FTB- Lifelong friendships

What overwhelming support from my friends in FTB. From almost having my blog shut down by the admins- to a flourishing new community of friends. I’ve been invited to a bachelor party in Vegas this summer, and might even be part of planning this young man's wedding. FWIW if any of you are thinking of getting married, I have some great advice for that.

Big changes are coming to the league. I’m happy to be a part of that. I’m also officially announcing here- on my blog, that I will be retiring from the online poker community in the near future. As soon as a few weeks from now I will no longer be playing online poker. This is both a happy and sad time for me. On one side, I’ll miss the comradery of the league and battling with all the wizards FTB have to offer, but on the other hand, it’ll be nice to be off the grind, something I’ve been doing as a regular part of my life since 2004.

The decision to hang up my buttons is two-fold. Firstly, a business venture I’ve embarked in will be taking me away from the felt, but secondly, the league and player pool has gotten too difficult. I’m happy as the league continues to flourish, but I have to be honest with myself as a poker player and ask myself the following question: Am I still profitable? Has the game passed me by? Unfortunately, to that, the answer is no, and yes. With new technology entering the game, the young wizards are running simulations to systematically pick apart my game, and I can no longer show the profit I used to. I’ll still be involved in the league, just not as a player. I truly do appreciate all the love and support as well as the hate and the trolls that have been so generously showered upon me.

All that being said, I had another loss last week (and I’m down severely this week), so the timing to my diminishing bankroll couldn’t come at a better time. As I type I am getting to slow roll OmG_RedBacon which is nice. Sorry bacon, it happens. Immediately after this initiation of Bacon, discussion of Bayes theorem has broken out- something I undoubtedly will have to google to stay afloat these next few weeks.

Here are the week 5 rankings as I see it. I do need to state, that a lot of you guys have fallen, but this is because the league has added many new players who are VERY skilled in their trade. The top 5 used to be easy, now guys that were top five are in the 15–20 range. This is NOT an indictment on your poker game, but rather the natural progression of poker. I’m not happy about this- having to rank my rivals so high, but the truth is the truth.

Here are the unrankable due to lack of data- also make sure to click on the links in the words “slow roll” to see the slow rolls.

pp1374447 pp603676 MikeyG Shimmy Goldberg bendover69 funnguy pp912067 LowSociety poho1945.

I’d also like to implore you all to add avatars (cred Blockwolf)

1. Rule 34 (aggressive at the right time, his rise to the top is earned. He is the new GOAT of FTB)
2. OmG_RedBacon (If you don’t know, you better ask- the name was alarming when I saw it, and his game is the right mixture of these real life wizards.)
3. Ryan? (at first I disliked you, then I grew to respect you, I hope one day we can be friends- welcome to the top Ryan- you earned it)
4. jsnides (snides is still good, but if he doesn’t improve with these wizards, he’ll find himself a dinosaur like me)
5. flowcold (great player, good guy- you should google him-if you haven’t seen his stream go check it out- it’s honestly kept me afloat the last month or so)
6. KuntBoy (continual studying and work on the game moves him up a notch this week- just played a 4 bet pot with me where I made a full house- and managed to lose 0$ post flop- unreal)
7. Epidemic (if the club ever offers limit or razz you should come play this guy- easy $$)
8. Any Two Chris (someone said about chris this week in the rankings “resting on his laurels” — when I saw that I new I needed to keep him high up there)
9. BlockWolf (great Instagram, inspired me to think about cooking more, and a hell of a poker player)
10. PioSOLVERBot (tightwad who had his FIRST losing session just 2 days ago- how is that possible??)
11. mj0369 (I feel bad ranking him this low- but lack of play in the league has dropped him- perhaps he should focus more on the FTB than some professional baseball career?)
12. runit1ce (I’m starting to think this guy has some rungood rankings)
13. jeeegs02 (Jeegs vs. Aces- is a common question I get- who is better? the algorithim had jeegs .07 points higher this week, so it’s really a coinflip- but for now- it’s Jeegs- also jeegs- don’t do it-)
14. AreTwoAcesGood? (still a POW, but definately getting better. I’m hoping you pass jeegs up this week bud. Also -3 for showing your cards too often).
15. nofishwithoutriver (great screenname, solid game- who are you?)
16. kbuzzing (played him HUHU for an hour this week- really impressed me- should play more short handed IMHO)
17. mfogz13 (17 because I can :)
18. cutlerJay (when I retire I need to make a trip to where you live so we can strengthen our friendship)
19. $traightup (straight up baller- max pressure- great action)
20. bustacap (again, more controversy around your name than any others-Personally I think you’re a great guy- and I also think a very good poker player- but the stream has spoken and here you are at #20)
21. born2gamble3 (a table full of you is a fun table)
22. smags16 (almost didn’t rank you- I know you’re numbers are good, but never see you anymore- miss you xoxox)
23. theroca (I think about your game and how great you are for this league- never change bud)
24. noahknows (noah moved up because I asked him to text me and tell me what he knew last week and he did just that- so now that I know whwat noah knows, he’s moving on up)
25. luigi2 (I'd pay $5 for a 500-word essay on what your life looks like)
26. suitedUp (does anyone know anything about him?)
27. Master Yoda (has dropped 21 spots since opening rankings. I don’t watch star trek)
28. Spazztard (perhaps the most unfair ranking in all of FTB- played with him once- coolered him 3x, didn’t see him again)
29. TheWise1 (another example of a solid player who has slid because of the new talent- wise- we gotta get you back up)
30. Slowy23 (could be as high as 18, he’s only 7.4 points from that spot. Although ranking went down- his overall power rating improved this week)
31. Sandtrap(cool name, nice avi, ranked only b/c of that
32. MookieBetts (has been on a downswing and I predict some run good in the near future.)
33. CraigslistCrook (the best troll name yet, very impressive name, but poker skills are very lacking)
34. simpless (surprised to see him still playing- assumed he’d be bust by now)
35. nice. (still towards the bottom — barely plays and when he does he donates- for that I appreciate you)
36. Ron Mexico (game is solid- rock solid- like a wall- a wall that trump is going to build and make the Mexicans pay for)
37. Jordan Alexander (ranked you hear b/c no chance you’ll ever read this blog)
38. stretchmaballzzzz (was stretchmaballz with one z taken?)
39. pp995823
40. That Guy6988 (he’s that guy- it came up on stream weather he was still active and that answer is yes)
41. Sextheprocess (skilled, but again, someone has to be at the bottom)
42. Kupe (idk how I missed you on the tables this week)
43. Father_Flop (dishonest, angle shooter, probably involved with coverup ring of paedophiles)
44. Ming.Xi (I’ll avenge the main with you in 5 months)
45. HotCosby_69 (moved up due to one 15 minute phone call- now better than your boy)
46. K O B (I really hope that you are responsible for the craigslistcrook name- karma could not be any stronger with that- all kidding aside I hope you’re okay and I really enjoyed the last slow roll I did against you.