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Felting Hendo: Season 4 – Game 1

July 11, 2009 // Posted in Poker  |  1 Comment

What an Excellent Night!

It was great to see everyone together again.  All but two players were able to make it, so we had 16 total.  I stalled the start of the game for a few minutes to try and let everyone have enough time to get some food in and some socializing before we got down to the game.  This proved to be especially helpful since Carrie and Ted brought their 9 month old nephew to the game.  Most everyone wanted to see and make funny little goo-goo sounds to him.  LOL

Back to the food!  Sherry made a really great queso dip, full of beef and not too much heat (spice-wise), and she had some fresh fruit out as well.  Gotta love fresh watermelon and pineapple on a warm summer evening!  She also had a caramel/apple/peanut butter thingy that was freakin AWESOME!  I had some of the queso dip and chips before everyone got there to make sure that I ate something.  I knew I’d be drinking and if I would have waited for later, I probably would missed out.  I also took a small piece of the Apple-Caramel thingy…you know…to make sure that it was safe for everyone.  ;)   All I can say is…it’s a good thing that I did sneak some food because later on in the evening, when I wanted to get something to eat…it was all gone.  Well there was 3 little pieces left of the Apple-Caramel thingy, so I scarfed those  down really quick.  LOL.

As for the poker game, it’s no big surprise, Sherry did outlast me once again.  I don’t know.  I started out pretty good.  Took a couple of decent pots early on, but again, I can’t seem to make the tough lay downs.  I think it’s time for me to get back to the basics again.  I haven’t won a game since March.  It’s kind of pissing me off.  So, back to the basics I go.  Maybe I should actually start paying attention to the people playing instead of trying to be social.  The problem is, in this series I’m good friends with everyone, so being social here is not due to me being the host, but it’s because I just love all them.  And if I stop being social, they may think that I’m mad at them, or not wanting to be there, and that’s just not the case.  Oh well…I guess I’ll just have to find a way to pay attention to everyone’s play AND be social.  I’m certain it can be done, but can I do it???  This project is on!

I had a great time, and I hope all my guest did as well.  Two weeks till game 2…I need to practice.

Hendo

POKER: NPT Off-Shoot Season 4 Begins!

July 10, 2009 // Posted in Poker  |  No Comments

Todays Boobs & Beer Friday marks the beginning of Season 4 of the NPT Off-Shoot Poker tourament series, presented by…Felting Hendo.

The NPT Off-Shoot poker tournaments are an eight game series, with four different gaming formats.  Each game in the series, players acrue points and play for the nightly pot, as well as put money in for an end of season Championship game.  Due to the different gaming formats throughout the season, a players stategy will change from game to game.  This allows for a highly competitive atmosphere.

Perhaps what pleases me the most about this tournament series, is that there is a relatively small membership turnaround.  First off, everyone is friends.  We’ve all met each other playing in a local bar league.  But I think the way the games are structured, and the quality of play from the participants, really make this a strong, respected tournament.  So much so, that when word got out, a waiting list had to be created because a number of people wanted to join in.

A waiting list?  I don’t know about you, but I think it is pretty impressive, and I’m no less than flattered that people want to join.   If I can work the space, I’d gladly increase the size of the game to fit everyone in.  As it stands right now, as a rule, the only way a new player can be brought in, is if a current member has to bow out.

The Point System:

At each game, a player earns a point by simply playing in the game and for each knock-out that they get.  And then, there is a formula that gives points based on where you place in the game.  Obviously, the higher you place, the higher the points.  Then combine your knock-out points and you get an overall score for the game.  The beauty of this formula comes into play when one person dominated the game by felting several opponents.  Those Knock-out points can actually improve your game standing to where even if you went out in say 5th place, but you’ve knocked out quit a few opponents, your overall points for that game may be higher than say the 4th place finisher, or even the 3rd place finisher.  So you may not have finished in the money, but you’ve gained more points.

Points are very important in this series, as after the eight games are completed, the top 6 in points move on to play in the Championship Tournament.  The prize pool for this game is made up from the table rake of each player at each game.  So it can get to be a pretty nice payout.  But even though the top 6 point getters move on, one satellite game is also played by those that placed 7th to 18th.  The top two of that game moves on to make an 8 player Championship game.

It's a great time:

I’m really proud of this league.  We have wonderful friends, and we have a great time together.  I know the players enjoy it, and I think I enjoy it even more when I see that they are having a good time.  I’m really excited about tonight!  And I really hope to take everyone’s money and listen to them cuss me out as they’re walking out the door.  You know…because they’re my friends and I love them.  ;-)

SHUFFLE UP AND DEAL!

hendo

Felting Hendo – Season 4 is close

June 5, 2009 // Posted in Poker  |  No Comments

Felting Hendo is proud to announce that Season 4 of the NPT Off-Shoot series is right around the corner.  But before that, we will be holding the second Heads-up Championship match on June 20th in Versailles!

This event only holds 16 players and is a double elimination.  Buy-in is $20 per person.  Same Structure as before, however the format will be slightly different.

All those that are interested in playing need to email me asap!

The NPT Off-Shoot Season 4 series will begin on July 10th at 7pm.  The schedule is temporarily as follows:

Game 1: July 10 @ the Hendo Casino  – $15 Buy-in Half Bounty game

Game 2:  July 24 @ the Daniels Place – $15 Buy-in Regular NLH

Game 3:  August 7 @ the Howards Place – $17 Buy-in Knock-out pool

Game 4:  August 21 @ the Thompsons Place – $15 Buy-in Bounty Only game

Game 5:  September 4 @ the Hendo Casino – $15 Buy-in Half Bounty game

Game 6:  September 18 @ the Daniels Place – $15 Buy-in Regular NLH

Game 7:  October 2 @ the Howards Place – $17 Buy-in Knock-out pool

Game 8:  October 16 @ the Thompsons Place – $15 Buy-in Bounty Only game

Satellite Game:  October 23 @ the Hendo Casino – $10 Buy-in (40% to winner; Top 2 move to Championship game)

Championship Game is October 24th @ the Hendo Casino IN Halloween Costumes!  Players and Spectators alike will not be admitted unless in Costume.

Rules Reminder:

As before, you need to PLAY in at least 6 games to qualify for the Satellite game and the Championship game.

The dealer is in charge of the hand! (pot splitting; mediation; etc.)

If you’re called, you must show both cards first

You must be at the table when it is your deal

You must announce your raise BEFORE putting the chips in the pot

No String betting

No splashing the pot

Eh…You know the rest

Hendo

Poker: Never the same game

May 12, 2009 // Posted in Poker (Tags: ) |  No Comments

Poker is more than a game, it’s an American past time! It’s been adopted across the globe as a game of skill; a game of personalities; a game of strategy. But the real beauty of poker, is that every hand played is really a different game in and of itself. Let’s talk about percentages here.

Since I play No-Limit Holdem poker, I’ll use this as an example. If you were to sit around a table with your friends, and a round of cards were dealt, you would be sitting there with two cards (Hole cards). A round of betting goes by, and then 3 community cards are exposed (the Flop); then a round of betting; one other card is exposed (the Turn card); then a round of betting; one last card is exposed (the river card), and one final round of betting. Once the hand is over, another hand begins and the cycle starts all over again.

When you sit there with two cards at the beginning of the hand, you’re seeing less than 4% (3.8%) of the available cards. Say your at an 8 person table. You are seeing 4% of the total cards, and you know that 28% (27.9%) of the total cards are unavailable, due to being in the hands of your opponent.

If you make it past the first round of betting, you continue with the hand and see the Flop…there’s another 3 cards that everyone sees, representing about 5.8% of total cards. So now you know almost 10% of the cards in play, with another 28% of the cards in play that you don’t know, leaving about 62% of the cards still can be played.

If you make it past the next round of betting, you continue on to the Turn card where one other card is exposed for everyone adding another almost 2% (1.9%) of the total cards in play. Now, approximately 40% of the total amount of cards are in play, and you only know about 11.5% of that AND 60% of the cards are still available for you to make your hand, or make your hand better!

Say you make it to the River card, and you see the last exposed card. Now, about 42% of the cards are in play, and you only know about 15% of the cards, which in reality, you know appx. 36% of the cards in play.

So lets recap what we know at this point:
(again, this is all based upon an 8 person game)
-= 52 cards in a deck =-
You’re dealt two “Hole” cards:
- 3.8% of the total cards

Your seven opponents:
- 27.9% of the total cards

You see the Flop (3 community cards):
- 5.8% of the total cards

You see the Turn card:
- 1.9% of the total cards

You see the River card:
- 1.9% of the total cards

So if you see all five community cards PLUS your Hole cards, you now know approximately 13.4% of the total amount of cards.

Because you have seven opponents, you know that 27.9% of the total cards are in play and unknown.

This leaves 58.7% of the available cards completely unused.

So you’ve made it to the River card, and you’re still in the game. You know you have only seen 13.4% of the total deck of cards, and you’re playing against the other unknown 86.6% of the cards in the deck. The odds are against you by over 6.5 to 1!

Without ever discussing hand texture, and only discussing basic percentages, we now know that we have about a 1 in 7 shot to win the hand. Those are bad odds!

Whether you win the hand or not, the next hand starts everything all over again. Essentially, that new hand…is a brand new game. Now that’s pressure!

These are just raw percentages, and we’re not taking into consideration starting hand qualities; betting; and opponent patterns. All of which have to be figured in the equation when playing cards, but I find it fascinating to know that no matter what…if you’re in a hand before the cards are even dealt, you’re a 6.5:1 dog just sitting there.

Don’t just sit there Underdog! shuffle up and deal! ;)