Another Mucking Blog

Mucking Eh! Sure those might be the words out of your mouth when you get a bad beat…but I’m sure there is usually one less M and one more F in your vocabulary. Regardless of what words escape from your lips in your moment of complete frustration the point is bad beats are inevitable in poker. You can play the hand perfectly and regardless of what happens your still subject to that degree of luck and that stupid mucker who just happened to suck out!

It’s like Chris Ferguson said in that commercial where he trapped the fish with only 4 outs and on the river that little fishy hit 1 of his 4 outs. “Sometime the right move just isn’t enough”

So in case your on tilt from a bad beat you’ve experienced lately here are my top 5 favorite bad beats that at the end of the day make me feel a little better about myself.


5. 2005 WSOP Main Event, First Hand. Oliver Hudson Heads-Up against Sam Farha.
This one is “disaster movie status” said WSOP announcer Norman Chad. In the very first hand of the 2005 WSOP Farha was dealt Ace, 10 off suit and bet 200 chips. Every one folded except actor Oliver Hudson (son of Goldie Hawn and brother of that smoking hot babe Kate Hudson…mmm Kate Hudson). Any way Hudson, who had pocket 10’s, reraised to 450 chips. Farha called.

The flop came Ace, Ace, 10 giving both players a full house but Farha had the nuttiest of all the nuts! Both players checked slow playing it. A queen came on the turn and Hudson went all in (even though he was drawing dead).Farha immediately called and flipped over his cards leaving Hudson stunned. “He went through 10 Grand in 90 seconds. Those are Paris Hilton numbers,” said Chad as Hudson went adios on the very first hand of the Main Event.


4. 2008 WSOP Main Event, Day 4. Jean Robert Bellande Heads-Up against Sarkis Akopyan
This one is a true bad beat on a 4 outer suck out by Akopyan. But it reminds me that you should be MUCKING cautious going all in pre flop against some one who clearly has you covered. Action was on Akopyan who raised to 16K pre flop with 10, 9 off suit. Bellande who had Ace, Queen off suit moved all in with his last 66K. Akopyan who was the clear under dog in the hand called with only 37% odds of winning the hand, but hey he had him covered so why the MUCK not!

The flop came Ace 2, 8, and Bellande looked as if he was going to double up. “No Jacks or 7’s!” Bellande quickly cried out. The turn was a 6. “That’s the card I’m talking about!” Bellande said as he started his celebration. Not so fast Jean Robert! Akopyan could still hit a 7 the table reminded him. “Bye bye“ called out Akopyan just before the river and BAM! It’s a mucking 7! Akopyan completed the straight and is either a mind reader/ an Angle Shooter / or one Mucking lucky Russian! Bad beat John Robert, bad beat fo sho!


3. 2005 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, Match #2 of Championship Match, Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth Heads-Up against Chris “Jesus” Ferguson
Sixty-four of the worlds best poker players came to the Golden Nugget in 2005 for the National-Heads Up Poker Championship. After many rounds the final 2 players that remained were Jesus and the Poker Brat! After winning the first match in a best of 3 series, Hellmuth was looking to take the title in 2 straight matches. It didn’t exactly go down that way.

Being dealt Ace, 3 off suit Hellmuth checked. Ferguson assuming Hellmuth was weak raised to 28K (he did this with 9, 2 off suit people! Did Jesus really think he could walk on water?) The flop came deuce, 5, 9 giving Chris a two pair. Perhaps Jesus really was…well…Jesus. However, Hellmuth had a gut shot straight draw. Ferguson raised to 40K and Hellmuth called.

The turn came and it was a 4! Hellmuth hit his gut shot! And what a hidden straight it was. That mucking Brat! Ferguson checked over to Hellmuth who bet 40K. Jesus thinking he had the best hand at this point reraised up to 120K. Hellmuth went all in and Ferguson called. To Ferguson’s shock he realized his 2 pair was second best to Hellmuth’s straight. Only a 2 or a 9 could defeat the 91% odds of Hellmuth winning the hand. And the river…a 9! Jesus walks among us! And Hellmuth hit the floor in a theatrics only the Poker Brat is capable of. The Championship match was all tied up at 2 matches a piece…after 20 minutes of crying like Phil does so well he regained his composure and returned to crucify Jesus, but still what a bad beat on Match #2!


2. 2008 Golden Nugget Satellite for WSOP Main Event Seat
This one comes from our favorite poker playing butcher, cause hey the Mucksters have to eat some times, and when we do we hit up the Bristol Farms market where our favorite poker playing butcher reminds us that even true poker enthusiasts have a day job.

So Debbie had just been eliminated from a tourney at Hollywood Park Casino where a full house (on the river) beat her nut flush and and she was feeling down (this is where you say “awe” cause damn she’s cute when she’s sad). Any way to cheer up she went to the market (she has a thing for markets) and she ran into our favorite poker playing butcher and told him about the bad beat. “HA!” said the butcher, “You think that’s bad” and then he told her about his horrible bad beat.

He was 5 spots away from winning a WSOP Main Event Seat in a satellite at the Golden Nugget. He was short stacked but had pocket aces and the board had Ace, Ace, 10,  (One Ace and the 10 were diamonds). The Butcher, with his Quad aces, checked and the guy on the button raised. Every one folded but our Butcher. He went all in. The Mucker on the button called. He turned his cards over to reveal King and a Queen of Diamonds. Our Butcher was like “Oh ya I’m gonna double up!” The turn came and it was Jack of hearts giving the button guy a straight but not enough to crack the quads. Only 1 out remained, the Jack of diamonds for the Royal Flush…did the button guy hit it?

Well…what do you think? This is a bad beat story after all!


1. 2008 WSOP Main Event, Final Table, Scott Montgomery’s 5th place elimination.
What a horrible place to get a bad beat, at the WSOP Main Event final table. But this one is one I think I will remember for a long time. And maybe that is just me because who really remembers who went out in 5th place. It was all about Peter Eastgate this year so why not remember a major suck out by the 2008 champ!

Eastgate was dealt pocket 6’s and he raised pre flop to 1.25 Million. Dennis Philips with 6, 5 off suit mucked his hand, and action came over to Scott Montgomery who had an Ace and 3 of diamonds. Being short stacked Montgomery went all in and Eastgate called the additional 5.5 Million. They turned their cards over and this is where it got Mucking exciting! OO can you feel the intensity building up…please take a moment to feel the intensity before you continue reading…OK READY!

The flop came Ace, 4, Queen and Montgomery’s fans went ballistic like Iranian missles (seriously they needed riot police to calm the excitement of the fans…J/K).  Philips at this point revealed that he had mucked a 6 and Montgomery cheekily responded “Yeah but it’s just going to be that much uglier when he hits the last 6 on the river.” The turn came and its another Ace! Montgomery with the trips and Eastgate with only a 2% chance of winning the hand. Only 1 out (the 6 of diamonds) could save Peter Eastgate . It looked as if Montgomery was about to double up and he was grinning from ear to ear…and the the 6 of diamonds came on the river whipping that smirk off Montgomery’s face oh so fast! What a suck out! Crazy full house for Eastgate and Montgomery went home…but hey for the baddest of bad beats he still took home over 3 Million George Washingtons so don’t feel that bad for the guy! If only we all could be so lucky with our bad beats!


So clearly Bad Beats are just a part of poker we must all accept. Even the pros accept it. So I leave you with this, do you still consider it a bad beat if looking back you don’t feel you would play the hand any different or do you simply say “That’s poker folks” ?

I’M OUT, No bad beats!

Vinny Vegas

This war we are waging might just have gotten a little easier!

Sen. Robert Menendez (A Demo from NJ) introduced the  Internet Poker and Games of Skill Regulation, Protection and Enforcement Act to the US Senate on Thursday, a move that pushes Internet poker one step closer to legitimacy.

Now I don’t mean to sound like a broken record but…DIDN’T I JUST SAY LAST WEEK that once it becomes an economical issue we would see momentum. Ch-ch-check it out what Menendez said, “Pulling Internet poker out of the shadows and into the light of the law, we have the opportunity to hep our economy while protecting our families.”

Not to mention once this mucking illegal / legal side ways BS US poker players have to deal with we can say good bye to Mucking sites that find ways to scam players. coughABSOULTEPOKERcoughcoughULTIMATEBETcoughcough. SORRY, something was in my throat. But did we forget about the mucking cheaters at Absolute Poker and their sister company Ultimate Bet?

Let me remind you. Someone hacked the Absolute Poker software (former employee) and was able to see his opponents hands in real time and cheated his way to $20,000,000. MUCKING BS! Well it gets worse, Absolute cut a deal with the cheater so that in return for showing how he hacked the software his name remained anonymous. Now if only we could legally complain about it to an authority…if only…

Let’s face it people. We live in a day and age where marijuana is going to get legalized in the US before Internet poker. That’s some mucking BS if you ask me. “Internet Gambling is a gateway drug!” said former Congressman Jim Leach, one of the main sponsors of the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that made Party Poker’s stock drop by 58% the day it was signed into law. Now am I the only one who sees the irony in that?

But if you really think about it it’s not that surprising. In the year 2000 nearly 650,000 US citizens were arrested for minor marijuana possession. That’s not even the big boys who are studying the hydroponics, building humidifiers, strapped with gatz, and all that. That number refers to only those who, like South Parks Towelie, “Just want to get a little high.” Now let’s compare the 650,000 arrested to the 375,000 poker players who have signed the Poker Players Alliance petition to President Obama. Pathetic if you ask me considering 60 million Americans play poker.

So what’s an America poker player to do? Well, in an economic crisis and the government is looking for new ways to raise revenue. California is looking at their biggest (untaxed) cash crop. I’m talking bout the WEED! Seriously! Marijuana in California raises around $14 Billion dollars a year, which nearly doubles the cash raised by milk and cream, California’s biggest agricultural comedy (makes $7.3 Billion a year). So why is no one looking at Internet poker? Was it really that long ago that we forgot about the $12 Billion dollars Internet poker use to raise annually, with half of the CASH MONEY coming from the US alone?

I think forgetting is only half the problem. Right now there are way to many IGNORANT opponents lobbying against the legalization of Internet gambling and far to little support for it. Hello! Did you really think we were going to make head way when so many stupid ass people are shouting “It corrupts the youth!” and “It’s a gateway drug to harder gambling addictions!“ Well, if you did expect some head way you might have missed the lack luster numbers in support. I mean do you really think weed would have ever reached this stage where a US state is considering legalizing it if there was no support for it? HELL NO! Not a chance!

So here’s the bottom line, unless you want a real “gateway drug” to get legalized before the “gateway drug” of Internet poker then you, me, all of us need to do something about it!

P.S. I love living in Cali

-Vinny Vegas