You guys know the drill, late night for me but here are my losing hands the last two days. I ended up wining 2bi yesterday and had a big 10bi win today.

http://weaktight.com/4329390

Unlucky spot, his range is capped here and he is aggro enough to be dominated here.

http://weaktight.com/4329393

Unlucky

http://weaktight.com/4329394

Unlucky

http://weaktight.com/4329396

Man, this was really a poor call. I think my hand is completely face up in this spot, and despite that he still makes a very value bet heavy betsize. On top of that, I actually talk about this spot in my next video that is coming out soon about how bet flop/check turn/bet river from regs is overwhelmingly a value hand. In this spot, I just need to find a fold. I also feel like I am just running into a ton of trouble with KQ, I think I just need to be far more 4bet bluff weighted with this hand than calling with it.

http://weaktight.com/4329398

This is a very difficult spot for me. This player is one of my toughest opponents. He is able to turn pairs into bluffs, and views my game in general as rather bluff heavy. I think we are about even against each other but he has won far more small pots than I have and in general is more aggro than I am. On the flop and turn based on these assumptions I am perfectly fine stacking off here. I think against most bet folding is a very good option on this board, but against this player who understands that I have practically no straights in my range, and he is more likely to have backdoor flushes than I do that the river decision becomes tricky. I think you can probably justify just about any line agianst a tough regular in this spot in which my image is quite weak even by donking into two other players so I will probably need to look back on this hand later on. My initial thoughts are that a check fold is probably the best play but because he is so tricky it is possible for him to turn a hand like 99 or TT into a bluff.

http://weaktight.com/4329410

Looking back on this play, I think this is definitely a check on the turn. Pretty basic mistake by me but like I tell my students in this spot when its close I am always going to lean towards the aggressive play. Unfortunately this is not really a close spot and I should be checking back the turn because this player's hand will always be face up on the river. This should be an easy adjustment when playing against this guy in the future though.

http://weaktight.com/4329416

http://weaktight.com/4329417

This guy just runs unreal against me.

http://weaktight.com/4329419

Man I really like my play here. I don't want to go into too much detail but I thought that I had the non board pairing club outs and also thought that I have way more eights and sixes in my range so I was going to use those as bluff outs as well. I think his call is really awful and quite honestly I can't remember ever making a play like this in the past with a bluff so his calldown cannot be that good agianst my overall range.

http://weaktight.com/4329421

Such a difficult spot here, this guy was a barrel monkey and was all in so often on the session that I needed to take a stand here. I pretty much decided on the flop that I was calling down unless the turn and river both were terrible cards for me. I thought on the river that he would be barreling there 100% with his whole range, definitely a high variance play and I think that ultimately I should have found a better spot to make a hero call.

http://weaktight.com/4329423

So frustrating that AQ is miles in front of his CO 4betting range and he manages to show up with TT

http://weaktight.com/4329425

Gross

http://weaktight.com/4329427

He makes such a small 3bet with a tiny range that I need to call with just about any two, certainly any two suited cards to bust him, unfortunately him having KK here was the worst hand possible.

http://weaktight.com/4329428

Man cmon, if you guys saw his 4betting stats and button opening stats it is so unlucky to not take down this hand with a 5bet.

http://weaktight.com/4329431

ughhhh

http://weaktight.com/4329436

Man I am an idiot and a giant pussy. I am totally fine with the cold 4bet. I think when he cold calls the 4bet he has a range of JJ,QQ, AK and a small assortment of AQ suiteds TT, 99. On the flop I was totally fine barreling off on low boards here because my range is simply so strong. On the turn for whatever reason I sort of froze/brain farted. I definitely think that the play here is to make a larger bet on the turn and make it more of a cheap triple barrel. I should have bet something like 62 and I think he folds everything but 99 and AK. On the river, I was looking through my notes on him and I had a few instances of him catching me in bluffs, and I pussied out on the river shove even though on the turn I rarely fold out TT-QQ or even KK. So with such a relatively weak range and thinking that he folds AK a decent amount on the flop, this was just a terribly played hand on turn and river.

http://weaktight.com/4329442

Gross

http://weaktight.com/4329443

Cooler

http://weaktight.com/4329445

Really tough spot here. I was prepared to call any river here because I thought he would never stop firing. The problem was the overbet. I really had no idea how to interpret this. I sort of think that he would overbet more than just his 4 outer but I am really not sure.

http://weaktight.com/4329887

Opponent is a total maniac against me, he could shove like T9 AI here so I was absolutely never folding AQ on this board, very surprised he didnt jam 77 preflop (he has previously 4bet Q6 and A4 all in against me)

http://weaktight.com/4329894

Unlucky

http://weaktight.com/4329896

Fold the river you dummy! Fucking awful call. I really need to limit the amount of hero calls I am making, the player pool in general is super aggro preflop and on the flop, but on future streets they become far more passive and get thin value with far less frequency than the regs I was playing with on FT previously.

Salud!

Hey guys, just got finished reviewing my last three sesssions. Each had small wins in them and a lot of missed opportunities for some bigger wins. As you can see below, not a ton of coolers or a ton of preflop action which normally suits my game quite well. I think everyday I am seeing a lot of improvement and I am certainly working my ass of the last two weeks. I hope to move up to 200nl soon, and I think that I am just about ready to break out a few massive wins. Here are the losing hands over 50bbs as always.

http://weaktight.com/4319573

I call so much on the button that I need to balance with plays like this, unfortunate this didn't turn out better.

http://weaktight.com/4319577

I just should be shot, didn't know much about the player, thought he was a reg over 50 hands. I certainly need more info to call preflop and turn is probably an awful call as well if not the river.

http://weaktight.com/4319580

Everything until the river is pretty standard. He is definitely a tight player 16/13 but at the same time

he is aggressive when he plays hands and I think is the type that takes the easy way out and bets in a lot of situations when he is unsure. Therefore I thought hands like AQ/JJ/TT were still in his range, but at the same time I was particularly worried about 99. I think I can probably fold here but I also thought that AQ would bet from this particular player so its close, would be interested to see what you guys think here.

http://weaktight.com/4319583

Missed open ended straight flush draw

QQ < AK

http://weaktight.com/4319592

I think my call preflop and flop is rather standard. The turn is an interesting spot because if he is on level one then there arent a ton of hands that I am raising here, but at the same time, its very difficult to find many bluffs. Ultimately I am not trying to fold out Qx or most Jx, but I think there are a ton of better hands that fold here. I think the best play is definitely another call on the turn and be able to take advantage of his exceptionally weak checking range on the river to shove any river card.

http://weaktight.com/4319595

I think I can pretty easily represent AJ/AT suited here, as well as some more thin value like QJ/KQ or a rivered 99. I think there were some rivers that I would not bluff here but his hand felt a ton like KK/jj/kq that he would fold by the river. His exact hand tells mea lot about his play and how I should adjust in the future.

http://weaktight.com/4319598

Against a fish that calls flop with 100% of his range, I am perfectly fine with my play here and quite unlucky I think.

QQ < AA

http://weaktight.com/4319601

Man this one is a very tought spot. I am playing against a guy that has owned me so far in our history both heads up and in 6max. He has high aggression in a lot of different spots but he continually has shown up in spots with the hands he is repping, so I am uncertain at this time if his timing is just quite good or he really just has run hot against me. In this spot, his timing definitely seemed strong on flop and the turn, and the river seems like a pure value spot, sort of regardless of how he got there. At the same time, he probably understands that I will have a hard time calling wiith non 2 pair+ hand, and I think is a good enough player to understand that because he has been called down in spots where he was repping big hands so that now gives him more room to pull off bluffs. Let me know what you guys think on this one too please.

http://weaktight.com/4323540

Pretty gross spot in heads up against a guy that just sort of owned me imo in lucky spots all night last night. I think he shoves to many different rivers here and its unfortunate he hit his only winner.

http://weaktight.com/4323551

Unlucky

http://weaktight.com/4323553

Unlucky whole hand here against a fish that donks 75% of hands so I thought a raise here would take down the pot a large percentage of the time, when he called I was totally done with the hand unless I hit my full house which I obviously did to my demise

QQ < AA

http://weaktight.com/4323553

Sort of a questionable call of the three bet but I still think that I have a good grasp of his game postflop and because I will be raising so much junk headsup I think it is ok. The rest of the hand is really standard.

http://weaktight.com/4323576

I like my triple barrel in this spot. I thought based on the 100 hands I had on him that he was a reg fish who would have a very wide range in this spot and I think that the triple barrel on this particular card will be successful a very high percentage of the time. After this hand and a few others on this night, I think that he thinks I am a total maniac, which is a fine image for me to use in the future.

http://weaktight.com/4323591

Had no idea that he could checkraise for value this thinly and then proceed to bet all streets with it. Definitely a good play by him knowing my tendencies and I will need to adjust to this in the future.

QQ < AK

http://weaktight.com/4323597

This is a spot against fish when it is inside their first ten hands that I am perfectly happy making some big calls because often they will just lose their minds early, in this case it did not work out but I am totally fine with it. In fact I got my money back on another thinnish call against him in another 5 hands.

http://weaktight.com/4323606

Man, this is just a poor call, I was shocked when I saw what his actual hand was, but this felt the whole way like AJ/KJ/QJ and I talked myself into that he could be turning 99/TT AQ into a bluff or thin value. Bad call by me here.

http://weaktight.com/4323608

I think this flop call is pretty marginal at best, although I do like my CR bluff on the turn even if it did not work out his aggression on flop and turn is quite high. I think if I had to play the hand again I would just fold flop.

http://weaktight.com/4323612

Gross against the HUGE fish

http://weaktight.com/4323614

Great spot to triple barrel here, but of course he luckboxes my soul and probably turned Kjhh, Athh, Ajhh into a flush by the river which was one of the many hands I was repping to take him off of one pair hands.

http://weaktight.com/4323618

Man I made a bad call on the flop and it led to bigger problems. This guy is a fishy player who makes lots of calldowns. I mistakenly called the flop out of frustration at the time for what was going on. This then led to a necessary turn call but I think I at least regrouped by the river and made the correct fold. I dont think he ever has a hand like JT that I can beat and really the only hand that I can beat on the river is JQ that now beats me so I feel confident in this big fold.

http://weaktight.com/4323626

Really interesting hand here. He only 3bets 8% bb vs sb which is very low for the current landscape of games. I think folding calling and 4betting are all options here but I thought he played rather straight forward and I my hand could still be underrepresented. I have come to realize that these calls out of position with KQ suited are probably break even at best because they also hit boards that my opponents are likely to 3bet like AQ and AK and at the same time I am check folding lower boards too often. The flop when he checked back looked like an AQ/AK or occasional overpair that is scared of my set heavy range on that flop. The turn I think is a very standard bet to fold out AK/AQ. On the river I hit top pair and I think he still has a lot of JJ/QQ type hands as well as hands like Kto Jto that were bluffing preflop that still can call down. When he raises I think the fold is pretty standard based on the reads I have on him as being a very straight forward player with the ability to make a few call downs, but what his range is or what he is making this play with are very confusing to me. I don't think he raises AK for value. I don't think he raises a worse pair as a bluff. I don't think he checks back QJ on flop. Maybe this is a TT preflop hand that thought he dominated the board and wanted me to bluff? Maybe 9x hh that got there? I am not sure.

Outside of poker I have been playing a ton of golf which for January is just amazing. My cigar buddies and I found a great course for 20 dollars with cart and a 7 dollar replay rate! That is less than a dollar a hole so the value is amazing. We have been having a ton of fun and I have collected on a number of cigar bets and so far have bested my main golfing buddy/competition so far this year. Still a lot of things to work out especially my driving which still goes 300 yards but often that includes 50-100 yards of slice and my chipping. If I can get the rest of my game up to par with my irons and putting than I think I can consistently break 80 by the summer. Hope things are going well for all.

Also, please let me know if there are any Cardrunners video topics that you are interested in me pursuing, look into my coaching because so far this year I have had a lot of success with my two new students, and if you have a leakfinder that you want me to review for CR send it over, pm me or leave me something in the comments section.

Salud!

Hey guys, just a quick recap of my hands from today. I was fortunate that I was really in only two or three cooler situations in 2k hands, but as you will see below I am still making far too many mistakes. Hopefully constant review and work will change this but this really should have been a huge session win for me. In fact I was up 6.5bi before I unlicked the blinds and then I lost a record 3.5 buy ins in about 3 minutes. Pretty tough way to end things, but honestly I still need to play better. Even if I had quit 3 minutes earlier, I think that the situations I was in today, I would have played pretty poorly not to win 9 or 10. Anyway here are the losers.

http://weaktight.com/4310542

I sort of was just trapped into math in this hand, this player just sat down and bought in for a strange amount so I think he was a fish and just assumed I was getting the correct price with implied odds to make the call here and shove my straight outs that hit and c-c my flush outs.

http://weaktight.com/4310526

WTF is wrong with me, I don't know if my timing used to be way better than it was with these plays but come on, stop with all of the 5bet bluffing!

http://weaktight.com/4310527

I really wish I would have played this hand differently. It was one of the first 5 hands with this opponent, I was about ready to quit my session and not knowing anything about the opponent I think makes this shove on the river quite poor, in fact even my turn bet is highly questionable.

AA vs AK

http://weaktight.com/4310531

Man I kept telling myself when I called turn that I absolutely cannot call a king on the river and depending on timing tells not a queen either. I knew what he had, I told myself the whole time I can't call here, and still I fucking find a call. Really awful

http://weaktight.com/4310532

Couldn't dodge one over and a flush draw from a fishy player. One of the few hands in this group of losing hands I wasn't totally disappointed with my play.

AK vs QQ

http://weaktight.com/4310538

I was in a tricky spot on the river here. This player doesn't have many 8x hands here. I also thought he would 3bet TT a decent amount of the time, and was decent enough that he could triple barrel off KQ or maybe even QJ here, as well as a number of bluffs. This read after I finished the session I don't like nearly as much and would probably just go ahead and bet two streets and check fold the river against him because he ended up on the tight side. The way the games are formulating now, I think introducing regs to a different check calling range than most people have in this spot is a good element to my game though.

http://weaktight.com/4310539

I think that I should be check folding the turn here. This guy has a very wide callinge range on the flop, but there are so few hands that you can even float with unless you float with 0 equity so I think that folding the turn and if he happens to float me then that is fine. Still struggling a little bit with the change in the games in 3bet pots. There are so few folds on the flop I need to just find better hands to barrel with, merge my 3bet bluffing range some more, and find some more creative ways to get them to value own or barrel bluff me off.

http://weaktight.com/4310540

This player and I have so much history, AQ even on this scary a board is a very good hand. Obviously I wasn't happy to call off here with the turn texture, but I think he shoves when checked to with his whole range that includes even hands like 87.

http://weaktight.com/4310541

At this point in the session I should have known far better than to call down. Just a horrendous horrendous call here. Man this is terrible, FOLD ABSOLUTE VALUE HANDS WHEN THEY AREN"T RELATIVE STRONG.

Thanks again to Sjaak for helping me out today on a lot of hands.

I have to get up in 5 hours and counting for a grudge golf match. Should be a lot of fun, and its always a good day when you can be playing golf in 60 degree weather in January.

Salud!

Hey guys, I need to make this a daily thing, but I definitely learned a lot about my game and what I need to improve based on going over my last 10k losing hands. It took about 3 hours this afternoon but it was well worth it. Here are all my losing hands over 50bbs in the last 10k hands.

http://weaktight.com/4308728

Definitely one of my worst and poorly thought out hands of the day. I understood the bb has a very high squeeze percentage in this spot so I was attempting to set up a situation for that. Additionally, I knew the CO was a thinking player who could also see the big blinds stats and understand that I could have AA here. The big problem is that the CO also has a high fold to 3bet stat so when he calls, I think AQ is at the bottom of his range and while I think he can fold up to jacks, there is also a stronger than normal likelihiood he has a hand like QQ or AK that he wont fold to me. For 150bbs I need to make better decisions.

http://weaktight.com/4308775

Against a player that is good in position, won't fold middle pairs on the turn, and my image against him, this is simply a fold on the turn.

http://weaktight.com/4308795

Cooler

http://weaktight.com/4308799

Cooler

http://weaktight.com/4308805

Made sort of a hero play on this hand but I like my play and thought there were plenty of floats/missed draws in his range to justify the play

http://weaktight.com/4308823

Cooler

http://weaktight.com/4308827

There is a lot of backstory on this hand. 3 minutes before we were playing heads up and he once again called a 4bet OOP with Kjo/on the flop of 9xx he check called. Turn was a J and he c-c all in. My plan originally was that he would be bluffing off all hands and I thought that he was tilting terribly. The problem was that his turn bet just seemed so weighted in value based on timing and size, that I was more concerned with my future plans for the hand. I think its simply a fold on turn or definitely on the river.

http://weaktight.com/4308933

I think in the future I need to fold some of these. With the crazy amount of 3betting in these games I am sometimes overlooking there is a massive difference between being able to 3bet a ton and being able to 5bet bluff shove.

KK vs AA loser

http://weaktight.com/4308945

Ran into the top of his range here, dont mind my play at all, just need to know in the future his 3bet calling range and 4betting range utg vs blinds is crazy tight

AA < TT

http://weaktight.com/4308970

This board definitely reinforces a read I have on most regs right now, I think you guys can probably guess the read even if I just had too much equity to ignore it here.

http://weaktight.com/4308994

Really terrible leveling adjustments by me and very good by him after he 4bet bluffed earlier in a similar situation and he knows that I can do this light. I need to ease up on the 5bet bluffs for sure

http://weaktight.com/4309010

4bet bluff this hand please! There is not enough history here for me to just call the 3bet OOP

http://weaktight.com/4309015

DO A BETTER JOB FINDING 5bet bluff spots!

http://weaktight.com/4309019

Another spot where I need to use my abilities as a good post flop player and stop playing their game of getting into 3 and 4bet bluffing wars.

http://weaktight.com/4309021

Reitereate everything I said above, CMON GRANT

QQ vs AK

AK vs KK

http://weaktight.com/4309024

FPS here by me

AA vs JJ

http://weaktight.com/4309034

Not really worth talking too much about this one because its a full house and really the only hands im worried about are quads or 666. But I was going to be thrilled to call a shove from the first player, the second player I was obviously hoping would shove a missed draw, but I sort of think this is the hero fold and I did tank here.

TT vs QQ

http://weaktight.com/4309046

Couldn't beat a combo draw with top two

AK vs QQ

http://weaktight.com/4309057

Love my play, really unfortunate that he hit the perfect card to get paid

AQ vs KK CO vs BUT

AK vs QQ

AK vs AK vs JJ

JJ vs AK

(I did not practice my flipping abilities while on hiatus)

http://weaktight.com/4309088

Man this is a tricky spot, He is on 3 tables, he limps a decent amount, he has limp reraised AA before, 26/14. Overall low aggression factor, scary line for sure. I think ultimately the line trumps everything else and I should be folding here. One of my friends said snap fold so I think that says a lot and its a bad call by me.

http://weaktight.com/4309103

Really interesting spot here. This player is capable of bluffing by checkraising turns and rivers. He is also capable of trying to extract thin value in this spot. Finally I think my image is something of a station, and we have a ton of history bluffing in weird spots.

http://weaktight.com/4309135

Cooler against a fish

http://weaktight.com/4309145

Interesting spot because I know what he has here- AJ/AT, and I would go as far as to say that I would bet for value any sets or 89 that I could have here. I think this is a pretty good spot to overbet shove. Even knowing what the opponent has is not enough, I should also know that he is probably not capable of folding a good two pair and he doesn't know I would value bet sets here.

http://weaktight.com/4309157

How did this not work!?!?!? I know hes a fish but god damn I was not on his level here.

http://weaktight.com/4309163

Missed a huge draw and he wouldn't fold a really weak relative hand here

http://weaktight.com/4309171

Not a great river card for me but there are too many bluffs in his range for me to fold.

http://weaktight.com/4309179

Easy adjustment to make is to donk with big hands against this guy for awhile now.

http://weaktight.com/4309185

K2 is definitely a light open from the CO but I am trying to isolate a fish in the bb. Really shocked when the pot wasn't shipped to me when he just called. After this and knowing he won't pay off super light, I tightened up a little because I expect a 40+ VPIP guy to always shove at some point in this hand.

http://weaktight.com/4309192

Uggghhh

http://weaktight.com/4309197

Ughhhhh

AK vs KK

Really happy I took the time to do this, there is so much room for improvement and I hope to utilize what I have learned to finish out the month strong.

Salud!

Thats all

Salud














RIP Joe PA

I just need to wish and pray for a miracle. The Ravens have not been more than a 7 point underdog in any game since 2007 so the timing for running into the Patriots is not great. They have one of the top 5 quarterbacks to ever play the game, two seemingly unstoppable tight ends that no team this year has figured out how to cover, a crazy dangerous slot receiver, a defense that does give up yards but also has a knack for making big plays when they need it, and possibly most importantly by far the best coach in the NFL. Needless to say with one of the worst offensive coordinators, a very mediocre quarterback, and superstars on the downside of their career I am not exactly brimming with confidence. The only thing I really see on our side is that I know we are a tougher football team. The Ravens play smash mouth, old school football and hopefully the old adage that defense wins championships continues to hold true in this era where all of the rules are in favor of the offense.

Also I would like to just say REST IN PEACE to "Joe Pa" Joe Paterno. This morning I have been listening to a lot of his old players, fellow coaches, and people that he has impacted in his life talk about what a great coach but more importantly human being he was and it is truly amazing. I wish the best for his family and friends.



Salud!

Hey guys, I just released by far my most comprehensive video concerning pretty much everything I know about exploiting fish. This is part of a comprehensive series that a number of the low and mid stakes video makers are creating over about 4 or 5 months. I think it's a really exciting series for players that are struggling with the current landscape of online poker, need to work on fundamentals, are working their way through the lower limits, or are just looking for more in depth coverage of specific theory ideas. For my part, I am working on a number of more advanced concepts that I have not seen much of anything on any of the poker video websites. I am actually just finishing my next video for the series which deals with common lines of regulars and how to combat these. Honestly, I think a lot of the information contained in my videos are things that previously I have kept just between my friends and students so I really hope that I can help the CR community a lot.

Also, I have started to begin the grind again online. I feel a lot more comfortable about the safety of my bankroll and am just totally sick of playing live. The 80 minute drive each way really ended up getting to me, and running poorly at live poker is just about the most unfulfilling and depressing thing that I could imagine. I have played about 10k hands in the last week, and while I am not seeing the results that I expected so far, I am quite happy with my play. I think the regs are still very exploitable, just in different ways then they were previously. I am definitely going to try and keep the blog updated because I think when I am putting in a lot of study along with playing that it results in my best game. So hold me to this guys!

Since I have started to get back in the grind again, I feel like I am capable and qualified to begin coaching again. I will make a more detailed blog on this later this week, but I think watching my last video will give you a very good idea about my coaching style and the effort that I put into it for my students.

Finally, while poker is not at its peak point for me right now, everything else in my life really has been great. I had an excellent Christmas and New Years celebration with my wife, family and friends. I have started back to healthy eating again, I am trying to eliminate all junk food and eating out during the week and have already lost 20lbs in two weeks (obviously I am really a fat ass if just not going to chick fila three times a week has made me lose 20 lbs). Additionally, my team is in the AFC championship game. This will almost certainly be their last game because I just cannot envision a scenario where 1) Cam Cameron calls a creative offensive gameplan, 2) Joe Flacco plays like an elite QB, 3) the defense finds a way to cover Gronkowski, Hernandez, and Welker while also putting pressure on Brady. Unfortunately this game feels a lot like 2008, where we reached the AFC championship game by being a good team that puts out maximum effort, but is ultimately limited by an average at best offense and the inability to beat an elite QB on the road. BTW, I really wish this last collumn was purely based on a reverse jinx, but like my wife said when she got home today, "I ran through all the realistic scenarios in my head, and I cannot find a way for us to win." Pretty cool that I have a wife that thinks about football on a tuesday afternoon, but she is unfortuntately spot on.

My goal for the rest of the week is to correct a few of the common mistakes that I have seen in my game, and to grind about another 10k hands before a big partying weekend before the destruction of my football team (ok maybe I am spreading a little reverse jinx in here). Good luck guys and expect to see a lot more in this blog now that I am back in the swing of the online poker scene.

Salud!

Hey guys, check out my newest video. I think its the most interesting leakfinder that I have produced due to the amount of action and interesting situations the hero provided, so check it out and let me know what you think. All comments, critiques, and of course questions are always greatly appreciated. I also have some really exciting news about a future project with CR coming up soon so stay tuned.




Salud!

I don't think Joe Paterno should be fired. Let me first preface all my other points by stating vehemently that the crimes against children that Jerry Sandusky committed are of the most heinous quality, and I am certainly a person that believes the harshest penalty should be bestowed upon anyone that commits a rape, let alone against multiple children. I read the entire 21 page grand jury testimony and it was exceptionally stomach turning and hard to grasp the fact that one of the previous legends of Penn State was capable of such awful acts against humanity. Secondly, I will also say that I am a strong Penn State football fan so I am biased yet convinced that I would feel the same whether I was a Penn State or Ohio State fan.

But please let me explain why I don't think Paterno should be fired, despite the overwhelming media backlash against him, the football program, and Penn State University. First, according to the grand jury testimony, Paterno was not given an explicit or in fact an accurate account of what transpired between Sandusky and a ten year old. According to the grand jury testimony against Sandusky on page 7: "It was reported to Paterno that the graduate assistant had seen Jerry Sandusky in the Lasch Building showers fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy". Now at first this sounds awful, but put yourself in the mind of an at the time 74 year old Paterno. Young boy could mean anyone under 30, I firmly believe that if it was expressed to him that this was a pre-teen things would be much different. Additionally, there are several people close to Paterno reporting (and this holds up in the grand jury statement where the graduate assistant was explicit when explaining the sexual nature to the President and Athletic Director but not when speaking with Paterno) that the graduate assistant told Paterno there was some "horsing around" between Sandusky and the young boy. Finally, place yourself in Joe Pa's shoes: you are hearing reports about a man you have known for well over 40 years as doing something completely out of the blue. He probably was shocked and he did what he thought was best and immediately reported it to both of his superiors for them to handle. So it is important to think about these points: 1) He was not a firsthand witness to the events, 2) There is a lot of evidence leading me to believe that he did not know anywhere close to the age or extent of the involvement with the victim, 3) There was absolutely no attempt to cover up the situation and he immediately went to his superiors, and finally 4) Sandusky was not currently employed by Paterno or Penn State in 2002 when the crime occurred. With this incomplete information, I don't think his inaction with police are nearly as morally corrupt as every news outlet has made it appear.

Fast forward to 2011 and I think there are some real injustices with firing Paterno instead of allowing him to retire at the end of the season. You must first realize that Paterno at 84 years old has spent the entire season "coaching" from the press box but having no real contact with the players during the game due to an accidental collision with a player in August workouts, he does not speak to them at halftime, he calls few if any plays, and has not run practices for a few years now. This is not a hands on coach, and even in 2004 when many people were calling for him to be fired, he was more of a figurehead than anything else. I am quite sure for the last decade that he has had the most hands off approach of any college football program in America. The 1982 version of Joe Pa understood every detail of what was going on in his lockeroom but quite simply this is not the same guy. Yet with all of the media scrutiny placed upon Penn State in the last week, I personally believe the board of trustees just took the easy way out and fired him "for the best interest of Penn State" in a brief phone call tonight. Without even getting into the slap in the face this was to a man that served the university for 64 years, it is quite easy to see that the board was taking the easy way out. Joe Paterno did not commit any of these horrible crimes, he also was not part of any sort of coverup that included Athletic Director Curley, President Schultz, and President Spanier. These men according to the Grand Jury were given full and direct eye witness accounts by the graduate assistant. These were also men that the board of trustees at one time hired. Of course there was no admission of any wrongdoing by the board tonight; in fact by my count the director said five times that "we do not have all of the information" in regards to the media's questions about the involvement of Paterno. Yet they were overwhelmed by the media onslaught and could not handle the pressure, so they did the easiest thing they could, at least to the country outside of Penn State and fired the legendary coach.

In the past few days, Joe Paterno has come out and said repeatedly that he did not do enough and it was something that he would regret for the rest of his life. I would expect nothing else from a man that valued Penn State so much and had given so much of himself to the community and to many generations of young adults. More importantly though, I think this incident should also not define him as a person or a coach. Deciding to step down at the end of the season was the right move, not just for this awful incident but also because he simply was not as hands on as he needed to be at his advanced age for the players and community both on and off the field. Hindsight will always be 20-20, yet this does not mean he should be held accountable for the grotesque actions of Sandusky, that he should have anticipated the type of person Sandusky really was, nor was he involved with the coverup by the university presidents and athletic directors; he is owed more than that after his 64 years of service.

I anticipate this will be a controversial stance, but throughout the years that I have had my blog on CR, I have posted a number of thoughts that were against the grain. As always I am open to debate/discussion and read all of the comments.

On a lighter note, the third part of my series is now out, let me know what you think and how I can be of help to you in your games.

Salud!

Hey guys, I am coming off my best week (outside of my wedding/honeymoon) since Black Friday. Live poker was a big success this week, the Ravens made a monumental comeback after blowing the game and Joe Flacco who I can't stand had an amazing 92 yard drive with under two minutes for my beloved Ravens, and most significantly my chances at retrieving my full tilt account went up considerably (in fact my buddies texted me furiously with the news and I won a big pot within 2 minutes of each other). Really couldn't ask for more out of a week, hopefully the momentum continues on all fronts. So far I think the CR community has gotten a lot out of my newest series of videos, and part 3 should be released tomorrow so have an eye out of that. Smoking a Padron 1926 #9 in celebration.

Salud!