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

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

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".

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.

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.

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.

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.