Sunday, October 18, 2009 - Michaelbinger
Well it has been quite a few weeks. After a frustrating week or two of poker in London I flew from Amsterdam to Aruba on the 3rd. I knew immediately that I was in for a great week. I managed to convince my brother Nick to come out to Aruba for the first time so I had a partner in crime. Plus alot of good friends were going to be there. I really do have more and more fun every year in Aruba.
Day 1 Sun Oct 4: Nick and I rented a Catamaran sailboat (a Hobicat) and managed to capsize it only twice. It’s a bit of a pain to get them right side up in the middle of the ocean but well worth it for the fun and adventure. It was really a blast… we went sailing another 3 times during the week. We hung a few hours on the beach with some friends then headed back to the room to get ready for the opening party. Little did I know what an EPIC night we had in store. Things started off a bit tame (by which I mean a normal fun party), but about an hour or two into it people started getting rather drunk, and well… a massive epidemic of people getting thrown into the pool ensued. I must admit that myself, my brother Nick, and some other team UB pros were the main culprits behind this. We would spot someone in the crowd who we thought should be in the pool, and like savage hunters track them down and throw them in kicking and screaming (FYI they were fake screams… interesting fact: people love being thrown in pools! ). We were good though… we always gave our victim the opportunity to empty the pockets of cell phones and other stuff and give them to a friend before getting thrown in. Before long, it seemed like the entire party was in the pool. The award for toughest fighter goes to the newest UB team pro Joe Sebok… that kid is scrappy and strong… I think it took 4 of us to get him in the pool! But once he was in the pool, he came to see the wisdom of it all!
Day 2 Mon Oct 5: This was day 1A of the main event and we had the day off. A fun mostly lazy day on the beach interrupted only by going tubing. Four of us could go at a time on our own separate tubes and boat driver was on a mission to sling us around and knock us off. Quite exhilarating and fun. Dinner out in town at an awesome restaurant Madame Janette.
Day 3 Tues Oct 6: Time to play poker! We started with 15k in chips and as usual with tournaments run by Matt Savage the blind structure was very good. I finished the day with 41k I think, a bit above average. Off to bed early.
Day 4 Wed Oct 7: Nick and I woke up early to go for a swim in the ocean and then sailing before the noon day 2 restart. The winds were fairly strong and the skies ominous. We got pretty far from shore and decided that a fun way to practice sailing would be for one of us to jump out of the boat and have the other tack back to “rescue”. I was the first overboard and my brother decided to sail past me a few times just for fun before picking me up. Next it was Nick’s turn: he jumps overboard, and almost immediately the winds pick up. I am doing my best to control the small boat, which is going faster than ever. Before I even know what’s going on the front of the boat is plowing into the water and I am at 45 degrees… very close to flipping but I managed to lean back and counterbalance. I turn around and tack back towards Nick just as it starts pouring rain and lightning and thundering. It is getting a bit scary, but as an experienced seaman (this is my 2nd time sailing) I wasn’t fazed 
. I pick up Nick and we decide to head in… the only problem being that it is raining so hard we cannot see the shore. But a good sailor has an internal compass so we made it back safe and sound, in time to play some poker. Sadly the day didn’t go well for either of us. I built up to over 80k early on and was in strong position, but everything just fell apart and I busted in the evening… so I was stuck on a tropical island with tons of fun leisure/adventure activities and a bunch of cool people. Sigh.
Day 5 Thurs Oct 8: Horseback riding! Went with Nick, UB pro Liv Boeree, and Allie Prescott who sadly had to bail at the last minute do to illness. It was a blast, we got to gallup along the beach and mosey through the Aruban countryside. Great big group dinner.
Hung out in the pool for a while around midnight with a bunch of friends and UB pros. Went out to some clubs late night with Joe Reitman and ran into a bunch of great people. Walked home at 5am.
Day 6 Fri Oct 9: Another day of beach bumming and sailing. Good times. Then in the evening to Phil Hellmuth’s party in the penthouse suite. As usual, a great party. Lots of free flowing Dom Perignon, plus a performance by The Dan Band, who were awesome and funny. Oh yes and there was a rapping competition between Jeff Madsen and the Poker Rapper.
Day 7 Sat Oct 10: Lazy day shopping, getting lunch, then went out on the Waverunners. Had a blast once I figured out how to do 360’s. More beach bummery with the crew. Throwing around the nerf football and such. The closing party was that night, featuring another performance by The Dan Band, and another episode of debaucherous pool throwing and frolicking (see day 1).
Day 8 Sun Oct 11: Time to leave 
Until next year Aruba!
So now I’m back home in Vegas, playing some poker at the Bellagio and just catching up on life. Played the 10k HORSE event 2 days ago, which got only 19 players. Busted on day 2 yesterday. Probably playing the 10k PLO tomorrow… check me out on twitter for updates!
Best of Luck,
Michael Binger
Tags: Amsterdam, Aruba, Bellagio, Joe Reitman, Joe Sebok, Liv Boeree, London, Matt Savage, Michael Binger, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, Team UB, The Dan Band, Twitter, ub pros, Vegas
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Saturday, January 24, 2009 - C00LHandNuke
Hmmm. What do you say in your first blog ever? I guess you start with an introduction. My name is Shawn, but I play under the handle C00LHandNuke on Ultimate Bet. I use the same/similar name on some of the other sites. I’ve been playing “professionally” now for about five years, but am relatively new to the UB scene. I started playing on UB this summer after trying out for the Best Damn Poker Show 2. I gave Gary Debonardi (Debo34) some cash at this year’s WSOP and he transferred $300 to my account. Why didn’t I just use a credit card? Well it has to do with over $40k getting stuck on NetTeller for about a year and a growing distrust of the whack-a-dos in Washington – but I’ll save that for a later blog.
I gotta give some props to Debo, P0ker H0, Shawn Rice and all the other UB Pros. They are great ambassadors, always willing to talk and (as in my case) go out of their way to add players to the site. I had sat at live tables with Shawn and H0 before. And through a mutual acquaintance, Debo ended up sweating me about a year ago when I won the Sunday Million on PokerStars. So I had a little history with these guys, but I know for a fact that they’ve each done similar things for complete strangers. Thanks again Debo!
Anyhow, on with the blog. I made it onto the Best Damn Poker Show 2. It was a great experience. The first episode aired last Monday on FoxSports and was pretty entertaining. My first table plays this week, so I wasn’t in the first episode for more than a few seconds. A lot of the first episode was set up for what is to come, but I’m hoping that as the show progresses the poker will take more of the center stage. Hopefully it won’t get lost in the editing. I hope you watch and if you can’t get enough from the TV, check back here after each episode. I’ll be posting a blog for each episode with my own personal behind the scenes extras. If you haven’t read some of the posts on Pocket 5’s already, there was definitely some drama on this year’s show. And as usual, I was right in the middle of it.
The UBOC has started and Debo and I are a team in the UBOC Poker League. You can check out the standings at http://ubpokerleagues.com. So far we’ve had some minor success and are sitting in fourth place. I busted out of UBOC event #2 in eleventh place. The finish was okay, but I feel like a really could have done better. I had a very playable stack and the first big bluff I tried in the tourney crippled me when we were down to twelve players. Basically my opponent called off 30% of his stack on the turn and another 60% on the river with fourth pair (sixes) when the board was four-straighted to two gutshots and the river also made a three-flush – the villain had no draws. Ugh! A few days later, I took eleventh again in the PLO/8 UBOC event. This time I just went card dead at the wrong time and, in retrospect, probably passed up an opportunity to gamble once too often.
The idea for a poker league is awesome. The extra money involved is a nice incentive, but really it is about more than that. It’s about bragging rights and pride, even more so than just the typical leader boards that every site has. The leagues allow groups of people to opt into a certain schedule and put up some extra money behind the boast of “Hey, I think me and my partner are better than any two players out there.” My prediction for 2009 is that soon other sites will begin to emulate this. But I’m not sure how well it will work for them. What I’ve come to realize in the short time that I’ve been playing on UB is that there really is a sense of community and greater opportunity to meet other people who love poker. I guess that, more than anything else, is why I’m writing this blog and why you’ll see more of my online daily bankroll dedicated to buying into tournaments at UB. So I hope to see you at the tables, and maybe I can get over my 11-and-out syndrome and it will be a final table where we meet. If you see me, please say hello.
Cheers,
Shawn
Tags: Best Damn Poker Show, Debo34, fox sports, P0ker H0, players blog, plo8, poker tournaments, ShawnRice, sunday millions, ub pros, UBOC, uboc poker leagues
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Friday, January 9, 2009 - P0ker J0
Hello from the Pro Corner where things are never boring and always changing!
Well I’m excited to be a new part of this BLOG community. Check back here every Friday for updates on Team UB – you could learn all kinds of cool stuff. What is Phil Hellmuth’s favorite breakfast food? How many times a week does Annie Duke do yoga? Where is Michael Binger playing this week? When does Scott Ian start recording his new album? Come back often – P0ker J0 has the scoop for you!
So this is a big week on UB. UBOC is about to kick off tonight and Team UB is in a frenzy. Watching these guys get ready for action is like watching a school of piranha ready to feast. There is a pro hosting each one of the UBOC tournaments and since they won’t be playing with a bounty on their head for once it will be interesting to see how aggressive or tight these guys will play. You will see most of them at most of the tables regardless – I guess it’s easier to play when you don’t have everyone gunning for you! Come check out the UBOC and see the pro’s make waves!
In addition to the UBOC event itself, Annie and Phil have actually agreed on something. (which rarely happens!). They have now joined forces on the UBOC poker leagues (http://www.ubpokerleagues.com/UBOCLeagues.html) and have made it known that they want to show the world that they are the real poker players! Come on guys – show them you can outplay them and join the league today!
Speaking of Annie and Phil – the second season of Best Damn Poker Show airs on Monday January 12th on Fox Sports Net. Check it out to see who really is the better poker teacher. Our very own Hollywood Dave will be the show’s host and will inevitably provide us with some witty and even possibly sarcastic banter! With better than ever hand analysis and of course inevitable bickering between Hellmuth and Duke – it is sure to be a great watch! Who do you want to win? Team Hellmuth or Team Duke?
And as I close this first BLOG – please don’t forget to check in on Rounders Radio every Sunday night (www.roundersradio.com) at 8:00 PM EST for The Ultimate Poker Show hosted by the infamous (or should we say famous?) P0ker H0. He is very often joined by Annie Duke as his sidekick; and when she is not around there is always someone around to fill her big shoes! (For the record – I’m not saying she has big feet!)
That’s all for now! Have a super week!
P0ker J0
Tags: Annie Duke, Best Damn Poker Show, Hollywood Dave, P0ker H0, p0ker j0, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Pros, pro corner, rounders radio, Team UB, ub pros, UBOC, uboc poker leagues, uboc tournaments
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