Sat, 6:00 PM Update:  Unfortunately the court challenge was denied today which means Canterbury and Running Aces will remain closed for now.  They will be taking additional action this week in an effort to get re-opened as soon as possible.

Fri, 2:15 PM Update:  No news yet regarding this morning’s court hearing.  They are still waiting on a Judge’s ruling.  Racing has been cancelled this evening. 

10:30 PM Update:  I’m reporting live here from Canterbury Park where the place is beyond packed!  I’ve been coming here semi-regularly for many years - its the closest card room to my home – and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it like this…and its Thursday.  The thousands here don’t seem to be phased by the fact that 1.5 hours from now, 12:01 AM Friday, Canterbury Park and Running Aces will be forced to close their doors due to the State’s budget impasse.  This just two months after poker players were forced to give up their rights to play online on what was dubbed “Black Friday”.

If you think this sounds absurd, you are correct.  You may ask…but Canterbury and Running Aces are privately owned, how could a state shutdown affect them?  Great question.  Canterbury and Aces are governed by the Minnesota Racing Commission (MRC).  The basic task of the MRC is to make sure the two businesses are following the laws. 

The state is classifying the MRC during this shutdown as unnecessary forcing them to close despite the fact that the MRC is 100% funded by the two racetrack/card rooms.  Without the MRC to govern the two businesses, they are being forced to shut down as well.

There are a total of 10 MRC employees between Canterbury and Running Aces.  There are 3,500 other people employed by Canterbury and Running Aces that now lose their jobs because the state has decided to shut down the MRC.  Make sense?  Exactly.  Not to mention these two businesses pay taxes.  So all the lost revenue by these two facilities will affect the bottom line to the state which is, oddly enough (sarcasm), having budget issues.  And this couldn’t have happened at a worse time, the 4th of July weekend is always the biggest live racing and revenue weekend of the year that will be impossible for these businesses to make up. 

Both facilities have asked for an injunction allowing them to continue operations.  The case was quickly passed to the MN Supreme Court.  The word here at Canterbury is that there is a special meeting at 9:00 AM Friday to try to get this rectified.

The 8-16 table on Monday was wild.  Yes, 8-16 games are usually very wild, but this one was especially loose and aggressive.  Action would be capped pre-flop half the time, and typically five or more players went to the flop.  Calling four bets cold was a regular occurrence.  Two-outers were rampant, and the best hand had a difficult time holding up against multiple opponents and several large bets.

This had been the consistent table culture for the entirety of my session, perhaps two hours.  A gentleman joined the table ninety minutes into my session, and played a few hands.  As his third orbit came around, and he was once again in the big-blind, the following action occurred:

The under-the-gun player raised, and two players called.  The button three-bet, and the small-blind called all three bets.

The big-blind, looking rather irritated, spoke up:  ”I’m so tired of everybody raising my blinds!  Y’all think I’m just gonna’ fold, and keep giving you my money!  Everybody is always trying to push me out of the pot; well I’ve had enough!  Stop always raising my big-blind!”  …as he called the three-bet.

This doesn’t sound particularly memorable.  But I never stop being appalled at the absolute narcissism of the average poker player.  Stop raising your big-blind?  Your big-blind?  Have you been paying any attention at all to this poker game?  EVERY SINGLE HAND IS RAISED.  EVERY SINGLE ONE!  The audacity, and absolute self-involved self-serving narrative, to convince yourself that the game and its players are collectively plotting and scheming against you.

This is a common pitfall of the bad, lazy poker player.  You see it all the time.  A player gets raised on the turn: Dammit, this is the third time in a row he’s raised me! A player gets bet into on the river:  Everybody’s always trying to push me around!  I’m sick of it! Oooh, and the check-raise!  Players love to feel victimized by the check-raise:  This tricky bastard!  He thinks he’s so clever playing that way against me!

As crafty poker players, yes, we’re trained to play against our opponents’ individual style.  But more often than not, we’re simply playing situational poker.  Do you think when I get A-A pre-flop, I stop to think about who’s in the big-blind?  Of course not, I just raise!  Even when I calculate who’s in the big-blind in regard to my raise, it’s just poker!  Why do people take the plays of their opponents as a calculated assault against them as an individual?  Is it possible, just possible, that the actions of your opponents are not initiated as a personal attack against you?

The world does not revolve around you.  Nobody gives a shit that you’re in the big-blind.  This is how the game is being played, and every single pot is the same way.  Get over yourself.  It isn’t as though your opponents like you or hate you.  We nothing you.  You’re an egotistical maniac if you believe the entire climate of a table is based on making you uneasy.  Grow up and change your style of play to counteract your opponents, and quit whining about how the world is against you.  We don’t care about you, good or bad; we just want your money.

ALSO, FOR ANY READERS WHO ENJOY MY BLOGS, PLEASE CHECK OUT MY NEW, SLIGHTLY ALTERED WEBSITE:

JAYMIND.COM

If you plan on playing in the WSOP Main Event please let us know.  Respond in the comment section, we would like to get a list of players as best we can that will be participating and follow your progress. 

Also, if you will be Tweeting throughout, post your Twitter Handle in the comment section so all can follow. 

Best of luck!  Represent!

Fast Poker Action!

10:30 AM Every Thursday

$30 No-Limit Hold’em Tournament

$20 Rebuys during the first hour

15 Minute Rounds

$30 Buy-in includes $10 Entry Fee.

Registration opens at 9 AM and continues through the first two rounds of play.

Rebuys available during the first four rounds of play.

Every $20 Rebuy includes $15 into Prize Pool and $5 Dealer Appreciation.

Players must have an MVP player card to register and play in any tournament.

Special Turbo Bonus:

Turbo Thursday tournament winners through August 25 will receive a key that could win a 2011 Camaro courtesy of Mauer Chevrolet.

Camaro Giveaway August 27th.

Camaro Giveaway is part of Canterbury Park’s Live Racing Fan Appreciation Day Giveaway. Approximately 100 – 150 total keys will be given away.

http://www.canterburypark.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=1U5sSVM5zzg%3d&tabid=140

Jeff Henkel of New Prague took down the June Canterbury $500 on Sunday outlasting a 57-player field earning $7,980.  Henkel took down the Minnesota State Poker Champion Rob WazWaz heads up.  WazWaz added another $5,700 to his bankroll for the runner-up finish. 

Canterbury Park Card Casino
Results for 6/26/11 “Sunday 550″ No Limit Hold’em Tournament
57 Entries,  $500 Buy-in
$28,500 Prize Pool
1st Place   Jeff Henkel,  New Prague   $7,980
2nd Place   Rob Waz Waz,  Crystal   $5700
3rd Place    Alan Carty,  Chaska      $3990
4th Place    Joe Maas,  Plymouth    $2850
5th Place    Dana Isaacson,  Bloomington   $1995
6th Place    Brian Blechinger, Chaska   $1710
7th Place    Brian Lindsay,  Mpls   $1425
8th Place    Mike Luikens,  Apple Valley  $1140
9th Place    Todd Melander,  Mpls   $855
10th Place  Andy Redleaf,  Mpls     $855

This blog, this very blog you’re reading, is the 100th time I’ve published my thoughts on MNPokerMag.com

What does that mean?  Well, ultimately, it doesn’t mean anything.  Nothing at all, in fact.  But I’ve taken this meaningless round-number and turned it into a good occasion for personal reflection.

My typical blog is usually pessimistic in nature, using this platform as an opportunity to spew each and every one of my many poker observations and irritations.  I’m an irritable guy, what can I say?  I’ve thought, however, that a reasonable reader could ask himself himself this question:

Who the hell does this guy think he is?

This is an absolutely fair question.  After all, I spend time picking apart the minutiae of everybody else’s table manner and personal characteristics.  Why not a little self-examination there, JayMind?

Indeed.

For starters, I’m no fun at the poker table.  I’m all business.  I sit down, usually put in my earbuds, and get to work.  My quiet demeanor works for me, and while I’m at the table, that’s all I’m really worried about: if what I’m doing works for me.  Making friends, or even being cordial, has never been a primary or even a least-bit existent goal of mine.  I do recognize, however, that if a table were full of people like me, we’d all fall asleep due to boredom.

Also, I’m rude.  I do not, let’s say, verbally berate people or tell the dealer how shitty my cards are.  My business-at-hand mentality, however, leads me to ignore many inquiries.  As you know, I hate when people ask me what my cards were.  But a more gentlemanly human-being, when faced with an irritating question, will answer politely: “I’m sorry.  I don’t like to share that information.”  I simply ignore the person.  They’ll be sitting right next to me, staring me in the face, and I don’t answer them, I don’t look at them.  Let’s be clear: I still think their question is very poor etiquette.  But a more civilized human would answer the inquiry like an adult.

Furthermore, there are many many players who are better at poker than I am.  It may seem that because, obviously, I write about poker, I claim to be better at it than everybody else.  Not the case.  I do consider myself skilled and knowledgeable.  But I don’t consider myself anywhere near the best.  I enjoy discussing the idiosyncratic details of the game, observing social interaction.  That’s where I’m valuable, if you can call that value.  Not strategically…

Ultimately, despite my many personal flaws, I’m going to continue ranting and raving about the near meaningless details of the poker social climate.  Like, why the hell is that guy sitting next to me always kicking me? Doesn’t he know I’m sitting here too?

ALSO, FOR ANY READERS WHO ENJOY MY BLOGS, PLEASE CHECK OUT MY NEW, SLIGHTLY ALTERED WEBSITE:

JAYMIND.COM

By OSKAR GARCIA
Associated Press

June 24, 2011, 4:06PM

LAS VEGAS — U.S. Rep. Joe Barton introduced a bill Friday to legalize online poker, hoping to pull the estimated $6 billion industry out of the shadows at a time when its top operators face serious legal troubles.

The Republican lawmaker from Texas told The Associated Press that the bill would let states choose whether they want to allow residents to play poker on the Internet, and operators would be required to already have gambling licenses in at least one U.S. state.

A law passed in 2006 barred financial institutions from processing illegal gambling payments, but many have complained since then that it didn’t explicity outlaw playing poker and it didn’t define well enough exactly what is illegal.

In April, the Justice Department indicted executives and payment processors of online poker’s three biggest companies — PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker. They’re accused of tricking banks into processing the payments by disguising them as different kinds of transactions. Another indictment against those working for several smaller online poker sites came later.

Barton said he checked around informally with Republican leadership and felt good enough about the bill’s chances to move forward.

“This may be the year that the stars align — I hope so,” Barton told the AP in advance of a news conference in Washington.

Barton said the issue has traction because the indictments spurred poker players to renew their push on the issue, lawmakers are looking for ways to relieve a budget crunch, and previous efforts — though unsuccessful — have laid the groundwork for a detailed, workable solution.

“I think this bill is going to benefit from a lot of spade-work that’s been done the past two or three Congresses,” said Barton, a senior member of the House’s energy and commerce committee.

The bill, which has 11 co-sponsors including seven Democrats, was met with approval from the Poker Players Alliance, a Washington-based group of poker enthusiasts funded in part by PokerStars and Full Tilt through an Internet gambling association in Canada.

The commercial casino industry’s primary trade group, the American Gaming Association, praised Barton for addressing the issue but stopped short of actually endorsing his bill.

Potential operators would apply through a newly created office in the Commerce Department and need to have gambling licenses under at least one state or tribe.

Provisions in the bill restrict those who could apply for a license for the first three years to licensed gambling companies that have significant assets, and require significant vendors to be scrutinized the same way.

The bill would not make it legal to gamble on other casino games like blackjack, craps and slots through the Internet. In casinos, poker games are different because they involve players gambling against each other — not against the house, which has a mathematical advantage.

Barton said he would not support legalizing other casino games online because he believes poker involves more skill than luck.

“We’re going to try to get a bill on the president’s desk in this Congress,” Barton said.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/7625687.html#ixzz1QPnxV4Fh