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

Absolute Bonus + Hat

1st person to use deposit on Absolute Poker using the code:RATPACK will receive this new black Absolute Hat!

Be sure to use the code for

150% deposit bonus

special monthly freerolls

merchandise to a member every month

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