Ugarte's Grovel http://www.rickblaine.com/index/weblog/ugarte/ "Of course there is gambling at Rick’s. The regulars all play poker with one another, albeit poorly and for not much money." With a nod to Stephen Elliott, so begins Ugarte’s Poker Grovel . . . en cds28@yahoo.com Copyright 2010 2010-07-21T14:47:42-05:00 The Reviews Are In! http://www.rickblaine.com/index/weblog/the_reviews_are_in/ Personal (Ugarte), Poker Neat freak! ... Going to hell! - Dawn Summers

Mean and funny! - Joaquin “The Rooster” Ochoa

Definitely an asshole! - Matthew DeCoster

So’s your face! - F Train [quote to be updated in the event of a writeup - ed.]

Endearingly chubby! - NY Observer

]]> 2005-10-26T19:45:46-05:00 Once a poker blogger, always a poker blogger http://www.rickblaine.com/index/weblog/in_it_to_win_it/ Poker Poker Championship

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 4066220

I don’t write about poker as much as I used to, but I still show up in Pauly’s home game reports - hell, I’m the blogger that hooked him up for both the Blue Parrot and the Towne House. That has to be enough to make me eligible for this tournament.

And I guarantee that I’m going to win it.

Love,
Patrick Ewing

]]> 2005-09-30T14:24:09-05:00 Bad Beats for a Good Cause http://www.rickblaine.com/index/weblog/bad_beats_for_a_good_cause/ Poker It is hard to delete comments about poker tournaments being played for Hurricane Katrina Relief without feeling like a jerk, but that’s what I did.

One comment that says “Hey there is a tournament at yetanotherpokersite.com for Katrina Relief, would you mind mentioning it?” would have been fine. I don’t after all, post regularly anymore. I might have even mentioned the tournament. A second comment - from the same IP address and using the same email server - that says “Hey, I’ve heard about that tournament! Here are more cool details...” is spam. The IP address has been banned.

If you want to play in a charity poker tournament, Pauly has the goods on tournaments going on at Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker. (Whoops; the last Full Tilt tourney was on Sunday.)

]]> 2005-09-06T20:48:23-05:00 Cock-a-doodle-doo http://www.rickblaine.com/index/weblog/cock_a_doodle_doo/ Poker ***UGARTE EXCLUSIVE --- MUST CREDIT UGARTE!!! ***

This is only an exclusive until Joaquin posts his recap. (And it’s up. Thanks for all the shout-outs, Joaquin.) It is safe to say he didn’t get the story from me:

Fighting his way through a 70+ person field, Joaquin “The Rooster” Ochoa takes first prize at a freeroll in a SoHo poker room. First prize: a $2300 flat-screen plasma TV.

image

I bubbled out before the final table, finishing in 11th. For my troubles I won, approximately, a piece of crap. (UPDATE: I’ll post some tourney stuff later, including some more background on some of Joaquin’s more interesting hands.)

]]> 2005-08-25T06:22:25-05:00 Someone's knocking at my door http://www.rickblaine.com/index/weblog/someones_knocking_at_my_door/ Poker I assume all of the other poker bloggers have received an email from “pokerfriend007@yahoo.de” about joining his yahoo group. Does anybody know this guy?

]]> 2005-03-15T15:31:02-05:00 Ugarte's Poker Grovel #58, or Long Way To Go http://www.rickblaine.com/index/weblog/ugartes_poker_grovel_58_or_long_way_to_go/ Poker, Ugarte's Grovel At the A.M. tournament last Wednesday, a woman who had been getting lucky calling with nothing and making zero moves decided to make her first move against me. That’s twice in a very short period. Then, on President’s Day I played casino poker for the first time. I was bested by a table playing well beneath me because I got very sloppy at the end and didn’t adjust my game to the players I was up against.

Also, I finally sent easy_wind his bounty for knocking me out of the WPBT.

]]> 2005-02-25T00:03:45-05:00 Ugarte's Poker Grovel #57, or Without a Title http://www.rickblaine.com/index/weblog/ugartes_poker_grovel_57_or/ Poker, Ugarte's Grovel A person might think that poker and football are a great combination, like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. That person is wrong. The combination suffers from what I call the Mimosa Paradox. While orange juice and champagne appear to be a winning combination - mimosas are a brunch staple - the combination is an execrable waste of two perfectly fine drinks. Don’t let them fool you: take the Bloody Mary.

Why, then, would I host a poker tournament during the Super Bowl? Because I stopped really caring about football when the Vikings decided to spend December sucking. I didn’t care about the football this year and I’m not the guy who cares about the commercials (that is my friend Jim). So there you have it: a perfect excuse for poker and gluttony. And if something exciting happens in the game, I have TiVo.

]]> 2005-02-14T20:02:41-05:00 Ugarte's Poker Grovel #56, or Live From New York http://www.rickblaine.com/index/weblog/upg56/ Poker, Ugarte's Grovel The WPBT got me all fired up. I want to play with that crew again ... and soon. But I’m really much more of a live-game player than an online player. I prefer being able to fire jokes and collegial insults in real time. When I have to rely on my fumbling fingers to type a barely-witty apercu before the chat scrolls away, too much is lost.

Also, playing poker with women online just has no jazz. Toby may as well be a 42-year-old machinist with a wife and two kids online. But she is not. Nor are Toni or Julie for that matter. It isn’t that they are just pretty faces, but when the alternative is Pauly, well, you might as well just play online. Also, rooms full of guys love talking about sports. I can and do talk about sports ad nauseum myself, but I really don’t like to do it; having a couple of women in the room usually prevents that from happening (even if—sometimes especially if—they are actually sports fans).

]]> 2005-02-08T16:08:13-05:00 Ugarte's Poker Grovel #55, Grovel 54 v2.0 http://www.rickblaine.com/index/weblog/upg55/ Poker, Ugarte's Grovel I am a bad blogger. I have taken a lax attitude towards posting my tourney wrap-up, and for that I am sorry. Mostly because it is probably seriously costing me hits and links. C’est la vie

Anyway, on to the tournament.

]]> 2005-02-04T21:29:01-05:00 Ugarte's Poker Grovel #53, or Committed http://www.rickblaine.com/index/weblog/ugartes_poker_grovel_53_or_committed/ Poker, Ugarte's Grovel I certainly took my time, but I finally wrote up last week’s A.M. tournament. I figured that I’d better do it because I have so much poker coming up.

On February 2 Poker Stars is hosting the latest World Poker Blogger Tour event. As I write this, there are 42 bloggers and readers registered to play in this $20+2 tournament. Learn this logo; it will be the next big thing in sportswear:
image

Is that enough blogger poker? No! Signor Ferrari is hosting the first NYC Poker Bloggers invitational at the Blue Parrot on February 5. I don’t remember the entry fee but there is no juice to the house. This is going to be my first trip back to the Blue Parrot since, um, ... in a long time. I took second at the last tournament at the Parrot but I think the competition will be stiffer - top to bottom - this time.

Anyway, back to last Wednesday.

]]> 2005-01-30T20:40:31-05:00