner Judy Hanson:

Driving County Roads: THIS HOUSEHOLD SUPPORTS HORNER

Newest CPL Approved Link

2010-09-03T02:10:00.003-05:00

Hi Everyone!

Check out the newest CPL Approved ONLINE POKER link!

Enjoy!
Mark

CPL Poker Podcast 2010 Summer Episode 87 Released!

2010-08-07T12:37:00.002-05:00

Episode 87 (1:03:19) has the following CPL Segments:

--Hand of the Week (Sponsored by Mikebehrphotography.com)
--CPL MN Music Segment by Amauros
--CPL Poker News (Durr Challenge, Cada Challenge, WSOP, Fantasy Poker, Harrahs)

Enjoy!

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Nick "Heads up" Kamholz Wins Saturday Side Game!

2010-07-25T00:48:00.000-05:00

Congrats to Nick "Heads Up" Kamholz for taking down the Saturday Side Game at CPL Headquarters in Blaine MN!

It was a 5 hour match that had plenty of play! Thanks to Everyone for playing...it was a great time!

Here is how the final table finished
1-Nick K.
2-Mark C
3-Malinda C
4-Voni K
5-Phil
6-Mike Bowman
7-Julie C
8-Frank C
9-Bill L.

CPL Director Wins Week 11!

2010-04-03T09:47:00.001-05:00

Mark Verbal Cardenas was in a tough spot going into Week 11. It was the last week of the 2010 Spring session, and he had not yet clinched a seat at the coveted CPL Tournament of Champions. To make it to the Dance...he not only needed to finish in the top half of the field, a feat he had only accomplished 3 times previously in the session, but had to also finish ahead of Blind Me Down. Obviously Blind Me Down had TOC on his mind as well....and the fireworks began.

In the first hour of play we saw Full House v Full House and Ace high Flush v King high Flush. Members who had secured a seat at the TOC were punishing Verbal and Blind Me Down knowing they had not yet clinched.

But the deck had found Verbal....and he woke up several times to take down big pots. But the hand of the night was after Blind Me Down had been knocked out and Verbal was on the point bubble...fate in his own hands and one spot away from the TOC. Verbal had a decent stack and was in good position to outlast one more player. Then Verbal looked down at AA. Ahead of him Comeback Kid who also had a decent amount of chips in front of him bet out 3X. Verbal thought and thought and announced All In. Shocked, Comeback Kid called and flipped over JJ. Blind Me Down went nuts with excitement!! The possibility of Blind Me Down making the TOC was back on the table! Then the Flop came J-5-K. A Set for Comeback! Verbal started to take in the cost of his actions....losing to Comeback would cripple his stack...and would cost him the TOC seat. It would be the first time Verbal had not made the TOC. Then the Turn brought a 10. More outs for Verbal. Then the River....a Queen! Verbal raised his arms in victory! Blind Me Down's hopes were dashed for the second time in the evening...and Comeback Kid left for the rail.

Verbal went on to heads up play versus Mark El Nino Wittig in a very spirited heads up match that went back and forth for quite a while! But in the end it was Verbal's night. The deck would not deny him and Verbal flopped two pair to El Nino's top pair to end the match.

Thanks to everyone for the great session! Good Luck to All in the TOC!

Final Leaderboard

Points Awarded During Week 11

CPL Tournament of Champions Chip Stacks and Seeds

Bill Comeback Kid Wins Second Victory During Week 10!

2010-03-29T21:28:00.002-05:00

In a dramatic back and forth match, Bill Comeback Kid Lanoux took it all down in the end with pocket nines!
Congrats to Bill on his second victory of this CPL session.

Congrats to Jerry and Mark El Nino Wittig for clinching a seat at the TOC!

Only one week remaining and we have 2 spots open for the four remaining folks (yours truly included) who have not mathematically made it to the TOC yet!

CPL Leaderboard Adjusted

CPL Points Awarded During Week 10

Unabomber Scores Again During Week 9!

2010-03-29T21:06:00.002-05:00

Unabomber Mike Bowman took another week down during Week 9 of the CPL. Having trouble in the middle sections of the tournament did not stop Unabomber from finishing strong and by taking out NewLife Durand in 3rd place left easy pickings over Jerry to finish out the night.

Congrats to Mike for another impressive win!

Congrats to Mike and Bill for securing a spot at the coveted TOC on April 3rd!

CPL Leaderboard Week 9 Adjusted

CPL Points Awarded During Week 9

Karaoke Phil Scores Back to Back Wins during 2010 Spring Week 8!

2010-03-09T21:55:00.001-06:00

Setting himself up to set a new CPL record, Karaoke Phil Fuehrer has won his second straight CPL week during week 8. Can Karaoke Phil be the first ever CPL member in CPL history to 3-Peat in 3 straight weeks?

Karaoke had a great week during week 8 at the Wittig Poker Mansion gaining chips throughout the night and although he was short chipped going into heads up versus The Rookie, Karaoke ended up with all of the chips in the end.

This not only captures a very rare (for Karaoke) second victory during a Spring Session, but has set him up to create a new CPL record during the next CPL match!

Congrats to NewLife Durand and Voni "The Rookie" Khang for clinching a seat at the TOC during this week!

Leaderboard.Week 8 (Adjusted)
Please note that this leaderboard has been adjusted to drop each players lowest 3 scores.

Points Awarded During Week 8

Karaoke Phil Wins 2010 Spring Week 7!

2010-03-09T21:37:00.001-06:00

In a very rare Spring Session occurance....Karaoke Phil Fuehrer found his way to the top spot besting the field of 7 during Week 7 of the 2010 Spring Session!

Congrats Phil!

Greg NewLife Durand finished in 2nd place to keep himself on top of the CPL Leaderboard!

Leaderboard Week 7 (Unadjusted)

Points Awarded During Week 7

Unabomber Scores Win During 2010 Spring Week 6!

2010-03-09T21:29:00.001-06:00

Back to his winning ways Mike Unabomber Bowman cleared the field of 7 during week 6 to finish with all of the chips. This puts him back into 2nd place on the leaderboard!

Voni took 2nd and Jerry rounded off the trifecta to take 3rd place!
Congrats to all!

Leaderboard Week 6 (Unadjusted)

Points Awarded During Week 6

Comeback Kid Wins 2010 Spring Week 5!

2010-03-09T21:18:00.001-06:00

Bill Comeback Kid Lanoux took down the top spot during Week 5! Ending the possibility of a 3-Peat from NewLife Durand. In Comeback Kid style Bill was behind going into heads up play and ended up winning the night! Great Week Bill!

Leaderboard (Unadjusted)

Points Awarded Week 5

Migration Complete - Go to CPLPOKERPODCAST.COM

2010-02-16T18:14:00.000-06:00

.
It is ready - we've now pretty fully moved over to our new domain - www.cplpokerpodcast.com

We're leaving this site up for historical purposes, but you'll want to migrate over to www.cplpokerpodcast.com for new posts and new podcasts!!

Moving on UP - Migration in Progress to own Domain

2010-02-08T16:54:00.001-06:00

Okay - we spiked an Ace on the river and bought: www.cplpokerpodcast.com

We've begun some of the migration, but it will take a while (so many templates and color-combinations to choose from). We're still deciding on the transition strategy (post here and there for a while, go cold-turkey here and post there) - but, we'll let you know with a final post here (leaving this blog up, but largely static) once we know for sure.

In all events - check out the new site and let us know what you'd like to see.

Back to Back CPL Wins for NewLife Durand!

2010-02-07T12:00:00.001-06:00

NewLife is now officially on a roll! Winning back to back weeks in fine fashion not only has NewLife on top of the CPL Leaderboard...but puts NewLife in the position to make a run at the '3-peat', which has never been accomplished in the 3 year history of the CPL!

Heads up play was against The Rookie and was no easy feat for NewLife! Even though NewLife had The Rookie severely out-chipped going into heads up....The Rookie doubled up twice and then a third time before the evening came to a dramatic close! The Rookie looked down at Pocket Aces and shoved looking to make her fourth double up. NewLife looked down at Pocket Kings and insta-called! It was looking dire for NewLife until a King hit the flop...then to add insult to injury...the Quads were made on the Turn! An exciting heads up match!! Congrats to Greg for his second victory in a row!

Rounding out the CPL points for the evening was Verbal who finished 3rd after losing chips to The Rookie time and time again during the evening. Comeback Kid Lanoux finished in 4th after getting outdrawn by Verbal.

CPL Leaderboard Unadjusted

CPL Points Awarded During Week 4

NewLife Durand Wins CPL Week 3!

2010-02-07T11:11:00.002-06:00

Back in the saddle again is Greg "NewLife" Durand as he records his first victory during this 2010 Spring CPL Session. In a showdown of the CPL dynasties NewLife was heads up against Unabomber, however Unabomber had his work cut out for him as NewLife had a massive chip lead going into heads up play. Heads up only lasted a few hands when Unabomber woke up with pocket 10's and was outdrawn by NewLife's A-Q. Great Job Greg!

Hitting the CPL points for the first time in 2010 was Bill "Comeback Kid" Lanoux landing in 3rd place.
Malinda "Nemesis" Cardenas slid into the 4th spot to round out the points for the evening.

CPL Leaderboard Unadjusted:

CPL Points Awarded During Week 3

Running Aces News

2010-02-03T14:03:00.000-06:00

The February calendar is out and the biggest news coming from Running Aces Card Room is the addition of the Heartland Poker League (it actually started two weeks ago, but we just noticed). These $65 ($50+$10+$5) tournaments will be held each Friday at 3 pm. The season runs for 10 tournaments (7 still remain for this season). Win the season at the Card Room and you'll earn a seat in the televised National Championship. Low cost buy-ins for life changing money - worth a shot.

And, if you significant other likes poker (or you're all alone in this world) you might want to mosey down to Running Aces on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14) for their "Broken Hearts Tournament". It's a $65 buy-in and you'll get an extra prize if you lose with the K and Q of hearts.

Treasure Island Updates

2010-02-01T15:29:00.000-06:00

The short update is that our own TI (the one in Red Wing - not Las Vegas) has completed a renovation on their non-smoking gaming area. Already a site with a substantial non-smoking room this looks to be an added benefit for all you non-smokers to head on down there.

More importantly (to us anyway) is the upcoming "Island Poker Tournament". Treasure Island Resort and Casino will be hosting this on Saturday, February 6 starting at Noon. The format will be No Limit Texas Hold'em with a $1,000 buy-in and $100 entry fee. Check-in will begin one hour prior to the tournament. To register, call their box office at 1-800-222-7077, extension 2297.

The satellite tournaments will also be No Limit Texas Hold'em with a $200 buy-in and a $20 entry fee. These will be held on February 3 and 4 at 6pm and February 5 at 10am and 6pm. Each one will play down to the top twenty percent, those twenty percent (from each day/session) will return on Saturday for the Main Event.

This used to be a WSOP Main Event Tourney - but for whatever reason TI scrapped that idea and has moved into this rendition. If it's run as it has been in the past each flight (satellite) will be limited to 100 players, with the main tournament consisting of 100 player (the top 20 players from each of the 5 satellites - they usually sell out). Chips counts will "reset" at the main event.

Payouts go to 15 spots - but if you buy in directly you'll need to finish in the top 11 to make any profit.

Unabomber Takes Top Spot During CPL Week 2

2010-01-26T00:15:00.001-06:00

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!

2010-01-25T23:28:00.000-06:00

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"

2010-01-20T22:44:00.002-06:00

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

2010-01-18T18:43:00.000-06:00

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!

2010-01-15T10:03:00.001-06:00

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

2010-01-12T18:02:00.000-06:00

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

2010-01-05T18:42:00.000-06:00

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.

Random Thoughts to Bring in the New Year

2009-12-30T16:09:00.001-06:00

As 2009 comes to a close we at CPL Poker Blog and Podcast want to wish you a very happy and prosperous 2010. Happy New Year!!

We also thought it would be a great time for some random thoughts and reflections on 2009.

The Good - This has to be the blog and podcast. Readership and listenership is up - a trend, we hope, that continues into 2010 and beyond. Thank you all for stopping by and listening to the show(s). With that increase came our first unsolicited advertiser (777.com) - check them out. It's a nice aggregate site of various poker rooms and casinos with reviews, bonuses, etc.

The Bad - In order of how much they irk me (least to most). What's with the Bellagio's Five-Star World Poker Classic schedule?? Okay, the tourney takes place in 2010, but they released the schedule today. ALL of the tournaments are rebuys!! Seventeen prelim events leading up to the main event and all of them are rebuy events?? Huh?

"FAIL" - apparently the trend for the kid's these days on the interweb seems to be the use of the word "FAIL" to mean some variation of "didn't go well". As in, "tried to get in to the midnight showing of Avatar - long lines - FAIL". If things go really bad you can call it "epic fail" - as in, "I flopped a four flush on an A high board, played it like I had the A. Moved all-in on the river with a massive Q-high only bluff. Epic Fail - guy snapped called me with his pair of 3s". Hey, here's some advice - using any variation of the term FAIL in 2010? Epic Fail.

Pronouncing Tolkien - A Swedish online poker phenom by the name of Isildur1 stormed onto the scene in October. This has led to innumerable mispronunciations of his name by such folks as Ante Up Podcast, Raw Vegas TV/Wicked Chops, and Mike Matusow (BTW- clean up that foul mouth, Mike, damn). Each tending to butcher the name by pronouncing it along the lines of: IZ-ill-der. My God - do you even watch movies? Over three years (2001 to 2003) the Lord of the Rings Trilogy racked up 17 Academy Awards and each film ranks between 2nd to 15th in All-Time Worldwide Gross Receipts. Okay, I can live with some regional dialectic variations in the pronunciation - give me ih-SEAL-door or ee-SILL-dur, or some mash of the two, but NOT - IZ-ill-der, that's just....Epic Fail. Now go read Silmarillion as punishment.

The Ugly - Only one thing can go here (and I won't go into too much detail). At the end of 2008, I set a couple of simple poker goals for 2009 - results-type stuff. I didn't hit a single one - not one. Let's hope 2010 is much better - for us all.

2009 CPL Best of Music Podcast Released!

2009-12-24T22:15:00.000-06:00

Check out the podcast by clicking on the players on the left!

Episode 68 is the CPL Best of Music 2009 broadcast!
Mark and Phil count down the top 10 songs played on the CPL Poker Podcasts in 2009! Bumper Music by Stew, Tunnel Music, and IKKI. Follow us on Twitter at CPLPOKERPODCAST! Enjoy!!

MN Poker Game Turns Violent

2009-12-21T12:30:00.001-06:00

The Mankato Free Press is reporting today about a weekend home game that didn't go well.

Apparently, J.L. Turner, 47, decided he'd had enough of a polish-named bloke (D. Wojciechowski, 32 years old) and "used a baseball bat to assault" him. Wojciechowski was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital. No other details are available at this time.

Our only guess here at the CPL is that they decided to try RAZZ for the first time to "mix it up some". We all know what can happen when the cards start flying in RAZZ.

BREAKING NEWS - 2010 WSOP Schedule Set , No $50K HORSE Event

2009-12-17T18:11:00.002-06:00

The WSOP has announced next year's (2010) WSOP schedule. There are several changes from previous years.

The biggest change may be the elimination of the $50K HORSE event. It will be replaced with a $50K 8-Game Mixed Event called: "The Player's Championship". This will be Event #2 - a 5-day event beginning on May 28. The game will consist of: Limit Hold'em, OH8, Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud H/L, No-Limit Hold'em, Pot-Limit Omaha, and 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball. The final table will be solely No-Limit Hold'em - and, likely, televised by ESPN. For HORSE purists there will be the usual $1,500 and $3K events along with a new $10K Championship event.

The "stimulus" $1000 tournament idea is back and expanded. Does that mean the economy is in even worse shape??? There will be 4 - $1000 bracelet events in 2010 (and the Ladies and Seniors tournies are also at that level). A little more opportunity for those of us who don't have the really big bucks to put down on a tournament.

One other tweak is the "big" NL Hold'em event. Last year they ran a $40K event for the 40th Anniversary of the WSOP and noted that it wouldn't be a recurring event. Well, Harrah's stuck to their word - 2010's WSOP Event #52 will be a $25K NL Hold'em (six handed) affair.

The full series of tournaments will consist of 57 events again (plus the Ante Up for Africa Charity event) and run from May 28 to July 17 (the final table - with that played out sometime in November). You can see the full schedule of events here.

Deadline Extended - 2009 Best of Music Survey/Contest - final round

2009-12-16T14:07:00.001-06:00

You're in luck if you haven't yet participated in the survey and contest. We won't be recording the 2009 Best of Music Podcast until this weekend. So, we've extended the deadline to Friday at 4 pm.

All the details are explained in our 12/10/09 post.

And, don't forget - we're looking to give away up to $40 in our prize pool (you will need to have a FullTilt poker account as it'll be a transfer) - so, that's just one more reason to participate.

Minnesota State Poker Tour - John Dragich wins Inaugural Event

2009-12-15T10:27:00.000-06:00

St. Cloud resident John Dragich, 20, beat a field of 130+ Monday night to win the inaugural event of the Minnesota State Poker tour held at Canterbury Park in Skakopee, MN.

According to MN Poker Magazine, heads up lasted all of one hand. Dragich picked up pocket As to Chase Wood's K/2. Chase, also 20 years old, who was 3rd in chip count with 18 remaining hit a K high flop. All the money got into the center and Dragich's aces held on to win. Dragich wins $34,765 and a custom diamond bracelet for his efforts. Woods picks up $19,866.

Tour co-founder Bryan Mileski, who was chip leader with 18 remaining, busted out in 7th. The tour picks up again at Grand Casino Mille Lacs in February with a Running Aces stop in April.

Congratulations to Dragich and all the final tablists.

Minnesota State Poker Tour - Final Two Tables Set

2009-12-14T12:01:00.000-06:00

There's still plenty of play remaining but the final two tables of the inaugural MN State Poker Tour are set.

Tour co-founder Bryan Mileski leads the remaining field with 203,300 in chips. Kevin Reichel with 200,800; Chase Wood (199,400), John Dragich (185,700) and David Grandstaff (164,800) round out the top 5. The final 18 are slated to play down to a winner beginning at 5 pm tonight at Canterbury Park (Shakopee).

This kickoff event of the MN State Poker Tour - a $1000 + $100 Main Event - saw 130+ entrants and is offering a diamond bracelet (from Continental Diamonds) to the winner. See pics of it here.

The winner of the event is set to take home about $34,000 - and the bracelet. We'll keep you informed as we learn more.

2009 Best of Music Survey/Contest - final round

2009-12-10T13:10:00.006-06:00

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Ahh, the time has come. The Round 2 survey is up (Click here to take survey) and ready for you to vote on who will be our Top 10.

And, "YES" - we're still GIVING AWAY $40 as part of this 'Best of" promo (the prize pool will be FullTilt cash transfers to the winners - so you'll need an account there to qualify for the prize portion). For those hitting this up for the first time - here's how it works.

You'll see our top 15 songs broken out in groups of three songs each (obviously 5 groups total). You'll rank the songs #1, #2 and #3 for each group. There will be two "flight groupings" - rank the songs, we'll then mix them up in a second grouping and you do it again. Additionally, you'll have a chance to select the song you think will be the ultimate overall #1 selection. The survey will stay up until 6 pm on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009.

Anyone can rank songs but there's one more hitch to winning any prize money (in addition to needing a FullTilt account) - you'll need to listen to the Best of Show (which should be out right around Christmas time). We'll only be announcing the winners there and setting the deadline for contacting us back telling us you heard your name on the show and requesting your winnings (we'll give winners several days to listen/contact us). We'll be giving away 2 - $10 prizes for participating and a $20 prize from the pool of those who successfully picked the eventual winning song.

All songs can be found at GarageBand . Here are the songs in their Flight 1 Groupings. Song Name (Band Name). Follow the links below to listen to the songs on GarageBand if you need some refreshing. Find the survey here.

Flight #1
Group1 - Ex Girlfriends (Suzanne), Machine (Uber Cool Kung Fu), Haircut (Gold Standard)
Group 2 - Eyeliner (Parachutes Fail), These Last Days (Thinland), I'm OK (Uber Cool Kung Fu)
Group 3 - Killer Sea (Stealing Seconds), Sink With Me (Dime Theory), Construct (Little Tin Box)
Group 4 - The Driving Seat (Leslie Rich), Missing (Justin Bell & the Lazy Susan Band), Flicker (Morrisson)
Group 5 - Don't You Need Me (Justin Bell and the Lazy Susan Band , Have a Little Hope (Burgess Norgaard), Life Like This (Crista McCrae)

Flight #2 - we've adjusted the match-ups for this round (rank them one more time and we'll have our top ten):
Group1 - Don't You Need Me (Justin Bell and the Lazy Susan Band), The Driving Seat (Leslie Rich), I'm OK (Uber Cool Kung Fu)
Group 2 - Machine (Uber Cool Kung Fu), Missing (Justin Bell & the Lazy Susan Band), Killer Sea (Stealing Seconds)
Group 3 - Eyeliner (Parachutes Fail), Have a Little Hope (Burgess Norgaard), Ex Girlfriends (Suzanne)
Group 4 - Life Like This (Crista McRae), Sink With Me (Dime Theory), These Last Days (Thinland)
Group 5 - Flicker (Morrisson), Construct (Little Tin Box), Haircut (Gold Standard)

Thanks for participating and we hope you like the show.

2009 Best of Music Survey/Contest - round 1 advancers

2009-12-07T15:54:00.003-06:00

Okay, round 1 is in the books and half of the 2009 songs have been eliminated. Thank you to everyone who participated. These are all Minnesota bands and listed on GarageBand.com. The following songs advance to the Final Round (listed in alphabetical order by song title):

Construct - by Little Tin Box
Don't you need me - by Justin Bell and the Lazy Susan Band
Driving Seat - by Leslie Rich
Ex Girlfriends - by Suzanne
Eyeliner - by Parachutes Fail
Flicker - by Morrisson
Haircut - by Gold Standard
Have a Little Hope - by Burgess Norgaard
I'm Ok - by Uber Cool Kung Fu
Killer Sea - by Stealing Seconds MN
Life like this - by Crista McRae
Machine - by Uber Cool Kung Fu
Missing - by Justin Bell and the Lazy Susan Band
Sink with Me - by Dime Theory
These Last Days - by Thinland

We're putting together the next survey (it'll be like the last one, but only half as long obviously). From that, we'll take the Top 10 songs for our Best of Music Show (due out around Christmas time - give yourself a gift and take a listen). The round 2 survey should be up about the 9th or so and we'll leave it up for about a week.

If you did Round 1 - do the upcoming round as well for additional entries and more chances to win a piece of the $40 prize pool that we're giving away (again, winners need a Full Tilt account and will receive their winnings via transfer - see the 11/20 post for more details).

The Rookie Gets First Victory During Week 11!

2009-12-05T09:46:00.001-06:00

Voni "The Rookie" scored her first victory during the final regular week of the 2009 Fall Session! It was another Wine Night that has become quite popular at the CPL....and the chips were flyin' pretty fast and there was a good amount of aggression all night long! The Rookie was the most aggressive during the night....3,4, and 5 betting with monster hands and with complete air made The Rookie a force to be reckoned with....especially once she gathered up a significant chip stack!
In heads up play against Verbal, Voni's aggressive style was almost her downfall. The Rookie started heads up play with a big chip lead however a few hands into it and Verbal had gained the chip advantage! Then the Rookie found herself All In and behind Pre-flop with her tournament life on the line. However great catches was something the Rookie had done all night....and during heads up was no exception.
Congrats to Voni for her win!

Finishing in 3rd was James, who had another great night of poker! This finish added to his point total nicely and has him seeded in 3rd place for the upcoming CPL Tournament of Champions on 12-12-09.
In 4th was Bill "Comeback Kid". Comeback had a steady increase in his chip stack all night and it was his highest finish during this Fall Session. The points were greatly needed for his TOC match.
In 5th was Mark W, who continued his strong play in the league. If a few key hands at the end of the night went differently Mark would have been in great shape to win the week.
Kenji "Don't Do it" Yang finished in 6th hanging on as the short stack at the final table for a while before getting eliminated.
"Heads Up" Kamholz rounded out the points in 7th after surviving a flurry of eliminations before the final table.

A great finishing week for the Fall Session! Thanks to all of the CPL Members and good luck in the TOC!

CPL Final Leaderboard Fall 2009

Points Awarded During Week 11

NewLife Scores 3rd Victory During Week 10!!

2009-12-03T00:51:00.003-06:00

Matching the feat of The Unabomber, Greg NewLife Durand has won his 3rd CPL match of this 2009 Fall Session! This victory adds even more chips to his TOC coffers and keeps him in contention for the Most Points in one Session record! Congrats Greg!

Kelli G had a great match and was heads up against NewLife at the end of the tourney! Unfortunately she was deeply short stacked compared to NewLife and although she stayed alive for a number of hands during the heads up play....she never really mounted a threat to his stack. In 3rd was Wanda who had a very strong beginning to the evening and saw her chips leave her at the end of the match. In 4th was Blind Me Down, who was desperate for points before going into the TOC. In 5th was Verbal...who stayed around and stayed alive and ended in 5th. In 6th was Kenji "Don't Do It" who had a pretty good outing...Rounding out the CPL Points in 7th was Nick "Headsup"!
Congrats to all of the CPL Point earners!

CPL Quote of the Week:
"I'm glad I'm not hosting after this week!" --Comeback Kid while settling in at Wittig's place

CPL Leaderboard Week 10

CPL Points Awarded Week 10:

Round 1 Deadline EXTENDED to 12-3 - get an entry in for your shot at the $40 prize pool

2009-12-02T11:11:00.001-06:00

Our 2009 Best of Music round 1 survey closes at 11:45 pm Central Time - tonight. EXTENDED to 12-3-09 at 8:00pm.
The full details of the survey and contest are in our 11/20 post (below). You can find the survey here.

In short, we're asking our podcast listeners/blog readers to help select the Top 10 songs played on our CPL Poker Podcast over 2009 (all Minnesota bands). And, we're giving away a $40 prize pool in the form of transferred money on Full Tilt - so you'll need a Full Tilt account for this part - but anyone can rank the songs.

There'll be a round 2 coming out soon, but don't miss your chance to give your input on round 1 too!!

Monday Madness and Best of Music contest/survey

2009-11-30T11:01:00.001-06:00

It's NLHE tonight for Monday Madness - 8:30 pm central start time. Open to everyone - password is: CPL

And, don't forget that Round 1 of the 2009 Best of Music Survey and Contest runs until only 11:45 pm on 12/02. Anyone can take the survey and help decide who the top ten will be for 2009. And, if you have a Full Tilt account you'll be entered into a drawing for a $40 prize pool that we're giving away. We've had several entries, but relatively few people have (or are willing to tell us their screen name) Full Tilt accounts. Get in on the action. You can enter again during Round 2 (the Finals) - so get in that extra entry now.

Click here to take the survey (see full groupings, etc. in our 11/20/09 posting below).

BREAKING NEWS: UIGEA Postpones Rollout 6 Months

2009-11-28T10:43:00.001-06:00

The CPL has just learned that on Friday (11/27/09) the Treasury and Federal Reserve announced that it would postpone implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) for 6 months based on the petition filed by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). This is a big win for poker and may be the first step in allowing legislation to be passed to legalize Online Poker in the USA.

Join the CPL in this fight and become a member today of the Poker Players Alliance.

Read more here on Cardplayer.com.

Happy Thanksgiving and more

2009-11-25T10:27:00.000-06:00

The CPL would like to wish all our readers and podcast listeners (btw - the new podcast with the last half of our interview with Phil Mackey is up - see the player to the left) a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING !

Also, don't forget our Best of Music 2009 survey and contest - help us select this year's best songs and you might win part of our $40 prize pool (yes, we're giving away $40). See the 11/19 post for full info and:

!! Click Here to take the survey and enter the contest!!

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CPL Best of Music 2009 - Survey and Contest Round 1

2009-11-20T18:20:00.018-06:00

We are live with Round 1 of our Best of Music 2009 contest.

!!Click Here to take the survey and enter the contest!!

We're GIVING AWAY $40 as part of this 'Best of" promo (the prize pool will be FullTilt cash transfers to the winners - so you'll need an account there to qualify for the prize portion). Okay, here's how it works.

In the survey (btw - Round 1 will stay up until 11:45 pm on Dec. 3 2, 2009 - edit on 11/22 - we meant the 2nd) you'll see 10 groups of three songs each. You'll rank the songs #1, #2 and #3 for each group. There will be two "flight groupings" - rank the songs, we'll then mix them up in a second grouping and you do it again. Additionally, you'll have a chance to select the song you think will be the ultimate overall #1 selection (for the Top 10 Podcast).

Anyone can rank songs but there's one more hitch to winning any prize money (in addition to needing a FullTilt account) - you'll need to listen to the Best of Show. We'll only be announcing the winners there and setting the deadline for contacting us back telling us you heard your name on the show and requesting your winings (we'll give winners a few days to listen/contact us). We'll be giving away 2 - $10 prizes for participating and a $20 prize from the pool of those who successfully picked the eventual winning song.

All songs can be found at GarageBand . Here are the songs in their Round 1 Groupings. Song Name (Band Name). Follow the links below to listen to the songs on GarageBand!

Flight #1
Group1 - Construct (Little Tin Box) , Killer Sea (Stealing Seconds), One From Two (Burgess Norgaard)
Group 2 - Flicker (Morrisson), New Day (Live Native), I'm OK (Uber Cool Kung Fu)
Group 3 - Ex Girlfriends (Suzanne), Even Though It's Wrong (Mushmouth), Don't You Need Me (Justin Bell and the Lazy Susan Band
Group 4 - Sink With Me (Dime Theory), Loser (Quarter Roy), Missing (Justin Bell & the Lazy Susan Band)
Group 5 - The Driving Seat (Leslie Rich), Wanna Say (Loft), Winning War (8 Switch)
Group 6 - Prelude (Kip Blackshire), Upside Spiral Down (One Great Day), Haircut (Gold Standard)
Group 7 - These Last Days (Thinland), For the Taking (Casey Petersen Band), Good Enough (8 Year Weight)
Group 8 - Machine (Uber Cool Kung Fu), Freeter (Professor Sketchy), All Right Psycho All Right (Toolan McDonald)
Group 9 - Eyeliner (Parachutes Fail), Still Standing (Morrison), I Wish - Thoughts of Home (Left Behind Acoustic)
Group 10 - Have a Little Hope (Burgess Norgaard), Can't Make you Love Me (1/2 Act), Life Like This (Crista McCrae)

Flight #2 - we've adjusted the match-ups for this round (rank them one more time):
Group1 - Have a Little Hope (Burgess Norgaard), One From Two (Burgess Norgaard), I Wish - Thoughts of Home (Left Behind Acoustic)
Group 2 - Machine (Uber Cool Kung Fu), I'm OK (Uber Cool Kung Fu), Can't Make you Love Me (1/2 Act)
Group 3 - Construct (Little Tin Box) , Winning War (8 Switch), Haircut (Gold Standard)
Group 4 - All Right Psycho All Right (Toolan McDonald), Eyeliner (Parachutes Fail), The Driving Seat (Leslie Rich)
Group 5 - Flicker (Morrisson), Still Standing (Morrison), These Last Days (Thinland)
Group 6 - Don't You Need Me (Justin Bell and the Lazy Susan Band, Missing (Justin Bell & the Lazy Susan Band), Freeter (Professor Sketchy)
Group 7 - Upside Spiral Down (One Great Day), Wanna Say (Loft), Life Like This (Crista McRae)
Group 8 - New Day (Live Native), Good Enough (8 Year Weight), Sink With Me (Dime Theory)
Group 9 - Even Though It's Wrong (Mushmouth), Loser (Quarter Roy), Prelude (Kip Blackshire),
Group 10 - Killer Sea (Stealing Seconds), For the Taking (Casey Petersen Band), Ex Girlfriends (Suzanne)
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Suck Out - A Horse with no Name Recognition - Set to Continue

2009-11-20T16:29:00.001-06:00

Okay, it's been a little while, but we're about ready to get back to it. We only promised that we wouldn't take as long as the Tom "durrr" Dwan Challenge and we're still on track to beat that.

As a refresher for our newer readers (as readership is up considerably since our last Suck out post two months ago).    Suck Out! is the CPL's own Docu-Series on staking. Part One can be found here (Forward/Intro), part two here (Staking), part three here (Backer's Perspective), the Horse's Perspective (part IV) here and the Match 1 results (part V) here. The results for Match 2 are here.

So, why the delay?? Mostly just life stuff - the wife insisted on repainting the basement. Sure, it's a nice Viking's purple now, but I'd rather not have had to do it. Then there's all the winterizing activities you need to do here in Minnesota.

I was still playing some poker, but mostly OH8 Limit cash games. I even played an $11 tourney or two, but, I didn't have the right "vibe" for risking someone else's money on it - so those were on "my dime." Probably a good thing as I didn't cash in any of them. We're back now and well rested and match 3 will be covered in our next podcast (not the one we finished last night but the one coming out around Thanksgiving).

You've got a little time to catch back up on the series as were set to continue next week.

Karaoke Phil

Mark Wittig Scores First Victory During Week 9!

2009-11-17T23:25:00.000-06:00

Mark Wittig showed the CPL what he was capable of during Week 9 by being the last member standing and taking down the top spot during Week 9! A great week of poker for Wittig as he slowly gained chips throughout the evening...then with 4 players remaining kicked it into high gear! In heads up play with Wittig was Mike "Unabomber" Bowman who continued his record breaking session by saving himself from a much earlier exit and fought back all the way to heads up play! In third place was Kelli G, who played a great match and was poised to take first place herself...but the chips left her stack in a hurry. Still a great finish for Kelli. Fourth place goes to Malinda "Nemesis" Cardenas, who also had the potential to win the night with 4 players remaining but it seemed that the cards were against her. In 5th place was Voni "Rookie" Khang. The Rookie had a great middle round evening and lost her stack just as fast during the late rounds. In 6th place was NewLife as he returned to the points for the first time since clinching the TOC seat. Rounding out the CPL points is yours truly Verbal, who had high hopes earlier in the evening just to find his chips dwindle away during the middle rounds.

Thanks to Bill for hosting during Week 9!!

CPL Quote of the Week:

"We have a saying around here...no drinking small warm Coronas!"--Bill "Comeback Kid" Lanoux

CPL Leaderboard-Adjusted

Points Awarded During Week 9

ITunes Podcast correction and Monday Madness for 11/16

2009-11-16T10:04:00.001-06:00

First off - there was some sort of glitch with the podcast on ITunes. It worked everywhere else, but for some reason it cut out at the Phil Mackey interview on ITunes - it has now been corrected with the v3 (version 3) upload. So, if ITunes is your preferred method of getting your podcast doses of CPL wisdom - that's the one you'll want.

As for tonight's Monday Madness game. - it'll be NLHE at 8:30 pm central time. And, the password will be: CPL

Breaking News - Minnesota "Poker Player of the Year" created for 2010

2009-11-13T15:53:00.006-06:00

The new podcast is out (media player on the left) and we interviewed Phil Mackey, co-founder of both the Minnesota State Poker Tour and Minnesota Poker Magazine.

Phil was very forthcoming in our interview. One item in particular is of note. He "was going to save this for the December issue of Minnesota Poker Magazine," but decided to break the news with your own CPL Poker Podcast that they have created a Minnesota State Poker Player of the Year Competition.

The POY points begin on January 1, 2010. More than 500 poker tournaments have been identified across the state as POY eligible tournaments including the 6 bracelet events that make up the MN State Poker Tour. It is believed that this will be the first time there has ever been a statewide Player of the Year chase in Minnesota.

Says Mackey about the POY chase, "We owe it to players (in Minnesota). Let's find out who the best player is." He mentions such MN heavyweights as, 3 Putts, Brad Berman, and Jeremy Dresch as examples of potential winners.

Curse of the Final Table - or, how doing really well is sometimes all you ever wanted

2009-11-12T13:05:00.004-06:00

Since we're on the topic of the WSOP Main Event, we thought we'd talk a little about an oddity we recently encountered. In looking to set up various interviews for the podcast (the player is to the left btw and we'll have Phil Mackey from the Minnesota Poker Tour on the next show) we came across what we are tentatively calling the "Curse of the Final Table". The curse has it that final tabling in the WSOP Main Event but not finishing in the top three may end your poker career.

We heard back from two "almost was's" in the form of Daniel Bergsdorf and Dan Nassif.

Bergsdorf finished 7th in 2005 (Joe Hachem's year) winning $1.3 million dollars in the process. We caught up with Daniel in his native country of Sweden to ask if he'd be interested in being on the podcast. Following his deep run in '05 we found out he had a few more small cashes over the next couple of years, but nothing big. In declining to be interviewed, he let us know that he speaks "terrible English". But the real reason is that he plays "almost no live poker nowadays". Huh?

In many ways, Dan Nassif was the first Dennis Phillips - A regular guy (in this case an advertising sales exec) from St. Louis, MO who had a great run. Dan busted out in 9th in 2006 (Jamie Gold's big run) to earn $1.5 million. How has Dan done since in live tournament play and the WSOP? About nothing. We caught up with Mr. Nassif who last played live poker at the 2007 WSOP (no cashes). Apparently he's "just been playing online and haven't done that very much either. I have been busy with other things." Other things??

What?? What is going on here? These guys are in their prime (Bergsdorf is now in his early 30s and Nassif his late 30s). They both clearly have talent and gotten so close to the golden fruit. And, they both garnered life changing winnings (and experience) that gave them ample bankrolls to play and prosper.

Yet, they both have quit - at least quit any semblance of "serious" play. Is it a fluke? A pattern? We're calling it a curse for now, but we'll provide an update one way or the other if we learn more about it. One thing is for sure - the CPL Directors are committed to turning "pro" should they ever score a $1+ million pay-day.

WSOP Main Event

2009-11-11T10:31:00.003-06:00

Congratulations (we suppose) to Joe Cada for taking down the WSOP Main Event. We at the CPL believe it's his high water mark (even though he's now the youngest champ ever at 21) and that we'll not hear much more from him over the next 50 years.

However, it's a good time to revisit our series on the "Best Damn WSOP Main Event Players in the 2000s". This link here is our final "redux" entry but is has additional links to the other several posts on the topic.

Happy Anniversary Deadwood, SD

2009-11-10T16:16:00.005-06:00

It was 20 years ago this month (that's November 1989 for the math challenged) that casino gambling was legalized in Deadwood, SD. For the geographically challenged, Deadwood is on the far Western border of South Dakota - you know, more or less, "nowhere". Come to think of it, maybe all of South Dakota is, more or less, "nowhere". Just a little humor there SD - we Minnesotans usually pick on Iowa, but I thought I'd give them a little break. Many consider the legalization as having "saved" the area - the industry now brings in about $1 billion a year.

We pass on "Happy Anniversary" congratulations to Deadwood's casinos. The CPL is quite fond of Deadwood and its numerous casinos. In fact, Karaoke played his first two live tournaments there during a trip in August 2006. He played at both Cadillac Jack's and the Silverado - almost cashing in one of them.

New Podcast and Monday Madness 11/09

2009-11-09T13:30:00.003-06:00

The newest podcast is up - the 63rd episode of MN's only and longest running poker podcast - includes a review of the WSOP Final Table, and a casino review (Stratosphere in Las Vegas). And, look for an interview with MN Poker magazine's Phil Mackey (and MN Poker Tour founder and KFAN reporter) on the next podcast.

Tonight is also Monday Madness. It's a night for action junkies as we'll be playing PL HA - 8:30 pm Central start time (Private Tourney Tab on Full Tilt). The password is:

CPL

Unabomber Scores 3rd Win During CPL Week 8!

2009-11-08T22:11:00.011-06:00

Week 8 of the CPL was not scary because it was a few days before Halloween, or because of all of the great costumes that were worn (see pics below), it was scary because Mike "Unabomber" Bowman won yet another CPL week! This is Unabomber's 3rd win in 8 weeks and makes him a shoe in to break the all time scoring record in the CPL! Unabomber played his normal game of aggression and reckless abandon that has paid off time and time again. The great mask helped too!

Nick "Heads Up" Kamholz again made it to heads up play (his 3rd such feat in 8 weeks) and again Nick found himself ahead in chips going into the heads up play...and again Heads Up saw those chips end up in the hands of his opponent. Always the bridesmaid...never the bride. Heads Up has however clinched a seat in the TOC with his week 8 performance.

James Aguilar finishes in 3rd...another solid performance from James.

Wicked1 finished in 4th...a fine, fine showing for Wanda who is starting to gain footing in this CPL Fall Session.

Mike Behr in 5th...after taking beats by both Unabomber and James...I expect Blind Me Down smashed some pumpkins when he got home.

Voni in 6th...happy to get points...unhappy to lose so many chips to Unabomber.

Bill in 7th...not sure what it is with Comeback Kid and the point bubble these days....

It was a great week and super fun with the costumes!

CPL Leaderboard-Adjusted

CPL Points awarded during Week 8

CPL Halloween Night!!

Your host and dealer for the evening...Dracula!!

Wicked1 and Heads Up deep in thought....

Kelli G (as an old time golfer) and Blind me Down (as a pumpkin)...great costumes!

Roman Mark Wittig relaxes with Newlife after getting knocked out early...

Unabomber giggles maniacally to Verbal...

FullTilt Makes the World Right Again

2009-11-05T10:12:00.004-06:00

Karaoke attempted to play the FTOPS Warm Up event this past Sunday but could not get into the Full Tilt server until he had been blinded out of the tournament (in about 18500th position of the 43,000 that had signed up). Seating took about 15 minutes to complete (before the tourney actually started) with Karaoke attempting to log in about 5 minutes into the beginning of the seating time. For the next 90 or so minutes he repeatedly attempted to log in - only to go through cycles of "connected", "trying again", "connected", "trying again".

On Monday he fired off an email to Full Tilt support letting them know of the problems he had the day before. He was quite polite (no, really, polite - actually only requesting "at least a partial refund" of the 1100 FullTilt points he had used to sign up for the tourney).

Yesterday he received a response in which Full Tilt acknowledged "unexpected connection and lag issues for some players" on Nov. 1. Their review of his account showed "you were affected by the connection and lag issues." They then credited his account with 5.50 T$ (Tourney Dollars) - the full value equivalent of 1100 FTP (FullTilt Points). That's probably a wee bit nicer than giving back the actual FTPs.

FullTilt makes good on tech issues from their end and makes the world right again. The CPL thanks and congratulates Full Tilt Poker for doing the right thing.

IRV Victories Celebrated

2009-11-04T12:42:00.004-06:00

The CPL is happy for a couple of Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) victories here in Minnesota yesterday.

Minneapolis implemented their first election under IRV and it went off quite well - no weeping seniors in the corners of elementary school gymnasiums because they just couldn't get it. We think the official results for the races where IRV needs to be used (those with a top candidate receiving fewer than 50% of votes will be done well before Thanksgiving. The Dec. 21 date that detractors kept throwing out is (and always was) a joke.

And, in the other "Twin" City - St. Paul voters favored a switch over to IRV with the ballot initiative passing 52% to 48% (Karaoke voted FOR the IRV switch). St. Paul voters should get their first taste of IRV in the 2011 elections (City Council).

It's likely that if IRV were in place in 2008 - Michelle Bachman would have lost.

New Podcast Released and Monday Madness PW!!

2009-11-01T17:06:00.001-06:00

Click the player at the left for the newest podcast episode (#62).

And, the password for Monday's Full Tilt game is: CPL

Getting Jobbed at the Table? Follow this Saintly Advice!

2009-10-29T17:08:00.002-05:00

**A "Stronger Squared Poker Analysis" entry**

You're playing that tournament and the hands you see are, at the best, off suit 3-gappers. Hand after hand after hand is 9/5, 7/3, J/4 and maybe a K/3 UTG. Then the UTG (a solid player) makes a min raise which is 2-bet from UTG+1 (who's the tightest rock of a player you've ever seen). It folds to you in the hijack position (2 to the right of the button) and you look down at K/Q suited. Your heart momentarily flutters. "Ahh, FINALLY a decent hand," you say to yourself. "I haven't had a good hand in days - I've got to play this." That's a big mistake. You should fold - yet again - and wait for a hand or good situation - yet again.

Today we live in an age of instant gratification. We can get instant credit, search the web for instant answers and much more. We have little patience for anything that takes time. The average attention span for an adult is about 20 minutes (can you say 30-minute sit com). That's bad if you're a poker player. What you should do is to try and follow the example of St. Monica - the patron Saint of Patience. Years (and I mean years) of prayer, coupled with a strong, well-disciplined internal character, finally led her to convince her husband and son (later to become St. Augustine) to become pious.

Recently, I have been reminded of the value of patience several times when it comes to poker. A couple weeks back I was watching a friend of mine play a 45 person SNG on FullTilt. These pay out the top six. He made the final table (9 players) as the short stack with 7 or 8 times the BB left. He folded. He folded again. He kept folding until he was down to 3 or 4 times the BB when he went all in and doubled up. He went back to folding - living up to his home league nickname "Blind Me Down". He got down to 5 BBs, moved all in and doubled up again. He got into the money. Some more folding took place before another double up (with about 7 BBs) and a card rush propelled him to full victory (and the hefty first place prize for this was no $2.25 tourney).

Later that week I was in the bar poker league I play in. We reached final table (8 players) and I had 4BBs left. I folded and folded and folded. I was able to double up (plus a little extra) once and steal blinds once but pretty much kept folding. I got a little lucky when the big stacks decided to start to take each other on with 5 people left. Next thing I knew (in literally 6 or 7 hands) I was heads up with the chip leader. I was in terrible shape with only about 10% of the chips (about 10K in chips to 110K) and finished in second after two hands of heads up play. But, even in free bar poker, 2nd tends to pay something - 7th or 8th doesn't. I didn't needlessly push or call and was rewarded, just as Blind Me Down got rewarded.

An additional two or three clear examples of the value of patience happened to me or others I was observing since then. It's happened often enough that it seemed like a good time to write about the importance of patience and to reiterate the gem that ancient Greek poet Hesiod wrote: "If you add a little to a little, and then do it again, soon that little shall be much." Or, in poker parlance - a few double ups puts you back into the game. You are never forced to call (or push). And, sometimes, even when the "math" is right or you've FINALLY gotten a hand after being "card-dead" since Air Supply was HOT, your knowledge of the game screams at you to exercise patience (i.e. - "I'm beat, fold and wait") or, at least it should (see the example I led off with at the top).

Saint Augustine learned well from his mother (St. Monica) and wrote that: "Patience is the companion of wisdom." I hope this post reminds you of that truth.
.

Karaoke Phil Wins CPL Week 7!

2009-10-28T04:36:00.009-05:00

Karaoke Phil stands strong during a marathon 3 hr 30 min Week 7 and outlasted a field of 16 CPL members to take the top spot for the week! A crazy crazy week of poker which saw 3 quads during the night (including quad aces) and on the lower table no-ones hand was safe as runner-runner along with miracle flops were rampant. It was the first win for either of the CPL Directors and a much needed win for Karaoke. The first place points have vaulted him into 5th on the CPL leaderboard. Congrats Karaoke! Coming in 2nd place was James Aguilar! It was another fine performance by James which has moved him into 3rd on the leaderboard, and also makes him the third person to clinch a seat at the coveted TOC! Congrats James!

In 3rd place was Malinda "Nemesis" Cardenas. Malinda had a great night of poker and the blinds simply caught up with her to take her out in 3rd. In 4th place was Kenji "Don't Do It" Hang. Kenji was on life support for quite a while at the end of the match...but wouldn't give up his seat until there was only 4 left. In 5th place was Bill "Comeback Kid" Lanoux. Comeback went into complete Blind Me Down mode and found himself not only in the points but all the way to the 5th place spot after putting a big hurt on Jerry. Mark "Verbal" Cardenas was in 6th place. This is Verbal's fifth week in the points out of seven...but can Verbal win a week? In 7th place was Kelli G, who continues to be dangerous with a solid style of poker. In 8th was Mike "Blind Me Down" Behr. This is only the third week in the points for Blind Me Down, who was on a serious slide for the last four weeks. Blind Me Down needed these points with only 4 weeks left in this session.

CPL Quote of the Week:

"Sure, its the only exercise I get." --Comeback Kid, when asked if he would shuffle.

CPL Leaderboard-Adjusted

Points Awarded During Week 7

Monday Madness and Site Numbers (Norman Chad and Two Plus Two Forums)

2009-10-26T14:38:00.003-05:00

It's a funny game, but we're playing it tonight at 8:30 pm Central - it's PL HA (Pot Limit Hold 'em and Omaha). Password is: CPL

On to our Sept to Oct site numbers - it's record time. In fact, records abound. Norman Chad gets the two points for the goal, but Two Plus Two poker forums gets the assist.

We did a story on Norman Chad cashing in this year's WSOP (one of the Stud8 tourneys). On ESPN's Main Event coverage on Sept. 22 it was mentioned several times, but with few details. That sent people searching the web for more info and to us and gave us (at the time) records for unique visitors. Then a Two Plus Two poker forum post by someone named abracadabrab on Oct. 14 linking to our story really drove them in. Ultimately, we broke a daily unique visitors record with 62 and a daily visits with 69. Overall, we saw our best month ever with 503 visits from 202 cities (both new records) from 24 countries (a high tie). ESPN coverage appears to be responsible for about 70 visits with Two Plus Two bringing in about 85 more. Here's the map:
Finally, this month saw a first - Minneapolis dropped from it's #1 visit location (a spot it's held since we really kept blog stats - Sept. 08). St. Paul is the new king, followed by Minneapolis and Hennepin County. Circle Pines, Minnesota comes in 4th with S. St. Paul (MN) and Fargo, North Dakota tied for 5th. For our international destinations: Sydney, Australia was in 9th, and London (UK) was tied for 11th.

Tourney Structure Op-Ed

2009-10-22T17:56:00.003-05:00

We talked about (on the podcast) and posted about tweaking our blind levels and then Tournament Director Matt Savage opines about Deep Stack Tournaments and tourney structures in this op-ed piece from Poker News. Is he listening to our show? Take a look.

CPL Adopts New Blind Level Structure

2009-10-21T00:47:00.003-05:00

As discussed on the latest CPL Poker Podcast....the new blind levels and blind lengths will be as follows starting during Week 7 of the CPL Fall Session.

After much internal discussion regarding the removal of the 150/300 blind level earlier this session...the CPL Directors have opted to add this important mid level back into the CPL. To balance the time added to the tournament by re-adding this blind level...the early blind levels have been reduced in time.

We hope everyone enjoys this newest structure!

The CPL Warm Up Rounds--

10/20--12 min

20/40--12 min

30/60--12 min

BREAK--Race off Red Chips

The CPL Get Busy Rounds--

50/100--16 min

100/200--16 min

150/300--16 min

BREAK--Race off Blue Chips

The CPL Elimination Rounds--

200/400--14 min

300/600--14 min

400/800--14 min

500/1000--14 min

BREAK--Race off Black, then White Chips

The CPL Plaque Rounds--

1000/2000--12 min

2000/4000--Remainder of match

Unabomber Wins Again During CPL Week 6!

2009-10-21T00:05:00.003-05:00

Mike "Unabomber" Bowman won his second CPL 1st place title of this Fall Session during Week 6 when he bested a field of 14 members out in the lands of Plymouth. This win not only put Unabomber back on top of the CPL Leaderboard, but also secured Unabomber a seat at the coveted CPL Tournament of Champions in December. This is the earliest anyone has clinched a TOC seat! Congrats Mike!

It was a crazy night of early technical difficulties with the tournament clock...and a mishap with the chip counts gave everyone an extra 300 in chips about 30 min into the match! This is what happens when we let Greg count out the chips! In the end all was set right and the match continued! The rough start was definitely felt later in the match as 7 CPL Members remained as we entered the CPL Plaque Rounds!! Wow! But once the 1000/2000 blind level started up...the folks started falling....

Making a fine finish in 2nd place was James, who was incredibly steady throughout the whole match until heads up...where he was went into heads up even up with Unabomber and was quickly disposed of to give Unabomber the win. However another great finish by James!

Greg NewLife Durand finished 3rd. This finish also secures NewLife a seat at the TOC in December! Both NewLife and Unabomber share 4 wins out of the first 6 weeks of play. Quite the domination so far!

In fourth was Mark Wittig who made his CPL debut in fine, fine fashion...staying the course and playing a conservative style of poker which did well for him until the blinds caught up with him. Welcome to the CPL Mark!

Congrats to Verbal, Comeback Kid, and Karaoke Phil for also making it into the CPL points for the week!

CPL Quote of the week:

"3 white chips, 5 black, 10 blue, and 20 Red...3000!"

--Greg "NewLife" Durand making the case to the CPL Director that his chip count was accurate. (he is actually 300 short...missing 3 black chips)

CPL Leaderboard--ADJUSTED

(This is the first week of the adjusted leaderboard...everyones worst 3 scores are removed from the total)

CPL Points Awarded During Week 6

FullTilt Updates Interesting

2009-10-20T12:53:00.004-05:00

FullTilt's latest software update has some notable additions.

Most interesting to the CPL Director's is the institution of 7-Game Mixed tournaments (MTT and SNG). Karaoke has already partaken in a couple of these - taking down a $10 SNG and getting sucked out on in a $24 MTT (finishing 44 of 197). The games include the standard HORSE games - though the order is different - with NL HE and PL OH added in to the mix.

Secondly, there is a new Cashout Tournament option - half of the entry fee goes to a standard payout structure with the other half going to the "cashout" pool. At any time a player may cashout 10% to 100% of their stack. So, for example, if you entered a $10 tourney - $5 of that would go to the prize pool and the other $5 to the cashout. If you cashed out after the first hand (say you weren't in the blinds and didn't bet - so you have your full stack) you would get $5 back (your cash out half). Karaoke tried one of these and it seems cashouts came in two varieties: a) those who were severely shortstacked and preferred to get something back and quit rather than try to fight on and b) those who had significantly increased their stacks then cashed out their buy-in and "freerolled" for the rest of the tourney. An interesting twist that will require further analysis.

Lastly: You've seen it on High Stakes Poker and PAD, now you two may "run it twice". That's the scenario where you get all the money in before the river and both remaining players agree to run the board twice. It's usually done with hands that are coin flips and tends to produce a chopped pot - basically a little insurance-type thing. It's fairly limited in scope right now as it's being tested but should be in wider circulation soon.

Andy Bloch Interview Part II and Charity Events

2009-10-15T23:03:00.002-05:00

The second part of our interview with Andy Bloch will air on our next podcast - due out the evening of 10/16. Take a listen (player located at the left) - part I is currently up and ready for your listening enjoyment.

Also, Andy has been working with a couple of charities and we'd like to pass on that info. He just finished playing in the Habitat for Humanity Poker Tournament in El Dorado County, CA - you can learn more about that and donate here.

MSCharitypoker.org is hosting another tourney (with Andy Bloch) in November. This one will be in Westchester, NY on Saturday, November 7th at T&J Villaggio Trattoria. Good Luck to all the players moving "all in to find a cure."

Breaking News - Minnesota State Poker Tour Announced

2009-10-15T15:33:00.005-05:00

The Minnesota State Poker Tour has been created by Bryan Mileski and Phil Mackey and will feature a series of 6 $1100 buy-in diamond bracelet tournaments. The idea is to provide more affordable prestige tournaments (hence the bracelets) while still having large fields and big payouts.

The structures are also very deep stack. The main event tournaments will see players starting with 15,000 in chips and blind levels that are 50 minutes long.

While the "Tour" doesn't fully begin until February 2010, with an event scheduled for Grand Casino Mille Lacs in Onamia, a "launch" event is planned for December at Canterbury Park. Other locations being slated for the tour include Running Aces, Northern Lights (Walker), Jackpot Junction (Morton) and Grand Casino Hinckley.

Of the two founders, you may recognize Phil Mackey - a radio personality from KFAN (though we're not sure he's actually still on - their poker radio show seems to have died last year in November after 18 episodes and the baseball season has ended for the Twins).

This tour could end up being a great end-of-season prize for home leagues throughout the state with Satellites for each main event priced at $250.

Podcast w/Andy Bloch and CPL Monday Madness!

2009-10-11T21:02:00.002-05:00

Episode #60 of the CPL Podcast is in the can and will be up shortly - it includes Part I of the interview with Andy Bloch and a review of Black Bear Casino and Resort in Carlton, MN.

And, we have the next 5 weeks of Monday Madness! all set up. Tomorrow's game will be HOE with an 8:30 pm Central start time - password: CPL.

NewLife Durand Wins Again During CPL Week 5!

2009-10-10T16:10:00.009-05:00

Greg NewLife Durand Wins CPL Week 5 during Wine Night with an incredible come from behind heads up victory over Wanda "Wicked1" Bublitz!

In his second victory in the past 3 weeks, which has launched him to the top of the unadjusted CPL Leaderboard, NewLife went heads up against Wicked1 severely outchipped something like 5-1...but after a few quick hands all in and NewLife was back in the thick of it vs Wicked1....and soon after accumulating some chips....took the lead heads up and made quick work of Wicked1 to score his second victory of this Fall Session.

Wicked1 had an incredible night of poker all the way up to the heads up portion....catching straights and flushes at the right time and mowing down one player after another while amassing an incredible chip stack along the way!

Gerry Willy finally made it into the CPL points finding his way to 3rd place. Verbal had the rug pulled out from under him as Wicked1 went runner runner to take him out in 4th place. Nick "Heads Up" Kamholz went out in 5th (his 4th finish in the CPL points out of 5 weeks)...and Mike "Unabomber"Bowman rounded out the CPL points finishing in 6th.

CPL Quote of the Week:

"You know you're in trouble when you have more Missouri Chips than actual chips" --Nick "Heads Up" Kamholz

CPL Leaderboard (Unadjusted)

CPL Points Awarded During Week 5

The Monster wins CPL Week 4!

2009-10-10T15:27:00.005-05:00

Bud "The Monster" Abbott takes down CPL Week 4 with an amazing come from behind heads up match in a week where chips were flying from person to person all night long!

Nick Kamholz took 2nd place after having a massive chip lead going into heads up play against Monster, but squandered away chips again and after losing his chip advantage....it ended quickly. This is the 2nd time in 4 weeks that Nick has been heads up with a significant chip lead....both times ending in defeat.

This is why the CPL is announcing that Nick Kamholz will forever be known to the CPL as

Nick "Heads Up" Kamholz.

Kelli G. took 3rd after getting punished early by Verbal...but she never said die...and after battling back...took the 3rd spot.

Greg "NewLife" Durand ended the night in 4th patiently taking shots at pots and slowly building his stack...but it was not his night and he ended in a respectable 4th. His 3rd week in the CPL points out of 4 weeks played.

Sarah Heath (her chips at least) ended the night in the 5th spot as she built a stack early...but after Sarah had to quickly leave the match (she didn't feel well) her stack survived player after player and won 2 All In's....bringing her to the 5th spot.

Rounding out the CPL points was Verbal in sixth place and Kenji finishing in 7th.

After Kenji's pleadings with the dealer to protect him during an all in....the CPL has decided to offer him the following moniker. Kenji will be forever known to the CPL as:

Kenji "Don't Do It" Vang.

CPL Leaderboard (Unadjusted)

CPL Points Awarded During Week 4.

BREAKING NEWS - Pitbull Poker Update

2009-10-05T16:11:00.007-05:00

CPL Poker Blog and Podcast has confirmed that Pitbull's Casino operations have now been suspended. This is in addition to the poker section that was disabled last week. The web site is still "up" so to speak, but no games of any sort (even play money) are being offered. Additionally, most of the affiliate sites are either now defunct (Novi Poker, Allin Poker, OnlinePoker66, 5dimes, etc.) are either shut down entirely or have migrated to other poker clients.

BREAKING NEWS - Pitbull Poker loses its bark?

2009-09-30T14:53:00.004-05:00

It is being reported that struggling online poker/gaming site Pitbull Poker has not only shut down but that its Directors have been arrested in Costa Rica.

We have logged into Pitbull to check out the scene. Everything appears to be up and running until you get into the site a little. As you try to get into the Poker Room you find that no tables will load and one's account information (available money, player points, etc.) also does not load.
Apparently PokerScout is also showing that there have been "0" players in the last 24 hours.

On the other hand - the "Casino" portion of the site still appears to be fully functional - so you can keep playing blackjack and casino war if you want. Karaoke, though, is thinking he won't ever see the $40 he has there, but since that was an increase from the free $10 he was given when he signed up it's not a loss of any kind. Pitbull did, however, have a very cool logo and tag line:

Pitbull Poker - Sit Stay Play

NewLife Durand Takes CPL Week 3!

2009-09-28T23:03:00.005-05:00

Greg NewLife Durand is the winner of the Week 3 of this Fall Session of the CPL! Greg had a pretty mild night until he started to get some chips during the middle rounds...then he turned on the NewLife jets and used those new found chips aggressively to build and build his stack!

In the end NewLife was heads up against Unabomber with a very significant chip lead...and it was all over in a few heads up hands. A great win for NewLife!

Congrats to Unabomber for another fabulous finish in the CPL! This weeks 2nd place finish keeps Unabomber on top of the CPL Leaderboard!

Kenji finishes in 3rd place after surviving several "all in" moves! Nice job during week 3 for Kenji! Wanda Wicked1 ends the night in 4th! Wanda also survived a few all in moments and moved her way nicely into the fourth place!

Nemesis, James, and Nick rounded out the CPL points. Congrats to the CPL point winners!

CPL Quote of the Week:

"You would fold this hand even if those were 3 Aces!"

--Verbal to Blind Me Down as Blind Me Down was on the point bubble with Nick all in before him.

CPL Leaderboard (Unadjusted)

CPL Points Awarded During Week 3

Monday Madness on Full Tilt tonight at 8:30pm Central

2009-09-28T20:24:00.001-05:00

Password is CPL as always....

Site Numbers and "Thank You" Norman Chad

2009-09-25T12:46:00.006-05:00

The site numbers are in for Aug 16 to Sept 16. We're down a smidge on visits at 419 (down from 428 last month), but up in city visits (up from 99 to 115) and in countries (22 to 24) - both of those (we believe are new records for us). Same standard top four - Circle Pines moves into 5th place and Fargo, ND readership moves from 8th to 6th (and looks like it'll be 5th for the next reporting time frame). Here's the site map many of you love:
Speaking of records - CPLPoker wants to say "Thank you" to ESPN's WSOP commentator Norman Chad. In June we congratulated Norman on his first ever WSOP cash - a Stud8 event (#53) and opined that we hoped we'd hear some reporting on it.

Well, on Tuesday's Main Event episodes on ESPN they went hog wild in mentioning it (mostly cryptically). Obtusely enough that dozens of people are going to the internet to find out about it - and landing on our pages. Since Tuesday, at least 50 search referrals have come in with variations of "Norman Chad cashing WSOP". On Tuesday, we reached a new record of unique visitors (not visits) with 22 - that was surpassed on Wednesday with 26 unique visitors. We didn't break the daily visits record and the interest (while still there today) seems to be fading - but, we wanted to add a "Thank you, Norman" - in addition to "Congratualations."

Suck Out! A Horse with No Name Recognition (Part VI)

2009-09-20T21:09:00.007-05:00

Suck Out! The CPL's own Docu-Series continues....Part One can be found here (Forward/Intro), part two here (Staking), part three here (Backer's Perspective), the Horse's Perspective (part IV) here and the Match 1 results (part V) here..enjoy!

Match 2 - Omaha Hi/Lo (OH8) - Single Table SNG
Karaoke Phil

For match number two I chose a single table Omaha8 (Omaha Hi-Lo) sit-n-go. I was the sixth player (9 needed) to sign up and number 7 came in right behind me. Then, in what seems odd to me, Steamroller left our table and signed back up on an empty table. Why would he do that? I've played Steamroller before and had notes. I wonder if he had notes on me and decided I'm too much competition. Maybe this is a harbringer of things to come.

I tried Stud8 in my first match. I probably should have done this - played OH8. While I'm happy with my Stud8 abilities it's pretty much the "youngest" game that I've studied and learned, having begun to play it in earnest less than a year ago. OH8 is a stronger game for me. Let's see what transpires. We'll start with 1500 chips and 9 players in the SNG.

I start out well, nailing a full house on hand 4 to put me up to 1710 in chips. On hand 10 I get a nice A/2/2/6. Donkeypro777, who has played every hand, has three bet (I had raised). I go ahead ans cap the action with position. The flop brings 2/3/5 - all clubs. It's checked to me so I bet it. Donkeypro777 check raises me. I slow down and just call as it seems like he has a flush or an A/4 for the nut low (and a straight). A Q comes on the turn - it's bet/call. Another Q comes on the river. I know have 2s full of Qs and an A/2/3/5/6 low. Donkeypro777 bets out and I raise. At worst I'll split the pot and may well have the best of both sides. Indeed, Donkey does have a nut flush but my boat beats that and he has no low - I scoop and things are really looking good early. At this point I have 2070 chips and am in 2nd of 9.

Several aggressive players in this sng and then there's Donkeypro777 who isn't necessarily aggressive but will play EVERY hand. We loose our first player (AlCapone23) on hand 22. And, Donkeypro777 is kicked out on hand 24.

Hand 27 sees me in the BB with A/3/6/6. Several players limp in so I check my option. The flop is 2/2/6 for a flopped boat of 6s full of 2s. I decide not to slow play this one at all since at least two of the players (Pokerdegree and Coo Saw) in the hand are very aggressive. I think they'll raise my bet and then I can then smooth call to feign weakness. Pokerdegree does indeed raise and I smooth call. The turn is a 5 - giving me the current nut low as well. I lead out again, figuring Pokerdegree will raise again. But, this time Hankitup 2-bets (the other player still in the hand at this point). Pokerdegree 3-bets and I cap with the second nut high and the nut low. I'm thinking I'll scoop or 3/4 this pot. Oh boy, the river brings a 2. Now, I'm in trouble to a 2. I check call (as does Hankitup). Yes, Pokerdegree has a 2 (hitting a three-outer for the high, a 7 would've helped him as well). Hankitup and I split the low and I get 25% of the pot instead of the 75% I was expecting. I hope this isn't an indicator of shifting winds.

I lose several more hands and drop to 765 chips (4th of 7 remaining players). On hand 47 I'm dealt A/3/6/6 in late position. The flop comes 2/4/9 - giving me 4 cards to the nut low. Pokerdegree and Coo Saw (the two most agressive players) are in the hand. Pokerdegree bets out, AHill58509 stays in the hand. The board pairs the four on the turn. I check call hoping for a miracle card - as I now have less than a bet left. BOOM - I spike the 5 on the river for the nut low and a wheel. I sccop the pot and move up to 2185 in chips. That puts me into 3rd place and the tide seems to be changing. We lose DCL on the next hand leaving us with 6 players remaining. After hand 50 I'm knocked down to 1165 in chips but we lose IamJoe829 in 6th place.

In hand 60, I'm dealt 2/2/3/J in the small blind. I'm able to limp in and the BB checks his option. The flop is A/7/9 giving me 4 to the nut low. I bet out and get 2 callers (AHill and Hankitup) . The turn gives me the nut low when a 6 comes out. I bet out and get put all in (again) by AHill58509. A Ten of clubs come out on the river - that gives me a flush as well (one of my 2s and the 3 are clubs). I scoop the pot and move into 2nd place with 3345 in chips.

By hand 70, I'm back down to 4th (of 5 players remaining) but positions 2 through 5 are all within 400 chips of each other. Pokerdegree, by far the most aggressive player in the tournament, has 5155 and leads us all as we head into break.

Three hands after break I get A/4/5/5 (two hearts A/4). I limp in. The flop is 2/4/K with two spades. I call a bet. The 8 of hearts comes on the turn. Coo Saw and AHill are both staying in. Coo Saw bets it up which will put me all in. I click "time" and have 20 additional seconds to decide what do to. I have A/2/4/5/8 for a low and am four flushed for the nuts. This is for my tournment life though and going out in 5th won't be pleasant. I'm down to 5 seconds. You've got to take some chances to win. Plus, I have outs and, maybe, already have a good low. I put in the last of my chips. The river is maybe a miracle - it's the 3 of hearts giving me both the nut low and the nut flush. The worst I can do is nail down 3/4 of the main pot. I scoop the pot and Coo Saw shows a 9 high flush. I'm up to 6165 in chips and am the chip leader.

Two hands later I river the nut low and the second nut high flush to scoop that pot and move up to 7965 in chips. Hankitup is down to about 200 chips and Coo Saw is crippled with about 260. I feel victory coming now. I'm going to take this baby down.

We quickly loose Coo Saw in 5th place and Hankitup in 4th. We're in the money now. AHill58509 is now very shortstacked with about 700 chips. I have 9300 to Pokerdegree's 3500. Pokerdegree proceeds to eliminate AHill58509 and we're heads up (me with 9353 to his 4147).

The blinds are at 400/800. Pokerdegree is able to take the lead about 7 hands into heads up. And, after only getting a quarter of the pot on hand 8 we have reversed the chip stack positions that we started out with. We slug it out and got back and forth over the next 10 to 12 hands, including one hand where he had me all in. Blinds move up to 500/1000. I finally get a couple of solid hands and force Pokerdegree out to even us up and then take another 9K to 4.5K lead over him. I'm able to get him all in with A/2/3/J - I hit a boat, but we split the pot and he stays alive. I get him all in again when I'm dealt 2/3/3/4. I hit the nut low (wheel) but he gets a higher straight to stay alive with the chop.

Pokerdegree's aggression gets him to nearly even. The blinds also now move up to 600/1200. I'm able to steal a hand and move up to 10.4K to his 3.1K. I call his raise with 2/4/8/Q and flop a nut low draw. Two bricks give me nothing, but he has only 194 chips left when he goes all-in. I call (and lose). It evens us out again (and he takes a small lead the next hand). He proceeds to get me all in again, but we're able to chop it up.

We've been going at this heads up see-saw battle for nearly 20 minutes. I think I've earned some respect from him and I also think I've largely figured out how he plays. I'm dealt 3/4/8/9 on our 39th hand heads up. The flop is 8/9/K (all clubs - I have none). He leads out with a bet, but I'm going to see where I'm at and play off that I have the flush. I 2-bet. If he raises me, I'll know I'm in bad shape in the hand. He only smooth calls. The turn brings a 7 - I think I'm ahead so I move all in again hoping he'll fold. He doesn't. I'm ahead on the high and he only has a nut low draw. The river is another 9 - giving me a boat and a pot scoop. Yes! I'm back ahead about 9K to his 4K.

On our 40th heads up hand, I'm dealt 3/6/8/8. He raises it up. I call. The flop is 7/7/T giving me gut shot straight draw and a two pair. He leads out - I call. I'm very bad to a 7 or T but I'm banking that he doesn't have either. There's a 4 on the turn. I call his bet. Another 4 comes out on the river. He bets all in. I've come this far. If I can fade him having a 4, 7, T or a pair higher than my 8s then I'm good. He has none of them (showing only 3/5/J/K) . It's all over - the game is done and I've taken it down.

Pokerdegree's aggression took him a long way, but not all the way. I take down $45 for first - putting me $5 short of the stake (Mark - the backer - has said that the "cake" will be for $50, not the full $55).

The rest of the way is now basically a free roll.

James Wins CPL Week 2!

2009-09-19T09:54:00.004-05:00

Congrats to James Aguilar who survived the field of 16 CPL members to take the top spot during CPL Week 2!

In a week that can only be categorized as "Reckless Abandon" poker, massive chip leads moved from player to player to player throughout the night...and once the music stopped James was left with the chips!

Earlier in the evening it looked like Bud "Monster" Abbott, Nick Kamholz, and Mike "Unabomber" Bowman would control the night, however once the tables collapsed down to one and a few players dropped the chips just did not want to stay in front of anyone for very long.

Monster and Unabomber had a huge chip lead....then Monster slid chips to Unabomber to give him a 'Jamie Gold' type stack. The Unabomber then went on a destroying mission to take out the remaining 4 players in quick order and instead lost all of his chips and went out in 4th.

Nick Kamholz was the beneficiary of Unabombers implosion and after Monsters exit in 3rd place, found himself heads up against James with a 7-1 chip stack advantage...and thought it was all over.

But the evening was not over....and James would not go down without a fight....and after a few early double ups, James had Nick on his heels and pounded him into submission until James had Nick all in and took him out to take down CPL Week 2!

Congrats to Mike "Blind Me Down" Behr, Greg "NewLife" Durand, Bill "Comeback Kid" Lanoux, and Kelli Gunderson for all making it into the CPL points for the week!

CPL Quote of the Week:

Are you two related? You look alike. --Sarah Heath to Verbal and Blind Me Down.

CPL Leaderboard (Unadjusted)

CPL Week 2 Points Awarded

BREAKING NEWS: UB and Absolute Poker scandal results

2009-09-17T23:32:00.003-05:00

Nearly two years after the "super user" account scandal rocked Ultimate Bet, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission - the tribal entity that oversees many online poker rooms - issued a report on it's findings. The full 11 page report can be found here.

In all, UB was fined $1.5 million and has refunded more than $22 million "to players adversely affected the cheating incidences."

This follows the report on Absolute Poker (who was fined $500,000) can be found here, from earlier this year.

Monday Madness - HOE - 9/14

2009-09-14T16:52:00.001-05:00

Tonight's Monday Madness game is HOE - password: CPL

The Directors will be at the Twins game, so enjoy - and, don't forget to read the Suck Out! series - below.

Suck Out! A Horse with No Name Recognition (Part V)

2009-09-13T20:37:00.003-05:00

Suck Out! The CPL's own Docu-Series continues....Part One can be found here (Forward/Intro), part two here (Staking), part three here (Backer's Perspective) and the Horse's Perspective (part IV) here...enjoy!

Match 1 - Stud H/L (Stud8) - Single Table SNG
Karaoke Phil

I'm taking a little bit of a conservative start to my matches. My first goal is to make a dent in the stake so that I can play for the "big money" without the added pressure of the stake yoking me. A single table sit-n-go is a good way to make half to nearly all of the stake back - with a first or second place showing - in a format that I do well in. To increase my odds (in my thinking) I am going to make the first match Stud H/L.

I saw Jennifer Harman recently on an episode of "Poker After Dark" (I think that was the show). Jen busted out in third or fourth and the interviewer asked her if No Limit Hold 'em is her favorite game. Harman's response was that she preferred the games that, she felt, others don't know all that well: PL OH, OH8, Stud, Stud8, Razz, etc. Indeed, she ranked No-Limit Hold 'em as her 10th favorite game. To some extent, I feel the same way. I believe that I play Stud8 and OH8 better than many other players. I think I have an edge in those games. I don't place No Limit Hold 'em in 10th, but depending on my mood it may fall as low as third or fourth. So, we start with Stud8. Let's win some money.

As fate has it, the CPL's own Mike "Blind Me Down" Behr (BMD) has joined my table. I don't believe he knows that this is my first "Suck Out!" match. He ends up seated immediately to my right. It may be beneficial to have a somewhat known quantity next to me as this match progresses.

Early on I'm dealt several quality hands - including 2/6/7, 3/5/8 and A/A/9 (Aces underneath). They all fail me misearbly. On the first hand I get a 3 on fourth and then three straight bricks. I nail an A on fourth and a 2 on fifth with the second hand (giving me 3/5/8/A/2). It fails to improve and I lose to a 5/7 low on seventh street. And, the Aces? They do not improve - no low, no other pairs and I drop the hand after 6th street. A good move as Homestar hit a full house and Janmike had trip 7s. I'm below 1000 chips after 11 hands.

I'm able to limp in on hand 16 with 5/3/3. My next two cards are 2 and 7 giving four to low (2/3/5/7) and a pair with two cards to come. However, the action gets heavy on 5th street. Mike (BMD) leads out with a bet after pairing his Qs and well on his way to a flush (3 diamonds showing). Thaifayta2gzz, showing 3/7/6/A two bets and Janmike who's still in the hand with 2/5/6/A showing calls. Mr. Mike (BMD) 3 bets. Now, I still have two cards to come but my 5/3/3/2/7 is looking bad to me. Mr. Mike (BMD) is pushing that high hand and either trip Qs or flush have my pair of 3s dominated. On the low end, I'm still drawing with a 2/3/5/7, but the other two players in the hand (Janmike and Thaifayta) are looking good. Janmike's up cards look better, but Thaifayta is raising like he's made a great low. I decide to drop the hand and I'm down to 478 chips. The last two streets are dealt and both Janmike and Thaifayta show 5/6 lows (Janmike's 2 plays for him for a better low) and BMD had the flush. I think it's a good laydown but I'm in very bad shape.

After 18 hands I'm now down to 448 chips. I've only gone to showdown once (and lost the hand). In fact, I haven't won a hand yet. I'm reminded of a RAZZ tournament I played a while back where I lost the first 32 or 34 hands before winning one. I then proceeded to lose the next 8 hands, won one more and then got knocked out on the hand after that. Ahh, yes. Winning two hand out of the 43 or 44 or so hands played. Great run of cards and a run that had me questioning if I'd ever play another RAZZ tournament. I think I have only played straight RAZZ only one time since then.

Hand 20 brings something new - a winning hand. I'm dealt A/2/5 (all clubs). I get a K on fourth and a 4 of clubs on 5th street. At this point, BMD is showing 2/6/8 with Homestar showing A/4/8 and a likely diamond draw. I slow it down and Homestar takes the lead in betting. BMD folds his hand. I nail the straight flush with the 3 of clubs on 6th street and get all in with Homestar. That's not all that hard since I only have 88 chips left at this point. Homestar has a low and the diamond flush, but my straight flush scoops the pot and I move up to 1486 in chips - just about starting stack.

We finally lose our first player on hand 31 and I'm in 5th of the remaining 7 players with about 1300 in chips.

Four hands later we have lost Janmike. I'm dealt 3/4/5 and complete the bet in a heads up match. Adler folds and I move my chip stack up to 1374. It's only the 4th hand I have won of the 36 played, but I think the tide is going to start to change for me. Indeed, by hand 42 I have moved up to 1649 in chips.

I'm able to knock Thaifayta2gzz out on hand 47. He's short stacked when I'm dealt 6/3/4. He also has a good low hand but we both miss lows and my two pair (6s and 2s) beat him. I'm now in 3rd place with 2184 in chips and our own Mike "BMD" Behr is leading the sit-n-go with 3757 chips. This is my first match ever being staked and I'm playing a little tighter than usual but things are starting to look up.

I score a few chips in hand 54 to bring me up to 2294 (still in 3rd of the 5 players remaining) but by hand 65 I'm back down to 1046 in chips and in 5th place. I'm still not going to count myself out. Stud8 is the type of game that you can scoop a pot and triple or quadruple up in a single hand. On the next hand (hand 66) I'm able to chop the pot and move up to about 1300 in chips. It's not a lot, but give me more confidence that this will end up fairly well. I'm a shortstack on chips, but my gut is telling me that I'll be able to back door my way into 3rd place for a smallish cash. I can take that for the first match. We lose Shyster within the next couple of hands and as we head into break I have 1600 in chips.

A few hands after break ends I'm dealt about the best hand you can get - A/2/3. I'm heads up against an 8 showing. I get a K to his T on fourth street. Fifth street gives me a 3 for A/2/3/K/3 - while my opponent receives a J (showing 8/T/J on the board). He's the table shortstack and moves all in. I call and he has....nothing. He's on a gut shot or runner/runner for a low and my 3s are ahead. Sixth and Seventh street do nothing for me while he hits his gut shot with a 9 on 7th street. I'm now down to 255 chips.

I'm able to score a chop and then on hand 76 I'm dealt 3/4/K. I decide to make a stand and move all in (not quite a complete bet). I'm heads up with Pokistry who is showing a "2". I'm hoping he has nothing and will fold but he's probably priced in to call me and try to knock me out. He does make the call (and has nothing) with 9/Q/2. The cards play out - neither of us get a low and he hits a pair of 6s to beat my K high. I'm knocked out in 4th place.

It's certainly a disappointment, especially with the horrendous run of early cards I had (the first 18 or so hands). I'm not sure what I'll go for next, but I don't think it'll be Stud H/L. I may go for an OH8, match of some sort, but we'll see. At this point all I know is that I'm going to need to buckle down now with only four matches left to play. For those "BMD" fans out there - he went out in third.

Unabomber Takes CPL Fall Session Week 1!

2009-09-12T10:31:00.003-05:00

Mike "Unabomber" Bowman survived the field of 15 during Week 1 of the CPL Fall Session to capture a huge point prize! A great start for Unabomber! The numerology of the evening was obvious (9-9-09). This played out all the way to the final hand as Unabomber's pocket Nines (The Murano) beat Mark "Verbal" Cardenas who had A-7. Even though Verbal took the lead on the flop when an Ace spiked...numerology would not be denied...and the 3rd 9 hit the River to give Unabomber the win.

It was definitely a great evening of poker as the CPL welcomed 6 new faces to the CPL family and CPL Headquarters was lively with the sound of the 80's and plenty of poker! Run time on the match was only 3 hours and 15 min...however with a late start and longer than expected breaks the final hand did not occur until 11pm. I believe we lasted the entire first 3 levels before anyone was escorted to the rail...but after the second break...folks started falling quickly and the chip leaders became more and more defined.

In the end two new CPL members made it into the CPL Points including Kenji who finished 3rd and Dave who finished 6th! Congrats to Kenji and Dave for a great first week finish!

It was a great evening for the CPL Directors as Mark "Verbal" Cardenas finished in 2nd place after going into 3 handed play with 1/2 the chips on the table, and "Karaoke" Phil Fuehrer finished in 4th place after taking a beating early in the night.

Mike "Blind Me Down" Behr pulled off his normal magic tricks and somehow made it to 5th place after blinding down all the way to 100 chips before making his way back.

Voni "The Rookie" Khang made her return to the CPL known as she finished in 7th to round out the CPL point winners.

CPL Quote of the Week:

"I'm dating Mike's girlfriend." --Dave's response when asked how he knew Mike Behr.

CPL Leaderboard (Unadjusted)

Podcast and Suckout!

2009-09-11T12:27:00.004-05:00

The newest podcast episode is undergoing the technical aspects of putting it together - look for it to be posted tonight or tomorrow (see the player on the left hand side). This show will have a Casino Review of: Casino Royale, Las Vegas. Also, review of the new CPL session, music from MN's "8 Year Weight" and the first audio installment of Suck Out! - including audio of the first of 5 matches.

Speaking of Suck Out! A Horse with No Name Recognition - the next text update (the results of the first match will be posted this weekend).

Suck Out! A Horse with No Name Recognition (Part IV)

2009-09-06T22:30:00.003-05:00

Suck Out! The CPL's own Docu-Series continues....Part One can be found here (Forward/Intro), part two here (Staking), and part three here (Backer's Perspective)...enjoy!

The Horse: Save a Cowboy, Ride this Horse
By Karaoke Phil

I've been called a donkey. Now, I'm a horse. Mark (my backer) and I have fantasized about the WSOP and tried to develop schemes to get there. Haven't we all? Many times I have talked about selling "pieces" of myself to raise the needed money to play (only half in jest). No one ever took me up on any such ideas. Til now.

"Really?" I think I actually said that out loud to myself during that CPL Monday Madness game. Mark told me to check my email because as he wrote in the table's chat box, "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised." Yeah, surprised is as good a word as any.

Okay, sure, Mark and I are friends. We go way back - to about the time of the transition from Carter to Reagan. For you younger readers those were Presidents last century. This stake is for $55. I know Mark would just give me the $55 if I really needed it. But, he didn't have to make this offer - let alone actually transfer the money over (within minutes) when I said "sure." Yes, I am surprised, but I am also honored. Mark likes to play cards himself, but he's entrusting this money to me.

I must, obviously, enter this with a plan. Foremost, I cannot let Mark down. I am taking this as a very serious business arrangement and I want to make good on my end of the bargain. As I do with many such things I'll have staged goals. First, I need to "break even". At the very least I don't want any "cake" weighing me down and giving me poker diabetes. Beyond that, of course, is the desire to earn some money.

FullTilt Poker offers plenty of games selection from which to choose. I will certainly play a Midnight Madness on the 4th or last tournament. It's a big field with a total guarantee of $15K and always ends up with about a $17K prize pool. If things don't go well that Midnight Madness shot will be the attempt to make things right (and, likely, the best shot at "big" money).

There are numerous No-Limit Hold 'em (NLHE) full and short table tournaments from which to choose. And, there are daily Stud H/L and HORSE tournaments that look quite appealing. Then there are the Sit-n-goes (SNGs): NLHE offers 1, 2, 3 and 5 table options - 9 handed of course. Finally, there are Matrix SNGs for HORSE, OH8 and Stud H/L that may not make much money for anyone, but are a good bet for not losing much. That's a conservative route I won't likely take.
Upon deeper reflection my one wish is that I had a little more flexibility, but my backer set the parameters at 5 - $11 tourneys or SNGs - my choice of which ones. It would have been nice, however, to poke around at the regular $8.80 tourneys where I have had some good success. There also seems to be more variety at the $5.50 level including 2 table HORSE SNGs which are a favorite of mine. I think Mark would certainly alter the terms but, I can work under these parameters. We have our marching orders and I have a plan. Let's shuffle up the cards and start the dealing.

.

Laboring Madness - Monday Madness back 9/7

2009-09-06T22:15:00.003-05:00

It's a Labor Day edition of Monday Madness!

9:30 pm ET (8:30 Central) - It's no-limit hold 'em.

Password is - CPL

See you on the felt.

Suck Out! A Horse with No Name Recognition (Part III)

2009-09-01T22:21:00.007-05:00

Suck Out! The CPL's own Docu-Series continues....Part One can be found here and part two here....

The Stake: A Backers Perspective

by Mark Cardenas

When I said the words "I want a piece of Phil!" it just sounded right. You know...the kinda sound that rolls off the tongue and warms your heart with the knowledge that you are doing something good in this world. It was that kinda sound. And I said it again, "I want a piece of Phil!" and I heard Karaoke's theme song in my head (Legend In His Own Mind...check it out on our podcast from 10-28-2007) and less than 15 min later with determination, with no second thoughts, like I had been given a prophecy....I had transferred him the money.

Ok, let me try to give you some perspective on where I'm coming from. I have been playing real poker (holdem) for about 3+ years, and I can tell ya that playing regularly online, at the casinos, and in a weekly poker league, it teaches you a thing or two (or ten) about your poker playing skills. And although I have improved dramatically from the first few months of playing...I have not improved nearly as much as Karaoke Phil.

This is partly due to the fact that Karaoke was sooooo bad when he started playing (yes...I said bad...and yes, this directly contradicts Karaoke's statement in the previous Docu-Series post that he was an 'ok' poker player when he started), but also due to the fact that Karaoke has honed his skills of reading players well beyond my current level. I've seen this guy make "Kid Poker" type reads over and over again when he is 'tuned in'. Then again, I've seen him completely talk himself out of a hand.

So why stake someone like Karaoke who is at this level and consistency?

There are many reasons that I am excited to Stake Karaoke Phil in his quest to become a Poker Pro. I've listed the main ones below:

Karaoke is simply a better player than I am. As such, I have a better chance of winning if Karaoke is playing with my money! It is a no brainer to me. Every day people give stock brokers money to do what they feel is right to make us money. I look at this similarly. I have trust that my poker money in Phil's hands will be managed well.
I have seen truly great poker playing of Karaoke, both live and online. I know that he is approaching a turning point in his early career and I am looking to help him turn that corner.
This is one of those fabulous 'win-win' scenarios...Karaoke gets to play without risk and I get to possibly earn some cash along the way.
Both Karaoke and I knew this would make a great blog....so if nothing else it is entertaining!
If this turns out incredibly well....'Mr. Karaoke Phil' may make his best friend, who supported him through the early days, his own personal Poker Manager.

But until Karaoke hits it big...I am holding the purse strings and calling the shots...and trust me...I want some tangible results or I am hitting the road.

I am confident that my backing of Karaoke Phil is a good move and a smart investment. On a personal note, I think it is exactly the type of activity that Phil needs to get over the 'hump' and make a run at something big!

I am excited to be the "Backer", the "Cash", the "Money Clip", or whatever else you would like to call it. I am also excited for Phil to participate in this opportunity!

Good Luck Karaoke Phil! I've got a piece of you! And you've got Irons in the Fire! Now bring back the goods!

Mark

Updates: Monday Madness and Suck Out!

2009-09-01T12:01:00.003-05:00

First - apologies to our fandom. Life doesn't stop and we can't (yet) make the CPL our full-time gig.

Update #1 - MONDAY MADNESS - is NOT dead. We put in requests every four weeks and blew getting it in last week. Hence, no game this past Monday. We have already received word and here's the schedule for the next several weeks:

(09-07-09) - NLHE - Tournament #105983111
(09-14-09) - HOE - Tournament #105983753
(09-21-09) - NLHE - Tournament #105983793
(09-28-09) - PL HA - Tournament #105983863

So, we'll be back in action and hope to see you there - as always, the password is " CPL ".

Update #2 - "Suck Out! A Horse with No Name Recognition". Our docu-blog series continues shortly. Mark (the Backer) will soon have his post: The Stake (A Backer's Perspective).

That will be followed shortly by Phil's post: The Horse (A Player's Perspective) and additional posts in the series. We hope you enjoy it.

Full Tilt New Promotion--Take 2

2009-08-30T19:18:00.002-05:00

Hello All,

Take a look at the new Full Tilt Promo....sign up today...it starts on Tuesday 9-1-09!

You have to earn 1 full tilt point on each table in order for the 'day' to qualify.

___________________________________________________

Take 2 - Earn up to $50 and Double Points

Earn up to $50 cash AND double the number of Full Tilt Points you’d normally receive, duringTake 2.

Take 2 runs from Tuesday, September 1st to Wednesday, September 30th. By playing at least two ring-game tables at the same time during Take 2, you’ll earn double Full Tilt Points on both tables. Play as often as you can during September and you’ll be rewarded with cash, up to $50, depending on the number of days you play.

Get up to $50 in Cash

The more you play during Take 2, the more cash you can earn. Reach four different levels depending on the number of days that you play and you can earn up to $50:

Level 1: Play for 5 days and receive $5
Level 2: Play for 10 days to get $10, for a cumulative total of $15
Level 3: Play for 15 days and take home another $10, a cumulative total of $25
Level 4: Play for 25 days and you’ll earn an additional $25, for a cumulative total of $50

Earn Double Points on Both Tables

When you play two tables on Full Tilt Poker, you get twice the points. During Take 2, we’ll give you a lot more: when you play on two ring-game tables at the same time, we’ll double the number of points you’d normally receive on BOTH tables.

For example, if you earn 60 points at one table and 40 at another, ordinarily you would get 100 points. However, during Take 2, you’ll get 200 points instead of 100. That’s 100 points for your play and 100 bonus points.

You can use your bonus points in the Full Tilt Poker Store to get plasma TVs, iPods, custom Full Tilt Poker jerseys and more, or to enter special Full Tilt Points Sit & Gos and Multi-Table Tournaments.

Register to Participate in Take 2

Follow these steps to claim your cash and double points during Take 2:

Log in to Full Tilt Poker
Click on the Cashier button
Select the My Promotions box
Click on the Take 2 box
Follow the instructions on the Take 2 My Promotions page – you must elect to participate in this promotion or you will not receive cash or double points for your play during Take 2
Return to the game lobby and play at two ring-game tables simultaneously to start earning cash and double Full Tilt Points at each table

Malinda Wins 2009 Summer Tournament of Champions!

2009-08-23T08:16:00.008-05:00

In a 5 hour 37 minute long match that saw chips flying back and forth between the 9 Tournament of Champions players...it was Malinda "Nemesis" Cardenas who was the only one with chips left on the felt at the end of this 2009 Summer TOC!

This is Malinda's fourth TOC Ticket win however, her first TOC Championship. Congratulations Nemesis!

It was a strange TOC which had for the first time not one....but two forfeits including the session point leader ("Matusow" and "Chaser"). These adjustments took out over 14,000 chips off of the table and reduced the TOC from 2 tables down to 1.

The TOC blind levels are set at 30 minutes and start at a low low 10/20 which as the lowest chips stack over 200 times the big blind to start the match. So there was plenty of early back and forth as players were testing the waters....and some matchups took shape including Bud "Monster" vs Mike "Blind Me Down" and "Karaoke" Phil vs Greg "NewLife". The forfeit of "Matusow" placed Mark "Verbal" in the number one chip spot at the start of the TOC, however he was closely followed by several CPL Members.

After the first set of blinds were over and we entered the first break, all 9 members were remaining and "Nemesis", "Karaoke", and "NewLife" had begun collecting chips to take early leads.

3 hours into the match and the first casualty appeared to be Bud "Monster" as he was the short stack entering into the TOC and was all in vs "Blind Me Down", and pushed all in with AJ on a board of 8-5-3 and got a caller in "Blind Me Down" who was holding 5-3 for two pair. However, that shrank up fast as another 8 on the turn conterfeited "Blind Me Down's" pair and the J on the river gave "Monster" the pot and doubled him up to keep him in the match!

This was a critical hand as "Monster" next tangled with Bill "Comeback Kid" and again got won the pot, and the TOC saw the first player knocked out as "Comeback" went out in 9th place. Suddenly, "Monster" was in great shape with a mound of chips in front of him.

Out in 8th was Wanda "Wicked1". "Wicked1" had seen a gradual decline in her chip stack throughout the match and really didn't get anything going during this TOC.

Out in 7th was Mark "Verbal". "Verbal" went up against "Karaoke" with Big Slick on a Q high board to get snap called by "Karaoke" holding AQ. No K for "Verbal" on the Turn or River and "Verbal" exists the TOC early (is this the return of the second seed curse that Mark broke in 2008?).

We were then on the money bubble with 6 players remaining....both "Blind Me Down" and Scott "Hollywood" were the short stacks and were eyeing each other hand after hand to see who would go down first.

They both held on round after round however the blinds would eventually require one of them to push and "Hollywood" would be the one to blink as he went out in 6th place tangling against "NewLife".

Then another big change in the chips happened as "Monster" went out in 5th after seeing his massive chip stack wander away to "Nemesis", "NewLife", and "Karaoke" hand after hand after hand...with the last of it going to "NewLife". A great match for "Monster" who finished 6 spots above his seeding!!

With four players remaining....we entered the ticket bubble.

"NewLife" had about 22K and "Nemesis" had about 20K. "Karaoke" was left with only 9K, and "Blind Me Down" was severely short stacked with less than 3K. Blinds entered the 500/1000 level and the fireworks began.

"Blind Me Down" was blinded down into 4th place...finally relinquishing his chips to "Karaoke"....in a very long drawn out decision by "Karaoke" after "Blind Me Down" channelled Jamie Gold, advising "Karaoke" to call and even showed "Karaoke" his A before "Karaoke's" decision was made. "Karaoke" went into the tank....and followed his guts to call with middle connectors against "Blind Me Down's" small A. After an 8 hit the turn to pair up "Karaoke". "Blind Me Down" needed a Greestein to continue his TOC...which didn't happen and "Blind Me Down" exited in 4th on the ticket bubble.

The 3 Tournament ticket winners were decided....now the TOC crown was in sight....

Only a few hands into the 3 handed match, "NewLife" bet up to 3000 with an A , "Nemesis" re-raised to 6000 with KQ, and "NewLife" called. With a Q high flop, "Nemesis" bet 4500 which prompted an All In by "NewLife" and "Nemesis" went into the tank...."Nemesis" barely had "NewLife" covered...and called staring at the fortune in the pot. "NewLife" would not hit his Ace on the Turn or River and went out in 3rd place.

"Nemesis" now had a massive chip stack at this point and went up against "Karaoke" in heads up play.

And again....only a few hands into heads up play...On a flop of A-Q-10..."Karaoke" shoved with his A-3 only to get snap called by "Nemesis" who had flopped a straight as she held the K-J. A blank on the turn ended it in second place for "Karaoke" and "Nemesis" claimed the TOC crown.

Congratulations to the 2009 Summer Session Tournament Ticket winners Nemesis, Karaoke, and NewLife! Stay tuned for reports on how they do at the Running Aces Midwest Fall Classic as they use their TOC tickets to go for the cash at Running Aces at the end of Sept...

CPL Quote of the Week:

"So is Box the Clown performing at your daughter's party?"--"Karaoke" to "Comeback Kid"

2009 Summer TOC Results

1-Malinda "Nemesis" Cardenas--Ticket Winner

2-"Karaoke" Phil Fuehrer--Ticket Winner

3-Greg "NewLife" Durand--Ticket Winner

4-Mike "Blind Me Down" Behr

5-Bud "Monster" Abbott

6-Scott "Hollywood" Bauer

7-Mark "Verbal" Cardenas

8-Wanda "Wicked1" Bublitz

9-Bill "Comeback Kid" Lanoux

10-Jeff "Matusow" Matson--by forfeit

11-Steve "Chaser" Bennewitz--by forfeit

Karaoke Phil Stages Comeback in CPL Week 11

2009-08-22T12:17:00.004-05:00

Karaoke Phil topped the CPL field of 9 during Week 11...but it sure didn't look like he would after losing over 2/3rds of his chips early in the night and stopping out of the room (Phil Hellmuth sytle).

But he staged a dramatic comeback to take down the week and move him into the 5th seed for today's TOC!

Congrats Phil!

CPL Honorable Mention to Bud "Monster" Abbott for 'backing' into the TOC....nice!

Congrats to all that have made it to this Sessions TOC! Good Luck to All!

CPL Final Leaderboard

Week 11 points Awarded

Free Poker Network / CPL kudos

2009-08-20T13:51:00.005-05:00

Kudos to "Comeback Kid" Bill Lanoux. It looks like he took down session 2 (second 8-week half of the season) at Erik's Bar in the FreePokerNetwork League (FPN). That allows him to skip regions and go straight to the state tourney where several seats to Vegas (where the championship tourney will give away several seats to the Heartland Poker Tour's season opening tourney at the Red Rock Casino) will be handed out. Wanda "Wicked1" Bublitz looks to have squeaked into the regional tourney where she'll play along side Karaoke Phil who took 4th in session 1 (top 6 qualified to regions), but slipped in session 2 to 10th/11th.

And, speaking of Karaoke Phil, regions may be moot. He was finally able to use his online token in a 10 player SNG satellite for an online seat to the Vegas give away this Sunday. Except for a 10 - 15 hand lull in the middle of the tourney Karaoke dominated the field (60% of the chips with 4 players left and 88% of the chips with 3 players remaining). There were 38 runners signed up for the Sunday tourney and Karaoke thinks it will be about 50 total come tourney time. The winner will get a Vegas seat at the Nationals Championship with 2nd place receiving an Ipod Nano.

Nice job CPLers.

Also, look for our docu-series "Suck Out!" to continue this weekend!!!

Monday Madness and Site Numbers

2009-08-17T13:33:00.005-05:00

Formalities first - tonight's Monday Madness password is: CPL (surprised??).

A good chance we'll also be doing the podcast which means live commentary if you get in and play.

Now, on to our monthly site traffic. It as a long time coming (and not quite a record) but we broke 400 visits from July 16 to August 15 (our standard tracking timeframe) clocking in with 428. We had 394 during the shortened time period of Feb to March but the record still stands at 436 (Oct to Nov, 2008).

While we just missed the record (this time) we have a lot more to be happy about. We think our content is better and the number seem to bear it out. This month's visits came from 99 cities in 22 countries - both better than the 67 cities/14 countries from the record month.

Circle Pines, MN moves back into the top 5 cities (up from 8th) and Fargo is the location for the most non-Minnesota visits (tied for 8th). With our new Suck Out! series and other additions - let's break that record.

Staking, part two of "Suck Out! - A Horse with No Name Recognition"

2009-08-12T12:16:00.007-05:00

Editor's Note: This is the second post in our "Suck Out!" serial. You can read the first posting here.

Staking

This serial is about staking and our real life encounter with it. Before we get too far into the series we should be sure that we are all on the same page as there are a few terms and concepts you should know.

Poker is divided into tournaments and cash games. Tournaments play down to a winner (or until a “deal” is reached) while a cash game is simply ongoing play where you sit down to play and then leave as you wish – while the game continues (or breaks up if it’s 3 am and your wife is screaming at you to shut the hell up so she can get some sleep). Usually, at lower stakes anyway, players pay their own way. If it’s a $125 tournament at a casino or sitting down at a home cash game with $40 the player digs into his pocket uses his own cash.

Sometimes players are “staked”. This is certainly more common for pricier cash games or tournaments, but with online poker it can be for any amount or money level. Staking means that someone else is putting up the money being used. Stu Ungar’s third WSOP Main Event (ME) win in 1997 is, perhaps, the greatest story about staking.

For years Ungar had abused cocaine and led a self-destructive lifestyle. The 1980 and 1981 back-to-back ME winner had reportedly gone from broke to millionaire to broke 3 or 4 times. His poor decision-making in his life meant that he had barely played in the WSOP since 1991. But then April 1997 rolled around. Stu wanted to play again, redeem himself. His bankroll had other plans. Stu was broke. Billy Baxter, a close friend of Ungar’s, offered to stake him in the Main Event and Ungar was able to register minutes before start time, the last player to register for the tournament. Stu went on to win his third WSOP ME Title.

So, in staking, you have someone who provides money, or invests, in a player. The one with the money is called a backer. The player, or the one being staked, is typically called a “horse”. The backer and horse come to agreement on the terms of a staking including money splits, playing requirements and any other conditions.

Staking is often a losing proposition in the short term in tournament play. A horse may go several tournaments without cashing. As a result, many stakings include a “make-up” or “cake” clause. Simply put, a make-up clause means that if a horse loses an initial stake – say a $1500 WSOP tourney buy in that the player busts out of before cashing – then the player will need to make up that $1500 the next time the backer stakes him. For our example, say the backer decides to stake the player for a second $1500 tourney. This time the player cashes in the amount of $5500. Rather than splitting the $4000 profit from this tournament the player needs to “make up” the previously lost $1500 due to the cake clause they had in place. That means the actual split is on only $2500 after the player makes up for the other $1500 he lost.

For “Suck Out!” the total stake is $55 to be used in 5 - $11 tournaments. The tournaments may be multi-tables or sit-n-goes: horse’s choice.

Editor's Note: Look for regular postings (every few days) as we work through the stake - next post: "The Stake (A Backer's Perspective)". We'd love to hear your comments and thoughts as well.

Blind Me Down Wins Week 10!

2009-08-11T21:20:00.005-05:00

In a dramatic, never ending CPL Week 10, Mike Blind Me Down Behr topped the field of 12 to take the number one spot and which vaulted Blind Me Down to 4th place and guarantees him a spot in the coveted CPL Tournament of Champions!

Playing 6 handed for quite a while set an odd pace to the game and did not set well for both CPL directors as Verbal exited in 12th and Karaoke in 11th. However during this 6 handed play the CPL witnessed another Straight Flush! Congrats to Greg NewLife Durand for pulling off this feat!

And as rare as a Straight Flush....Blind Me Down found himself heads up against Bill Comeback Kid Lanoux! During this re-match however Blind Me Down got the best of the flops and the cards and took care of business to take down the CPL Week 10!

Congrats Mike on a great win and for clinching your seat at the TOC!

Others who clinched TOC seats during week 10--Congrats!

Wicked1

Nemesis

Karaoke Phil

Chaser

Hollywood

Thanks Also to Pam and Steve for hosting during Week 10!

Only one week left and only one seat remains open for the TOC.

Which of the 3 remaining CPL members will make it to the TOC?

CPL Week 10 Leaderboard

Points Awarded During Week 10

CPL presents: "Suck Out! – A Horse with no Name Recognition"

2009-08-09T00:40:00.002-05:00

Forward

This serial will consist of published installments in the vein of George Plimpton's "Paper Lion". We will be covering poker in the first person as an amateur effectively being paid to compete. For our purposes, and since we're not independently wealthy, we are starting with a backing offer of $55. Karaoke Phil will do most of the writing of his experiences with observations from "Verbal" Mark Cardenas sprinkled in. We hope you enjoy and welcome any comments and feedback.

Introduction

It all started with a simple series of emails:
--------------------

Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 12:30 PM
Subject: Poker round # 2. Saturday Jan 8th 6:00pm
Happy New Year Everyone!
Now that the bustle of the Holiday season is over it’s time to do some gambling!!
Poker Round 2
When: Saturday January 8th 6:00pm.
Game: Texas Hold’em. Last person standing takes all.
Buy in: $25.00 per person gets you $1000 in chips.
Please RSVP and let me know if you need more specific instructions!
Mark

--------------------

Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 2:01 PM
Subject: Re: FW: Poker round # 2. Saturday Jan 8th 6:00pm
cough, cough..
Um...hello? Are you available on Saturday? I haven’t heard from you?
Mark

--------------------

Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 2:03 PM
Subject: Re: FW: Poker round # 2. Saturday Jan 8th 6:00pm
I will come - this time for sure. I'll need to review the Texas Hold 'em rules though. I've never really played it (that I can recall) just seen it on ESPN a couple/three times. Beginner's luck??
Phil

---------------------

So began my love affair with poker. Sure, I had played dealer's choice home games - red dog, baseball, "in between" and the like. But, those games just aren't Omaha 8 Hi/Lo, Stud 8 Hi/Lo, HORSE or the "Cadillac" of poker games - Texas Hold 'em, no-limit of course. Until 2005 I never really played the "real" games of poker. I certainly had not even attempted to study the game. All of that changed on that cold Minnesota day in January when I finally, truly played the game. I was hooked.

Television coverage of the WPT, WSOP, US Poker Championship and even shows like Celebrity Poker Showdown fueled my aspirations and dreams. Poker, they say, is the one sport where an amateur can sit down against a grizzled veteran pro and have a decent shot at winning. And, victories can bring millions of dollars. I found out that I wasn't god-awful bad. I could compete. I lost money for a while, but not huge amounts and not in a matter of days. At first, it would slowly drain away and I would need to make another deposit or have someone transfer me some additional funds every couple of months.

I read, studied, contemplated, discussed and improved. No, I haven't had the meteoric rise that some internet young guns have had. I didn't go pro within two months of sitting down at a computer terminal. But, then again, that's not my style. I am, now, though, what I call a "slow profit" player. I am not getting rich (yet). In fact, I tend to float up and down within a narrow zone range. But, I haven't needed to deposit any funds (indeed, I have even transferred a little to others) in over a year. The bankroll holds steady and occassionally slowly builds. You will see me on the virtual felt - a lot. All in all, the progress has been huge and I anticipate it will continue.

Editor's Note - Look for further entries as "Suck Out! - A Horse with no Name Recognition" unfolds

Suck Out - A Horse with no Name Recognition

2009-08-07T17:00:00.002-05:00

We've tweeted about this (July 13 and 25th) and did a little promo/preview on the podcast (July 25th episode) and are ready to begin the chronicling.

Titled: "Suck Out - A Horse with no Name Recognition", Karaoke Phil will be staked by Verbal Cardenas in a series of poker tournaments.

In the vein of George Plimpton's "Paper Lion" (and other endeavors), we'll blog (and incorporate into the Podcast and on Twitter) this series as it unfolds, likely posting a blog entry every third or so day over several weeks. Look for the first entry this weekend sometime.

We'd be happy to have any feedback or comments!

Your CPL Poker Blog/Podcast Directors.

New Podcast Out

2009-08-04T17:32:00.001-05:00

Take a listen - click the player on the left pane or go here (GCast host)

Enjoy - let us know what you think.

BREAKING NEWS - FullTilt update adds Tournament Deals, Filtering, Biggest Bonus Ever and more!

2009-07-30T11:37:00.003-05:00

FullTilt announced (see press release here) that their latest software update includes major changes and improvements.

If you've been a FullTilt player and had an Full Tilt Point prior to July 28 you'll be eligible to try for some available bonus money - click on your cashier icon and promotions to learn more.

But, all players will now see filtering options, lobby display options and, what we're most excited about - a Tournament Deal option once the final table is reached in tournaments. This could be really fun....and the all the new options and filtering look great.

Good job FullTilt.

Best Damn ME Players in the 2000s - Redux

2009-07-28T18:51:00.003-05:00

Okay, we have our November Nine all set and know how everyone else finished in this year's WSOP Main Event. We thought it appropriate to quickly revisit our list of the best ME players in this decade and make any necessary adjustments. The original series of posts can be found here ,(part III, but links to II and I listed in this post), and here ,(final part).

Some revisions are needed - not least of all due to our #7 player - Phil Ivey - now a member of the November 9. But, many other players used 2009 to improve their stock and claim as a top WSOP ME player in the 2000s.

Swede Niklas Flisberg used his 357th place showing this year to stand as his third cash in the 2000s going along with his 65th in 2005 and 25th place showings in 2006. It's not enough to break the Top 10, but nice. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson nabs his third cash this decade, but 561st isn't yet enough. Perhaps most controversial will be the non-inclusion of Peter Eastgate. The 2008 winner finished in 78th this year, but we pick one of his final table mates from last year over Eastgate for the top 10.

Moving off our list are Daniel Alaei and Allen Cunningham. They were 10th and 9th respectively and failing to cash this year dropped them both down.

Dropping from 8th to 10th is Scotty Nguyen. Still a formidable force.

Breaking in at 9th is 2008's 3rd Place finisher - Dennis Phillips. Dennis followed up that run with a 45th place finish this year. We think 3rd, 45th, and an American baseball fan beats out the 1st, 78th finishes and freaky-deaky Danish accent of Eastgate.

Australian and 2005 ME winner Joe Hachem scores a 103rd place finish this year, his third cash. That's enough to put him on our list, with a bullet, in 8th.

Greg Raymer drops a spot to 7th.

Lee Watkinson drops two spots to 6th as does our lowest-seeded 4-time casher Julian Garnder who now comes in at 5th. None of these three cashed this year.

We move Phil Ivey up 3 spots to number 4 - regardless of how he finishes in November. Though we're behind him all the way.

We move the Poker Brat - Phil Hellmuth up two spots to number 3. Hellmuth cashed this year coming in at 436th. It's not a fantastic finish, but we think it's just enough to keep Phil H. ahead of Phil I.

Finally, in anti-climatic fashion Dan Harrington and Mike Matusow remain number 2 and 1 respectively. Harrington may have dropped to number 4, but like Hellmuth, Harrington's 252nd place finish/cash this year is just enough to keep him in second. And, "The Mouth" failed to cash, but for this year he didn't need to do so to stay at the top of our list.

Let us know your thoughts - we'd love to hear from you.

Matson Wins Back to Back CPL Weeks Along With Third Victory During CPL Week 9

2009-07-28T17:00:00.000-05:00

Jeff "Matusow" Matson scored his second win in a row during CPL Wine Night in Week 9 against a field of 12 CPL members! Back to back victories has not been seen in the CPL since the Summer of 2008 by Nemesis.

For Jeff, this is also his third win of the CPL 2009 Summer Session, which puts him in company with only 3 other CPL members who have accomplished 3 wins in one session.

And in a feat not seen before in CPL history, Jeff "Matusow" Matson is the first member to score 3 wins in a session more than once.

Congrats Jeff on a record setting victory!

Matusow is definately playing well these days! Last weeks performance was very Jeff-like...picking his spots and being aggressive. Getting down in chips and making his move as the final table was set. There was a moment where there were 9 members remaining and Matusow was short stacked and went all in. It is this 'live or die' type of play that continues to make Jeff one of the most dangerous players in the CPL.

However, it was not a walk in the park for Jeff "Matusow" Matson this week once he survived his early final table all in....chips were flying around the table like crazy as many members were working towards the points in preparation for the upcoming TOC. Wanda "Wicked1" Bublitz was in a mood to not only take out players...she wanted to take out two players at a time...and she completed this task twice during the evening. This provided her a major stack that the remaining players had to contend with. Wicked1 finished a very respectable 3rd, which gives Wanda a first, second, and third place finish in the last 3 CPL weeks she has played in. Heads up would be Malinda "Nemesis" Cardenas (yes, she took Verbal out of the match again this week) versus Matusow. This was going to be an interesting heads up as Jeff's general aggressive play was up against Malinda's equally aggressive heads up play....in addition it was getting late...and did I mention it was Wine night! As expected, the heads up did not take long and Malinda shoved her chips in with a flush draw which did not pan out. A great finish for Malinda and a great win for Matusow!

CPL Honorable Mention goes to Bill "Comeback Kid" Lanoux for clinching yet another seat at the TOC!

CPL Leaderboard Week 9

Points Awarded During CPL Week 9

CPL Monday Madness - July 27 - Tribute to Farming?

2009-07-27T17:31:00.001-05:00

It's agricultural night at the CPL tonight. Our CPL/WSPL Monday Madness game will be:

HOE

Password: CPL

See you all there - 8:30 pm central

CPL Podcast Phone Lines Open Today At Noon Central!

2009-07-25T07:59:00.001-05:00

The CPL directors will be recording the ever popular CPL Podcast this afternoon!

The NEW CPL phone line will be open for you to call into today from Noon to 2pm central today.

Call in and become a part of the CPL Podcast!

CPL Podcast Conference Line (712-432-0080 ID 474548)

--
CPL Director's Mark Cardenas and Phil Fuehrer
Follow us on Twitter: CPLPokerPodcast
Check out our Blog at cplpoker.blogspot.com
Listen to our Podcast on ITunes: CPLDirectors Podcast

McDonalds is Soylent Green

2009-07-22T16:40:00.004-05:00

This news is making it's way around http://tinyurl.com/mm7y8t

You might want to go to BK for a while - maybe.

And, for those who don't know what Soylent Green is:

Now you know, Hatcher!!