Bout Frellin time is all I can say!

I was beginning to wonder if they were giving Phil a special dispensation from the (new) rule this year that said no excessive theatrics would be permitted, and even though that rule meant celebrations, I think it should apply here as well.

http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/pdfs/wsop.tournament-rules.08.pdf

This one:


[quote]
36. Excessive celebration through extended theatrics, inappropriate behavior, or physical actions, gestures, or conduct may be subject to penalty. Any player that engages a member of the tournament staff during the celebration or utilizes any property of Harrah’s will be penalized in accordance with Rules No. 31 and/or 51. Harrah’s property includes but is not limited to chairs, tournament tables, and stanchions.
[/qoute]

If that didn't apply, then this one sure should here:



[quote]
38. Player or staff abuse will not be tolerated. A player may incur a penalty up to and including disqualification for any abuse towards another player or staff member, and player could be asked to leave the property. Repeated etiquette violations such as touching another player’s cards or chips, delay of game and excessive chatter will result in penalties.
[/quote]
Check it out:

http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/tourney/updates.asp?rr=3&grid=411&tid=4948




[quote]
Sat, 12 Jul 2025 23:49:16 Hellmuth Starts Day 6 in the Penalty Box Everyone thought Phil Hellmuth ended the day just with a blow-up and a warning, but that's not the case. He continued to berate Cristian Dragomir for several minutes after the last hand we described and after floor person Robbie Thompson issued him a warning, prompting Thompson to summon supervisor Steve Frezer to the feature table. Frezer listened to Thompson's description of the situation and then assess Hellmuth a one-orbit penalty to start Day 6. Never a dull moment when Hellmuth's around.
[/quote]

This is what got him the Penalty:


[quote]
Sat, 12 Jul 2025 23:39:00 Hellmuth Ends the Day With a Blow-up Cristian Dragomir opened with a raise to 80,000 before Hellmuth made it 255,000 to go from the small blind. "I hope he doesn't have aces," said Hellmuth as Dragomir asked for a count. After a few moments, Dragomir made the call. They saw a flop of and Hellmuth checked to Dragomir, who thought for a moment before firing a healthy bet of 300,000. Hellmuth sighed in disgust before folding face-up on the table. Matusow laughed and said to Dragomir to show the bluff, and Dragomir flipped ! Matusow and the crowd roared in hysterics as Hellmuth jumped out of his seat and stormed around the room berating his opponent for calling his reraise with ten high. "Listen buddy, you're an idiot!" screamed Hellmuth. "This is the Main Event and you are the worst player in history!" he continued as the crowd was loving every moment of the blow-up. Dragomir's entourage continued to cheer as Hellmuth continued the barrage. The TD stepped in and issued a warning to Hellmuth to settle down before Dragomir stood up out of his chair to put Hellmuth back in his place with a cry of, "Enough is enough!" Fortunately for both players the clock ticked over to the end of the level, and the end of the day's play to settle both players down. They eventually shook hands and began to bag up their chips as Mike Matusow summed up the situation best as he shouted, "Thank God for Phil Hellmuth! Thank God for Chris Moneymaker!" What a way to end the day!
[/quote]
Earlier this evening they didn't do squat either when Phil acted out and had a major blow up and acted like a 2 yr old.

I've also got this over in a thread on Two Plus Two as well here:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthread.php?t=248795

If anyone is interested.

Comments anyone?

Riddle me this, fish or entertainment player, shows up at your table, and why is it that it seems, some self proclaimed 'expert' at the table Makes it his/her mission to scare the fish (or entertainment player) away?

I don't play online to make a profit, to be quite frank, many people normally rejoice when I show up there, because they know I'm only there to have a good time and enjoy myself.

I really don't take poker online very seriously, mostly because I don't trust it, but also, quite frankly, I get board when I play online.

I tend to play for the most part, freerolls, and the very low limits of the cash tables, and I'm really just there to pass the time.

To me 50 cent poker is nothing, and anything I might lose in there doesn't affect me financially, and I consider it pure entertainment. If I'm having fun, pretty much, I'm donating to the table and I really don't care that I'm losing, because I let my evil twin sister, Donkella out of her cage to play (she loves it when I play online, because it's about the only time I let her out on purpose to play).

One of the big rules in poker, is to find out WHY the other players are there. Are they there to make money, to play seriously, are they just learning the game, or are they just passing time, having fun, doing 'entertainment' type poker?

Fail to do this, and if you yourself are there to make money, you won't be able to figure out how to extract the most money from your opponent.

Never fails though, someone at the online table decides I must not know how to play poker, that I'm just 'lucky' and that's the only reason I've been at the table beating his azz for the last 3 hrs taking his money (and there are a few times I do decide to play poker for the money), and decides he's going to be an Azz to me, cussing me up one side and down the other, calling me down with A/K o/s with me having 2 pr, betting it all the way, and him having at the end, calling me with Ace high.

Case in point, last night I was playing on full tilt, against a player called loumike, who seems to think he's god's gift to poker (a real ATM IMO that one ... lol).

He'd been raising a lot preflop, and he's sitting to my left. Now up until this hand, I was just playing for fun.

I look at my hand, and everyone is limping around to me, I see I have the Ace of hearts, and the 5 of hearts, nice ... a suited connector, and I'm only 2 off from the button, no one has raised yet, so I raise it to 50 cents (it's a 25/50 cent game), loumike reraises, and everyone folds around to me.

Oh what the heck I think, it's only a quarter more to cap it.

Flop comes 2 hearts, and an Ace. Nice I think, I have aces, and the nut flush draw, so I bet, loumike reraises, and I raise again trying to figure out where I am, loumike reraises again, capping it.

Well, the turn is yet another Ace, wheee, I have trips. I check, loumike bets, I raise, he reraises, I cap it, and it's off to the river.

River comes and it pairs the board ... I got an Aces full house now, I check, loumike bets, I raise, he reraises, and I cap it.

I win the pot, and he starts cussing like a sailor, calling me a c*nt, b*tch, and other names of the sort, now curious, what has him so riled, I decide to look at the hand history, and see he had pocket kings.

Meanwhile on and on he goes, telling me what a bad player I am, and how could I of even considered calling him, let alone capped it, I can't resist ... I type .. I'm the bad player? Who raised and reraised me all the way to the river, with the board (double) paired, and with 2 aces on the board? I also remind him this is 50 cent poker, and if he wants to play for real, he should move up to the higher levels, or play N/L poker, not this penny ante stuff that a lot of players like me, don't take very seriously.

The game is on ... he's got tilt monkey now on his back full steam (and of course, now that he IS on tilt, I fully own him, his azz belongs to me), and then another player chimes in, defending me, which only makes loumike even more pizzed. Now that I got his number, every time he makes some comment, I trash talk him, putting him MORE on tilt, and he just keeps reloading his chips again and again.

Over the course of the next 3 hours, loumike turns into an ATM (much to the pleasure of the entire table), he must of reloaded about 5 times for a total of 50 bucks, 30 of which I took from him myself. All the while, he's calling me down with Ace high, and getting more pissed off and saying I just must be lucky the whole time for the whole remaining 3hrs I played (BTW ... after that A/5 hearts hand, I put donkella back in her cage and played for real).

LOL ... some people just don't seem to get it, not everyone who plays online, are expert players, and some who do know how to play, don't always play by the book, but are just there for a good time. One must not tap the tank and scare them away, welcome them instead with open arms, let them feel comfey, and they'll dontate to you all day long.

So, in any case, the question of the day that I don't seem to get here is, why is it that someone must insist on tapping the tank, and scare the fish away, instead of making them feel welcome, and let them donate money to the table and have a good time?

P.S. BTW ... if you're on Full Tilt, and run into loumike ... tell 'em LadyGus says hello!

I can't tell you how many times I've heard players whine when they get sucked out (including myself once upon a time), by lesser starting cards, saying "How could you of played those two cards, especially after I raised"?

My response these days is: "It was easy, I put my chips in, and said call", which in turn really ticks the other player off even more.

What many players who've been playing a while fail to realize, is this.

If you forget your past, you are doomed to repeat it, meaning to get inside the heads of a novice or intermediate player, you must first remember how YOU yourself played, when you first picked up this wonderful game of poker.

In addition, it's like they feel that I, and every other player, should play poker THEIR way, simply because they have read some book on the subject, or have been playing longer than the other person they are playing against.

Now, why should I, or anyone else do that? Why should I go to war, and tell my enemy, even though I'm no good at their style of war, I'm going to give up my style of war, and battle their way?

That would be quite stupid on my part, don't you think?

It is however, how the British lost the war of Independence to the American Militia men.

If you remember your history, the British were masters at war, and most major countries at the time, battled the same way they did.

Then came the American Revolution, and us yanks, well, we didn't play by the same rules as the Brits, because for the most part, we just didn't know any better.

The Brits marched in straight lines, while we yanks we hid behind the bushes and the trees, didn't know much about the 'rules of war', yet we won battle after battle, simply because the Brits couldn't or wouldn't adapt to our style of warfare. They were convinced their way was the only way, and were inflexible to the fact that there could be other ways of warfare, than just theirs.

So in love were they, with the style of war they'd played for centuries, they just couldn't figure out what made the American's tick. Why after they, the Brits had proven that this formal style of war, really was the best, did the Yanks persist in fighting the way they did, and even worse, the yanks were winning! Yet, so rigid they were, they refused to even consider adapting their style of warfare, to counter the style of the Yanks.

Now, equate this to poker.

We have the pro's and those who love to read the books of the pros, who with only a few exceptions, are so in love with the formal style of playing poker (best two cards pre-flop), that they fail to realize, that in reality, any two starting cards have the potential to win at poker. After all, it takes 5 cards at the river, to make the best hand, and they don't HAVE to be premium (starting) cards to do so.

Gus Hanson is however, as pro's go, is one exception that I've seen on TV, and has realized this, and has stated as much on many occasions. He plays the player, and not the cards, and he does quite well doing so.

Why should I, or any player, battle the same way the pros do, especially if I'm not good at doing it their way in the first place? Why should I be forced to play their game, go to war as it is, their style, simply because they've been playing longer than I have?

To me, it would seem quite stupid of me, to play their style, simply because some book says I must.

Granted, the books have quite a few good tips in them, but at the same time, the person who wrote them, isn't me, and isn't my personality, nor are they the persons or personalities of other players.

I can't count the number of times however, where someone has fallen in love with Ace King preflop, missed the flop, turn and river, with them betting it all the way, and then gotten upset because I or another player hung in there because we did hit the flop ourselves.

This is because many players who play poker the traditional way fail to realize, is that A/K is only a premium starting drawing hand, not a made hand.

I have a saying about Ace King, or any hand you fall in love with for that matter preflop, and I'm most willing to tell it to anyone who will listen.

"Getting Married to Ace King is not a good idea, because the divorce settlement will be painful, if it doesn't work out"

Poker is a reflection of life, and the person playing it.

No one is going to play text book poker all the time, and you shouldn’t expect your opponent to play poker your way, especially if they are new to the game. To do so, is a major mistake on your part.

One other mistake I see many experienced players make as well, is that while there are indeed many fish out there, that there are sometimes opportunities to learn from the fish as well. While the fish might be 99.99 percent wrong, there might be that .01 percent of truth that the fish knows that you don't know.

If you can take that small percentage and add it to your game, you will become a better player.

So, don't be like the Brits, instead of going off on some player because they sucked out on you, because they were playing their way instead of yours, adapt instead.

Say nice hand, and move on, making note of what kind of cards that person is playing, and be aware of it for future reference.

In that way, you won't be the like the Brits, and be inflexible, and you'll only lose one battle, instead of the entire war.

Welcome to Gabby’s Quest to try to change the Laws of Colorado, to try to rid Colorado of No Fold ‘em Hold ‘em.

Well, today I put my money (or my foot, depends on your point of view (smile)), where my mouth is. I may be tilting at windmills here, but I figure it’s worth a shot.

Recently on two plus two forums, I was telling the New Yorkers, who are getting their clubs raided, to stop whining and try to get the laws of their state changed to allow for them to play poker, legally.

So, started a conversation with my Evil Twin Sister, Donkella, who was whispering in my ear, what a hypocrite I was, and you know what, for one time in her life, she was right.

I’m constantly complaining since I moved to Colorado from Ohio in March of 2006, how live action poker sucks here, and Tournament poker isn’t much better.

All because the maximum bet allowed in Colorado is capped at a mere 5 bucks a bet. The type of thinking that comes with that (play any two cards to the flop, and sometimes to the turn and even the river) often spills over into tournament play as well, since that is the only way many of the locals here know how to play.

Tournament poker the max buy-in allowed, is $500, which even then, most casinos here won’t charge that, because they don’t have the balls to up the rates for the tournaments, and play hard ball with the customers here. In other words, tell them that’s the price, and if you want to play, that’s what you will pay.

Instead, they wimp out, when after one time not many players show up, they change it to rebuy events instead.

Well, Donkella tells me, you wimp, you shouldn’t be whining about this, practice what you preach. Contact your Colorado Senator, ask if they’d be willing to sponsor a law to get at the very least, the maximum casino bet cap increased to something OTHER than 5 bucks as it currently is right now.

Now, Donkella is seldom right, as most times I try to keep her in her cage, as she gets me into nothing but trouble when she gets out of her cage when I’m playing poker. This time however, it appeared to me, that she was right, and I should either pay up or shut up.

So I did some research here:

http://www.leg.state.co.us/


and discovered that one of my Senators is named Ken Gordon.
So, after a little more research, I drafted the following e-mail letter to him (my address and given name has been x-d out):


From: xxxxxx
To: ken@kengordon.com
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2025 2:41 PM
Subject: Why can't we have N/L Poker Laws like Florida does(at the very least)?

Honorable Senator Gordon,

I moved here from Ohio back in March of 2006, and I'm now a registered Colorado Voter who lives in Englewood (Arapahoe County).

I understand based on the website here:

http://www.leg.state.co.us/

that you are one of my Representatives. If this is not the case, and it is not you, can you direct me to who that might be?

When I moved here, I came to understand, that the maximum bet in Colorado has remained the same (at a max bet of $5) since the Casinos opened over 15 years ago.

I'm perplexed as to why that amount has never been raised to at least adjust for inflation.

Why do I care? Because I'm an avid Poker Player, and a good one at that.

Before I moved here, I did quite well playing both live action and tournament poker.

However, since I moved here, I've been stuck with what is called by the locals here, No Fold 'em Hold 'em otherwise known as, 'Bingo' or 'Lotto' poker, since because of the $5 max bet laws, the players here, play any 2 cards all the way to the river.

You really can't beat the game here, and as a result, poker really sucks here, and makes me hate living in Colorado (and I'm not the only one who feels this way).

I've been hearing rumors from Casino table game dealers, that the Casinos are working with the Colorado Lawmakers to raise the maximum bet to $100, because of the no smoking law that goes into effect as of Jan 1, 2008, where no one will be allowed to smoke in the Casino.

Is this indeed true? I'm hopeful that it is.

Either way, is there any way to get a law passed to allow for N/L poker much like Florida recently did?

They way I understand it, the max buy-in there you can buy into a NL game is $100 (at a time), but you can bet anything in the game itself, once you buy into the game, up to and including what you have in the game at the time.

I'm not sure however, if there are hourly limits or not in the case of Florida's law.

Is there any hope that you might consider sponsoring some sort of legislation to allow (at the very least) for something similar to Florida's law, so we here in Colorado can play real poker, instead of this No Fold 'em Hold 'em we are currently stuck with?

In addition, is there also any way legislation could be passed to allow for larger tournament buy ins (currently the max allowed by law is $500), so that some of the major televised events (aka the WPT and the WSOP) would be interested in coming to Denver to host an event here? In most cases, most people don't buy directly into these main events anyway, but instead, win their way into them via satellite tournaments hosted by the hosting casinos.

Please advise, and thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to read my e-mail.

Sincerely Yours,

xxxxxxxx


To the two rags crowd … I will keep you posted on any results I obtain, good or bad. If I don’t get a response from Senator Gordon, I will try other Colorado Representatives, until I do get at least a response back from at least one of them.

If this doesn't work, well, Colorado is one of the states you can get the states constitution changed, as well as have laws added/changed on the books, by petition drive to have an issue put on a ballot to be voted on.

Maybe that would be one way to get the law changed here, is by petition drive to have it added to the ballot in November of 2008, which would be when the next Presidental election would be, to get the most eyes on the topic, and the best turn out on the issue. That would also give us enough time to get the needed signatures to do so.

Feel free to join in this effort with me as well!

Comments or suggestions anyone? If you're not from Colorado, has anyone else tried this approach in their state to either get poker legalized or the maximum bet raised?

You know that evil twin sibling, as we all have one, they were born on the day we first started playing poker.

For guys, his name is Donkzilla, for women it’s Donkella.

They are the ones that when you know you should fold a hand, they take control over your body and then you hear the following coming out of your mouth:

I call, I raise, and the worst … I go all in!

Oh gawd, you think when that happens, my evil twin sibling as escaped their cage, I’m doomed!

When you first start playing, your Evil twin sibling is the one who is in control, they hate it when you read a book, learn from a mentor and get better at Poker.

This is because as you learn more about poker, the stronger you get in your game, and the more able you are keep your evil twin sibling in their cage(s).

Your evil twin then is constantly whispering in your ear in a tournament (or worse, a NL cash game), gee, you really want that Highball, and make it a double! Don’t stop at one drink, make it two, then 3, then 4. Next thing you know, your evil twin sibling is in full control of you.

Donkzilla is whispering … that babe is really HOT, look at the ta-ta’s on that one! You want some of that, yeah man! Play nice with her, don’t try to steal her blinds, let her win!

Next thing you know, she’s got all your chips, and even worse, you didn’t get any (you know what) from her!

Meanwhile, Donkella is whispering about the aggressive guy on the button, don’t let him steal your blinds, he’s just pushing you around because you are a woman! Go ahead, call him with 7 duce, after all it *IS* suited!

Personally, I hate it when Donkella manages to get out of her cage (when I don't want her to), and Murphy ’s Law is, it’s normally when I’ve paid the buy in for a 1k event or higher.

Sometimes though, I do let her out on purpose, like when I don’t care about making money, when I just want to have fun.

One things for sure, Donkella knows how to have fun. She loves to flirt with all the guys, and make a really arse of herself, if I let her carry it that far.

On a recent trip to Vegas, I even managed to get a kiss out of a guy who was really cute, when I let Donkella out for a spin.

I was at Binions, playing in one of their 4 daily tournaments, and having a really fun time.

I had just the day before won a $2500 jackpot on a 25 cent slot machine at the Orleans and decided I was just going to play the next day for fun, not take it seriously, and let Donkella do all the playing for me, and see what happened.

Well, Donkella was a real luck box that day, any two cards she played (and she played most of them, cards I normally would never play), would hit.

She’d call, or raise with the worst cards possible, and end up with straights, boats, flushes and so forth.

Pretty soon she’d amassed a huge stack, but luck will only take your evil twin sibling so far.

It was down to 2 or 3 tables, and the event paid like 8 places, when Donkella’s luck ran out (at least with the cards (grin)).

Now, Donkella was announcing every hand she was going to go all every hand, as she wanted to leave, laughing all the time.

True to her word, Donkella started going all in every hand, and the table was getting tired of it.

Meanwhile, I was enjoying myself, watching Donkella from the outskirts of my mind, driving the table crazy.

Donkella doubled up this one guy on the short stack, at least 3 times, so much that the 3rd time, if he won, he would became the chip leader. He was so ecstatic, that he said, thanks so much, if I win this one (the 3rd time) I will kiss you for that!

Well, he won, and at that point, I stepped in and said … pay up and he did! I got the kiss! To bad though, it turned out afterwards, that the guy was married (boo!).

It was still the BEST time ever, of when Donkella was in control!


So, what kind of trouble has your evil twin gotten YOU into, or what stories do you have to share about him/her, hmm?