Saturday, January 17, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
When you play in one of our UBOC events you can win back your buy-in by knocking out one of our pros, who are easily identifiable because their screen names are in red. But if you checked the leaderboard last night you’d find that there was one bounty that went uncollected during UBOC Event #10. And that’s because Matt “WISCOMURRAY” Murray won the shorthanded Limit Hold-Em tournament last night in a back-and-forth scrum that saw players go from worst to first (and then back again) in a single hand.
Both THELTRAIN and BOOMBAT2 were brutally short coming into the final table and they were quickly escorted to the rail. THELTRAIN went first, committing the last of his chips with Qh-8d and getting called by HYERAN KIM’s Ah-10h. The board bricked out and THELTRAIN collected $1,890 for his sixth-place finish. BOOMBAT2 was next to visit the payout window, as he raised with Kd-3c and was called by YNGMANN4QUIKI. After the 3d-5h-2c flop BOOMBAT2 pushed in his last handful of chips. YNGMANN4QUIKI called to find that his As-Qh had been outflopped, but the Qd spiked on the turn and the Ah on the river for good measure and BOOMBAT2 was out in fifth, good for $2,340.
YNGMANN4QUIKI went out next, but not before a hand that rivaled Teddy KGB’s cold-decking of Mike McD at the begining of Rounders. After a raise and a call before the flop WISCOMURRAY and YNGMANN4QUIKI exchanged a series of raises and re-raises after a 5c-Qc-10d flop. The same happened after the Kd turned, and when the 8c fell on the river YNGMAN called one last bet from WISCO, who turned over Kc-Jc for the rivered flush (after the flopped open-ender/flush draw and the turned pair). YNGMANN4QUIKI flashed Kh-Ks for the turned set that didn’t hold up, and one hand later WISCOMURRAY finished YNGMANN4QUIKI off, hopefully the $2,790 he collected for finishing fourth provided some solace (maybe some Oreos would help as well).
Down to three-handed WISCOMURRAY, HYERAN KIM and Kevin “KICE32″ Iacafano took turns hammering away at each other. The blinds were large enough and the stacks small enough that losing a single hand could deal a crippling blow, and that’s what happened to KICE32. He lost a huge pot when WISCOMURRAY tabled a flopped set of threes and that left KICE32 with just $28K. But he tripled up on the next hand when, holding K-9, he flopped a King and turned a nine to get back in the game.
At one point HYERAN KIM seemed to be getting the best of it but he couldn’t deliver the knockout blow. There was one hand that might’ve been decisive–with the board showing the five through eight of diamonds HYERAN KIM bet and WISCOMURRAY called. HYERAN KIM showed the nine of diamonds for the straight flush, while WISCO flashed the Ace of diamonds for the faux-nut flush. WISCOMURRAY might’ve lost more on that hand, but he didn’t, and slowly the tide turned his way. He went on a run where he won five hands in a row, including the one that sent KICE32 out in third place. With WISCO holding 8d-9c, the flop came 8s-Ac-As, and after a bet and a call the turn brought the 9h. A bet, raise and re-raise left KICE32 with just $17K and that went in after the river brought the 8h. WISCOMURRAY showed his full house and when KICE32 couldn’t beat it he was our third-place finisher, good for a $3,780 payday.
The heads-up match started with WISCO holding a $760K to $140K chip lead over HYERAN KIM, and though KIM won seven of the ten heads-up hands (including one where he doubled-up with pocket Aces) he never made up much ground. After getting his stack up to over $300K HYERAN KIM lost a big hand when WISCOMURRAY turned a King for top pair, and on the next hand the two players exchanged a series of raises until KIM was left with just a few thousand chips. The flop came 10h-3h-Qs, the last of HYERAN KIM’s chips went in, and that’s when he learned that his Ah-9c were completly crushed by WISCO’s Ad-10c. The Kc on the turn gave HYERAN KIM hopes of a chop, but the river brought the 6c and the end of HYERAN KIM’s hopes. He won $5,454 for finishing as our runner-up, and Matt “WISCOMURRAY” Murray took home $9,000 and serious bragging rights within the Team UB roster for taking down a UBOC title.
Tags: kice32, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, ub, ub tournaments, UBOC, uboc events, uboc tournaments, ultimatebet, wiscomurray
Comments (0)
Friday, January 16, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
To succeed in limit poker, you must have the math. The calculations aren’t complicated but if the numbers aren’t encoded into you DNA you will struggle. To win in limit poker your play must be as precise as a Swiss watch and as cooly analytical as a Swiss banker. In no-limit mastery of the math is important, but not definitive. You must also have heart. Or guts. Fortitude, let’s call it. And something else–imagination. You not only have to step into the shoes of your opponent, you must also allow him to step into yours…and then trick him into seeing your lies as the truth. That massive all-in re-raise you just made…a bluff, or are you holding the nuts and daring your foe to make a doomed hero call? As Crandall Addington once said, “Limit poker is a science, but no-limit is an art. In limit you are shooting at a target. In no-limit, the target comes alive and shoots back at you.”
Pot-limit poker lies in the middle ground between the two. There are those who believe pot-limit requires the most skill–you can bet enough to protect your hand and price out draws, but you can’t just shove in your stack after seeing your hole cards. You must see flops. You must build pots. The limits (and excesses) of the other two games is somewhat mitigated.
Last night 532 players took to the felt to display their pot-limit skills in UBOC Event #9. Both Adam “ROOTHLUS” Levy and Matt “WISCOMURRAY” Murray made it deep, but not as deep as the nine players who made last night’s final table:
After JLFOXLKN was eliminated in 9th and PONYNECK in 7th, there was some talk of a chop as no player had an overwhelming chip lead (LOOT613 led as the final table started with $334K). But the negotiations quickly came to an end and play resumed. Lady luck is a fickle one and after LUCKYSNORM went out in 7th the next player bounced from the tournament was LOOT613, the one-time chipleader. Which again got the players talking about a chop, and which led WU_WIZARD to respond to the entreaties with a succient, “Nah”.
And a good decision it was, because after EL_PIEB10, MILKMONEY4ME and FREEZE1873133 were eliminated in turn, GARNET and WU_WIZARD played heads-up for the title. And a long, cautious battle it was, with each player jabbing and feinting rather than throwing haymakers–perhaps illustrating the difference between pot- and no-limit. WU_WIZARD held the chip lead most of the way before GARNET was able to claw back and even take a slight lead. But that advantage was erased when, with the board reading 10h-6h-7d-Qc, GARNET made a $275,000 bet and WU_WIZARD moved all-in. GARNET surrendered his hand and more than half his chips, and the writing was on the wall. GARNET battled back to push his stack back up to $400K, but after limping in and seeing WU_WIZARD make a pot-sized raise, GARNET hit back with a re-raise. But WU_WIZARD had a hand, Ah-Qs, and after he moved all-in the pot-stuck GARNET called and found that his Kd-5c needed help. Help he didn’t get on the Qc-8h-9c flop, and after the 7s turned and the 8s fell on the river GARNET was out in 2nd place (winning $20,025, a much better payday than he would’ve had in a five-way chop) and WU_WIZARD’s self-confidence was rewarded with $34,495 and a UBOC title.
Tags: Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, pot-limit tournaments, ub, ub tournaments, UBOC, uboc events, uboc tournaments, ultimatebet, ultimatebet online championships, ultimatebet tournaments
Comments (1)
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
The player who wins the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament at the World Series of Poker gains the unofficial title of Best Player in the World. Last night 335 players took to the tables to try to win the unofficial title of Best Player at the UltimateBet Online Championships. I myself played in the mini-H.O.R.S.E. event that ran concurrently to the main tourament and all I have to say about that is…razz. (Expletive deleted) razz.
Several familiar names made it deep in last night’s tournament, including The Best Damn Poker Show’s host Hollywood Dave Stann (who finished 16th) and wunderkind James “mig.com” Mackey, who finished just off the final table in 11th. One well-known player who did make the final table was Alex “AKJHoosier1″ Kamberis, the top-ranked online tournament player according to PocketFives. Kamberis finished 5th…actually, why not show who made the final table:
By the time we reached the final table the blinds were big in relation to the stacks and one hand could spell the difference between being warily comfortable and clawing for survival. Player after player fell by the wayside, and in this particular order:
- 8th: HUNTER129 $1,050
- 7th: MAPSFLY $1,550
- 6th: KIDTEXICAN $2,050
- 5th: AKJHOOSIER1 $2,875
- 4th: NHGGSIKE $3,875
- 3rd: ALL-IN $5,375
The heads-up battle between DRY_BENEFIT and HUSSRAMILTON was a drawn-out affair that didn’t conclude until just past 5am ET. At one point HUSSRAMILTON was down to just $50,502 (with the blinds at 12,500/25,000) but spiked a nine on the river during a Hold-Em hand to stay alive. He doubled up against with K-4 against DRY_BENEFIT’s pocket Jacks (flopping a King) and got his stack up to near $350K before slipping again. But he kept in the game, doubling up with A-2 against DRY_BENEFIT’s A-7 when he turned a deuce, but that merely delayed the inevitable. Playing Hold-Em HUSSRAMILTON raised with 8d-7d and was called. The Jd-10s-6c gave him a gutshot draw and he moved in the last of his chips, only to find that he was up against DRY_BENEFIT’S Ah-7s, which took away three potential outs. The turn brought the Jh and the river the 3c and that, at long last, brought an end to UBOC Event #7. DRY_BENEFIT won $13,500 and the title, while HUSSRAMILTON had to console himself with the $7,875 he won as runner-up.
Tags: akjhoosier1, h.o.r.s.e., h.o.r.s.e. tournaments, Hollywood Dave, mig.com, ub, ub tournaments, UBOC, uboc events, uboc3, ultimatebet, ultimatebet online championship
Comments (0)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
If you were looking for evidence that Texas Hold-Em’s hegenomy over poker has been broken, look no further than last night’s UBOC Pot-Limit Omaha/8 event. A total of 399 players signed up to play a tournament that wasn’t no-limit, wasn’t Hold-Em, and WAS a split-pot game for cryin’ out loud. People have learned that these other forms of poker are great games as well and that they require different approaches if you want to succeed (split-pot games especially). Plus, in general, people are gettin’ pretty good at this Hold-Em game. So if you’re looking for new aquariums to fish from, sharpening your skills in Omaha/8 is a great place to start.
As, apparently, these nine players did, as they outlasted 390 of their peers to reach last night’s UBOC final table:
For a split-pot game the final table was quickly winnowed down to the final four, with the eliminations (and payouts) going like this:
- 9th: NOCH08 $1,197
- 8th: MOB29 $1,795
- 7th: WHOMPADPG $2,394
- 6th: JEFFRY53 $2,992
- 5th: WWLLLWW $3,591
I covered a few Omaha Hi-Lo events at this year’s World Series of Poker and was glad to see that the other reporters and even the floorpersons had some trouble figuring out who the heck won the pot. I mean, the hand that eliminated WANNA_RETIRE in 4th place isn’t that difficult to figure out, but when you’re watching it unfold in online-time and shuffling through two hands, eight cards, and countless permutations, it sets the circuits to sparking:
The board is paired…there’s no low hand…neither player connected with the flop…so THE_CASHIER’s nine kicker plays and sent WANNA_RETIRE into involuntary early retirement. Though the $4,189 he won for finishing fourth should be a nice addition to his portfolio.
When we reached three-handed play THE_CASHIER had about 1.76 million, OMAHAJOHN had around 420,000 and THE MENTOR had around 210,000. The three played about fifteen hands (with THE_CASHIER losing about 300,000 split equally between the other two players) before they all decided that a deal might be a civilized course of action. They called in UB’s online floor manager, came to a quick consensus, and just like that the deal was done. Variance has not had many opportunities to bedevil the players who have gone deep in our UBOC events.
So it was Pot-Limit Omaha/8 last night, and tonight the game is H.O.R.S.E.! A $120+10 H.O.R.S.E. event (with a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool) to determine who is the best mixed-game player of them all. That event starts at 8:30pm ET, as does our mini-UBOC H.O.R.S.E. event, which might be right up your alley if you haven’t played a lot of mixed-games and want to dip your toes in.
Tags: h.o.r.s.e., h.o.r.s.e. tournaments, pot-limit omaha, pot-limit omaha hi-lo tournaments, pot-limit omaha tournaments, pot-limit omaha/8 tournaments, ub, ub tournaments, UBOC, uboc events, uboc tournament, uboc3, ultimatebet, ultimatebet online championship, ultimatebet tournaments
Comments (0)
Monday, January 12, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
As both a hockey fan and a tight-weak poker player the word “shorthanded” has negative connotations for me. But shorthanded play is the wave of the present in poker, with both heads-up and six-handed games becoming more and more popular. Shorthanded games force you to play more hands, play more hands after the flop, make more difficult decisions…in short, you have to play more poker. And last night saw UltimateBet stage it’s $300+20 six-handed Hold-Em event, which featured 793 players. And here are the half-dozen who made it to our 33% roomier final table:
When you’re the table shortstack and you shove from the small blind with Qc-9d you’re no doubt hoping the big blind folds, because you’re only gonna get called by a better hand. That’s exactly what befell ERIKTHEKING7 as his steal attempt was arrested by WHITHERED’s call with a dominating Ks-Qs. No help arrived on the board and ERIKTHEKING7 was dead, long live ERIKTHEKING7.
A few hands later MADMAX91 raised from the small blind, but with a legitimate hand–As-Qd. JBLAZE20 made the call from the big blind and when the flop came 6c-2h-7c MADMAX91 probably though those baby cards hadn’t hit his opponent and so moved all-in. His timing proved poor–JBLAZE20 had flopped a set of deuces and that was pretty much that. MADMAX91 didn’t hit his runner-runner miracle and was out in fifth place.
Many of the UBOC events have ended with the players making a deal and when we were four-handed the players started discussing possible terms. But WHITHERED didn’t seem much interested in dealing and when he put forth a proposal the other players quickly rejected it and we got back to business. After RYANWELCH16 (the chipleader) raised it up UPAYMYMORTGAGE drew the line in the sand and moved all in. RYANWELCH16 called, to find that his Ad-6h was dominated by UPAYMYMORTGAGE’s Ac-Jh. But the situation was reversed about a nanosecond later as the 6d-8s-4d flop gave RYANWELCH16 a pair and when the turn and river brought diamonds he held the nut flush and sent UPAYMYMORTGAGE to the rail in 4th place.
At this point RYANWELCH16 had a huge chip lead with WHITHERED AND JBLAZE20 lagging well behind, but the two shortstacks quickly consolidated, though not in the way JBLAZE20 might’ve chosen. WHITHERED moved all-in from the small blind with Ac-Qs and JBLAZE20 made the call with pocket Fours. The baby pair still led the race after the 9c-3h-6d flop, but the turn brought the Ah and the river the As for good measure to eliminate JBLAZE20 in third.
RYANWELCH16 held a bit less than a 4-1 chip lead as heads-up play started but WHITHERED still wasn’t interested in making a deal. The two traded pots for a bit but WHITHERED wasn’t able to make up much ground before the final hand. There was a raise, an all-in, and a call, and WHITHERED’s Kh-Jh needed some help against RYANWELCH16’s Ad-2c. The 3s-Qh-Qd brought some teasing paint but no real help, though the 5h on the turn did–it gave WHITHERED a flush draw. But the river saw the 10d fall and that withered WHITHERED’s stack and left RYANWELCH16 as the champion of UBOC Event #5 and $66,000 richer.
Tags: Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, ub, ub tournaments, UBOC, uboc events, uboc tournaments, ultimatebet, ultimatebet online championship, ultimatebet tournaments
Comments (0)
Saturday, January 10, 2009 - Cardroom
Well … until next Sunday anyway! That gives everyone plenty of time to participate in what promises to be one of the biggest and most exciting events on the poker calendar this year … and it’s only January! Not only are the guarantees HUGE! Many of our BIG name pros like Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Tiffany Michele, Shawn Rice and P0KER H0 will be playing in some or all of the events. Knock any of them out and get your buyin back! Feeling the crunch after all the Xmas expenses? Don’t worry, there’s a Mini UBOC for you too! Check out all the details for both UBOC events here http://www.ultimatebet.com/poker-tournaments/events/uboc-schedule.
The Card Room
Tags: Annie Duke, Cardroom, mini UBOC, P0ker H0, Phil Hellmuth, ShawnRice, Tiffany "Tiffany M" Michelle, UBOC, uboc events, uboc leagues
Comments (0)
Thursday, January 8, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Congratulations–you survived the holidays. You ate the turkey, wrapped the presents, drank the champagne. You’re no longer culturally obligated to gorge yourself stupid, drink yourself silly, and spend hours of quality time with your in-laws. After the five-week sprint from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day you deserve a little breather.
And I hope you enjoyed it. Because it’s over.
Your lazy days and quiet nights come to a blessed end this Friday, when the third UltimateBet Online Championship kicks off. We’re hosting twelve huge tournaments over ten days with over $2 million in guaranteed prize pools. And no matter what your favorite game is–Omaha, H.O.R.S.E., good old-fashioned Hold-Em–you’ll find a UBOC event that fits your particular bill. Here’s the schedule of events:
As you can see there’s gonna be some gambling right off the bat, as the opening UBOC tournament is a Pot-Limit Omaha event…with rebuys. 8:30pm Friday night will not be a good time to be channeling your inner nit. In fact, if you look over the schedule you’ll find just two “normal” full-ring No-Limit Hold-Em events–and one of those is the $1 million-guaranteed UBOC Championship. If that fits your definition of “normal” then you run in much faster circles than I do. But with several deep-stack events, a 128-player heads-up tournament, a sniper event…they say variety is the spice of life, and UBOC3 will…no, I am not going to make a Taco Bell joke here. Let’s just say that every night will bring a new and exciting challenge for the best online poker players on the planet.
Past UBOCs past have seen some remarkable displays of poker prowess. Brock “Maria Nuccia” Parker, a well-known and well-regarded online pro, took down the first UBOC Main Event and won a silver bracelet to go with his $168,450 first prize. Last year saw one of the most astonishing performances in online poker history, as Greg “Wild Duck” Hobson won the $100+9 No-Limit Hold-Em with rebuys event…and then won the $200+15 No-Limit Hold-Em event the next day. Oh, and the day he won his second UBOC event? Greg also final-tabled the $500+30 NLH event that started later in the afternoon. That’s two wins and a final table in about 24 hours. Not that the cake needed icing, Greg also finished fifth in the $500+30 shorthanded NLH event. Back in 17th-century Massachusetts such an extraordinary performance might’ve gotten Hobson burned at the stake. We anointed him UBOC Player of the Year instead. That’s progress.
Now, maybe you’re looking at the UBOC schedule and finding the buy-ins a bit steep. Maybe you invested your bankroll with Bernard Madoff and, well, we know that story doesn’t have a happy ending. But that doesn’t mean you can’t join in on the UBOC fun. If you look at the far right of the schedule printed above you’ll see the “Mini-UBOC” list of tournaments. Every UBOC event (save the six-handed Hold-Em event and the Championship) is mirrored by a tournament with one-tenth the buy-in. Dying for the chance to play in a big H.O.R.S.E tournament or chomping at the bit to join in some rebuy madness? You can jump into a mini-UBOC event and play for a tidy guaranteed prize pool. I think that’s where I’ll be investing my soon-to-be-depleted bankroll.
And it all starts this Friday at 8:30pm ET. We’ll be covering each and every tournament here at the UltimateBet Blog so be sure to follow along with all the action…and maybe you’ll be the player making the big splash during UBOC3.
Tags: Brock Parker, DuckU, greg hobson, Maria Nuccia, t sorprano, ub, UBOC, uboc events, uboc tournaments, uboc3, ultimatebet, ultimatebet championships, ultimatebet events, ultimatebet online championship, ultimatebet tournaments, ultimatemet online championships, wild duck
Comments (0)
