My Favorite Birthday Present...

My favorite two-day-late birthday present every year, The World Series of Poker, begins today. Ugh, It's killing me that I can't be in Vegas right now.

I Think I Need Help...

I just placed five bets on the Scripps' National Spelling Bee with an equally sick friend:

1. Over/under 8.5 letters in the winning word: I took the under.
2. The gender of the winner: I took male with 3:2 odds.
3. Whether the winning child's home town is east or west of the Mississippi River: I took east.
4. Over/under 19 letters in the winning child's hometown + home state (with spaces not counting). I took the over.
5. What letter the winning word begins with: I took the letters 'A' through 'M'.

I don't know what's worse... the fact that I actually agreed to place a bet on the spelling bee, or the fact that my friend and I were able to come up with five things from the spelling bee to bet on.

Anybody have the number for Gambler's Anonymous?

Too Good to be True?

So a friend called me yesterday with an opportunity I thought I'd mention. He told me about this chick who, for a few days now, has been bugging him about attending one of her company's 90-minute presentations... you know, one of those presentations where they try to sell you something, and, supposedly, just in exchange for listening to the sales pitch you get a three-day vacation package?

Well, this company was offering packages to three different cities: Orlando, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. My friend said, as soon as he heard this offer, he told that saleswoman that he wouldn't go to the presentation unless he could bring a friend (me). So now my friend and I are gearing up to go to the presentation this Saturday, naively (I can't stress that word enough) hoping there isn't any kind of catch to the offer that stops us from going. And even so, if it doesn't work out, I'll still be in Atlantic City next weekend with some friends, so I'll still get my live gambling fix one way or another.

Another Birthday Goes By...

Yet another birthday goes by, and I'm not any closer to figuring out where I'm going than I was my last birthday. At the moment, I'm two years behind schedule to graduate from George Mason University, and seeing all my friends graduate this year has left me feeling a little envious. I probably sound like a petulant child now, essentially saying things like "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up" and "I envy my friends", but it's all true.

Anyways, I'm not doing anything special today... just going to have a quiet dinner with my brother and mom, but that's all I really need every May 28th.

Hope all you guys enjoyed the long weekend.

Monday Night Raw Results - 5/26/08

Vince McMahon came on the screen after a short tribute dedicating the episode of RAW to our country's troops. McMahon described how he wanted to do something for all the WWE fans. He said they needed to be appreciated, and he said that he would, later in the evening, come up with something for the fans that had never been done before. He then said he'd even ask for some suggestions from the RAW wrestlers throughout the night.

After the promo, Todd Grisham, RAW's primary backstage interviewer, was standing in the ring in front of a podium, ready to conduct a face-off interview between Triple H and Randy Orton. He asked Orton why he thought he could beat Triple H in a Last Man Standing Match considering Orton barely beat him last time in the same match-type after only wrestling two matches before that match while Triple H had to fight three. Orton defended himself and said that, despite his seven-month reign of dominance, everybody downplayed his wins and laughed at him. He said that he'd put an end to that this Sunday at One Night Stand.

Triple H retorted by saying that the reason people laughed at him was because he was an ass. He told Orton that, although Orton talked a big game, his insecurities with himself were obvious.

Orton came back and said that, of all people, Triple H was the insecure one, as Triple H was the one who made a career off of making people a threat or getting close to them. Orton then said that it was no mistake that Triple H's closest friend, Shawn Michaels, was his friend to begin with because he was a threat to him. He also brought up the stable known as Evolution, and how soon Triple H destroyed it when it became a threat to him.

Triple H interrupted him and said that, when it came to the WWE title, every man was for himself, and the king of the jungle wouldn't be thrown out until a bigger, badder lion came and got him.

Orton made some cheesy remark and said that the lion was coming on Sunday.

Jillian Hall took on Melina in a match. Before the match, Hall SUNG that Melina had no chance of beating Beth Phoenix on Sunday. Melina forced Hall to submit within five minutes and picked up the win. Only thing I have to add is that both ladies were looking fine!

Chris Jericho was seen backstage with Vince McMahon. Jericho suggested that the fans deserved to see him and Shawn Michaels in a match that night... Vince agreed. Y2J also recommended that McMahon, in the spirit of fan appreciation, should twist his "No Chance" theme music with some metal rock or scat. Cryme Time showed up in the office and started grabbing portraits of former RAW GM William Regal off the wall to auction them off (which they did during commercials).

Following the commercial break, Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes put their tag-team titles on the line against the quick duo Paul London and Brian Kendrick. The young Rhodes went back-and-fourth with London as they exchanged headlock reversals. London tagged in Kendrick, who drop-kicked Rhodes to the ground. After exchanging some blows, Holly came in and dismantled Kendrick with some hard grapple moves.

Kendrick attempted to get something going, but Holly thwarted his momentum with a "Holly lariat". Rhodes tagged back in and tried to finish Kendrick off, but Kendrick went for his finisher "Sliced Bread #2". Rhodes got away from it, and tagged Holly back in.

All four men started to brawl in the ring, and Kendrick and Rhodes took their battle outside the ring. Holly "Alabama Slammed" London, and the match was over. Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes successfully defended their tag team championships.

As soon as the tag-team partners began celebrating, Ted DiBiase came out to the ramp. He got on the mic and said that last week he and Vince McMahon agreed to get DiBiase's son on the RAW roster. Ted DiBiase Jr. came out and got on the mic, putting Holly and Rhodes on notice for their tag-team gold. DiBiase Jr. took it to the cheesy extreme when he said everybody had a price but him... because he was priceless. Ugh.

After the commercial break, a funny training video of Cousin Sal and Roddy Piper was aired.

Afterwards, Mickie James is seen with McMahon backstage. She made some suggestions when JBL rudely interrupted her. He suggested to Vince the idea of selling pieces of the ring containing John Cena's blood after this Sunday. JBL then mocked James and her ideas with some suggestive comments about her and Cena and bodily fluids.

Returning from commercial break, a much-hyped tag-team match (which, frankly, didn't really deliver) between John Cena/Jeff Hardy and Umaga/JBL took place. Umaga and Cena got things going early, as Cena first failed on an "F-U" attempt, then Umaga missed a splash in the corner. As he got up, Umaga caught Cena mid-cross body jump, and slammed Cena to the ground similar to the way he slammed Hardy outside of the ring last week. If you haven't seen it, the only way I can describe it is as a "spinning sidewalk slam".

Anyways, Hardy got tagged in, and Umaga beat on him a little and, this time, hit a splash on Hardy. Umaga tagged JBL in, and JBL went to work on Hardy's mid section with an abdominal stretch. Hardy escaped, but JBL connected with a big boot. JBL picked Hardy up and threw Hardy into the corner. However, Hardy used the momentum from JBL's throw to execute a "Whisper in the Wind".

Hardy tagged Cena in, who proceeded to dominate JBL and Umaga with an assortment of clotheslines, hard punches, etc. Cena went for the "Five-Knuckle Shuffle", but was taken out mid-step. Hardy tagged himself in and went for the Swanton bomb on JBL. JBL, though, got out of the way, and hit Hardy with a "Clothesline From Hell". That was all she wrote, as JBL pinned Hardy 1-2-3.

Following the commercial break, Mr. Kennedy (aka the future of the WWE) came out and got on his mic. He said that we were looking at the man who got rid of the "pompous piece of garbage" William Regal. Carlito then came out, ready to fight Mr. Kennedy in a regular match.

Carlito went after it and attacked Kennedy's back, but Kennedy countered one of his moves and nearly executed a "Mic Check". He missed, however, and Carlito got Mr. Kennedy in the corner. Carlito got Kennedy in a submission hold, but Kennedy reversed the whole thing and got Carlito back with a "Green Bay Plunge".

Carlito went for his signature "Back-Stabber", but Kennedy reversed and, this time, executed his Mic Check (which by far garnered more fan support than the Green Bay Plunge from earlier) and pinned him.

Katie Lea suddenly came down the ring, telling Mr. Kennedy that he made a big mistake getting Regal fired. Paul Birchill, Lea's brother, then snuck up behind Kennedy and beat him to a pulp. Birchill again drove the point home, telling Kennedy that mistakes have repercussions.

Chris Jericho aka Y2J was scheduled to have the last match of the night against Shawn Michaels. Jericho gambled early, as he went for a springboard kick but missed. However, he recovered, and managed to get Michaels in a chin lock. Michaels broke out of it, but was unable to escape Jericho's blows, as he took a beating in his midsection.


Jericho gambled yet again and went for a bulldog, but Michaels escaped, and hit an inverted atomic drop followed by a flying forearm off the ropes. Jericho then attempted to get Michaels into a "Walls of Jericho", but Michaels reversed that into a possum pin, only to have Y2J kick out after two counts. Jericho missed yet another move, but this time Michaels missed one right after, failing to connect on a flying elbow.

The fight spilled outside of the ring, and both men beat each other up so badly that both men were counted out. Jericho lost it and nearly hit Michaels with a steel chair after the match was declared over, but his sense finally overcame his emotion, and he walked off looking disappointed in himself.

Now was time for the big announcement!

Coming back from the last commercial break, all members of the RAW roster could be seen standing on the ramp. Out came Vince McMahon, and he had two announcements for us:

1. A WWE draft would be taking place in a month.
2. Starting next week, he'd give out money in the sum of a million dollars to fans.

McMahon said he didn't yet have the logistics of the money-giveaway, but this was essentially it. He said there were no tricks, no hoaxes... nothing. This money would legitimately come out of his bank account, and the money would be given away every week.

As far as the WWE goes, things will get MUCH more interesting once this draft happens, and hopefully some fresh new rivalries emerge and erase the current boring, played-out rivalries that have carried over from month-to-month.

As far as the money giveaway goes, well, some online sources indicates it'll be a million bucks given away EACH week, while other sites say that the total money given away during the entire gimmick will be the SUM of a million dollars. Either way, it's not a bad thing for us fans! Hopefully I'll score some of that cash for myself when I go to RAW July 28th!

Traffic...

This site's traffic is peanuts compared to some other sites. Then again, I've only been back in "the game" for two months, and 75-100 hits per day is actually damn good for a rookie. But guess what those people who come to my site are looking for?

Is it poker content? No.

KGBlovesOreos-related content? Probably not.

Shannon Elizabeth content? Well, a few, yes.

But most of the people coming here are actually looking for, you guessed it, WWE-related content.

Funny thing, eh? I start this site off just to talk about poker, and get nothing. Maybe five hits a day at most, one or two of those being me, yet as soon as I started discussing all things WWE, people flock here as if I have the latest scoop on the business.

Which begs the questions... Is the WWE booming while poker is sinking? Is Mr. Kennedy to the WWE what Chris Moneymaker was to poker? Or are my readers all just gay for those statue-esque Triple H poses that find their way into my posts? (see pic on the right)

Whatever it is, the WWE seems to be hot right now, and although the current television ratings don't agree with that statement, they will in the coming months.

PS - Look away from the Triple H pic and get your hands out of your pants pervs... this isn't that kind of site!

PPS - Enjoy the nice long weekend everybody.

Building Your Image by Defending Your Blinds

It's no secret that I advocate a loose, but aggressive approach to poker. The first reason I believe it is a great style to play is because, well, it's often mathematically correct to bet at a pot rather than check, call, or fold. But the second reason I advise people to add aggression, mixed in with the right amount of loose play, to their arsenal is because of the image you develop as you toss money into the pot, and the rewards you can reap from that image later.

Let me warn you though, this style isn't for the weak-hearted. Your variance swings will become wider and, unless you have the proper bankroll (20 maximum buy-ins for the stakes), you won't be able to withstand it anyways. However, there is a cheap way to build this wild/loose image, and although it will initially cost you a little money, you probably will put yourself into position for a bigger pot later on that session. I'll now just get to the point... DEFEND YOUR BLINDS!

By defending those blinds (and by that, I mean calling a standard preflop raise), you will be tricking your opponents into thinking you are some reckless player destined to lose your money. And you know what, to a point they are correct in thinking those who regularly defend their blinds and play these pots OOP are consistent losers. Little do they know that all you're doing is giving away some money now to win a lot back more later on.

Let me now show you exactly why it can be profitable to defend your blinds:

1. It doesn't cost much to defend a preflop raise here and there.
2. You're building your loose/wild image at a cheap rate.
3. Down the road, if you get a good hand, by having that loose/wild image, you are MUCH more likely to win a bigger pot than if you didn't.

Chicago Bulls win No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft Lottery

If you didn't know already, I am, and have ALWAYS been, a huge Chicago Bulls fan. Watching the NBA Draft Lottery last night, my team barely had a puncher's chance of drawing a top three pick, let alone pick number one.

But during the 30-minute broadcast, when it was announced 15 minutes in that the Bulls had moved up into the top three, I was giddy with excitement. Once it was shown that the Timberwolves drew pick number three (leaving the Bulls with a top two pick) a shriek, so high-pitched that all the neighborhood dogs may have gathered at my front door, escaped my mouth. When my wildest dream had come true, I jumped up and went fuckin nuts!

So what is John Paxson, the luckiest man in the world besides Tony Parker, going to do with his most valuable asset?

Most mock drafts out there indicate that Michael Beasley, the consensus 1A prospect, will be his choice. The Bulls' glaring hole in the post has killed 'em for years, and Beasley, although still young, has a polished low post game for his age that will improve even more with time. He's also got the great jump shot that is so hard to find in a big man.

Those mock drafts, however, may not necessarily be right. Chicago-native Derrick Rose, the consensus 1B prospect, could be the pick. Rose is a point guard that blends freakish athleticism with excellent vision, a combination only the best of point guards have. However, considering the Bulls already have Kirk Hinrich, a decent point guard in his own right, choosing Rose wouldn't make sense to me unless the Bulls are ready to trade Hinrich away.

Rose seems like the sure thing of the draft, destined to be a 17 points/10 assists/2 steals-per-game guy. But Beasley, with his inside-outside dynamic, has a limitless ceiling that surely leaves scouts drooling. Either way, whichever player the Bulls rebuild around, I'll be happy.

Monday Night RAW Results - 5/19/08

You'll have to excuse me for not making a lengthier post, but today I don't have the time to write out what happened last night. Here's what went down:

Jeff Hardy, fresh off a Judgment Day win over MVP, gets a draw against Umaga. Both were counted out.

Beth Phoenix defeated Maria Kanellis.

Batista pinned Jericho and won the chance to face Shawn Michaels at One Night Stand.

Mr. Kennedy defeated William Regal in an "Your Fired" match. (This match was set up by Vince McMahon earlier)

JBL and Randy Orton defeated Triple H and John Cena.

JBL said, after the match, that his match with Cena at One Night Stand would be a First Blood match. Orton followed by stating his championship match with Triple H would be a Last Man Standing match.

Multi-tabling

I'm a bad multi-tabler.

There, I said it. It's now out in the open. Mock me if you wish, but this may be the single-biggest realization I've ever had during my time on the virtual felt.

You should see some of the oh-so-many-mistakes when I play four, three, heck, even two tables... and these aren't just any mistakes, but rookie mistakes:

Overplaying my overpairs? Check. Missing out on bets with my strong hands? Check. Failing to understand that the table dynamic is constantly changing? Check. Not quitting when the game goes sour? Check. Bluffing chips away when I should have slowed down? Check.

The list goes on and on...

I honestly feel dumb for not realizing this sooner, I'm talking YEARS sooner, but to bring up the old cliche, "better late than never"... right?

It's Official

It's official... I'm going with my family to see Monday Night RAW in DC at the Verizon Center on July 28th! Time to break out the poster board and markers!

High Stakes Poker cancelled?

GSN is likely going to cancel High Stakes Poker, the best pure poker show by far, as they seem to want to replace it with more episodes of the World Poker Tour. Well played GSN.

* * * * *

I got my cash game on last night, and as I anticipated, I made some basic mistakes that cost me 50 bucks. I won't go into detail, but the gist of it is that I first passively played (on the flop), then overplayed (on the turn) a pocket pair of kings when it was obvious when I was beat.

I'll give it another shot tonight and see how it goes... the goal is to have my buy-in last longer than the 30 hands it took to lose it last night!

Monday Night RAW Review - 5/12/08

Sir William Regal, the RAW general manager, opened up the last RAW before the upcoming-Judgment Day by having Lillian Garcia sing "God Save the Queen". Being that RAW was in Detroit, the fans didn't take too kindly to that. Regal responded by saying the crowd needed to respect him, and if need be, he'd throw people out to make an example of them. He walked around the ring, looking for people to throw out, and he settled on one particular couple. Mickie James came running out of the back and begged Regal not to throw them out, as the man from that couple was James' younger brother. James continued to plead with him, and this angered Regal so much that he threatened he'd strip her of her Women's Championship.

Just then, John Cena's music hit, and he came out to put an end to the madness. Before he did that, however, he asked Mickie to leave so that Regal wouldn't take her championship away. Cena then confronted Regal, telling him that, although he could relate to what Regal was going through, he was doing everything the wrong way. Cena explained that he knew what it was like to give everything he had to the fans, only to be booed back. Regal countered by saying Vince (McMahon) was happy with what was going on, but Cena yelled that Vince was insane. Cena then began to read negative fan emails that were sent in to WWE.com in response to what Regal had been doing over the last few weeks. It looked like Regal began to understand how everybody felt, and gave his word that he wouldn't turn the lights out on any matches that night.

Regal then told Cena that, tonight, he'd be put in a match with Randy Orton. Cena asked when he could be expecting his rival, JBL, to interfere, but Regal promised that all people not involved in the match would be banned from ringside.

Regal then started to leave when Cena stopped him. He said that wasn't all he came down for. Cena said that RAW shouldn't have opened up with "God Save the Queen", as they were in Detroit aka Motown... the fans deserved more respect than that. He then asked Lillian Garcia to sing Aretha Franklin's "Respect", and she obliged.

This opening segment looked like it worked REALLY well in Detroit, and the crowd even started to cheer Cena after he confronted Regal. On television it came across just ok, but even I, a Cena-basher, thought Cena did a good job.

In the first match of the night, the tag team champions Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes (son of Dusty Rhodes), were to put their belts on the line against the newest "who-cares-about-this-duo" Carlito and Santino Morella. The match got little attention from the crowd, and I nearly even fast-forwarded through the match using Tivo. The champions retained their titles.

The next match had Mr. Kennedy up against Snitsky. Kennedy first came out and did his thing on the mic. Surprisingly, the crowd ate it up even though he had turned face just three weeks ago.

Snitsky dominated the match to begin, using powerful blows and grapple moves, but Kennedy slowly battled back, attacking Snitsky's legs to get him off his base. The crowd favorite then hit his "Mic Check" (sort of a reverse Rock Bottom) to end the match.

John Cena had a backstage segment where Mickie James asked him to go out for drinks with her brother and her brother's girlfriend (the ones that were thrown out earlier by Regal). After joking around a little, Cena agreed.

The women's tag team match, with Mickie James and Maria going up against Beth Phoenix and Melina, was better than the men's tag-team match, but still boring overall. Melina, once again, accidentally bumped into Beth, and Beth reacted by leaving Melina in the ring to fight for herself. Mickie and Maria won the match shortly after Beth's exit.

In the next segment, Chris Jericho wanted to apologize to Shawn Michaels for thinking that Michaels faked a knee injury during his match with Batista at the last pay-per-view. Michaels came out, and after allowing Jericho to apologize, admitted that he did in fact feign the knee injury. He defended himself by saying that he did say, before that pay-per-view match, that he'd do whatever it took to win. Jericho didn't believe him, even saying that Michaels was insulting his intelligence. Michaels then delivered the Sweet Chin Music to Jericho, and jumped out of the ring over the top rope to further prove his point.

To the surprise of the crowd and television viewers alike, Jeff Hardy's music came on, and he came out to the ring. He got on the mic and apologized for making the mistake he did (he was just suspended for drug use). He then wanted to go on, but his mic went off. After Hardy tapped it a few times, Regal walked out by the titantron, saying that he cut off Hardy's mic because nobody wanted to hear him apologize. Regal then said that Hardy would be fighting tonight, and out came Umaga.


Hardy started the match off strong, doing a baseball slide to Umaga who had yet entered the ring. Umaga then threw Hardy into the dividers between the ring and crowd, then threw him back into the ring. After going back-and-fourth, Umaga stood Hardy up in front of a turnbuckle, and attempted to run into Hardy with all his might. Hardy, though, moved out of the way, and executed a "Whisper in the Wind" to get the pinfall win.

In the next match, Cryme Time came out and faced Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. Murdoch earned a victory within a few minutes, and it looked as though his partner Cade appreciated it. Cade then got a mic and even suggested that Murdoch's singing last week must've been the good luck they needed. He asked Murdoch to sing, and Murdoch began to sing "Know When to Hold 'Em". When he had his back turned, Cade attacked Murdoch, and left him in the ring.

In the main event John Cena was to face Randy Orton (who came out to some pretty good heel-ish music BTW). Cena started off with a few offensive moves, but Orton quickly took over the match with a few of his own moves. Cena began to fight out of a choke hold, and then attempted some moves to only see Orton counter them. Orton then went for his trademark "RKO", but that was countered by Cena. Cena then went to the top rope and hit the flying leg drop. He attempted to follow that up with a "Five-Knuckle Shuffle", but Orton escaped to the outside of the ring.

Just then, William Regal came out with JBL by his side. JBL was dressed in a ref's outfit, and Regal instructed that JBL was the new referee of the match. As soon as JBL entered the ring, Cena began beating the crap out of him. Unfortunately, Orton, like a vulture, joined in on the fight and helped JBL beat down Cena.

This went on for a good few minutes until Triple H came out to help. He started going at it with Orton, while Cena's fight with JBL spilled into the crowd, then backstage. As Triple H and Orton fought, a STEEL CAGE was lowered, certainly a preview of their main even title match on Sunday, and the crowd went nuts. Triple H beat the living crap out of Orton, threw him out the ring, climbed on top of the cage, and stared down at Orton.

* * * * *

The night was a great preview of the upcoming pay-per-view, as we saw Shawn Michaels admit to faking an injury (surely Batista will get back involved as a result), John Cena finally battle with JBL, and Triple H get his hands on Orton.

I will not be ordering the pay-per-view this Sunday, as I'm a little short on money this month, but I will post the details here as soon as I hear them.

Stay tuned my closet WWE fans.

The Reason...

This is the reason why I haven't answered my phone in two days...


It also probably happens to be the same reason why nobody has called me in two days...

I Wish...

I wish there was more of this in sports...




And less of this...



PS - Happy Mother's Day

Regarding the Name Change...

Yea, I know this is after-the-fact, but I changed this site's name earlier this week from "Home Away From Home" to "Wrestling and Poker".

I did this because I've lately begun to REALLY get into the WWE, and that has reflected on this site. A third of my content has been WWE-related, and I'm not planning to stop writing about it no matter how dumb you think it is (wrestling will get mainstream again... just you watch). So for those of you who visit this site for poker-related material, you'll still get that, but just not quite as often, as a third of my time will be spent dissecting the WWE.

FYI, I still like to think poker is my number one passion, and although I haven't played a hand in the last 10 days or so (due to finals), I still think about it a great deal. In fact, I have two strategy-related posts sitting as drafts, one titled "The Phantom Call" and the other named "Building Your Image Through Blind Defense". The former will probably be up within a week, and the latter I'll need some additional time to work on.

* * * * *

BTW, I've been getting a TON of hits on this site just for using the following picture in one of my posts:


Which brings the question, are my readers all closet-wrestling fans, or just hiding in the closet? Either way, you're my kind of readers. *wink*

We Need a New Chris Moneymaker

It's no secret that the poker boom has died down. Part of that can be attributed to the UIGEA cock-blocking the internet boom, but it's also partially because poker lacks a mainstream, widely-celebrated star that even the most casual poker fan could relate with. Essentially, poker needs a new Chris Moneymaker, and ESPN may just give us one in November. According to various sources, the final table of the main event will be played 117 days after the player who finishes in 10th place is eliminated.

The reason ESPN is doing this is because, during those 117 days, they will be able to air their coverage of not only all of the pre-main event tournaments, but they will also show their coverage of the main event leading up to the final table. They're hoping, as a result of putting off the final table, anticipation will build to a boiling point... and it certainly will. But what does this mean for those who are lucky enough to make that main event final table?

Well, each of them will definitely receive more media attention than they would have in the "old" format. That additional media coverage may even churn out a media darling or two from the bunch, resulting in a potential Moneymaker fanfare situation. Heck, if we're lucky, a rivalry could develop between some of the players, adding more spice to an already tantalizing-to-watch final table. Benefits to the players will surely ensue, as sponsors will be knocking on their doors, clamoring to put their company's logo on their shirts.

You can also expect each of the nine remaining players to become MUCH sharper skill-wise during the 117-day gap. Whether by experience, scouting, or with the help of a coach, this certain growth in skill amongst the players will add a "different dynamic" to the table, according to poker pro Daniel Negreanu.

Are there any cons to this? Yes, well, just one. If something were to happen during the four-month gap to one of the players, their chips would be blinded off once the main event resumed. But potentially re-inventing the game and helping it grow is far more important than any qualms the nine final table players may have with the scheduling.

Come November, I'll have my fishing pole ready to embrace and catch the new breed of fish. Will you?

Monday Night RAW review - 05/05/08

The backlash from last week's episode was crazy, as many fans like me were not only angry when William Regal pulled the plug on the main event, but we were kinda confused too.

Anyways, the show opened up with Vincent Kennedy McMahon discussing the Regal controversy, and while it looked like he was going to reprimand Regal for his actions, McMahon then did a classic 180 and congratulated the RAW GM for his brilliance.

Regal then came out to the dismay of the crowd, and like last week, went over his whole "Respect me" schtick. He threatened to turn off the lights if the crowd didn't give him the respect he was due, and when the crowd responded with a "Regal sucks" chant, he kept his word and had the lights shut off momentarily. Regal then reiterated that he would be happy to do this at any time.

Mr. Kennedy's music went off and the crowd went crazy (hate to say I told you so). Kennedy challenged Regal yet again, and of course Regal passed on the offer. Regal then said it was a shame that Kennedy didn't know his place, and again made the point that he was Kennedy's superior. Kennedy said, "Prove it". Regal then said he would be putting Kennedy in a massive handicap match against the entire ECW roster in the main event to not only promote ECW's upcoming 100th episode, but basically also to teach Kennedy a lesson.

Triple H's music hit, and the crowd was even wilder than before. He started threatening Regal because he was angry when Regal pulled the plug on his match last week, and Regal responded by saying that Triple H would be paired with Kennedy in the handicap match for the main event.

More WWE programs need to start off just as it did tonight. Taking the crowd and viewers on a roller-coaster ride like this opening did is what the WWE is all about.

The women's lumberjack match was a snoozer. Mickie James was successful in her title defense against the "Glamazon" Beth Phoenix. At least the inevitable mid-match commercial break came on here and not during the main event, so that counts for something I guess.

Trish Stratus made a cameo backstage with Ron Simmons (who was just inducted into the college football hall of fame) and a singing Trevor Murdoch. Can't complain about the cameo as it had all the ingredients of a successful one: namely, Trish Stratus!

Randy Orton is later shown backstage, and is asked about his thoughts on Regal ending his title match with Triple H early. Orton responds to the interviewer (don't know his name) by saying he respected the decision. This cameo was more filler than anything.

Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels teamed up against The Miz and John Morrison for a solid tag-team match. The "controversy" surrounding Michaels potentially faking a knee injury (and Jericho calling him out on it) hasn't captured my attention, and it doesn't seem like the live crowds care one way or another. Good wrestlers, poorly-written storyline.

Randy Orton and CM Punk had an excellent match that was seemingly scheduled out of nowhere, but that doesn't matter because, just as the match was getting exciting, Regal walked out and ended the match by turning the lights off.

After a commercial break, Orton was once again asked backstage what his thoughts were on Regal. This time Orton was clearly angry, and said he would walk into Regal's office and demand to know what the hell was going on. The crowd actually gave him a big cheer for this (which means the writers, regarding the Regal storyline, have done a good job of putting it all togetherl... getting a cheer out of one heel when he's angry at another heel is probably one of the hardest things to do in the WWE... look at JBL vs. Cena's storyline if you think otherwise).

Carlito's Cabana made it's return to RAW, and Carlito's guest was the immortal Roddy Piper. Things heated up between the two, and it nearly escalated into a beat-down when Santino Morella joined Carlito, but luckily for Piper Cody Rhodes and Cryme Time came out and saved him. Carlito and Morella escaped, and then Cryme Time started chanting, "Rowdy, Rowdy... Yea Yea!" The crowd seemed to really get into the chant, and even my pessimistic self was entertained. Rhodes, Piper, and the duo Cryme Time all danced into the commercial break.


Coming back from the break, JBL had a match with a random wrestler I assume was called up from the minor leagues. JBL didn't let his opponent get in a single offensive move, and that was that. JBL then "sent a message" to John Cena by beating up his opponent some more after he pinned him. Regarding this rivalry, I don't know if I've ever seen a storyline so underdeveloped and boring. Cena and JBL haven't even been face-to-face since the last pay-per-view (I think), yet somehow these two have bad blood brewing between them heading into Judgment Day? WWE writers, you're better than this.

The main event looked like it was going to be a good one, as legend-in-the-making Mr. Kennedy and living legend Triple H had their work cut out for them against 14 other ECW wrestlers. Unfortunately the match didn't live up to its billing, as it was a rather short and decisive victory for the ECW roster. In fact, more action happened post-match, as the ECW roster ganged up on Triple H and started beating him up. Fortunately Triple H was able to get his hands on a chair and knock out most of those who were coming at him.

In the midst of Triple H handing out chair shots, the lights suddenly went out, and when they came back on Orton was in the ring stalking Triple H behind him. Orton RKO'd Triple H, and stood over him as the show went off the air.

Overall this edition of RAW was pretty good, a solid 8 out of 10 in my book. There were some segments that didn't do much for me nor the crowd (Diva's match, JBL's match), but that didn't stop the great segments from being, well, great.

Heads-Up Challenge

I spoke with my buddy Veneno yesterday, and we're resuming our HU Challenge we started a year ago. At the moment, I'm up 2-1, with my wins coming in HORSE and 7-Card Stud matches, and my loss coming in a FLHE match. I forget how many matches we planned on playing, and I can't even remember what the winner of the series was going to get, but the details will be ironed out over the next few days.

On another note, I may soon be putting into words the most embarrassing, humiliating moment of my life for this site (a friend recently convinced me). I promise you it's a legendary tale.

Third, I'm planning on taking a look at some CardRunners videos on youtube, and I may buy a subscription for that site if one of the videos rope me in.

Stay tuned.