Talk about a fun sweat...

If you haven't heard already, Event #49 has got an awesome lineup seven handed. It's the $2500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball and the final seven chip counts, at the time of the post, are as follows:

1 David Bach 572,000
2 Jason Mercier 455,000
3 Justin Bonomo 330,000
4 Leonard Martin 300,000
5 Eli Elezra 265,000
6 Masa Tanaka 260,000
7 Jon Turner 127,000

You can watch all the action along with me here!

Sh&t Hits the Fan...Again!

It's another big day in the news for Full Tilt Poker. It looks like the website is currently shut down completely after having their egaming license revoked. This is a tough story to watch unfold, as just a few months ago, FTP was a powerhouse in the online gaming industry.

It's amazing to watch this unravel, and with each layer pealed off, I find it more and more unlikely that they will be able to recover.

The forums are going crazy on this latest announcement, and it should get real interesting in the weeks to come...

No wonder why it's taking Full Tilt so long...

I think it's becoming increasingly clear what Full Tilt's dilemina is with returning funds to US players.

In the weeks after Black Friday, the poker community was concerned that the big three were all in trouble, and we weren't sure what was going on with the money. Pokerstars cleared the air quickly, and came out with a convenient process for players to get their funds. They requested that you withdraw 100% of your funds, and gave you three options to choose from. The process was painless, and US players applauded Pokerstars for their superior customer service.

Surely, the community thought that Full Tilt would follow suit in a matter of days. However, days passed, and then the days turned into weeks, and before we knew it, we were getting bombarded with announcements announcing future announcements, and continued to see the stalling....

Now, reports are coming out that give us the true story of what was going on at Full Tilt. It's sad to watch this story play out, as I've been such a huge supporter of Full Tilt over the years. To read that they have created an accounting nightmare, with US players' funds, infuriates me.

I think that the only reason that Full Tilt would continue to process these transactions is greed. There were alternatives to what they did, and it's sad they chose this path.

I am of the opinion that online poker will return in the near future to the US. I don't want to say that I've completely turned my back on Full Tilt, but I've got to admit that their handling of Black Friday compared to Pokerstars, has shed a new light on both companies. Pokerstars has gained my respect, and, more than likely, my business if they are an option in the future.

Matt Jarvis gets his bracelet

Just a quick shout out to Matt Jarvis for taking down Event #40 at the WSOP- $5000 NL Six-Max. Most people will remember Matt as one of the November Niners from the 2010 WSOP Main Event, who eventually finished 8th, unable to capture the title.

I think one of the more difficult things to do in poker is to defend why you deserved to be a member of the November Nine. November Niners are typically under a microscope in the poker world to see what they can do next. With tournament poker, it's tough to navigate through the variance to find yourself back at a final table. And when you do, you've got to have the self-inflicted pressure of wanting to show the poker community you are worthy of respect.

Matt's bracelet here at the the 2011 WSOP, along with the $800k + he shipped, should keep the haters off his back.

Congrats Matt!

CrazyGood Blog

Just a quick note as I've been getting alot of people asking me about CrazyGood lately. I'd like to keep this blog about poker, so I've got another blog here to answer all the questions.

Mercier get #2!

Photo courtesy of Pokernews...

A big congrats to one of my favorite young guns- Jason Mercier as he snagged his second bracelet this week in Event #35. The $5000 PLO 6 max event had roughly 500 players and it was a tough field to navigate.

Durrr made a deep run in this event but eventually missed the final table. Mercier took a commanding chip lead and ended up victorious after three days of play.

You gotta love this guy. It seems like every final table he makes, he ends up taking it down. He's got some serious end-game skills and he's always a blast to sweat.

Congrats Jason!

#12 Tonight???

Photo courtesy of Pokernews...


You either love him or you hate him- or you're like me and always on the fence. I laugh at his antics, somtimes feel like he gets what he deserves- but ALWAYS route for him at the final table...

At the time of this post, we are down to the final nine in Event #33 of the 2011 WSOP. It's the $10k Stud Hi Lo Split 8 or Better Championship and The Poker Brat is sitting with an average stack of around 550,000 chips.

A few tourneys ago, Phil almost broke out of his no limit shell by taking down the 2-7 Single Draw tournament, but John Juanda spoiled the party by coming back from a 2-1 chip deficite to capture the title.

A few events later, Phil has another chance to snag a bracelet in a non hold-em event. The table is streaming live over at WSOP.com and he's got a tough table to navigate through. Still alive are Joe Tehan, John Racener and Ted Forrest.

The competition will be tough, and if Phil can do it, it will be history well earned....

Good luck Phil!

Event #31- realcharder30's to lose...

Cropped this photo, so let me just go and and credit PokerNews for the photo above....

With 13 people left at break, Christian Harder is currently the chip leader in Event #31, $3,000 PLO. Christian is a fellow Marylander, and we wish him the best of luck with this bracelet run. He has over $1,750,000 in earnings, but this would be his first jewelry addition to his resume.

The final 13 won't be tough to navigate. Still in the running are Sam Stein, Adam Junglen, Brock Parker and Tex Barch to name a few...

Christian currently has 810,000 in chips, just about double the current average.

Good luck Christian!

Shaun Deeb's Turn?

At the time of this post, Shaun Deeb is chip leader of Event #29 with 10 players left. The $2500 10 Game Six Max Event is currently on dinner break, and Deeb is in the pole position with 635,000 chips.

Following his tweets, you'd be hard pressed to think that Deeb is confident about taking this one down. He's had a yo yo stack the past couple of levels, but alas he's currently at the top of the mountain.

Deeb's live earnings are around $550,000 but he's been crushing the online world the past couple of years, including over $3,500,000 in cashes on Pokerstars alone. With the current landscape of online poker in the US, this may just be the year that Deeb makes his mark at the land-based events. He's got a legitimate shot at taking this event down, and hopefully he can bring home the bracelet.

This cash will be Deeb's fifth cash of the 2011 WSOP. He's got about $33,000 in cashes so far. The winner of Event #29 will take home roughly $250,000.

Good luck to Shaun on grabbing his first bracelet.