Monday, August 3, 2009 - smokin_aces
It’s Twitter Freeroll time again for all those in UltimateBet land. Join us in The Golden Tweet Freeroll Wednesday August 12th at 9 pm ET. The details are as follows.
Will The Golden Tweet be open to just anyone?
Of course not, where’s the fun in that?
How do I get into The Golden Tweet?
You need to use the right password.
How do I get the password?
Ah, that’s the million dollar question. Although you can already see the The Golden Tweet in the tournament lobby (scheduled for Wednesday August the 12th at 9pm EST) you can’t register just yet.
To get the password you need to be following @ultimate_bet on Twitter.
How do I follow UltimateBet on Twitter if I don’t use Twitter?
It’s fun and simple. Go here http://www.twitter.com and take a minute to create an account. If you don’t think you’ll use Twitter, consider this: Getting a Twitter account and following @ultimate_bet gives you access to tournament insights you can’t get anywhere else. Try it….you just might profit from it!
Ok, i’m following @ultimate_bet on Twitter but I don’t see the password anywhere. What gives?
We will release The Golden Tweet containing the password by Tweeting it on Twitter ONE HOUR before the tournament start time. To be clear, watch for The Golden Tweet at 8pm ET Wednesday August 12. Tournament start time is 9 pm ET Wednesday August 12.
What is the total prize pool for The Golden Tweet?
The prize pool totals $450 with a sweet 200K GTD buy-in for 1st prize. Cash payouts for top finalists.
How many people can play?
To make The Golden Tweet extra attractive by increasing your odds to cash, only the first 1500 players to catch The Golden Tweet and enter the password will be allowed entry. So get there first!
That means you need to be following UltimateBet on Twitter and be paying close attention one hour prior to the tournament start.
Follow UltimateBet on Twitter and catch The Golden Tweet!
Tags: freerolls, golden tweet, twitter freeroll
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Thursday, July 30, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
It is the worst nightmare of the online poker player–the tournament is huge, the final table in sight, and at the moment when all your skill, luck and courage must coalesce into the perfect poker package…you gotta leave. You have to walk away from the computer because of some unbreakable commitment. Perhaps, say, it’s your wedding day, and if you don’t get to the chapel in fifteen minutes your future spouse’s family is gonna string you up from the nearest tree. Maybe you’ve agreed to donate a kidney and the transplant team is tapping their toes and glancing over and over at the clock on the OR wall. That IRS audit, the one you’ve blown off six times? The one where, if you don’t report THIS time, a SWAT team will be dispatched to drag you to Leavenworth? Maybe that’s the event circled in red ink on your calendar.
Last night was UltimateBet’s Delicious Freeroll, where players registered by creating a Delicious bookmark account and leaving a comment here on the blog. That’s all it took to register for a $1,000 freeroll, and 262 players took to the virtual felt last night to fight for the big prizes– two $215 entries in our $200,000 Sunday Guaranteed Tournament. As well as some bankroll-boosting cash for those who didn’t punch their ticket for UB’s biggest weekly tournament. Forty-five players would cash out of the 262, and those are some pretty good odds for turning nothing into something.
Alas for BEWITCHED13, 45th place would be just out of reach, as he/she finished 46th and burst the money bubble. With money in their collective pockets the field was quickly whittled down (though I read some complaints about players stalling, which is a freeroll is just AWFUL, really) and before long we were down to ten. And from reading the chat it seemed that the remaining players wanted to make the final table quite badly. There were two stacks much shorter than the others–LADYSUBLIME and XCAMILLA. And as the blinds and antes gobbled their chips it became apparent that XCAMILLA was missing in action. Her stack evaporated to the point where she was literally down to nothing when her big blind came along, and it looked like this would be it for her tournament.
But she picked up pocket nines, and these held up against CHITOWN21’s Ah-8h, and she had a new lease on life…even if she wasn’t actually at her computer. LADYSUBLIME moved in on the next hand and seemed to have ALEXD_22 utterly crusherized with A-3 to his puny 2-3. But a deuce came on the flop, another on the turn, and LADYSUBLIME did not pick up the four she needed on the river to make a wheel. A cruel way to see one’s tournament come to an end, but that’s poker, and with her elimination we were down to our final table:
The players exchanged congratulations with each other upon making the final table, with CHERNBURN asking, “Will this get us a blog mention?” Why yes, it will!! One of the players who joined in was the apparently-disappeared XCAMILLA. Several other players said that they’d thought she was away from her computer and it turned out she was–she had to leave to pick up her mother. She returned home to find that she was still in the tournament, and as we shall see the Poker Gods were to smile upon this on-the-surface-insane act of putting one’s Mother ahead of one’s Stack.
ALEXD_22 was the big chip leader when the final table began, and before LADYSUBLIME went out he engaged in some good-natured banter with the players at the other table. But poker, it can be a swingy game. The first elimination of the final table was a sign of things to come, as VEGASRNDER34 took out NMACK05 in one of those hands that makes you reach for the Pepto when it’s done. NMAC05 flopped two pair, then lost when VEGASRNDER34 made a four-flush on the river. NMAC05 collected $20 for finishing ninth, but still, blech:
XCAMILLA was still desperately short-stacked and when she moved in with A-6 she was in a spot of trouble against CHERNBURN’s pocket nines. That is, until she flopped an Ace. A few hands later she was all in again, and again with A-6, though this time she was dominated by NICCABEZAS’ A-Q. But on the flop, a six, and though paint hit on the river it was a King, not a Queen, and again XCAMILLA doubled through.
Losing that pot crippled NICCABEZAS and he was eliminated on the next hand, which proved to have serious repercussions for the rest of the tournament. Because ALEXD_22 and VEGASRNDER34 both played the pot to the river, with both players making two pair. But VEGASRNDER34’s Aces and tens bested ALEXD_22’s Jacks and tens and VEGASRNDER34 won a huge pot that propelled him into the chip lead and sent NICCABEZAS to count the $28 he won for finishing 8th.
From reading the chat I learned that at one point ALEXD_22 was down to 750 chips, and then he charged back to the top of the leaderboard. And almost as quickly he was out of the tournament–he and VEGASRNDER34 exchanged a series of preflop raises that ended with all the chips in the middle and ALEXD_22’s pocket sevens racing against VEGASRNDER34’s A-Q. The doorcard was an Ace, and as ALEXD_22 typed “gg” in the chatbox the board bricked out and he was out in 7th place (good for $36).
Another decisive hand came soon after, with CHERNBURN and CARNAGEEE all in with VEGASRNDER34. CHERNBURN went in with the worst hand but when he rivered a Queen for two pair he bested the Ace CARNAGEE flopped and VEGASRNDER34’s pocket sixes. That sent CARNAGEEE out in 6th place ($46), and shortly after he was joined by CHITOWN21, who was eliminated by the resurgant XCAMILLA when, holding Ac-8c. she turned an eight to beat CHITOWN21’s pocket fours. CHITOWN21 hadn’t been able to knock out XCAMILLA when she was down to the felt, and in the end it was she who put him to the sword, bouncing him in 5th place ($56.50).
A hand or so later it was BULLSHARKS who was betayed by the turn. Holding K-Q, BULLSHARKS flopped top two but that gave VEGASRNDER34 an open-ended straight draw with his J-10. The Ad spiked on the turn, giving him Broadway, and when BULLSHARKS couldn’t boat up on the river he was our 4th place finisher. Which was good for $69,50, but certainly merited what BULLSHARKS said just after the final card fell–”Damn”. Indeed.
“Camilla has been SO lucky!!” CHERNBURN said good-naturedly after she doubled twice early in the final table, and it was hard to argue that she’d been a bit fortunate. But she’d fought back from nothing to the final three, despite having to leave the tournament to pick up her mother. Would XCAMILLA have been so lucky had she blown her mother off, had she stayed at her computer while Mom shivered in the pouring rain waiting for the ride that would never, ever come? I think not! XCAMILLA acted as a dutiful daughter should and Lady Luck gave a big thumbs up. XCAMILLA ended up going out in third place, putting the last of her chips in after VEGASRNDER34 flopped a Queen to leave her 8-9 drawing extremely thin. Still, after leaving the game and having the last of her chips committed in her big blind, XCAMILLA returned to the fray and battled all the way to third place, good for a NINETY DOLLAR PAYDAY. And when you’re freerollin’, ninety bucks ain’t a bad return on your investment.
The top two players in the Delicious Freeroll both receive the same prize, a $215 entry in the $200K Sunday Guaranteed Tournament. “Why are we still playing?” CHERNBURN asked, and the players joked a bit that since they were both getting the same prize there really wasn’t much reason to continue. Whatever happened to pride??? The thrill of victory!!! Seeing your foe driven from the field in disarray!! The two players moved all-in before the flop four times…and on all four occasions, CHERNBURN held an Ace. He won all four hands, including one where he beat VEGASRNDER34’s pocket tens, and in about thirty seconds reversed a huge chip disadvantage to “win” the tournament. The final hand:
For VEGASRNDER34 this may have been a bit disappointing, because you want to win, but how often do the cards run so badly against you and it means NOTHING. Certainly nothing to your bottom line. Which, for both players, was improved to the tune of a entry in the Sunday Guarantted event. In the comments of the Delicious Freeroll post CHERNBURN said, “…I’ve never played in a tournament like that (the $200 Guarantee) before, I’m really excited for the opportunity.” And VEGASRNDER34 said, “That was alot of fun and some great people playing in that tourney!!!” We’ll be keeping an eye to see how CHERNBURN and VEGASRNDER34 do on Sunday, and you should keep an eye on the UltimateBet Blog for details on the freerolls we have planned for the future.
Tags: blog freeroll tournaments, delicious freeroll, freeroll tournaments, freerolls, ub, ub freerolls, ultimatebet, ultimatebet freerolls
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Friday, July 24, 2009 - smokin_aces
With only 5 days left until the Delicious Blog Freeroll’s $1000 prize pool, there are less than 100 players fully registered. Since everyone who finishes 1st to 65th gets paid, this is great news for those looking to cash in their first tournament. Better yet, 1st and 2nd place get seats at the Sunday 200K GTD. Check out the prizepool for the 200K GTD here.
The main point is this. Within a few minutes you can complete the step necessary to qualify and get your seat at this exclusive tournament with an unusually low amount of players and fantastic prize pool. See here for the entrance requirements and hope to see you in the Delicious Blog Freeroll!
GL
Aces
Tags: blog freerolls, Bloggers Tournament, Delicious Blog Freeroll, freerolls
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Monday, July 13, 2009 - smokin_aces
Please help us reach our Twitter goal!
Just over 48 hours left until the Twitter Up For Africa freeroll. You can read all the details here.
We set an ambitious goal of trying to get 2000 new Twitter followers during the lead up to this tournament. If we hit that goal, we’ll give $1 for each new follower to the Twitter Up For Africa pot. From there, $1000 would go to Annie Duke’s amazing charity Ante Up For Africa, and $1000 would go towards the payout structure for the freeroll.
This morning we officially got our 1000th new follower during the timeframe of this event which is absolutely amazing. There are a lot you out there who can share credit for this feat, and we all thank you.
Our challenge now is to come together in one final push towards glory. Please take a second to email blast your friends, retweet us on Twitter, text your contacts and anything else you can do to help us reach this goal and give to charity and the freeroll.
We need your help and so do the people of Darfur!
The password for the Twitter Up For Africa tournament is tufa3500. Get your friends to follow @ultimate_bet on Twitter, and come play in this amazing freeroll!
GL
Aces
Tags: Annie Duke, Ante Up For Africa, freerolls, Twitter Freerolls, Twitter Up For Africa
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Friday, May 8, 2009 - smokin_aces
Hey UBers!
Check out this Phil Hellmuth Twitter Video ! http://bbltwt.com/wdspx
If you’ve been following us on Twitter (twitter.com/ultimate_bet) then you know we’re quite active in that community. If you haven’t been following us on Twitter, then what are you waiting for?
We have a great new Twitter only freeroll coming up next Friday May 15 at 8pm EST.
On twitter, each Friday use the tag #followfriday in your twitter post and recommend @ultimate_bet to your followers! It’s that simple to help spread the word! Help us spread the word!
More ‘Follow Friday Freeroll’ details coming soon!
GL
Aces
Tags: follow friday freeroll, freerolls, online poker tournaments, Twitter
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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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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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