Bmore's Babble

Talk about a fun sweat...

2011-06-30T21:48:00.003-04:00

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!

2011-06-29T22:56:00.002-04:00

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...

2011-06-28T23:20:00.002-04:00

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

2011-06-27T00:43:00.003-04:00

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

2011-06-25T23:18:00.004-04:00

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!

2011-06-24T22:23:00.003-04:00

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???

2011-06-20T22:07:00.002-04:00

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...

2011-06-19T21:27:00.003-04:00

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?

2011-06-19T00:36:00.003-04:00

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.

Contracted with PTG

2010-05-05T18:06:00.002-04:00

It's time to get the dust off my blogging pen. I've recently been contracted to write for PTG, a site being released in a couple weeks, and I'm looking forward to getting back in to the blogging game. It's an exciting time, and among other things we will be bringing back the Brawl.

I don't want to get into too much detail about the new site, but what I can tell you is that it's from a unique perspective, and all of the guys there are full pledged dedicated degenerates. They've all been around the game for years and match my passion for poker.

Since my last post, I've been enjoying the flourishing economy just like everyone else. The side games dried up for a while and I've been grinding online everynight. Recent live action has picked up and been pretty steady for the last couple of months.

I've got a staking arrangement online now that's been working out pretty well. It's a 50/50 split on MTTs, and we've both carried the other through negative variance. The arrangement is in the black right now, and I'm pretty confident that we will keep climbing.

Life is good. I've got a munchkin on the way. The wifey is healthy. Still have a job. Still stacking chips. And now I'm jumping back into the blogging arena.

I've been keeping up with everyone's blogs. Most are easy to keep up with since the posting counts are down. :0)

At any rate, I'm back, and looking forward to rededicating myself to time that I don't have to put some words down and publish.

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

The Brawl is private no more

2008-10-02T20:09:00.003-04:00

The official post...

After a good solid run of nine months, the Bmore's Brawl (as a private tourney) will cease to exist.

Starting next week, I will open the tourney up to the public.

This is good for the Brawl. It served it's initial purpose. I wanted to have a tourney in which all the old school grinders could meet up each week and take flops with each other if they wanted to. I think we had some great tourneys and it was a blast.

However, participation is down, and I need to open this up to the public to keep it going.

Everything else will remain the same. And who knows, the public may never get interested in the Brawl. I've got to give it a shot though, as I like hosting the tourney every week.

The next Brawl will be:

Wednesday, October 8th @ 9:00pm EST
Full Tilt Poker, password = omrounders

See you there..

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

thebmorekid takes down Brawl #38

2008-10-02T19:51:00.002-04:00

Yeah, I know...

I slacked off. The last Brawl I posted results for was #33. Unfortunately, the Brawl as a private tourney hasn't been able to keep momentum by itself. I should be happy, it's outlasted The Horsey Ride, and Rocco's Rumble...

It's tough keeping the tournament private. On the one hand, you want to have an event once a week where all of your friends can get together and play each other. It's fun. We've got grinders all over the states at this point. I never counted up the states represented, but there was a lot.

Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, New York, Missouri, Las Vegas, California, North Carolina...

So yeah, it was great. We were able to catch up with each week with guys who used to play in our home games. These were guys that we were used to seeing once a week across the table. For one reason or another, they had relocated, and we handn't played cards with them in months.

For the first couple of weeks we were rolling. I think our attendance record was around 35. Very very fun. And then, who knows?

FTP accounts went busto...
Wives started complaining that they were playing poker again every week...
Dart leagues...
I forgot...
FTP is NOT random...
House game got robbed...
New live game on Wednesdays...

We started dwindling down, but we were still seeing 15-20 guys, and I was fine with that. I noticed that when I didn't have time to send the reminder email, the count would drop a bunch. Even though it was always on a Wednesday. Always at 9pm EST. Always the same password.

I don't know. It doesn't matter. It was fun while it lasted, but it's tough to keep the momentum going when I restrict the tourney by making it private.

With that said, I think I'm going to make a post right now officially opening the Bmore's Brawl up to the world...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

thebmorekid takes down Brawl #33

2008-08-27T21:06:00.005-04:00

Brawl #33 was heads-up between me and pops. Here is the first hand:

And here is the second hand:

Not much of a match. The cards pretty much dictated both hands. So that makes two boats in two hands of the Brawl and a flopped straight flush for me tonight in a five way pot in a 90man SNG when everyone got the money in on the turn. Not too shabby, but I can't mark it up to skill. Final lobby below:

See you next week...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

New FTP Guest Pro Profile

2008-08-27T20:34:00.002-04:00

I've finally gotten around to adding the Brad Booth profile to the blog. On the left, there is a link to click to get to the profile. This catches the profiles up with the exception of Chris Klecz, which hopefully I will get to tonight. Getting these profiles up finally reminded me of how much fun it was to have these guys (and girls) stopping in to take some flops with us at a private tourney.

To be honest, I've been avoiding the email reminders for a couple of reasons. Mostly, it makes the administrative stuff much easier when I'm running a one-table tourney. However, recently, we've been playing live on Wednesdays and it's definitely had an impact on the attendance of the Brawl.

There's a part of me that likes the small tourneys, but part of me wants to build it back up again to thirty participants so I can get a couple more pros coming through. I'm not sure what direction I'm going to go, but I do know that FTP added a lot more red pros after this last WSOP so there are a ton more options of pros to invite. We'll see...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Profile: "Yukon" Brad Booth

2008-08-27T20:20:00.002-04:00

The Brawl was happy to welcome "Yukon" Brad Booth to our private tourney as an FTP Pro Guest. Booth has been one of my favorite pros to sweat online since I started playing years ago. I use to rail him in the high stakes games while he played under the screen name LFISGD. He always engaged the rail birds, quizzing them on poker stuff and shipping $5 here and there to those who got the answers right. Just a cool guy all around.

Booth got a KO or two in the Brawl, talked to many of us in the chat box and made the night one to remember. It takes a special kind of person to play a $10 private tourney while he's multi tabling $20/$40 NL at the same time. We appreciate him taking the time to take some flops with us!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

thebmorekid takes down Brawl #32

2008-08-27T20:07:00.003-04:00

Yours truly holds the title going into tonight's Brawl. Just wanted to get the post out there in case anyone was wondering why my name was on the trophy. FTP should be getting back to me shortly with the official results from Brawl #32. Once I have them, I'll update the Money Leaderboard.

Good luck tonight everyone...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

2008 Money Leaderboard Updated

2008-08-27T19:59:00.002-04:00

Moving right along...

The 2008 Brawl Money Leaderboard has been updated to include results from Brawl #31. I inched into 3rd place while purplerain05 and coleman410 made improvements up the ladder as well.

The Money Leaderboard is up to date with the exception of Brawl #32. I played this one on my laptop at a cash game and forgot to get a screenshot of the final lobby. FTP should be getting back to me shortly and I will be all caught up...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

coleman410 takes down Brawl #31

2008-08-27T19:43:00.003-04:00

Congrats to coleman410 for taking down Brawl #31. It was a good heads up match and he deserved the win. Money Leaderboard updates coming. Final lobby below:

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Money Leaderboard Updated

2008-08-27T19:34:00.001-04:00

The 2008 Brawl Money Leaderboard has been updated to include results from Brawl #30. jmlabrie18 widen his lead at the top spot, and congrats to BlueHen226 for getting his first cash.

More updates to follow...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

jmlabrie18 takes down Brawl #30

2008-08-27T19:18:00.002-04:00

Yeah, yeah yeah....

I know I'm very late updating these. We've been playing a live Omaha game in the city the same night that the Brawl goes on. Keeping track of everything has been tough. I've been saving screenshots on my laptop, then sending them back to my home computer where I my blog.

No excuses though, just been lazy. Here's the final lobby from Brawl #30. I'll get the money update done right now:

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

2008 Money Leaderboard Updated

2008-07-30T22:38:00.002-04:00

Figured I'd just get this done since I was on a roll...

Okay, the 2008 Brawl Money Leaderboard has now been updated to include results from Brawl #29. Congrats to jmlabrie18 for taking that one down tonight. So, jmlabrie18 grabs a hold of the top spot a little tighter, purplerain05 doesn't change places but makes up some ground, and Amstel34 jumped up a couple of spots and crossed over the $100 mark.

And I friggin bubbled...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

jmlabrie18 takes down Brawl #29

2008-07-30T22:26:00.003-04:00

In a rematch of two weeks ago, purplerain05 went heads up against jmlabrie18 for the Brawl title. It came down to a flip, and jmlabrie18 hit the flop. Congrats to jmlabie18, purplerain05 and Amstel34 for cashing this week.

Final results below:

This win also moves jmlabrie18 into a solid first place on the Money Leaderboard. See you all next week!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Money Leaderboard is Updated

2008-07-30T22:03:00.002-04:00

The 2008 Brawl Money Leaderboard has been updated to include results through Brawl #28. jmlabrie18 has inched out roccav by 70 cents. It's tight at the top and they are battling back and forth....

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Money Leaderboard Footnote

2008-07-23T23:19:00.001-04:00

The 2008 Money Leaderboard needs to be updated with Brawls #27 and #28. Below are the official results from Brawl #28:

1st - roccav - $48.00
2nd - purplerain05 - $28.80
3rd - OMRounder - $19.20

I am going to wait to load these in until I hear back from FTP with official results from Brawl #27. I know that purplerain05 took it down and jmlabrie18 placed 2nd, so I want to wait to see who is actually on top of the Money Leaderboard. It should be very close. FTP should be getting back to me within the next day or so...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

roccav takes down Brawl #28

2008-07-23T23:08:00.003-04:00

After a long hiatus, roccav came back to the Brawl and took it down. Seriously Brawlers, this guy has disappeared for weeks, shows up, and snatches a victory just like that. With the title, he will reclaim the top spot on the Money Leaderboard as well.

Can this one-man wrecking ball be stopped? Or do I need to rename this tourney Rocco's Personal Pwnament?

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

New Features added to Bmore's Babble

2008-07-19T19:17:00.002-04:00

I've had some time to clean up my blog today and I've also added two new features:

1. Subscribe link- I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I believe you can subscribe to the blog so that each time I posting something, it comes to your email. If I get everyone doing this, I can just shoot out reminders for the Brawl right from the blog.

2. FTP Pro Guest Brawler Profiles- I've been meaning to do this for a while. Now you can click a link and see each profile that I've written up on the FTP Pros that joined us for the Brawl. I've got four out of six done. I still need to write up something for Chris Klecz and Brad Booth. This will be cool though because we can see, at a snapshot, who we've gotten to play with.

Any questions on the new stuff, please let me know...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

purplerain05 takes down Brawl #27

2008-07-19T18:59:00.001-04:00

I remember he used to be upset he hadn't gotten a KO...then he took care of that.

Then he was mad that he hadn't had a cash...and he took care of that.

Then he was pissed because he got heads up and couldn't seal the deal...

And this week, he took care of that.

Congrats to purplerain05 on his first title.

Details to follow....

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl Money Leaderboard Updated

2008-07-19T18:38:00.002-04:00

The 2008 Brawl Money Leaderboard now includes results through Brawl #26. The most important news here is that AltronIV has dropped out of the top five. This must be very tough for him, watching thebmorekid and xojones climb right past him on the chart.

A dark day for AltronIV....

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Official Results from Brawl #26

2008-07-19T17:59:00.001-04:00

Here are the official results from Brawl #26:

1st - thebmorekid - $36.00 (total domination)
2nd - xojones - $21.60
3rd - savepark72 - $14.40

I'll load these results on to the Money Leaderboard right now...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Money Leaderboard Update

2008-07-19T17:48:00.004-04:00

The 2008 Brawl Money Leaderboard has been updated to include results from Brawl #25. There were no shifts in ranking with the exception of Re-Raise34 cashing in his first Brawl. Other cashes closed gaps but did not signal any position shifts. Going to knock out Brawl #26 in this sitting as well...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Official Results from Brawl #25

2008-07-19T17:38:00.002-04:00

Just playing more catch up...

Here are the official results from Brawl #25. I will add the results and update the Leaderboard right after this post:

1st - ReRaise34 - $28.00
2nd - xojones - $16.80
3rd - thebmorekid - $11.20 (ship it!)

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Updates to the Brawl Money Leaderboard

2008-07-19T17:30:00.002-04:00

Okay....

The 2008 Brawl Money Leaderboard has been updated to include results from Brawl #24. With these results, jmlabrie18 has taken over the top spot from roccav.

Congrats to jmlabrie18 for taking the pole position.

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Official Results from Brawl #24

2008-07-19T17:09:00.003-04:00

Just catching up on some official results. Brawl #24 was the one that I had Internet issues at, so wasn't able to capture any screenshots from the final three. Congrats again to saveparmk72 for taking this one down. Here are the official results:

1st - saveparmk72 - $36.00
2nd - jmlabrie18 - $21.60
3rd - HarleyFund - $14.40

And I'm loading these results up on the Money Leaderboard right now...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

thebmorekid takes down Brawl #26

2008-07-19T16:22:00.002-04:00

No need for a long post here. I came. I saw. I conquered.

It was also nice to get heads up with pops, although the match didn't go long as we got it in with him holding top pair and me having an overpair. The hand pretty much played itself.

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Re-Raise34 takes down Brawl #25

2008-07-02T22:26:00.002-04:00

Congrats to Brawl newbie Re-Raise34 for taking down Brawl #25. This was his first Brawl and he was able to pull out the victory. Full tourney recap to follow...

Also, my apologies to saveparmk72 on not blogging his victory last week. I was trying to access the Brawl from a different location and had router issues and could not get in for screenshots.

saveparmk72 has been one of our most consistent Brawlers, and it was nice to see him snag a title last week.

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

That's it for now

2008-06-30T23:57:00.002-04:00

That's all the updates I can get done tonight. We are all caught up on the Money Board until I get the official payouts for last week's Brawl. FTP should be sending it anytime now.

So yeah, I had to back off my poker session for the night to get this thing updated, but I still managed to double my buy-in on my cash game while posting these updates.

Guess I can't complain...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

R.I.P John Bonetti

2008-06-30T23:35:00.004-04:00

I went to CardPlayer to grab a pic of Scotty for my last post, and came across the news of John Bonetti. He passed away this week at his home. He was 80 years old.

One of my first memories of poker involved John Bonetti. In 1999, he finished 2nd to Daniel Negreanu. Bonetti actually had Negreanu all in on the ropes heads up when Negreanu called an all in with a spade draw. Negreanu sucked out on the river with a spade (man, I thought that was the coolest thing) and beat Bonetti who was holding top pair.

I also remember watching replays of the 1993 WSOP Main Event where Bonetti made the final table as well. Betchell, the eventual champion that year, flopped a set against Bonetti's AK which had made top top. They were the two big chip stacks and collided in a perfect storm. (and Betchell made an awesome trap as well)

R.I.P Bonetti, and I'm sorry I never got to take a flop with you...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Shout out to Scotty baby!

2008-06-30T23:20:00.003-04:00

Wow...

Congrats to Scotty on winning the $50k HORSE event at this year's WSOP. He defeated a star-studded to take down the coveted Chip Reese trophy and the $2,000,000 first place prize.

This is Scotty's fifth bracelet, and he has now taken down the WSOP Main Event and the $50k HORSE championship, considered by many pros to be the new king-of-the-mountain tourney to win.

I can't wait for this one on TV...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl Money Leader Board Up to Date!

2008-06-30T23:09:00.002-04:00

Well, almost...

For those who played last week, you'll know that AltronIV and myself were having router issues and we were unable to connect. We both finally got in for one push-and-pray a piece, but both came up short of the double-up.

I'll have the official payouts from FTP very soon and I'll be all caught up. For the time being, congrats to AltronIV, purplerain05 and yours truly for moving up on the Money Board.

If memory serves me correct, I saw jmlabrie18 in the top five when the router cut out again. If he cashed, he secured the top spot on the board moving into the 2nd half of 2008.

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Money Board Updated through #22

2008-06-30T22:46:00.003-04:00

Okay, just cruising along here...

The Brawl Money Leaderboard has now been updated to include results from Brawl #22. Three Brawlers climbed up the chart, but most impressive was jmlabrie18's victory which brought him within $4 of the top spot.

Okay, now I'm anxious to see the next set of payouts, so I'm moving on...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl Money Leader Board Updated

2008-06-30T22:32:00.002-04:00

Okay, the 2008 Brawl Leader Board has been updated to include results from Brawl #21. I'm a little disappointed in myself that I didn't get this updated up quicker because we had some Brawlers cross some milestones.

xojones, with his back to back wins of Brawls #20 and #21, propelled himself into third place on the Money Board and crossed over the $200 threshold in winnings.

Yours truly got a 4th place finished, and got over the $200 mark as well.

And jmlabrie18, with his third place finished, was able to cross over the $300 mark and really close the gap on roccav for the top spot on the board.

More updates to follow...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Catching up on the Blog

2008-06-30T22:00:00.002-04:00

Okay, I've carved out an hour here tonight where I'm going to sit out of the cash games...scratch that, I'll single table for an hour so I can get all caught up on the blog.

No excuses for not being caught up. Work, as always, is getting in the way of the important stuff. I've had some places to be the last couple of weekends, and finally, live action has finally picked back up after everything that happened a couple of months ago. It's a pain in ways, with new places to go and top security invites at the last minute. But hey, at least we're rounding again.

The good news on the live game is that I haven't had a losing session since it picked back up. A nice Borgata trip in the middle of that, to the winner, and I'm pretty happy with my live play with all things considered...

Okay, first goal is to get the Money Board updated. Wish me luck!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

AltronIV's trophy on display

2008-06-23T22:10:00.001-04:00

I finally got AltronIV's trophy up. If he asks, just tell him it was there all week. He'll never know the difference...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

AltronIV takes down Brawl #23

2008-06-23T21:46:00.002-04:00

Congrats to AltronIV for taking down Brawl #23. This was his 2nd Brawl title, and it was perfect timing, as he was headed out to the WSOP days later. My apologies for not having the trophy up all week, but something tells me he's not checking his blog roll while he's in poker heaven. Good luck grinding with the big boys...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

jmlabrie18 takes down Brawl #22

2008-06-11T22:32:00.003-04:00

Congrats to jmlabrie18 on his third Brawl title. He's inching closer to the top spot on the Money Leaderboard with his consistent play. Full recaps on #22 and #21 as soon as I get a chance to breathe.

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

xojones goes back to back!

2008-06-04T22:32:00.001-04:00

xojones has just gone back to back taking down Brawls #20 and #21. This is the first time we've had a Brawler accomplish this feat!

Congrats!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Long Duong goes deep!

2008-06-04T22:13:00.002-04:00

Congrats to Long Duong for going deep in Event 2 of the WSOP. The size of Long Duong's weaponry was very intimidating to the field, especially the female players. Throughout the day, whispers were uttered of the legend. Everyone wanted a picture of the Long Duong. In the end, he shoved it all in, and it wasn't enough.

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl #20: Tourney Recap

2008-06-04T22:01:00.003-04:00

Quick recap of last week's action. Congrats to OMRounder for getting his first cash in the Brawls. He, xojones and yours truly would battle it out for the title. It wasn't my night, as I went out 3rd on this hand:

That left xojones and OMRounder heads up. The final hand went down like this:

Congrats to xojones for his first brawl victory. He's only $2 behind me on the Money Leaderboard.

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl Money Leaderboard Updated

2008-06-04T21:35:00.002-04:00

The 2008 Brawl Money Leaderboard has been updated to include results from Brawl #20.

Congrats to OMRounder for getting his first cash last week. roccav remains on top, but there are a few closing the gap.

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

xojones takes down Brawl #20

2008-05-28T23:09:00.004-04:00

Congrats to xojones for taking down Brawl #20 just a few moments ago. We had nine Brawlers come out this week, which gave us a one table tourney with deep stacks. This gave the Brawlers the chance to get in some good poker without having to worry about gambling. All in all, a very nice display of poker by everyone...

Updates to the Money Leaderboard and a full tourney recap to follow...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Phil Ivey vs. Paul Jackson

2008-05-28T20:36:00.005-04:00

This video clip is more than a year old, but I felt compelled to post it in case there is anyone out there who hasn't seen it yet. Truly amazing...

I read an article about this hand months ago, as it was discussing the multi-level battle that was unfolding, and READING about the hand was exciting. Surfing the net a few days ago, I came across the video, and was simply amazed.

Granted, the video is out of context. We are only looking at one hand out of potentially hundreds that they played together at this tournament or even in the past. Yet, I can't get over the five-bet by Ivey at the end.

Sick!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl #19: Tourney Recap

2008-05-28T20:20:00.005-04:00

Thanks to all those who came out to Brawl #19. I've been slacking with the marketing each week, but I promise to get on the ball with it. We had 14 Brawlers come out last Wednesday, and after the bubble, three remained to cash.

First out was HarleyFund who, when low on chips, pushed in on the following hand:

Congrats to HarleyFund for another impressive run in the Brawl. That left a heads up battle between yours truly and The9to5. I was personally glad to get past the money bubble for the first time in a few weeks, and I was also looking forward to this match. This is the first time that The9to5 has gone deep in the Brawl, and we've never played live together.

Unfortunately, The9to5 came into Heads Up with a nice chip lead, and I couldn't really get anything going. The match was over in less than ten hands, when I pushed below preflop:

A bit of a bad beat, but The9to5 had plenty of chips and could afford the gamble. Final results below:

Congrats to The9to5 for his first cash and Brawl victory. It sucks that I couldn't get my second title, but I'm glad to see you take one down...

See you all tonight!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl Money Leaderboard Updated

2008-05-24T23:57:00.002-04:00

The 2008 Brawl Money Leaderboard has been updated to include results from Brawl #19.

Congrats to The9to5 for getting his first Brawl cash and making it to the Leaderboard. Harleyfund also jumped a few spots with his cash last week as well.

See you this Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

The9to5 wins Brawl #19

2008-05-22T00:10:00.002-04:00

Congrats to The9to5 for taking down Bmore's Brawl #19 just a few moments ago. Yours truly was able to get heads up with him for the title, but he had amassed a chip lead that laid the hammer down pretty quickly.

Full recap to follow...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

2008 Money Leaderboard Updated

2008-05-19T21:40:00.003-04:00

The 2008 Money Leaderboard has been updated to include results through Brawl #18. saveparmk72 moved passed AltronIV to take 3rd place on the board. jmlabrie18 stayed in 2nd but got closer to the $300 mark and closed the gap between him and roccav.

purplerain05 jumped 6th places and moved over the $100 mark with his top-three finish last week.

We've got a lot of Brawlers poised to clear the $100 mark with a cash this week. Will it be your week to climb up the ladder?

See you Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

KOs have been officially KO'd

2008-05-19T21:34:00.002-04:00

The KO Leaderboard has been officially removed from the blog. roccav will go down as the KO Champ and the only Brawler to surpass the 30 KO mark.

If Full Tilt gets everything together, and is able to provide me these results on a consistent basis, I will bring the board back. There is a chance that I can add results retroactively, and we may have a complete 2008 Leaderboard. However, for the time being, they have been removed.

KOs will still get you $2 bounties on all Brawlers, and when we have FTP Pro guests, you still get the full buy-in back as well as an FTP t-shirt.

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl #18 Tourney Recap

2008-05-15T23:31:00.003-04:00

We had another small Brawl this week with 11 entrants. For a moment, it looked like we would finish early, getting down to three Brawlers within about 90 minutes. However, the three would battle it out in an epic three handed gridlock until there was a champ. On to the action:

purplerain05 would be first to hit the rail. A nice flop for both, but the board ran out as below:

That left jmlabrie18 and saveparmk72 to battle it out for a title. They would switch positions back and forth, but in the end saveparmk72 was able to capture his first title on this final hand below:

Congrats to saveparmk72 on his title. Final lobby below:

I hope to have more Brawlers out next week. We've had a couple of small Brawls, which are fun in their own way, but it would be nice to get back to 20-25 Brawlers. Come on guys, don't tell me you all felted...

:0)

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

saveparmk72 wins Brawl #18

2008-05-15T00:00:00.001-04:00

Congrats to saveparmk72 for taking down Brawl #18 a few minutes ago. He's got the trophy for a week and he earned it in an epic three-handed battle.

Full recap to come...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl Money Leaderboard is Updated

2008-05-14T22:54:00.002-04:00

The 2008 Brawl Money Leaderboard has been updated to reflect all results through Brawl #17. Now that I am going to get rid of KO tracking, I should be able to stay on top of keeping just the one board current.

Congrats to momx2 and PraireDogMg for getting two cashes out of the last three Brawls. momx2 was on a hot streak tonight too, but fell just short of her third cash in four tries.

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

KO'ing the KOs

2008-05-14T00:21:00.002-04:00

I'm making an executive decision to stop keeping track of the KOs in the Brawls. Originally, when I set this thing up, Full Tilt told me that they would be able to send me KO reports after each tourney. I received them for a couple of the Brawls, but I haven't been able to get them on a consistent basis.

This leads to a lot of administrative work during the actual tournament. I've got to keep every table open and make sure that I don't miss any KOs or attribute them to the wrong Brawler.

Full Tilt has been very consistent with providing me Payout reports, so I will continue to keep the Money Leaderboard in tact.

I'm also considering some other options regarding my private tourneys below:

1. Removing the double-stack feature and starting with 1500 chips- This would create less "play," but it would get the tourney over quicker each night. I'll probably set up a poll on the site and let you guys vote on this one.

2. Opening the tournament up to the public- I've been battling with this back and forth. Making the Brawl public wouldn't open flood gates, but it would give other people outside of my inner circle a chance to participate. With my participation with Battle of the Bloggers 3, I've met a lot of great Full Tilt grinders, and it would be nice to see some of them join in from time to time. (Most of the other weekly tourneys hosted by these guys range in players from 20-100, so I know it wouldn't get out of control.

3. Hosting a higher-stakes tournament once a month- After some feedback from some Brawlers, I'm thinking of running a couple of higher stakes tourneys as well. Perhaps a $24+$2 on Thursday nights weekly, and maybe a "big game" once a month with a buy-in ranging from $50-$100.

There are a lot of options concerning the above mentioned items. I could host a single stack $24+$2 on Thursday and make it open to the public, leave the Brawl alone...I could make the Brawl public and the others private with the core group. There are a lot of different directions to go.

At any rate, I'm thinking about it, and any opinions are greatly appreciated...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Quick Update

2008-05-11T15:42:00.003-04:00

Okay, Brawl recaps are up to date. I still need to update the money and KO leaderboards along with some FTP pro profiles for the guests who have joined us so far.

I also need to update the email list to include a lot of the new Brawlers who have joined us over the past couple of weeks. I've kept the Brawl private. The new guys are typically friends of friends, which is okay with me.

All of these updates hopefully will be done before game time on Wednesday.

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl #17: Tourney Recap

2008-05-11T15:29:00.003-04:00

We had a nice quiet Brawl #17 with 11 entrants. A couple of people asked me why the decline in entrants. The simple answer is I haven't been marketing the Brawl hard the last couple of weeks. I forgot to get the email out until three hours before the tourney. We had some Brawlers in Atlantic City, etc. I've kept the Brawl private to keep the entrant count down, but honestly 11 entrants was even low for me. I think if I get the email out in a timely fashion, we should have 20-25 Brawlers each week. Nevertheless, these small Brawls gives everyone a chance to get a title in a smaller field. So, on to the results:

With only three Brawlers cashing, heydaynow got past the bubble and was first out in 3rd, when he lost the following race:

This left a very interesting match up between previous champ Serious4 and momX2. They battled back and forth, and the final hand got all in preflop below:

Congrats to momX2 for her first Brawl victory. Final results are below:

That catches me all up on Brawl results. I still need to update the Money and KO boards, which I will work on as soon as I can.

See you all this Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Bmore's Brawl #16: Tourney Recap

2008-05-11T14:24:00.007-04:00

Brawl #16 welcomed one of my favorite FTP pros as a guest, Brad "Yukon" Booth. I've been following Brad Booth long before he was an FTP pro, railing him as LFISGD. It was an honor to have Brad take some flops with us in the Brawl. On to the cashes:

mind27 was the first out after the bubble on this hand:

momX2 has had a very nice run in the last couple of brawls. Her tourney this week came to an end in 4th place, when she went out on this hand:

Next out was PrairieDogMg, when he was outflopped on this hand:

That left a heads up battle with GetYoMoneySon and GreatOne5731. Both of these contenders were first time Brawlers, and it was fun to watch some newbies get deep. GetYoMoneySon had controlled the final table action, and it was his tourney to win as he got his money in good on this flop and watched his hand hold up:

Congrats to all Brawlers who cashed, and GetYoMoneySon for his first entry and first victory. Final results below:

See you all next week!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Tourney Recap: Bmore's Brawl #15

2008-05-07T20:04:00.004-04:00

Ugh...another Brawl, another bubble for thebmorekid. But hey, this isn't about me, right? We had a nice small outing for Brawl #15, which gave a lot of play with the double stacks, and a chance to see some really great match ups.

coleman410 was able to make it to the money, but his run at a title fell short, when his all in couldn't hold up in a three way pot here:

Next out was PrairieDogMg in third. He got a light on chips and had to make a stand. It wasn't meant to be, as he busted on this hand:

That left AltronIV and roccav battling for the title. The moral of this story? I guess if you get yourself a blog, you can make it to the final table. The long awaited, anticipated battle only lasted a few hands when to heads up monster pairs collided preflop:

Congrats to AltronIV for taking down his first Brawl Title and getting the monkey off his back. Final results below:

Okay MomX2, now it's your turn!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Bmore's Brawl #14: Tourney Recap

2008-04-30T20:42:00.007-04:00

Brawl #14 was painful for me. I went out on the bubble, and watched a couple Brawlers cash and move ahead of me on the money list. Let's recap the action:

mind27 was the first to bust after the bubble, going out on 5th when his QQ couldn't outrace the draws of AltronIV:

pokerwilly was the next to go in 4th place. Congrats to pokerwilly for busting his Brawl cherry with a breakout performance in Brawl #14. His run was over when his K high got out flopped here:

AltronIV made a run at his first Brawl title, but fell short when he ran into the cowboys of kibl on this hand:

That left kibl and xojones battling it out for the crown. When the flop came 8 high, the money went in, and kibl's over pair held up for victory:

Congrats to kibl on his victory. Final results are below:

The core Brawlers all either have a title now, or have made a good run at one during the events. Good luck to all those who are still in search of their first Brawl victory!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Quick Updates Coming- Brad "Yukon" Booth playing tonight!

2008-04-30T20:39:00.001-04:00

Hey guys,

Quick recaps coming soon from the last two Brawls. The goal is to get them up before the start of Brawl #16.

Brad "Yukon" Booth was kind enough to join us tonight as a special guest. He is one of my favorite pros and it should be fun to take some flops with him.

Also, remember you can join the buddy chat by sending me an IM at thebmorekidFTP.

See you tonight!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

KO Leaderboard Updated

2008-04-22T22:58:00.002-04:00

And now the 2008 Brawl KO Leaderboard has been updated to include results through Brawl #15. roccav is still on top of both boards. Somebody please catch this guy.

Again, congrats to pokerwilly on his breakthrough night last week. He managed to grab seven KOs on his heater, and get in the hunt for the KO Leaderboard Top Ten.

Last week was pretty rough for me, as I watched xojones, kibl and AltronIV pass me on the Leaderboards. Next week I'll have to make a move and see if I can gain back my lead on these guys.

See you tomorrow!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl Money Leaderboard Updated

2008-04-22T21:38:00.003-04:00

The 2008 Brawl Money Leaderboard has been updated to include results through Brawl #14. We've got two brawlers very close to breaking the $200 barrier in xojones and kibl.

Congrats to pokerwilly for getting his first cash by crushing the Brawl for the first couple of hours.

See you all Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl #13: Tourney Recap

2008-04-16T20:48:00.006-04:00

This is going to be a quick recap because Brawl #14 is starting in a few minutes. Thanks to everyone who came out to the Brawl last week. We had five Brawlers cash, with heydaynow going out first after the bubble on this hand:

Next to go was saveparmk72 with another deep finish in the Brawl:

rfjmc32 went out in 3rd on this hand:

That left Harleyfund and que31dawg battling it out for the title. It was Harleyfund's night, as he took down the Brawl on this final hand:

Congrats to all Brawlers who cashed. The final lobby is below:

And Brawl #14 is starting in about five minutes. Good luck to everyone!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl Money Leaderboard Updated

2008-04-16T20:45:00.004-04:00

The 2008 Money Leaderboard has been updated to include results up through Brawl #13.

roccav is the only Brawler over the $300 mark.

jmlabrie18 is the only Brawler over the $200 mark.

Brawl #14 is starting in 15 minutes. See you all there!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl KO Leaderboard Updated

2008-04-16T20:29:00.002-04:00

The 2008 Brawl Leaderboard has been updated to include Brawl #13. We've had 329 knockouts so far.

roccav is the only Brawler above 30 KOs.

jmlabrie18 is the only Brawler above 20 KOs.

Money Leaderboard update coming soon...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Bmore's Brawl # 12: Tourney Recap

2008-04-06T19:35:00.007-04:00

Thanks to all those who came out for Brawl #12. We had two new Brawlers join us last week: jml21283 and Lodisbane. With 27 Brawlers battling, let's get to the action:

saveparmk72 is turning out to be one of the more consistent Brawlers, cashing again this week. Here he is going out 5th when he runs into an over pair:

mind27 was next to go when he had to make a stand on this hand:

That brought us down to three, with two previous champs in kibl and roccav, as well as playingcatch trying to capture his first Brawl title. He would eventually get heads up and have a shot, as kibl went out 3rd on this hand:

A few hand into head up play, roccav would capture the title on this hand:

Congrats to all those who cashed. Final lobby is below:

And congrats to roccav on his third Brawl victory. With his win, he catapulted himself back to the top of the leader boards for Money and KOs. We'll have to wait until next week to take the top spot from him.

See you all Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl Moneyboard Updated

2008-04-06T19:14:00.002-04:00

The Brawl Moneyboard has been updated to include the results from Brawl #12. roccav reclaims the top spot from jmlabrie18, and now sits in the pole position for Money and KOs. Can anyone stop this guy?

Out of the 54 participants of the Brawl so far, 27 have not cashed at this point. Looking through the names, I know that for some, it's just a matter of time...

See you Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl KO Leaderboard Updated

2008-04-06T19:01:00.002-04:00

The Brawl Leaderboard has been updated to include results up through Brawl #12. Congrats to roccav for being the first Brawler to crack 30 KOs. Other interesting tidbits:

My dad, my brother and myself are all tied at 12 KOs...

MomX2 went ahead of her husband, AltronIV, again...

Only 12 Brawlers out of 54 have not registered a KO to this point. And most of those 12 were one-time showings. For those others, your names will remain anonymous to avoid humiliation...

See you Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Bmore's Brawl #11: Title goes to Cali

2008-03-31T19:31:00.006-04:00

Thanks to all those who came out for Brawl #10. We had two new Brawlers this week as we welcomed OMRounder and Full Tilt Pro Chris Klecz. 30 Brawlers came out last week, and we just made the minimum for getting the FTP t-shirt and full buy-in back to whomever could KO the pro. mind27 got his 2nd Pro KO, and I'm sure we'll see the 2nd t-shirt on Ebay...

On to the action:

Amstel34 had another strong showing in the Brawl, but his luck ran out when he pushed on this hand against AltronIV:

hslaw06 got a double-cash this week, finishing runner-up to yours truly in The Horsey Ride, and this 6th place finish in the Brawl below:

Along with his FTP Pro KO, mind27 had a good night making the money, and going out in 5th on this hand:

It looked like blowpar68 was going to make another run at a title, but his run ended when his nut flush draw bricked out on 4th and 5th:

AltronIV cashed in his third straight Brawl, but the title eluded him for at least one more week when he ran into AK on this hand:

That left us with jmlabrie18 looking for his third Brawl title, and MikeB82. This was a classic battle as it brought two old school Owings Mills Brawlers together at the same table even though they were 3,000 miles apart. For a moment, it seemed like MikeB82 had never moved to Cali and they were duking it out in jmlabrie18's apartment. I was pretty happy to see this match, as one of my main reasons for putting these Brawls together was to link up old school (and new school) players who don't get to meet up as often as they would like to take some flops.

Well, the grudge-match picked up right where it left off. MikeB82 made some sick bluffs and traded the chip lead with jmlabrie18 until the final hand developed. In the end, jmlabrie18 ran into a better hand and was unable to come away with his 3rd Brawl title:

MikeB82 takes down Brawl #11 and sends the title to the West coast for a week. Final lobby is below:

Congrats to MikeB82 for taking down Brawl #11. He's been the bubble boy a couple of times, and it was nice to see him get a cash and the title.

Brawl #12 is this Wednesday. Brawlers- we've got the bring the title back to Maryland!

See you Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Omaha Donkey

2008-03-29T02:31:00.005-04:00

I figured that I put this one up here considering I'm the biggest Omaha donkey in the world. Boys and girls, the lesson is that you don't necessarily know how to play a game to win a tourney. Just close your eyes and raise!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Bmore's Brawl # 10: Tourney Recap

2008-03-24T21:35:00.008-04:00

Thanks to all the Brawlers who came out for Brawl #10. We had 35 participants, tying the attendance record, and welcomed aslightdog and OMRounder as first time Brawlers. This was the first week in five that I was unable to lock up an FTP pro. I had one trying to register at the last minute, but he missed the cut-off. Hopefully, I will lock one up for us next week. On to the action:

seager06 got his first Brawl cash last week. Here he is going out in 7th:

Congrats seager06, glad to see you get a cash under your belt. Next out was AltronIV in 6th:

surfnRRT had another strong showing this week finishing 5th:

adultswimmer had a nice run, but his night ended on this hand when he went out in 4th:

saveparmk72 has been one of the more consistent Brawlers thus far. Here he is with another deep finish going out 3rd:

And that left two-time Brawl champion roccav and kibl battling it out for the title. kibl was determined to win as he started to dominate the heads-up action. roccav had to make a move, and kibl got this flop when they got it in:

Congrats to kibl for taking down a well deserved title this week. Final lobby is below:

I hope everyone had a great time at the Brawl last week. I will see you all Wednesday when we battle it out again!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl KO Leaderboard Updated

2008-03-23T21:32:00.002-04:00

The KO Leaderboard has been updated through Brawl #10.

39 of 54 Brawlers have registered a KO in the first ten Brawls. If you're not part of this 72%, I hope you get your first KO this week.

See you Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl Money Leaderboard Updated

2008-03-23T21:12:00.003-04:00

The Money Leaderboard has been updated to include Brawl #10. roccav has taken over the top spot from jmlabrie18.

Here's an interesting note. Through the first ten Brawls, we've had 54 different participants. Out of those 54 Brawlers, 26 have cashed. Pretty interesting that the line was right at 50%. If you're a Brawler who hasn't cashed yet, is this your week to join the club?

See you Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Profile: Mike Matusow

2008-03-22T14:47:00.004-04:00

The Brawl was happy to welcome Mike Matusow as it's fourth guest appearance of a Full Tilt Pro.

Mike "The Mouth" Matusow needs no introduction. For as long as most of the Brawlers have been following poker, The Mouth has been in the spotlight. He won his first bracelet in 1999, and got another in 2002. He was the first player to two million dollar tournament cashes within the same year, final tabling the 2005 WSOP Main Event and taking down the TOC a few weeks later.

The Mouth has had some ups and down, but no one can dispute that his name belongs with the greats playing the circuit today.

The Brawlers, once again, thank Mike Matusow for coming out and taking some flops with us...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Bmore's Brawl #9 - Tourney Recap

2008-03-17T22:13:00.008-04:00

Thanks to all those who came out to the Brawl last week. We had 35 Brawlers battling it out for the title and a chance to KO Mike Matusow, who was kind enough to take some flops with us as a guest Brawler. In addition to the Mouth, the Brawl welcomed grannysmiff, rattycat, permanuts1, thirdlegoflamb and Mr.Piccalino as first time Brawlers. On to the action:

hslaw06 was the first Brawler to cash in 7th place. His QQ ran into a monster below:

momX2 was the lucky Brawler who KOd Mike Matusow when her flopped set held up. For the KO, she received her full buy-in back plus a t-shirt from Full Tilt. It was a good night for her all around, as she managed cash in 6th place as well. Here's her final hand getting KOd by hubby AltronIV:

que31dawg was out next in 5th when blowpar68 spiked a set on the flop and it was all but over:

After that set, blowpar68 went on a tear. When purplerain05 pushed in with As8s, he was dominated by blowpar68's...um....A...8...off:

Guys? Aren't we supposed to chop that? Anyways, that would be the last beat of the night. Next out was saveparmk72 when he pushed AA against...um...A...8...off:

Um, yeah...Moving along, heads up was a nice battle between AltronIV and blowpar68. They traded the chip lead a couple of times, and then a pivotal hand. AltronIV was able to get his money in good, but blowpar68 had a flush draw:

Oh yeah, and a straight draw! AltronIV couldn't recover from that one, and the final hand came below:

Congrats to all Brawlers who cashed. Final lobby below:

Congrats to blowpar68 for capturing his first Brawl title. Sure, it helped to get lucky along the way, but blowpar68 played a solid game and had the chips to gamble when the opportunity presented itself.

See you all this Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Can someone please explain this call?

2008-03-17T21:40:00.002-04:00

As you probably know, Danny "THE_D_RY" Ryan is one of my favorite players. So, I'm railing him in a $200/$400 PLO Hi game when this guy donates to my boy:

Full Tilt Poker Game #5678104548: Table Brookview (6 max) - $200/$400 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 21:52:40 ET - 2008/03/17
Seat 1: guaranteed376 ($41,089)
Seat 2: THE__D__RY ($8,000)
Seat 4: David Benyamine ($76,390.50)
Seat 5: CHUFTY ($5,098)
Seat 6: trex313 ($28,496)
guaranteed376 posts the small blind of $200
THE__D__RY posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
David Benyamine raises to $900
CHUFTY calls $900
trex313 folds
guaranteed376 folds
THE__D__RY raises to $3,800
David Benyamine calls $2,900
CHUFTY calls $2,900
*** FLOP *** [Ah 4c Jd]
THE__D__RY bets $4,200, and is all in
David Benyamine has 15 seconds left to act
David Benyamine has requested TIME
David Benyamine folds
CHUFTY calls $1,298, and is all in
THE__D__RY shows [Th Jc Ks Kh]
CHUFTY shows [9c 3d 6h 7h]
Uncalled bet of $2,902 returned to THE__D__RY
*** TURN *** [Ah 4c Jd] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [Ah 4c Jd Qs] [Qc]
THE__D__RY shows a straight, Ace high
CHUFTY shows a pair of Queens
THE__D__RY wins the pot ($14,194) with a straight, Ace high
CHUFTY is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $14,196 Rake $2
Board: [Ah 4c Jd Qs Qc]
Seat 1: guaranteed376 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: THE__D__RY (big blind) showed [Th Jc Ks Kh] and won ($14,194) with a straight, Ace high
Seat 4: David Benyamine folded on the Flop
Seat 5: CHUFTY showed [9c 3d 6h 7h] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 6: trex313 (button) didn't bet (folded)

Why the call preflop? Am I missing something?

Are there really fish at the $200/$400 game? Lord, please let me build a roll to sit in a game like this....

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Bmore's Brawl KO Leaderboard Update

2008-03-17T21:31:00.003-04:00

The Bmore's Brawl KO Leaderboard has been updated to include results though Brawl #9.

Note: The KO Board is about 95% accurate. I've missed a couple of KOs along the way, but Full Tilt should be sending me a report on all of the KOs since we started, and once I receive it, I'll make any corrections. Please refrain from telling me any errors now. Once I get the reports from FTP, I'll post an update, and if at that point you have a question, let me know and I can forward the reports to you for review.

roccav continues to hold top spot on the KO board, but there are a lot of Brawlers that could take the lead with one good tourney...

See you Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Bmore's Brawl Money Leaderboard Updated

2008-03-17T21:12:00.002-04:00

The Bmore's Brawl Money Leaderboard has been updated to include all results through Brawl #9. jmlabrie18 still holds the top spot on the board, but there are a lot of Brawlers hot on his trail.

The Money Leaderboard should be 100% accurate. I'm working on the KO Leaderboard as we speak. It will be about 95% accurate, but I know I've missed a couple of KOs along the way.

See you Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl Champions to Date

2008-03-17T20:14:00.004-04:00

I'm still waiting for a response from Full Tilt to update the Brawl Leaderboards with accurate numbers (I had to leave Brawl #8 for a family emergency), but it seems they are pretty busy lately. So, I think I'm going to go ahead and update the Leaderboards as best I can tonight, and then once I get the reports from FTP, I'll correct any mistakes.

In the meantime, I thought it would be good to put out a post on Brawl Champions to date. All of these Brawlers deserve a big round of applause for navigating through the tough competition. They are:

Brawl #1 - thebmorekid (ship that sherbet!)
Brawl #2 - jmlabrie18 (luckbox)
Brawl #3 - roccav (how did he get a win?)
Brawl #4 - jmlabrie18 (please see Brawl #2 note above)
Brawl #5 - heydaynow (forgotten about that one-outer yet?)
Brawl #6 - roccav (how did he get another win?)
Brawl #7 - Serious4 (we all have been officially punished)
Brawl #8 - NELKO (ehh...too nice a guy to poke fun at)
Brawl #9 - blowpar68 (ehhh....a lawyer so too easy to poke fun at)

Congratulations to all of our Champions to date.
Who's going to be #10?

See you Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Profile: Stuart Paterson

2008-03-16T11:36:00.003-04:00

The Brawl was happy to welcome Stuart Paterson as it's third guest appearance of a Full Tilt Pro.

Stuart "The Donator" Paterson has been around the game for a number of years. He started out in sports betting, and after a good session, decided to try his luck at the poker table. Like most of us, sitting down once was all it took, and he was hooked.

Wanting to take his game to the next level, he befriended poker pros like Michael Mizrachi and Josh Arieh. With their mentoring, he was able to complete transform his game. You can now see Stuart in some of the largest high-stakes cash games played on Full Tilt.

The Brawlers, once again, thank Stuart Paterson for coming out and taking some flops with us...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Can't Lock up a win at Razz

2008-03-16T10:38:00.004-04:00

I've final tabled the nightly Razz tourney back to back nights, but a victory eludes me. I got 6th place on Friday, and this close last night:

AHHHHHHHHHH!

Why does 2nd place sting so much in a tournament? AltronIV went through the same thing in the Brawl last week. We might seem like cry-babies, but aside from the money, I'd rather finish 5th or 6th than 2nd. You're too close to victory. You can smell it. They always say that, in a poker tournament, only one person walks away truly happy. And I think the only person that can truly understand this statement, is the runner-up.

I've got to give some credit to thatslife1969. I haven't seen him at the Razz ring games, so I don't really have an indication of his game other than his performance at the final table last night. When we got three-handed, he relentlessly completed every bet if he didn't have paint showing. I felt like he was stealing a lot of "my pots" because I'd be sandwiched in-between him and the bring in holding (K,Q) 6 and have to fold.

At one point, I pokerdb'd him and saw that he had over $5k in Razz cashes, so I decided to back off and let him take out the short stack in third place. They battled back and forth a bit, but eventually he was able to felt him.

We got heads-up with pretty even stacks, and I was feeling confident that I could take the tourney down. thatslife1969 seemed to not be able to switch gears once we got heads-up, and would complete with hands like (X,X) 10 against my (A, 2) K. I'd smooth call, and then check raise when I improved on 4th, knowing he was firing 100% of the time. This got me into a lot of situations where I was drawing better heading into 5th. We traded the chip lead back and forth for a good 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, we got into a raising war when I made a 7 low on 5th against his (X, X) A, 5, 6. We both bricked 6th, and I really thought I was taking down the pot, but he tabled a 6 low, which I believe he made on 5th right along with me. It's possible he was drawing to it heading to 7th, but based on the action through the hand, I think we both were made on 5th. In any case, it was an awesome heads-up battle, and I owe thatslife1969 credit and a thank you for giving me some good heads-up experience in tournament Razz.

So here I am...a nice MTT day for me, but no victory to enjoy.

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Brawl Money Leaderboard Updated

2008-03-12T20:06:00.002-04:00

The Bmore's Brawl Money Leaderboard has been updated and includes up through Brawl #8. The Money Leaderboard should be 100% accurate. I am still working on the KO Leaderboard, which will be a little tougher to get 100% correct due to the fact that I had to exit the Brawl early last week for a family emergency. I am working on getting a semi-update on the KO board posted soon, and I will verify everybody's KO count with Full Tilt once they send me the data.

See you tonight!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Omaha sucks- How would you play this?

2008-03-11T23:46:00.005-04:00

I'll be the first one to admit that my knowledge of Omaha is limited. Nonetheless, I feel that it is adequate enough to compete in small buy-in tournaments with decent expectation. A hand in one of the Battle of the Bloggers 3 events had me questioning my understanding of basic principles. Here's a screenshot of of me going busto on, what I'm thinking, was a bad beat:

So here's the situation. It folds around to the SB, who pops me in the BB. With the double suited aces, I'm not folding. I considered calling, but I decided on a re-pop based on the value of my hand and my position if he can make the call. I've read a couple of different passages that say you must push the action with aces. Considering I was double suited, and with the above-mentioned thoughts, I re-pop the pot.

And he re-pops me to about 10,000. I don't like the raise, but I can't see laying the hand for the following reasons:

1. the value of my hand (which I may be off base with)

2. the size of the pot (getting my money in and winning gives me the chip lead)

3. I'm trying to calculate his range quickly and I can't see a lot of hands that are ahead of me (part of this thought was that the chance of him being double suited with the aces as well seemed to me like the chances of AA vs. AA in hold-em- does that make sense?) I ended up ranging him on AAxx, KKxx, double-suited broadway cards...that's about it. So, looking at my equity, I concluded:

AAxx- should be ahead of most of these because of my hand being double suited
KKxx- should be crushing these hands
double suited broadway cards- worried me a bit, but guessed that I should have decent equity against these hands (also thought that he could be sharing suits with me on some of these hands)

Okay, with seven seconds, I put this together as much as I can and come over the top. The board runs out as seen in the screenshot above and I'm out. So, my questions are:

1. Did I over play this hand?
2. What are arguments for alternative decisions?
3. If, as me, you smooth called the preflop raise, what would you do on the flop? Against a check? Against a bet? Against a check-raise?

Here's the hand history if it helps with the questions:

Full Tilt Poker Game #5599835419: Skill Series (40521358), Table 10 - 200/400 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 23:30:20 ET - 2008/03/11
Seat 1: Virge (18,375)
Seat 2: thebmorekid (14,757)
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (6,031)
Seat 4: BamBamCan (3,070)
Seat 5: Jestocost (48,434)
Seat 6: jmlabrie18 (4,136)
Seat 7: KngofKngs (10,915)
Seat 8: bayne_s (4,393)
Seat 9: KillinKegz (24,665)
Virge posts the small blind of 200
thebmorekid posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to thebmorekid [As 5s Jd Ad]
SirFWALGMan folds
BamBamCan folds
Jestocost folds
jmlabrie18 folds
KngofKngs folds
bayne_s has 15 seconds left to act
bayne_s folds
KillinKegz folds
Virge raises to 1,200
thebmorekid raises to 3,600
Virge raises to 10,800
thebmorekid raises to 14,757, and is all in
Virge calls 3,957
thebmorekid shows [As 5s Jd Ad]
Virge shows [Ac Ah 4c 3s]
*** FLOP *** [9h 8d Jc]
*** TURN *** [9h 8d Jc] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [9h 8d Jc 8c] [9c]
thebmorekid shows two pair, Aces and Nines
Virge shows a flush, Ace high
Virge wins the pot (29,514) with a flush, Ace high
thebmorekid stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 29,514 Rake 0
Board: [9h 8d Jc 8c 9c]
Seat 1: Virge (small blind) showed [Ac Ah 4c 3s] and won (29,514) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: thebmorekid (big blind) showed [As 5s Jd Ad] and lost with two pair, Aces and Nines

Any comments would be greatly appreciated...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Bmore's Brawl #8 Tourney Recap

2008-03-10T20:59:00.006-04:00

Thanks to all who attend Brawl #8. I didn't get a chance to send out email reminders this past week, and combining that with a few Brawlers being up in AC for the Ceasars WSOP events, we had a relatively small turn out of 23 participants. A special welcome to HarleyFund and Stuart Paterson for making their first appearances. On to the highlights:

I believe this was the first straight flush in Brawler history:

Talk about beginner's luck!

Harleyfund would continue his good fortune in his first Brawl and get to the money. Congrats to Stuart Paterson, Harleyfund, Amstel34, xojones and NELKO for making it past the bubble. Stuart Paterson would be the first out when Amstel34 tripled up below:

Harleyfund was next to go when AK couldn't hit again:

Next out was Amstel34 when couldn't out run xojones:

This brought us to a heads-up battle between xojones and NELKO. The chip lead changed hands a couple of times, but a nice catch by NELKO on the river ended the Brawl:

Congrats to NELKO for his first victory in the Brawl. Final lobby is below:

As you may or may not know, I had to exit the Brawl early for a family emergency. A special thanks goes out to AltronIV for stepping in and documenting the rest of the Brawl for me.

This week should be fun, as we'll have some first time Brawlers getting their feet wet...

See you Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

New Brawler Blog

2008-03-04T13:42:00.002-05:00

Adultswimmer has started a blog....check it out...should be an entertaining one as time goes on...

See everyone Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Profile: Keith Sexton

2008-03-02T20:54:00.003-05:00

The Brawl was happy to welcome Keith Sexton as it's second guest appearance of a Full Tilt Pro.
Keith has been playing poker for over 30 years in Vegas. He is best known for his stud game, but has multiple WSOP cashes across all forms of the game.

Like Beth Shak last week, Keith comes from a poker playing family. All of his sons play, including Paul Sexton, who has developed into a formidable tournament player as well.

The Brawlers, once again, thank Keith Sexton for coming out and taking some flops with us...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Bmore's Brawl #7 - Brawlers Meet the Punisher

2008-03-02T20:19:00.007-05:00

Thanks to everyone who came out last Wednesday for Brawl #7. A special thanks to xNoIdeax, Amstel34 and Keith Sexton for attending their first brawls. With the appearance of Keith Sexton, we again had special $11 KO bounty on a pro. mind27 KO'd Keith and got his full buy in back, as well as an FTP t-shirt. Congrats!

We shattered the attendance record again with 35 participants. It was a hard fought battle, but seven Brawlers made the money this week. Congrats to momX2, NELKO, adultswimmer, roccav, Amstel34, purplerain05 and Serious4. Let's recap the action...

After the money bubble burst, momX2 was the first to be eliminated when her set ran into the punishment of Serious4:

Did anyone not see that one coming?

Next out was NELKO when his AJ ran into the dominating AK of purplerain05:

adultswimmer had a nice run in the Brawl, but his tourney came to the end when Serious4 pushed the punishment button:

Shortly after that, roccav got punished when he pushed with A10s:

Amstel34 borrowed $11 to get into the Brawl from your truly. To return the favor, he cooled me with AA when I pushed with KK to bust me. After that, he made a strong showing, but went out in 3rd when Serious4 turned the punishment meter up a notch:

This left purplerain05 and Serious4 to duke it out for the title. Congrats to both of these guys, as Brawl #7 would be their first cashes, and nice ones at that. purplerain05 never had a chance though. As we all know from Thursday late nights, once the punisher is in the building, he doesn't leave until he has all the cheese and crackers. Here's the final hand:

Congrats to Serious4 for dominating the final table action and picking up his first Bmore's Brawl title. Final lobby below:

Money and KO Leaderboards are updated over on the left. I hope everyone had a good time at the Brawl. Next week should be just as exciting. See you Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

KO and Money Leaderboards Updated

2008-02-28T00:51:00.003-05:00

We've just concluded Brawl #7. It was another great night with plenty of stories to tell. I'll do a full recap later this week. For now, KO and Money Leaderboards are up. jmlabrie18 still holds the top money, and roccav held on to the KO title.

We shattered the attendance record again with 35 Brawlers, and had a lot of new faces at the final table. A full tourney recap to follow soon...

Thanks to all those who came out this week. Hope to see you again next Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Profile: Beth Shak

2008-02-24T17:29:00.004-05:00

The Brawl was happy to welcome Beth Shak as it's first guest appearance of a Full Tilt Pro. Beth is best known for her 2007 WSOP 2nd place cash navigating a field of 827 players for $328,000.

In addition to being a ruthless player on the felt, Beth excels in many other aspects of life as well. She is a dedicated mother and wife to her family, an accomplished business woman and involves herself any many charities. One close to her heart is the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Palliative Care Program.

The Brawlers, once again, thank Beth Shak for coming out and taking some flops with us...

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Bmore's Brawl #6 Tourney Recap

2008-02-24T15:30:00.010-05:00

Wow, what can I say about Brawl #6? We shattered our attendance record with 30 entrants, had our first Royal Flush of the series, had a record for most KOs in a Brawl, welcomed five new Brawlers including an FTP Pro, and had an epic heads up battle for the title!

First let's start with a big thank you and welcome to first time Brawlers hastur310, The9to5, toilets, vrameglis and Beth Shak. Beth Shak became our first guest appearance of a Full Tilt Pro. She was very kind to accept the invitation, and everyone enjoyed taking some flops and having conversation with her during the Brawl.

The Brawl also shattered the previous attendance record of 24 with 30 entrants last week. With this count, roccav was able to receive the full buy-in bounty when he busted our Full Tilt Pro, as well as a free "I KO'd a Pro" t-shirt from Full Tilt Poker. Congrats!

First time Brawler hastur310 had a very exciting hand, when he rivered the first Royal Flush in Brawler history below:

Good flop, but you gotta love that river!

Seven Brawlers made the money this week. AltronIV was the first to bust out when his live cards preflop got crushed by quads below:

Congrats to AltronIV for his first Brawl cash last week. Watch out if this guy gets hot. I was next to go in 6th place when I raced Soooted42 below:

See ya! Keeping family close together, xojones was next to bust in 5th, when he ran into jmlabrie18 with a monster:

With the blinds escalating, the short stacks continued to press, but the coin flips weren't in their favor this week. Here's saveparmk72 busting in 4th when his AK can't improve:

AK just wasn't winning tonight, as Soooted42 busted out with in 3rd as well:

That left two previous Brawl winners to battle it out for the title this week. It was an epic match between jmlabrie18 and roccav, with many awesome hands to watch. Here's a point early in the battle when jmlabrie18 makes a move to get chipped up:

On the turn, it looked like the match would be over quickly, but jmlabrie18 spiked a jack on the river to get chipped up:

Unfortunately, my computer froze up during the last couple of hands, but we were able to retrieve the hand history of the final hand below:

Seat 3: roccav (57,020)
Seat 9: jmlabrie18 (32,980)
roccav antes 250
jmlabrie18 antes 250
roccav posts the small blind of 1,000
jmlabrie18 posts the big blind of 2,000
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to roccav [9c 9h]
roccav raises to 5,000
jmlabrie18 raises to 12,000
roccav has 15 seconds left to actroccav calls 7,000
*** FLOP *** [Qh Ac 2h]
jmlabrie18 bets 20,730, and is all in
roccav has 15 seconds left to act
roccav has requested TIME
roccav calls 20,730
jmlabrie18 shows [8h Ks]
roccav shows [9c 9h]
*** TURN *** [Qh Ac 2h] [9s]
*** RIVER *** [Qh Ac 2h 9s] [6c]
jmlabrie18 shows Ace King high
roccav shows three of a kind, Nines
roccav wins the pot (65,960) with three of a kind, Nines
jmlabrie18 stands up
jmlabrie18 (Observer): gg
roccav stands up

A sick call to end a hard-fought heads-up battle. Congrats to roccav for taking it down and capturing a record-breaking 11 KOs for one Brawl. Final lobby results below:

Thanks to all of those who came out to the Brawl. It was a very exciting week. I'd like to, once again, send a special thanks to Beth Shak for sitting in with our crew and taking some flops. I had numerous people tell me after the tournament that they thought that it was really cool for a pro to come hang out with us for the evening. Next week, we welcome Keith Sexton, another gracious FTP pro, who is kind enough to take some time and play with the Brawlers...

See you all Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

KO and Money Leaderboards Updated

2008-02-21T01:26:00.006-05:00

The KO and Money Leaderboards for Bmore's Brawl have been updated to include the results from Brawl #6. jmlabrie18 held on to his top spot on the Money Leaderboard. However, roccav captured an amazing 11 KOs in this week's Brawl to seize the top spot on the KO Leaderboard.

A full recap of Brawl #6 will be posted later this week. We shattered the attendance record, welcomed five new Brawlers, had a Full Tilt Pro play with us, and had an awesome heads up match for the title. Stay tuned for a lengthy blog with all the details.

Thanks again to all those that came out last tonight. Hope to see you next week!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Ship that Sherbert!

2008-02-18T22:51:00.004-05:00

I'm not sure what was better: Rivering the Royal OR the guy four-betting on 5th to get all the money in:

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

Bmore's Brawl #5 - The Rufface & Beginner's Luck

2008-02-18T21:25:00.009-05:00

Thanks to all those attending Bmore's Brawl #5 last Wednesday. We tied our record attendance last week at 24 entrants. The Brawl welcomed two new players last week with LGGQUE and heydaynow coming out to see some flops. Here's how the tourney went down...

Brawlers witnessed some sick beats in Week 5. My favorite by far was soooted42's crazy river on playingcatch. They get the money all in on the turn, and soooted42 tables "The Rufface," and delivers a stunning blow on the river:

Ouch!

That was one of many beats delivered in Week 5. There were too many to document, but CrazyDiggity wrote about one of two outers on his site if you want to check it out. At any rate, five Brawlers were able to navigate through the mine field for a cash in the Brawl. Congrats to thebmorekid, hslaw06, soooted42, que31dawg and heydaynow. Here's how the action went after the bubble:

After I had a quick bust after the money bubble, hslaw06 was the next casuality when he raced heydaynow and bricked out:

At this point, heydaynow was just crushing the final table. It looked like soooted42 was going to even up the table a little bit in this next hand, but the river changed all of that. Watch how he gets out flopped, turns a sick card, and then gets crushed by the river:

Painful to watch even in replay!

que31dawg battled hard, and at one point, got the chip counts pretty even. In the end though, it was heydaynow's day, as he took it down on this final hand:

Money goes in on the flop:

And for a nice change of pace for Week 5, the best hand held up:

Congrats to heydaynow for taking down Bmore's Brawl #5. It was a hard fought effort. With some lucky cards, a well played game, and a bit of beginner's luck he was able to make a name for himself in his first Brawl appearance. Final lobby is shown below:

Thank you to everyone who came out last week. It was definitely an entertaining week. We've still got some strong Brawlers who have yet to cash, so next week should be very interesting...

See you this Wednesday!

Damn Donkeys,

Bmore

KO and Money Leaderboards Updated

2008-02-14T11:05:00.004-05:00

The KO and Money Leaderboards for Bmore's Brawl have been updated to include the results of last night's tourney. jmlabrie18 still holds the top spot in both categories. Newcomer heydaynow vaulted himself up the chart with a strong first appearance last night taking down the tourney and capturing nine KOs.

A full recap of Bmore's Brawl #5 will be posted later this week. Thanks to all that came out last night. Hope to see you next week!

Damn Donkeys,
Bmore