PLIA 3 COMMISH’S FINAL THOUGHTS AND FINAL 9 PREVIEW

As we get ready to close the book on another fantastic PLIA season, our very commish commish, McCann, would like to recap every player’s season and outlook for the future. The entire PLIA Committee thanks everyone for their participation and to get work on your game for PLIA4 coming in November!

The Contendors

Whites: What can you say? 3 seasons of PLIA and 3 season long titles for Whites. Has cemented himself as the undisputed best player in the league. Somehow actually left a good amount of money on the table this year with a 1-5 record heads up. But 6 top 2 finishes is just absurd.

Final 9 Odds: -325

Rosstradamus: A second season long top 3 finish for the Damus shows that consistency really pays off in this format. Damus came oh so close to catching Whites, and did so without notching a win. Impressive. Tied Whites with 12 final tables out of 17 weeks, which is an incredible number, and collected 5 cashes.

Final 9 Odds: -120

Mazz: Another strong finish for the league Dark Horse. Mazz is always hanging around. Nothing flashy, just collecting a lot of points every week. A 3rd place finish with no wins and only 3 cashes means that Mazz is a grinder. He’s the Sungjae Im of PLIA. Solid year for the Maestro.

Final 9 Odds: -175

TheDivia71: Divia has always been a consistent PLIA performer, but this year he raised his game to a higher level. After 10th and 9th place finishes the last 2 seasons, the Div stormed his way up to 4th with a strong finish to the season. Back to back cashes to end the season put Divia securely in the top 9

Final 9 Odds: Even

AJIII: AJ reclined his way to a second consecutive Final 9 appearance with his usual consistent play. AJ somehow still finds himself without a PLIA win, and many people are saying that he’s the best PLIA player without a win. The late reg master was able to avoid bad weeks with only one bottom 5 finish during weeks that he played.

Final 9 Odds: +145

Tanker1919: I didn’t realize what an odd season Tanker was having until a couple weeks ago. He somehow managed to finish 6th with only 4 final tables, the same amount of final tables as our 23rd place finisher. Insane. Tanker basically finished between 10th and 12th every week. Is that good? I don’t know. But in this format it gets him a 6th place finish and an appearance in the Final 9.

Final 9 Odds: +150

Black: Kind of a strange year for Black. For some reason he didn’t seem to make as much noise as he usually does with only 3 cashes, but he showed up at the right time with a huge win in the High Roller. Black joins Whites and Tanker as the only 3 players to make the Final 9 in all 3 seasons of PLIA.

Final 9 Odds: -180

Walnuts: A big bounce back year for Walnuts after a very disappointing PLIA 2. Walnuts is a grinder, always fighting for those points. Feel like every week I see him with a short stack at some point in the tournament, but he grinds it out and gets the most out of each week.

Final 9 Odds: +150

Craig B: Craig B put forth one of the most clutch performances in the history of PLIA with his win in Week 17. He needed a top 3 and a little help in order to get into the Final 9, and Craig B delivered. Craig had a rough first 2 PLIA seasons with 18th and 21st place finishes, so him making the Final 9 this year is a great story. Easy winner of the Most Improved award.

Final 9 Odds: +200

…and Everyone Else…

Shades: Ugh. You gotta feel bad for Shades as he again misses out on the Final 9, this time as a result of Craig B’s huge week 17 win. Look, it was still a good season for Shades as he collected his first 2 PLIA wins, giving him a nice profit in season 3. But we all know how bad he wanted the Final 9. Maybe next year.

JesscoB: After week 6, Jessco was sitting pretty, a near lock for the Final 9. But the second half of the season was a rough one for Jessco as he fell all the way back to 11th and missed the Final 9 for the third straight season.

Lordsten99: Lordsten returned after a hiatus in season 2, but despite making 7 final tables, didn’t record a single cash. Ouch.

Sampson: A notorious slow starter, Sampson was basically out of it after week 5, but he got hot for a couple weeks in the middle of the season, making a nice little run to get back into the Final 9 conversation. Unfortunately it was too big of a hill to climb, and Sampson finds himself on the outside looking in of the Final 9 for the first time in 3 seasons. The 2 wins keep him in the black on the season.

McCann: McCann took an awful lot of shit this season for what ended up being a middle of the pack, profitable finish on the year. 3 straight cashes to end the season, with a big win in week 16 certainly helped.

Dan OT: The highest finisher of the first year Ace guys. Unfortunately, that was not a high bar to clear with a 15th place finish. The commish thought these new guys would be at a disadvantage this season without the local knowledge that the veterans of the league had collected over the first 2 seasons. That proved to be correct. Let’s be honest, it takes a couple weeks to adjust to the playing styles of guys like 82p.

CJW84: Chris was unstoppable during weeks 3 and 4 with his back to back W’s. The rest of the season, not so much.

Krazy Kooter 2.0: A fairly consistent player, but just lacked the big finishes to really be a contender this season. Picked up a couple cashes to end the year. Someone to look out for next year as he adjusts to the PLIA format.

Quinn: Seven final tables for Quinn wasn’t enough to get him into contention this season, as he had too many early exits to compete with the consistent point collectors. This is now 2 finishes of 16th or worse for Quinn in 3 seasons. He might need to make some adjustments if wants to compete for the Final 9 next season.

Mike K: What happened?? Mike K got off to a solid start this season, but weeks 11-17 were an absolute disaster. Hopefully his beloved Providence Friars make a run in the tourney next week, because this late season collapse has got to be eating him up inside.

BrianHawk: Speaking of late season collapses. The first half of the season it looked like Hawko had returned to his legendary PNIA form. But 3 no shows and 4 low finishes in the last 8 weeks sent Hawko plummeting down the standings.

Ace: Ace had his one week of brilliance, getting his first PLIA win from the Saugus Hooters in Week 9, but that was about it. He can now shift his Thursday night focus to his e-sports NHL team.

Meatloaf: Yeah, it was a tough year for the Ace guys.

82p54m48: The MVP of the league is not usually someone who finishes in 23rd, but 82p is the MVP of PLIA. His playing style is so outrageous that it is both equally frustrating and rewarding to play against. It’s so great when he calls you down with 4th pair when you have a monster, but it’s just as frustrating when makes a straight with five-deuce to beat your top set. I found myself on the losing end of many of those situations this year. But with all that he is a gentleman on the felt, and picked up another win this season. This league simply wouldn’t be the same without 82p.

3,5 Suited: The ultimate wild card. It’s all or nothing with 3,5. Unfortunately, this year it was mostly nothing.

Cammon and Billy.fc: The best ability is availability. Let’s just say these two were lacking in that department.

Brendan24: Has anyone performed a wellness check?

PLIA 3 Week 15 & 16 “How it Unfolded” DOUBLE ISSUE

McCann Shows Signs of Life (and Competency)

Congratulations to Mike McCann for his first PLIA victory in what seems like forever and taking home the 2nd largest pot of the season (high roller excluded)! It’s been a really tough year for our Commish. Once heralded as one of the sharpest, albeit tightest, players in the league, McCann has struggled to get anything going this year. Leading up to Week 15, he only made 2 final tables and saw himself sitting at the bottom of the PLIA standings. It got to the point where McCann was even questioning his love of the game and if he even wanted to run PLIA4 (or PLIV). From his own perspective…

Look, its obviously been a really tough year for me in PLIA. Frankly, its been embarrassing. I couldn’t even look at the standings because it hurt so much to see my name all the way at the bottom. And then having to deal with the constant needling on top of it has been brutal. I was dreading the tough questions that I knew were coming my way. The most frustrating thing about it has been that I feel like my play has been fine. Sure, I’ve made my fair share of bad plays and mistakes (including last night), but overall I felt that I’ve been playing well. Unfortunately, no one really believes that when you’re coming in last every week. Last night was vindication. I needed it. It was my time.

I speak for all of us when I say, great to have ya back Mikey. It was nice to see you get that monkey off your back and just play cards the way you know how. Let’s see you finish the season strong

Shades Wins Again and Keeps Hope Alive

Congratulations to Shades for his second event of the season and the last freezeout on Week 15 and taking home $872! I was on the outside the Final 9 looking in prior to this win, and had a shot to jump to #3, but a disappointing Week 16 has me as on the bubble. This is going to be the most stressful week of my year, but this is why we play the game.

Back around 2015, when I was a golf professional at Upper Montclair CC, my golf chairman invited me to play a match against Jeremy Roenick. JR was a pretty regular guest at the club so I’ve gotten to know him a bit through my years there. I knew he was a very good golfer and liked to play in big games. We get to the first tee (tipped out of course) and he recommends $100/hole + $500 junk package + $500 eagle bonus. That’s a very big game and certainly the biggest game I’ve ever played in. Well, a few hours later I shot 74 and was down about $2,000. JR shot like 66 with an eagle and absolutely crushed my soul. He won with grace and we had a great time, but that was a lot of money to lose on the golf course to a guy who ended up qualifying for the US Senior Open the following year. Still, for $2,000 i got to play with an NHL legend. I guess it’s worth it.

JR Story Part 2: When we were making the turn, one of the assistant superintendents came up to us and completely gushed over JR for a solid 5 minutes. I’ve never seen a person so star struck in my life. He lifted his pant leg and showed us this giant Blackhawks tattoo on his calf. He took the sharpie from my hand and asked JR to sign his leg, which he graciously did. The guy then ran off and we continued our round. A couple weeks later I’m having a beer with JR on the patio and the super runs up to us, lifts up his pant leg, and shows us that he got JR’s autograph TATTOO’D on his leg! JR nearly fell out of his chair laughing and even brought it up that night on tv when he was covering the hockey game.

Editor’s Note: I was telling this story to Mazz the other day and the first thing he says is “he’s a famous swinger.” Of course Mazz knows that.

The Heat is On

After a grueling (spelled it right this time) 16 weeks of the PLIA3 season, we are down to everyone’s last chance to make a move. The first 2 spots are locked up with Whites and Rosstradamus with Whites a heavy favorite to win this THIRD title in a row. There’s a tight race for the 3rd spot and seemingly anyone inside the Top 9 has a fighting chance to get it, depending on how Mazz plays this week. For the Final 9, 82p said it best in that anyone in the Top 15 is in contention.

Black, Shades, Chris, and Sampson have each won twice this season. All 4 are in danger of missing the Final 9

Tanker sits in 5th and has only made 4 final tables and 2 cashes. Just goes to show you how consistency pays off in this league

AJ, Mike K, and Tanker are still searching for this first ever PLIA win

Only 4 points separate 4th from 8th

As the standings relate today, McCann, 82p, Chris, and Black have gotten worse each year

PLIA 3 Week 13 & 14 “How it Unfolded” DOUBLE ISSUE

82P Wins his 3rd (!) PLIA Tournament!

Congratulations to Sean (82p) Hunt for winning Week 14 and taking home $1,051! This was 82’s first win of the season, but somehow his 3rd PLIA win overall. I gotta tell ya, when Ross texted me that stat last Friday morning I nearly drove off the road. I know how aggrivating it can be to play against him because he plays poker like I play Keno. He just picks any random cards to play and calls everything. Leading into last week, he was near the bottom of the rankings and I had thought that maybe his style of play finally got exploited but I stand corrected. Not only did he dominate for most of the night, he even beat Whites heads up, which actually this year isn’t saying much.

When 82p isn’t hunting the rest of us on the felt, he’s busy sniping others on the golf course. A self-proclaimed “bogey golfer” he tends to get his full money’s worth out of every round. Playing from the bunkers, the weeds, the forest…he just goes where his ball lands and figures it out. Much like how he plays cards. Got dealt 49o? Sure he’ll call your 4bet and see what happens. Others may mock his style of play, but I find his outlook on life really refreshing. He doesn’t stress about anything. Fucks up something at work? Ahhh he’ll let it play out and see what happens. I put 82p as the real MVP of this league. I’ve learned more about life watching him play than I have doing anything else.

Also, I saw this hand unfold and I laughed out loud. It’s so perfect I had to share…

Whites Prevails and Retakes the Power Rankings

Congratulations to Jeff “Whites” McDonald for winning Week 13 and taking home $897! Whites finally prevailed heads up after being called out for going 0-3 this season. Like he’s seemingly done all season, Whites acquired a large stack early and just kept leaning on all the short stacks until they all toppled over. Whites’ entire life story has been well documented in this newsletter but he did have an entertaining outing at Encore for the first time since Covid…

I did go to Encore for the first time since COVID a couple weeks ago after a Celts game. The only thing that stuck out was my experience at the craps table. Step up and some guy seems to be rolling hot. I wait until he hits the point and then I’m in. This guy goes on a heater for a good 15+ minutes or so. Hitting his points 3 or 4 times. Hitting other numbers in between. Everyone’s winning and winning kind of big. All of a sudden I look down and he’s cashing out. Everyone else was drinking, talking and enjoying themselves but I couldn’t believe what was happening. Sure enough he cashes out and leaves without crapping out. Next guy just starts rolling. Thankfully he hit a number but then rolled a quick 7. Everyone else was still happy and clapping and everything and I was in disbelief. Never seen anything like it. Total clown move…. Immediately picked up and played $2-5. Shortly after sitting some young guy was talking about winning a $40k on a sports bet, which was probably a lie. Claiming that it will offset only some the cost of the engagement ring he just bought…. Those tables are a laugh a minute.

The Site – Missing Important Details

Seems like everyone is on February vacation this week, but if you ask me, The Site has been on vacation all year. Just in the last couple weeks, guys have noticed that The Site is skipping their small blinds! It happened to Ross about 3 weeks ago and it happened to me last week. I thought I took a picture of it but in my drunken stupor, I did not. Just be on the lookout for that. There’s nothing we can do about it because this is an unregulated site run out of who the hell knows where, but I’d love to get a picture of it for HIU.

Also, in the Ace game a while back I remember Black was involved in a hand where the flop came out and none of the cards were turned over! How does that happen!? Black – if you still have that pic, please share. It’s comedic gold.

Mazz – The Most Under the Radar Player in PLIA History

Where’s the hype on Mazz? Our PLIA 1 Final 9 winner is currently sitting in 3rd place (and has been for several weeks now) yet no one’s talking about it. Look, I know I’m going to get some responses of “Shades, you write the newsletter, YOU’RE the guy hyping everything”, and thats fair, but still I haven’t heard anyone else really talking about him.  Aside from taking a “0” week 4 and a “1” week 6, Mazz has been putting up double digit numbers seemingly every week. Last week, I did a piece on Ross which mentioned how some see him as the best short stack player on the east coast, but a strong case could be made for Mazz holding that title. He’s always grinding out a short stack and somehow always makes a deep run. In fact, he was down to 1.5bb with like 15 people left and ended up WINNING the tournament back in season 1! I don’t think I hyped up that accomplishment enough so i’m doing it 2 years later.

Editors Note: I’ll be called out for mushing Mazz with this piece, but Mazz is an all time mush. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

PLIA 3 Week 11 & 12 “How it Unfolded” DOUBLE ISSUE

Sampson Accumulates More Points in The Blizzard

Congratulations to Sampson for winning The Blizzard and taking home $832! Sampson has been the hottest player in the league since Week 8 where he has 2 wins and a 2nd place in that 4 week stretch. After a slow start, Sampson currently sits within striking distance of the Final 9. In fact, he did the exact same thing in PLIA2 where he made a late push to finish 4th overall.

It hasn’t been all roses for Sampson lately after he botched (twice!) trying to send what I assume to be a gif but ended up being the longest link ever sent in email history. My thumb is still sore from trying to scroll through its entirety. I think I’m reaching for material here but something like that will always get called out. You can’t get away with anything in this league.

Black is Rollin’!

Congratulations to Black winning the High Roller and taking home over $2,000! This was Black’s first cash since his Week 1 win. Black acquired a monster stack early on in the tournament and never gave it up. He even dominated the final table which was arguably the strongest final table we’ve had all season.

It was very fitting that we had Black vs. Whites battling heads up in the first week of Black History Month. Black also made the announcement that he is moving back to Boston in March and thus giving up his central time zone “advantage”. This could be crucial if he makes the Final 9 and has to deal with the jet lag.

Rosstradamus Predicts Victory

Rosstradmus is having a banner season and for the second consecutive week he has held off Whites for the top spot in the rankings. Aside from Week 2, Damus has been running deep each week and currently holds a low drop score of 11, which is best in the league. He also has 8 final tables and 2 10th place finishes in 12 weeks. I’ve heard people call him the best short stack player in the east, but I can’t get verification on that. In all honesty though we’re seeing a proven poker player get even better.. and isn’t that what PLIA is all about? I for one look forward to a Damus vs Whites battle but there are also about 7 guys who can make a late run and catch as well. We’ll have to see how it unfolds.

Hand Review

For those who were paying attention during the High Roller, Whites was making some very unorthodox plays that had mixed results. While he was grossly sucking everyone out at the final table, one hand from earlier in the night stood out to me as a good candidate for a hand review. Details below:

Whites vs. Walnuts

Level 800/1600, Whites 35bb, Walnuts 25bb

Whites raises 2.1x from the HJ, Walnuts calls in the SB. Everyone else folds. Flop is 585r. Walnuts bets 40% pot, Whites calls. Turn is K. Walnuts bets 40% pot. Whites calls. River is 4. Walnuts bets 40% pot, Whiles calls. Walnuts shows AK and Whites shows 33. Walnuts wins the 47k pot.

From the start I’m OK with Whites’ raise but I feel Walnuts could have reraised or even reshoved in the SB position. By just calling a min bet it opens it up for Shades to call in the BB which is not ideal for Walnuts. The donk bet was interesting by Walnuts but a call is justified by Whites. The K on the turn is Walnuts’ gin card and I like the double barrel bet, but I didn’t love the call by Whites here. Facing a donk bet and a turn bet by the UTG player, you have to assume your 33 is beat at this point. Same thing on the river when the 4 comes out. Granted that card is a blank but Walnuts is firing off a 3rd bet. This is hardly ever a bluff which is all that Whites beats. I actually really like the sizing of Walnuts’ bets. Keeping each bet at roughly 40% kept Whites in the hand. Anything larger and Whites would have likely folded.

PLIA 3 Week 9 & 10 “How it Unfolded” DOUBLE ISSUE

My apologies for the extra long break in HIU but the post-holidays can be just as busy for me as the actual holidays. Trips, partial sobriety, and Ace sighting, and authentic key lime pie were all on the docket so let’s get back into action.

Walnuts’ Win in a Nutshell

Congratulations to Pauly Walnuts for his first PLIA win since Week season 1 and taking home $1,184!  Walnuts typically takes the quiet approach on the poker table and tries to stay under the radar. He’s just a regular guy with regular kids who play regular sports. When he’s not schlepping his kids to all their numerous activities, he enjoys just hanging out watching sports, hunting, and playing cards. He also enjoys grabbing beers at me and Ross’s Thursday night college drinking spot, Buddy’s in Easton.

His most impressive poker story was when he got invited to play cards at Paul Pierce’s house (see HIU for full recap). Nothing like pissing off a local NBA great (?) in his own home and taking his money. But what he didn’t tell and still holds to this day is whether or not there were hookers and blunts there. Keep your mouth shut Walnuts, don’t let that part of the story ever reach the print.

Fun Fact: Ross and I took Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell out drinking at Buddy’s back in 2006. Everything you ever heard about Mr. Belding (real name Dennis Haskins but he will forever be Belding) was true: he loves to party hard and he loves college sluts. He was a great sport with all of us and even did karaoke. The night ended abruptly when some townies discovered who he was and started harassing him. At around 1am one local drunk shouted out “HEY BELDING! DID YA FUCK KAPOWSKI??” to which he got up, said “that’s it”, stumbled out of the bar and got into his rental car. He peeled out of there so fast. Oh yea, and the guy loves to drive drunk.

Shades Meets Ace: A Running Diary

Congratulations to Tom “Ace” Tracy for winning week 9 and taking home $1,171! Ace, as you all should know by now, runs a successful online cash game most nights. His Tangier’s game is currently in its 13th season (I think) and he does a great job of running promotions most nights. For those of you who wish to join, please feel free to reach out to him. Ace even said he’ll do a $100 bonus for any new players coming out of PLIA! What a guy.

Ace and I have had a bit of a rivalry going on the past 18 months or so. I’m not even sure how it started but It’s all been in good fun. We’re both golfers who are trying to run a poker game so at the end of the day, we want what’s good for the sport. Over MLK weekend, I had the opportunity to finally meet Ace and spend about 6 hours playing 2/5NL at the Encore with him. Below is a little running diary about my experience:

Friday, January 13

7:00AM  I text McCann asking if he wants to play cards tonight at Encore before our group dinner the following night. He texts me back saying if I make the drive from NY, he’ll work from home and we can shoot over. I confirm I’m in.

11:30  I leave my house and drive to the cidery to grab a pint and pick up a 4pack for McCann’s trouble

12:10   I text Ace asking if he wants to join us at Encore around 4pm. He said he’s in.

12:17  I realize I forgot my nice shoes for Saturday’s group dinner. If I wear the sneakers I have on, Chris will kill me. I contemplate turning around but I decide to march onward.

3:00  I arrive at McCann’s. He’s so excited.

3:10   McCann asks if I can drive tonight. Sure.. I just drove for 3.5 hours. Why not.

3:40  We pull into Encore. McCann navigates me through the underground parking garage. Advises me to ignore the signs for spaces since he knows “the back way”

3:42  We find the ultimate parking spot. Right next to the elevators and away from the rest of traffic.

3:50  I order a Shakeshack double burger and fries. McCann doesn’t order anything and instead just sits there and watches me eat. He doesn’t say anything but I can tell he’s disgusted by my order.

4:05  I walk upstairs to the poker registration area and I see McCann talking to Ace. I walk over and say hi. We shake hands and at that moment, I feel the ground rumble.

4:07  We’re signed in to every game imaginable but it’s a long wait. Ace advises that we sit at 1/3 until a higher table opens up. I get called to a table full of middle eastern men. The table stinks of BO

4:50  I finally get called to 2/5. The casino host seats me at a table in the main room in the #2 seat. #3 seat is empty and the rest of the table is full. I see McCann grinding 1/3 two tables away.

4:51  Ace sits down right next to me. It’s fate.

5:16  Ace and I are watching the Westminster Dog Show on one of the televisions. I tell him it’s hosted in my town, Tarrytown NY at the Lyndhurst Estate. He is genuinely interested in Tarrytown being a “dog show town”.

5:19  We debate whether or not a corgi should be in the ‘toy dog’ category. Ace owns one and says it’s a birding and herding dog. I fact check him on the birding part but sure enough, they do herd cattle.

5:30  Waiter comes around taking drink orders. Ace orders chardonnay. I want pinot norr but waiter tells me he only has chardonnay. I order bourbon instead.

6:10  Ace takes a $1200 pot off of me with his flopped straight. He played it great. I explained that I thought he would check the river like friends. He coldly says we’re not friends. I’m down to only $200.

6:12  I double up with A10 on a board of KQ974. Villain mucks it. What the hell could he possibly have had!

6:13  I triple up with AA. Back to about $1300.

7:45.   Ace and I debate whether the bloodhound should have won and if it’s the same bloodhound that won the National Championships last year too. It’s not and we quickly realize we have no idea what we’re talking about.

8:25.  Ace busts with AA777 to 4OAK. He knew the guy had it too but it was an impossible laydown. Ace held the 2nd nuts. He lost with grace. Ace pulls out a gangster roll of 100’s. Who knew the fire suppression business was so cash heavy.

9:12   I go to the bathroom to piss out the 5 bourbons I had. I don’t shake enough and end up pissing on my pants. I spend a few minutes trying to dry it off

9:15.  I quickly sit down at the table to avoid my embarrassing fail. Ace looks down at my pants and undoubtedly see that I piss all over myself. He doesn’t say anything. Ace is a very gracious person

9:25  Guy in the #1 seat tells us an absurd story about how he got a parking ticket and told the cop he was going to rape the cop’s wife. He showed us actual video of his court date where the cop told the judge what happened. We are in shock.

9:42  I see the waiter walking around with red wine. I snap that he told me he only had chardonnay. He said said he also has cabernet sauvignon but doesn’t know what pinot noir is. I let it go and order a cab

9:55  We watch the skills competition part of the dog show and I mention that springer spaniels are cool dogs. He agrees but says they’re too much work.

10:30  I go check on McCann who has a mountain of chips in front of him. He’s living his best life but wants to grab beers soon.

11:01  I’m all in with top 2 pair on the flop. Villain tanks for a good 5 mins and then ultimately calls. He has an open ended straight draw and of course hits it. We all agree it’s time to leave

11:35  The three of us arrive at some jam packed bar. Ace makes fun of my Silverado 6.2L RST and mentions that he has the fastest truck on the market. I ask him how many drag races he’s partaken in.

11:38  Ace asks the bartender if the kitchen is closed. She responds yes. He follows up with “is it really closed or just kinda closed? She responds it’s been really closed for almost 2 hours.

12:15   I tell McCann he needs to form a golf committee at Andover CC and for him to be the golf chair. Ace wants to join the committee and we both immediately say no.

12:17  Ace and I make plans to go shoe shopping in the morning and then go up to Andover so I can give him a lesson. He keeps saying he wants to lengthen his swing. “I want to get from here.. to HERE!”

12:45  Lights come on and the bouncer tell us to leave. Ace is not done flirting with the bartender so he tells her we’ll be in tomorrow for brunch.

Saturday AM.  We text Ace to meet us for brunch. He doesn’t respond and we don’t hear from him again.

PLIA 3 Week 8″How it Unfolded”

Sampson Back From the Dead

Congratulations to Sampson for his much-needed win and pocketing $897! Sampson has been one of the strongest players in PLIA, finishing 6th and 4th in PLIA 1/2 respectively. Through the first 7 weeks this year, however, Sampson has disappointed with some early finishes included 2 brutal zeros. Sampson knows a moving week when he sees one though and was able to climb up the leaderboard within somewhat striking distance of the top 9.

Sampson actually made it out to the 2022 WSOP which was rather unsuccessful but any trip to Vegas nets positive in our book. After he replenishes his back account from a brutal first 7 weeks of PLIA, any money left over will be earmarked for hedging his sports bets, including taking the Bruins +2800 to win the Stanley Cup. When he’s not busy playing PLIA or venturing to Vegas, Sampson can be found at the Boston Billiards Club with a hope and dream.

Fun Fact:  There was a Boston Billiards Club (an actual pool hall, not a casino) in Danbury CT which was the first bar I ever used a fake ID at. I was a regular at 17 years old and after a few visits I didn’t have to show my ID to the bartenders or bouncers. I was king of the world and my nights were filled with playing pool and nudie megatouch. It was there where I discovered Magic Hat #9 and fell in love with the emerging VT IPA scene. A little piece of me died when the BBC permanentely closed in 2009.

Mid-Season Observations

Whites is the unquestioned best player in PLIA after winning the first two seasons and currently leading season 3, but this year he is 0-3 heads up. Is it possible that Whites could win Season 3 without actually winning a tournament?

How is it possible that 82p has gotten WORSE?

AJ, Mike K, and Tanker are the only 3 players who have played every season and are still without a win. I wonder who will be the last one standing in this group.

Cjw84 has 2 wins on the season but currently sits outside the top 9. Not even sure how that’s mathematically possible.

What’s going on with Ace and McCann? The two of them each run a poker game/league and yet both of them are at the bottom of the standings. At first I was going to chalk up McCann’s poor performance as a fluke due to his 4th and 6th place finishes in PLIA 1/2 respectively, but after taking a deeper look at the situation I don’t know if I can. McCann has been hanging out with Ace quite a bit off the felt and like a watchful parent whose kid is hanging out with a new crowd and seeing his grades slipping, I’m concerned. They talk poker a lot at Nobility Tavern and McCann is often reaching out to Ace for his feedback on certain hands, but the question I have is: Why? Ace finished dead last in PLIA 2 and currently sits in 24th. I rarely even see him play in his own cash game he runs 4 times a week. Sure, there’s Encore and Chasers but no one is keeping a running tab on that P&L statement. To be fair, Ace did win a 200+ person live tournament at Encore last year which is more success than most people in this league can claim, but I’m purely looking at this through a PLIA lens. Until we see some results, I have to label Ace as dead money. (Editor’s Note:  I know Shades is concerned with the poker advice I am getting, but this past weekend when I reached out to him looking for his thawts on a recent hand from Encore his advice was not very helpful.  I explained that I had flopped top set on a 6 high board and faced a check raise after the front door flush came in on the turn, and then faced a large river bet.  Shades’ #analysis was “if you don’t think he has the flush, you have to call.”  Gee, thanks Shades!  If you think you have the best hand, you should call apparently.  Hadn’t really thought about that!)

**Rebuttal**  McCann asked me that question when I was juggling 5 different things. Didn’t really have the time to do a deep analysis. My comment still stands alone as is.

Not to pile on Ace, but I’m also disappointed by the performance of our 5 newest players joining us from his cash game. Billy.fc, Kooter, Dan OT, Cammon, and Meatloaf need to get their act together. Meatloaf is doing the best currently sitting in 18th place. This is the big league, guys. Use this time to evaluate your play and do all you can to make a strong push in the second half of the season.

PLIA 3 Week 6 & 7 “How it Unfolded” DOUBLE ISSUE

And We’re Back!

Alright, we are back in action after a hazy few weeks battling the holidays, family, and all those pesky social/work events that get in the way of us playing cards. Let’s review what we missed shall we?

Congratulations to BrianHawk for winning week 6 and taking home $913! Brian has been on the poker/gambling train for as long as any of us can remember. In fact, I remember being in awe watching him navigate the Vegas scene back in 2007 when a bunch of us went there for the first time. Everyone who worked at VooDoo Lounge somehow knew him and treated us like VIPs (we weren’t). However, one of his most memorable stories came in 2005 while playing poker in Aruba. The ex-boyfriend of Natalie Halloway sat right next to him for 4 hours the night before she disappeared. He was terrible at cards and was a dick to the dealer and waitress. That Van der Sloot guy was even worse. Poor Natalie. Just goes to show ya that in the poker game of life, women are the fucking rake.

We must also congratulate 3,5 Suited for his week 7 win and taking home $943! Ralph joined the group last year and was absolutely awful for the first half the season. I think he had something like 11 points through the first 6 weeks. But then something amazing happened… he started winning. He had a chance the final week to make the playoffs but fell just short and finished 12th on the season. The PLIA committee loved the fight in this guy and knew he had to come back for Season 3. When Ralph isn’t busy shredding us on the tables, he spends his time with his 3 daughters, ages 4, 7, and 8. Like every other dad our age he’s busy cleaning up after them, playing, and just wants to get to Thursday night for some beers and cards. When PLIA is not in session, he’s stuck watching shitty Hallmark movies with his wife. Yuck.. even more reason we need to keep this thing going.

New Year’s Resolutions

New Years is probably my least favorite holiday. November and December just take it out of me and by the time Dec 31 rolls around I have nothing left in the tank. “Hey Shades wanna go see Phish at MSG??” Noooo..

Despite my lack of NYE partying, the one thing I do like to do that night is think of some resolutions to make me a better person. Below is what I came up with for 2023:

Get back in the gym at least 3x/week. I’m getting older and weaker. If I don’t somehow add 20 yards to my drive, McCann is going to start outdriving me.

On that same note, I need to get on the golf course more. I went from playing about 100 rounds per year down to about 15/yr the last 2 seasons. Much of that was due to a change in career path but my game fell off and it really sucked. The low point was back in July when McCann and AJ invited me to play Andover CC. We played straight up and they absolutely clobbered me. I never want to see that look McCann gave me on the 14th hole ever again.

Follow my gut instinct on the poker table. Lately, too many times I’m in a pot where I KNOW I’m beat but I still call just to “keep them honest.” There was a time where I was playing too tight but lately I’ve been playing like 82p.

Be better at social/work functions. Too many times I roll into these things where there’s like 2 people I know and I’m forced to work the room. I hate it. Part of the reason is that I’m 6’4 so I feel like I awkwardly stand out. Also, before I walk in I usually rip a pen to settle the nerves but then I end up getting paranoid. That doesn’t help things either.

PLIA 3 Week 4 & 5 “How it Unfolded” DOUBLE ISSUE

Craig B is Suddenly Good?

Congratulations to Craig B for winning his first PLIA victory and taking home $944! This is Craig’s third PLIA season but little is known about him since prior to last night he’s done jack shit on the table. However, after a 3rd and a 1st the last 2 weeks, he’s currently in the top 9 and climbing up the esteemed power rankings. I had the fortunate opportunity to sit down with this mysterious pot splasher and find out more about who he is:

I grew up in Lynnfield MA and I am friends with Ryan Foote who invited me to play some cards. I would like to think I am one of the original OG’s to play online poker with this group back when Covid first started on the website Pokernow. The good old days where Foote would help pay peoples mortgages.

It may sound a little cheesy but this first place win in PLIA is one of the better accomplishments I’ve had in my poker career. I mean any poker tournament win is nice, but to beat WHITES heads up made it all that much sweeter as I have been playing against Whites since day 1.

I used to play big tournaments at The Bicycle club and Commerce casino before I got married at the end of 2019. The last major tournament I played was the Playboy poker classic a couple years back. Winner gets to party at the mansion, along with about 90K for first place. $500 buy in. I finished in 13th place out of 1000 people for about 6k profit. On button I raise pre-flop. Big blind calls. My QQ vs J10 and flop comes 9-10-J. He checks and I bet. He raises me and I go all in. He calls after about 3 minutes and I lose. I will always remember my big losses.

Sorry CJW for breaking your first place win streak. I am looking for a third consecutive cash in this league. See you all next week.

What a class act. I’m now a big Craig B fan. It’s such a feel good story even though he was a dog in every hand I saw. The seat may have peaked last night.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the back to back wins by Cjw84. For a guy who famously said PLIA has “run its course”, he’s actually been the soundest player of anyone. Congrats on the second win and putting yourself #2 in the power rankings shows that you can keep your hubris in check.

Hand Analysis – Rosstradamus vs. Craig B

It was 9-handed at the final table at the 1.5/3k level and both Ross and Craig were sitting on about 12bb with Craig slightly covering Ross. Ross raises 2.5x UTG, Craig calls in MP and everyone else folds. Flop comes 5dJdKs and Ross bets 10k into an 18.5k pot. Craig calls. Turn is 8h and Ross shoves for 17.5k. Craig goes into a very long tank and decides to call at the last second. Ross shows QQ and Craig shows AQd. River is 10d and Craig takes the monster pot.

This hand caused a lot of debate so let’s take a closer look. I like the preflop raise size as well as the smooth call in MP. Ross can’t love that flop out of position but I do like the continuation bet although I think the sizing of 55% is too large. I also don’t love the call by Craig B. I think the better play is to reshove with the nut flush and straight draws. Without knowing what Ross is holding he has to figure he has around 55% equity and it will be tough to get any more money if a diamond were to come on the turn. When the turn blanks, Ross moved all in. Pretty ballsy move with a K on the board and an opponent who has already called 2 bets but I actually like the play since AK, KQ, and KJ are all unlikely holdings by Craig since Ross, the board, and hand dynamics block those hands (Craig B likely would have reraised preflop if he had AK). Ross claims he thought Craig was on a draw, which he was, and for the next 12 hours I heard how bad of a call Craig made here. I actually disagree. Craig has to call 17.5k with nut draws to win 74k. Since Craig is holding roughly 34% equity on the turn the math actually plays out in his favor.

Final synopsis: A lot of aggravation and time would have been saved if Craig just raised all in on the flop. Can we really blame a guy who’s chasing nut draws and just wants to win his first poker tourney? Good for Craig B. It was his time.

Hot Takes and Polite Musings

What’s going on with McCann these days? Not only is the Commish in 21st place, but he exhausted all his rebuys BEFORE the rebuy period ended last night! That’s some 82p level stuff right there. McCann has to be relieved there’s a bye week coming up. He needs to start reflecting on his performance otherwise he could be facing some tough questions as the season gets going.

Speaking of rebuys, Billy.FraidyCat didn’t rebuy last night. I know the holidays are around the corner but cmon man where’s your will to win?

Whites is 0-2 heads up this year. The pressure of going for the triple crown could be starting to pile up on him.

At the World Cup, all you hear is how expensive it is to go to this tournament; between the flights, the extreme lack of lodging (people are voluntarily signing up to sleep in converted shipping containers, in the desert no less!), ticket prices, alcohol prices (where you can find it), etc…and yet you turn on the tv and see 10,000 Camaroonians and a bunch of Costa Ricans filling out and entire stadium.. HOW? I’m going to paint very broadly here but these are not places you think of and say “Yea, I bet their fanbase travels very well internationally.” What the hell is going on here. I’m not even sure I understand how some of these people got tickets and arranged travel…on what device did this guy book his itinerary…?

The Chris Wentworth Power Rankings

Mazz: 79.7; 3 final tables, no bottom 5s, 2 cashes, and the second highest drop score in the league. The PLIA1 Final 9 winner is in great form early.

cjw84: 79.3; Back to back wins followed by a top 10, erasing a very slow and concerning start.

Whites: 77.7; Two cashes, which he’ll be happy with, but notably 0-2 in heads-up showdowns. Is IDDQD wearing off?

JesscoB: 72.4; League leading 4 final tables, highest drop score as well. Some are wondering if he’s just playing for points, as despite the success, closing has been an issue.

Craig B: 69; A win and now two cashes in a row, is this habitual cellar dweller now a force to be reckoned with?

Black: 65.8; Won the season opener, and always a threat. Best avatars in the league. Somehow feels like he’s flying under the radar, which I’m sure is just how he likes it

BrianHawk: 65.4; Finally making good on the promise shown during PNIA all those years ago. Two early cashes have gone a long way to restoring his image. Still good for an “oops” naked bluff occasionally.

Rosstradamus: 63.8; Known as “the book,” as in textbook. Flustered easily with what he considers suboptimal play, but has done well to play a consistent game this far

AJIII: 61.7; Proclaimed around this time last year that he was “in the recliner,” whatever that meant. Less comfy this season, but has had solid results when he remembers to play.

TheDivia71: 61.4; 3 final tables, and a good drop score, the Divia is grinding this season. That said, he is another one where you wonder if he’s playing for points or the win?

Shades: 61.4; Finally broke through and got the monkey off his back. A win can only get you so far, however, and with a very up and down season to date, he’s the only early winner on the outside looking in for the Final 9 standings.

Lordsten99: 58.8; See “TheDivia71”

3,5 Suited: 55.7; Off to a bit of a slow start, but we all saw how streaky he could be last season. Last night’s cash could be the start of a turnaround

Mike K: 55.6; Rumor has it he’s taken a Wade Boggs-ian approach to his pregame PLIA meal after his runner up finish in week 2.

Walnuts: 55.6; Hanging around, grinding it out, a real return to Season 1 form for Walnuts. Notably no bottom 5 finishes

Quinn: 49.3; A couple of final tables, but not much else of note. Right in the meaty part of the curve. Not getting ahead, not falling behind.

Tanker1919: 47.3; The loudest in the room last year, he’s hardly been heard from this season. No final tables, no HIU mentions. Not even sure it’s the same guy.

Krazy Kooter 2.0: 46.6; A new comer, two final tables to his name, but the results have been inconsistent so far

Dan OT: 45.3; See Above

Ace: 42.1; For a guy that plays and is around A LOT of poker….sheesh

McCann: 37; Much like Tanker, we’re not sure what is going on here. Once the Greg Maddux of PLIA (maddeningly consistent results), he appears to have fallen on hard times with a cold streak of cards like you read about.

Billy.fc: 36; is it football club?

Meatloaf: 35.9; Setting a trend for the newcomers from the Tangiers game

82p54m48: 32.9; Don’t ever change, 82P. Still willing to play any two cards and any time. The law of averages giveth, and the taketh. No word on if he made good on hosting Black for a steak dinner.

Cammon: 31.1; There’s not a lot to say. The results haven’t been good.

Sampson: 28; Probably the shock of the season? A Final 9 player in both prior seasons, he has a lot of work to do to claw back into this

Brendan24: 0; Does anyone know who to contact for a welfare check?

PLIA 3 Week 3 “How it Unfolded”

Self-Proclaimed Grillmaster Wins The Gobbler

Congrats to Cjw84 for winning the 2023 Gobbler and taking home $953!  This is Chris’s second freezeout win following his breakthrough 2021 victory of the infamous “Black Fives Matter” tournament.  The Gobbler is a noteworthy win for Chris since he is considered a Grillmaster – even has an apron to prove it.  Quite frankly, I don’t think anyone who lives north of the Carolinas can be called Grillmasters but what do I know.  I’ve never had the opportunity to taste any of Chris’s grillings, but I know he takes his food seriously so maybe there’s some truth behind the title.

Chris isn’t much of a gambler these days. Other than McRibs I don’t even know what excites him anymore. He was a huge grump week 1 and even insinuated that PLIA was dead and that he didn’t want to play anymore. 3 weeks later he has a new lease on life. In highschool, Chris once tried to run a book one NFL season but only lasted a few weeks. He ended up getting clobbered when he couldn’t get enough action on both sides of the bet. Combined with the fact that he had no muscle to collect bets, it was just a disaster all around.

Congratulations to Whites, Dan OT, and Mazz for winning $485, $368, and $134 respectively.

Turkeys of the Year

Every poker league has em.. a few guys who march to the beat of their own drum and threaten to wreck havoc on the organizational structure of the league. We put up with a lot of nonsense in running one of these things but I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight some of the special souls that occupy PLIA. Below are your 2022 Turkeys of the Year

Brendan24 –  Brandon is entering his second season of PLIA but we’re still waiting for him to actually play. He’s been a no show the first 3 weeks of the season. Not only does this put him as a virtual lock to finish in last place but it also negatively affects the anticipated prize pool each week. Normally I’d try to defend him by saying ohhh maybe he’s just pulling a Phil Helmuth and showing up late to the party but he finished in 20th place last year. Not really sure what he’s doing here. C’mon man let’s get back on the felt and try to win one of these. I’m dying to interview you for the newsletter. I have so many questions.

Meatloaf –  Meatloaf is only on this list because he changed his name to Meatloaf. I’ve always known him as Sway or Swayniac, but not to be confused with KrazyforSwayne. I don’t know if he knows Cam or Cammon but cmon guys let’s pick a name and stick with it. Sway rolled off the tongue a lot easier and is I think the far superier poker name. As a regular player in the Tangiers we expect some big this from Meatloaf this season.

82p –  This feels mean but I gotta put our boy 82p on this list. It’s bad enough that he is willing to play any two cards that are dealt to him but when you throw in the brutal grammar mistakes on all the emails, it’s just has to get called out. 82p was a player to watch in PLIA3 but he needs to start getting his act together to make good on our prediction.

Sampson –  Controversial pick here as Sampson is one of the strongest players in PLIA having finished 6th and 4th respectively the first two seasons. This year though? Yikes. The only guy he’s ahead of is Brendan24. Not a good look for a long-rumored bot. We have little doubt Sampson will get out of this funk but he needs to be put on notice.

Bolduc Messaging

Gobbler winner Cjw84 with his thoughts on regional political ads…

With elections season over I’d like to ask our network and broadcasting affiliates to come up with a better plan before the next major election. Those of us in Mass were bludgeoned with Don Bolduc campaign advertisements for months on end, meanwhile he’s running for Senator in an entirely different state. It’s 2022, you know where I’m located, damnit. Can’t a billion dollar advertising industry figure out a way to feed me targeted, local advertisements? I so much as mention a product outlook in the vicinity of my phone and I get advertisements for the next two weeks, but Don Bolduc can’t figure out how to air his message within the confines of New Hampshire. Figure it out

.

PLIA 3 Week 2 “How it Unfolded”

This is Shades’s Time!

Look – it took 2 seasons & 2 games but I finally got King Kong off my back and enjoyed my first ever PLIA win. What a feeling. I’m sure the feeling becomes normalized to guys like Whites and Black, but for the PLIA vets who are still waiting for their first victory, keeping hammering and you will be rewarded eventually. The current leaderboard is starting to shape up to be a season unlike any other.

My poker career started back around 2004 when Rosstradamus taught me the game in our dorm room at Stonehill College. Within a short period of time I went from Presidential Scholarship recipient to grinding out multis all day with AJIII and McCann on the now defunct Aces site. At any moment of the day at least one of us was “fired up.” My grades plummted, but my bankroll exploded. It was a fair tradeoff in my eyes. I remember telling my concerned parents during Christmas break “it’s not a problem if you’re winning!”

Things started to get carried away a few years after college when I began to live out my Rounders fantasy and started playing in NYC’s underground cardrooms, most notably at Felted and Blind Squirrel. I was able to avoid the several police raids that occurred between 2010-2019 but unfortunately these amazing rooms weren’t able to survive the Covid pandemic. Now, I mostly play online from the comfort of my home but am always willing to drive down to Borgata for some live action.

Congratulations to Mike K, JesscoB, and 82p for winning $548, $424, and $174 respectively.

Early Bye Week?

What’s the deal with BrianHawk, Walnuts, Brendan24, and Billy.fc taking an early bye week? Surely 3/4 know that this is a season long race and they need all the points they can get. I could understand taking a mental health week after Week 11, but the second week? Not a good look boys. We look forward to seeing you back on the felt for our first freezeout of the year, The Gobbler.

Also, kudos to Whites for accurately predicting that AJIII would finish 5th. It just made sense.

I was involved in 2 interesting hands that I spent most of the day Friday examining. My rationale for both plays is below.

Hand 1: Blind vs Blind Quad KK vs Black

It was the last hand of the 400/800 level and I held KK in the sb. I just call in an effort to try and trap Black. Black raises 3x and I smooth call. Flop comes KAJ with 2 spades and I check. Black checks back. Turn is 4s. I bet half pot, Black calls. River is the case K to give me quads. This is where I’m in a tough position to try and get all of Black’s chips. Black has an SPR1 so if I bet, the only bet that would make sense is to put Black all in. But I know he can’t call an all in bet because I’m super nutted. I also can’t bet anything less than an all in because that just wouldn’t make sense in this situation and Black is too smart to fall for a super small value bet. I felt my only option here was to check in order to try and get Black to bluff off his stack. I also know that Black loves to shove on thin value situations. Given that I displayed weakness throughout the entire hand I felt there was a good chance he would bluff the river. It didn’t happen and got armchair QB’d by everyone for the next 15 minutes. I still think my play was the most optimal.

Site Hand Alert:  The quad kings hand occurred 10 seconds after Mike K had quad queens.

Hand 2: QQ on the button vs 82p

This hand occurred at the final table with 4 left so we’re all in the money. I have QQ on the button and raise 2.5x with 82p calling in the bb. Typical site flop of KAA and we both check. Another A on the turn and 82p leads out with 1/3 pot bet and I call. River is a 2 and 82p shoves all in. I use all of my time bank and finally call. 82p turns over 10 high and I scoop the pot. This was actually a very good bet by 82p and I did think about folding at first but after giving it some thought I was convinced that it was a must call. First, I had him well covered so even if I lost the hand I’d still have about 10bb which is plenty. However, the real reason I called was simply due to being very aware of 82p’s image and his style of play. It’s extremely unlikely he has an Ace so my only concern is if he has a King. AK and KQ are blocked by both my hand and the board so the only real hands he could have are K2-KJ and I think he would shove anything K9 and better in that situation. Simply put there just wasn’t enough hands in his range that would include a K. I figured he would have K3 or bluff there. I called and I was right. Once I made that call I knew the title was mine.

PLIA 3 Week 1 “How it Unfolded”

And just like that, we’re back in action for the third season of PLIA!  The end of each PLIA season brings with it the birth of spring and venturing outdoors for some much needed mental rest after such a grueling season. But by the time August rolls around I start getting the inquiries “hey.. we’re still doing PLIA right? I gotta start planning out my winter vacations.”  Yes – of course we’re still doing PLIA!  In fact, Commish and I are happy to announce that we were able to bring on some new (and tightly vetted) blood to the league.  We would like to welcome Billy.fc, Krazy Kooter 2.0, Meatloaf, Dan OT, and Cammon.  We are also happy to welcome back our good friend Lordsten99.  We wish you all the best of luck!

While last night was a festive return of PLIA, yours truly did hear from many of the “PLIA Purists” regarding a wide range of topics. “Who are these new guys? What happened to Kooter 1.0? Are Cam and Cammon the same person? Why are the blinds so big? Is this a turbo now? Is 82p out of his mind?”  Look, the answer to many of these questions is I don’t know, but we’re on it.  The Executive Committee has spent the last couple months mulling over how we can grow the league while still maintaining the integrity of the game.  One of the main concerns we had was not having games go past 12:30AM.  We thus altered the blind structure to try and keep the game moving but also to allow for some post-flop play.  The last thing we want to do is turn this into an all-in fest.  While I think we succeeded for the most part in that goal, we did feel that the blinds got too big at times (esp around the rebuy cutoff) so we will be making some adjustments for Week 2.  Your voices are always heard and we welcome constructive feedback.  We take this league very seriously and want only the best for it.  Thank you all for doing the same.  Alright… now let’s get on to the juice.

Back to Back for Black

Congrats to Black for winning Week 1 and taking home a cool $1,300!  This is actually Black’s second consecutive PLIA victory going back to last year’s Final 9 Inviational. By now everyone is aware of Black’s poker acumen (or ability to tap into the software’s God Mode settings), but he’s actually been spending the last 8 months honing his game not only in the Ace game, but also in the new poker room outside of Chicago.  Black has been chanelling his inner Mike McDermott by keeping an all-cash bankroll throughout his apartment.  When he leaves The Rivers, he stuffs it all in his sock just in case he gets car jacked on the way home.  A very real fear since he lives in the car jacking capital of the country. Based on his play, he probably looks like he has a giant tumor on his ankle.  We look forward to seeing if Black can take down his dear friend Whites and claim the PLIA3 throne.

Congratulations to Mazz and Ross for winning $795 and $505 respectively.

What is a Site Hand?

Matt Walsh has been a conservative celebrity this year after his documentary “What is a Woman” has caused debate to occur where there shouldn’t be any debate. The same can be said for term Site Hand, which was famously coined by AJIII in season 1.  Since we have some new players this year it’s worth asking what exactly is a Site Hand.

Site Hand:  sīt hand.   noun.  1. a ridiculous hand of poker that solely occurs on unregulated sites   2. you know it when you see it

Below is the perfect example of a site hand:

See, in this hand Billy.fc flops a monster. Things are looking good and it looks like he’s going to take out Walnuts, right? Nope. Look, everyone KNEW that Ace was coming on the turn. The entire table felt it. We’ve all played enough on this stupid app to know that middle set isn’t good enough. Billy.fc is new to the league and he probably just didn’t know the rules. We’ve all been there but the reality is, you know a site hand when you see it.

Bananaland

Next time you go to a supermarket, take a bunch of bananas and hang them from the wires of your shopping cart. That’s a secret code that you’re down for some action. I’ve also heard that if you put them upside down in the cart that means you’re looking to swing.  The upside down pineapple also works.  Also, for those in the Hingham area, I’ve heard there’s a swinger bar in town.  I’m not from the area, but Mazz knows about it and can give you the details if you want to reach out to him.  Remember, the easiest way to spot swingers is to see if they’re wearing a black ring.