$24 90 Man SnG Final Table

My Catalyst hand that got me to the final table with about 13 peeps left:

Full Tilt Poker Game #12681665352: $24 + $2 KO Sit & Go (94394100), Table 7 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:04:05 ET - 2009/06/07
Seat 2: yellowhammers (10,384)
Seat 3: TheStudent3 (14,307)
Seat 4: raz0rF1sh (6,305)
Seat 5: OUPhiDelt27 (7,845)
Seat 6: Learn me poker (5,212)
Seat 7: bruskone94 (14,265)
Seat 9: mad21784 (48,712)
yellowhammers antes 75
TheStudent3 antes 75
raz0rF1sh antes 75
OUPhiDelt27 antes 75
Learn me poker antes 75
bruskone94 antes 75
mad21784 antes 75
yellowhammers posts the small blind of 300
TheStudent3 posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheStudent3 [Th 9c]
raz0rF1sh folds
OUPhiDelt27 folds
Learn me poker folds
bruskone94 has 15 seconds left to act
bruskone94 folds
mad21784 folds
yellowhammers raises to 1,800
TheStudent3 calls 1,200
*** FLOP *** [As Ad 6d]
yellowhammers bets 1,800
TheStudent3 raises to 9,525
yellowhammers folds
Uncalled bet of 7,725 returned to TheStudent3
TheStudent3 mucks
TheStudent3 wins the pot (7,725)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7,725 | Rake 0
Board: [As Ad 6d]
Seat 2: yellowhammers (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: TheStudent3 (big blind) collected (7,725), mucked

Went into the Final Table 2nd shortest in Chip and ended up coming up short. Stole some hands w/RR but in the end, I tried to do the same thing and had to fold some hands PF and with these blinds, they really massacre you. I finished in 5th for $144.

Time to watch the Magic/Laker game (or is it with a 15-15 1st quarter?)...

Final Table Crock

Final table at Full Tilt (as you can see, they like to pimp out their Final Table settings sort of like the World Poker Tour), short stacked, I pick up Q-Q and shove all in and then this clown decides to try to give me a gift by calling more than $10K with with K-6o with 3 other people behind him... If I win this pot, I would have had about 28,000TC left with 8 people to go (6th out of 8th but who knows what else would have happened)...

Full Tilt Poker Game #11036079194: $24 + $2 KO Sit & Go (83028904), Table 10 - 1200/2400 Ante 300 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:36:17 ET - 2009/03/08
Seat 1: TheStudent3 (11,099)
Seat 3: BABAR6 (25,964)
Seat 4: CJ Legacy (35,094)
Seat 5: UAINTREAL (28,156)
Seat 6: abulamushi (33,250)
Seat 7: MookieBlaylock1 (49,497)
Seat 8: birdbomber (72,260)
Seat 9: HeikoD75 (14,680)
TheStudent3 antes 300
BABAR6 antes 300
CJ Legacy antes 300
UAINTREAL antes 300
abulamushi antes 300
MookieBlaylock1 antes 300
birdbomber antes 300
HeikoD75 antes 300
UAINTREAL posts the small blind of 1,200
abulamushi posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheStudent3 [Qc Qd]
MookieBlaylock1 folds
UAINTREAL: had AQ...
UAINTREAL: nh
UAINTREAL: lol
CJ Legacy: no didnt
birdbomber has 15 seconds left to act
CJ Legacy: no u didnt, u wouldve called
UAINTREAL: ok J2 then
birdbomber folds
HeikoD75 folds
TheStudent3 raises to 10,799, and is all in
BABAR6 has 15 seconds left to act
BABAR6 calls 10,799
CJ Legacy folds
UAINTREAL folds
abulamushi folds
TheStudent3 shows [Qc Qd]
BABAR6 shows [6s Kh]
*** FLOP *** [Kd 2c Ts]
*** TURN *** [Kd 2c Ts] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [Kd 2c Ts 2h] [7s]
TheStudent3 shows two pair, Queens and Twos
BABAR6 shows two pair, Kings and Twos
BABAR6 wins the pot (27,598) with two pair, Kings and Twos
TheStudent3 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 27,598 | Rake 0

Blazers Surprise Me and the Spurs

Looks like the Blazers remembered what happened in San Antonio earlier this week and took this one personally. Not only did the Blazers beat this Spurs, they embarrassed them. AND with Tim Duncan coming back, this makes it even more shocking and thus makes my head spin and hurt.

The Blazers almost led almost wire to wire. Although I am a big fan of Greg Popovich's coaching, I thought he made a mistake early that probably cost them this game. Normally, Greg Popovich would start Bruce Bowen and have his first-class defense harass Roy. Roy normally struggles against the Spurs and Bowen is the main catalyst for that. Bowen is one of the dirtiest and most hated players in the NBA, or at least, IMO. BUT, Popovich now starts Roger Mason over Bowen. Mason did have a great game, but because he had to check B-Roy, Brandon was on FIYAHH early and never cooled off. Five minutes into the game, the Spurs are already trailing double digits and Popovich calls timeout to bring in Bowen, but the Spurs never recovered and drifted further away.

Aldridge ate up (Fabricio) Oberto Jerky and Matt Bonner. LA's and Roy's point totals combined in the first half was just about equivalent to all of the Spurs scoring!!

I still can't figure this one out. Mind-boggling. But early in the day when the have the Pistons pounding the Celtics in Boston (and on a Sunday, which their record on Sundays have been abysmal), the Suns beating the Lakers, and the Pacers coming back to beat the Nuggets, it shouldn't have been that surprising to me as this truly was Upset Sunday.

Outcoached... Once Again

A depleted San Antonio Spurs team going into a back-to-back missing two of their "Big 3" players of the great Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, the Blazers had their best shot in two decades to escape the Alamo Dome, errr, I mean the AT&T Center with a dubya... And with the Blazers depth, that should have made the task more reasonable to accomplish....



BUT... their is a thing called an "x-factor" that I factor in and that my blog followers is COACHING! In one corner, the Spurs arguably have the best coach in the game today in 4-time champion Greg Popovich. And in the Blazer's corner, you probably have the MOST OVERRATED coach today in Nate McMillan, errr, I mean McMuffin. A man before last season had one great season and that was his CONTRACT season in Seattle where he miraculously and somehow led the Sonics into the 2nd round of the Playoffs.

McMuffin said the game plan was to stop Tony Parker (uh... duh when Duncan and Ginobili are missing), yet he couldn't figure out how. Parker only finished with 39 points on 17 of 27 FGs (63%), 9 dimes, and 5 boards. Parker played last night too, but that didn't stop him from dissecting Nate's incompetent scheme. Nate left Blake and Sergio to guard Parker for most of the game in whom the All-Star blew by them both with relative ease.

Oh, did I mention Blake went an incredible 0-9 tonight and only managed 1 assist, which was worthy of 24 minutes according to Nate...

As the 4th quarter ticked down, Nate ended up in desperation and tried putting Travis Outlaw on Parker. Every Blazer fan watching this game on TV was probably yelling at their TVs to put Batum back in... Unfortunately, we have a coach that is a blithering idiot.

The best options IMO for stopping or at least slowing Parker down were probably Nic Batum and Bayless. I recall the few times that the Frenchman guarded his fellow Frenchman, Nic was effective in slowing Tony down... BUT then there's Nate's motto of "If it works, ignore it" went into effect as Batum would get his commonly (1st quarter) 3rd quarter sub out and not return in the (2nd qtr) 4th quarter. For the 2nd night in a row, Batum was very efficient in 8 points on 3-7 FGs (2-3 from distance) and of course, the intangibles on the defense, yet McMuffin somehow inexplicably thought he was only worthy of 16 minutes, which was the least amount of minutes for any Blazer that did not have a DNP by his name...

J-bay, on the other hand, didn't see a second on the floor...

I still am mind-boggled in what Kevin Pritchard sees in Mr. Sonic...

Free Shavlik!!

Shavlik Randolph has played two straight games and I must say, I've been impressed with him. He even got some "non-garbage" time against a top Western Conference team Houston Rockets (only b/c Aldridge picked up 2 quick fouls and Frye who picked up a quicker 3 fouls).

Against the Clips on Sunday, Shav played 8 minutes in garbage time, but managed to score 9 points on 4-8 FGs (1-1 from distance) and grabbed 7 boards. Pretty efficient don't you think. If he plays 10 minutes, I think he gets a double-double in David Lee like manner.

In his short stint vs. the Rockets, Randolph played a mere 4 minutes. He hit one FT and grabbed 3 rebounds and a floor burn from diving for a loose ball. I love the energy and hustle this guy brings. At times, I wonder why this guy doesn't get minutes over Frye or Outlaw.

I also remember Mike Barrett saying that Shavlik was once a guy who started for a 76er team that made the playoffs. Shavlik is no fluke. If a particular player coming off the bench is struggling, I think Randolph would be a great energy sub-guy off the bench. So McMuffin, if your boy Outlaw stinks it up, deattach from him and give Shav the opportunity dammit!!

Phoenix Fires Terry Porter!!

To borrow a line from Marv Albert, "YESSSSSSSS!! And it Counts"

Terry Porter totally ruined this the Suns. Basically the same roster as the previous year and Porter's change of style disgruntled his players and thus, they gave up on him. Sort of like the Clippers giving up on Mike "Dudleavy" for the past two + years (Only they aren't smart enough to fire their Coach/GM).

If you don't know by now, go through my achieves to see the story of Porter and my father. This will probably put a dagger in Porter's hope to ever become a head coach again as he couldn't manage a team with 3 All-Stars. I mean seriously, how can somebody coach a team and have Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire UNDERPERFORMand QUIT on you?? One word comes to mind now Porter... KARMA!!

Rudy Fernandez Gets the Cold Shoulder from Dunk Judges

Our man Rudy Fernandez totally got the shaft by those Phoenix Suns alum where I have a conspiracy theory that their owner Sarver told them to "readjust" his scores. Remember, Sarver is the guy that made a HUGE mistake (one of many as you see their team self-destructing as I type this) of selling Rudy to the Blazers for a mere $3 million...

There are also conspiracies of the contest being rigged for a "Krypto"Nate Robinson and a "Superman" Dwight Howard final like in the movie... but only this time, the Kryptonite... I mean KryptoNate would come up on top.

Seriously, Dwight Howard's first two dunks should NOT have gotten him 50's and Nate Robinson's dunk off Wilson Chandler's back was unspectacular that should have gotten him 6's or 7's...

Say whatever conspiracy you want, but let me say this... Tom Chambers, Dan Ma-jer-le (still don't know why it's pronounced "Marley"), Kevin Johnson, Cedric Ceballos (and your see-through blindfold, and Larry Nance... You guys can kiss my ass for that piss-poor shitty judging of yours!!

DUUUUUURAAANNNTT!!

Remember when Kevin Pritchard said Kevin Durant is going to be an assassin? Well, not only is Durant sniping teams for 25+ point a game along with 7 rebounds. While Greg Oden, the person drafted in front of him, is racking up the injuries, KD is racking up the points and with the assistance of All-Star Weekend showcasing Durant in not only the Rookie/Sophomore game, but also the H.O.R.S.E. competition tonight (Since his team is atrociously bad, they don't get any National TV exposure, BUT they are young and showing signs of the Blazers from a few years ago). Oh, did I mention, he was the MVP of the Rook/Soph game with a record 46 points on 17 of 25 FGs (4-8 from distance) and grabbed 7 boards and 4 dimes...

Greg Oden, on the other hand, sat out the game because of yet another injury...

Remember, before the 2007 draft, I was one of the few that said we should take Durant

And keep this in mind for those of you that think Greg Oden was still the right choice for Portland... I've been saying it since the beginning of 2009, "In 5 years, Kevin Durant will be the 2nd best player in the league behind LeBron James... With Greg Oden's injury and slow progress thus far, where do you think he'll be ranked at?"

Knicks Deserved Win vs. Blazers but Choke

After falling behind by as many as 17 during midway through the 3rd quarter, the New York Knicks made a dramatic comeback that made it look effortlessly thanks to the piss-poor coaching of Nate McMuffin's zone defense by the Knicks's from long distance by Chris Duhon, Nate Robinson, and yes, Tim Thomas. Thomas was luckily guarded by Travis Outlaw who alone gave up at least 3 three pointers to Thomas and had at least 2 more open looks that wouldn't fall. New York was able to turn the 17 point deficit into a lead in the 3rd but would settle for a tie going into the 4th.

Momentum had turned and the Knicks would build a 13 point lead in the 4th thanks to once again Nate's continuation of the zone defense on the shooters mentioned above. Luckily for McMuffin', the Knicks started to miss WIDE OPEN shots, which left the door open for the Blazers and somehow, managed to pull off the buzzer beater eek out the win.

The Knicks definitely deserve this game as they once had a 30 point turn around as D'Antoni outcoached Nate, but I guess I'll take this (undeserving) win that'll keep us in 5th place.

Adam Carolla in Action

Of course, on occasions I like to do my own version of "This Week in Rage" inspired by Adam Carolla so I thought I'd post a video of the man himself at what he does best in his, This Week in Rage from January 30, 2009. My personal favorite rant from last week about Steve Miller's song "Abracadabra"

B-Roy Gives Cheikh Samb a Facial

Smile Cheikh Samb... You've been posterized by Brandon Roy!!

UNREAL Comeback vs. Detroit

I have to admit, the Blazers deserved to lose the game tonight vs. Detroit. And it was all because of Nate McMuffin'. McMuffin' did everything possible in the 4th to TRY to lose that game. I'm not joking...

A VERY stellar Jerryd Bayless tonight and to not see him in the final 8 minutes or so in the game was unexplainable. Did Nate not see the FIRE and PASSION J-Bay displayed out there? Did Nate not see us turn a 14 point deficit into a lead with J-Bay or is he blind or that moronic?

The fact that McMuffin' tried to sub in an uninspiring Greg Oden during the final minutes of the game with a 2 point lead that eventually turned into a 3 point deficit before resubbing Joel Przybilla back in (probably because somebody in the front row yelled that to him because Nate doesn't normally like to resub Joel for some idiotic reason)...

AND, let's just ignore Travis Outlaw's game winning bucket... If Travis wasn't playing in the 4th quarter at all, the Blazers run away with this one. Just look at the dozen (or more) points he surrendered to Tayshaun Prince and the numerous rebounds he failed to box-out or got out-hustled on... McMuffin', didn't Nicolas Batum's performance vs. Lakers earn him those 4th quarter minutes you gave to Outlaw?? Not to mention Batum is probably the best forward poistion defender on the team that would have a great chance at stopping Prince...

BUT because the Blazers won, the media will praise McMuffin' on the comeback win when all he did was make the game more exciting to (ignorant) fans along with giving me an ulcer and gray hairs, and this will also cover up Outlaw's horrific flaws on anything but his act of taking insanely difficult shots...