Showing posts with label Karaoke Phil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Karaoke Phil. Show all posts

Thursday, November 5, 2009

FullTilt Makes the World Right Again

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.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Karaoke Phil Wins CPL Week 7!


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





Sunday, August 23, 2009

Malinda Wins 2009 Summer Tournament of Champions!

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




Saturday, July 18, 2009

Matson Wins During CPL Week 8!

We are going to call this the CPL Summer of Suck Outs....as the suck outs were rampant again and again on Wednesday!
In the end, one was left standing and that one was Jeff "Matusow" Matson who amassed a Jamie Gold stack in the middle of the match and just wouldn't let it go!
Congrats to Jeff for a great win that guarantees him a seat at this sessions coveted CPL Tournament of Champions!

In heads up play (and the top 3 for the second week in a row) was Steve "The Chaser" Bennewitz. The Chaser was looking to put the Big Hurt on Matusow in heads up play as he looked down at Pocket Aces and decided to slow play them as the board revealed Q-5-3-J-2. Matusow took the bait as he shoved his Gold Stack into the middle after the river card. Chaser showed his AA and Matusow flipped over the dreaded J-2 to make two pair and win the match which simply left The Chaser stunned. You gotta love Hold Em!

Congrats also to Nemesis, The Monster, and Black Widow for all making the points.

CPL Honorable Mention goes to NewLife and Verbal for securing a seat at this Sessions TOC!

CPL Quote of the Week:
"I'm building a wall....like Hadrian's Wall against the Scots."--Karaoke Phil as he stacked his chips.

Check out more about Hadrian's wall here....

CPL Leaderboard Week 8
















CPL Points Awarded During Week 8

Monday, May 4, 2009

Karaoke Phil "schools" Poker Pro David Bradley

Seen here - our own Karaoke Phil pushes "very talented Limit Hold ‘em player" and FullTilt poker pro David Bradley off his hand on the semi-bluff in this $3.30 HOSE tournament. Click on the picture to make it larger:

Karaoke finished just outside the money on this one, but bested Bradley again, finishing 18th out of 132 players to David's bust out in 27th.

Karaoke continues his self-exploration in the wake of putting in, arguably, the worst-ever CPL session.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

CPL Directors record first "Double Cash" in Monday Madness

It was bound to happen and happened on week 3.

We're talking, of course, about "double cashing" in Monday's "CPL Monday Madness!". Each Monday at 8:30 pm central time we (along with the WSPL) host two private games on FullTilt (password is always CPL, so come join us) - one No-Limit Holdem and one HORSE.

From the get go, talk had circulated about who would be the first to "double cash" - cashing in both of an evening's games. As mentioned - it happened this past Monday when BOTH CPL Directors - Mark "Verbal" Cardenas and Karaoke Phil double cashed.

Holdem saw 13 players sign up with Verbal nailing 3rd place and Karaoke riding his 355 chips at the start of the final table to a 2nd place finish - kudos to ShortBusJo from the WSPL who took down the win.

HORSE - for the erudite players among us - had a more select group of 8 players. Verbal again took 3rd, with Karaoke taking down the win.

The next milestone will have to be the "double win".

Monday, March 23, 2009

BREAKING NEWS - Erik Seidel 'bout broke, working the grill up soon

Karaoke Phil sat down at the $8/$16 Stud8 tables tonight and saw the following exchange* take place before he took a seat:

KidCardfish inquired of Erik Seidel: "r you playing this limit to get practice in"

To which poker pro Seidel responded: "well this is it, if i don't win tonight I'm off to work at KFC"

Likely, Erik was kidding, but......

** Update 3/31 - Here's the screen shot:As an aside: Karaoke played about 20 hands at the table with Eirk (after 7 or 8 hands Karina Jett also joined the table) and Seidel was up a little more than $100 during that time.

Monday, March 9, 2009

CPL Members Taking it to the Online Poker Community

Several solid finishes have propelled the CPL Directors and the CPL's most prolific online player up in the online poker rankings.

Karaoke Phil who ended 2008 in the 97th percentile range struggled in the new year and saw his Official Poker Rankings (OPR) drop to the low 80% mark. A couple of solid HORSE final tables in the last week (3 of 160 and 3 of 169) have him back to nipping at 90% (89.27% to be exact).

Our other CPL Director - Mark "Verbal" Cardenas,put in a very solid 88th place finish out of 1058 a couple days back in a holdem tourney. That along with his win from last month has propelled his OPR to 93.16%.

Next up is our (currently) hottest, and certainly the most prolific, online player in the CPL: Blind Me Down Behr. BMD consistently places well in tournaments but the real deep finishes were a little harder to come by. As a result his OPR tended to suffer (deep finishes in deep fields are richly rewarded - as are final tables). That all changed this week. First, BMD double cashed in the FullTilt Daily Double with finishes of 71 of 1035 and 120 of 1098. He followed that up the next day with another shot at the Daily Double - going about mid-field in one but final tabling the other (5 of 1135). All that deep play skyrocketed BMD to 94.67%.

As an aside - we took a look at WSPL director's - Gene "Ninja" Milne - stats. And, they were not too shabby. The showing from the hinterlands shows him (get this) - exactly tied with Karaoke at 89.27%.

Good results all around - keep it up boys.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Biggest Upset Since Tyson/Douglas

February 11, 1990 - The 42-1 underdog Buster Douglas with his 29-4-1 with 19 KOs record squares off in the far east (Tokyo) against 37-0 (33 KOs) World Champ Mike Tyson for a title bout. Douglas floors Tyson in the 10th round to take become the undisputed heavyweight champ.

Nearly two decades later (Jan. 24, 2009) - in the nearer east town of Independence, Minnesota - the West Side Poker League (WSPL) came of age in defeating their sensei league, the CPL. Gene "Ninja" Milne gathered his forces for the showdown between these two behemoths. The inter-league competition, comprised of a No Limit Hold 'em match and a HORSE match, would consist of 200 pts (100 pts for each match) with progressively more pts awarded for the higher up a player finished (30 pts to the team who won a match). The league with the most points would be crowned champion.

The WSPL - or, more specifically, JP "The Eliminator" - struck early and often taking out 3 of the 5 CPL players in Hold 'em. This meant that the CPL's two remaining players (Voni and Steve) would need to finish 1st and 3rd to even have a chance at calling this half of the match "a draw". Though Steve busted out in third, the draw didn't materialize as Voni went out in 6th. "The Eliminator", somewhat slowed by Jill "JJ Gold" (who managed to eliminate three of the 10 players), was able to score his 5th elimination when he took out Jill to win the match. This gave the WSPL a 76-24 edge (The WSPL took the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th place positions).

At the HORSE table, about this time, Brad had taken a hit for the WSPL in 8th while CPL Co-Director Mark "Verbal" Cardenas fell in 7th. The CPL held an early 2.5 to 0 pt lead. And, while the math hadn't yet been done - the match was over. When the CPL's Mike "Blind Me Down" Behr busted in 6th everyone knew that all was lost. Pam "Black Widow" Muldoon and Karaoke Phil, though, battled on valiantly and eventually Phil scored his third elimination when he took down "Ninja" Milne for the HORSE victory (and a 50pt to 50 pt HORSE table tie).

In the end, the WSPL gave the CPL its comeuppance with a 126-74 win. If we're physically able there may be some additional posts (with, perhaps a picture or two). For now, just be sure to listen to this week's upcoming podcast.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Home Poker League Tip and CPL Record Books

If you’re going to run a home poker league over a course of time – someone will be interested in knowing who holds various records. You should, then, find some way to keep track of these records if for no other reason than to trot out the fact that you win 85% of the time when you’ve won the first hand of the week (or whatever esoteric stat works for you). Look for a future post to discuss league management software and website – some of which allow for such stat keeping. For now, however, here are some records and all-time leaders from the CPL (which we use an Exel spreadsheet to keep track of).

The CPL has finished up two complete seasons (6 sessions total – Spring, Summer and Fall sessions make up a season with each session consisting of, usually, 11 weeks), which, in total make up 77 matches that have been played. And, while there have been tweaks from time to time this is still largely comparing apples to apples (since we’re in charge we’re saying it is exactly like comparing apples to apples). So, here’s a look back at the first two CPL seasons and the CPL record books.

Most Points in a Session
Karaoke Phil – 128.8 (Summer, Season I)
JP “The Eliminator” – 120.8 (Spring, Season II)
Mike “Blind Me Down” – 113.8 (Fall, Season I)

Most Regular Sessions (11-weeks) Won
Karaoke Phil – Summer, Season I and the recently concluded Fall, Season II (95.4 pts)
Mark “Verbal” Cardenas, Blind Me Down Behr, Jeff “Matusow” Matson, and JP “The Elimator” have each won one session.

Most “Career” Points
Karaoke Phil – 506.9
Mark “Verbal” Cardenas – 476.5
Malinda “Nemesis” Cardenas – 422.85
Mike “Blind Me Down” Behr – 401.9
Bill “Comeback Kid” Lanoux – 366.2

The following records are based on a minimum of 16 matches played within the CPL:

Most Matches Played
Mark “Verbal” Cardenas – 74
Karaoke Phil - 72
Malinda “Nemesis” Cardenas - 70

Career Wins
Karaoke Phil - 11
Mark “Verbal” Cardenas and Malinda “Nemesis” Cardenas tied with – 9
4 players tied at 5 wins each

Times in the Points (top half finishes)
Mark “Verbal” – 43
Malinda “Nemesis” – 39
Karaoke Phil – 36

Percentage of Time Winning
Karaoke Phil – 15.28% (11 of 72 matches)
Malinda “Nemesis” 12.86% (9 wins in 70 matches)
Mark “Verbal” – 12.16% (9 of 74)
Vince “Cursed One” Castellanos – 11.76% (2 of 17 matches)
Jeff “Matusow” Matson – 11.63% (5 of 43)

NOTE: In seeking to confirm whether a Mike “BMD” win is either a “rare” or “100-year” event we have ascertained that prior to his Season III, Week I win Mike had pulled off the feat 3 other times in 49 matches. That 6.12% winning percentage puts him in 13th place of 14 qualifying CPL players (minimum of 16 matches). However, take a look at who leads the next CPL record.

Percentage of the Time in Points
Mike “Blind Me Down” – 65.31% (32 times in 49 matches)
Jeff “Urkelnator” Kuhlman – 61.54 % (24 of 39)
Mark “Verbal” – 58.11% (43 of 74)
Malinda “Nemesis” – 55.71% (39 of 70)
Steve “The Chaser” Bennewitz – 54.76% (23 of 42)

Honorable Mention goes to JP “The Eliminator”, Gene “Ninja” Milne, "Whatever happened to" Damon and Jill “JJ Gold” who, variously, have the percentages to qualify as top record holders in some of the these categories but who have failed to play the required 16 CPL matches to qualify.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Karaoke Phil busts poker pro Esther Rossi, Blind Me Down Mike Behr, however, posts a better finish

The CPL's Blind Me Down Mike Behr and Karaoke Phil sat down to the $4K Guarantee HORSE Tournament this evening to slug it out with some of FullTilt's best. There were 199 entrants by the time registration closed.


Karaoke went out during RAZZ about 2hr 5 min into the tourney in 56th place outlasting FullTilt pros Diego Cordovez and Adam Schoenfeld. He also assisted in knocking out Esther Rossi (in 96th place). Here are the winning (and losing hands) that busted Rossi (it should be noted that Karaoke also took down a nice pot against her during the Stud level as well-even if it was a bit of a suck out):




As this entry went to posting, Mike "Blind Me Down" Behr had taken some damage during Stud and Stud H/L dropping from about 8K in chips to just under 5K, but pumped it back up and ended the Stud H/L round with 8K once again . He then moved up to nearly 12K during holdem. With 34 players left he stood in 11th. Look for updates in the comments section as they available.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Holiday 100Ks on FullTilt in the books, CPL co-director final tables

FullTilt ran a couple of nice promotions this weekend with their Holiday 100K and the Extra Holiday 100K (on Dec. 27 and 28 respectively) or, as they put it, "Like Festivus, the Holiday 100K is for the rest of us." These were 2000 FullTilt Point (FTP) tournaments, capped at 10,000 players - and they both capped out. Numerous ways to get into them including simply buying in, various point tournies (from 35 pts to 400) or you could slug it out with 3599 other people in freerolls. Each tournament saw nice compliments of FullTilt pros participating - about a dozen on Saturday and 15 or so on Sunday.

Saturday: The Holiday 100K - Blind Me Down, New Life Durand and Karaoke played on Saturday, though we aren't entirely sure which routes were taken (other than Karaoke getting in on a 400 points tourney after trying a 35, 100 and one other 400 pt one). Blind Me Down went down early - 9500 or so if memory serves. Karaoke Phil took a nose dive and was on life support about the time that New Life exploded from the 2000 starting chip stack to about 10K. It looked for all the world as if New Life would last the longest. But, then boom (we're not sure how, but it seemed to be in only about 4 hands) New Life dropped from 10K to about 6K to out at about 6500th place. Karaoke nursed his short stack back from 195 chips to around a short lived 4K. However, he managed to stay in the zone of 1200 to 2000 for nearly 4000 players. Ultimately, he couldn't get the one last double up to make it into the money and went out in 2059th.

Sunday: The Extra Holiday 100K - We saw only Karaoke Phil participating (getting in after ponying up about 1300 more FTPs in tournies) in the Extra 100K. Karaoke layed fairly low in the beginning - striking with 6500 players left to chip up to more than 9K which put him in the top 150 at the time. He largely held this position through about 3500 players left (gathering more than 11K in chips) when he took a hit that dropped him to about 8K in chips. Attrition and other hits lowered his total to under 7K as they hit payout at 1800 players left with Karaoke in about 1050th. At this point he kicked it up a gear and quickly moved to 13K to 20K to 25K in chips and stood in the top 300 with 1000 players to go. The chips ups continued to 33K to 45K to 60K to 111K and our own Karaoke Phil stood in the top 40 with 300 players still alive just under 300 hands into the tournament.

A mini disaster dropped him to 71K just a couple of hands later and he floated in the 70 to 100K zone for 40 some hands when he exploded to 183K putting him back to 31st place with 163 remaining. Thirteen hands later there were 131 players left and Karaoke had moved up to 279K and was in 11th. While the field cut in half over 60 hands to 61 left, Karaoke stagnated and dropped to 30th while increasing his stack to 312K. However, waking up with Pocket Rockets and having Big Slick move all-in ahead of him allowed Karoake to more than double up to 667K and with 48 left he now sat in 6th place. He largely sat back waiting for more opportunities and was in 9th (with 696K in chips) with 37 remaining.

Another mini disaster occured as Karaoke totally misread an opponent (his notes said the player was poor). Apparently, however, the player has vastly improved and raised with Qs. Based on his notes, Phil reraised over the top with A/6 suited and took a blow putting him just under 275K in chips and in 24th with 26 players left. As an aside, the "donkey" player also made solid plays with Js and A/J suited and Phil never saw the less than premium holdings his notes alluded to.

With blinds at 20K/40K with a 6K ante Karaoke went back into short stack mode: fold or all-in. That continued for about 30 hands (getting a couple/three blinds during that time) when Karaoke was able to break the 1 million mark and move into 7th with 16 players left - still only 20 times the BB at this point in the tourney. More good luck, good cards and good karma (when he pushed all-in with 12 players left with Q/J and ran into A/K - only to have his Broadway beat the opponent's 2 pair and then having his A/6 hold up against a shorter stacked all-in push with K/J) brought Phil to the final table with just under 2.4 Million in chips and in 3rd place.

Final table lasted all of 9 hands for Karaoke - on hand 5 his preflop call of a rasie and flop reraise with pocket Js (on a board of 3/4/3) were called by a player with A/K. The turn brought a K - from that point on he lost the minimum but he dropped to 1.3 million in chips. Then on hand 9 he woke up with 9s in the small blind. The cut off raised to 198K (blinds at 40/80K with a 10K ante at this point). Karaoke decided to reraise all in and the villian called with A/K. The 9s didn't hold and Phil hit the rail with a 9th place finish - a decided improvement on his finish from the day before.

He's now taking offers from investors for next year's WSOP Main Event.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Karaoke and Hollywood Win CPL Super Satellite to Running Aces HPT!

In a great match that lasted just under 5 hours Karaoke Phil and Hollywood Bauer captured the top two spots of this CPL Super Satellite and earned the cash to move on the Running Aces Satellite to the HPT!

The deep stack (8000 chips) tourney of 10 CPL members was a tough, tough crowd where no CPL member was eliminated until Level 7 and where 7 of the 10 made it to the CPL Plaque Rounds!! But the Plaque rounds started to get the better of everyone and members starting falling and by level 13 it was all over with Karaoke Phil and Hollywood Bauer on top.

Karaoke Phil played a great match where his reads were frighteningly accurate throughout the night. He used these reads to take a massive chip lead by taking out Comeback Kid and this big chip lead would sustain him until the CPL Plaque Rounds. However during these rounds he saw this stack eaten away and for a brief time, Karaoke gave up the chip lead. But Karaoke gritted his teeth and focused on getting the chips back....which he did and found himself in a power position able to pick and choose which hands to play to eliminate his competition.

Hollywood Bauer was non-existent in the early rounds of play, which is completely his MO. This super conservative style of play served him well as he had chips remaining at the right time in order to make his move. And make his move he did...and he found himself in the final three with a two to one chip lead over Malinda 'Nemesis' Cardenas. He did put his tournament life on the line several times and at the very end of the match went all in one more time against the big stack of Karaoke's and survived Phil's live 8-5 to double up with Queen high.

CPL Honorable Mention goes out to 'Nemesis' Cardenas who finished in the unenviable 3rd place position on the bubble. Malinda played a great tournament and simply ran out of cards and chips as the blinds moved to 3000/6000.

CPL Honorable Mention also goes out to Blind Me Down Behr who went out in 4th place on a Cooler where his A-Q was no good against Karaoke's A-K.

Both Hollywood and Karaoke will be keeping us posted on their quest to the HPT Main Event! Good Luck and represent the CPL well!!

Thanks to everyone who participated in this event....it was a great time and I really enjoyed seeing everyone including Pam and Steve and Scott who we haven't seen for a while!!

One more side note....yours truly won the scratch off ticket contest by scratching $13.00 on one ticket!!

Quote of the Evening:
"Scratch Happy? That was my nickname in High School." --Comeback Kid


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

Find the Podcast on ITunes: CPLDirectors Podcast

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Karaoke Phil's Report: Fall Poker Classic Event #6, OH8

This is the 2nd year I’ve played the Fall Poker Classic’s OH8 event. Last year (2007) there were 213 entrants for this $200 + $30 event. At the time I was intrigued with OH8, but hadn’t really played much more than a handful of low buy-in tournaments. I thought I did “okay” and busted out at around 100th. The highlight of that day was then going to play some 2/4 Limit Hold ‘em, getting my first ever live straight flush and, thereby, winning a Canterbury Park baseball cap (winning the hand was nice too).

This year saw 199 entrants. Over the past year and, particularly the last 6 months, I have been working on both my HORSE and OH8 games. So, I entered the tournament feeling pretty good about my play and my chances. The tourney structure starts with 3000 chips, 30-minute blind levels and blinds at 25/50 (with betting at 50/100).

I held steady during Level 1 ending with 2950 in chips. Level 2 saw the first elimination from the tournament and I ended with 3600 chips. Level 3 was flat for me and had 3500 chips going into Level 4.

It was in Level that I made some strong moves (and got some good cards). My peak for the level was at about 6500 chips, but I took a hit on the last hand of the level (just before break) and ended with 4800. At break I counted 108 players left (the tourney clock listed 125 but they were consistently slow in recording the knock outs).

Level 5 was flat for me and I finished with 4400 chips. Level 6 was a break out level for me that carried into Level 7. I finished Level 6 with 14800 chips and Level 7 with 16000.

Level 8 nearly saw my demise. With blinds at 1000/1500 and betting at 1500/3000 I was dealt A/3/4/6 in early position with 7800 left in chips (I had taken some hits earlier). I’m first in and decide to try and trap – so I limp in. I had a fairly aggressive (and good) player immediately to my left. He raises to 3000. Only the big blind calls and were three handed (10000 in the pot). The flop comes 3/5/T with the 5/T suited in something I didn’t have. The BB checks. I didn’t want to bet out yet (knew my opponent on the left would do it). Plus, I hadn’t quite hit what I wanted yet with only two pair, a flush and possible straight draws against me and my having only 4 cards to a non-nut low. The UTG bets 1500, which was called by the big blind and myself (14500 in the pot). The turn brought a 4 (3/5/T/4 on the board) – I felt that my opponent on the left had an A/2 within his 4 cards. I figured the big blind for something less than the nuts and/or maybe a flush draw. The BB checked and I opted to check and the UTG player immediately bet out 3000. The button smooth called. I thought long and hard about whether to call or not with 3 pair and a low of A/3/4/5/6. Again, I felt he had an A/2 (now giving him the nut low and a wheel). I went through my outs – An A, 3 or 4 give me strong boats (6 of those left), and a 2 gives me a 6 high straight and a nut low chop (4 of those left). All in all that’s 10 outs. Then there is the possibility that just maybe I’m ahead (though I don’t think so). Then there’s the big blind – a loose player who could have anything but was probably chasing that flush draw. With 20500 in the pot – I called and added 3000 more – leaving me 300 chips left. The river bricked me completely when a K came out. UTG bets out 3000 again and the button calls. There are now 29500 chips in the pot (I can play for 24100 of it). I stop. I think. I think some more. I think long enough (probably 35 or 40 seconds that I’m sure everyone else at the table is thinking, “It’s 300 into a pot of 30K – CALL”). I know I’m beat – I fold and keep my 300. So, what did they have? UTG turns over A/A/2/5 for the nut low and a wheel. The Button shows 2/7/K/K – he was chasing a K-high flush that didn’t hit (and rivered a set that wasn’t good enough).

Two hands later I’m forced all-in in the big blind. I triple up to 900. I’m forced all-in the next hand in the SB and quadruple up to 3600. I sit out the next two hands (I would’ve scooped them both). A few hands after that I make a stand and more than double up and end Level 8 with 8500 in chips.

We go to break with 34 players remaining. I’m sitting in about 25th. The top 18 will get paid.

Level 9 begins with blinds at 1K/2K. I lay down both blinds to preflop raises leaving me 5500 in chips. I finally get 2/2/3/8 double suited and decide to make my stand – all the money gets in preflop with me and another player all-in versus my nemesis to the left. I lose and bust out in 27th place – 15 minutes into Level 9. I’m relatively pleased with my finish. I saw great improvement over the previous year and know I can compete. I thought overall I played a “B” grade game that would’ve been a “B+” without that Level 8 hand (had I folded on the turn and saved 3K in chips). Just a little better play and I make the money.

I go to the buffet and use my tourney comp ticket for dinner – a nice meal of mashed potatoes and gravy, great roast beef au jus, and warm cherry cobbler. It’s a good dinner, but not worth $230.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Google is 10 years old - and, another blast from the past

Okay, the Google blog post is two weeks old, but you can read a little about their 10th b'day here. The reason we're bringing this up is two fold: first, the old email from Mark "Verbal" Cardenas to Karaoke Phil Fuehrer inviting him to (and into the world of) poker (posted here) was a blast from the past; second - as part of Google's celebrations they've made available their oldest remaining archive records (apparently from 2001). What does that really mean? Another blast from the past!!!

Check out Karoake Phil's 1999 web site from his run for St. Paul City Council here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20010508091536/www.users.qwest.net/~pfuehrer/City_Council_run_1999.htm

And, check out a decade younger "Verbal" here (from his days as a Rockstar - rumor has it that Nickleback's song of the same name was written largely due to Mark):
http://web.archive.org/web/20010412021032/www.getstew.com/index.html

Be sure to click on Mark's name on the bottom row picture. Then notice how they butchered his name in the top header (blue) bar. The older version had the same spelling on the main page.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Before He Was Karaoke Phil....

Below is a blast from the past for your enjoyment....


From: Philip Fuehrer
Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 2:03 PM
To: Mark Cardenas; Jeffrey.W.Kuhlman
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

>>> <Mark.Cardenas 1/6/2005 2:01:46 PM >>>


cough, cough..

Um...hello? Are you guys available on Saturday? I haven't heard for either of you?

Mark Cardenas



From: Mark Cardenas
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 12:30 PM
To: Scott Walter; Greg Allen; Kerri Benne; 'Philip Fuehrer'; 'Jeffrey.W.Kuhlman; 'Pamela Muldoon'; Jon Menz; Susan Stuart
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.

Where: My place...

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!

P.S. Congrats to Scott Walter who was the winner of round number one!

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

Find the Podcast on ITunes: CPLDirectors Podcast

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Running Aces October Tourney Schedule Up - OH8 Tourney on 10/5

Running Aces has posted their October Calendar for the various poker tournaments. View it here:
http://www.runningacesharness.com/gaming/tournament_calendar_102008.pdf

And, there's some consistency - the monthly OH8 tourney is still on the first Sunday - this time Oct. 5th . Show up and you may see a couple of CPL members playing it this month. CPL Co-Director "Karaoke" Phil Fuehrer has played in the first two and is looking to get in another "practice" session before Canterbury's Fall Poker Classic Event #6 (OH Hi-Lo) on Oct. 15 (though he has a dinner he's supposed to attend which might preclude him from making the 5th). It also looks as if Jeff "Matusow" Matson is planning on being Runnig Aces - and, who knows, there may be others in attendance as well.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Andy Bloch Interview, Karaoke Phil at the State Fair and More!!!

The Andy Bloch interview can now be heard in its entirety. Just listen to the newest podcast release.

Also, Karaoke Phil spent some time at the Minnesota State Fair yesterday. You can catch a glimpse of him on the web at:

http://www.livecast.com/live/Default.aspx?dotheimpossible08

Click on "Day 6 of Minnesota Political Theater" and then go to the 8 min 18 sec mark through about 8min 50 sec. You'll see Phil off and on for about 11 or 12 of those 30 seconds (he's the one in the background handing out literature).

Finally, Running Aces has come up with a name for their HPT Tournament in November. Drum roll......it'll be called .....The 10,000 Lakes Poker Championship.