Phil Hellmuth leaves UB.com (formerly Ultimate Bet)

Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke leave UB (formerly Ultimate Bet)

First Annie Duke leaves UB
Annie Duke just left UB.com (formerly Ultimate Bet) in what she said was to "..explore other avenues of business and personal growth..". She had been with the company for 9 years and recently got engaged. So a change of pace was probably needed for the lady, plus it's also a good move for UB who is more or less re-branding their look to go towards a younger audience. Either way we are sure Annie Duke will be very successful in whatever she has planned.

Now the other big news: Phil Hellmuth leaves UB
Here is a post from Phil's blog:

December 30, 2010
     Over the last few months, rumors have been floating around that UB.com and I have parted ways.
     Today, I'd like to confirm yes, it's true.  I no longer wear the UB patch. UB.com and I have chosen
     to end our longstanding relationship.
     This was a mutual decision, and a difficult one for both parties to make. But I truly believe it's the
     right move for me and for the rebranded UB.com
     I sincerely wish everyone at UB.com-from management to the frontline staff to every player who
     loves this
     game as much as I do.
     -the very best.
     
     Phil Hellmuth


We think (and this is speculation only so far) that Hellmuth will probably be signed with the WSOP.com and be teaching classes. It would be a perfect fit for him, as he is a staple of the WSOP. We also believe he has made a deal with Aria Resort and Casino.
Either way we wish both super stars the very best!

"Durrrr" Challenge 2 done!

Ladies and Gents, it's over yes the Durrrr Challenge 2 is over, well at least as far as we're concerned.

Tom Dwan's "Durrrr Challenge" number two is on a break but who really cares anymore honestly. The play between Dwan and "JungleMan12" Cates never had a real schedule so you never knew when they'd be playing or for how long.  Remember the first "Durrrr Chanllenge" that took place against Patrik Antonius and basically never finished. Yeah that challenge started off pretty good but they never had a set schedule either and after awhile it just became lack luster; You could catch some of the hands played out on websites like PokerListings.com, but that's not what you wanted you wanted to see the live action not replayed hands.
Now with the latest challenge put on another break, we ask did it ever really have a chance? No not really. Dwan  probably over committed himself to various venues where he must spend more time at and trying to play here and there with poor internet connectivity is pointless anyway. The challenge may have stood a chance if they simply got out a calendar and marked all of the upcoming events they would be attending and then came together and said ok on this day of this month we can play for two hours and we'll let everyone know and then stick to it.  Maybe in the future two big names will do something similar and handle it better.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to ALL!!!!

Absolute Pokers UBOC6

Aboslute Poker has announced it's full UBOC6 schedule. below are the first 10 for the complete list got here.UBOC6 Full Schedule

Sunday, January 16th at 14:00 ET
Event #1: NLHE Deep Stack
$530 buy-in, $250,000 Guarantee

Sunday, January 16th at 16:00 ET
Event #2: Sniper NLHE Deep Stack
$320 buy-in, $200,000 Guarantee

Sunday, January 16th at 18:30 ET
Event #3: NLHE Deep Stack Ultra Turbo
$320 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

Monday, January 17th at 20:05 ET
Event #4: NLHE Four-Max
$320 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

Monday, January 17th at 20:05 ET
Event #5: NLHE Rock Star Bounty
$215 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

Tuesday, January 18th at 20:05 ET
Event #6: PLO Six-Max
$215 buy-in, $50,000 Guarantee

Tuesday, January 18th at 20:05 ET
Event #7: NLHE Deep Stack
$320 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

Wednesday, January 19th at 16:05 ET
Event #8: NLHE
$162 buy-in, $50,000 Guarantee

Wednesday, January 19th at 20:05 ET
Event #9: PLO Cubed
$215 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

Wednesday, January 19th at 20:05 ET
Event #10: NLHE Deep Stack Six-Max
$530 buy-in, $250,000 Guarantee

Rat Pack Poker News from Dec.6-12th

Ladies and Gents here is your poker news

• Rumors abound that PokerStars has slipped in and bought up the sponsorship for GSN's High Stakes Poker. Full Tilt Poker has been the sponsor for the past seasons and even though none of the players ever wore logo's or advertisements Full Tilt is still concerned that people would be confused as to which site their players are associated with. What does this mean for the new season..check back and we'll let you know as soon as we do
• Tom Dwan inched his way back to a $63k win in his "Durrrr" Challenge, that still puts him down around $500k for the challenge thus far against "Jungleman12".  Dwan was up $354k during the session but dropped some $200k in  a pot and then  had some more misfortune when he flopped the nut flush against the 'jungles' two pair and lost his internet connection forcing the hand to be checked down. No offense to Dwan but if you're playing pots worth $200k you may want to make sure you have a solid connection, yet we're sure this swing didn't affect him too much. He did tweet that he was a bit tilted after that hand.
• The PPA announced that unfortunately the bill proposed by Senate Majority leader Harry Reid was dead in the water. But We'll keep trying!!!
• Party Gaming co-founder Anurag Dikshit (yeah that's his real name) was finally sentenced to to 1 year probation and a $300 million dollar fine (yeah million) by a New York court.  Dikshit has also agreed as part of the sentencing to cooperate in an ongoing investigation with federal prosecutors. Dikshit had sold off his shares in Party Gaming, the parent company of Party Poker, and admitted to violating the Wire Act of 1961 two years ago. Party Gaming is currently merging with BWIN the Austrian online sports book and casino/poker site.

Absolute Poker Christmas Freerolls and Low Limit Buy in's

Poker Ladies and Gents be sure to check out Absolute Poker's Christmas Poker Promotions

$200K GTD Freerolls
When: December 12, 19 & 26 @ 12pm ET

$200K GTD Rebuy Satellites
When: December 12, 19 & 26 @ 13pm ET

Sniper $80K GTD Freerolls
When: December 15, 22 & 29 @ 5pm ET

Sniper $80K GTD Rebuy Satellites
When: December 15, 22 & 29 @ 6pm ET

They'll be awarding 40 seats to two of their biggest tournaments every Sunday and Wednesday!

And be sure when you sign up to use promo/bonus code RATPACK for a 150% sign up bonus, freerolls and RatPackPoker.net gear and merch!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

CardRunners "The Micro's" cartoon

We're still loving this vid by the guys at CardRunners.com

Rat Pack Poker: Poker News Dec.5-Dec12

Ladies and Gents here is a bunch of poker news for you from Dec. 5th-Dec12

• Antonio Esfandiari wins the WPT Five Diamond Poker Classic ($870)! and his known running buddy, and someone we've been a fan of for a long time, Andrew Robl places 2nd($549k)! your top five were as follows (Big Names)  Esfandiari, Robl, Vanessa Rousso, John Racener, and Kirk Morrison. 
• UB.com and Absolute Poker start Christmas Freerolls. win seats in to the $80k Sniper and the $200k Super Sunday Tourney's by playing the daily freerolls and low limit buy in tourneys from now until Dec.29
• WSOP.com offering Academy packages, each package includes round trip to Las Vegas, a 5 night stay at Caesars Palace, a "Master Class" with a WSOP Pro, VIP style hospitality and a $1,000 Tourney.
• Gus Hansen takes down the Poker Million IX for a very cool $1million. The tourney sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, had some big players at the final table. With the likes of Patrik Anotnius, Howard Lederer, James Bord, and Tony Bloom
• CardRunners turns 5 and offers a waiver of the sign up fee and gives away prizes, they also debuted a new video series entitled "The Micros" which airs via youtube.com you can see it here http://tinyurl.com/The-Micros   check out www.pokernewsdaily.com here for the article on how it came about http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/web-poker-series-the-micros-debuts-17188/
• 
  

Absolute Poker Bad Beat JackPot Busted

Thats right ladies and gents. This morning around 3:15am December 5, 2010 user VANDERAN333 took home a nice $54,109.84

 

Rat Pack Poker News & Reviews: Nov.30-Dec. 4th

Ladies and Gents here is your Poker News & Reveiws for Nov. 30th- Dec. 4th

• The WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic kicks off with 391 players footing the $10,000 buy in. Some of the bigger names in the event are Victory Poker pro Antonio Esfandiari, newly inducted hall of famer Erik Seidel, well known cash player Chau Giang, "Mr. Ace on the River" Barry Greenstein and his peer/apprentice the high flying, dice throwing Phil Ivey.
• CardRunners.com turns 5! and to celebrate if you sign up between December 6th-12th you can sign up for free (save $100) and for just $30/month you can have full access to the site! They will also be giving out free gifts during the promo period, of which you could win the likes of an Xbox Kinect, 2011 WSOP buy in!, MacBook Air, iPad etc. Just sign up! check out www.cardrunners.com for more promos
• Dusty Schmidt aka "leatherass" is back with a new book, this time entitled "Don't Listen to Phil Hellmuth: Correcting the 50 Worst Pieces of Poker Advice You've Ever Heard" and while the verdict is out if the title could be a backlash or a spring board, the information inside is worth reading. The title may be a little confusing as the advice he is talking about isn't all Phil Hellmuth's. He even corrects his own advice, and yes there is a lot of Hellmuth's advice corrected too so you won't be disappointed if that is indeed what you're looking for. Be sure to check his book out!
• IHateJuice (the unidentified poker player on Full Tilt's high stakes tables) took down the likes of well know Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius. IHateJuice racked up a nice $225k via some $2000/$4000 Limit Hold'em HU play
• Patrik Antonius took another beating by Urindanger for a $280k lost
• Full Tilt Poker is running it's MiniFtops Event during December, http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/mini-full-tilt-online-poker-series use bonus code SINATRA for a nice 100% dep bonus and RatPackPoker.net merchandise!
  

Poker Security Token! ??

Well ladies and Gents, if you ever had doubt about Absolute or UB.com's security measures, feel free to feel relieved. The network CEREUS (Absolute and UB's network) is offering a Security Token in the UB and Absolute Point's store for 6,500 points.  That's actually a really good deal especially considering how quick you can rack up points on the two sites via their power hour and it pays to play with both the RAI$E and FAME programs they offer.

Now what is a Security Token you ask.  it’s a small device that generates a numeric code. When you log into your UB.com or Absolute Poker account, you’ll need your user name and password along with the code generated by the security token. If you don’t have all three pieces of information, then you won’t be able to sign in. The code randomly generates and will be different from login to login. Just press the button located on the device, which is synched with UB.com’s servers, to see what the code is. (via PokerNewsDaily.com)

Back arond 2009 CEREUS had already started offering a SecureID pin number service, which is basically a 5 digit pin you enter into the site when you log in. The SecureID can be used in conjunction with the new Security Token.

Good luck at the tables and keep it cool.
Be sure to use bonus code RATPACK when signing up to receive the deposit bonus plus RatPackPoker.com merchandise comming soon! to you

RatPackPoker News from Nov.23-Nov30th

Ladies and Gents here is your world of Poker News from Nov.23-30th

• Full Tilt's Rush Poker Mobile APP was removed from the famous Android market. According to www.Droid-Life.com it was due to maintenance, we think it was more likely b/c the Android Market states "Real gambling is not allowed in the Android Marketpalce.." GOOD NEWS though you can still access Rush Poker Mobile via your phones web browser as long as your phone/mobile device runs Flash 10.1 or higher. Here's the Link https://mobile.fulltiltpoker.com/mobile/
• U.S. Government seized funds and served a warrant to eWalletXpress affecting business with Bodog, Cake Network, Carbon Poker and a few more. You can expect that eWalletXpress will leave the U.S. Market all together in order to avoid prosecution. **if you remember back in '07 the U.S. Dept. of Justice did something similar to the founders/owners of NETELLER and were actually arrested. All funds were seized until NETELLER agreed to pay a fine and was able to release funds. (think the US over stepped their boundaries there a bit)
• Phill Hellmuth is hosting a charity poker tournament in his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin on Dec. 18th from 3pm-Midnight the proceeds will go to HospiceCare Inc. One of the prizes offered is a seat in to the WSOP Main Event in 2011
• In other news Kentucky's Internet Gambling case is just RIDICULOUS. The seizure of domain names for poker sites in Kentucky is just plain stupid. We believe it is really just down to the fact that they would like no competition for the dollars they want to go towards the state lotto or horse racing.
• The Durrr Challenge is back in swing again with Dwan taking down $13k however he is still down around $640k+ for the challenge 

Ladies and Gents please be sure to look at how to become a sponsored poker player via our program

RatPackPoker.net Poker Pro's

Ladies and Gents we have just added our resident poker pro SinatraStyle!

Become a sponsored poker player for RatPackPoker.net!

That's right poker surfers we're starting a cool ass promo for all NEW players. Here's what to do

• Make at least a min. deposit on either UB.com or AbsolutePoker.com and use Bonus Code RATPACK
• Play at least 100 raked poker hands and we'll credit your account $20 Instant Cash, reach 500 raked hands and we'll credit another $25 on top.
• Maintain your membership by playing at least 100 raked hands/month and we'll sponsor you with $20/month!

Extra Bonuses!

• Once you have played 2000 raked hands/month we'll pay you $50/month and send you some gear/merch from the poker room of your choice!
• Reach 5000 hands/month (for 3 consecutive months)  and we'll pay you $100/month and send you some official CowabungaPoker.com gear!
• Every time you win a Tournament or Final Table, we will mention you on the website and in on our Facebook page and Twitter Wall!

Guidelines for Maintaining Sponsorship with RatPackPoker.net

• No explicit language at the tables, you represent RatPackPoker.net now, so if the site bans you then we ban you. 
• When you win a Tournament or hit the Bad Beat Jack Pot, mention us in the interview we're here to help you get there! 
• Play the min. raked hands/month, the bonus code is also used to track your membership status and don't worry Sit-N-Go's and MTT's do count we'll make sure you get a fair deal!
• Under the tab Game Info. be sure to click on Allow Others to Find Me (this isn't a deal breaker this is just so you can get noticed)

Ladies and Gents, stay classy and hit those tables!

Full Tilt Officially Releases RUSH Poker for phones

There it is ladies and gents, the official Android barcode for Full Tilt RUSH Poker for your phone!!! or you can play in the browser at http://mobile.fulltiltpoker.com

Check out the info at Full Tilt's site at http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/rush-poker-mobile and be sure when you sign up to use bonus code SINATRA

This is sure to be a hit for all poker players

Rat Pack Poker News: Novemeber 11-19 2010

That's right Ladies and Gentlemen here's your weekly poker news update via RatPackPoker.net

• Zang Dan Peng is crowned as the APT Macau Champion after winning the Main Event, also becoming the first Chinese player to win it! He took home a cool HK$1.67 Million (thats Hong Kong Dollars)
• Macau sees some huge side game action via the likes of Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey who were playing a cash game with some Hong Kong business men. You can read about it yourself @ http://tinyurl.com/macaucashgame
• Full Tilt Poker is holding their 18th FTOPS and a ton of prize money is up for grabs. 
• Soi Nguyen won his own FTOPS $217 NL Hold'em Rush Super Turbo Tournament, which brings us to another point...really a Rush, Super, Turbo..GOOD GOD MAN! how impatient can players get ha!
• FTOPS runs until Nov. 21 win Gus Hansen will be hosting the $3Million Main Event
• UB.com signed a new poker pro, the sweet Maria Ho
• The PokerStars APPT crowned it's first ever female champion! Young-Shin Im took home the equivalent of $132,500 USD. Remarkably enough she won a seat in the event by one of PokerStars $22 3x Turbo Satellite!

Rat Pack Poker News Brief!

Ladies and well hopefully more ladies, but ok , Ladies and Gents here's your poker news brief

• Absolute Poker/UB.com had it's Bad Beat Jack Pot bust 3 times, twice in one day! check the link below from pokernewsdaily for more info. http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/runuragged-breaks-down-ub-com-jackpot-win-16757/
• Absolute and UB also added some new super cool tournaments, like Joe Sebok's $80k Sniper on Wed. Knock him out and win $200 in TD's, Trishelle's Tuesday $10k knock her out and win a seat into Sunday's $200k, DEBO34's $75k Monday's take him out and you'll get $500 TD's, P0kerHO's $50k knock him out an get $300 TD's. these are all guaranteed tourneys too so you get prize money if you play well. Don't forget win you sign up to use Bonus Code: RATPACK for 111% Bonus, extra cash and special tourneys via CowabungaPoker.com
• Absolute Poker and UB.com Now holding Playboy's Centerfold's $10k Guaranteed bounty tourneys on Thursday's. Knock one out and get $25 insta-cash, knock 2 out get $100 insta-cash and and autographed pic of the playmate, Now knock out 3 get $1000 insta-cash and the photo! check the link for more deets http://www.ub.com/poker-promotion/centerfold-10k-bounty-tourney
• Full Tilt's Doubles Poker Champions have been crowned, they were team Huck Seed and Allen Cunningham for the prize of $1million

Be sure to use RATPACK as your bonus code for Absolute poker and Ub.com for extra cool bonuses from us here, along with your 111% dep. bonus 

Keep it cool at the tables

2010 WSOP Main Event Champ Crowned!

• World Series of Poker Main Event 2010 Champion is Johnathan Duhamel, and the first Canadian to win the title, along with $8.9 Million in prize money
• John Racener came in 2nd place with K8 of diamonds vs. AJ off suit, and received over $5.5 Million in prize money

Rat Pack Poker News: Nov.1st-8th

World Series of Poker Main Event...need we say more, well just in case here is your update from what we got to see this week in the poker world.

• Macau Poker Cup Championship was held at Casino Grand Lisboa and saw a field of 254 with the winner being the German Juilan Hasse
• The Trump Taj Mahal Casino and Resort in Atlantic City hosted the 1st event on Nov.1 for the U.S. Poker Championship and will run through Nov.22
• Jack Links Beef Jerky resigned a sponsorship deal with the WSOP to continue to be it's major sponsor.
• BetFair Poker launched a Canadian version of it's site.
• ESPN3 showed The World Series of Poker Main Event live or at least on a short time delay, and everyone in the poker world was tweeting about it, including Twitter.com/Ratpackpoker
• The WSOP Main Event saw Michael "the grinder" Mizrachi add $2.3mill to his wallet when he finished in 5th place
• John Duhamel and John Racener will paly tonight: Monday Nov 8th at 8pm for the Main Event bracelet and $8.9 MILLION DOLLARS, Duhamel has over a 150mil chiplead
• Frank Kassela Won the World Series of Poker Player of the Year award beating out Michael "the grinder" Mizrachi by just 50 points

WSOP Main Event Final Table Nov. 9

WSOP Main Event Final Table is on dinner break, and down to 7. Mike "The Grinder" Mizrachi is the Chipleader with over $50mil in chips and blinds just above $400k-800k

be sure to check ESPN3 for live coverage!

Rat Pack Poker News & Reviews; Oct. 17-25th

Here is your wrap up for poker this past week Oct. 17-25th

• Eric Seidel and Dan Harrington were chosen as the two players to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame
• Howard Lederer blogged on Full Tilt about the possibility of a minimum age requirement for the Poker HOF, and we couldn't agree more. He suggested the age be 40 which is the age poker legend Chip Reese was inducted at.
• CardRunners the online poker training site posted it's 2,000th video
• Gus Hansen went on one hell of a good run streak but unfortunately is still down for the year
• Randy Couture announced that his upcoming charity poker event at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas will be open to the public and proceeds will go to the Xtreme Couture GI Foundation along with 1st place taking down $10,000
• The Poker "Mocumentary" Hitting the Nuts  won the Cincinnati Film Festival's 2010 Audience Award. The film is about a 07' Scott County Sd eries of Poker event in Scott County, Indiana.
• and last but not least here are your top 3 online poker winners so far this year. In first is Tom Dwan with $4 Mil, second is Dave "CATES" Benefield with  $3.9Mil and third is none other than Phil Ivey with $3Mil

Crazy cats theres a poker news update and don't forget when you deposit use code SINATRA for Full Tilt and RATPACK for UB/Absolute. We will make it worth your while!

Rat Pack Poker's Fall Scotch: Ardbeg 10year

Poker, Cigars and Scotch, these are still things people associate together and here at RatPackPoker.com we couldn't agree more.  We reviewed several single malt and blended Scotch Whiskeys only to come up with one solid knockout of a Scotch for this fall season, so without further ado here it is.

Ardbeg 10yr. 

This single malt scotch is from the Isle of Islay and is non chill-filtered which basically means it's alcohol content has not been reduced and instead you can enjoy it at it's full flavor and alcohol content of 46%. 

We enjoyed this scotch when we visited some friends on the east coast  just when it started to get chilly outside. We were all outside talking about how much we love this time of year. When the weather is just cool enough to throw a pull over on and grill out for some Monday night football.  Then one of our friends who doesn't drink much whiskey at all said "That's what I really like about that Scotch you brought over, it reminds me of smoke and cigars and grilling out with you guys, hell man everything I love about fall." Then we all thought about it and one of the ladies smelled a glass and said "yeah, it reminds me you guys, I could smell that anywhere and instantly think of a man, it smells like a man who's got it together."  She of course went on to say that we play poker to much to completely have it together, but we at least act like it.

Now on to the real tasting notes. First this scotch is not for the faint of heart, its nose is very peaty and smoky but in a rounded way and that comes from it's location and water running through Isle of Islay's peat bogs. Once you taste it your mouth instantly heats up and your blood gets pumping, it engulfs your taste buds with smooth peat that's been coated with the sea and wrapped in gold barley with sprays of cracked pepper. Then it lingers on the back of your tongue and mouth much like a big/tannic cabernet would but the taste that stays is one of a pear that's been wrapped in barley and smoked for an hour. It's delicious! 

Hope you enjoy your fall, be sure to pick up the Ardbeg 10yr. and the price is only around $46-$55 depending on your location. 

--RatPackPoker

Poker still Poker?: To Chop or not to chop

The question in the title "Poker still Poker" refers to the recent twenty-three way chop of the Foxwoods $400 deepstack event prize pool.  We've all played in tourney's either online or in brick and mortar games/casinos where when it gets down to the final table or fewer we decide on whether to chop/split up the prize pool or not. Even then, does poker still remain poker. I mean the whole reason for playing is to win and the reason to win is for the most money, but when you divi it up can you still retain that drive or do people tend to "gamble" more knowing that they're at least getting paid a certain amount, after all isn't that what the pay out structure is for anyway. Personally I do not like to chop even though I can certainly understand why one would want to do so when a tournament turns into to much of a turbo style tourney, but that's also the reason why I typically chose not to play turbo's.  Don't get me wrong I'll play turbo's, just not as often and even when I play a turbo I don't play to chop. I play to win, hey a bracelet is nice but it's not the same bracelet if you chop. As a Shakespear said at his poker table  " to Chop or not to Chop, that is the question!"  any answers?

Cigar Aficionado and UB/Absolute Poker Idea

Any cigar lovers out there who like playing poker or poker players who love cigars this is an idea you'll like.

Ever play on UB or Absolute Poker you'll know they hold MTT's and SNG's for some cool prizes and trips, like their Anthrax Ticket giveaway and the steps  WPT 5 Diamond Classic Package. So we pitched them an idea for Cigar Aficionado's "Big Smoke" to be a package. Part of the idea :
Package 1: a "Big Smoke" Evenings on the 12 or 13th (tickets are $240 per night)

Package 2: the "Complete Weekend Program" which includes: Saturday and Sunday "Big Smoke" Seminars, Saturday lunch, one "Big Smoke" evening (either Fri. or Sat.) and tickets for that are worth about $550.

Could offer these via MTT's or SNG's

Rat Pack Poker news brief!

Ladies and Gents it has happened, the iPhone is getting real money poker but wait...it's not for the U.S. SwitchPoker.com is a real money poker site that can be played via the iPhone's browser, however it is not for US players...so really what's the point. Now on to other news

• Cake Poker Network adds Poker King to it's line up. Poker King offers some cool things like Online Live Dealer, Keno, Slots, a SportsBook but this is for the Asia market, don't know that it's available to the US but still and Online Live Dearler..that's intriguing.
• Scotty Nguyen who skipped the WSOPE in lieu of his very own poker tour let players around the US play in tourneys and against him for reasonable buy in.
• In a funny news brief. It was rumored that the new "hot poker couple" was Scott Montgomery and Annette Obrestad..mmm we'll just change that to "poker couple" eh.
• Poor Gus Hansen lost about  $1.5million in a week online via Full Tilt's high stakes poker tables

Theres a quick look at some poker news with more to come!

RatPackPoker consults a 2005 Phil Hellmuth

The 'Packs' been playing for a long time and they've developed their own unique strategies and styles but when they first started out they had to have a foundation. One of those fondations came via Phil Hellmuth Jr. and a book entitled Phil Hellmuth's Texas Hold'em.  Here's an except from that book that's called Phil's "Animal Types"

• The Mouse:  is like your old aunt Elda, a conservative type who probably wouldn't even approve of you reading this book.  The mouse-like you-plays only the top ten hands but hates to invest any money with a hand as weak as 7-7 or 8-8.  The mouse hardly ever raises someones else's bet; but when he does raise, look out, because he has the goods!
• The Lion: is a tough competitor who plays fairly tight poker but doesn't limit himself to the top ten hands.  He bluffs with excellent timing and seems to know when the other players are trying to bluff him. Though he plays pretty tight, he's occasionally out on a limb with a bluff or a semi-bluff.  You could do worse than play like a lion.
• The Jackal: is loose and wild, and some days it seems as though he's just giving his money away. Because he's involved in so many pots and raises so often, his play can take some pretty big swings. The jackal's logic seems at odds with logic of all the other players. He just seems crazy! (He's what many of us in poker call a megalomaniac, or sometimes just a maniac.) The jackal can hurt you and himself too with his crazy play, because he puts in so many bets.  But there is some method to his madness.  He's good at raising the pots at the right times (his style of play gives him many occasions to think about what's going on), and whne he does at last win a pot, it's generally huge!  If a jackal runs hot by catching good cards for a while, you may become convinced that he's the best player in the world, but when his cards come back to earth, he can lose money as fast as he won it. anyone think this sounds a lot  like all high stakes online players.
• The Elephant: is fairly loose (which mens he plays a lot of pots) and seems to be from Missouri, the "Show Me" state. He's what we refer to in poker as a "calling station": he never folds when he is supposed to fold, because he doesn't ever believe that you have the goods. Because he's impossible to bluff, no one with much experience ever tries to bluff him-with one exception: can you guess who that is? The elephant keeps feeding the other players his chips, slowly but surely. The elephant isn't very sharp and isn't a very dangerous opponent for most players, but he seems to do well against the jackal, because the jackal keeps on trying to bluff the elephant.

Well there's a nice little excerpt and hopefully it'll help you discern some types of players at your tables. good luck!

SInatrasStyle: Shower and Plans

     As I walked out of the penthouse suite down the hall to the elevator I couldn't help but think to myself 'Damn that was one beautiful woman and woman she was, not like the girls normally found in this town; The ones who even at 30 are still trying to act like it's there prom night or they're in a sorority.' Just then as I reached the elevator I heard some one call out "Sin!" I looked back to see her standing there in the doorway wrapped in the sheets I just left and she looked just as beautiful as the night before, then she simply said "Sophia". I replied "Beautiful name, it suits you" in turn she said "yes named after a beautiful woman..Sophia Loren", I felt a brief rise but I had to go. "Indeed Sophia, I'll see you again soon, till then" I flashed a quick wink and a smile as I stepped into the elevator. As I stood there and my mind shot back to the business at hand, and the need for a cup of joe.

     I called SappyD on the way back to my place, obviously he got worried and it didn't help that none of us could get a hold of Riviera, which in truth wasn't really that big of a surprise.  However we needed as many of us together for this job as possible. I was looking to set up a big game, one that would straighten us out with the 'Stache' and make us flush. But first I needed a cold shower and that cup of joe.

     Showers, that's where I come up with some of my best ideas and this one was no different.  There was a concert this coming up this  weekend. The venue was a large rap party with names like Thug Hound, Paper Machete, and the Full Automatics headlining the show.  Lucky for us our friend 'Shakes' is working as a PA for the venue and he had informed us before that these groups like to start gambling after the after, after pary while they're completely baked.  There was one small problem, they carry guns, as do we when needed, but they tend to have twenty or so guys with them packing as well.     We have to make sure they enjoy losing their disposable income and massive rubberband bills to us and lose it they will.  These guys have a tendency to chase flushes and straights to the end and they never pay attention to how much they're betting. We're sure to make a big score, but not without testing our stones.

-SinatrasStyle

Rat Pack Poker News & Reviews: Sept. 15th - 20th

Alright! we all had a great time watching some football over the weekend, the games were good, the cook outs were awesome and the friends and family were the most important part. Now though we go back to the grind and give you your poker news.

• RatPackPoker.net posted a fantastic script idea for Rounders II (see the article below)
• Phil "The Unabomber" Laak won his first WSOP bracelet for WSOPE 6max NL tourney win and a cool $297,000. Follow him on twitter/RealPhilLaak
• SpadeClub was kinda aquired by Zen Gaming Network. Card Player which owns SpadeCLub said it was merging SpadeClub and the members would be redirected to Zen which has the same membership type of play.
• Anders "Donald" Berg a PokerStars Onine team member won his 2nd WCOOP bracelet
• Ilari aka "Ziigmund" annihilated Brian Hastings and Cole South at the Full Tilt high stakes PLO tables. Placing Ilari's winnings this year around $1.5 Million
• Phil Ivey won $52k but I sure he's focusing on the WSOPE
• Patrik Antonius won around $83k online
• Gus Hansen won $36K on Full Tilt 
• Dwan "durrrr" lost $160k to "AAROOKIE" and is still losing his own challenge to "JungleMan12"
• WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship Event Day 5 started on Sept. 18 

Theres some updates for you and be sure to follow us on twitter @ twitter/RatPackPoker

Kill 'em at the tables

The Dean's List: NFL Football picks for the week

DMartini--- Well hello ladies and ladies, hope you're all doing fine. I sure am, hell we had a good week last week didn't we. Now here's my list for this week.

     The "Deans' List"

• Sun. 1:00  Packers UPS Bills by 14
• Sun. 1:00  Dolphins jump over Vikings by 3
• Sun. 1:00  Chiefs scalp Browns by 7
• Sun. 1:00  Cowboys trap Bears by 7
• Sun. 1:00  Falcons claw Cards by 7
• Sun. 1:00  Bucs stap Panthers by 3
• Sun. 1:00  Lions eat Eagles by 7
• Sun. 1:00  Ravens peck Bengals by 7
• Sun. 1:00  Titans toss Steelers by 7
• Sun. 4:05  Seahawks swoop Broncs by 7
• Sun. 4:05  Raiders steal Rams by 3
• Sun. 4:15  Redskins tomahawk Texans by 7
• Sun. 4:15  Patriots tax Jets by 7
• Sun. 4:15  Jags eat Chargers by 14
• Sun. 8:20  Colts step on Giants by 14
• Mon.8:30  Saints march on 49ers by 14

There you go cats, some good picks for the week.  Drink a few for me a Sunday Kickoff!!

--DMartini

Rounders 2!!! The Script and plot line

Ok, I just got my brand new copy of Rounders in the mail yesterday and it was an ordeal b/c they don't even make that movie anymore. Then it hits me! great idea for Rounders 2, I know they can't figure out how to do it but here's an idea.

     Mike McDermott has been living in Vegas and playing online at some high stakes. He's currently preparing for the WSOP but has been invited to play televised High Stakes Poker game (like on GSN).
He shows up and they're all there, Phil Laak, Antonio, Eli, Mike Baxter. and the scene is filmed like on GSN they're all talking and Mike is talking with them like they've all played for awhile, in other words he's one of them. Then in walks Doyle and Mike's narrative kicks in "..and in walks a legend, things have been great out here and now I get to play with the greatest poker player alive, things can't be this good. and just like that they change" he looks over they just changed dealers and up looks worm with that sly grin and the ace up his sleeve (tatto). and the first hand delt is rolled up aces over kings. from there the plot goes to all of the High Stakes players thinking Mike's a cheat because of Worm and it was televised, so Mike has to clear his name and in the end he makes to the final table with Johnny Chan @ it!

Hope  you like the idea.

SinatrasStyle: Dmartinis' Call

     DMartini was entertaining two very hot and voluptuous blonds in a spacious penthouse suite at the top of Le Grande when he heard what to him was a very annoying sound. His cell phone was ringing, but he saw who it was and stepped out to the balcony.  D had got the room key from the concierge by strutting in with the two blonds and promising to send two more later to keep him company. Out on the balcony D was listening to SinatrasStyle.
     "...well we're going to have to do something soon, I just got the warning shot from 'Stache'."
DMartini replied "yeah, but did you tell him what happened at those cash games after the tournament"
Sin rather shortly said "No, he doesn't ask and you know we don't tell."
     Sin knew D was trying to put off the inevitable, they needed to get a game or a play up quick. But this was the packs first break in three months and they had just started to enjoy it.
     DMartini smiled and said "You''re right Sin. Hey, I got something going right now and one of them looks bored, think you could find a way to help me out?" D knew what SinatrasStyle needed like most men when they get stressed out.
     Sin replied "brunette or one of your blonds" Sin knew D preferred blonds but he had always had a thing for brunettes.
" well, she's a blond, but she's an hourglass of a woman if I ever saw one." He knew Sin's taste
Sin replied "see you in five."

     SinatrasStyle strolled in Le Grande like he was on a mission. He glanced over at the concierge who was seemed to be sitting by himself, but Sin knew better. He'd seen that thirteen year old boy type of smile before and knew the concierge wasn't alone. When he reached the penthouse he didn't even have to knock, the door was half open and as he walked in just to his left he saw DMartini caressing the naked shoulders of a smoking hot blond. Sin just said. "let me guess, little Mr. Concierge down there doesn't know he's with two pro's. "
DMartini looked over his shoulder and replied "No, he doesn't and no these two aren't."
     Sin stiffly said "yeah, well for how much the ones downstairs are going to charge you you could have rented the room.'
D quickly looked at Sin "Damn Sin, enough already you're starting to sound like SappyD. We can talk later, now walk back there and see how she's doing. I told her all about you."
     When Sin opened the door to the master bedroom to see the curvaceous outline of the velvet sheets on what appeared to be his muse. He thought to himself 'yeah, we can definitely talk later.'

Rack Pack Poker News & Reviews: Poker Minute

Poker Minute

Over the course of this weekend PSTARS held the $500+30 WCOOP Event 22, a $3 million guaranteed tourney which will start it's second and last day today at 5pm.  First place will recieve $469,000+ and the top five finishers will take home six figures each, but they need to be wary, Daniel Negreanu is still in the tourney.

Faraz Jaka finished up 4th in both the $100,000 & $200,000 guaranteed tourney's on UB Poker, not bad for a guy who's online nick is "The-Toliet" not to mention he was also the WPT player of the year!

Week in Poker: 9/6-9/11

Here's a brief look at the week in poker from Sept. 6 -11th.

• The Macau Mafia:  Back in 2008 a judgement awarded a Hong Kong business man named Richard Suen $43 million against the Las Vegas Sands Inc. company.  Suen had sued the Sands saying that he had used his " influence" in leaning on the officials so that the Sand could obtain the proper permits for gaming in Macau, however Sheldon Adelson has presented his argument to the Las Vegas Supreme Court of Appeals along with former Sands president William Weidner in order to prove that Suen did no such thing in Macau.

• Shaun Deeb won Full Tilts $750k guarantee to the tune of $132,787.00
• Poker Stars Macau hosted a 5 day event at Casino Grand Lisboa culminating in the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon main event.
• Justin Banks won the WPT London Poker Classic
• Patrik Antonius proved he had what it took to play limit games to the best degree by stripping "deprimiert" of $400,000 at Full Tilt's limit tables.
• Ziigmund destroyed Cole South at Full Tilt's tables for $700k
• Cole South still is staying ahead for the year with a $900k profit thusfar
• And Sam Trickett has won World Open IV in london taking home $200,000
• UB's Bad Beat Jackpot got up to over $600k when it was busted by a player losing with quad 9's to quad Queens. (Ironically Andrew Robl lost with the same had at the World Open IV final table) the losing player was awarded $218k, that's more than the winner of the WO IV.

Fore more up to date poker news be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

DMartini's Football Picks: The "Dean List"

"Football, football, football. It's in the air whirling around like the smoke from my CAO cigar and I can't wait for the season opener Thursday night at 8:30, drink in hand."  -- DMartini

Heres this weeks NFL Football picks via DMartinis "Dean List".

     DMartinis "Dean List"

• Thurs. 8:30  Saints curse Vikings by 7
• Sun.  1:00     Buccaneers slash Browns by 7
• Sun.  1:00     Dolphins splash Bills by 3
• Sun.  1:00     Patriots shoot Bengals by 12
• Sun.  1:00     Colts stampede Texans by 7
• Sun.  1:00     Broncos kick Jags by 3
• Sun.  1:00     Falcons peck Steelers by 3
• Sun.  1:00     Titans crush Raiders by 7
• Sun.  1:00     Giants step on Panthers by 7
• Sun.  1:00     Bears eat Lions by 7
• Sun.  4:15     Cardinals s*#t on Rams by 7
• Sun.  4:15     Packers ship off Eagles by 12
• Sun.  4:15     49ers eat Sea Hawks by 7
• Sun.  8:20     Cowboys shoot Redskins by 7
• Mon. 7:00    Jets afterburn the Ravens by 7
• Mon. 10:20  Chargers run over Chiefs by 7

There's DMartinis list and I'm sure he's out and about with some ladies in football jerseys somewhere.

 

Poker News: 9/3 -9/6

Happy Labor Day! Heres your poker news from last week and over the weekend.

• Poker Hall of Fame nominees came out for 2010 and here's a list of the names for consideration: Chris Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman-Traniello, Dan Harrington, Phil Ivey, Linda Johnson, Tom Mcvoy, Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen and Erik Seidel.

**Remember though, of these only 2 will most likely be picked or maybe 3 and my guess for the front runners are Barry Greenstein, Dan Harrington and Scotty Nguyen. With Jennifer Harman, Erik Seidel and Tom Mcvoy close behind. Winners will be honored and announced at this years WSOP Main Event Final Table in November.

• WPT and Fox Sports have signed a multi-season broadcast deal and promo agreement and will start the season 9 in 2011 with the 179th episode!
• Victory Poker moved to the Cake Network, speaking of which Cake Poker will be running special tourneys starting 9/13 for Monday Night Football, in which players who change their names to represent their fav. teams, will be entered into weekly $500 kamikaze tourneys. The MNF tourneys will run during the games and for 4 weeks...yeah I'll be checking that out fo sho!
• UB offers seats in the WSOPE with travel expenses paid for as low as $10 in Ultra Turbo Rebuy tourney and $55 Freezout feeders. The WSOPE is 9/23-9/28 tourneys start 9/12!
• PokerStars WCOOP started Sunday and has 62 events for 23 days (22 now). The Main Event last year paid 1.7MILLION!!! PStars also has a 20% Reload bonus if you use code: WCOOP
• Shaun "tedsfishfry" Deeb won $132,787.50 on Full Tilt Poker winning the $750 guarantee
• UB has one of the best tourneys, the $200k guarantee only had 915 entrants and 1st place LILA_S took down $44,920.00 (no rebuys)
• Be sure to watch GSN's Double's Poker it had Johnny Chan paired up with Erik Seidel! Talk about a "Rounders" throw back.!

Good Luck at the tables Players!

SinatrasStyle: The "Stache"

The 'Stache'

I was still reflecting on that cigar I had at the BLEND a few nights ago ( Cubans are nice, but give me a Nicaraguian with an Ecuadorian wrapper and I'll savor it like it was the first Rage Against the Machine cd.) when I got the call. It was from the only backer the pack had ever had. We called him the 'Stache' for obvious reason had you ever seen him. Chances are though that you never would unless you found yourself in the worst case senario or in our case he just liked you for one reason or another, and believe me he doesn't like many people.

I knew the 'Stache' in a way that some may call personally, but others would be more correct in calling grabbing a beer with your former boss. See I had worked at a restaurant he owned a few years back. He had came in every Saturday night to review the books for the week and when he did he would sit at the end of the bar, order a Bass and smoke a cig. Occasionally after I finished up and he was still there he'd ask me to grab a beer and we'd chat. We never talked about him in any depth he just asked what I liked doing besides bartending and flirting with the girls I worked with. After a few of our talks I guess he deduced either I was a pretty good card player or a really good liar, (now I know he knew both) because he had invited me to a poker game being held at one of his associates places of business after hours.

He gave me directions and just told that when I got there to tell them who I was and I'd be taken care of. I admit that at the time I didn't really know what that meant at the time just that it was okay for me to be there. When I got there I instantly realized that the game I was at was seriously above my stakes, they were playing $5/10 Limit Hold'em and all had in my pocket time was $500 and that would be gone in a few rounds unless I got really lucky. I had walked up to the guy running the game feeling just as nervous as when I had walked in, but when I told him who sent me he just looked up at me and chuckled "Sorry, should've known, he said you'd be over dressed and probably wearing what you called your 'lucky fedora', but hell I thought he was just messing with me." I remember thinking at the time that I never thought of the 'Stache' as a jokester. Sam, the one running the game, told me to go sit where I'd like and when I did he motioned to the dealer who in turn slid me a stack of multi-colored chips that looked to be around 2 grands worth and I hadn't given anyone a dime yet. Before I could say anything a guy at the table piped up and said "Looks like your playing on borrowed money, no pressure huh" he laughed. I had realized that the 'Stache' had staked me without me knowing, which made me feel a little proud and reluctant at the time. I told myself that night 'Hell I have a $500 back up and I can always quit the restaurant.". Well it's a good thing that I killed the game that night because it would be much later when I would realize just how big the 'Staches' influence really was. And the jerk from that night who made his little comment...yeah well I busted him first, and then again after he bought back in.

Memories...back to the phone. I answered and it was the 'Stache', he was just calling to "GENTLY" remind me that the pack still owed him his backing money from a tournament that we got had cleaned up at but lost almost all of it at some shady cash games afterwards. Remember how I said he "liked" me, well if he didn't he wouldn't call, there wouldn't even be a knock on the door, just a swift "good bye".--It's good to have friends. Time to call the pack, first on the list DMartini.

--SinatrasStyle

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Be sure to use the code for

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Good Luck at the tables players!!!

--Andrew

This Week 9/2/10 in Poker

Poker News and Updates in the Poker World for Sept. 2 2010

This week here are some of the things we've seen.

• Tom Dwan who was up $900,000 for the 1st week in August, took several brutal beatings in his new "Durrrr Challenge" to Jungleman12. But managed to stay up for the year so far.

• Phil Ivey passed Dwan in winnings online for the year so far via some Full Tilt High Stakes tables and loses by Gus Hansen.

• The PPA-Poker Players Alliance took a stand against Commerce Casino along with fellow poker pros across the nation who "tweeted" their concerns and raised support to have Commerce Casino change their stance on the proposed regulation of online poker.

• Andy Frankenberger wins WPT Legends of Poker Tourney to the tune of $750,000 and a trophy of the famous poker legend Wild Bill Hickok.

• The Nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame for 2010 came out and they are:

• Chirs Ferguson
• Barry Greenstein
• Jennifer Harman
• Dan Harrington
• Phil Ivey
• Linda Johnson
• Tom McEvoy
• Daniel Negreanu
• Scotty Nguyen
• Erik Seidel

• The CEREUS Network ,which owns Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker, got purchased by Blanca Games. The acquisition will not affect any promotions.

• And Victory Poker has moved to the much larger Cake Network as of September 1st therefore offering more games to players.

*** For more uptodate new follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

Good Luck at the tables Players!

The SinatrasStyle Stories: game cont'd.

We're calling him Riviera tonight and he just walked in to join the game. The three of us have been playing together for years and "the other guy" ,aka Riviera tonight, joins us every now and again. He's always coming up with ideas that sound nuts and out of nowhere, however they always pay off big for us. Tonight we're keeping it low key and running a squeeze play on two fish at the table in a smooth rotation. First let me explain the game and the play exactly. It's $2/4 no limit hold'em. I was in first position and called the bet, it didn't matter what my cards were because we knew the fish, who we'll call Big Tuna, would raise it up in middle position. We knew this because he had a tendency to puff on his cigarette when he was trying to make a move and look cool. Well he was sucking on his cigarette like a gay baby with a dick shaped pacifier so we knew he was raising and raising big. DMartini had already noticed this and made the play by re-raising in late position, I simply flat called and Big Tuna followed suit. The flop came out a bland 3,8,2 or 4,7,2 something like that. I bet half the pot and Big Tuna made an act of raising it big, but Dmartini flat called and I re-raised it big. Talk about a surprised Tuna, he had at this point stopped making love to his cigarette and worriedly just called. And like clock work DMartini re-raised it to almost half of his chips were in the pot. I made the act of looking pissed and shoved all in. Just like magic Big Tuna folded looking confused and trying to tell himself he made the right lay down. He even protested "Hell, I fold. You two guys can battle it out!". But DMartini responded accordingly, " Shit, I can't call I was making a play on you Sin, but you caught me. I fold.". Just like that we took his money, and I made an act the rest of the time of playing "sheriff" on bluffers just as a way to take some of the attention off the face that Riviera and SappyD we're doing the same thing to the other fish at the table.

When we finished up the game, we all left our separate ways and met up at our joint the BLEND to split the mone, do a shot, smoke a cigar and call it a night....well almost morning.

---SinatrasStyle

The SinatrasStyle Stories

SinatrasStyle

It feels like Casablanca here and I don't mean classy and starring a sultry Ingrid Bergman. More like black and white and filled with smoke. We're down $300, well technically I'm even, D-Martini over there is down $200 because he won't stop silver tonguing the ladies in the room and focus on his cards and SappyD already won his big hand for the night and then let a suck out on the river get to him, so now he's down $100 and bleeding chips away like he's working for the red cross. Right now we need some help and wouldn't you know it. Help just walked in, he's the other guy of the pack and tonight we'll call him Riviera.

This is poker, no not the glorified TV stuff where guys get paid to wear logos and run their mouths more than they do to play cards. I'm talking about here in the smoke filled living room of a guy they call Fat Paul and offer PBR as a nice way of raking a $1 a flop. This is what we do, and believe it or not we're good at it, hell sometimes we're even great at it.