Poker Mountain and some Random Thoughts

As some of you may have already noticed from visiting my site www.fullcontactpoker.com there is no longer a pokermountain.com banner on the site. I think I owe it to all of you to explain exactly what is going on with Poker Mountain as well as my clarifying my affiliation with them. Let me start by saying that from day one the people at Poker Mountain have been nothing but honest with me. Most of the people involved with the site were friends before I got involved and will remain friends for life. Before I go any further I should give you all some background as to what happened with the site. The plan for Poker Mountain was, and still is, to offer players the most friendly promotions, including free rolls, deposit bonuses, etc. One of the things that excited me most about Poker Mountain was the fact that they were extremely well funded and could afford to give back to the players as well as offer a top notch product. Well, sometimes things don’t always work out exactly as planned. The site had some issues with the software that couldn’t be fixed overnight. As much as they tried to band-aid the existing software, new problems would arise. That threw a major wrench into the overall marketing plan. The multi-table tournaments had a few unfortunate crashes and with complex problems like these there was simply no easy fix. It just wouldn’t have been appropriate to do a major marketing push until the software was working perfectly. Ultimately, the decision was made to revamp the software and launch a new and improved version. Of course, a process like that takes time. They are hoping to be ready to launch the new software within the month as far as I know. When they do, I’m confident that it will be among the best online and the promotions offered there will be very player friendly. I have no reason to doubt that. As for my affiliation with the site, that relationship won’t be part of the re-launch. The online poker landscape has changed so much over the last couple years and I’m exploring other possibilities for myself. We are leaving things on good terms, with absolutely no bad blood between us. I wish Poker Mountain the best and as I said, I’m very confident that the site will be a huge success despite the problems they’ve faced due to the software issue. I feel very comfortable in saying that Poker Mountain will give you a lot of bang for your buck and you should definitely check out the new software when it’s ready. ***************************************************************
Now that I got that out of the way, did you guys see the basketball game tonight? Wow, what a finish! I had visions of Chris Weber calling a timeout when Rasheed Wallace foolishly called for time when they didn’t have any left! Luckily for Rasheed, time had expired just before he did that or it could have gone down as the biggest and most crucial blunder in sports history. As for Robert Horry, this guy is a machine! Never in history has there been a more clutch performer than Horry in the NBA finals. 4th quarter + NBA Finals + Robert Horry + 3 point attempt = SWISH! Man, that has to be the rush of a lifetime, but to do it time and time again is just remarkable. *************************************************************** E-DOG finally made a final table, although I know he had to be disappointed to finish 9th. As for Josh, he’s already in the books with his second bracelet which led him to make a small donation to the Daniel Negreanu charity fund. He bet me $500 at even money that he will win another bracelet this year. Good luck donkey! LOL. The one drawback to making that bet for me, though, is that if he is lucky enough to win another one I’ll never hear the end of it! *************************************************************** Good news on the doggy front, Princess seems to be feeling better according to my mother. Still though, I’m weary of leaving Mushu with her so he is lying next to me on the couch right now. I was so relieved to hear the news. My mother hasn’t slept in two days, worried sick about the poor thing. The first time my mother took Princess for a walk she was totally confused. I don’t think she’d ever seen grass before. When Princess approached the grass she laid down on it thinking that she could surf on it or something. She wouldn’t walk next to my mother, instead she’d get all tangled up by walking through my mother’s legs! In a few more days we’ll take her back to the vet and hopefully hear some good news. *************************************************************** As for poker, the WSOP has obviously been a big disappointment foe me thus far. I got close in the limit hold’em again yesterday, but couldn’t hit a rush at the right time and missed the money again. In the Stud 8 tournament today I didn’t win any key pots when I needed to. I hit lots of hands heads up against Barry, but had no luck left for the Stud 8 tourney. *************************************************************** Relaxing… that was my focus today. Tomorrow is an important tournament for me I think. It’s a $5000 buy in which has more play to it and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m hoping that I wake up with a fresh and clear mind ready to give it my all. That’s not all that’s happening tomorrow, though, as Lori is coming to town for a week. I’m hoping that I can’t pick her up at the airport if you know what I mean, but I’m really looking forward to seeing her. It’s funny, when we first starting dating it was right around the WSOP 2003. She’d flew in to town to nanny for a couple playing in the tournament. The day she flew in I was in really rough shape. I got little to no sleep the night before, and had a long night of partying with the boys. I must have looked like a train wreck. Actually, I know I did because she mentioned that! Somehow, when she got to town that evening I was still in the S.H.O.E event with two tables to go. I was practically sleeping at the table in between hands. I ended up making the final table somehow and could finally get some rest. The very next day, I went on to win my second bracelet. Will history repeat itself? I hope so. Of course, this year I’ll actually be fresh and focused… hopefully that’s a good thing!]]>