Hello folk . Today I thought I'd just share some weekends news from here at the House.  It was a very nice weekend for us here.

It all started Friday when the wife and I decided to go watch "the Dark Knight". This is the best Batman movie to date if you ask me . The entire cast was great , from Bale, Freeman, Cain and Ledger ! This is a must see movie for the summer, you'll not be sorry.

While the wife and I went to watch the movie , the youngest daughter (22) sat in for me at our Friday Night Jam Session held at Carbon Poker .She took the game down for a win and got me the added satellite coupon as well . Not bad for a girl that plays very little poker these days.

Saturday saw me play our weekly game at Timeless, and I manged a second place finish in that one. I just fell apart come heads up game and made some bad plays against the wrong player. Neobahumut was just too crafty for me Saturday . ;-)

Yesterday was the biggy though. I was in a good mood and weren't a whole lot going on, so I decided to play the $1000.00 Freeroll  at Carbon Poker that Poker.com host. It would be the third time playing and I'd done made $500 by winning one of them.......well, to make a long story short , I played the game and took down first for another $500 win. Two wins out of three played is not bad at all . Yep, I've had a pretty good weekend. :-)

A freeroll is a poker tournament that you play for free. That’s obviously great, but what you may not realize is that some freerolls are better than others. What makes a good freeroll? A number of factors might cause you to choose one freeroll over another when playing texas holdem online.

What Makes a Good Poker Freeroll: Cap on Entries

Freerolls, as you might expect, attract a lot of players. When all you have to do for a shot at the prize is sign up, you’re going to get a horde of hungry poker players clicking the “register” link. As a result, many freerolls have a cap on how many people can enter.

Unfortunately, this cap is often something like 10,000 entries, meaning you’ll have to play about 15 hours straight to win twenty bucks. If you can find a freeroll that caps its entries at something like 1,000 players, you’re in business.

What Makes a Good Poker Freeroll: Prizes

Since you’re not putting up any money, you can’t expect much in the way of prizes. Often you’ll find first prize to be around twenty dollars, or even entry into another satellite for which the first prize may be $100.

Every once in awhile though, you may find a special promotion in which some person or group is putting real money into a freeroll in order to garner attention for a poker enterprise. Keep an eye out for these and jump in when you find one.

What Makes a Good Poker Freeroll: Poker Site

If you’re playing a freeroll on a site you like, it’s a lot more fun. You’re getting good practice playing on a site where you would play anyway. If it’s a new site, a freeroll is a good opportunity to figure out if this site is really a place where you want to play regularly.

The 2008 WSOP Main Event Final Table is now set and here is the final nine players that have a shot at winning the WSOP Bracelet and $9.1 Million in cash ! November 9th, the players will continue the play with hopefully the next day crowning the 2008 Main Event Champion.  Congrats to the final table !

DENNIS PHILLIPS, 53 - St. Louis, Missouri........................ 26,295,000     

IVAN DEMIDOV, 27 - Moscow, Russia............................... 24,400,000

SCOTT MONTGOMERY, 26 - Perth, Ontario, Canada........... 19,690,000

PETER EASTGATE, 22 - Odense, Denmark......................... 18,375,000

YLON SCHWARTZ, 38 - Brooklyn, New York....................... 12,525,000

DARUS SUHARTO, 39 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada............... 12,520,000

DAVID RHEEM, 28 - Los Angeles, California....................... 10,230,000

CRAIG MARQUIS, 23 - Arlington, Texas............................. 10,210,000

KELLY KIM, 31 - Whittier, California................................... 2,620,000

 Poker is a game which is growing in popularity, especially with the rise high profile televised poker tournaments where people who play poker online have as much of a chance of winning as the poker pros who live the game. The traditional pack of cards, however, is almost obsolete.

 Many people enjoy playing online poker via their PC, but you can also play poker on the move. The increasing popularity and affordability of mobile phones with good graphics, and the decreasing cost of WAP access, means that online casino and poker games are entering mobile market – you can play casino games online using your mobile phone and there are Mobile Poker Rooms cropping up all over the world. Play while on the move wherever you are, be it on the train on your way to work or while waiting for a plane at the airport.

 So instead of whiling away your time playing retro arcade games on your mobile phone, enjoy something easier to play on a handset – and yet even more exciting, like poker.

What a terrible week I've had, and it has nothing to do with poker.....As some of you readers might know I've been having some health issues for the last year or so . First it was the lungs, then it was the vocal cords...after an operation to remove the cancer and polyps the old voice box is back and doing well.

I'd been having some bad cramps in the lower stomach area , but being as bullheaded as I am I never said nothing to the doctors about that....to be honest about the thing I just did not like the thought of having a colonscopy done. I've had instruments run down through my nose and mouth and just could not deal with no more things being ran down other places if you know what I mean.

Anyhow, this past Sunday the pain got to where I just knew I had best go get the gut checked out. To beat all they didn't have to do a colonscopy after all, they found it with a CT Scan . Looks like I got diverticulitis as well as a tear in my colon. So I've spent the biggest part of week in the hospital on a no food or drink diet ...nothing but liquid antibiotics. I'm now home on a soft food diet and taking oral antibiotics six times a day and on the mend.

Folk, the only reason I bring this all up is to encourage you all to try and take care of your health. I'm a 47 year old man, and wish to hell I had . Visit a doctor when you feel something ain't right with your body, don't be a stubborn fool like I've been most my life.

And let the game begin.........But who wins the WSOP Crown will not be decided until November, that's when the final table will be played. This year, tournament officials are betting that delaying the tournament's final table moments will generate more interest and a leap in the ratings for the Championship. The hope is that this will lead to certain fame for the players who remain, and with all the hype that will be going on for the next few months I tend to think it will.

"This is probably going to be a watershed moment for poker," said series commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. Pollack,  Nascars former vice president, says the goal is to help the tournament build a reputation for poker similar to other mainstream sports leagues. To do that, Pollack says poker has to excite the fans.

"We've been very forthright in that ambition," Pollack said. "Change doesn't happen overnight but a change in intention can happen overnight and our intention here is to help more people experience our thrills and excitement."

In the past fans of poker got word of the main event winner long before the tape-delayed event aired on television by way of the written word and the web. This year the network telecast will not air until hours after someone cashes in.

"This will be poker's biggest night," Pollack said.

 The more I think on this, the more I believe Pollack may have just hit on something. If nothing else it keeps the WSOP in the media attention more, and it should bring the TV ratings way up when it's aired in November.

 And now for the latest 2008 WSOP standings:

# Winner of Event 49 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em - JC Tran

# Winner of Event 50 - 10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship - Marty Smyth

# Winner of Event 51 - $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Champion - James Schaaf

# Winner of Event 52 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Champion - David Daneshgar

# Winner of Event 53 -  Limit Hold'em Shootout - Matt Graham

Looks like this is the year of the pros at the WSOP. It's great to see players such as Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein and yes, even Mike Matusow winning bracelets in this years events  . Here is a list of the WSOP Bracelet Winners so far this year .

# Winner of Event 1 - $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship - Nenad Medic

# Winner of Event 2 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Grant Hinkle

# Winner of Event 3 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em - David Singer

# Winner of Event 4 - $5,000 Mixed Hold'em (Limit/No Limit) - Erick Lindgren

# Winner of Event 5 - $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em w/ Re-buys - Michael Banducci

# Winner of Event 6 - $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better - Thang Luu

# Winner of Event 7 - $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Matt Keikoan

# Winner of Event 8 - $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event - Anthony Rivera

# Winner of Event 9 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em / Six-Handed - Rep Porter

# Winner of Event 10 - $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better - Farzad Rouhani

# Winner of Event 11 - $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout - Phil Tom

# Winner of Event 12 - $1,500 Limit Hold'em - Jimmy Shultz

# Winner of Event 13 - $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Duncan Bell

# Winner of Event 14 - $10,000 Seven-Card Stud World Championship - Eric Brooks

# Winner of Event 15 - $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em World Championship - Svetlana Gromenkova

# Winner of Event 16 - $2,000 Omaha Hi/Lo - Andrew Brown

# Winner of Event 17 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout - Jason Young

# Winner of Event 18 - $5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw w/ Rebuys - Mike Matusow

# Winner of Event 19 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha - Vanessa Selbst

# Winner of Event 20 - $2,000 Limit Hold'em - Daniel Negreanu

# Winner of Event 21 - $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Scott Seiver

# Winner of Event 22 - $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. - Jens Voertmann

# Winner of Event 23 - $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Blair Hinkle

# Winner of Event 24 - $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha - Max Pescatori

# Winner of Event 25 - $10,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em World Championship - Kenny Tran

# Winner of Event 26 - $1,500 Razz - Barry Greenstein

# Winner of Event 27 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Vitaly Lunkin

# Winner of Event 28 - $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha w/ Rebuys - Phil Galfond

# Winner of Event 29 - $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em - John Phan

# Winner of Event 30 - $10,000 Limit Hold'em World Championship - Rob Hollink

# Winner of Event 31 - $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Six-handed - Dario Minieri

# Winner of Event 32 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Luis Velador

# Winner of Event 33 - $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low World Championship -Sebastian Ruthenberg

# Winner of Event 34 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha w/Rebuys - Layne Flack

# Winner of Event 35 - $1,500 Seven Card Stud - Mike Rocco

# Winner of Event 36 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Jesper Hoagaard

# Winner of Event 37 - $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low World Championship - David Benyamine

# Winner of Event 38 - $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em - Davidi Kitai

# Winner of Event 39 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em - David Woo

# Winner of Event 40 - $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw - John Phan

# Winner of Event 41 - $1,500 Mixed Hold'em - Frank Gary

# Winner of Event 42 - $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em World Championship - Dan Lacourses

# Winner of Event 43 - $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo - Martin Klaser

# Winner of Event 44 - $1,000 No Limit Hold'em w/Rebuys - Max Greenwood

# Winner of Event 45 - $50,000 Horse Championship - Scotty Nguyen

# Winner of Event 46 - $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Six-handed - Joe Commisso

# Winner of Event 48 - $2,000 no limit hold’em tournament - Alexandre Gomes

I thought I'd share a little info about a good online friends web-site today. He goes by Wade79 at the poker forum and is one of the moderators there. He's always helping out when can, and has been a huge help to me with setting up sites and any banners that a person might need. Chris is a very trustworthy young man in my books by any standards and plays a pretty mean game of poker to boot.

Most of us have hobbies other than playing online poker all the time , or I do anyhow . One of Chris's is painting miniatures. For lack of a better term I call them medieval fantasy characters. I know a lot of folk collect this type thing...even have a couple of my younger brothers that are into the medieval collectables . Heck, we even have a Medieval Times Theatre Show bout an hours drive from here , so I know it's very popular.

Chris has named his latest site MaronMinis.com, and he's providing a professional and quick miniature painting service. He has a gallery full of pictures of these miniatures and a price list as well . I think you'll find that he can answer most of your questions right on his site, if not send him a mail and I'm sure he'll get back to you in no time. There's a sub-forum that's all his at the poker forum as well .

If you run across him at the poker felt beware though...he's no pushover. ;-)