The world does not need another poker blog.

My first thought was to begin by trying to explain the fact that I haven't posted for a couple of weeks, but you know what? Fuck that. Sometimes I feel like blogging. Sometimes I don't. Deal with it.

In recent news:

I cashed out of PokerStars because I needed the money. This is becoming a pattern so when I get reinvested my focus will be on bankroll building. It seems like a lot of players are posting their bankroll goals and video logging their progress... I played around with that idea but I don't think it's for me.

So:

Right now I'm really undecided about the direction I want to go with this blog, and my online poker presence in general. I think I might be backing away from this facet of things so I can focus more on just playing and continuing to learn how to play.

If I come back to it, I'd maybe like to develop a more focused site concept.

We'll see what happens.

Well, I finally got through this year's Main Event videos. Some thoughts:
You could describe the final table as Team Eastgate versus Ivan Demidov as it seemed like the other players were just dying to contribute to the Eastgate fund.

Demidov's laying down the K7 two-pair against Eastgate's trips was huge. Still, you wonder if that didn't make him more likely to make the call that lost the HU match.

It seems like a Hellmuth tirade is a sort of good luck charm. Not only does Eastgate end up winning the tournament, but he steals Hellmuth's youngest player ever to win record. Very nice. It seems like this has happened to Phil more than once. Of course, when you consider the number of people he insults during a tournament, the odds probably aren't that incredible.

Tiffany Michelle probably got carried away trying to prove she wouldn't be pushed around. Phil Ivey never really seems like he's tuned in when you see him playing these things. There was something eery about Hevad Khan's subdued behavior... I felt like he must be on drugs.

It seems like the announcers spent half the Main Event talking about Scotty Nguyen's behavior at the HORSE final table...

The one thing that sticks out most in my mind is Hellmuth's comment, "To you it's poker, to me it's my life."

I love poker, but that was a sad thing to hear someone say. I hope to do a better job of keeping things in perspective.

The Rampart CRASH team was the real life LAPD anti-gang task force that inspired the story line for the popular television show The Shield. Their motto: "We intimidate those who intimidate others."

The logo for this blog, which is also the avatar I use on Stars, is an exact representation of the CRASH insignia.

Obviously the presence of the dead man's hand in the image creates an immediate tie-in to poker. Above and beyond that, plot lines of the television series The Shield, with episode titles like "The Spread", "All In", "On Tilt" and "Playing Tight" could basically be interpreted as metaphor for poker play.

I think the overall message is the one I want to convey:

I am wily, aggressive, and dangerous.

And I have a badass avatar.

A lot of people responding to DaBeear's most recent PokerTube screencast have been after him to reveal what software he's using to quickly determine the quality of his hands. DaBeear is holding out and I don't want to spoil his fun, but as a gift to anyone who bothers to follow my blog:

He's using Omaha Indicator. I don't know that from asking him about it, but because of the way he's applying the Hutchison point system which is one of the features built into the Omaha Indicator HUD. This software is also a stat tracker so it obviously provides a huge edge, especially for a novice player who would otherwise have a lot of trouble determining where he was at in a hand. If you're interested, you can actually see Marty Smith using this software in his YouTube videos.

PokerTracker produces a version of their software for Omaha, but I think if you're looking for quick odds & outs calculations as well as a HUD providing the VPIP/PFR/AF of your opponents, Omaha Indicator is the software package you want.

As I haven't personally tested or reviewed either program, however, this post isn't meant to be taken as a recommendation. It's just an FYI on what's available.