An attempt to settle out of court

quote: ORIGINAL: Noelle
I will say nothing more about it except that I feel absolutely terrible that Jimbo's been put in the middle of some drama he has nothing to do with.

This would be a non-issue if Noelle and I hadn't "gotten a divorce." We'd still be running the Weds Night game together, and DJ Jimbo would've been paid off.

The BBJ was actually very rarely mentioned on this site. I'll dig up the old posts for you, if you want. True, the game was always advertised here and I think it would never have lasted as long as it did if not for Brian and Justin opening MD-Poker to all of us.

I'll admit, I handled this situation poorly. The money should have been set aside and kept available for immediate payout. Noelle is just as guilty of this as I am, but as she correctly stated, she has paid more than her half.

From the moment the BBJ crested the $1K mark, we always said that the balances would be paid out in "store credit." No one is crying theif to the people that have been running games with $4 and $5 / hand rakes for the past couple years and not giving any of it back to the players. From game #1 to the last one, we always took a $3 capped rake, with an extra $1 taken out of $100 pots.

It's not like Jimbo hit the Jackpot for $1200 and got $0 of it. The total pool was $5500, all but the last $1200 has been credited to the players. No single player, to my knowledge, received a direct cash payment, they all played on credit to settle their balances. The fact of the matter is that as fate would have it, the BBJ hit too late in the life the game, soon before it ended. It could be joked that the game ended because the BBJ hit, but I think you and I both know that is not true.

If you held a gift certificate for a legitimate business and said business went belly-up, would you insist upon your claim to the cash value? Running a poker game out of a basement is far from a legit business, I understand that. Once Noelle and I had severely conflicting opinions, there was no way she was going to allow me to run that game out of her basement.

I spent six weeks or so away from Maryland and just in the past two weeks, I'm back now. Jimbo, I'm really sorry you got put in this spot and the best way I can hope to work it out with you is to extend your credit away from the now dead Weds Night game to any game in MD you find me dealing. If you make arrangements with me, I may even be able to get you some credit for a game I'm playing as well.

It's not a perfect solution, but it's not a perfect world, either. The worst thing that can happen is that every time I extend you credit, you win, and the balance doesn't go down. This just means that you'd be beating the crap out of the games and aren't in immediate need of the $933 you rightfully feel is owed to you.

quote: ORIGINAL: djjimbo
I know that Travis is well respected on this site and he has many freinds, but saying your going to pay a jackpot that u advertise on md-poker and not to pay it out isn't right and it hurts the integrety of this site that many people enjoy.

Again, MD-Poker.com and its affiliates should never have been brought into this. I do like to think that, yes, I am a well-respected member and I regret that my own personal integrity has been jeopardized by the situation at hand.

DJJimbo, I hope this resolution suits you. I am sorry it had to get this ugly and I look forward to playing with you and dealing for you in the future.

This post was originally a response to a thread on MD-Poker.

The End of an Era

It sure was fun while it lasted.

A long, long time ago, in the basement of a house not very far away in Takoma Park, MD, my former girlfriend and I started up a $1/$2 NL game. Out of the seven nights in the week we chose Wednesday not as a random decision but in a way to smite the overlords of MD-Poker.

Brian and Justin, two entrepreneurial geeks in their mid twenties started up the website to give the poker players in Maryland a place to meet on the interweb and discuss strategy and whatnot. Between our Wednesday Night game and Pops' every-other-Saturday games and E's Friday night games.... we whored the shit out of that site. I truly believe the underground poker scene in the Maryland outskirts of Washington, DC would not thrive anywhere near as much as it does now if not for this website.

But, after all B&J did for poker, they didn't know thing one about running a game of their own. I can't remember exactly why without digging up some old e-mails, but Brian pissed me off about something stupid and he used to run a game on Wednesday nights. I said, "Ooh! Let's start up a $1/$2 NL game on the same night as his game just to spite him!"

This was springtime in 2005, I believe. Wasn't it? Let's see... I joined the Air Force the Monday after Thanxgiving in 2001. After Basic Training in Texas and Technical School on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, I found myself in Oklahoma City in May of 2002. After three Summers in Oklahoma, I got an Air Force job at the Pentagon and showed up here.

So yeah, Spring 2005. Wow, has the game moved around. We started in a basement in Takoma Park where you could barely move around and had to duck to keep from hitting your head on the way up the steps.

Back in the beginning there was a house rule that the game had to break at 0230 at the latest.

Oops. Had a hard time keeping that rule alive.

Next thing you know, we're not allowed to run in the basement any more because my current girlfriend was the house owner's ex-girlfriend, and his current didn't care for his ex living at the house. I didn't care for it much myself, either, but that's another story.

So - we moved the game to a new location, the Club House. Kendrick was the maintenance man and let us use it for a small fee one night a week. All of the sudden, wow, did the game ever start going long. But at this time, I was still in the Air Force and had to leave to be at work by 7am or so.

Next thing I know, winter time is coming around, and we won't be able to use the club house much longer. So we moved the game to a random college kid's place in College Park.

All of the sudden, everyone's favorite donkaholic had an opening in his apartment in Kensington. Wasn't long before we moved in there, and so did the game. And the best part - Trav's out of the Air Force and the game can go forever now, atleast as long as he can stay awake to deal.

That year went quick, and next thing I knew we were moving into a house up the street in MoCo. Bar in the basement, plenty of room, smoke upstairs, very secure. Great setup. We even had pictures of Donkeys on the walls.

But, as we grow older we realize that nothing lasts forever. Everyone grows older, but we don't all grow up. Noelle and I became two people that wanted two very different lifestyles. I would never suggest that one life path is wiser or more appropriate than the other, they are a bit of polar opposites, however.

So, the relationship ended. Sadly, we were unable to come to an agreement where the game could go on while the relationship would not. I left the game in Nelly's hands, and it just recently died.

Who knows, maybe we can re-ignite the Wednesday Night spark in the not-so-distant future. I don't have any immediate plans to do so, but if that should happen, I'll let you all know.

And I would walk 500 more

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single footstep.
   -- Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu
Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)

Forget 1,000 miles. Let's just picture one mile. Grab a hundred dollar bill, and over the course of a mile, pick up $1 for every foot of that mile. By the end of the mile, you'd have picked up $5,380.

See where I'm going with this?

The bad bead jackpot is now up to $5,380. And it's still growing. Especially with Kenny in the game. Kenny's a big fan of taking 98% of his hands to the flop, a good 73% to the turn, 50% of those to the river, and if you get that far, he's gonna make you WORK for a showdown.

It sure is fun, though.

Gonna do a Three Green Chip free-roll next week starting at 1855. Try to get cards in the air for the regular game at 1920 as usual. Lock up a seat early, they go fast.

Click on http://groups.google.com/group/wedsnights/web/trav-and-nellys-weds-night-1-2-nl-13-jun-07
for an always-up-to-date lock list.

Is this thing on?

Sorry for the lack of updates. Been busy. With what, you ask...

wedsnights@googlegroups.com, you are invited to

NLHE w/ Rebuys

Sat Jun 30 3:30pm - 11:59pm
(Eastern Time)
Donkey Corral (map)
Calendar:

View the www.MD-Poker.com thread here: http://www.md-poker.com/tm.asp?m=45370&mpage=1&key=&#45370

Fan of NLHE but hate that vicious after taste of shipping $500 on a flush draw? Do it with tournament chips!

We're doing a $30 rebuy tourney at the house the end of June. Details at http://tinyurl.com/33z622

Looking to get about four tables w/ cash games to follow. Unlimited rebuys for the first four levels w/ the option to add-on or take a double add-on.

Worst case scenario pay $30 to get in, fold every hand until the end of the fourth level, ship it dark. Get felted. Get felted? Double-re-buy during the break and double-add-on for $120, and you've paid $150 for T$7,000 tournament chips and a shot at what I expect to be a $7,000 Prize pool. Coming out of the rebuy/add-on break you're looking at 75/150 blinds and an ante creeping up in the seventh level of play.

Alot of people complain that the rebuy tournaments involve too much luck but they forget that after that break, you can't rebuy anymore. I think it'll be one hell of a good time with a TON of chips in play not forcing all-in-or-fold situations.

Up until the day before the tournament, if you give me a non-refundable $30, It'll secure you a seat in the tournament AND you'll get an extra T$500 to start. Seth told me "You can't do that." I thought about it for a second and I said, "It's my tournament, I can do whatever I want...!"

Here's hoping it's a nice day. I plan to start around 1530 (That's 3:30PM) and fire up the grill long before the first hand is dealt.

I've got one tourney dealer locked up to start, if you're a dealer and you somehow can't bring yourself to play in this donkfest, send me a PM and we'll see if I can use your services.


More event details »

Will you attend?

Yes | No | Maybe

Breakfast?

The past two Wednesday Night games have been far from short lived. Neither broke before 9AM.

If you catch the itch to throw some chips around, don't hesitate to give us a call. Stop by before work!

I don't mention much on here now that I've got the http://groups.google.com/group/wedsnights Google Group set up. If you're not signed up for that, I highly recommend it.

Thank you all for keeping the game alive, it sure has been a wild ride!

Scooter Wins!

A little after midnight on this past Wednesday, I had a full table, a waitlist, and I had eight seats locked for the following game to be held just shy of a week later. One of those players is on the fence, and I had another added, so now I've got one seat officially open and one possibly open. The lock list for next week is available to all those which are members of the Google Group (http://groups.google.com/group/wedsnights/). If you're looking to play and you're not a member, sign-up! Easiest way to get in contact with me is usually on AIM (Edna Jones)... but if I'm somehow not available, drop me an e-mail (onafolddraw@gmail.com).

The game last night had a few interesting hands, one of which caused E-Honda to reconsider his lock for next week. Scooter had raised in EP pre-flop, E called a few seats behind, and Eric called from the blinds. Might've been another hitch-hiker caught in the middle, not sure. Flop came out and Eric checked, Scoot bet $16, got a caller from the hitchhiker, and E threw out two green chips to raise it up to nifty. Eric check/shipped his stack for $68 total, and Scooter called the $50 more to him. Hitchhiker folded, and E said "All-in." I told him he couldn't, because Eric had not made a full raise. E's raise was $34 over the $16, and Eric's was $18 on top of that. Only way it might've worked is if E had made it $25 over the $16 for a total of $41... and then Eric had re-raised for an add'l $25. Well, lo-and-behold, E starts talking shit to Scooter, telling him that E intends to "mush" the turn no matter what. Turn comes off and the board is now .

Scooter looks at the board, looks at E, seems confused, and E says, "Go ahead and bet some stupid shit so I can raise it all-in." Scooter declines, and in a very Don Mackert-esque manor, waves his hands forward and says "All-in."

I think I'da fell out the box if he said "Mush." Of course, he two-outed E's fropped set of fours with an over-set of Kings. E insta-calls and is sick when Scoot turns up the Kings. Ah well. So now Scoot's sitting around $1K in front, and feeling pretty good. That mother fucker better stop saying I always do him dirty while I'm in the box and Nelly treats him better.

Hours later, what is pretty much decided to be one of the last hands of the night, Tiny (Hand Selection) Tim and Scooter get wrapped up in a big pot. Flop comes out . Checks to Ali, he bets $12, Scoot raises to $25, and when it comes back to Timmy in the blinds, he c/r's for $55 more. Ali bounces, and Scoot calls. pot is now well-over $185, and when the turn comes off a non-spade, Timmy leads out $100. Problem is, it was a board-pairing non-spade. A niner. Scoot ponders, says "Two." and slides two $100 stacks of red chips into the pot. Before I can size up the bets, Timmy says "All-in." Horry Shrit Brat Man. The raise was about $400 more. Pot-sized, li'l less. Scooter hems and haws and finally says "Only one hand beats me... I can't believe I'm folding this." He then tells us he's folding 96 boat.

I could barely resist taking dealer privelege to check it out, but I let it go. I believe the Scootster. Timmy says something along the lines of, "Holy shit, you folded a boat, I thought you were making a move with flush draw. Scooter's hand is firmly in the muck, and Timmy shows 87o, for a fropped straight. Fun times. Nice of Scoot to let Timmy keep that $1000.

Along with those pots, we had just shy of seventy pots over $100 to bring the Bad Beat Jackpot up to $4,321. Just be dealt in at a ten-handed game and you're looking at a $135 just for being dealt in. ... Not to mention the $2,160 you'd get for losing the hand! See ya next week, cards in the air at 1920!

Hachoo! Get these chips away from me!

The last Wednesday Night game for the month of March was indeed action packed. JacJr was apparently allergic to his chips, and Besmen felt bad for flopping a Steel Wheel against the guy who turned a not-so-nut flush during his previous appearance at the Corral... the two of them gave everyone else plenty of chips to play with for the rest of the night.

Combined with the action from the previous week, the Bad Beat Jackpot is now up to $4,258. This game is sick. Lost a pot with Aces Full of Jacks at showdown when you and your opponent use both hole cards and best hand gets 25% of the Jackpot. Runner-up gets 50%, and anyone else dealt into the hand splits the remaining 25%. You could be splitting up over $1050 just for being here!

In case you didn't hear, I've renamed Ali "The One-out Knock-Out King." Two Wednesdays ago, Pops, Ali, and Stirfry took a flop of . Long story short, the pot was well over $550 when the three of them got it all in on the flop and Jeff said "Just suck-out on me on the turn, don't wait until the river, please" and Jeff turned up top set. Turn brought a board-pairing tre, and Jeff was feeling good about top boat. Pops tossed his (now dead) hand in the muck. But why has Ali not mucked? River comes off a $4,100 non case Queen and Ali says, "Sorry, buddy." Ali then shows Jeff two small pair, black threes and red threes.

The BBJ dodged a one-outer that night. That's the closest I've seen face-up in a while.

Since then, Ali's been a ninja master at catching the right card at the right time.

If you're looking to play next Wednesday, you'd best get your balls in there quick. Subscribe to the new mailing list at http://groups.google.com/group/wedsnights for an updated list of locked seats and the chance to lock it up as soon as possible for yourself.

Cards in the air at 1920 this coming Wednesday Night, 4 April 2007. Come get your balls in there!