When Poker Room Managers wing it.

Definitely my favorite wtf face, and most popular Jackie Chan Meme

Have you ever experienced a What the F$*% moment at the poker table? Okay let me rephrase that, have you ever witnessed a What the F$@# moment at the poker table vs. a Floor Person's decision on a hand. The gentleman that made the decision was actually very polite and a good floor person for the most part, But in the middle of a cash game hand facing a raise and 3 bet and having 3 players go to the flop. When the dealer burned then place 3 cards down for the flop, apparently one of the cards stuck to the cards and when flipped the stack over I noticed That I hit my set of 9s then when the cards spread out the Dealer reveals the middle card, and then two more cards.....Crap....Just my luck. The Two cards that were obviously not the issue spread out evenly but the other two cards were overlapping and one barely showing the other. I cant recall exactly but I want to say the flop was K 9 4/7. Ok so I'm sitting with a set and not saying a thing and then obviously floor has to be called cause of the mistake. Here's where one of the weirdest decisions I have ever heard comes into play.

The floor person walks up, asks whats going on. The dealer gives the run down as usual and it was detailed exactly as what happened. But instead of staying a smooth understanding process, this guy says...."Well......lets do this. Take the four cards in the flop and put the deck down by the side. Flip the cards over and shuffle them around. The first three you flip over will be your flop." Every one at the table looked at the Floor Person like, Is this guy serious?? I hope he's joking? and the What the F#@% faces were all looking and kind of laughing in disbelief when it was obvious which cards were and issue. 

Don't know what the "WTF" face is? Here's some examples:
 

So If this were me, I would have suggested two things.
A. Just chop the pot and play another hand
B. Play back the events that just happened to determined which cards were meant to be on the flop. So therefore when the burn falls the 1, 2, and 3 card that is placed faced down before being flipped over is the flop cards. When flipped over it is now 4/3, 2, 1 and clearly the card revealed at the end would be the burn card.

Well after hearing the logic of "Well this case atleast two out of the three cards on the flop will be correct." and of course when he did this, my 9 that gave me the set magically disappeared fml. Well the three players (Including myself) disagreed to invest anymore money into this weird ass pot and just decide to chop it three ways and play a normal hand. I mean technically, I guess my plan B and his suggestion would have worked out the same way, but the main focus would be to not affect the Turn and River as well as the 3rd card on the flop. Either that or just pay attention to which cards were stuck. In that case you could determine which of the cards is the exposed Burn card and which belongs in the flop. But I am just a player and don't run the floor obviously. This definitely took the cake as one of the weirdest floor decisions that I would expect to see in a home game or back alley of a bar, but in a well established poker room, this definitely caught me by suprised. Had to get a good laugh out of it either way. The standard ordeal is a premature exposed card or a killing of the deck and usually it is a dealer that makes the error and can be easily fixed.....well with experienced dealers and floor managers. But when something like this happens, how can you not just wing it? honestly, how many decisions were logically thought through and not just a basis of "wingin' it"

Well thought I'd share this WTF moment with everyone.

Matt S.

Poker vs. Ricky Romero! (Congrats on first WSOP Circuit Ring) s/o to Caufman Talley also!

Ricky Romero

As I often do, I check the results of local tournament circuits and events across the gulf coast. (Mostly Biloxi, MS and along Hwy 90 of Louisiana) Recently I was excited to see a long time poker rival and friend got his first WSOP Circuit Ring at the IP Casino in Biloxi, MS. Ricky Romero (New Iberia, LA) was always a solid poker player with good understanding of the game and even though he wasn't the superstars you would see playing on ESPN or read about in Magazines, he was very patient and picked spots wisely to take advantage of his opponents weaknesses. Romero beat out 160 players in a $345 buy in tournament for a Prize of $12,208 and the Circuit Ring (See picture!)Event 5 Results

I first met Ricky when I was 18. I was going to college at UL and was invited to a Home tournament with a bunch of old guys (ages 40-70) with 2 tables for a $30 buy in. These guys have been friends and playing against each other for a long time and the best part about it was they didn't allow women at their game haha. It was a guys night, talking about guy stuff and not having to worry about offending anyone. They were good people and it was good fun so I started playing there consistently as they had a point system. I never really worried about the points and just wanted to make the money when I played (Didn't play there as often as the others) but Ricky was one of the better players of the group. He was good at getting into his opponents heads and throwing them off their game. I allowed him to do this to me at times but now I don't even pay attention to what he says since I know why he is doing it. Well one day it got down to me and him heads up and every now and then we chop to split first and 2nd place money but I wanted to play him heads up. We were even in chips, but when he asked if I wanted to chop I told him I kinda want to play it out so if I win "I could beat a local poker legend". I said this kind of jokingly but he is a good player and I always love the challenge of beating solid poker players. Romero already had a few cashes from Tournaments at Tunica, MS and also the Seven Clans Tournament at Coushatta in Kinder, LA and also had alot more experience then me but I was still wet behind the ears and like a sponge soaking up as much knowledge as possible (still try to today as the game is always evolving) I go on to beat him in the Heads up match and I think it kind of irked him and that is when our Rivalry began.

Since that day We have always tried to outplay each other at the table no matter where we are at. Whether at a friendly house game, or at the local Casino in the weekly tournaments. We definitely respect each others game but we never back down to a challenge either. We have even shared advice with each other and roomed in Biloxi, MS during a tournament Circuit (when I was being a bum). Ricky is a very humble and friendly guy but he is also very competitive to say the least. I am proud to have gotten to know this man over the years and Since some days he has had my number, and other days I have had his, I am confident that one day, I too will be able to get to the final table of a Circuit event, and one day, I will get that Circuit Ring as well. Seeing Ricky share his story with the regulars yesterday at the weekly tournament at Shorty's Casino was fun to listen to and everyone congratulating him on his victory. He has built up a nice resume in tournament success and hopefully this can lead to even more success, but I can also say that once my Bankroll is in order I hope to be right there with him. All it takes is one big score but it is no easy feat.

Speaking of the Tournament at Shorty's
I went play because I got 10 out of 13 right on the football pick'em contest so I was thinking I had a chance to win some money....well yea I was completely mistaken but In the tournament it started out really slow.
The first table I was at, the best hand I saw was 77 preflop and got no action (thankfully) but there were multiple spots where I bluffed to steal pots to keep me above my starting stack. Even though at one point I got down to 4k (starting stack is 8k) by the First Break and Add on Period, I worked my stack up to 10.7k so after the add on I had 18.7k which was good to do some work with. At the new table I got involved in a hand where I raised in EP with A7 Suited to 1800 at blinds 300 600 (I hate the Wednesday tournament structure btw....way too fast) and get a caller from the SB who usually just plays big cards and doesn't get out of line. the flop comes A Q J and SB checks to me so I continue to bet 2400 and she doesn't take long to call. Then the turn peels off a 7 giving me 2 pair and there is now about 10k in the pot. I think I have the best hand at this point then bet 6k and SB calls again. River is a 5 and she shoves all in. This was an odd play as I put her on something on the flop but I think she would have reraise me sooner with a Set and checked again if she had the straight to let me hang myself....then I look at her and she is just staring at me aggressively. This gave me the feeling that she didn't want a call with the (Act Strong mindset) she was giving me. I made the call and she shows AK for top pair top kicker. she had me covered by 1900 chips and "Couldn't believe I made that call" but I wasn't about to tell her that I picked up the tell on her.

After that I got huge respect from the table and was getting nice hands and picking good spots to work up the CL at my table. But I was also getting tired (For some reason don't play my best after being at work all day) and kind of lost interest and started bleeding off my stack. First made a bad decision to call a super short stack for about 1/10 my stack to try knock out a pretty good opponent. I had 87 and he showed KK and I hit my 7 but nothing more than that. Then an overly aggressive older gentlemen that was wearing multiple women's rings for some odd reason went all in UTG for 12k. I had 37k and put him on a hand like 33-99. I figured QcJc was good enough to make the call and got the others to fold. He turned over 66 and the flop was Ac 10d 9s giving me open ended draw with 2 overs....well I completely miss and more of my chips disappear. At this point I felt like I was just going through the motions and should have like stepped away from the table or stood up and stretched or something to wake my ass up. I guess my head just wasn't into the grind last night. I get 66 in the bb at blinds 1000 2000 with a 200 ante and I have 23k in my stack. It is folded to the SB who raises to 5k (He has 27k in his stack) If I would have really thought about it, Him as well as most others at the table would bet small when they wanted a call and bet big when they didn't. Only 2 people did not do this other than myself at the moment. Well instead I went over the top of him all in since I had 10-11 bbs and figured if he has 2 overs I like this spot. Well he snap called and I knew I was facing an over pair instead. He turns over QQ and there is no 6 to save my life So I collect my things and walk out. I started out playing very well but kind of lost momentum as I felt myself getting fatigued.

I just found out another Poker friend of mine, Mr. Caufman Talley III (Lafayette, LA) just won a Circuit Ring as well in the 6 handed $345 buy in for $14,555!!! Event 7 Results This is Caufman's 2nd Live tournament win and 3rd Final Table. His Live debut was in New Orleans where he played 2 tournaments and final tabled both of them. Only being 21, this kid as well as his poker mentor Blake Barousse have phenomenal poker skills and feared at the table regardless of where they play! This is making me want to be in Biloxi, MS so bad but I must wait until December when I go play the Winter Bayou Classic at Harrahs Casino from Dec. 8 - 18. I am so happy my Acadiana Poker Player buddies are having success in Biloxi and hope they continue to crush!

Caufman Talley III

- Matt Stroud

Fantasy Football, APP League, and dabbling with the GCPC

Phone...Y U NO work??

So The NFL Lockout is finally....FINALLY over and of course and over flow of Fantasy Football drafts are about to begin. I was iffy on deciding to play this year as last year was a crappy year and just missed the playoffs in 2 money leagues (small money) but the shit talking in these leagues were immense and Tilted me like no other. The fact that I had to wait 6 months for my upgrade because I got pissed off and broke my phone because I missed the playoffs in MY OWN LEAGUE was just icing on the cake for the year. It was all the fact that the Fantasy Football rookie of the league made a genius move to grab Deion Branch from the waiver wire when he was acquired by the Patriots, remembering the chemistry Branch and Tom Brady had when they Consistently won Super Bowl after Super Bowl. I give him credit for his impeccable memory but what was worse was his no name team just started going on a tear at the end of the year, and where there is success, there is shit talking. And with the ridiculous amount of shit talking he received earlier in the year by other team owners of the league, he decided to let it all unfold on the Commish who happened to be playing him that week and then continue to rub salt in the wound after he defeated that said Commish (and you can figure out who the commish was.....the guy with the broken phone). Well, needless to say being the poor sport that I am, I immediately gave all commissioner privileges to My best friend and best man since he thought he could be a better commish. I happily obliged and said well here you go buddy I'm done with it. I literally felt like I was a part of the TV Show "The League"

Well, getting antsy about the 2011 football season I joined an enormous 20 man league with way too many people on the roster mainly as far as defense but it's a free league, so I don't really care. But I also started getting on the new commissioner of our league to start rallying the players and to get a draft going. Already, some new changes have been implemented in the league so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. I'll be glad I won't have the unnecessary BS of being a commissioner anymore and will just enjoy destroying this years competition. Watch out Bayou Fantasy Football cause the Cleveland Steamers (Cause I usually suck) are gonna wreck shop!!

Well here's My roster for the 20 man Free league I am In. The offense is pretty standard but its the individual Defensive players I have never dealt with before so it should be interesting. I like my team's chances for the most part.

QB Kyle Orton (annoyingly this was auto pick and he's about to be traded from what I hear)
QB Alex Smith 49ers
RB Maurice Jones Drew (another auto pick I showed up a lil late for the draft and would've picked ray rice but he's not bad either)
RB Knowshown Moreno (I think he'll have a breakout year this year)
RB Roy Helu (I like him especially where he's at with Washington)
WR Jeremy Maclin
WR Dwayne Bowe
WR Sidney Rice (The last auto pick I wanted to punch my computer when I saw this)
WR Austin Pettis (another rookie)

Super Sleeper 2011 Roy Helu Jr.

TE Todd Heap
TE Jacob Tamme
K David Akers
Def GB Packers
Def ATL Falcons
2 DT's Ive never heard of

DE Glenn Dorsey

DE Kyle Vanden Bosch
LB Ray Lewis
LB Paul Polzunsky
LB James Laurinitis
LB James Farrior
LB Barrett Ruud
CB Deangello Hall
CB Joe Haden
CB Ronde Barber
SS Kerry Rhodes
SS Earl Thomas
Bench Abram Elam
Bench Ike Taylor

What do you think about the team ( I know I'm weak at QB)

My league game is about to wrap up as we only have about 4 games left of the season that has been going on since January and I am Still at the top of the leader board with 72 points. A buddy of mine is right on my heals with 71 points but hopefully I can keep him at bay. I am kind of proud of this feat as I have been told my home game isn't like the typical home game. All the guys that come play are very competitive and more than capable of winning each night. I can safely say that I have an average of about 18 well rounded poker players that come play and can safely brag that I am atop the leader board. We are all fighting to stay in the top 9 for

APP 2010 Champion Dustin Norris

the most part as this is the Championship Free-roll where all top 9 spots are paid. There are 4 new categories that can also earn $100 each. Mixed Game Point Leader (currently the guy in second) Overall Point Leader (currently me) Most Final Tables (also me) Most cashes (there is a 3 way tie for this and tie breaker is 2nd most FTs) Last year First place of the Championship FreeRoll got the APP plaque and $400 and a big shout out from the guys at www.GulfCoastPoker.net Hopefully this year there will be more money for each spot since there was an average of more players each game but with the $100 added it definitely helps.

GCPC Schedule

If you aren't friends with me on Facebook then you probably haven't noticed that I create Events for upcoming Casino Tournament circuits. The next one in line is Beau Rivage's annual Gulf Coast Poker Championship. This casino hosts multiple tournament circuits with prices affordable to those that want to dabble in large Multi Table Tournaments and even strike some success with a 4 or 5 figure score. They even host the televised WPT Event, the Southern Poker Championship. Players from all over the south gather in Biloxi, MS to play at these events and create some of the juiciest Cash games as well. My plan this year is to play 3 events from Tuesday August 30 until Thursday Sept. 1st. I booked my room for Aug 30 and Aug 31 but the only way I can play all three events is if I sell enough of myself to accommodate for the buy-ins. I have offered to sell 60% or 12 shares for a total of $720. That is $60 for 5% of my action. Alot of people usually put a mark up of about 20-25% but this is my first time doing this so my Mark up is very small at around 9-10% just so I can pay for gas to get out there. So far I have sold 3 of my shares and currently have 9 shares left. If someone is interested I may even offer 2.50% shares at $30 each, but I find that my price is more than affordable. The possibility of gain on income is very high too! The fields should be smaller since its middle of the week tournaments, but 1st place could still be between 10-20k depending on re-buys! So if you have 5% of that action that is $500-$1000 off of $60 bucks. If I am unable to sell all of my action, I will definitely be playing either the $230 Half NLHE/PLO event or the $130 plus $100 Rebuy Event. Either way I will be going into it confident. If you're wondering about the schedule, click on the link under the picture (Left). I Will be keeping updates during the tournaments on my Twitter account @AcadianaPkrPlyr and Hope to see you guys there!

Good Luck,
Matt Stroud