The ongoing saga of pocket Kings, or "Is it wrong to set mine?" -- oh yeah, and an angle shoot (sorta)!

I am still befuddled that my Kings never hold up.  Over the past 8-10 months, it seems as though every time I am dealt KK, I have no problem getting my money in WAY good, only to have my opponent win the pot once all cards are dealt.  I don't get it; whether I'm a 90% favorite or "as little" as a 75% favorite, my Kings simply do not hold'em.  During my most recent session, instead of getting all in only to be sucked out on, I paid off -- and paid off size-ably.

Some background, first.  I got in a rare Friday night session.  I've been vacationing recently, 2 and a half weeks in Israel with my wife's extended family (15 of us in total) traveling throughout the countryside.  Then, we had a week of work before last week journeying off to Playa del Carmen along the Mayan Riviera off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.  Although there have been some problems with a few resorts using spiked alcohol, the resort we stayed in only offers top shelf alcohol and very high end food.  If any of my readers are interested in a 5 star vacation, I highly recommend El Dorado Royale, where we stayed (it was our 3rd or 4th time staying at the series of properties).  I digress; we got back late Thursday night and I was set for a Friday session.

I was seated fairly quickly; there was a "long-ish" waitlist for both the 1/3 and 2/5 games, but I saw a few empty spots sprinkled throughout the room on the 1/3 tables.  The floor was being fairly inefficient in announcing the open seating, so I asked for permission to find a seat and sit down.  The floor granted me the privilege and I found a decent looking 1/3 table, letting them know to take me off the list.  At my table were a list of characters: a 60 -ish gentleman who I nicknamed "nuts," because he was only showing down the nuts and only raising PF with the nuts.  His bet sizing was terrible, so I felt it was only a matter of time before his AA or KK gets cracked by draws or otherwise.  There was another competent player, who I'll nickname "angle" for reasons evident later in this post.  Another player, "red" was a red-headed guy who was fairly competent, and then there was a pretender who thought he was a pro but I thought was suspect because I caught him numerous times limping where he should have thrown in a standard raise, and played far too timidly to appear to turn a regular profit.

I quickly opened my range, realizing that the table was on the tight side; they were mostly the type who would limp in and try to see flops for cheap.  If I raised (my standard raise is typically $15 + ~$3 per limper), the players would fold and I'd see and instant profit for no sweat.  In a more rare case where someone was emboldened to call, I'd simply cbet a K high flop with my missed AQ, or cbet a 2 8 6 board with my pocket 5's to take down a decent pot.  These players started the night playing tight.

Red started establishing himself as a bit of a station; he seemed to commit that if he limped, he was calling a reasonable raise to see a flop.  That reasonable raise consisted of some logical amount between $15 and $25.  At the time of this hand, I'm sitting on around $500 and he has me covered.  I look down at KK and after one limper, I raise to $17.  It folds around to Red who calls, and everyone else folds.  Heads up, we see a 2 9 Qhhh flop.  I do not hold the Kh.  Out of position, I cbet $35 which he flats.  The turn is an offsuit 5 or something, and I lead for $75.  He flats once again.  The river is an offsuit Ace, which I'm very unhappy about.  I check to him, and he thinks for a bit before betting $100.  Given the odds I'm getting here, $100 into a $220+ pot, I begrudgingly call... especially when he seemed to size up and think about why I would check an Ace river before deciding to bet and potentially represent an Ah flush draw.  I think I gave away my hand on the river by not making a blocking bet, but I think my blocking bet is going to be around $75-100, the same it costs to call his bet.  Anyway, I call and am shown T2hh for a flopped ten high flush.  Good game for a first in call of $17.

I reload $100 and wait.  I'm playing from behind most of the rest of the night when I limp my Q9 in late position after a host of limpers.  The flop comes 7 8 T, rainbow.  Decent flop, with a draw and redraw to the nuttiest of nuts.  Angle is out of position to me and bets $15 -- I'm one of 2-3 callers for my open ender.  Turn fills me in with a 6 and he bets large this time: $65 or so.  A heart draw is also put out there as the 6 and 8(?) are now hearts).  I'm left as the only caller.  I consider a raise, but figure it's very obvious with the 4 straight.  The river is a 2 (can't remember whether it was a heart) and he stacks chips ($105 to be exact) in his hand and starts to move them forward and over the line.  He holds them there for a second without releasing and I toss in a chip for the call after believing he has bet (forward motion and over the line).  He sees my somewhat snap call and then starts claiming he did not bet.  The dealer, who is a competent dealer, tells me the rule at MGM: forward motion with a carve out is considered a bet.  He did not release, therefore it is not a bet.  I did not get all upset, did not throw my drink, did not start yelling or causing a ruckus.  I was visibly unhappy, and definitely had a few unpleasant words to the tune of, "whatever, you have to look at yourself in the mirror every day.  If you're comfortable, good for you."  That was the end of it; he had an obnoxious comment back, but a few hands later racked up and left.  Ho hum; lesson learned.  I'm going to have to be more obnoxious in the future when calling with the 2nd nuts and truly wait patiently, and ask "is that a bet?" before making a call.  Again, lesson learned.

The final hand of the night involves Red.  He's got rolled up Aces.  He raises to $10.  Mid position re-re-raises to $25, reopening the betting.  Player to my right calls, I call with 88, player to my left calls.  Back to Red.  I 4bets to $135.  I have $500 effective.  Original 3bettor ships for $129.  Player to my right calls.  I think for a bit, but I believe this to be an unprofitable call, as I'm folding all non-8 boards.  Player to my left thinks for a long time before calling.  Flop comes 8 6 2hh and I'm not too happy.  Red bets $125 and gets 1 caller.  He checks the non heart turn and bets $125 on the river to get a fold.  He shows (obviously, given the action) AA and scoops a nice pot.  It shoulda been me...  I should have gotten revenge for his earlier T2hh bullshit.

Despite the crap above, I turn a decent profit.  It should have been a bigger night, but I'll take what I got.

Killing the Golden Goose (or Geese?)

The opportunity to play on the weekends has been increasing lately – I suppose my wife is nervous about paying for my son’s upcoming Bar Mitzvah, so she’s been “agreeing” to send me out to play.  Effectively, I feel like she’s my pimp and I have to bring her back some moneys or she smacks me around a bit…  Maybe that’s what I tell myself – maybe she just doesn’t want me around all that much…  That notwithstanding, I find myself at the ‘Shoe late on a Friday night.

Things are break-even for the first hour or so when I see my favorite ATM machine walk in the door with her boyfriend.  A little background on the girl: she’s very loose preflop, and has an ego problem where she’ll rarely lay down a hand in spite of action that says she’s beat.  It’s almost comical; she pays off every. single. time.  Her boyfriend plays more conservatively, but I’d rate him as around average; capable of making a move from time to time, but mostly ABC.  He just watches her dump money, and continually replenishes her with additional buy-ins.

So, I see them walk in, and immediately request a table change to their table – a new table.  Yes.  I’m a bum hunter in this case.  I have my few favorites who I will bum hunt and they are certainly on my hit list.  So, I sit down at the table and fold a few hands (an orbit or two) as I get the lay of the land.  I immediately take note of the hyper aggro guy to my right, raising (and raising big) almost every hand, playing hard post flop & usually taking down the hand before showdown.  It seems he hasn’t run into any powerhouses, so he’s getting away with it.

So, aforementioned dude opens UTG+1 to $20.  I look down and see JJ.  I 3bet to $60.  Everyone else folds and he snap calls.  Flop is A Q 8 dd (around the worst flop EVER!).  He checks and I lead for $45 (he has a bit over $100 behind – maybe $160.  He beats me to the pot with his call, acting very nervously.  Strange.  Turn is a blank – maybe a 3.  He checks.  I decide to check.  River is another blank – 2?  5?  This time, he thinks for a long time and sloppily shoves his chips while saying “all in.”  WTF – around $110 or so…?  He’s stoic, sitting back in his chair and not saying anything and not moving.  I try to piece all of this together, and come to the conclusion that my turn check showed him weakness so he thinks he can push me off my hand.  I’m not really concerned about the Ace, but I’m concerned he has a hand like QJ or QT and turned his Qx into a bluff.  This kind of player doesn’t really think about what he’s doing or why; just acts on impulse.  I eventually make the sighing call and wait.  He’s still in his chair after the dealer says I called.  He waits for a good 30 seconds and flips over KT for the missed gutter.  I flip my JJ for the winner and say nothing.  I scoop and flip the dealer 4 white chips.

My aggro is visibly shaken – angry almost – and asks how much he can buy in for – he wants to get $1000.  The dealer says $300 max and he buys $300 or so.  After a hand or two, I ask him if he’s waiting for the $2-5 game.  He looks at me and says, “I don’t know what you just said, but you’re acting like an a**hole.”  I’m dumbfounded, but before I can even respond, the dealer says, “He’s not acting like anything; he’s trying to converse with you.  He’s asking you about the other games in the poker room and trying to be nice.  Furthermore, your language will not be tolerated here.”  Wow.  Just wow.  Kudos to the dealer for keeping the game under control.   The whole table (including me) is staring at him now after his outburst of uncontrolled behavior.  Now he says to me, “Don’t even look at me.  Don’t look this way.”  What do I do at this point?  I just shake my head and look away from him, wanting to end this potentially violent confrontation.  A few hands later, he gathers his chips and storms off.

Now to the crux of the post, even though the above story could apply to the title as well:

I’ve played with the couple mentioned above for a few months now.  I’ve become a bit friendly with both; sharing personal details (both ways) with the boyfriend.  He’s a nice guy, as is she, though she’s a bit of a brute when it comes to ego and getting her way.  I’ve put some really bad beats on her, but she’s also made some horrendous mistakes.  I’m never getting it in bad against her, and she’s almost always calling me as described.

I raise UTG to $15 with TT.  I get called 5 way ($75 in the pot) to see a flop of 2 5 6 dd.

With so many players in the pot, and a vulnerable overpair, I lead for $60.  She (2 seats down) raises to $120.  It folds back around to me and I tank for a bit.  There are a number of hands she’d do this with: mainly top pair good kicker, I saw her raise a flopped set earlier, and bluffs.  She plays a wide range of hands, so TP is more likely than sets and two pair hands.  Bluffs are less likely, but still in her range.  I figure calling here is useless; I’m just going to get it in on the turn anyway if I call the flop and believe I’m good, and I can’t really put her on a hand but a possible diamond draw or straight draw bluff.  I look down at $250 remaining and shove.  Action is back to her, but by the time I look up, the dealer has already put out the turn and the river – a K and A.  However, she has yet to call!  Alright…. Now what?

I know what’s going to happen: the turn and river cards will be shuffled back into the deck, and pending action, will be dealt anew.  The burn cards stay as the natural burn cards.  However, she’s putting up a huge verbal fight.  Arguing this isn’t fair…  Arguing the burn cards to be shuffled in… etc.  I’m not sure what she’s trying to get out of it, but finally she asks me to chop the pot.  Now, ordinarily, against any other player, I would tell them outright “no” without even a second thought.  I know I have the winning hand here, and I don’t want her to have a sour taste towards me because she’s an ATM.  What do you do?  Do you accept half the pot despite having the winner?  This is more of a meta game move than the actual hand at stake.  However, this is not a small pot at this point; there’s $250 in the pot + my raise + if she calls, another $130.

I decide to tell her that I can’t accept that offer; I have the winning hand.  Optimal or not, she winds up talking herself into a call with K7cc (WTF??????).  Now I realize why she fought so hard; she had turned the winning hand.  She was fighting based on an angle on false hope.  Pretty sneaky; noted.  I will not ever chop with her if the situation arises again.  In the end, the second turn and river flip over harmlessly and I scoop a nice pot!

What would you do?  Given the information at the time – that you didn’t know she was angling for the K to stay – what would you do?

Incident at Maryland Live!

I got a rare Sunday night session in this past weekend.  My general playing style is to be unassuming, almost aloof.  I am certainly a talker at the table, but I try to pretend like I don't know what I'm doing.  Moreover, I try to avoid confrontations - both physical and verbal.  I'm not afraid, but I just feel like there's no point in putting myself out there - getting into a fight over some nonsense.  I'm able to think past the pissing contest and consider where it will lead and what good will result.  Therefore, whenever another player starts to get rowdy, I try to distance myself and placate the person or ignore it.

Sometimes, try as I may, I can't ignore a situation and need to take action in order to stop it from bubbling up to an actual physical altercation.  Sunday was one such example where I was forced to call on "impartial help," the poker room management.  Let me explain:

A 30's man at my table was becoming progressively inebriated.  He was talking a lot of garbage at the table, calling the table "dickheads," and "assholes," becoming increasingly belligerent.  The table had more-or-less discussed it on one of the inebriated man's breaks - and opted to not bring management into the picture as he was both good for the game and not quite overstepping his boundaries.  He was, in effect, a drunk guy, talking up a storm.

Prior to the point when the following happened, he had twice angle shot, acting to bet and/or call, while extending his hand and chips beyond his cards to get a reaction from players (myself included), just to pull back the bet when he saw the reaction - the very definition of an angle shoot (or in layman's terms, a soft form of cheating the game).  Each time, the floor ruled against the aggrieved, as the dealers moved on to the next hand too rapidly for the aggrieved to complain.  Again, the table dealt with this behavior as he was good for the game.

As the night continued, the drunk man became more and more unmanageable, leading him to threaten me in particular after winning a pot.  After going on a tirade about "crack and hookers," he started telling me how he's tougher than me and "he's going to kick my ass," and that he'll "see me outside."    Of note, I did not feed into this behavior nor respond to it in kind, though he continued, increasingly louder.  The reality for me is that I'm with the table at this point; he's great for the game and he's going to dump money.  However, after 25-30 seconds of his harangue, I opted to call the floor.  He probably threatened me 5 different times and ways in addition to his offensive profanities.  I had had enough with this idiot.

The floor manager responded fairly quickly and began to assess the problem.  Allowing hands to continue, he pulled each of us aside and listened to our story.  Of course, drunk guy failed to mention that he threatened me, but my story included that key tidbit.  I was offered a seat at the new table, but was determined to get drunkey out of the casino.  I stated my intentions exactly the way I wanted - "I want him out of the casino."  The floor manager had to speak with his supervisor to get permission to take that action, and eventually apparently had him removed.

A few orbits afterwards, I decided I would end my session.  I wasn't in the right mindset, and was thinking about what would happen en route to my car.  Again, I don't want to get into some stupid fight where things could escalate.  This guy was a country boy from Ohio, a real tough guy who felt the need to let everyone know he's somewhat of a big deal.  We're not talking about a hulking guy, but this guy outweighs me by 30-40 lbs. and has a few inches on me.  He probably knows how to bar brawl better than I remember the 5 years of Tae Kwon Doe that I took years ago.

I had a somewhat lengthy conversation with the floor manager, discussing his lack of immediate action, which, in all fairness, was claimed due in part to him trying to get the whole story.  As a sidebar, since action was not taken immediately, the manager was allowing both the offender and me to be dealt into hands while trying to figure out what was going on.  The manager did not canvas the table nor the dealer until I became very vocal about wanting the man removed - and only got the table's story after stating to me that in effect, it's my word versus the drunk man's.  The drunk man claimed he did not threaten me at all.  The table jumped in to my defense and told the manager that yes - indeed, the man did threaten me multiple times, including talking about drugs, hookers, and a plethora of curse words.  4 different people, including the dealer, told the manager about the threats.

Feeling comfortable with leaving to go home, as I was told they "escorted him out," I went downstairs to cash out my chips, only to find this man waiting outside of the poker room by the blackjack tables, checking his phone, unescorted.  I can only presume he was waiting for me.

I'm not quite sure how seriously Maryland Live! takes their security, but when I went back to ask management about his "escort out," management (and this time it was the manager who claims to be the poker room supervisor) claimed "yes, we had him escorted out... out of the poker room."  His words were: "I do not think he is a threat."  I can't remember the other exact words of the conversation I had with management, but in this one manager's opinion (who by the way never became directly involved, nor came over to the table, but heard it all third or fourth hand from his floor manager), the inebriated individual was "determined not to be a problem."

To me, this is a huge fail on the part of the poker room management.

1. Do they take verbal threats seriously?  What about offensive language?  In my opinion, this guy was out of control and threatening my safety.  Does the poker room think it's a joke?
2. Should this drunk be allowed to roam the casino to harass other patrons?  What is the point of kicking the guy out of the poker room?  Does that reduce my risk of danger when he can be waiting right outside of the room for me to leave?
3. Why would the management not be completely truthful?  When they tell me they had him escorted out, when they really mean "escorted out of the poker room?"  An escort out of the poker room does nothing to protect the customer, as the dude was waiting outside for my exit.  Don't tell me he's gone and then let me get blindsided in the parking lot.
4. How is the manager assessing a threat?  Is he looking him in the eye and making him promise to cause no more trouble?  To me, that's laughable.  The dude is drunk, he's making threats of violence, and he's talking about crack.  86 him from the casino!

Security is not a joke, and I feel that the poker room management needs to be trained to understand that fact.  As recently has late July, a lady was robbed at knife-point in the parking lot.  They are undoubtedly aware of that.  Why would the poker room tolerate this kind of behavior - and look at my grievances as a mere inconvenience to them?

Prior to this incident, I have been very happy with Maryland Live!  I thought the poker room was set up in an extremely player-friendly manner.  The casino is convenient to get to from my home, the dealers are friendly, and the atmosphere (last night excluded) is wonderful.  I think the poker room is a model which other poker rooms can strive to be.  However, if the casino is not taking security seriously, this is not the right place for anyone, no matter the positive the casino has to offer.  The simple fact is that they need to adequately protect their customers.

Addendum: I sent an email to the poker room manager and cc:ed the casino manager and investment group who owns the casino.  I got a fairly quick response, and was invited to call the poker room manager.  We spoke briefly - it was explained that this is not the normal procedure, and that the supervisor on duty failed at performing his duties.  The manager offered me a free buffet for my wife & me (which I declined, feeling like if I accepted, it would cheapen the whole argument I made) as an apology, which I felt was very nice.  As for dealing with the situation, I believe the manager spoke with the supervisor and other floor managers to set them straight as far as proper procedure and process.

FINALLY!!!! - Full Tilt Claims Administration Notice

For those living under a rock, back on April 15, 2011, the United States government seized Full Tilt poker's assets.  As a result, the player funds were trapped and have been frozen ever since.  2 and a half years later, the Full Tilt player base is finally in line to receive its rightful share of their accounts back.  It should be noted that the owners of Full Tilt have long been paid out for the sale of the site and / or acquitted of all charges.  It should be noted that although there was major supposed accounting issues with the online site, the main shareholders of the site continued to live their lives unscathed - continuing to live in nice, expensive houses, with nice, expensive cars, sticking it in the eye of the account holders by continuing to play high stakes poker, golfing, and otherwise living a carefree life filled with revelry and debauchery.  WTF?

Nevertheless, I am happy that it looks like I will receive my portion of the player funds, a modest sum.  I suppose I consider this "found money," since I had kinda written off the $~2k years ago as a cost of doing business in the post-UIGEA poker world.  I guess I'm going to take this money and do what I do with all my money - hookers & booze!  Okay.  Maybe not - who am I kidding?  It's probably going into the bank never to be heard from again until retirement.  Boo!  I guess I wasn't really missing it in the first place.

Anyway, received this letter last night from The Garden City Group, Inc. (GCG), the company appointed by the government to distribute the asset base:

TO:         United States Full Tilt Poker Players Who Were Victims of Full Tilt Poker’s Fraud
PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE NOTICE CONCERNING SETTLEMENTS WITH FULL TILT POKER (“FTP”) AND POKERSTARS. IT IS TIME-SENSITIVE AND MAY AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS. IF YOU SATISFY THE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA DESCRIBED BELOW, YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO PAYMENT. YOU CAN ALSO VISIT WWW.FULLTILTPOKERCLAIMS.COM FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
I.        Purpose of this Notice
       The purpose of this Notice is to inform you that you may be entitled to receive a distribution from the assets forfeited by Full Tilt Poker (the “FTP Fund”), which resulted from the settlement agreement resolving the allegations in the amended civil forfeiture complaint in United States v. PokerStars, et al., 11 Civ. 2564 (LBS), pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Action”).  You must complete the online Petition filing process in accordance with the steps in this Notice in order to be potentially eligible to share in the distribution from the FTP Fund.  This Notice is being sent to all potentially eligible victims of FTP’s fraud who have been identified by The Garden City Group, Inc. (“GCG”), the Claims Administrator retained by the United States, utilizing data supplied by FTP.  As explained in greater detail below, Petitions for Remission must be completed online through the administration website at www.FullTiltPokerClaims.com.
THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT A PETITION FOR REMISSION IS NOVEMBER 16, 2013 (THE “BAR DATE”).  IF YOU FAIL TO SUBMIT A TIMELY AND COMPLETE PETITION FOR REMISSION, YOU WILL BE BARRED FROM RECEIVING A PAYMENT FROM THE FTP FUND.  WHEN FILING ONLINE, YOU MUST USE THE NUMBERS BELOW IN ORDER TO BEGIN THE PETITION PROCESS:

Petition Number: XXXXXX
Control Number: XXXXXXXXXX

II.        Background
       In July 2012, the United States entered into settlement agreements with FTP and PokerStars, two of the three online poker companies named as defendants in the Action brought by the United States alleging bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling offenses.  Under the terms of the settlement with FTP, the company agreed to forfeit virtually all of its assets to the United States in order to fully resolve the Action.  The amended complaint filed in the Action alleged that FTP defrauded its players by misrepresenting to the public that player funds held by FTP were safe, secure and available for withdrawal at any time.  In reality, the company did not maintain funds sufficient to repay all of its players and instead, utilized player funds to finance more than $400 million in dividend payments to FTP's owners.
      Under the terms of the settlement with PokerStars (the "PokerStars Settlement"), the company agreed, among other things, to forfeit $547 million to the United States and to assume FTP's liability for the approximately $184 million owed by FTP to foreign players.  The PokerStars Settlement also provides that PokerStars will acquire Full Tilt’s forfeited assets from the Government and precludes PokerStars from offering online poker for real money in the United States unless and until it becomes permissible to do so under relevant law.
       Utilizing funds forfeited from PokerStars, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section (“AFMLS”) of the United States Department of Justice have established a Petition process by which eligible U.S. fraud victims can seek compensation for their losses.
III.         Eligibility Criteria
       To qualify for a payment from the FTP Fund, you must satisfy certain eligibility criteria described below.  Those criteria include the following:

1. You must be a U.S. citizen or you must have resided in the United States at the time of playing on the FTP gaming site.
   
2. You did not receive compensation as a foreign FTP player in connection with the PokerStars Settlement.
   
3. You must have deposited funds into an account with FTP.
   
4. Your account with FTP must reflect a balance owed by FTP to you as of April 15, 2011.
   
5. You are excluded from participation in the remission process if you are:
   
   • A past or present employee of FTP or any of its past or present affiliates;
     
   • A past or present vendor of FTP that received compensation through FTP players’ accounts;
     
   • A past or present Team Full Tilt player;
     
   • A past or present shareholder of FTP, Tiltware LLC, Kolyma Corporation A.V.V., Pocket Kings Ltd., Pocket Kings Consulting Ltd., Filco Ltd., Vantage Ltd., Ranston Ltd., Mail Media Ltd., or Full Tilt Poker Ltd.;
     
   • A past or present officer or director of FTP, Tiltware LLC, Kolyma Corporation A.V.V., Pocket Kings Ltd., Pocket Kings Consulting Ltd., Filco Ltd., Vantage Ltd., Ranston Ltd., Mail Media Ltd., or Full Tilt Poker Ltd., or any of their past or present affiliates;
     
   • A defendant in any civil action or a claimant in any forfeiture action brought by the Department of Justice related to the violations alleged in this action, or any related action (or any of his or her affiliates, assigns, heirs, distributees, spouses, parents, children, or controlled entities); or
     
   • A person who, as of the Bar Date, has been the subject of criminal charges related to the violations alleged in this action, or any related action (or any of his or her affiliates, assigns, heirs, distributees, spouses, parents, children, or controlled entities).

      Please be advised that receipt of this Notice does not indicate that you have been determined to be eligible to participate in the FTP Petition for Remission process; if AFMLS determines at any time, before or after you submit a Petition, that you are not eligible for remission, your Petition will be denied.
IV.        The Distribution Formula
       The amount that an Eligible Petitioner is entitled to receive will equal the final balance in the Petitioner’s account with FTP as of April 15, 2011 (the “FTP Account Balance”).  You may view your FTP Account Balance through the online claim filing process at www.FullTiltPokerClaims.com.  Once you log on using the Petition Number and Control Number set forth above, you will receive directions for accessing your account information and filing a petition and/or disputing the reported account balance.
         If the funds available for distribution from the FTP Fund equal or exceed the aggregate FTP Account Balances for all eligible Petitioners, each eligible Petitioner with an approved claim shall receive the entirety of his or her FTP Account Balance.  If the aggregate FTP Account Balances for all eligible Petitioners exceed the monies available for distribution, payments shall be made to eligible Petitioners on a pro rata basis.
       Prior to the payment of funds to a Petitioner, GCG will provide the Petitioner’s Social Security or other Taxpayer Identification Number to the Government, in order to offset and collect any qualifying debts currently listed in the Treasury Offset Program Database.
V.         Online Filing Deadline
ALL PETITIONS FOR REMISSION MUST BE SUBMITTED ONLINE THROUGH THE CASE WEBSITE AT WWW.FULLTILTPOKERCLAIMS.COM BY NOVEMBER 16, 2013.
VI.         Petition Determinations
       GCG will email to each Petitioner AFMLS’s determination concerning his or her Petition.  If a Petition is denied in whole or in part, GCG will state the reason for such denial and the Petitioner can appeal the ruling through the reconsideration process.

PLEASE BE SURE TO NOTIFY THE CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR OF ANY CHANGES TO
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.  YOU MAY CONTACT THE CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR AT
INFO@FULLTILTPOKERCLAIMS.COM OR CALL TOLL-FREE AT (866) 250-2640.

PLEASE CHECK THE WEBSITE WWW.FULLTILTPOKERCLAIMS.COM FOR UPDATES.

Angle shooting & cute grinders from the Casino del Sol, Tucson, AZ

Damn Word screwed up this post for google reader. Sorry. Reposting. I am in Tucson, Arizona for a few days, working.  I have had all of my nights available, and having been to Tucson before, I have decided to put my time into playing poker (surprised?).  I played Sunday night, when I got in, and last night (Monday), having a positive experience.  I stopped into the Desert Diamond, where I've played before, only to find no NL games running.  I decided to then make the 10 mile drive over to Casino del Sol, and was very happy with choice.

• Casino del Sol

The state of poker play out here is woeful!  The players simply have no clue how to read hands, are more than happy to pay off, and don't understand ranges.  They play a hit or miss kinda game, for the most part.  Couple that with a mostly cheerful crew and patrons, and it makes good times for me.
The poker tables are new-ish, advertising events planned for 2012 on the felt, which leads me to believe they have less than 4 months of wear.  The chairs are decent, comfortable and padded, not worn out.  The only complaint I can come up with is the chips are well-worn.  However, the poker room is very friendly, and will add your name to the waitlist if you call in ahead of time.  Although professionally run, it had a very friendly feeling to it.  Max buy in to their 1 / 2 NL game is $200, and though they call it no limit, it is truly spread limit, with the maximum single bet equaling $500.  Sitting down at the table, you need not post.  Hands are raked normally; I assume 10% up to $4 plus a $2(!!!) drop for the bad beat jackpot.  On the Sunday and Monday nights I was there (~9:00pm), del Sol had 2 1 / 2 NL tables running.  By 12:30am, the tables were ready to combine into 1 game.

Sunday was fairly uneventful; I was sucked out on twice on the river (all in on the turn), for effective stacks, but against shorter stacks, I would generally wind up with my original buy in.  The players far overplayed their weak Aces, and were consistently rewarded with bailout two pair on the river.  Regardless, I majorly messed up the final hand, which cost me my initial buy in: down to 4-way action, I raise to $12 from UTG.  SB who was the only other competent player, raises to $25.  He knows that I’m capable of a move on him because he’s seen me bluff raise the river vs. him and show, and I have no doubt that he’s looking to extract his revenge.  I 4 bet him to $50 and he insta-raises to $100.  At this point, I’m fairly certain he holds AK, but I decide to see a flop for the remaining $100 in my stack – not something I’d likely do online, but if I have him on AK / AQ, I can see a flop and fold to those cards or shove a Jack high or worse flop, and get in as a 75% favorite.  Regardless, the flop comes 8 3 3 and I shove.  He, as expected, calls, and shows AA for the legitimate hand.  Bummer – 4 way action and I run into AA…

• Angle shooting

Anyway, I’m playing Monday night and run in semi- G-d mode.  I chipped up to around $400 profit on the session, making up for my prior night’s $200 loss.  Time is nearing midnight and I have to get to bed in order to wake up the next day, so I start racking up when the following happens:

I limp 92s on the BTN alongside a host of limpers.  We see a flop of 2 5 J, rainbow.  Checks around to me and I stab for $7 into the $10 pot.  I may have gotten 2 callers, which tells me I’m in fairly bad shape with my naked deuce.  Turn is a 6 and it checks around to me, once again.  I pot control check, really unsure of where the heck I am.  3 5 go there, obv, but there are no other draws, so WTF?  River comes a beautiful 9 and here’s where it get’s interesting

Checks around to me again and I “toss” out $12 – 2 $1 chips and 2 $5 chips.  One of the $5 chips bounces back across the line and lands behind the bet line.  The BB (facing the action) immediately starts to complain that I bet $7, not $12.  He says that the $5 chip never crossed the line and that my bet is $7.  Floor is called and makes the [correct] ruling that the intent of my bet was to equal $12, not $7.  This guy continues to jaw about how the $5 chip never crossed the line, so I start to get into it a bit and tell him that I feel like he’s angle shooting over $5.  After a little verbal sparring, he admits that he wants to call $7 and though he will call $12, he wants to call $7 – the very definition of angle shooting / cheating.  I explain that to him, which is clearly lost on the player (he’s a 35 year old guy, not a curmudgeon retiree, so WTF?) but after the floor’s ruling, he grudgingly throws in his $12 to pay me off.  I guess the longer I play, the more frequent I’ll see that type of behavior, but WOW!  You’re arguing that a chip didn’t fall in the right spot on the table and so it doesn’t count as a bet?  Even though you know it was intended to be a bet?  Cheat much?

• Cute Grinders

I’ve been reading Josie’s blog since she started, more or less two years ago.  She’s predominantly a live player, and is convinced that clothes are everything for girl poker players.  Her thought is that wearing low cut or provocative shirts / blouses distracts the male players and breaks their concentration.  While in theory, it works, I’ve yet to see a hot chick sit down at a live table – let alone combined with the knowledge of how to play poker.

Here in AZ, there’s a really cute chick that has the whole cleavage / clothes down pat, though.  She’s got a ~10 body with a cute face, and knows how to play.  I was talking with her briefly – she just moved from NY, so she cut her teeth in AC.  She seems to know her game, but she is simply so distracting to watch that it makes it hard for me to watch the other players and get reads.  Fortunately, I did a thorough job of avoiding pots with her, so it never became an issue directly, but yeah; it may be a distraction of sorts, checking out the ‘ole cleavage.  This girl’s dress / looks take away components of my overall game.  I’ve never met Josie in person, but she’s definitely onto something…