At about the 6:15 mark you will see a profile of Dean Hamrick, he is one of the nicest guys in poker and he crushes online as MSUsfinest.

Ok, the 6c7c hand is a bad play but I was establishing a bit of image.

If you read a little down in the article it talks about the hand rankings, and how you can actually end up with a hand between 1 and 4 cards total depending on the suits and cards in your hand. Anyways, I thought it was cool, and now I’m ready to tear up Stars once they release it.

I am supposed to head out to Las Vegas Wednesday to hang out with some friends and go to the PGA event but I am not sure if I should go or not. I just bought a house in my hometown of Avon, Indiana and I really need to pack and get moved over there. I guess there isn’t too much of a rush though since I still want to paint and do some other things. I almost hate to leave because I of the PLO game here in Louisville. I have won my past 8 sessions and even though I don’t really care about how many times ive won compared to how much money ive made, it is still good for my confidence and temperament.

I hope everyone else has been doing well and incase you have wondered… I still cant win online.

Matt Humphrey

humphreyin@hotmail.com

That of course has not been the desired result at this point. What I think is becoming clear is that there is indeed “new management” at UB and they are trying to put the pieces of this puzzle back together.

Whether it is too late or not is for the customers to decide.

The point of this whole thing is to remember to take pride in what I am doing. To remember that I want to be known as a great player and that day in and day out I need to PROVE I am a great player. And as of right now I am not. Because it takes alot more than just playing correctly to be a great player.

Tomorrow is the start of the WSOP-Circuit Event in Louisville so I will be spending alot of time down there the next two weeks. I will probably play a few tourneys and hopefully we will get to play PLO everyday and if not then at least 30/60 stud.

Good Luck,

Matt Humphrey

Humphreyin@hotmail.com

When you’re playing with backers money (investors) it’s that much more sickening to watch. I mean if you back your pal in a poker tournament for $500.00 you at least know he’s playing a poker tournament. But you would at least expect to him to not donk off the cash like it’s a free roll or play money.

That’s almost exactly why these morons at AIG did. Against the advice of auditors and even Federal Regulators, who were warning them against this sort of long shot bet, they did it anyway.

And they took one hell of a bad bet doing it. I’m not one for Government poking around in peoples business but this may be one case where a little more Government oversight may have helped prevent the meltdown of a mega-company like AIG.

http://www.aintluck.com/collapse-of-aig-and-poker/

They say you’ve got to be careful what you wish for and now I know why. A few months back I embarked on a big campaign to get my partner into poker. It seemed like an obvious move at the time. I spend lots of time playing poker, even more time watching big tournaments that I’d like to be playing in and a bit of time writing about it. The rest of my life seems to be split between working (on a poker mag) and sleeping. The plan was to ingratiate her into my world so she’d never complain about not spending any time with her. That was the plan.

Fast forward to today and she’s got the bug like almost everyone else who starts playing. The trouble is she’s started winning more than me. We recently got back off a holiday to the Maldives and - with the travel chipset that goes everywhere with me - we started a huge week-long heads-up marathon. We weren’t playing for money, the stakes were far higher - dinner in the evening, the night’s cocktails and stuff like that, with the overall winner getting the star prize: no household chores for a month. I raced into a 6-0 lead and got a bit cocky, and she went on a stupid run and won the next seven straight, something which might have caused an argument had I not been completely blissed out and playing while enjoying an ice cold beer overlooking the Indian Ocean.

So now I’ve got slightly less time to play poker, and she’s been unleashed onto the tournament scene. Almost every night in the past week she’s been cashing for fairly substantial sums, and one night she won two MTTs she was playing simultaneously. This weekend I planned to get my own back by playing Betfair’s $50k Guaranteed but I found out she’d already qualified via a satellite, which meant Sunday evening I was exiled in my bedroom writing this blog.

Before that though, and by way of consolation, I decided to play a $15 Turbo. I’m not normally a fan of turbos but I only had two hours to kill and Liverpool Vs Chelsea was on TV so it seemed perfect. What it turned out to be was a perfect example of variance.

Twice I managed to get my money in when I was seriously behind. Once with A-Q against A-K (I spiked a Queen on the turn), and once with A-J against J-J (again the turn was very kind to me). Before the second half of the footy had started I was a massive chip leader, and I don’t think I’d got my cards in ahead once. The best thing about it was that because it was a turbo no-one had time to type abusive things into the chatbox.

Then I played a few hands that held up and with about 15 people left from a starting field of 91 I had almost double the chips of my nearest opponents. Then it all started unraveling. Raising in the small blind (after everyone else had folded) with K-10, I got a call from the big blind (who happened to be in second place). The flop came K-10-6 and after I bet out, the BB decided to move all-in and I called. He showed Ac-Ks and I was thinking about the huge stack of chips I was about to be sitting on when an Ace dropped on the river (the fact it was the Ace of spades to complete his runner-runner nut flush didn’t help my mood). Then, fairly short-stacked on the final table, I made a move on the button with 4-4 to get a seriously dodgy call from someone with J-4 who went on to hit not one but two Jacks. And that was me done. I cashed, but I should have won it. Or so I thought at the time. After a few minutes to calm down I realized that, by rights, I should have been knocked out way before I’d suffered any bad beats. And I wouldn’t have had any cause to complain.

And that’s poker. I’m as bad at losing as the next man (as long as the next man is also short-tempered and short of memory), but the fact that all of these hands came in the same game proved a point - I’m not unlucky, or particularly lucky. Over time I get the same hands as everyone else, I get outdrawn as much as anyone else, and enjoy my fair share of suck-outs. You win some and you lose some - it just never feels that way at the time. And now? Well, it’s 7.10pm, my partner’s on the laptop in the lounge and sitting in 11th in the 50k. If she final tables I’ll be woken up at about 12.10am and made to listen to every hand and chip swing that she suffers in the next few hours. And that’s a real bad beat, although I can’t complain because it’s all of my own doing.

However, although it is important to get the feel for any tournament or any table you are playing on and to assess the merits of other players, there are certain situations when it may not be a good time to attempt to bluff your way to victory.

Caught in the bluff

Having just been caught with your ‘pants down’ when failing with a bluff, then it is thought to be wise to sit tight for a while and avoid trying the same move again straight away. Although it can be tempting to try and regain some power, it may pay to play tight for a while and attempt to fool your opponents into forgetting about your mistake.

Blind man’s bluff

It is difficult to bluff from either of the blind positions unless of course everyone else has folded! As people know you have a vested interest in the hand it could be unwise to bluster your way through especially if someone in an early position has called or there he has been a raise.

Call my bluff

It is much more likely to be called by an inexperienced or novice player than someone who knows plenty about the game. The rookie poker player is more likely to want to see what you have got and will pay to find out. As in all bluffing strategies it is better to try and gauge the type of opponents you are playing in the early stages.

Bluffin’ loads of them

The more bodies at the table, the harder it is to bluff - simply because there is more of a statistical chance somebody will have a good hand. Bluffing becomes much more important in the later stages of a game with less people and bigger blinds and antes.

Curiously enough

It is dangerous to attempt a bluff if an ace comes down in the flop. More than likely someone will still be in with an ace – a card that is rarely folded pre-flop. It could be a similar case with a King or Queen especially if players have been allowed to limp in.
After losing a big hand

Having lost an important hand (even through no fault of your own), try to resist the temptation to win it all back the next time the cards are dealt by bluffing. Other players will be aware of somebody ‘on tilt’ and are more likely to call your plays.

The art of bluffing is an essential part of any serious players game and unfortunately the only way to develop the skill is by trial and error – the above is simply a beginner’s guide. Used correctly, however, it is a most potent weapon.

Already at four and three my twin girls think they own Vegas. Every where we go, people are always asking us if they are quads, because they are only 14 months apart and all have a similar look.

They pose for pictures several times a day with not only the poker players I run into, but with tourist from all over the world who are in Las Vegas on vacation. The girls put their arms on each other’s shoulder and give out a big “Cheese” for everyone and anyone with a camera. They truly are adorable and are the lights of my life right now.

They are the reason behind my article today. They are the reason I am proud to be a father of seven. They are the reason I get up every morning and have the motivation and desire to succeed in my daily activities. Whether, it’s at my job or if I am going to the Golf course or if I am hitting the felt today. I have been blessed by the birth of these girls and they have made me a better person because of them coming into my life.

I was playing very smart and I was really focused in my first ever Circuit event. Although it was a second chance event with a buy in of two hundred dollars, I was thrilled to be playing at Caesars in a tournament that had several professional players and a WPT champion participating.

The tournament started with about 200 players. Within the first hour 90 of those players had busted out and I was actually up to 6400 chips after starting with only 1500. I made a couple of good reads on some of the players at my table and when ever I had a showdown with a player I was always ahead and ended up winning the hand. I used those showdowns to make a couple of bluffs and by the time we were down to 50 players I had close to 28k in chips.

It was an above average stack. During the break, I walked around looking at the other tables to see some of the other stacks. I have always done this at tournaments for some unknown reason.

Right after the break I was in seat 7 and had won about 1400 from the player in seat 5. I had pocket 10’s and he had pocket 9’s as we both checked the jack on the river.

The very next hand I am the big blind and I look down at KK. Seat 5 on the button raises to 3600 when the blinds were at 1200. I decided to see where I was at as seat 6 folded. I tossed in a third of my stack 7200 chips.

Seat 5 just called my raise and the flop of J-4-8 rainbow hit the table. Seat 5 immediately went all in. Well I knew he didn’t have jacks because he would of checked raised me. I put him on AJ or pocket 10’s. I called his all in and he turned over queens. I felt good, but nervous. Then seat 6 told me he folded Q-10 of diamonds and I felt a sense of relief come over me until the river hit a queen and left me with 2 chips.

I was very upset with the poker gods. I had played so well and I know its poker but I have been hit so hard on the river lately it made me almost sick to my stomach.

I went back to the hotel and was telling my wife what had happened to vent some. I called a couple of friends to talk with them about it, but as you all know poker players don’t want to hear bad beat stories. But I needed to get it off my chest. Maybe because this was Caesars and my first Circuit event I don’t know but I was truly bothered by that river card more so then ever.

Well as we arrived home late Friday night I sat down to unwind and watched the evening news. There was a breaking news story out of Mission Viejo California on the 5 freeway. A family of 5 had just been rear ended by a semi truck and all perished in the accident. A mother, father a 6 or 7 year old boy and a set of 3-year-old twin girls.

I just leaned back in my chair and called my girls over. I put them all on my lap and gave them big hugs and kisses. I had a huge lump in my throat and it was partly due to my sadness for the family who died, but it was also for the guilt I felt about complaining that my Kings got beat on the river.

Where in the world was my “Perspective” on life. They were right heresitting on my lap! Never again will I feel like I did after losing. I have so much to be thankful for and I let a game make me forget about what is really important in life.

We take so many things for granted day in and day out. I cannot imagine how life would be if a tragedy such as this was to happen in my life. I have lost both of my parents, a godmother who raised a foster brother and me. Several Aunts, Uncles and the only Grandparent I ever knew.

I have been to way too many funerals for my friends and peers and I am sure with the line of work I am in I will unfortunately have to attend more in the future.

I have been given the authority by the State of California to serve and protect. I thought I could save the world when I took my job like my heroes of my childhood did every Saturday morning when I watched them on television.

Being able to put on a uniform and at a split seconds decision have the authority to take someone’s life is a huge responsibility. Only the good Lord has the ability too be able to do that.

“PERSPECTIVE” so my Kings got busted on the river. I will never let the game of poker or any other game get in the way what is really important in life.

I have been to so many tragic scenes in my twenty years of being a Deputy, however this hit home and its changed me as a person as well as a poker player.

Take care and please be safe.

The Deputy