Daniel Moravec

Wow, what a way to deal the cards out… two hands in a row after making a huge comeback on an earlier $25/$50nl beat…

HAND 1

PokerStars Game #48864846141: Hold’em No Limit ($25/$50 USD) – 2010/08/29 18:38:07 PT [2010/08/29 21:38:07 ET]
Table ‘Albiorix’ 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: adioking ($5967 in chips)
Seat 3: tcblade ($2500 in chips)
Seat 4: nutsinho ($3348 in chips)
Seat 5: julianherold ($2819 in chips)
Seat 6: Marccus85 ($2500 in chips)
julianherold: posts small blind $25
Marccus85: posts big blind $50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to adioking [As Ad]
adioking: raises $50 to $100
tcblade: folds
nutsinho: raises $250 to $350
julianherold: folds
Marccus85: folds
adioking: raises $850 to $1200
nutsinho: calls $850
*** FLOP *** [4c 2s Qs]
adioking: bets $2148
nutsinho: calls $2148 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [4c 2s Qs] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [4c 2s Qs 3s] [Kh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
adioking: shows [As Ad] (a pair of Aces)
nutsinho: shows [Qd Qh] (three of a kind, Queens)
nutsinho collected $6769 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $6771 | Rake $2
Board [4c 2s Qs 3s Kh]
Seat 1: adioking showed [As Ad] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 3: tcblade folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: nutsinho (button) showed [Qd Qh] and won ($6769) with three of a kind, Queens
Seat 5: julianherold (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: Marccus85 (big blind) folded before Flop

HAND 2

PokerStars Game #48864880587: Hold’em No Limit ($25/$50 USD) – 2010/08/29 18:39:07 PT [2010/08/29 21:39:07 ET]
Table ‘Albiorix’ 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: adioking ($2619 in chips)
Seat 3: tcblade ($2500 in chips)
Seat 4: nutsinho ($6769 in chips)
Seat 5: julianherold ($2794 in chips)
Seat 6: Marccus85 ($2500 in chips)
Marccus85: posts small blind $25
adioking: posts big blind $50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to adioking [Ah Kh]
tcblade: raises $50 to $100
nutsinho: folds
adioking said, “lucky lucky”
julianherold: folds
Marccus85: folds
adioking: raises $500 to $600
tcblade: raises $1900 to $2500 and is all-in
adioking: calls $1900
*** FLOP *** [6d 9s 9d]
*** TURN *** [6d 9s 9d] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [6d 9s 9d 2c] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
adioking: shows [Ah Kh] (a pair of Nines)
tcblade: shows [Js Jc] (two pair, Jacks and Nines)
tcblade collected $5023 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $5025 | Rake $2
Board [6d 9s 9d 2c 4s]
Seat 1: adioking (big blind) showed [Ah Kh] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 3: tcblade showed [Js Jc] and won ($5023) with two pair, Jacks and Nines
Seat 4: nutsinho folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: julianherold (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: Marccus85 (small blind) folded before Flop

I’ve recently been betrayed by a friend and it must be one of the worst feelings that I’ve ever felt in my life. I never thought it could happen to me and I honestly thought that I was about to put all of the terrible things that had been happening to me behind me. I’ve been screwed over by so many people since I’ve come into having the slightest bit of money, but this time is different. This time I was not conned or fooled, but it was straight up stolen from me by one my closest friend, Daniel Harguth.

Daniel Harguth and I had known each other for about 10 years, becoming close friends about 3 years ago. I thought that Daniel was simply down on his luck when I first met him. Once I found out that he had a love for poker as deep as mine, I offered him a job at Best Odds Corp. In the beginning he worked hard, helped me with my organization problems, and kept things moving. I hired business coach Rich Bernstein to help Best Odds Corp move forward even faster. Little did I know that these two people were going to drain me for my money.

Rich Bernstein swindled me out of money by proposing fraudulent investments and loans, basically setting up a Ponzi scheme that he sucked me into. I’m currently involved in a major lawsuit against this man for his fraudulent activities to which he is threatening bankruptcy to slide out of. I want this man in jail for what he’s done.

Daniel Harguth didn’t fool me into giving him money or anything like that. Instead, he intentionally acquired my secret passwords and the passcode to my safe. Daniel logged into my personal Full Tilt Poker account on April 15th 2010 at 12:04am CST after knowing that I had transferred money into that account. He sat into $2/$4 no-limit Texas Holdem games, moving up to the ultra-high stakes mixed games in less than 2 days. He played against players such as Cole South, Phil Ivey, durrrr, and many others. Daniel continued to play online poker on my Full Tilt Poker account, running the account from about $33,000 all the way up to $77,678

The Best Hands to Play

Premium Hands

The obvious premium hands consist of AAKK double suited, AAJ10 double suited, etc. Any two big pair or any big pair double suited with a J10 is a premium hand.

Playable Hands

• Any hand with a suited ace and three connected cards is playable. Also any suited ace with a three card one gap is playable.
• Double pairs are also very good. When dealt a double pair, your chances of hitting a set are one time in four. Sets are very profitable situations to be in when playing both Omaha and Holdem.
• Play hands in which all four cards are working together… i.e. QQJ10 is far superior to QQ86.
• Play hands with all combinations working for it such as 78910 rather than 28910, which has 3 bad combinations (82,92,102).

Dangerous Hands to Play

• If you don’t have the nut flush draw, you really don’t want to play the hand… unless you already have a made hand and are able to back into a flush.
• It is very dangerous to play top & bottom pair, as well as bottom two pair.
• Hitting low sets can be profitable, but when you get beat set over set it becomes extremely costly. That’s why you avoid hands such as K662 altogether.
• When you have a big pair make sure the other two cards are working with it. i.e. QQ72 is not a good hand because you’re really only playing QQ and have no room for improvement.

Advanced Concepts

Position

Position is incredibly important in PLO, perhaps more than any other poker game. You’ll make more on your good hands and lose less on your bad hands when you play them from the appropriate position.

Bluffing

There are some good bluffing opportunities in PLO, but much less than in Holdem. Most of your bluffing opportunities will come when everybody has checked to you. Most bluffing occurs on uncoordinated flops as they are hard to defend by other players with less than top two pair or a set. Bluffing should be done on the flop and very seldom on the turn or river due to the number of possible hand combinations.

Playing Defense

• If you have a made hand and two cards to the flush with two flush cards on the board… you should realize that your opponent, who may be drawing to a flush, will now have less outs to draw out on you. In essence, your hand is now playing defense rather than offense.

So I’m out at the LAPC in Los Angeles and have been playing just a shade less than perfect. The only problem is that no matter how good the reads are that I’m putting on my opponents and their hands, my hands just refuse to hold up in big pot situations. Here’s a run down:

Satellite Tournaments to get into the LAPC Main Event; $1,060 each game $10,000 to the winner.

1) MTT: hand a) (ATs) all in on 9s7s7c flop. I whif the flush draw, but I’m still in. Hand b) (9Ts) all in on J88 flop (short stacked), I miss the straight draw and get knocked out.
2) 10 person sng, 4 players left: (AJ) vs A9 all in preflop with 4 left, 9 flops and I lose. We were both deep stacked.
3) 10 person sng: (AJs) vs QTs all in preflop, T flops and opponent picks up flush draw on turn. I lose.
4) 10 person sng: (AKs) vs AKs all in preflop, opponent catches his flush and I lose.
5) 10 person sng, 5th hand: (KK) vs QQ vs JJ vs AKo all in preflop. Flop is 84A and I lose.
6) (33) vs AKo all in preflop and I lose this flip.

$10/$20 no limit cash games

HAND 1

I hold AQ in seat 5
Seat 2 raises to $110
A weak player in seat 3 calls $110
I reraise to $350
Weak player in seat 3 calls $350.
Flop is Qc6c8s, I hold the Q of clubs.
I bet $500
Weak player in seat 3 calls $500.
Turn is Q68[4]
I bet $800.
Weak player moves all in for $1000 more
I call $1000 more.
River is A684[9].
Weak player shows 64d and takes it down.

This is a great resource for those of you who use poker tracking software such as Poker Tracker, Holdem Manager, etc.

http://www.pokerlistings.com/strategy/Interpreting-Your-Opponents-Stats

I purchased my first Mac a few years ago, and I must say, I have never been happier with a computer in my life. I was really nervous to switch from a PC and I held off for over a year. But now, I am never going back! I have Windows on my Mac too, but still never use it. I can safely say that Windows is basically useless to me! Thank God!

Although City Center has been open for nearly a month now (since December 16th, 2009), AT&T users can expect to stay at another hotel if they want to make any phone calls.

The completion of the City Center project was anticipated by many. Unfortunately, AT&T customers visiting City Center have been less than enthusiastic with many people dropping calls, not receiving a signal, and unable to utilize text messaging or 3g internet service.

People such as myself have expressed utter disappointment with the City Center staff about the lack of service at City Center. I approached the director of the City Center poker room with a typically simply question, “Excuse me, where can I go to get cell phone service with AT&T?”

After being pointed towards the exit doors, my question was commented on by several other poker players in the room. “You’re going to have to go to Harmon if you want any service,” and “You won’t get any signal in here with AT&T so good luck with that.”

I left my stack of chips on the table and proceeded toward the exit in hopes to gain a signal, which I didn’t receive until I was hundreds of feet outside of the 16,797,000 square foot building which lies on a 76 acre premier plot of land.

I decided to call AT&T about the issue. After clicking through to the “close account” option, I was greeted by a representative. I asked the representative why I was unable to receive service at City Center in zip code 89103, and why my phone was dropping nearly 10 calls per day at my condo in Panorama Towers, also in zip code 89103.

AT&T Representative: “The City Center tower has not yet been completed, but I can put you in touch with tech support and they may be able to assist you with the degraded service that you’ve been experiencing.

After about 45 minutes speaking to her about the “degraded service,” the AT&T representative had given me a $550 credit toward future bills.

This conversation was over a week ago and AT&T cell phone service is still not functioning inside of the City Center project. How long will it take them?

What you need to pack for a trip to Europe, how much, and how to fit it all into a single carry-on bag, with some extra room for a souvenir or two.

This is the same list that I used for the first time traveling to Europe but slightly modified, whether I’m going for a week or a couple months. You can always buy extra clothing on your trip. Although my purposes for traveling to Europe are usually for business, the only business related item I bring is my laptop.

When you’re packing you should consider the six cardinal rules of traveling:

1. Avoid white
2. Avoid wrinkling
3. Clothing that layers well
4. Lots of pockets
5. Avoid electric items
6. Less is more

I went in the fall and brought way too much stuff! It was very costly when I ran into an airline that had lower luggage limits that normal. Limits were 15 kilo for checked baggage and 10 kilo for your single carry-on, much different than the laws of the United States. I strongly suggest sticking to this list and don’t bring any more than what I’ve listed here or you’ll be paying BIG TIME (20 EUR per kilo over!)

Important

• 3 to 4 loads worth of laundry detergent

Clothes

• 2 pairs of jeans.
• 1 belt.
• 4 pairs of underwear.
• 4 pairs of socks.
• 3 t-shirts. Keep them dark. Wear under longer sleeve shirts so the t-shirts will soak up the sweat and you can wash them)
• 2 long sleeve shirts. Nothing thick, try to pack microfiber stuff)
• 1 sweater. Keep it warm and dressy. Europeans wear a lot of nice sweaters when it’s cold. Sports jackets are very popular in countries that are chilly.
• 1 jacket. Only when you’re visiting late fall or winter.
• 1 pair of good walking shoes. Don’t bring anything fancy if you can avoid it. Shoes take up A LOT of space in your luggage and are really heavy. Just bring a single pair of walking shoes OR comfortable black shoes that you can walk in for miles at a time if you’re going to a conference.
• 1 hat. If you’re not too concerned about fashion, grab a Tilley Hat. If you don’t plan on being in the sun all the time, grab a regular ball cap.
• 1 pair of sunglasses. Polarized are the best. Pack a pair that doesn’t take up much space with a bulky container.
• Some jewelry. Pack a small amount of jewelry if you require it. Jewelry is heavy so we don’t recommend taking more than a single watch, necklace, and bracelet.

Toilet/Lou/Bathroom/Restroom

Store your liquids in quart size plastic bags. I prefer Ziploc. This will prevent spills from happening and the airport TSA prefers it this way. Minimize the space that you use by packing airport sized items. These can be easily purchased at Target or Walmart.

• Toothbrush. Avoid electric.
• 1 small tube of toothpaste. You can always get more from a hotel.
• Small soap bar. Bring the sliver that’s left in your shower and collect others from hotels along the way. You could exchange this for a small bottle of body wash instead.
• Razor. Avoid electric.
• Small bottle of shaving cream
• Medicines. Keep prescription drugs in their original containers in case TSA searches your bag.
• Extra glasses and/or contact lenses. If you wear glasses all the time, bring an extra pair. If you prefer contact lenses, bring 1 pair of glasses and an extra set of contact lenses. The longer your stay, the more contact lenses you should bring.
• First-aid kit. Don’t forget to pack lip-balm, bandages, hand-lotion, sunscreen, and decongestant.
• Comb.
• Laundry Kit. You’ll be doing lots of laundry in your sink or tub. Bring travel detergent, a braided clothesline, and a stain eraser such as a Tide Pen.
• Condoms. US brands are safer.

Documents

• Language phrase-books. You’ll need this if you’re in a country that doesn’t speak English well.
• Journal & pens. Or you can use a laptop if you’re bringing one along.
• Camera, memory cards, & battery charger. Don’t flaunt a gigantic camera bag that screams “steal me.”
• Address list. If you have an iPhone, update your address book with everybody that you plan on sending postcards to. People love to receive postcards.
• Bug spray. For rural travelers.
• Luggage locks. TSA approved.
• Tiny folding umbrella. You’ll need this for when it rains.
• Tiny flashlight. LED are the brightest and most compact.
• Plug adapters. For charging your cell phone and camera.
• Compact duct tape. Trust me.
• Inflatable neck pillow. Bean filled take up too much space, and these help A LOT when you want to rest on the plane.
• Eye mask. You’ll fall asleep much easier on the plane with one of these.
• Front-pocket wallet. Pick-pockets thrive on naive tourists who carry cash in their back pocket.
• Money. Exchange whatever you can at a Wells Fargo bank before you leave. They are the only bank in the US that will do a commission free exchange for their customers. I pack about $300 to $500 per week of travel so I can enjoy sightseeing and fantastic restaurants. You can use credit card too, but your bank will charge crazy currency conversion rates. I found this out the hard way.
• Passport. You won’t go far without it.
• Airline tickets.

The poker world mourns after the death of famous poker player Amir Vahedi on January 8th, 2009.

Amir Vahedi died at the age of 46 due to complications of his diabetes and will be missed by many. He was born in Tehran, Iran, and began his poker career in 1997, cashing his first event in 2000. Amir was awarded with the honor of being named No limit Texas Holdem player of the year in 2001. He won his first WSOP bracelet in a May 2003 event. Only two weeks later, Amir Vahedi cashed in sixth place in the World Series of Poker Main Event.

Amir was always known for chomping the end of a cigar while he played poker. He was also the poker player who prompted Ben Affleck to begin playing poker. Amir Vahedi was a member of the Absolute Poker team of professional poker players. His teammate, and good friend, Mark Seif broke the news on Amir’s personal blog.

I feel fortunate to say that I had a chance to meet this wonderful man. Amir was an extremely lighthearted person, joking about things that most others would not joke about. He was a great poker player too, and when sitting across from him, one could not help but see how humble Amir Vahedi was when he would scoop a pot.

His laughter filled many poker rooms in the past, and he will be missed.

Amir Vahedi Dies at age of 46