The end of an era or a new beginning! You decide!

After much deliberation I have decided to sell all my poker equipment to my friend Dustin Hoff. It was a tough decision as poker has played a big part in my life since the night my family back in 2003 was watching the WPT on TV spawning the beginning of free poker in it's current state in MN. I have made many great and lasting friendships that I know will continue well into the future. So what do this mean. I think a new beginning for my poker games with Dustin's youth and enthusiasm. I think the sky's the limit for him. This doesn't mean that you will not see me anymore or have blogs to read. I will still be active in the CMPPA, which I consider my new baby at this time. The growth of it is only just beginning and only the future will tell how big it can get. I will still be running tournaments occasionally for Dustin and consulting with him on his new venture. So, please wish him luck and be patience just as you did with my as I was learning about the free poker world.

Playing Again

This week I was able to play bar poker a few times. It was fun once again. That's a start I guess. Tuesday I got to my first table to see 5 women players out of 9 of us. I was thinking "welcome back Dave" LOL! I played a tight aggressive style and managed to slowly accumulate chips. By the time blinds got bigger I was then able to increase my aggressiveness to take down many pots. My cards for the night were less then stellar but I was able to manage a final table and 5th place finish. Last night I went to McCann's for their game and remembered why I had gotten burnt out on bar poker. So much bad poker all on the same table. An early hand I had 2-4 off suit and a very weak player that only raises with small suited cards made a big raise. I called knowing that I could outplay him. Everyone else folded. Flop gave me a pair of twos. He bets I call. Turn gave me a gut shot with the pair. He bets again and I quickly call. I am thinking he may have a small pair bigger then mine. I decide to make a big bet on the river to get him off his pair. River is a blank. He checks and I decide he will call if I bet so I check and say I got a pair of twos and he mucks his cards. I turn over my 2-4 off and pull in the pot. I very tight playing women says how can you call a raise with 2-4 and I remind her that poker is not about the cards and I was just playing the player and was correct on my judgement. Then things turned for the worst. They was a newer player that I had never played with before and he was playing very tight. A good player raises to 3 times the big blind. I call with pocket 6's. New player reraises. Good player moves all in. I fold and other player calls off all his chips and turns over QQ. Good player has AA. Flop is A-10-3. Turn is a king and of course river is a jack for runner runner straight and a huge pot for the new player. He then all of the sudden gets very aggressive and starts raising almost every pot. A little later I am on button and he is under the gun. Blinds are 200-400. He doubles the blind to 800. There are 4 callers when it gets to me. I have 2-4 off and cam tell that at least the big blind is going to call and probably the small. It is going to be a big pot, so I decide to call and hope for miracle flop. Flop is 2-4-6. Bingo! Guy makes a big bet. Everyone folds to me and I push all in for a lot over to get heads up. Then BB pushes all in too. That can't be good. Raiser call and turns over QQ. Other guy has 3-5 with a flush draw. Turn gives him a straight flush and I am drawing dead and out. Now you could say that I made a bad play with 2-4 off but in that position I would play it the same every time. I did have a few chips left and later moved all in preflop with 7-8 hearts with lots of players in and turned a straight only to have the same guy catch a full house on the river when board pairs. What should I expect from a bar poker game. All the guy has to do is raise 3-4 times the big blind from under the gun with his queens and big blind and I would have folded our junk hands. People just don't get it. Big hands can't be played too slow because they don't always win and the more players in the hand the more likelihood of your big hand not holding up. It's all about odds. Even though you may win a huge pot by slow playing it's not worth the risk! I may need another break again.

Heartland Poker Tour Sale

Yesterday the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) was purchased by Federated Sports & Gambling (FS&G). They are the people that are starting the professional poker league. Here is a link to article.  http://www.pokernews.com/news/2011/06/federated-sports-gaming-acquires-heartland-poker-tour-10563.htm
I wish the guys at the Heartland the best of luck in this new endeavor. Even though I don't play any of their events anymore, I will always have a connection to their organization. Years ago when Full Tilt Magazine (FTM) was formed it coincided with the beginning of the HPT. Two of my partners actually appeared on the pilot taping of the HPT when they were deciding on their concept. I also worked on several of the final table tapings, so, the two seemed a perfect fit. A new poker tour and a new magazine all looking for Midwest exposure. I believe that Full Tilt Magazine had a lot to do with the early success of the HPT. The amount of basically free advertising that was given to the HPT was considerable. We shared in each others growth. Unfortunately FTM was unable to survive the change in gambling laws when the government made it harder to get money to gambling sites and most of our advertisers left the US and didn't pay any of their money due to us. If only we had had the finances to survive who knows where it would have taken us today. Anyway on to why I am writing this blog.

I think it is time for the HPT to make a name change. As I was reading above article and looking at the upcoming schedule it becomes quite clear that they are hardly ever actually playing in the heartland anymore. I understand why they have done what they are doing but also believe that they have abandoned their root players. The HPT started mostly in Minnesota casinos and was played by the many great players that this state has to offer. They gave up their time and money to try and win a spot on the TV final table. They followed the Tour religiously. As the Tour grew and moved outside of MN it became clear to the HPT people that they could get bigger tournament fields by leaving the Casinos of MN. The last two years the HPT made an agreement with a small Casino in Mahnomen MN to be the only MN to host an event. This Casino is in the middle of no where and hours away from any metropolitan area. Leading to small turnouts and what I think is probably the end of the HPT in MN. As far as I know there are no scheduled events for MN in the future. As I stated earlier I am very happy for Greg & Todd as they have worked hard to get where they are at today, but they got there on the backs of hard working Minnesotans and now have totally abandoned us. What came out of this was the MN State Poker Tour. A new MN only event tour, but it doesn't have the allure of the HPT and the chance to be on TV. I have a few ideas for them. How about
American Poker Tour
Average Joe Poker Tour
Peoples Poker Tour
I am sure that the people from FS&G will come up with something.
It is a bit hypocritical to call your self the Heartland without actually playing here much anymore.
Here is their upcoming schedule if you feel like traveling.

Dates                                                    Casino                                                    Location
August 8-18, 2011                           Turning Stone                                     Verona, New York
September 16-25, 2011                    Downstream                                       Quapa, Oklahoma
September 23-October 2, 2011        Golden Gates                                      Blackhawk, Colorado
September 30-October 9, 2011       Daytona Beach Kennel Club               Daytona Beach, Florida
October 30-November 6, 2011                                                                    Meskwaki Iowa
November 15-20, 2011                 Soaring Eagle—Championship Open    Mt Pleasant, Michigan
November 28-December 4, 2011 TBA TBA