Monday Night Raw Review - 4/28/08 (just the good stuff)

Monday Night RAW Review - 4/28/08 (just the good stuff)

This isn't the first time I've written about the WWE on this page, and it likely won't be the last. Starting today, I will be reviewing each-and-every Monday Night RAW from here on out. If you don't like it, my apologies.

(BTW, somebody recently came across this page using Stumble Upon, and after reading my "How to Save the WWE" post, they decided to leave the post a review of "Dave Meltzer he is not." FYI, Meltzer is the editor for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This guy obviously thought he left me a bad review, but I'm glad he didn't favorably compare me to Meltzer's work (which is nothing but a composition of nostalgic garbage).

Also, I'm now 100% sure that Vince McMahon is one of my four readers, as the WWE seemed to take one of the suggestions I made last week for the show last night... more on that later.

On to the review...

Triple H made his debut as the WWE Champion to kick the night off, and although I do think he is single-handedly holding back the careers of many wrestlers by dominating the title picture, I'm starting to think that this may be the last significant title reign of his career. The WWE seems to be pushing the young stars of the business more and more (ex: Randy Orton, Mr. Kennedy, Cody Rhodes, etc), so it's only a matter of time before they are the ones to dominate the spotlight.

Anyways, the fans gave a standing ovation to Triple H, chanting his name many times over. Orton interrupts Triple H's speech, and the two get into a heated conversation that results in Orton demanding for his title re-match tonight.

The WWE Divas engaged in a 12-woman tag team match (6 vs. 6), and I spent the whole match staring at Layla. As I was staring, I did hear Mickie James's music at the end of the match, so I do think the "good girls" won the match.

JBL, fresh off a main event title match loss at Backlash, was put in a match with one of the guys from the tag team duo "The Highlanders" (not worth the work to link to these guys). JBL won within two minutes, and the crowd really didn't seem to care... I can't blame them. I really don't think the WWE knows where they're going with this guy. He does have the ability to play heel really well, but he may need to move to Smackdown, a roster with many more faces, to develop a worthwhile long-term rivalry.

After the match, JBL heads over to the announcer's table to call out John Cena. If the WWE thinks they can make that rivalry work, shame on them. Fans already had to endure that lame rivalry once before, and I don't understand why things are heating up between them again.

The surprisingly entertaining tag-team duo of Paul London and Brian Kendrick came out and got a relatively big pop from the crowd (do I smell Hardy Boyz 2.0?). Of that duo, London faced Trevor Murdoch and defeated him with a possum pin. After the match, Murdoch's regular tag-team partner Lance Cade looked disappointed with the results (a theme carried over from previous weeks). Murdoch could see the hurt in Cade's face, and to the surprise of everybody watching, stood on top of the announcer's table and sung a heartfelt Garth Brooks song. I don't know who's idea this was, but it was an interesting twist in an otherwise predictable show.

William Regal, winner of the King of the Ring tournament held last week, sat in a throne telling fans about how, as both general manager and King of the Ring, he was going to rule the WWE and command respect from wrestlers and fans alike. This went on for a few minutes, with half the crowd booing him and the other half yelling that god-awful "WHAT?" chant every time Regal paused, and then the future of the WWE, Mr. Kennedy, came out to silence him.

I think Vince McMahon did actually read my "How to Save the WWE" post last week, because in that post I specifically suggested that the company make Mr. Kennedy a face. Guess what they did last night? Yep, Mr. Kennedy got in a fist fight with Regal, and the crowd (and myself) ate it up. I'm getting giddy from the possibility of a future where Kennedy becomes a Rock-esque figure in the WWE.


Chris Jericho hosted another addition of his "talk show", The Highlight Reel, and in it he ridiculed Shawn Michaels for faking an injury, then taking advantage of his opponent's reaction to that injury, during his match at Backlash. The whole segment went over poorly, and wasn't received well by the crowd as it looked like they didn't want to buy into Jericho turning heel.

The main event of the match, a title rematch between Orton and HHH, was great. Each wrestler fought as if it were a pay-per-view match, and in some ways it was. However, as the match looked like it was going to conclude, William Regal, feeling disrespected by the way Mr. Kennedy interrupted him earlier, was shown backstage by where the editors and directors of the show were. He demanded of them that the show be taken off the air, explaining that the fans didn't deserve to see the end of the match after the way he was treated earlier, and the show immediately went dark. There was a moment where it looked like RAW would come back on air, but no, the show did indeed go off the air. How lame.

Overall the show was great with many new storylines emerging from Backlash. I can see that the WWE really wants to play up Regal as a heel so that it further propels his rivalry with Kennedy (which may be a good thing), but to end a show the way it did Monday night was as anti-climactic as it could get on a night full of drama.

My Ticket to Meet Shannon Elizabeth (or so I thought)

Never in my wildest dream could I imagine, on one Monday morning back in September '07, that I'd not only win a pair of tickets to Vegas for free, but also score tickets to see the movie premiere of Deal, and get the chance to stalk meet Shannon Elizabeth.

It was just another usual Monday, and I was driving back from work. The radio was turned to 99.5, a very popular station in the DC-Northern VA area, and there was Shannon Elizabeth, doing an interview for her upcoming chick-flick-disguised-as-a-poker-movie Deal. Don't ask me why I didn't change the tuner to ESPN radio, my other go-to station, for I cannot give you an answer. Revoke my man-card if you wish.

Once the interview wrapped up, the hosts of the radio show AND Shannon Elizabeth announced that the next 50 callers would score two tickets to Vegas and the movie premiere of Deal. Immediately I flipped my phone open, getting ready to punch in the phone number as it was announced. During that time I was fumbling and fidgeting with my phone, apparently I missed out on the important part where they announced that this was for couples only. So when I called and they asked me who my significant other was, I gave the worst answer I've ever given off the top of my head: my mom.

Being that our last names were the same, the operator asked, "Are you married?"

"No, (our last names) are like 'Smith' where I'm from."

So yea, I may have been going on a trip with my mom, but I didn't care. Vegas is Vegas, and a free trip to Vegas is as good as it gets. Besides, if I had the chance to exploit my .00000000001% chance of getting into Shannon Elizabeth's pants, putting up with my mom for a week would be been worth it.

Anyways, I eagerly checked my mailbox every day after like a kid waiting for some cereal box mail-in toy. The days eventually turned into weeks, and the weeks into months. The credit card I gave the radio station may have been charged the "processing fee" of ten bucks, but the tickets never came.

Eight months have now gone by, and according to the Poker Girl in Vegas that movie premiere I supposedly won tickets to has come and gone. I'll never get to go on that trip to Vegas for free, and more importantly, I'll never get to roll the dice on that .00000000001% chance I had with Shannon Elizabeth.

How to Save the WWE

Let's just get this out of the way now... I'm a nerd. I play video games as often as J.P from Grandma's Boy, I read as often as Bill Belichek cheats, and I watch bad TV as often as Prison Break, Everybody Loves Raymond, and the WWE come on.

If you can't stand to hear a nerd rant about how the WWE can be saved, leave now. I'm serious. I'm really going to do this. I don't want you getting past this sentence if you're not interested, because I'm about to come off as a total boob... although I do promise some poker at the end.

Why am I doing this you ask? Because, on the off chance that Vincent Kennedy McMahon is one of my four readers, I can single-handedly save the WWE. Without further ado:


How to Save the WWE
by KGBlovesOreos

1. There are six men on the current WWE roster that are no-brainer HOFers: Triple H, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Y2J, Kane, and The Big Show. All these men have gone back-and-fourth as faces and heels throughout their careers, but the reasons they are now as popular as ever is because they are currently all "good guys". The same cannot be said for the majority of the "up-and-comers" the WWE is pushing as front-runners: John Cena, Mr. Kennedy, Randy Orton, Batista, Edge, and Jeff Hardy.

Of those men, only one (Hardy) is a fan favorite, and the rest draw nothing but boos. Even then, Hardy is in the middle of his second drug suspension, meaning his chance of getting back the trust of the WWE execs in order to make him a major player in the company is nil.

My solution: Push Mr. Kennedy as a face, and do everything you can to make Cena a crowd favorite. Kennedy is already popular as a heel (shades of Stone Cold Steve Austin), so it would be a seamless transition. John Cena on the other hand, has become a tough sell to the crowd. The WWE looked like they badly wanted Cena as a face when they put him up against Orton late last year, but that didn't go over well. Cena was injured shortly thereafter anyways, but ever since his return the WWE has put little effort into having him win over the fans. He continues to get boos from, oh, 90% of the crowd, and even then, the only people cheering him on are the little kids.

2. Stop having the young, fan-friendly faces go up against legends. I understand the WWE's motive of wanting to "boost" the career of the younger wrestlers by putting them up against the establish veterans, but following this formula (which can officially be declared "flawed") has hurt the careers of two formerly VERY popular, young, wrestlers:

John Cena - This man has been put in some impossible situations that stumped his career from something potentially special (no really). It started when he and Jericho had a feud that culminated in a You're Fired match. Cena may have escaped unemployment when he won the match, but the boos that were first heard that night carried over into his ensuing battles with crowd uber-favorites like RVD, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H. The crowd only got worse as the months went on, even making fun of his lack of moves, and instead of being the face of the company many thought he would be, he's the most hated wrestler in the business.

Batista - Had a spectacular feud with The Undertaker over the last two years, and he is now fighting Shawn Michaels. Guess who the crowd chose in both rivalries? Ugh. Yet again, another popular wrestler who has all the tools (microphone skills, great entrance, good moves), but has stopped gaining popularity because of his fights with HOFers.

My solution: Turn some of the legends into heels/bad guys, make sure the crowd is fully turned against them, and once the timing is right, let the fresh faces fight them. If not this, then don't ever put the young-ins against the old-timers.

3. Develop rivalries, don't force them. The WWE creative team has been very, hmmm, how can I put this nicely... bland with their storylines. They try and come up with the most creative matches possible, but by doing so, they forget to develop the rivalries themselves (which can be done in 5-10 minute segments compiled of backstage interviews, match contract signings, interference, etc). For example, let's take a look at the four men who will compete for the WWE Championship this Sunday at Backlash:

• Randy Orton is the champion, so by default he's involved.
• Triple H involves himself by simply telling the GM he deserves to be in the hunt. He "earns" a qualifying match, and wins.
• John Bradshaw Layfield involves himself by telling Orton he's a fluke. That's it. Riveting huh?
• John Cena also involves himself by crying to the GM. He, like Triple H, "earns" a qualifying match, and wins.

The WWE is better than that. Even if the four-way rivalry began as follows, I would've been happy:

Donkament number 42052689, Freeroll
25/50 blinds
John Cena is OTB and has 1000 chips
Randy Orton is in the SB and has 14500 chips
Triple H is in the BB and has 200 chips
JBL is UTG and has 300 chips
JBL raises all in to 300
JBL: I'm feelin mayghty nayyce being the Wall Street KING that I am. *wink wink*
JBL: And even if one of you mules gets lucky and beats me, I steell get to ride home in mahhh limo.
John Cena tries to reraise to 305 chips
Triple H: That's not a move.
John Cena tries to raise to 5,000,000 chips
Triple H: That's not a move either. Don't you have any moves?
John Cena raises to 1000 chips and is all in
John Cena: Word life.
Randy Orton: What does that even mean?!?
John Cena: STFU.
Triple H: This guy makes Festus look like Einstein.
Randy Orton pushes his small blind in and looks like he gives up.
Randy Orton: I'm going to hold on to my cards just to see if they hit.
Triple H: The little girl escapes yet again.
JBL: What are you doing Orton? You have 14,500 chips, and you have the chance to eliminate two competitors for only 1000 of your chips! You just passed up on a very Bullish opportunity son!!!
Randy Orton: I know what I'm doing... I'm the legend killer!
Triple H: *rolls eyes*
Triple H calls 200 chips and is all in.
Triple H: *takes out his sledgehammer and points it at the dealer* You better make me win.

JBL shows KK
John Cena shows 92
Triple H: So Cena does have moves, but he sucks anyways.
Triple H shows 33

FLOP: 6-3-9
Triple H: *smirks* Good job dealer.

Turn: 6-3-9-2
Triple H: Uh oh.

River: 6-3-9-2-9
Triple H: How does this guy keep winning when he sucks so much?

Randy Orton: He didn't win. I did.
John Cena: FU.
JBL: Do you ever say anaything that makes sense?

Randy Orton: Look at the small blind I pushed in... see how there's an extra chip?

Triple H: So?

Orton: That's a call in any casino. And since I never folded my hand or even said "I fold", my cards still play.

Dealer: He's right. Orton wins the pot.
Orton: Game over.
Triple H: Hey, that's my line!


So there, that's how the WWE can be saved.

PS - If Chris Moneymaker can save poker, any random schmuck can do it for the WWE.

Uber-post coming...

Working on a lengthy post right now... should have it done by the end of the work day. In case you're wondering what it's about, here's a clue:

Abstaining From the Norm (Part 1 of ???)

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

~ Albert Einstein

There are a number of classic situations that you will witness anytime you have a seat at a poker table. You know who is going to do what, know when they're going to do it, and know how they're going to do it... but do you do anything to stop this pattern? No. Instead you let it slip, and your opponent is the one raking in the chips instead of you. You may not realize it, but within those classic situations are opportunities that can be exploited for profit. Today I will go into the preflop button/cutoff steal that is inevitable at even the most novice of tables.

In this situation UTG will kick things off with a fold, and everybody will follow suit and muck around to the cutoff. With almost any semi-decent hand, the CO/button will raise to 3x or 4x the BB (and rightfully so might I add). Once he does, there is a very good chance that he will take down the pot uncontested, as he only needs the two or three players behind him to fold.

Before we get into how this basic move can be countered, let's look at why it is so easy for the button and cutoff to steal and get away with it as often as they do:

1. Five or six players have already acted in front of him, and all have made their decision to throw away their hand. The CO/button have no fear of anybody slowplaying him with a monster hand.
2. The only player who can possibly have position on the CO is the button. Nobody can possibly have position on the button. Once the CO raises, the button is less likely to get involved (as is any other player). Once the button raises, the blinds aren't likely to get involved.
   
3. Two of the CO's three potential opponents (the small blind and the big blind) would be playing this hand out of position if they were to call the PF raise. All of the button's opponents would be playing OOP if they called. So to an even further extent, people are less likely to be calling when they have no chance of gaining position.
   

Those are the reasons why the CO/button should, and probably do steal often when the table folds around to them. And guess what? They know why they're doing it, and they knows that you know why they're doing it. However, once we're through today we'll be able to keep these CO players in check.

You can approach the CO/button steal machine a number of ways:

1. Make a PF raise from the seat to the right of the CO: In a way, you're extending the "stealing position" from just the button and CO to the button, the CO, and the seat right before the CO (aka CO +1). The CO+1 seat is not normally seen as a "stealing" position, and that makes this play deceptive. The downfall to this is that you're vulnerable to a reraise from two seats that have better position than you; but you won't often see this at most tables.
2. If you are on the button, reraise: You will narrow your opponents' (that includes the blinds') calling range down to the most narrow of ranges, and you will have the best seat at the table throughout the hand post-flop. The reason I don't advise you to just call is because doing so increases the chances that the blinds will also call. Instead of then having the chance to go head-to-head with one opponent, you now are potentially facing three. There is no downfall to reraising preflop on the button as long as you are ready to follow through with that aggression OTF.
   
3. If you are sitting in the blinds, reraise: This is the most deceptive of all the moves because people NEVER expect the blinds to reraise unless they were strong. You can raise with almost any hand here, and you will get away with it more often than you think. The con of this play is that you will start to play some medium-sized pots OOP if your opponents called, which can be a problem if not handled correctly.

So there you have it... that is how you should deal with players who frequently steal from the CO or from the button. If you have any further questions/comments, please leave them in the "Comments" section at the bottom of this post.

Reacting to another blogger's scenario (Pt. 1)

The O-Poker blog posted this scenario today:

I don't have a read on the opponent other than he was 20/17/7.o (very high aggression factor) over only around 250 hands.


Full Tilt Poker No Limit Hold'em - 4 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

BB: $238.00
Hero (CO): $602.40
BTN: $1415.75
SB: $423.90

Pre Flop: Hero is CO with J J
Hero raises to $14, BTN calls $14, 2 folds

Flop: ($34.00) 9 T 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $24, BTN raises to $72,


Same questions as the QQ hand. Do your responses change based on it being JJ and an unknown opponent with a high aggression level over a small sample? (NOTE: We are playing 4 handed b/c a couple of players are sitting out. This may change your decision.)

1. What is your play here? If you say raise, how much? What do you do if he shoves?

2. If you flat call or raise the flop (and he flat calls), what do you do on the turn if it is a blank? if it is a heart? if it is a non-heart A, K, Q, or 8?


How you react depends on your table image:

- If you have a very tight image, you won't often be raised here unless you're beat.

- If your image is on the other end of the spectrum, your opponent is probably raising you here with a much wider range of hands. He may even be doing this with nothing, so you should be comfortable getting your stack in OTF if it gets to that point.

- If your image falls in the middle, or if you don't yet feel you have an image, you have to raise him to $200 and figure out where you stand. Should he come over the top for your stack, you should fold because it's likely he won't shove OTF on a stone-cold bluff after seeing you get so aggressive in response to his aggression. If he just calls the $200, with his image and stats, I'd assume you're ahead of the majority of his range.

The Office...

Make sure you catch The Office tonight on NBC! If you're not already on the bandwagon, you can stream past episodes here.

Note: I'm not an NBC shill - I just happen to love the TV lineup they've put together!

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What's up Singapore, India, Texas, North Carolina, and Wisconsin!

3betting & 4betting preflop

I've been easing myself back into the thick of all things poker-blogging-related, and two days ago I realized it had been a year since I'd logged into my bloglines account. Turns out that the poker-blogging world was able to survive without me, as thousands of posts were published since I left. In an attempt to catch up, I picked 20 sites from which I would read the last year's posts, and from all the posts on those 20 sites, a few in particular caught my attention. Today I want to discuss a section of one post made by the Surly Poker Gnome:

In general, I like the idea of rarely four-betting (except against donks when you have a premium hand, or in multiway pots that you want to get heads-up). It allows you to get pretty good odds relative to the pot size when holding speculative hands like low pocket pairs, and it also disguises the strength of your hand when you hold Aces or Kings. The whole point of the game is to get paid off, and the way to do that is to win big pots when your speculative hands hit and not to go bust with overpairs.

I believe the most important concept of preflop betting (and all betting, for that matter) is that it shouldn't be automatic. Everything depends on your opponents, your table image, your position, your cards, stack sizes and the previous betting action. If you don't feel like you can call a four-bet, then maybe cold calling is the best option. If you have a hand like 76s, you should probably fold against a short stack raiser because you're not getting good enough implied odds. If you know someone sees most flops, don't hesitate to make your raises very expensive with your premium hands.

The part I'd like to draw your attention to is where she says "In general, I like the idea of rarely four-betting (except against donks when you have a premium hand, or in multiway pots that you want to get heads-up). It allows you to get pretty good odds relative to the pot size when holding speculative hands like low pocket pairs, and it also disguises the strength of your hand when you hold Aces or Kings. The whole point of the game is to get paid off, and the way to do that is to win big pots when your speculative hands hit and not to go bust with overpairs."

If you rarely 4-bet like the Surly Poker Gnome says, and just call opponents' 3-bets with premium hands like AA and KK, you are giving up a rather large edge preflop and losing out on quite a bit of value. Granted, you may disguise your big hands extremely well PF, but if your opponent is going to 3bet you PF, he's more than likely to continue putting money in the pot either way (unless you are at a table where 3-betting is commonplace - which is a rarity). You may as well give him a chance to make his mistake PF as opposed to post-flop, where he won't have the chance to escape from "scary" boards.

Also, if your opponents know you are going to be 4-betting most of the time with strong hands such as AA or KK, that opens up the opportunity for the rare, but effective-in-the-right-spot 4-bet bluff. Let's say you find yourself in a situation where you're the table bully, and your image is that of a maniac (and if you're playing low-stakes NLHE and you don't have that image, you're not playing the right way) . You can almost take it to the bank that somebody is soon going to 3bet one of your PF raises with a weak hand that cannot call a 4bet bluff. If you and your opponent had the right amount of chips, and you were cognizant of the situation, this would be an example of a right spot to 4bet bluff PF.

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What's up Japan, Spain, Florida, Belgium, Bahrain, Ireland, Maine, Korea, and Connecticut!

Apologizing for a Few Things...

1. Pardon me if you see this site undergo major visual changes every now and then. I still haven't yet come up with an official "look", so I will be making changes until I figure out just what that look is. Sorry.

2. Didn't play any poker this last weekend as I was too busy rotting on my couch watching The Masters, the NHL Playoffs, NBA games, and even some Washington Nationals baseball (it was one helluva sports weekend). So I don't really have anything to discuss regarding anything I experienced (Sorry.), BUT the weekend didn't go to complete waste poker-wise as I did do a lot of thinking over a play I saw on High Stakes Poker:

The small, defensive, out-of-position bet on the river - Phil Helmuth (holding A9) was heads-up in a pot vs. Daniel Negreanu (who held AK). By the time they reached the river, neither player held a pair, and the pot was worth $19k. Helmuth, who's c-bet was called by Negreanu on the flop, opted to make a small bet of $1k on the river after the turn went check-check to see if he could take the pot away. The move didn't work though, as Negreanu made the call and took down the $21k pot.

Initially I thought that the move made no sense, because he was probably getting called by many hands that beat him in that spot, and at the same time no hand that he could beat would call him. Looking back on the play now, I actually think the bet itself was a decent idea. If an opponent were slow-playing you on the flop by just calling your bet, and then you checked to him on the turn, I don't think he'd check behind you on 4th street if he were strong... he'd probably bet. I believe Helmuth saw weakness in Negreanu's check OTT, and attempted to exploit it, but it was the amount that Helmuth bet that didn't give the play a chance. Say Helmuth bet half the pot ($10k) instead of the $1k. Now can't that bet be seen as a value bet? What about $5k? Same thing, no?

I may do some experimenting with this in future sessions (meaning in situations where I'm OOP and my continuation bet is called OTF, and then it goes check-check OTT).

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Just to warn you, I Tivo every episode of High Stakes Poker that airs, so I will likely be bringing up strange plays that I see from that show instead of plays I experience while playing online. If that annoys you too...

Bleep yourself.

Welcome

Guess who's back... back again? KGBlovesOreos is back... tell a friend. Guess who's back? Guess who's back? Guess who's back? Guess who's back? Guess who's back? Guess who's back? Guess who's back?

Oh... ummm, was that cheesy? I swear I just saw your eyes roll. Fine... I'll stop now.

Anyhoo, welcome to my poker/life blog, titled Home Away From Home, brought to you by yours truly, KGBlovesOreos. My former blog, It's all a Process, used to be here, but then I stupidly decided to delete it after a year of running it, and now some other monkey picked up the site's title and started their own spamtastic page.

I may as well now introduce myself to those who accidentally stumbled across this page and are some how miraculously still reading, and reintroduce myself to my former readers:

- I won't give out my real name, but I go by KGBlovesOreos on most common sites, and I play 6max .25/.50 NLHE cash games and 6max $10-$20 SNGs at Full Tilt Poker.

- Las Vegas and Atlantic City seem to be the only places I go when I travel outside my home state of Virginia, and when I get there I hop into the $1/$2 NLHE games that run there.

- Love to play video games for fun... NBA, NFL, WWE, Call of Duty, you name it.

- I attend classes full time at George Mason University, and although I am old enough to be a senior there, I'm roughly 45 credits behind the pace for a number of reasons, which means I will be graduating in two years.

- I work 27 hours a week, and with that money I pay for my new car (black '07 VW Jetta Wolfsburg), my family's cell phone plans, and my house's TV/internet/telephone bills.

From that you can see that I try to work hard, but I LOVE to play harder. People close to me misconstrue that and believe I'm lazy. That cannot be further from the truth, but we don't need to get into that now.

Anyways, this page will be updated whenever I have something worth posting, and I hope you enjoy whatever I come up with. I'll be exploring, as you could've guessed by now, the world of poker, but also gambling and life in general. I'll also be getting into a wide range of topics that seem worth writing about. Feel free to leave comments/feedback about anything you want, and I guarantee you I will respond to you one way or another.