Bloggers Tournament
Saturday, February 28, 2009 - smokin_aces
Last Wednesday, DENERODAY won the Ultimate Bet Blog Tournament. We asked him to share his thoughts on his preparation for the Sunday 200K (first prize for the Blog Tournament was a seat at the 200K) His original post is here.
“Well here we are two days before the 200K! Sense last weeks Blog tournament I haven’t had much time for poker, only playing in a couple tournaments. Saturday will be my day to bone up on my play. I already have myself signed up for two $100 and one $1000 tournament and intend to play each as if it was the 200K. I consider myself a fairly tight, passively aggressive player. In the past I played alot of Lowball (5 card draw low) and this tought me alot of patience. All I can do is play my best game and hope that “OLD MAN RIVER ISN’T AGAINST ME”. You all know what I mean, flop the best, make your move, get called by second best and watch him take you down on the river. I never hold this against a player because I usually make them really pay to make that draw. Well we’ll see how it goes and I will be back to hopefully report some good news.”
Good luck DENERODAY!
Tags: blog, blog tournament, DENERODAY, Poker Strategy, Sunday 200K
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Thursday, February 26, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve probably heard there’s this global financial crisis going on. Come to think of it, with all the turmoil in the housing sector chances are good you ARE living under a rock, though hopefully a rock near a WiFi hotspot so you can keep reading the UB Blog. Even in these tough times one must keep one’s priorities straight.
With belts a-tightening it’s very important for poker players to practice responsible bankroll management. I know, the words “responsible” and “bankroll management” are rarely found in such close quarters but these are strange days indeed. Sure, playing ultra-nosebleed stakes will get you all sorts of attention (and a reminder–High Stakes Poker returns on March 1st) but quite a few big-name players have shown that playing at the other end of the financial spectrum can be a huge challenge as well.
Chris Ferguson famously tried to build a $10,000 bankroll starting with nothing (it took him 18 months of freerolling and microstaking to get there). Daniel Negreanu has been playing $.01/.02 no-limit in an attempt to replicate Ferguson’s feat (though he started with an initial $10 deposit). And yesterday Hollywood Dave wrote that he and Annie Duke have a prop bet to see who can win an WSOP seat for just ten cents through UltimateBet’s Step Tourneys. Hey, anybody can throw bricks of cash and cranberry chips into the pot when a reload is sitting in your hip pocket. But when you’re down to your last dime, that’s when the hands start shaking and the sweat beads on the brow.
But you can’t get down to you last dime until you earn your first one, and a good way to do that is by playing in freerolls. That’s how Annette Obrestrad got her start–the 2007 WSOP-Europe champion and online Destroyer of Worlds won her initial stake through freerolls and has never, ever deposited her own money. It would perhaps be premature to say that the nine players who final-tabled last night’s UltimateBet Blog Freeroll Tournament will replicate the bankroll-building exploits detailed above, but who knows? A grand total of 746 players started last night’s event with nothing but when the final table was seated these were the nine players who knew they’d be leaving with something:
After KAWDSHAWK69 bubbled (if one can be said to bubble a freeroll tournament, and I think one can) the survivors battled it out until COOTER BROWN1 and DENERODAY were heads-up. First prize? A $215 seat in Sunday’s $200,000 Guaranteed Tournament. Second prize? A set of steak knives. No, wait, sorry, that was second prize in Glengarry Glen Ross. No, last night second prize was $30. That’s three times more money than Daniel Negreanu started out with. Three hundred times more than Hollywood Dave and Annie Duke plan to invest on a WSOP Main Event seat. Thirty dollars, cash on the barrelhead.
And in the end it was COOTER BROWN1 who ended up with the consolation prize, as he moved in after flopping top pair with Kh-5d and got a call from DENERODAY, who flopped the nut flush draw with Ah-5h. The two had nearly equivalent stacks and so this figured to be the decisive hand either way, and when the turn brought the 2h it proved to be DENERODAY’s way, as he held the nut flush to lock up the hand and the Sunday Guaranteed seat. COOTER BROWN1 seeded his bankroll to the tune of thirty dollars, while DENERODAY must return to the fray Sunday afternoon, to see if he can translate his freeroll finish into a five-figure payday.
Tags: annette obrestrad, annette_15, blogger freerolls, chris ferguson bankroll, daniel negreanu microstakes, daniel negreau bankroll, freerolls, glengarry glen ross, poker freerolls, set of steak knives, ub, ub blog freeroll, ub blogger freerolls, ub freerolls, ub step tourneys, ultimatebet, ultimatebet freerolls
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - smokin_aces
The wait is over. The third Ultimate Bet Blog Tournament happens tomorrow, Wednesday February 25 2009. All you have to do to enter is use this code UBBLOGaew0r7q4pwn
At this time, you don’t have to have a blog to participate. Just use the code to gain entry and get your shot at first place, which is a seat at the Sunday 200K! There are cash prizes for top finalists and best of all, it’s a freeroll!
Good luck at tourney!
Tags: blog tournament, freeroll, poker tournament, Sunday 200K
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Thursday, February 19, 2009 - smokin_aces
The next Ultimate Bet Blog Tournament is Wednesday Feb 25th 2009.
We’ve had a great deal of interest in this upcoming blog tournament, from both free online poker players and real money poker players.
So why not have a special announcement?
The winner of the blog tournament will get a seat at the Sunday 200K! This oppourtunity is not to be passed up. As well, you can see poker news expert and celebrity blogger Gene Bromberg at the rail trying to take down the pots.
To get entrance to the blog tournament, all you need to do is enter this password UBBLOGaew0r7q4pwn
GL!
Aces
Tags: blog tournament, freeroll, freeroll tournaments, poker tournament
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Thursday, February 12, 2009 - smokin_aces
Here we go again! The Ultimate Bet Blog Poker Tournament is quickly approaching. This is the third installment of freeroll poker tournaments running in conjunction with the Ultimate Bet Blog. We’ve decided to run these tourneys on the last Wednesday of every month, so register now for your spot at the next Blog Tournament happening right here at Ultimate Bet on Wednesday Feb 25th.
What do you have to do to enter? Use this code UBBLOGaew0r7q4pwn to register and you can look forward to your chance to take a shot at some cool prize money and the chance to brag your ass off about taking down the Blog Tournament. As well, we’ll feature your win here on the blog so you can email, instant message, twitter, blog, facebook and yell about your win to all your buddies. Sweet victory comes with many perks.
So register NOW for the Ultimate Bet Blog Tournament. What the heck are you waiting for?
Tags: blog tournament, online poker tournaments, poker tournament
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Thursday, February 5, 2009 - UB Marketing
The turnout for the last Ultimate Bet Blog Tournament was so great that we had to increase the registration limit the day of the event to keep up with the overwhelming demand. You guys like your freerolls! We’re happy to announce that due to popular demand, we’ve decided to make these tournaments a more regular event. From this month on you can mark it in your calendar that the Ultimate Bet Blog Tournament will run on the last Wednesday of each month. That means the next one is coming up on Wednesday February 25th 2009.
What do you have to do to gain entry to this event? It’s simple, as a loyal UB Blog reader you’re about to gain all the insight you need. Simply enter the code UBBLOGaew0r7q4pwn and you’re IN! Why are we giving you so much advanced notice? Because we want you to be as mentally prepared as possible to maximize your rewards and your FUN! That’s why we encourage you to check out the wealth of poker strategy related information available to you here on this blog. The Ultimate Bet pros regularly blog here and most of the time it’s about POKER STRATEGY! For example, each week we run a regular blog post called ‘Ask a Pro’. You can ask your questions directly to some of the biggest, baddest names in Poker. We’ve had Annie Duke, HollywoodDave, Scott Ian, Shawn Rice, Phil Hellmuth, Adam ‘Roothlus’ Levy, and later today, Tracy ‘FATCATS’ Scala. So during your tournament preparation, check out these insightful posts and learn a thing or two…..OR TEN! As well, each week you’ve got the chance to ‘Ask a Pro’ the question of your choice.
So get ready for the next Ultimate Bet Blog Tournament and check back here for updates. We haven’t finalized the payout structure yet, but rest assured, it will be good. Good luck at the tables!
Tags: Adam "Roothlus" Levy, Annie Duke, Ask A Pro, blog tournament, Hollywood Dave, online poker tournaments, Phil Hellmuth, poker tournament, poker tournament tips, Scott Ian, ShawnRice, Tracy "Fatcats" Scala
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Thursday, January 29, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
So yesterday afternoon I sauntered over to the lobby of the UB Blog Tournament to register for that night’s event. I planned on showing all and sundry my mad poker/blogging skillz combo, only to find the tournament was capped at 500 players and already bursting at the seams. Of course I carry some serious weight (both literally and figuratively) and so I sent off an email that said, in effect, “Please, pretty please, can I play in the blog tournament? Don’t make me beg.” Of course I did some begging anyway (it never hurts!) and the UB powers that be, realizing that there were lots of other people banging at the gates, re-opened registration. A total of 596 players took to the felt last night and going forward the Blog Tournaments will be capped at 2,500, so there should be plenty of room for all who want to play.
Also in the future, a seat in our Sunday $200,000 Guaranteed event will go to the winner of the Blog Tournament. And last night the future was now (pardon my tense-mixing) as one of those seats was added to the prize pool as well. I’ve never played in the Sunday $200K and I’ve always wanted to, so I brought my A-game to the tables. I took down a tidy pot early when I won with K-J against, uh, 4-7, and with my confidence at an all-time high I began to toy with the idea of playing in the Sunday $200K while watching my Steelers shuffle the Cards in the Super Bowl.
Of course that’s when stupid reality stepped in and hit me in the face with a cookie sheet. You usually need to win more than one pot to take down a poker tournament and that pne hand was my high point. I eventually busted while making an inspired, sixth-level move when I shoved with Ad-Jh with two deuces on the board and four clubs showing. And I got called by ROCKYMTNGAL with…Qs-5s. Top pair. No club. No deuce. No kicker. “Nice call,” I snarled to my monitor as I looked for something heavy to throw at the cat. How come when I make these ballsy all-in bluffs I always get picked off? (The answer is, “I stink“).
So I ended up a mere 119 spots from winning the $200K seat. ROCKYMTNGAL ended up 50th, so my chips did not propel him to top spot. Instead, these are the folks who made themselves comfortable at the final table:
There was rather a big jump between finishing 2nd ($18) and 1st ($30, plus the seat in the $200K Tourney, which could possibly translate into a five-figure payday, worldwide glory, immortality, etc). And after POPPIEHOME disposed of MATTGOODFAN in a rather brutal hand where MATT flopped trip sixes and POPPIE turned a straight before all the chips went in, it looked like POPPIEHOME was gonna have to tear himself away from the TV on Super Sunday to play a little poker. He had nearly a 6-1 chip lead over MERCEDES203 as heads-up play began and looked to be in command. But of course no chip lead is ever truly safe, and MERCEDES203 doubled up with pocket Tens after POPPIEHOME caught a piece of the flop holding 6c-2c.
That got MERCEDES203 within striking distance, and then after winning five small pots in a row MERCEDES203 put his tournament life on the line when he limped holding Qs-7s and POPPIEHOME moved all-in. MERCEDES203 typed “gg” before making the call and finding he trailed POPPIE’s Ac-3h. But a Queen spiked on the flop, no Ace followed on the turn or river, and it was MERCEDES203 who now held just short of a 3-1 lead.
A lead he did not relinquish, as two hands later POPPIEHOME shoved from the button with pocket sixes and MERCEDES203 called with Kc-Qd. Paint continued to be kind to MERCEDES203 as the flop brought the Ks and sealed POPPIEHOME’s fate. After taking down yesterday’s Blog Tournament freeroll MERCEDES203 will be freerolling in UltimateBet’s biggest weekly tournament. We’ll keep an eye out to see if he can translate two freerolls into some serious cash.
Tags: freeroll, freeroll tournaments, freerolls, sunday guaranteed tournament, ub, ub blog, ub blog tournament, ub freeroll, ub sunday guaranteed tournament, ultimatebet, ultimatebet blog, ultimatebet blog tournament
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009 - UB Marketing
This just in! Due to an overwhelming response for the UB Blog Tournament tonight, we’ve made some changes that you’re going to want to check out!
The registration limit has been raised from 500 to 2500 players.
First place – a Seat to Sunday’s $200K + $30!
There are many other prizes but you can’t win if you don’t play!
Don’t forget to use the code UBblog28 for entry into tonights UB Blog Tournament!
Tags: 200k guarenteed, blog tournament
Comments (10)
Thursday, January 22, 2009 - UB Marketing
Next week we’re having a tournament for anyone who finds this code (UBblog28) on this post. Actually, doesn’t really matter where you hear about it or where you read it, as long as you know that’s the code you need to enter the tournament.
The tournament will be on Wednesday January 28th at 8pm. Look for the UB Blog Tournament name in the schedule or find it with the number: 4011929.
On the line for this tournament, we’re putting in a $150 prize pool. 1st place will get an entry into the Sniper $50K Guarantee on February 1st and all the final table players will win an entry into the next GIZMO main event.
So many different attitudes towards last night’s game… Talk at the tables ranged from chatter to funny entertaining to nasty. Glad to see so many players got into it though, it was fun to read the chats and watch from the sidelines (finished early in 79th). I’m aiming for top three on the next one.
Look out for PYROCRAZY 60 who knocked me out last time with trip sevens. He also went on to win 3rd place in the tournament, very respectable. This time around, let’s see if KNOWMAAD can maintain 1st place. He’s been very active on the blog, but Gene, our UB blogger, says he’s gunning for him.
Read all about the previous blog tournament here. Remember, UBblog28 is your password.
Tags: blog, blog tournament, ub
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Thursday, December 18, 2008 - Gene Bromberg
Last night was UltimateBet’s first-ever Blogger Tournament and I showed up in the mood to play. I just got back from Las Vegas, where many of my fellow pokerbloggers gathered for our yearly festival of binge drinking, reckless gambling, and prolonged sleep deprivation. We had a tournament at the Venetian where I managed to tread water for 6 hours before disappearing below the waves with barely a burble. Not very satisfying.
I was determined that last night I would play with more aggression, daring, brio. I wouldn’t sit there and fold-fold-fold. Plus the event was supposed to be fun. Get a bunch of writers and readers together to play a little poker, talk a little trash in the chat, enjoy each other’s company. We were playing for the $100 in prize money and berths in UB’s new Gizmo tournaments. And pride. One thing that’s a constant when my blogging friends lock horns, the money doesn’t matter. It’s all about winning. And how you win. Because if later on you’re going to write about your victory, you might as well have a good story to tell.
I was pleased to find 214 players sitting down when play started at 8pm ET. I was a bit surprised–nay, shocked–that by 8:20pm ET we were down to 107. Yes, in just twenty minutes we lost half the field. OK, the event was a freeroll, but I’ve seen clinically-depressed lemmings with more regard for their self-preservation. On one hand I had Ac-Qc in the big blind and folded when the action in front of me went raise, re-raise, shove. Under normal circumstances calling with Ace-Queen would be downright ludicrous. In this instance I would’ve been way in the lead, as the shover had the massive 6-3 suited and the original raiser called with K-Q. I would’ve flopped an Ace and tripled up. But you shouldn’t be a results-oriented player, that’s not the path to good decision-making. But still, crap.
A bit later I decided to complete the small blind holding 8c-6c and the big blind raised it up. Those one-gappers looked awfully pretty so I decided to call and take a flop. Which came 8d-6s-5d. Tasty. I checked–oh, how sneaky and subtlety I checked! He bet 270 and I shoved for my last thousand. He called and turned over Kh-10c for, uh, a pair draw. The board bricked out and my opponent typed “luckydonky”.
“Heehaw!” I brayed with what I thought was good humor. He then to type some words that were missing strategic letters, but you don’t have to be a crossword puzzler to figure out what “mor on” is supposed to be. I thought his language was a little huge for a friendly freeroll, but maybe he didn’t mean to be profane. I typed back that it seemed his spacebar was stuck and that maybe he should give it a clean with some rubbing alcohol. It pays to be friendly.
As we played I asked my tablemates if they had their own blogs and a few replied that they did. DETROITJAY79 even recognized my name and asked how the Vegas trip was, and I fairly blushed at all the attention. I then managed to donk off a third of my stack when I lost my mind and completed in the small blind holding 2s-8c. The flop came 2d-9d-9c and liking the fact that I connected I fired out 150. My opponent moved in for his last 480 and I had to decide if he really had a nine. Or a pocket pair. Or a bigger deuce. Come to think of it, there weren’t many hands he could have that wouldn’t have me sweating. But I’m an idiot so I called anyway. He rolled over Qh-9h and I needed some manner of miracle to take the pot. The good news is that I DID witness some manner of miracle–the board ran out 8h-8s, giving me a full house. Of course it also gave my opponent a full house, and a larger one at that. That’s pretty sick, going runner-runner and losing anyway. I cringe to think about how much luck I used up.
I ran my stack back up into the 3,000 range before I was sent to the rail. I raised with Big Slick, got two callers, and when the flop came an innocuous 9c-5s-8s I did the ol’ stop-and-go and shoved in the rest of my stack. Hopefully no one made a set on that flop, and indeed no one did. But KING_MOTU saw through my subterfuge and made the call with pocket sevens. I didn’t hit on the turn or river, and as usual my run in a blogger event came to an inglorious end.
So that means I, unlike the winner of last night’s event, won’t be playing in tomorrow’s GIZMO Main Event. Won’t have a chance to win the first prize, a Sony Vaio laptop computer. Of course the winner won’t have the glorious opportunity to write up a whiny post about how he got unlucky, how the breaks never seem to go his way, how he plays great but never gets rewarded, etc etc. Hey, what did you expect from me? I’m a blogger.
Tags: Bloggers Tournament, Gene Bromberg
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