SCOTTYS BLOG

Phil Ivey and Dice Dice Baby

2012-01-26T19:04:00.006-06:00

The Chris "Jesus" Ferguson File

2012-01-25T23:36:00.012-06:00

Subject: Poker.com reports the following:

"From at least April of 2007, Chris Ferguson funnelled just under $60M of his Full Tilt distribution payments into bank accounts held for him in the name of Pocket Kings Ltd,1 in addition to the roughly $25M that the US Department of Justice reported that he received in their amended civil complaint. He successfully withdrew or spent about $45 million of this funnelled money, but about $14.3 million of it was used for Full Tilt’s post-Black Friday expenses, reportedly with his permission. In an attempt to recover this money, Ferguson and his lawyer, Ian Imrich, have threatened repeatedly to take steps that might impede the pending deal with the DOJ and Groupe Bernard Tapie."

"Ferguson’s distributions were paid mostly into accounts that Pocket Kings held for him. These accounts were unambiguously controlled by him, and were typically referred to as “Chris’s accounts.” For example, his April 2007 distribution was about $1.3 million, $400,000 of which went to his personal account and about $900,000 of which went to a PK account. His March 2011 distribution was about $1.9 million, $600,000 of which went to his personal account and about $1.3 million of which went to a PK account. These transactions are roughly typical, and in total, he had $25.2 million sent directly to his personal account and just under $60M sent to the accounts that Pocket Kings held for him."

Lock Poker: Even Faster Payouts

2012-01-25T00:10:00.010-06:00

"From the desk of Eric (Rizen) Lynch"
POSTED IN THE 2+2 FORUMS

Hello 2+2ers, I know we've been discussing some exciting upcoming changes to withdrawal options and the cashier. Those of you that check the client regularly
(and read the messages!) might already have seen this:

We are very excited to announce a new cashier launching next week! Not only will the cashier have a fresh new look but we will be introducing new withdrawal options (ie. bank wires) and a much faster turn around time. This cashier is exclusive to Lock, as are the new withdrawal options. For players that have a pending withdrawal in the Merge Network cashier if this has not been completed by January 30th, we will take care of moving this withdrawal over for you and this will not result in any delays in your withdrawal being processed. You will be first in line.

While we transition, all new withdrawals must be submitted via Lock Casino:

1. Click the Lock Casino tab in the lobby
2. Transfer the amount you wish to withdraw to casino
3. Click the withdraw button

If you have any questions, please contact Lock customer support. ~ Rizen
EDIT 01/27: I received my first check in less than a week via FedEx.

News From The WSOP Circuit

2012-01-23T18:27:00.008-06:00

The WSOP Circuit has been to Los Angeles at The Bicycle Casino and to Durant, Oklahoma at Choctaw Casino since the New Year. Presently the WSOP Circuit is in action at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The stop at The Bike is new for this year, and Choctaw is always a well attended stop on the circuit. The Bike's attendance was also very good. Despite the economy, poker is alive and well on the circuit.

Tournament veteran, and two-time WSOP Bracelet winner Freddy Deeb won the Bike's Main Event. Freddy beat a field of 549 players and took home $171,810.

READ MORE ABOUT FREDDY'S WIN HERE

Raja Kattamuri had a stellar showing at Choctaw with two wins, a runner-up finish and a sixth place for nearly $80.000. Kattamuri won the title of Choctaw Casino Champion and qualifies for the WSOP Circuit National Championship in May. Raja's performance in Oklahoma is one of the most dominating in the history of the WSOP-C.

READ MORE ABOUT RAJA'S LATEST WIN HERE

Huy Nguyen from Norman, Oklahoma won his third WSOP Ring at Choctaw. Huy now has nearly $400,000 in World Series cashes since the summer of 2010. I have watched Huyzer at work, he is a grounded talent, and has a very big future in poker.

READ MORE ABOUT HUY'S LATEST WIN HERE

2011/2012 WSOP Circuit Leaderboard

Beth Shak, Quintessential Pro

2012-01-19T00:21:00.003-06:00

Runner-Up Three In A Row

2012-01-18T04:58:00.044-06:00

"Back-to-back-to-back" runner-up finishes

Sunday I won back-to-back tournaments

From Sunday's post: "I played a session and booked two wins for $568. The first tournament was a $10 Turbo Freezeout that began at 02:30 CST with 100 runners. First place paid $277. I entered this Final Table sixth in chips. Needing a score after a long drought, and with another table going very well, it was easy to play well. The second tournament was a $5 Freezeout that began at 02:00 CST with 234 runners.
On a mission, I crushed this event." was how I describe the second win. After going back-to-back for the win(s), I began to think about winning three in a row...

I then finished runner-up in three sucessive tournaments this morning.

That's 0-3 heads-up and for the title, for those keeping score at home.
Tournament One - $11 NL Bounty with 122 runners. $183 for first ($5 bounties)
Tournament Two - $3.30 H.O. (NLHE/PLO8) with 56 entries. $50 for first.
Tournament Three - $16.50 NL 6 max with 112 entries. $437 for first.

VIEW MY OPR LOCK POKER STATS

BY THE NUMBERS: $670 if I sweep - $30.80 total investment - $450 in cashes

I was at a chip disadvantage in all three heads-up matches, and at one point I was heads-up in two tournaments, four-handed in the third (the biggest payday) tournament. It was fun, yet stressful, and one of my opponents kept prompting me to "come on". So I shoved in the smallest tournament a 40/60 dog, simply to get a verdict...

THE VERDICT: Out in second place. Again and again.

Winning. Simultaneously...

2012-01-15T08:06:00.033-06:00

"Back-to-back tournament" wins on Lock Poker

LOCK TOURNEY KING

Eleven hours ago, I wrote in this blog:
"The last 120+ tournaments, after final tabling two tables simultaneously four days ago, I have eaten $360 worth of losses.
My tournament return on investment (R.O.I) is 89% and I remain up over $3800 for six weeks of play." Then I booked two wins in sucession for $568. The first tournament was a $10 Turbo Freezeout that began at 02:30 CST with 100 runners.

I entered this Final Table sixth in chips. Needing a score after a long drought, and with another table going very well, it was easy to play well. The second tournament was a $5 Freezeout that began at 02:00 CST with 234 runners. On a mission, I crushed this event, entering the Final Table play second in chips. But it all began by punishing the money bubble. I climbed from 20th of 30 or so players to a top ten stack, following up by abusing the Final Table bubble and controlling play till the bloody end.

I wish you could have been there...

Lock Poker has a monthly leaderboard promotion called "Tourney King". Low Limits leaderboard for tournaments with buyins of $0 - $19.99 and a High Limits leaderboard for tournaments with a buyin of $20 or more. To qualify for either of the monthly Leaderboard Grand Final tournaments you need to finish in the top 250 places for that leaderboard. A unique chipstack will be assigned to you based on how many points you have accumulated in the month. The Low Limit and High Limit grand finals (tournaments) offer a combined value of over $20,000 in prizes. These two wins have placed me in ninth position on the monthly leaderboard for January.

Lock Monthly Leaderboard

VIEW MY OPR LOCK POKER STATS

$2 Misclick For The $103 Win

2012-01-14T21:57:00.016-06:00

Official Poker Rankings.com (OPR) is a reliable site to check your stats on PokerStars, Party Poker, the Ongame Network, and the Merge Network (Lock Poker). OPR ranks me player 431 out of 30,027 players to recently play on Merge.

The site records every result from every tournament you ever played -- and compiles statistics on your play. The number 431 represents a result-orientated rank of skill versus the pool of payers to play the Merge Network the last four months. Over the 507 LOCK tournaments I have played, the average field size (AFS) of the tournaments I play is 257 runners. Of these 507 entries, I have final tabled 56 times and was "in the money" 19% of the time. Sadly, I have lost my buyin 81% of the time, but my ITM percentage is very good. OPR doesn't figure bounties, rakeback, player points and your bottom-line profit is generally higher than reported. Rebuy tournaments are calculated on a per average rebuy for each tournament. If you are a good player, it is likely you rebuy lower than the average.

FROM OPR: "The OPR Rankings favour players with a significant positive estimated profit who are able to keep the good results coming again and again. The percentile rating is not a score but an percentile indication of where you stand among other ranked players. One good result will not bring you all the way to the top, even if your profit is much higher than the best ranked players."

VIEW MY OPR LOCK POKER STATS

Statistical analysis is a big part of understanding how to multi-table low-limit holdem tournaments -- and multi-tabling is the only way to play online tournaments. These days I four or five table on Lock. In the old days, six and eight-tabling at Ultimate Bet and Full Tilt Poker. At Ultimate Bet, I averaged $13 tournaments buyins and a 50% return on investment (R.O.I.) over many thousands of tournaments. My strategy was simple. The goal was to play $1200 a week in tournaments, average a 50% return on investment, win a $600 a week profit plus any comps, points and promotions. Grinding tournaments decreases variance through volume. I have played over 3 million tournament hands online and remain a proven tournament winner.

Last night I was multi-tabling on Lock Poker and I accidentally entered a $2 Bounty fifty-three minutes after it started. MISCLICK. The tournament fielded 396 players and I know there were under 200 remaining when I joined. The starting stack was 3000 in chips and the blinds were 300/600, meaning I started with 5 big blinds. My strategy was simple -- get this money in as fast as possible. And I kept winning hands until I was the last player standing. $103 plus eight bounty dollars. But wait...

I am presently running bad at Lock Poker. I can't complain, but I will. Over the last 120+ tournaments, after final tabling two tables simultaneously four days ago, I have eaten $360 worth of losses. My tournament return on investment (R.O.I) is 89% and I remain up over $3800 for six weeks of play -- Fourteen player have downloaded and signed up for Lock Poker through ScottyClarkPoker with no complaints yet.

Join me at Lock Poker by downloading the software in the right hand column.

"RS03RS03" Confirmed Real

2012-01-13T21:22:00.012-06:00

There is a player on PokerStars with the screen name "rs03rs03" and it is estimated he has played in excess of 50 million hands on the site. He plays $1 "Double-or-nothing" sit and goes, playing over a million of them. The site received so many inquiries about this player being a bot, they visited his home. This is PokerStars 2010 official response to the allegations:

Hello PokerStars Players,

Please rest assured that we do not tolerate automated players (bots) on PokerStars. We have an extensive arsenal of detection tools in order to ensure that each player is a human being.We have been monitoring and examining 'rs03rs03' using those tools for quite some time, and the player has always shown very human characteristics, and an ability to pass various tests, including CAPTCHA and many others. Despite this, we, too, have been concerned with the seemingly astonishing volume of play exhibited by this player, especially in recent weeks as his volume has increased dramatically.

As such, we recently froze his account and asked the player for a controlled demonstration, and the player agreed. We dispatched a PokerStars representative to the player's home to observe several hours of play on June 1st, 2010. That observation convinced us that the player is not using a bot. We cannot violate the player's privacy -- the player has asked to remain anonymous, and not to discuss their strategy.

However, among our observations: 1) The player uses a set of self-written hotkeys similar to many commercially available suites (TableNinja.com comes to mind).

- The hotkeys manage automatically joining tables without regard to opponent selection
- The hotkeys close unnecessary popups like "It is free to check", automatically
- The hotkeys require the player to enter every bet, raise, check, or fold manually

2) Both in prior play, and during our in-person observation, we witnessed many "mistakes", such as pre-flop folds of AA and KK. 3) The player was able to verbally chat with our representative during play, while continuing to play. 4) We took video of the play at various times, and conducted tests at various times during the observation (such as unexpectedly asking the player to remove their hands from they keyboard, to observe whether play stopped... and it did).

We observed well over 3 hours of play, and then compared the play we observed to historical records of past play. We cannot divulge exactly what we compared, though we can say that it did include comparing his hand selection, action timing, and many other aspects. The resulting comparison very strongly indicates that the prior play is statistically identical to the observed play.

In short, our bot detection tools have borne themselves out here very nicely. The tools always indicated that the player appeared human despite ever-increasing hours of play and concurrent tables. Now, through our observations, we've independently confirmed those findings. Please rest assured that PokerStars remains vigilant in proactively hunting for bots. We will continue to review players of concern with our tools, and continue to enhance those tools to ensure that PokerStars remains as free of bots as possible. When we find bots, we remove them from our games. We are pleased to report, however, that 'rs03rs03' is human.

Best Regards,
Jeff
PokerStars Game Security

THIS JUST IN: Faraz Jaka finished third in the 2012 PCA today for $755,000.
PokerStars can not confirn Faraz Jaka is in fact human....

LOL GRAPH

Jaka Still Chipleader, 24 Remain

2012-01-12T00:46:00.008-06:00

From PokerStarsBlog.com 01/11/12

Faraz stealing souls, crushing dreams.

Like dust motes in a sunlit room, PCA players get hard to pin down on Day 4. One minute they're sailing carefree at the rafters, and in a blink they're gone and forgotten as if they weren't ever there at all. It's a fickle business, poker.

Defying that axiom, however, is one Faraz Jaka. Chip leader on Day 2 and Top 5 on Day 3, Jaka has been a mote who refuses to disappear in a shadow. Turn out the lights and he'll glow. Steady-stacking all day long, Jaka's turn-card semi-bluff with a little straight draw came in against Larry Greenberg for a massive pot that sent Jaka's stack over the 3 million mark and cemented his spot as day-end chip leader for the second time in this tournament.
He finished the day with 4,114,000 and a giant lead on big pack of players with two million or more..

Jaka Running Good at PCA

2012-01-10T02:01:00.003-06:00

Faraz Jaka wins Windy City High Roller Event

Faraz Jaka won the Windy City Poker Championship's High Roller event in November. Today he is the chipleader at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas.

From PokerNews.com 01/09/12

The 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event resumed on Monday with 544 players remaining from the starting field of 1,072. After six levels of play only 183 are still in the hunt to capture the $2,000,000 first-place prize. Day 2 belonged to one player — Faraz Jaka. He is well ahead of the pack and heads into Day 3 with a stack of 902,500. Jaka began Day 2 with 129,500 in chips and quickly took over the top spot on the chip leaderboard. He took the lead during the first level of play Monday and had chipped up to about 700,000 by the time Chino Rheem was moved to his direct left. Rheem, with about 300,000 at the time, couldn't have been given a worse seat, and less than two hours later, most of his chips were in Jaka's stack...

HPT Returning To St. Louis

2012-01-09T01:01:00.019-06:00

River City Casino & Lumiere Place Schedule
Begins Friday Mar 02, 2012 through March 12, 2011

River City Casino, Lumiere Place Casino and Pinnacle Entertainment are proud to announce The Heartland Poker Tour is returning to St. Louis in March. Qualifying Events will be held every day at both casinos and the $1650 Main Event will play out in three flights (Day Ones) on March 8th, 9th and 10th. Day Two resumes on March 11.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HEARTLAND POKER TOUR HERE
Main Event Final Tables are filmed for television

Every day there are one table satellites at both Lumiere and River City
$45 (two players advance) Single Table Satellites into $185 Super Qualifiers
$85 (two players advance) Single Table Satellites into $360 Qualifiers
$120 (three players advance) Single Table Satellites into $360 Qualifiers

Friday Mar 02, 2012 All Day @ Lumiere Place & River City
12:00pm @ River City - $185 HPT Main Event SUPER Qualifier - 10% advance to Main
3:00pm @ Lumiere Place - $130 Multi-Table Super Satellite into HPT Main Event
7:00pm @ River City - $185 HPT Main Event SUPER Qualifier - 10% advance to Main
8:00pm @ River City - $100 Second Chance Tournament

Saturday Mar 03, 2012 All Day @ Lumiere Place & River City
12:00pm @ River City Event #1 - $230 NLHE Tournament
3:00pm @ Lumiere Place - $130 Multi-Table Super Satellite into HPT Main Event
8:00pm @ River City - $100 Second Chance Tournament

Sunday Mar 04, 2012 All Day @ Lumiere Place & River City
12:00pm @ River City - Event #2 - $150 NLHE Tournament
3:00pm @ Lumiere Place - $130 Multi-Table Super Satellite into HPT Main Event
8:00pm @ River City - $100 Second Chance Tournament

Monday Mar 05, 2012 All Day @ Lumiere Place & River City
12:00pm @ River City - Event #3 - $150 NLHE Tournament
3:00pm @ Lumiere Place - $130 Multi-Table Super Satellite into HPT Main Event
8:00pm @ River City - $100 Second Chance Tournament

Tuesday Mar 06, 2012 All Day @ Lumiere Place & River City
12:00pm @ River City - $185 HPT Main Event SUPER Qualifier 10% advance to Main
3:00pm @ Lumiere Place - $130 Multi-Table Super Satellite into HPT Main Event
7:00pm @ River City - $360 HPT Main Event Qualifier 20% advance to Main Event
8:00pm @ River City - $100 Second Chance Tournament

Wednesday Mar 07, 2012 All Day @ Lumiere Place & River City
12:00pm @ River City - $185 HPT Main Event SUPER Qualifier 10% advance to Main
3:00pm @ Lumiere Place - $130 Multi-Table Super Satellite into HPT Main Event
7:00pm @ River City - $360 HPT Main Event Qualifier 20% advance to Main Event
8:00pm @ River City - $100 Second Chance Tournament

Thursday Mar 08, 2012 All Day @ Lumiere Place & River City
9:00am @ River City - $360 HPT Main Event Qualifier 20% advance to Main Event
3:00pm @ Lumiere Place - $130 Multi-Table Super Satellite into HPT Main Event
4:00pm @ River City - $1,650 HPT Main Event - Day 1/Flight A
8:00pm @ River City $100 Second Chance Tournament

Friday Mar 09, 2012 All Day @ Lumiere Place & River City
9:00am @ River City - $360 HPT Main Event Qualifier 20% advance to Main Event
3:00pm @ Lumiere Place- $130 Multi-Table Super Satellite into HPT Main Event
4:00pm @ River City $1,650 HPT Main Event - Day 1/Flight B
8:00pm @ River City $100 Second Chance Tournament

Saturday Mar 10, 2012 Last tables at 2:00pm @ River City
$360 (two players advance) Single Table Satellites into HPT Main Event
9:00am @ River City- $185 HPT Main Event SUPER Qualifier 10% advance to Main
3:00pm @ River City - $1,650 HPT Main Event - Day 1/Flight C
8:00pm @ River City - $100 Second Chance Tournament

Sunday Mar 11, 2012
10:00am @ River City HPT Main Event - Day 2 resumes
12:00pm @ River City Event #4 - $340 NLHE Tournament

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS HPT TOURNAMENT STRUCTURES

"Heartland Poker Tour To Commemerate 100th Tournament in St. Louis"

"Oops! I Did It Again"

2012-01-08T16:46:00.009-06:00

David Clark and La Sengphet

La Senphet won her third WSOP Circuit Ring in Los Angeles at The Bike, defeating a field of 377 and taking home $25,242 Sengphet is the first woman to win three WSOP Rings. She finished third (for $100K) in the first ever WSOP National Championship --
a tournament she eliminated yours truly in last May. READ MORE HERE
Dave Clark (no relation) is Sengphet's boyfriend and he has two rings himself. Check out Dave's Blog and read about the couple's travels on the World Series of Poker Circuit. You can read more about La's latest win HERE

Michael Rosenbach won his third WSOP Ring in two months READ MORE HERE

Winning the $6500 Guarantee

2012-01-08T04:10:00.023-06:00

Praise The Poker Gods

This morning I beat 369 players in a
$10 rebuy for $1763.20. Not bad for a $31 investment. The field generated a $9280 prizepool and we entered the Final Table fifth place in the chips standings.

When we were eight-handed -- I took the chiplead when dealt Aces. I had 20 big blinds, with a big blind of 10K. A player opened for 27K and was called. I wasn't messing around here and shoved all in into the pot of 80K to be called by AdQd...
won the hand and took the chiplead.

About five hands later, I three bet a late postion raise with ATos on the button. The flop came Ah 5s 6h and my opponent led for 110K. I flatted him to see what he wanted to do on the turn -- a Queen of Diamonds landed on the turn and he shoved. I tanked. Half of my chips were in this pot and finally decided to take my fold equity. I dropped to fourth place in chips with seven remaining. By the time we were four-handed, second place. I eliminate a 9dTd with my AK. Three-handed, I had fallen into last place, but it was anybody's game. I busted the third player with top pair when he was moving with second pair, we held a 3 to 1 chip advantage going into heads-up and felt unbeatable.

But I doubled my opponent up. I flatted out of the small blind with J9. The flop came
5h 9h 7d and my opponent shoved. Snap called -- but he held an up and down straight draw with 8T and got there on the turn. We were tied in chips at this point.

The final hand I flatted out of the blind with KQ looking for action. "Oblige him".
My opponent made a 5X raise and I flatted once again. The flop came QQ5 and my opponent went allin with a pocket nines. A queen landed on the river for Quad Queens and the victory. I have beat Lock Poker for over $3500 in 5 weeks of grinding
$8 tournaments. I am glad to be back in the game and later today I play in the monthly VIP $10,000 Freeroll, going to try to satellite into the Sunday $100K.

Join me at Lock Poker by downloading the software in the right hand column.
Lock dollars for sale or trade (Cash, NetSpend, Intertops, Cake, Bankwire).

CHECK OUT MY LOCK POKER STATS AT ONLINE POKER RANKINGS

David Peat vs. Phil Hellmuth

2012-01-07T01:49:00.003-06:00

Nine-ball. Corner pocket. Priceless...

Alec Torelli vs. David Peat

2012-01-06T00:57:00.037-06:00

Viffer's version of The Sting

This is the story of the Alec "Traheho" Torelli and David "Viffer" Peat fued which has emerged in the forums at a popular poker forum. Viffer has accused Torelli of participating in a scam to cheat an unaware backer of his opponent for $150,000.

David Peat

The story began to come out when Torelli posted this thread at the end of October 2011 claiming Mark "PerkySchmerky" Lerner owes him $85,000 and refuses to pay. Peat responded to the thread. "Alec what are you trying to acomplish by this? are you sure this wont come back to bite you in the ass?" Viffer would go on to claim he knows that Torelli helped steal $150,000 from a businessman who backed Mark Lerner. This was in 2007 on Full Tilt Poker. Torelli used a betting tell for Lerner to chipdump (lose on purpose) to him because the backer was watching the match.

Torelli was unaware it was Peat posting. Peat went on to say "Didnt Perky pay you back when you and him conned a guy into staking him and then he lost on purpose to you? Or did he steal from you after you guys cheated people? Its funny you are on the ethics for the EPL and come here doing this." Alec is on the Ethics Committee for Annie Duke's Epic Poker League and denied the anonymous poster's accusation. Viffer replied, "Would you care to wager on this?"
A cat and mouse game developed with Torelli delicately defending himself, and Viffer insisting on a bet. Finally, Torelli told this version of the story...

"One session, the one in which I'm assuming your referring to, he didn't have enough in his account to play HSP so we agreed to play $50,000 freeze outs. He lost three in a row, totaling $150,000. A few days later, I got a phone call from him saying that he didn't want to transfer me the money, and would have to chip dump it to me."

"As far as collecting a debt, I think it's pretty strong to say that one wouldn't consider doing this to collect 150,000. As for the bet sizing, that seems rather obvious right? How else would we chip dump logically? Would you suggest him raising to 144,999 and folding when I shoved for 150,000? Obviously, to avoid getting getting caught, that seemed like the most logical way."

NOTE: "to avoid getting getting caught" implies caught violating FTP's Terms of Service. Chip dumping is not allowed and could result in your account being seized.
Most observers feel different, as in "to avoid getting caught" by the backer (victim).

Alec Torelli

Torelli claimed no involvement in any scam with Perky
Viffer insisted on betting $25-50,000 his claim was true. He proposed mutual friend Dan Blizerian hold the money and judge the evidence. Torelli agreed to $50K. Blitz verified Viffer posted the money, but Torelli backed out. Alec Torelli appears guilty and disappeared from the thread. It is funny how he has gone from being the victim to being the scam artist, and David Peat wants paid the bet. Viffer made the accusation, solicited the bet and played his hand superbly. Well played Sir, pay up Alec.

Viffer said this to the forum, "you ever heard of walking the dog? i walked this dog (Torelli) right into a trap he set him sef into i have known about this for years. Every question i have asked he cant answer truthfully because he knows what will happen,
all he can do is make simple statments and hide."

Lock Poker Pays Faster

2012-01-04T20:35:00.015-06:00

Alternative Title: Was that so hard?

I received my $745 a few hours ago via Western Union.

I know, I can't believe it either. After posting "Lock Poker Slow To Play" last night complaining about the wait -- I got the loot in less than 24 hours. Imagine that. Funny the things these sites can do when they feel pressured to do the right thing. Appearances are everything in the Online Poker business, and the fact I am paid is but an illusion. It all started with requesting a check withdrawal on November 17. Then I made a Royal Flush December 31 in a $25NL game. Lock Poker has a Royal Flush promotion. Make a Royal in a ring game, mail the hand history to support, and you win 100 times the big blind. This is the back and forth email exchange since that hand:

SCOTTY: " I made a Royal Flush in a $.10/.25 NL game. Hand # 46226216-379 12/31/11 23:28 P.S. Still waiting for a check request from 11/17 goofballs."
LOCK: "We have reviewed the Hand and credited your account with our Royal Flush bonus, BBx100. Your $25 Bonus can be viewed in the Bonuses section of the Player Admin..." Support didn't even dignify the goofballs comment.

I posted the post and sent support an email titled - Requested cashout 11/17

SCOTTY: "I am an affiliate and have a blog that gets 1000+ hits a week worldwide.
I wrote about the situation. Enjoy." (providing a link to the post)

LOCK: "First, our sincerest apologies for the payout delays. I am afraid we rely on our Network Cashier to complete our Check payouts, and they have been experiencing huge delays that are beyond anything normal. We have a separate Cashier in our Casino where we can make an exception and send your payout via Western Union. If you are interested we can get this done for you within 24-48 hours. To request a Western Union payout, please cancel your pending payout and transfer your funds to Casino by clicking the Lock Casino Tab. Once you have transferred your funds email us again so we can submit a request for you."

Now usually I am way against preferential treatment -- unless it is me getting said preferential treatment. That was a joke and my point is this: It isn't fair to all when the squeaky wheels get the oil. And why do I have to complain to get my money?
If you actually got my money this fast and easy when your heart was into it, why not sooner? Why me and not the others? Why would I care, I got paid...

That was a joke. Some have told me I think it is all about me. To those I would say, "If it isn't all about me, as far as I (me) am concern -- Who would it be all about?" Another joke. Because I think I am some sort of a comedian. In fact, my life has been a big joke and poker is really the only thing I have excelled at in my adulthood.

BREAKING NEWS ABOUT LOCK WITHDRAWALS

I posted yesterday's post at 4:20PM. Amazingly, at 5:13 PM Eric "Rizen" Lynch
was posting in this Lock sponsored thread at a popular poker forum.

"You guys know how reluctant I've been to say anything official on the subject until I was positive the dates/timeframes would be relatively accurate. On or before Feb 1st there will be withdrawals both by check (which I know isn't exactly new) and wire (which is). Both will be available in the casino. Checks will be available to VIP players of all levels and have a max limit of $3000 and take 2-3 weeks from what I've been told. Wires will only be available to Black and Black Elite VIPs, have a max limit of $9900 and also take about 2-3 weeks." It is officially official.

Cliffnotes: Requested check 11/17. Expected wait was 4-6 weeks to be approved as quoted from Lock Poker. 47 days later make the post. 67 minutes later Eric Lynch breaks the good news. 24 hours later, got the money Western Union. At the moment:
I am better thank you. Game on at Lock Poker, come join me...

Download Lock Poker by clicking the banner in the right hand column.

Lock Poker Slow To Pay...

2012-01-03T16:20:00.018-06:00

If you read this post about me rolling $15 into over $1000 on Lock Poker, or rolling an $80 total site investment into nearly $2000, you know I have been grinding there. This is my story about my experiences with Lock since Halloween. I played on and off for 3 weeks and cashed out for over $700 on November 17.
I wanted to see if these bastards paid timely, before I invested a lot of time in the site. From reading the poker forums, I learned that cashouts were taking about 35 days to be approved, and another 4 or 5 days to arrive. The maximum cashout allowed is $2500. By Christmas week, my check had still not been approved for payment and I wanted to play over the holidays.
I could have cancelled my cashout request and played -- the hell you say.

I then tried to re-deposit and received this message:

"Unfortunately we are unable to process deposits to your account if you have a pending withdrawal. You are able to cancel your withdrawal if you wish to use those funds to play. To do this go to the overview tab and cancel the pending transaction."

Well fuck me. I wanted to play, but not bad enough to cancel the request. I checked my vault and found $15 in affiliate pay, and rolled it $1177.99 in into 11 days. The past week, I am running bad in tournaments, but I have made a few bucks this week multi-tabling $25NL -- plus I'm getting 35% rake-back. My understanding is this, the Merge Network processes checks for Lock Poker and other Merge skins (sites). Some sites have their own cashier and I suspect Lock Poker is setting one up now.

This thread in a sub-forum at a popular poker forum is sponsored by Lock Poker. Poker room manager Eric Lynch responds to posters on a regular basis.

OCT 20 (on the subject of cashouts) "In regards to cash outs I'm going to talk in detail to the appropriate person this Saturday (or at least I'm scheduled to barring some sort of missed flight or something). I'll ask for more details on the overall situation then, as I was told times would be going down in the near future 2-3 weeks ago, but I haven't really gotten an update since then."

NOV 10 "I'm not BSing, payout issues are CONSTANTLY being worked on and are the highest priority for us right now. I know that is tough to see from the outside looking in because you're not seeing results...I know that if it doesn't improve in 30 days I will get called out here, and that's 100% fair, just like the current criticism is fair."

DEC 19 "Times are almost half what they were before, and they're getting better."
DEC 20 "Times are in the 3-4 week range now for standard checks."

JAN 03 (posted today) "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with some changes we have coming towards the end of the month, that's all I can really say for now."

From what I gather from the thread, Lock Poker has not issued checks since mid-November and I am worried about this situation in this post-Black Friday climate.
I deposited based on Eric's October 20 post and I am very disappointed to date.

JAN 05 EDIT/ADD: This post got me paid in 24 hours. Read "Lock Poker Pays Faster"

Duhamel's Ex-Girlfriend Arrested

2011-12-29T20:21:00.012-06:00

Jomathan Duhamel with Bianca Rojas-Latraverse

FOUR ARRESTED AFTER ROBBERY AT HOME OF POKER PRO DUHAMEL

The Canadian Press 12/29/2011

MONTREAL-- A former girlfriend of Jonathan Duhamel is among four people arrested in connection with the robbery and beating of the world poker champion during a home invasion. Police say two men and one woman were charged Wednesday in the case, while another man was arrested Thursday and faces similar charges. Among those charged was 20-year-old Bianca Rojas-Latraverse...

READ MORE HERE

UB and Pennies On the Dollar?

2011-12-27T19:16:00.003-06:00

PocketFives.com 12/21/12

"Two reliable sources close to Absolute Poker and UB have indicated that players owed money from the two CEREUS Network sites could be repaid 15 to 20 cents on the dollar. This amount would be paid out over time, although the specifics of how and when refunds would be processed are not yet known. You’ll recall that in late October, Absolute Poker and UB’s parent company, Blanca Games, proposed liquidating its assets in order to repay players. However, no further news about the liquidation has been released."

"Earlier this week, Absolute Poker co-founder Brent Beckley pled guilty to conspiracy for his involvement in operating the online poker room. On Black Friday, Beckley and fellow Absolute Poker co-founder Scott Tom were indicted on charges that included violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and operating an illegal gambling business. Beckley likely faces about a year-and-a-half behind bars for his involvement in Absolute Poker..."

READ MORE HERE

$15 to $1000+ On Lock Poker

2011-12-26T23:19:00.010-06:00

Sometime around Halloween I signed up at Lock Poker, depositing $65.
I played about three weeks and cashed out my entire account for $745.31 on November 17th. Here I sit 39 days later and the damn withdrawal has yet to be approved.
I sent support an email on Decemeber 22nd to complain. They wrote back and said I would be placed on the "priority list" to be paid. "Whatever dude, you already killed Christmas".

I tried to deposit so I could play over the holidays. I got a message from the client saying I could not deposit if I had a withdrawal waiting to be approved. What? That's a pretty lousy business tactic on Lock Poker's part. So. I had $15 dollars in my Lock Vault for November's affiliate pay I forgot about -- and so starts this 96 hour poker session. The first day and a half I broke even until late into that night -- cashing in a tournament to avoid going broke completely a second time. The second cash to avoid busting the account -- I beat 78 players in a $3.30 Stud High-Low tournament to win $70. I went to bed the second night with $85 in the account.

I finished third (of 251 players) in the $3 No Limit Rebuy $3000 Guaranteed on Christmas night (night three). The showing was good for $330, and I went to bed last night with around $350 in my account. How could I not play the $3000 again tonight? The good news is I won the $3000 Guaranteed tonight for $657.72 (371 players). My account now sits at $1032.98 on that original $65 deposit plus the $15 in affiliate pay.

Still don't know when that check will arrive...but I am willing to wait now.

Holiday Poker Potpourri II

2011-12-23T22:06:00.007-06:00

READ HOLIDAY POKER POTPOURRI PART ONE NOW

Nevada Gaming Commission Approves Online Poker Regulations
From VegasInc.com 12/22/12

The Nevada Gaming Commission approved the nation’s first regulations for Internet poker play today, opening the door to the licensing of companies to offer online play within the state. Play across state lines still wouldn’t be allowed because of restrictions imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Representatives of the industry applauded the unanimous vote and companies already licensed by the state can apply to expand their current status. Companies that haven’t been licensed in Nevada would undergo the same investigative scrutiny required by state gaming...

READ MORE HERE

Jonathan Duhamel victim of home invasion/attack. 2010 bracelet stolen.

On Wednesday, 2010 Poker World Champion Jonathan Duhamel was the victim of a home invasion (robbery) at his home near Montreal. Duhamel suffered injuries during the assault, was treated at a local hospital and released the same day. Police report Jonathan's 2010 WSOP Main Event bracelet was stolen, his Rolex watch and a substantial amount to 500 Euro bills. The bills are rare and authorities are looking at the currency as a lead in the case. Within Duhamel's official statement, he said
"...two men broke into my house and I was physically assaulted and robbed. After being threatened with death and have given everything I had, I was bound and beaten repeatedly in the face and body before my attackers leave. I am pleased to confirm that I have not suffered any major injuries."

Duhamel is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to arrests.
DUHAMEL REWARD SITE (with pictures of the 2010 WSOP Bracelet and Rolex)

Ultimate Bet/Absolute Poker News

Poker company co-founder pleads guilty in NYC
By LARRY NEUMEISTER

NEW YORK (AP) — The co-founder of an Internet poker company pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy charges, admitting that he knew he was breaking the law when he arranged for U.S. banks to process gambling proceeds. Brent Beckley, 31, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, saying he knew it was illegal to accept credit cards so that customers could gamble on the Internet. "I knew that it was illegal to deceive the banks," Beckley told Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis in a plea deal that calls for him to receive a sentence between a year and a year and a half in prison. Sentencing was set for April 19.

READ MORE HERE

Klodnicki defeats Lichtenberger for Epic League Main Event #3 for $801,680

Chris Klodnicki

Chris Klodnicki defeated Andrew Lichtenberger heads-up for the third title in the Epic Poker League (EPL) series. The fourth EPL Main Event will be held February 9th at the Palms Resort in Las Vegas. Klodnicki joins Mike McDonald and Chino Rheem as EPL Main Event winners. Read more about the Epic Poker League HERE

BLACK FRIDAY NEWS

The Full Tilt Poker acquisition deal is moving forward, but slowly. It has been reported the Bernard Tapie Group (BGT) has agreed to purchase forfeited FTP assets from the U.S. Department of Justice for $80 million. It is also being reported BGT has applied for a Spanish gaming license. Spain's online poker becomes regulated in 2012.

The following was reported at PokerNews.com on December 01.

On Nov. 30, the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York revealed that it granted Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker extensions to respond to the amended complaint filed on Sept. 21, 2011. According to three separate Stipulation and Orders filed on Nov. 29, 2011, each company will "have until Jan. 2, 2012, to answer or otherwise respond to the Amended Complaint." The companies were originally supposed to respond by Nov. 30, but given various claims for subject property by entities associated with sites (i.e. the recent moves by Howard Lederer
and Rafe Furst), additional time was granted.

Holiday Poker Potpourri

2011-12-21T16:01:00.010-06:00

SCOTTYS BLOG is back in business after three weeks of our server being down. Much has happened since I blogged last and this will be a rambling post, touching on a few bases. First up, Full Tilt Poker and Phil Ivey's divorce settlement...

Ivey gets played, Wifey got paid

Terms of the divorce settlement of Phil Ivey and his ex-wife were granted in December of last year. The terms became more public earlier this month. It seems the former Mrs. Ivey is filing a petition to have the case re-heard, citing campaign contributions from Phil Ivey and his lawyers to the residing judge. Here are some of the terms of the divorce divulged in Phil Ivey's attorney's reply.

From the Las Vegas Review-Journal 12/12/11

Luciaetta Ivey received her car, her life insurance policy, 40 percent of a stock account, a down payment for a new residence, half of the proceeds from the sale of the couple's home, and 40 percent of all business interests "with the exception of Tiltware, LLC," the parent company of Phil Ivey's online sponsor, FullTilt Poker. As part of the divorce settlement, according to the answer, Phil Ivey accepted more than $170,000 in credit card debt and more than $15.1 million "in gambling and other debt." The divorce agreement included alimony for Luciaetta Ivey from money Phil Ivey receives from Tiltware. According to the agreement, if Phil Ivey stops receiving funds from Tiltware, Luciaetta Ivey's alimony "will cease."

READ MORE HERE

The Windy City Poker Championship

WCPC Champion Anthony Parille

The annual Windy City Poker Championship completed filming in Chicago this past Sunday, and regrettably, I was unable to attend. Anthony Parille defeated a field of 152 players in the WCPC Main Event and my buddy Dan Chandler made the trek north to play this event. Faraz Jaka took down the televised High Roller event. Dan called me on break, and Jerry Yang jumped on the phone to say hello.

The Gateway Poker Classic

Harrahs St. Louis held this innagural tournament series this month, and the word is the turnout was poor, despite the fact the $1000 Main Event garnered 118 players. The WSOP Circuit events at Harrahs have historically done very well, but this showing has to be a disappointment. I did not play any of the events, and remain too broke to play events until the WSOP Circuit comes to town in April. Rumor is, I did not miss much, the cash games were good and midwest poker players did not travel to these events.

________________________________________________________________________

Tune in later this week as we will be getting caught up on what is going on in the Poker World and my life with a post title Holiday Poker Potpourri II

Santa Pulls The Plug

2011-11-29T15:27:00.003-06:00

SCOTTYS BLOG is going to be down the next few weeks and this is why. There has been a big fight around my house for some time over the Dish Network and our DVR. Dish allows you to DVR only two shows at a time, Cheryl records everything, and I stop shows so I can watch some TV when she's not home -- cue argument.

We are getting an AT&T U-Verse bundle for Christmas and AT&T allows us to tape four shows at once to remedy our dilemma, creating a different dilemma. We have to shut off our internet provider as part of some silly non-compete agreement BEFORE we can order U-Verse. The bottom-line is we will be without an internet connection for the next few weeks. SCOTTYS BLOG will resume at that time...

I am also losing my wisperhome .com email account.
Please message me at My Facebook if you must reach me.

Investing in the NFL

2011-11-26T20:11:00.016-06:00

Every Saturday I post my weekly NFL picks on my Facebook Going in to Sunday's play, I am 89-66-5 on the season for a 57.4 % success rate -- over a 4-3 favorite on any pick. If a bettor bet $100, or bet a repetitive increment on every bet he ever made, he would have to win 52.5 % of the time to break-even. Remember this math.

My history with sports betting began in the early 1980s. As a teenager, I would have Dad place $5 or $10 bets for me at the tavern, and sweat the games on Sunday, while doing homework for school Monday. No shit. All my life I have dabbled with sports betting, but handicapping sports requires much more work than poker and I would rather sit at a poker table and take my chances. My long-term results have been break-even betting the NFL and until a few years ago, I devoted very little time to this pursuit. My father is one of the best NFL handicappers I have ever heard of, let alone known personally. The guy picks over 60% consistently every year, and he is one of the few handicappers I know who can beat the parlays. I know an old parlay bookie that used to brag on father's pick, then share them with other bettors. Bettors then began to lay on my father's picks, the bookie wised up, and when a caller asked who is Mr. Clark on, the bookie began to say "I don't know. He hasn't called yet."

My problem sports betting has always been this: If there are 13 games this week, my picks will go 9-4, but my bets would go 2-2 and I would lose my juice. Most sports bettors preach "Bet games you have an advantage, and load up. Don't bet too many bets" -- but I have come to a different conclusion after all these years. Grind the NFL like you would grind online poker tournaments. More is better, let me illustrate:

Eliminate variance by increasing your chances to overcome it.

There are 256 regular season NFL games each year and 11 playoff games -- let's assume you will make a minimum of 260 plays each season (a benchmark). You must pick the board at the rate of 52.5 % to break even, at equal increment bets. You will realize a "return on investment" (ROI) of over 13 % of your total investment on the season -- if you picked at the rate of 60 %. Picking 55 %, you will realize a 5.88 % ROI. Picking at my rate of 57.4 % this season would represent a 10.73 % ROI.

The idea is to play the game optimally, and take a percentage, much like the bookie does. Understand the long-term venture you pursue, be quick to recognize trends, respect home-field, and do your home-work. This NFL investment could realize over a 10% tax-free return on investment in 20 weeks, my gift to you, if you only believe.

This is the math of investing in the NFL