Saturday, January 24, 2009 - P0ker H0
The UBOC’s have finally came to a close. It was an exciting week and a half of poker, especially because I was in the UBOC League. For those of you who don’t know, ubpokerleagues.com hosted a UBOC League where each team bought in for 1k and the 3 teams with the highest amount of points at the end of the UBOC would split the prize pool. We ended up getting 15 teams for the UBOC, and 20 for the MINI-UBOC. I partnered up with Shawn Rice and we were in it to the very last day. Wiscomurray’s team led the league in first everday but one, but on the last day lot’s of drama ensued.
The way the points are calculated are the higher the buyin the more points you will receive, and the deeper you go. So with the majority of UBOC’s being $100-$200’s and the last event a 1k, you can see how it would be easy to gain ground in the last tournament of the series. Well, thats exactly what the last place team did. The last day Wiscomurray’s team was in first with 1600 points, and 2nd with 1400. The 15th place team had 600 points. It would be a slight possibility for the bottom teams to catch up, but the last place team needed to outright win the UBOC to win the league by only 24 points. If they finished 2nd in the UBOC 1k main event they would get 850 points and fall significantly short.
Wouldn’t you know, I checked the lobby with 25 left and there they were. One of the guys on the last place team, DOUBLEDAVE22 to be exact, was still in the tournament. Not only that but NEDDYFLANDERS was still in, and his team was in need of the points. I think NEDDYFLANDERS could have finished 4th or better to win the league. Anyway, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Everytime DOUBLEDAVE22 was all-in, he got called, and when he was called his opponent had at most 2 outs. He played the short stack really well and found himself at the final table. When I say he played the short stack well, I really mean it. He was 2nd to last in chips from 20 players down to the final table. At the final table he found himself 4 handed, 2nd in chips. I couldnt believe it. Could the last place league team really pull this off? I mean, they had to WIN the UBOC 1k Main Event, to win the league. Anything less, and it wasnt even close to placing in top 3 teams.
DOUBLEDAVE22 shoved all in KQ and was called by Ac10c. The flop came 2 clubs 9 high. It wasn’t looking good for Dave, when bam, the turn came a non club Queen. Than bam the river a 7c, and Dave’s amazing run had come to an end. I have to admit, it was really fun watching other people play and have a reason to care what happens in the hands they are involved in. The ubpokerleagues.com website adds a new flavor to poker, and I really recommend it. Not only that, it helped me play my best poker I believe. Some people feel it’s easier to let themselves down than others, and for that reason I think people try harder. Give it a try and Gl everyone.
p0ker h0
Tags: mini UBOC, P0ker H0, Poker Strategy, poker tournaments, ShawnRice, table chat, UBOC, uboc leagues, ubpokerleagues
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Tuesday, December 23, 2008 - ProductMan
When I was in elementary school, I used to love the days when our regularly scheduled curriculum was conveniently interrupted by some random video screening. Although many of my classmates complained upon discovering that the VCR wasn’t loaded with the latest Hollywood blockbuster, I couldn’t resist the diversion. I’m fairly certain that I slept through most of those educational videos, but I do remember various productions that kindly advised us not to talk to strangers, which was apparently all the rage in the late eighties.
The world has surely turned on its head since then. These days, connecting with strangers on social networking sites, in forums and chat rooms, and by instant message is encouraged. There is probably no better way to consort with strangers (and perhaps your future friends) than by playing online poker.
With UltimateBuddy, it’s easy to keep taps on all your favorite strangers, friends, and foes whenever you hit the tables. Based on the same instant messaging technology used in popular chat clients including AIM, Yahoo! Chat, and Windows Live Messenger, this handy applet lets you quickly and easily see when your friends are online and where they are seated. All it takes is a few clicks and you can add friends to your list of favorites or take a seat right at their table. You can even make notes on all your contacts to help you get up to speed at every encounter.
UltimateBuddy won’t let you down. It’s highly secure and you can custom tailor it to meet your needs. You can easily fly under the radar and stop other people from tracking you. Handy sound effects keep you in the loop, letting you worry about your hand and your bankroll.
You’ll also be pleased to know that UltimateBuddy is now built-in to our standard gaming software. That means you no longer have to download and install a separate application to take advantage of all these useful features.
The Product Team
Tags: Instant Messaging, Product Features, Product Team, Social Networking, Software Update, table chat, Ultimate Buddy
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Monday, December 22, 2008 - Annie Duke
What on earth is going on with chat lately? I don’t know if it is cabin fever or the general disintegration of manners in general but there has been some pretty awful chat lately online. I want to quote Rodney King on this one: “Can’t we all just get along?” So the first really bad incident happened to me at a stud 8 or better. I had a hand where I started with split Kings and I was against a 6 up. I made three Kings on 6th street and, it turns out, I was against rolled up sixes. Oops. Donkey escapes with the pot again.
Now, ironically, I had rolled up sevens only a few hands before and had jammed it on 3rd and 4th streets. I proceeded to lose against a straight flush! So there ya go. What goes around comes around. When I lost my hand I said, “vnh” in the chat box which seemed like an appropriate response.
What would you consider an inappropriate response? Would “you f***ing c**t” qualify? How bout if you said that like 5 times in the chat box? Would you be surprised if you got removed from the site after that? I mean come on guys…it is a hand of poker. A hand of poker! Not life or death. No real effect on you. You lost a hand. Get over it. And if that is going to be your reaction then you shouldn’t be playing and you should learn some manners anyway. I don’t care what you scream *at* your computer. But to say that in the chat box repeatedly is just beyond the pale. I am pretty sure that word should never be said to a woman even if you are hiding behind the anonymity of the computer screen.
What is weird is that only a couple of days later I won a hold’em hand on the site and had the same thing said to me. That person got barred, too. I will report anyone who says that to me or anyone else. I hope everyone playing on the site is there to have fun. What on earth could be the upside to that kind of behavior? It just goes against all human decency. Emily Post would be appalled.
UB is no fun if we aren’t all treating each other well. So let’s try that as a New Year’s resolution.
Tags: manners, new years resolution, stud poker, table chat
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Monday, November 24, 2008 - Annie Duke
I have been playing a lot more on UB lately and that just makes me want to talk about chat abuse. Now, don’t get me wrong, the vast majority of people who chat on the site are really nice. And I really enjoy going on the site and chatting with them. But you know the saying about one bad apple? I find it fascinating what people will do and say when they get to hide behind the anonymity of the net. The other day I was trying to play a friendly game of 10-20 hold’em and this one guy just starts berating the people chatting with me for being suck ups. Then he says I only play poker cause my brother gives me money and that I suck. It went on and on and he got meaner to me and the people at my table.
Now normally I just ignore people like that. But this particular night I was in a mood and I started into him. I asked him why he felt the need to spread whatever blackness and misery he felt in his soul around to everyone else at the table because clearly to spread misery the way he was he must feel such despair in his own life. Now, I admit it, that was a little harsh and I really try never to react that way. But something in this guy just made me want to say something. I needed to ask, just one time, why someone wanted to ruin everyone else’s good time like that. His answer? “You can just ban my chat if you don’t like it.”
But to that all I can say is why should I have to? Why should you behave in a way where I have to ban your chat in order to have a good time at the table? I mean, seriously. Think about it. That is such an absurd answer…like I am going to be a total miserable and despicable ass and if you call me on it well you can just ban my chat? What the hell kind of answer is that. By the way…that is about verbatim what I said back to him in the chat box and that actually finally got him to stop.
But what I really want is for everyone to think about why we are all chatting with each other in the first place. It shouldn’t be to berate each other. It should be to sling epithets at each other. Really, UB is an amazing community and we should all behave like a good community and respect each other and try to just have a good time and, certainly, not ruin anyone else’s good time. In the words of Rodney King, “can’t we all just get along?” In the meantime, I am going to keep playing and trying to make sure everyone has a good time no matter what you say to me because I believe almost everyone on UB is having fun and doesn’t want any of the negativity anyway.
Tags: Annie Duke, table chat, Ultimate Bet
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