Time to get ready for Golf!

March is suppose to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb but right now in Michigan, March is arriving with just a bit of flurries and above average temperatures. Now is the time to get into shape for a long summer of golf.

My new home in Lansing has a wonderful little gym set up that I have been using since we moved here to lose some additional weight I added over the winter and to get ready for golf. I have been walking/jogging on the treadmill and lifting weights with high repititions and low weight to put more staying power into my muscles instead of just brute strength. I will be adding weight as I get farther along into the spring.

Right now everything I am doing is to lose weight and get into golf shape. I need to stretch a bit more though.
I am swinging a weighted club that I made, similar to the Momentus. I'll probably start hitting in an inside dome driving range this week-end.

The Momentus and the Medicus dual hinged golf club are probably the two best training clubs a golfer can own. The nice thing about them is that you just simply swing them to develop your game. You swing the Momentus to build up your golfing muscles and it will keep your swing on plane. Then you use the Medicus to tweak your swing as it will tell you where your faults lie. Are you taking the club back too quick? Are you laid off on your back swing? Are you coming over the top on your down swing? All of these faults are revealed by using the Medicus.

_____________________________

I will probably start having a lot more golf content and less poker content in my blog from here on out. I am still fighting with Absolute to get my account profile fixed so I can play there and, hopefully, withdraw my money. I cannot belive how poor the customer service is. I am truly disgusted with Online Poker, the UIGEA and the bastards that pushed it through and the on-line poker rooms and the way they treat you when you have a problem. 'Nuff said.

Feast or Famine

It has been feast or famine at Poker Stars SitNGos. I have either finished high in the money or gone out early in the two table tournaments. Here is one I finished second in when I thought I had it won.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (2 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

Hero (t14495)
Button (t12505)
Preflop: Hero is BB with Jc, Ac.
Button calls t200, BB raises to t1200, Button calls t800.
Flop: (t2225) Ad, 5d, Jh (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t11280 (All-In), Hero calls t11280.
Turn: (t24785) Qd (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: (t24785) Kd (2 players, 1 all-in)
Final Pot: t24785

Results in white below:

Hero has Jc Ac (two pair, aces and jacks).
Button has 8s Jd (flush, ace high).
Outcome: Button wins t24785.

That hand crippled me.
____________________________________________
This hand finshed me off.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (2 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

Hero (t1765)
Button (t25235)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 4s, Ah.
Button calls t200, BB raises to t1740, Button calls t1340.
Flop: (t3305) Kd, Ts, 8s (2 players)
Turn: (t3305) Jd (2 players)
River: (t3305) 2d (2 players)
Final Pot: t3305
Results in white below:

Hero has 4s Ah (high card, ace).
Button has 5d 7d (flush, king high).
Outcome: Button wins t3305.
___________________________________
I've had pretty good luck at the 18 person (2 table) SitNGos at Poker Stars. I either finish high in the money or bust our early. Feast or Famine.

Daniel Negreanu Videos

If you want some good entertainment check out this site that has a lot of videos of Daniel Negreanu. Daniel's video

There are also other videos that you may really enjoy, i.e. Vegas Pinups Webisodes.

The Site is Raw Vegas TV and it has tons of stuff to look at.
___________________________
No news from Absolute yet. Starting Monday I'm just going to start calling every day until I get some help. This is borderline rediculous now. I made the mistake and I readily admit it but Absolute is giving a whole new meaning to "Customer Support". If it wasn't that this was one of the few sites that still allows Americans to play, I would quit this site in a heartbeat (after I get my account fixed). But American Friendly sites are getting fewer and fewer and I don't have the luxory of telling them to go to hell.

I'm getting the sinking feeling that my stupid mistake is going to cost me my money at Absolute. There goes some more of my golf money.

As I type this up I can feel the depression set in about Absolute, my golf money, and the on-line poker debacle that we have right now. It is getting to the point that it isn't worth the hassle anymore and I may just give it all up. It used to be so easy and fun to play. Working to finish off bonuses, collecting points from Poker Source Online and PokerSavvy. What happened to those fun times.

I guess we were Fristed.

Absolute Update

Here is the latest and greatest about my Absolute Problem.



Basically, nothing has changed.



You have to love the internet as I was able to google a phone number for Absolute Poker. It was in a forum post from Poker Source Online. And it worked.



I called around 9:30AM EST and listened to the same music over and over for about 20 minutes until I got a real live person on the line. It was there security department. I explained my dilemma to him and he was very understanding but was unable to assist me over the phone. He stated that I would have to e-mail support and they would help me.



I informed him that I had already sent 4 e-mails and had not heard back from any of them. He put my on hold and did some searching and then came back and said they were pretty backed up and probably hadn't gotten to them yet. He again stated he was unable to assist me over the phone. I thanked him and asked if maybe he couldn't do something to expedite my request via e-mail and he said he would see what he could do.



That was Monday. It is now late Wednesday and I have heard nothing. No phone calls, no e-mails. I will give them until Monday, week next, and then I will call that number again and aske to talk to a supervisor. I tried to be polite and keep it low key and will continue to be that way on Monday. However, how the hell can you be so backed up that you don't get to any of my 4 e-mail requests in a week??? Make that 5 now as I e-mailed support immediately after talking to the Absolute Security person.



The thing is that Absolute makes no money while I am not playing. In fact, the way my game has been going lately, they may be saving me money. You would think they would want to clear this up as soon as possible so they could be getting my rake again.



I may have to contact Dr. Pauly to find out who it was he talked to to straighten out his problem with Absolute.



Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Just Stuff

The Lansing Golf show is this week-end, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I'm going to go on Friday and check things out.

The sad thing is that my golf money is tied up in Neteller by our wonderful and caring Government. Fortunately, my wonderful wife is going to let me use some savings for golf until things sort themselves out with Neteller.
_______________________________________
Absolute poker still hasn't responded to my e-mails. Maybe they are celebrating President's Day and have the day off like the Banks and Post Office.

Customer support! Yeah, tell me about it. Fucking crooks.
_________________________________________
I played on Poker Stars this morning in the Limt .25/.50 ring game and witnessed one of those days you just dream of. There was a guy playing at least 75% of the hands dealt. His poker name was PerfectIdiot and he surely was but, boy, was he a winning idiot! I saw him turn a $10 dollar buy-in into $30 in the space of an hour or more.

Here are some of the hands he played and what he won with.
He played 4c/6c from EP and won against guy with Kd Ac Qc 5s Tc against a caller playing Kc Js. Collected $4.65
He played 5h 5d and flopped a set. Collected $4.65
He 3 bet 2h 2d preflop and won on a board of 5c Ad As 7d 3d, when nobody hit any of those cards. Collected $3.45
He called preflop raise with 2c 8c and won on a board of 3c 3d 7c 6d 2s when he rivered the duece. Collected $5.10.
He called a preflop raise from the small blind with Ks 3s was dealt a board of 9c 4h 3c Kh Tc.
Collected $5.75.
Raised preflop from early position w/ Qc Tc and won when dealt a board of 3s Ts Kc 6h 3h against one caller. Collected $6.20.
Called Preflop raise from small blind w/ Ks Qd and was dealt a board of 4d As Kc Kd 8c. Won against one caller who had Kh Jc. Collected $9.85.
Limped in with 6c Ah and was dealt a board of 5h 6s 6h 9d 9h. Won against a guy that was betting a flush. Collected $10.85.

There were a few more wins and there were losses. He played a lot of hands and he lost some and folded quite a few but he did cash out with a profit of $20. Was he good? Was he lucky? Who knows. He certainly was lucky. I don't think he was that good but got lucky and a lot of people, myself included, started to play at him when we saw what hands he was playing and that he played every hand. He raised almost all of the time with any pair or any ace.

He would raise with junk, reraise almost every raise, and would bet to the river with nothing unless he was really played at then he would fold. He won on the river quite a few times. It was hard to get him off a hand and he was lucky enough to hit and thus win a bundle. Tomorrow he probably loses his $10 in 30 minutes playing that way.

Me? I played two hours and lost two bucks.

Absolute Poker won't respond to my e-mails

My previous posts have indicated that I have moved and am living in a different city in Michigan. One of the things the move affected was my e-mail account. We had to change internet providers and, in the process, changed e-mail accounts. I was able to make my new account name almost the same as my old account name except for one letter.

I was in the process of updating my profiles on the different poker rooms I play at when I inadvertantly put in the wrong e-mail name for Absolute Poker. I admit it was a donkey move but when you have been typing the same e-mail name for over 8 years it is easy to not put in that one little letter I needed.

Where is this headed, you ask? Well, by putting in the wrong e-mail I cannot validate my account at Absolute Poker and if I can't validate my account I can't play there. I am virtually locked out of my account and all my poker money at Absolute.

I have e-mailed them 3 days in a row to try and clear this up and they have not answered any of my e-mails, not even to acknowledge that they received them. Not even one of those automatic replies that says they have received my e-mail and will be contacting me soon.

What gives? I can't even find a phone number to call them or fax them. This is such bull shit!! I admit I screwed up but you would think I would be able to get some help with this.

I am really getting cynical about playing poker online anymore and may just shitcan it until things change.

Ipod + Free Roll = Good

I'm in!

CardPlayer TV

CardPlayer TV has another great segment with Allyn Jaffrey Shulman touching on the UIGEA, Doyle Brunson's arrest, and the legal landscape of online gaming.
Very interesting stuff.

I just love CardPlayer TV!!

New Digs!

The Wolverine Fan Clan has made the move to Lansing, Michigan and it has already paid off in dividends. My previous commute was 61 miles one way and I would allow at least 75 minutes for the trip when you include parking and walking into the building to offically report to work.

Today there was a major storm blowing all through the midwest and I left all of five minutes early for my new 6 mile commute to work. I allowed myself 20 minutes to make it to work because of the snow and blowing. What a pleasure to say that. 20 minutes to get to work on the worse weather day of the year. Normally I would have allowd 90 minutes for my commute.

Here is where I will be this summer when I am not on the golf course. No mowing grass, tilling the garden, working on the house for me anymore!! Yippee!!

_________________________

CardPlayer.com has a new feature, CardPlayer TV. It is really neat. They are showing different segments on the web using a TV news type format. The segments are just about 4 minutes long which is a great length to watch. They have everything from the latest Poker News to poker Strategy and biographies of different professional poker players.

I have watch 4 or 5 segments so far and have really enjoyed it. Check it out and I think you will look forward to seeing it every day.

CardPlayer TV

Blog will be off line for a while

The Wolverine Family will be finishing up moving from their house in Montrose, Mi to their new apartment in Lansing, MI and the computer will not be hooked up for several days. In the meantime, chew on this:

The following was in CardPlayer On Line

U.S. Seizes $55 Million of NETELLER Funds
Company Is in Negotiations With Attorney's Office to Return Money to Players in U.S.
Online poker players who have not yet received their money from NETELLER can blame the U.S. Government.
Through a statement to its investors, NETELLER said Thursday that about $55 million was seized by the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) after two of its founders and former board members were arrested and charged with money laundering on Jan. 16.
Most of the money was en route to U.S. customers. NETELLER also warned that U.S. customers will not be able to withdraw any money from their NETELLER accounts at this time, although the company is working to change this."The return of funds to our US customers is a top priority for NETELLER,” said Ron Martin, NETELLER's president and CEO.
________________________________________
This is so sad: Reality TV star Anna Nicole Smith dies at 39
_________________________________
NJ Lawmakers Consider Online Casino Gambling Bill
New Jersey legislators are considering a bill that would put Atlantic City casino gambling on the Internet.
The measure would require virtual casino operators to follow the same rules and regulations that apply to Atlantic City casinos. Only New Jersey residents 21 and over who pass security checks would be eligible to use the virtual casinos.

Moving On!

The Wolverine Fan family is moving! We have closed out on the sale of our house in Montrose, Michigan and are in the process of moving to an apartment in Lansing, Michigan. Friday is the big day when 2 Men and a Truck come to move the big furniture. In the meantime Wolverine Fan has been moving boxes of kitchen supplies, books, pictures, etc. to our new home.

It will be a few days before we get the internet set up so my blog will be on hiatus after tomorrow. I have not been able to play much poker in the last few days because of everything that is involved with selling a home you have owned for the past 8 years and downsizing to an apartment.

Our new home is just minutes from my work which will be so very nice after commuting 120 miles round trip the past 4 years. I won't know what to do with the time I will now have on my hands. Oh, I know, more poker!!

Sad and Pissed Off

The state of on-line poker today really makes me sad. Everything is so much more difficult now and it is taking all of the fun out of playing poker. It is hard to deposit, hard to withdraw. I have money tied up in different sites, money tied up in Netscape.

And the biggest worry is the uncertainty of it all and the possibility that it will get worse before it gets better. If it does get better.

I was complaining about all of the above to Mrs. Wolverine and I was lambasting the Republicants for pushing through this nightmare. She asked me if I would feel the same way if I weren’t playing online poker and I had to admit that I probably wouldn’t care. She went on to name a number of our friends that either don’t know about state of on-line poker right now or, if they do know, don’t care. Mrs. Wolverine says the majority of America either doesn’t know about the On-line poker troubles or just don’t care about them.

Sadly, I believe she is right.

The thing is, I am playing and I do care. I think I care more about this than any other issues that have been pushed through congress in the last 30 years.

And it really pisses me off.

Full Tilt introduces new way to deposit

I received the following e-mail from Full Tilt:

Dear Wolverine Fan,

We are pleased to announce the addition of MyWebATM, a brand new deposit option which provides a fast and easy method to fund your Full Tilt Poker account using your personal bank account.

Once you have funded your MyWebATM account through their secure Web interface, you can access your funds online at Full Tilt Poker or at thousands of stores and ATMs worldwide.

I think it is wonderful that Full Tilt is trying to make deposits and withdrawals easier but I don't want a different way for each poker room. I want one method (like Neteller was) to do both at every poker room. I'm going to wait a while and see how YouTeller is accepted. I can still play at 4 different Poker Rooms so I am good for a while. This just cuts down on my bonus whoring.

That Kind of Day

I played two $2.40 SitNGos on Absolute and here is how my day went.

Wolverine Fan Ad 9c 52.12%

Villain Js 10S 47.49%

Villain flopped straight

Wolverine Fan Js Kc 69.56%

Villain Kh 9s 22.80%

Villain flopped two nines, won w/ full house

Wolverine Fan Kc Kh 81.12%

Villain Qs 10s 18.50%

Villain flopped straight

Wolverine Fan 8d 8s 54.97%

Villain Ad Kc 44.65%

Villain rivers Ace

Wolverine Fan 3c 3d 50.36%

Villain Ac Qc 49.04%

Villain flops A/Q for two pair

Wolverine Fan Jc Ac 63.24%

Villain 2s Ks 36.24%

Villain flops King

Wolverine Fan As Ah 80.31%

Villain Jc Jd 19.36%

Villain flops Jack

I know some of these percentages are pretty close so the hand was a toss up but I did go in with best hand every time and lost every one of them. You may say that 8/8 or 3/3/ aren’t the type of hands to go all in but you had to know the situation, either they were short stacked or I was.

The bottom line is I would make these same plays again because I did have the best hands going in and I won’t lose every time. At leasat I hope not.

Bad Girls of Poker

Cycalona Gowen, better known as Clonie, grew up in Kiowa, Oklahoma. A high school jock, she was on a state championship basketball team and was ranked seventh in the high jump in track and field. At the age of fifteen, Gowen was crowned Miss Teen McAlester, Oklahoma.

Clonie is a regular columnist for Bluff magazine, the official magazine of the World Series of Poker, which has increased its circulation to 120,000 copies in just its third issue. She also sits on the board of directors for the United States Poker Association, a non-profit association with a strong influence in the world of poker. Now a thirty-two-year-old mother of two, Clonie lives in Dallas, Texas, but can be found at just about every major poker tournament held throughout the country-either as a player or as the host of tournaments and charity events.
______________________

Evelyn “Evybabee” Ng (also known as Evelyn "Champagne" Ng) (born September 14, 1975 in Toronto).

Ng began her gambling career playing pool for money at age 14. By age 17, she had expanded into dealing blackjack and poker games in her hometown of Toronto. Around that time, she dated fellow Canadian poker player Daniel Negreanu. He helped her develop a style of play designed to combat aggressive players.

Ng achieved fame on the WPT circuit in 2003 after placing second in the Ladies' Night I tournament - finishing ahead of established professionals including Annie Duke, Kathy Liebert and Jennifer Harman.Ng was included as one of the characters in the video game Stacked with Daniel Negreanu.

Evelyn “Evybabee” Ng is now part of Team Bodog. Ng was a participant in the King of Vegas television series on SpikeTV.