Bodog.com $6kG Final Table

Work has finally started to calm down, with the successful completion of one major project behind me, and the second major project on or ahead of schedule. Work has calmed down to the point I was able to take tomorrow off, so I decided I had to get some poker in tonight. Entered the Party $40k Guaranteed, the Full Tilt 16k Guaranteed, and a Bodog.com $6k guaranteed that had a little more than a $1000 overlay in it. I also fire up a stream of SNGs in the background to keep a fourth table going. I end up busting out of the Party 40kG and the Tilt 16kG in about the middle of the pack. No really spectacular hands to discuss, just typical tournament poker.

However, in the Bodog.com $6k Guaranteed I make a massively deep run, scoring my first MTT cash in several weeks. I didn't do a great job blogging it, but let's pick up in the final 10% of the tournament:

In four consecutive hands: Aces, trash to fold, Queens, and Ace-King. With 56 left out of the 453 that entered, and top 45 get paid. I had jumped to second in chips in the tournament. The chipleader? sitting three to my right. Betweem us we're terrorizing the table.

A few hands later I make a collosal mistake. Bodog's players may be weak, their games may be the juiciest, but their software is pretty terrible. Trying to pop it to 2000 under the gun, I instead make it a 20k raise. thankfully I just take down the blinds, as my massive overbet is uncalled.

The bubble that builds up around 50 players remaining is one of the juiciest I can remember in my MTT career. I'm able to grow my chipstack nicely, sniping the blinds and antes for at least half of each orbit.

We hit the money, and the tables loosen significantly, as usual. The table chiplead takes a couple hits, so for a moment I'm chiplead at the table - but still #2 overall, i think - i'm certainly not #1, but bodog's software makes it really hard to see anything more than that. Then i pop it from MP with ATo, get raised behind and the former table chiplead pushes. the raiser calls, and the former chiplead becomes the chiplead again, nearly doubling up with JJ vs AQ.

A couple hands later, I raise my standard raise from the button, and get called by the big blind. He's aparently decided that he's sick of my constant stealing, and doesn't think i've got much of a hand. I end up getting all his chips, when he doesn't give me credit for an ace and thinks the king he hits on the turn is good. I jump to what appears to be a commanding second place lead with around 50k in chipsto the chip leader's 60k. Only two other players appear to be over 20k in chips, and they're at 25k and 30k respectively.

Sadly the uberpassive table breaks a few hands later. The next table I get bumped to has several people around 25k in chips, and the guy who is aparently in third place around 32k. Several of these guys are aggressive, so while I win a couple pots and keep growing my stack, I can't steal at anywhere near the same rate as before.

We hit the third break with 23 players remaining. I'm at 56k in chips, and am now third in chips behind two different players with just over $60k - one at each of the other tables, in fact - and with a player at 52k chasing my heels.

We get down to two tables almost immediatley after the break, quickly running down to 18 players remaing. I end up getting pushed in to on a couple of my steals and have to fold, and between those and the blinds/antes I run down to around $46k pretty quickly. The Bodog software doesn't seem to be keeping up with many updates, so while the lobby shows we're down to 18 it actually appears we've only got 14 remaing. I can't quite figure out what's up. it looks like I'm around 5th in chips, maybe 6th.

I limp 22 under the gun as my table's been limping a few flops occasionally, with the antes so high. it folds around to the small-stack SB who pushes for about 1/6th my stack. I think it over, and call for the coinflip. He's got Kd9c. I catch a third duece on the flop to take a big lead, but the flop is three clubs. He catches his four-card flush on the river and I drop a little. however the poker gods are kind tonight, handing me QQ on the next hand. I re-raise a preflop raiser in EP who just calls. The flop comes beautiful rainbow undercards, and I push the flop. I'm called by AKs who's well behind, and fails to suck out. I jump over 100k in chips briefly.

Next hand I pop it from MP with AQo and get called by the big blind. The flop comes 8T4 rainbow, I bet 1/3 pot and he folds. Still accumulating.

We sit at ten players waiting to consolidate for a long time. A player pushes in front of me with ATd and I call with AQo. The flop drops a beautiful A99, which sadly gives my dominated opponent a couple outs to the chop. Sure enough, the case ace hits the river and we chop our full houses.

following that, I drag two pots in a row - in the second I call the button's standard preflop raise with 99, and lead the 8TJ flop for 1/3 the pot and take down a nice one to jump up near 100k.

we jump to the final table and start mowing through people. We consolodate with only eight left, I knock out a short stack with ATs vs their J5o, and we're down to six players before I can blink.

I raise JQs UTG and get pushed behind from one of the two short stacks and have to call. He's got aces. i connect with a flush draw on the turn, but fail to suck out on the river as planned. However next hand I'm rewarded with kings and pull the blinds and antes.

A couple hands later, I KO a player callling their all-in with pocket tens and hold up against their A6o. We're down to five. Next hand I get 77 and pop it for cujofan and take the blinds and antes.

Aparently something's even more messed up with the bogog software - we've got five players remaining but one is invisible (Illini21). I can see cards in his spot but not his chipstack. Very annoying. Thankfully just after posting, his KQ goes down to ATo and we're actually down to four, and now minus the invisible swordsman. I'm third in chips, with a significant lead on fourth place and pretty close to second.

I lose two quick hands in a row, and go home after the second. In the first, I semi-steal with A4o from the button and get called by the chiplead in the big blind. The flop drops three hearts, he checks and I cbet strong, really hoping to take this pot right now. My opponent thinks a bit and he calls. The turn brings an offsuit ace, and he checks and I check. The river brings pairs the jack on board with a non-heart jack, and he pretty quickly puts in a little less than half my remaining stack - which at this point is about a half pot bet if I recall correctly. Juicy odds, anyways - if it was indeed half pot, if he's bluffing - or I'm ahead - more than one time in four I'm going to have to call this.

I think for quite a while, and then think that my two pair board kicker is quite possibly good here: I'm behind to exactly these hands: AT+, 22, any hand with a jack, and a flopped flush. I don't think AT is very likely, AQ or AK almost certainly not as I would have been raised preflop. 22 is likewise unlikely as he gave me a free card on the turn, risking letting me draw to a potential flush. So either he hit the bingo with a flush on the flop and slowplayed me, or there's a strong possiblity my ace is good (or I'm up against the case ace for a chop. My gut says call, and I do. Unfortunately, I indeed find he flopped and slowplayed the second-nut flush, and I drop down significantly in chips, almost tied with fourth place.

The very next hand I get JKo, and end up all-in against ATo. No one connects - the flop brings extra outs in the form of a gutshot straight draw, but I fail to improve against his ace-high and get bounced in fourth for a $420 payday. third would have paid $630, second $924, and first a decent $1500. Congrats to "SeanSpringsYall" and to "awwweeen" who battled it out for first and second after I was gone.

Still, a nice night and a nice little payday, especially when i add in the SNG returns I was able to grind through in the background per usual. Can't ever argue with a final table.

Early History behind the UFC

I put together a little background on the history of the UFC for a 2+2 thread (in rebuttal to some claims that the first UFCs were rigged for Royce Gracie to win them), and thought I'd cross-post it here.

The Gracies started what they called the Gracie challenge back in the 1920's by Carlos Gracie (father of Carlson, co-founder of BJJ along with his three brothers primarily Helio). This was an open challenge to any fighter, to fight whatever Gracie that the family put forward in a Vale Tudo (Portuguese for "anything goes") fight. It was a great marketing tool and development tool for the burgeoning art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The Gracies won a whole lot more of these challenge fights than they lost. One of the premiere Gracie losses was to Masahiko Kimura - considered by many to be the greatest judo practicioner of all time - in 1951 (in which Helio had his arm broken to end the fight, by the shoulder lock which has come to be known in modern MMA terms as a Kimura).



In the early eighties, Rorion Gracie - one of the few 9th Degree Red & Black Belts in BJJ - formally took the Gracies BJJ to America to promote the style. Rorion updated the Gracie Challenge - openly offering to pay fighters $100,000 if they would beat the Gracie family's challenger (in this case, himself). When Royce turned 18, he joined Rorion in the states and began teaching alongside him.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship grew directly out of this Gracie Family Challenge. It was Rorion's idea, to start with, but several people were involved including Art Davie and producer Robert Meyrowitz.

The first UFC was started essentially as a more formal version of the Gracie Challenge as an open tournament. A significant amount of the $50k prize money was put forward by the Rorion and Art Davie (guaranteed, of course, the gate and the PPV revenues were used to recoupe that).

Absolutely anyone could apply, and there was not a lot of early interest. Anyone could already walk up and accept the Gracie Challenge and fight Rorion with $100k on the line. Invites and magazine articles went out to fill the UFC 1 roster, recruiting as many people as possible to help fill the eight spots. Saying that top martial artists weren't chosen is just crazy talk - Contenders eventually included shootfighting standout Ken Shamrock, kickboxing standout Patrick Smith, and Savate (French Boxing) world champion Gerard Gordeau.

Art Davie originally felt Rickson Gracie, Rorion's older brother and generally regarded as the best of the Gracie fighters, would be the one entered. However, the Gracies collecetively decided to enter their smallest fighter, Royce. They thought, correctly, that the less physically impressive Royce would make even more of an impact demonstrating BJJ to the world.

When UFC 1 (1993) and 2 (1994) hit PPV they caused pretty big sensations and larger than expected draws. The producers of the show, including Rorion, knew they had a hit on their hands, and what was originally envisioned as a stand alone tournament became a recurring event. the UFC evolved significantly between UFC 3-5 (judges, most fights with time limits) and very signifcantly by UFC 8 (combination strikers/wrestlers now ruling the land) and then took off from there.

Performify's UFC 59 picks

This weekend brings UFC 59: Reality Check. Per usual, we're rolling a poker game beforehand and then PPV'ing the fight. As usual, if you're going to be in the KC area and want an invite, drop me a line.

As usual, full card predictions. This time, Dana White was nice enough to notify us which fights would be guaranteed to be televised and which were pre-fight floaters (fights that aren't shown live, which occur before the broadcast starts and are only televised if time permits) so I've separated the writeup accordingly.

Prior UFC results: 12-5 record last two UFCs. 5-3 on UFC 58, 7-2 on UFC 57. 3-6 with -3.1 units on the past Ultimate Fight Night 4. Click each for more detailed record.

Televised fights:

Jeff Monson Vs. Marcio Cruz
Jeff Monson -212
Marcio Cruz +192

This fight is very much a grudge match, although a lot of people don't know it. Both fighters have an extreme dislike of each other from their Abu Dhabi days. Jeff "The Snowman" Monson we last saw in UFC 57, where he defeated Brandon Lee Hinkle in the first round - those following my picks, we were on Monson there for another nice payday. Monson is a big, strong fighter with American Top Team with a 20-5 MMA record, a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and is a two-time Abu Dhabi subission fighting world champion.

Cruz you may also remember - Cruz fights and trains with the Gracie Barra Combat Team (Renato "Babalu" Sobral). Cruz is a jiu-jitsu powerhouse: a six-time world champion of jiu-Jitsu, an eight-time pancration champion of jiu-jitsu, was the Abu Dhabi 2003 champion (Over 99KG) and was the only Brazillian to win this category. Cruz is 2-0 in MMA combat, with wins over Keigo Kunihara in UFC 55 (10/05) and most recently you probably remember Cruz making us money with the significant underdog upset of Frank Mir by TKO in the first round at UFC 57: Liddell vs Couture 3.

But more important than his MMA record, lets go back to that Abu Dhabi record - in 2003, when Cruz ran through an impressive field to win the Submission Wrestling World Championship, in the quarter finals Cruz faced a decorated MMA vetran by the name of.... Jeff Monson. And defeated him on his way to the title. However, Monson is riding a 15-fight win streak including winning the 2005 Abu Dhabi championship There's no question Monson should be favored here, but Cruz is very much the live underdog and is my prediction to win the fight outright. Cruz has a four inch height advantage and a significant reach advantage, which should help on the feet. And when it goes to the ground, which it will, Cruz has a significant advantage. Cruz by submission (rear naked choke, opportunity created from strikes) in the third round.

Nick Diaz Vs. Sean Sherk
Sean Sherk -156
Nick Diaz +146

Diaz is a decent fighter but has faltered lately, losing three of his last five fights. Diaz is 11-5 in MMA and trains with the Cesar Gracie team, but is coming off two straight losses (to Joe Riggs at UFC 57, and Diego Sanchez in the Ultimate fighter 2 finale). Sherk has an impressive 29-2-1 record, and despite his strong wrestling background is well rounded in muay thai, jeet kune do, and BJJ. Sherk has never suffered back to back losses, and he's going to be too much for Diaz here. Sherk by unanimous decision.

Tito Ortiz Vs. Forrest Griffin
Tito Ortiz -322
Forrest Griffin +292

There are a lot of people who expect Ortiz to walk all over Griffin. Simply put, I'm one of them. Ortiz is a UFC vetran with an impressive pedigree, well-rounded skills, and superb intelligence and determination. Griffin is well known as the TUF winner and has been highly regarded since his big fight with Stephan Bonnar. However, as we've seen recently in Ultimate Fight Night 4, stealing a win from a mediocre Keith Jardine, Stephan Bonnar isn't that impressive of a fighter - Bonnar and Griffin put on a great show, because they're both pretty equally matched. Griffin isn't anywhere near Tito's league. Tito rolls him quickly, then smacks around Ken Shamrock at the end of TUF:3, and then sets himself up for an eventual Liddell vs Ortiz 2. Ortiz by TKO (ground + pound) in the second round.

Andrei Arlovski Vs. Tim Sylvia
Andrei Arlovski -400
Tim Sylvia +360

Silvia is a hard hitter, no question - he's 20-3 in MMA and trains with the superb Miletich Fighting systems. Miletich is going to have Sylvia well prepared for this fight, and he's got a puncher's chance at an upset here. But Arlovski is just way too powerful for this to go any direction. Arlovski is a samba expert, and has wins in his last six apperances, in UFC 40, 44, 47, 51, 53, and 55. Only one of those fights, UFC 47 vs Wesley Correira has gone past the first round - and that fight ended 1:15 in to the second. First round TKO, so hopefully we get to see an undercard fight or two.

Possibly non-televised fights:

David Terrell Vs. Scott Smith
David Terrell -227
Scott Smith +207

Scott Smith is a well rounded fighter, trained in uay Thai and Brazillian jiu-jitsu, with a 9-1 professional record. Terrell is a little bit of an enigma: he's a very highly regardled BJJ black belt under Cesar Gracie, but has a professional record of only 5-2. Terrell jumped on to the scene with a 24-second KO of Matt Lindland in his UFC debut (UFC 49 in August 2004) but then lost in big upset to Evan Tanner at UFC 51 (2/05) for the then vacant UFC middleweight belt. Terrell was overweight for the fight and he won't make that mistake again here. Smith is definately a live underdog here, he's a rising star, but Terrell has something significant to prove here. They've both got great standup, fast hands, and incredible punching power for 185. But Terrell has a significant edge on the ground, and assuming he can keep from getting mounted and pounded, he'll take this fight and put his career back on track. Terrell by submission (choke, probably a triangle) in the second round.

Karo Parisyan Vs. Nick Thompson
Karo Parisyan -263
Nick Thompson +243

Thompson was supposed to be fighting Joe Riggs in this match, however with Riggs bowing to injury the infamous Karo Parisyan steps in. Parisyan is a Pan American judo silver medalist and six-time Judo Junior National Champion, currently ranked No. 3 in the world at 178 pounds. Parisyan's last loss was to Georges St. Pierre in UFC 46 (1/04) - since then he has four decision wins over Shonie Carter (WEC 10), Nick Diaz (UFC 49), Chris Lytle (UFC 51) and Matt Serra (UFC 53 in 6/2005). Thompsons's last loss was 6/2005, but since then he's torn off eight victories in a row, including a win over Keith Wisniewski at UFC 56: Full Force. Six of Thompson's eight recent victories have come by KO or by submission. That's right, Nick "The Goat" Thompson has fought (and won) eight times in the past ten months, in the same amount of time that Parisyan has been idle from MMA combat. Thompson is wrestler from the University of Wisconsin who has trained with both the Freestyle Fighting Academy (Derrick Noble, Nick Agallar) and now with minnesota Martial Arts (Nate Homme, Sean Sherk). In total Thompson fought 15 times in 2005, with a 12-3 record including (as mentioned) winning his last eight in a row. Parisyan is a big MMA name, and I think this line is off quite a bit - I think the fight is closer to a 60/40 favorite than a 70/30, giving us quite a bit of EV here on the underdog. Nick Thompson in the upset, TKO in the second round.

Jason Lambert Vs. Terry Martin
13 Jason Lambert -219
14 Terry Martin +199

Those who aren't familiar with the UFC but follow my picks might remember Lambert - he made us money at UFC 58: USA vs Canada, where in his UFC debut he defeated Rob MacDonald with a first round kimura. Lambert is is a kickboxer and wrestler from the North County Fight Club. Terry you might remember as being the victim of a flying knee from James Irvin in the opening seconds of the second round, in their UFC 54 matchup. And while most people will remember that flying knee, they might overlook the fact that Martin pretty much dominated the first round before getting the quick KO. This will be an absolute brawl - both guys will go at each other standing up and will only take the fight to the ground as a last resort. This fight is closer than the odds indicate - I'm taking Martin in the upset.

Thiago Alves Vs. Derrick Noble
Thiago Alves -300
Derrick Noble +270

Thiago Alves is a Brazilian Muay Thai Champion who also holds a Purple Belt in BJJ and a professional MMA record of 7-2 with another . we've most recently seen him at UFC 56, KO'ing Ansar Chalangov in the first round. Noble is primarily a striker, with some good ground game to match, and a deeper 15-6-1 professional MMA record.. The two previously fought in December of 2003 in the Absolute Fighting Championships (AFC #6), where Noble won with a rear naked choke when Alves gave up his back trying to shield from strikes by Noble. Since their meeting in ’03, Alves is 4-1 and Noble is 5-2-1. This is a tough fight to call, should be very close, but I'll stick with a small bet on Alves.

Evan Tanner Vs. Justin Levens
Evan Tanner -305
Justin Levens +275

This fight was originally supposed to be Tanner vs Jeremy Horn, which I was really anticipating. However Horn got injured int training, and Levens stepped in. Evan Tanner is a former member of Team Quest (Randy Couture, etc). Tanner has a pretty impressive 31-6 record, but he's been TKO'd from his last two fights, UFC 53 ( by Rich Franklin and in Ultimate Fight Night 2 by David Loiseau. Tanner has impressive wins over David Terrell (UFC 51, 02/05) Robbie Lawler in UFC 50, 10/04), Phil Baroni (UFCs 45 and 48), and Elvis Sinosic (UFC 38). Justin Levens is a Vale Tudo fighter who trains with Marco Ruas and holds a 7-1 MMA record. Dana White is really going to want to groom Tanner to make another run at the title, as Franklin faces a lack of quality opponents in the middleweight division, and Levens is a good opponent for that - he's a dangerous striker, but his jiu-jitsu still needs a lot of work. They'll throw a little standing up for a while, but Tanner will take this to the ground and then finish with GnP or an armlock. Levens is a decent, dangerous fighter, but Evan Tanner should win this fight and move back on track towards another shot at Rich Franklin down the line.

Final recommendations

Tito Ortiz -323 : 3.23 units to win 1 unit *

Sean Sherk -156 : 1.56 units to win 1 unit

Marcio Cruz +192 : 1 unit to win 1.92 units *

David Terrell -227 : 2.27 units to win 1 unit

Nick Thomspon +234 : 1 unit to win 2.34 units *

Terry Martin +178 : 1 unit to win 1.78 units

thiago Alves -306 : 1.53 units to win .5 units

Evan Tanner -305 : 1.525 units to win .5 unit

Andrei Arlovski -400 : 8 units to win 2 units
* = recommended late place, to take advantage of the line moving our direction

My "Most Listened" Albums of All Time

A 2p2 thread kickstarted my brain with the following query:

I feel like whenever a top albums of all time discussion comes up, the albums at the top are always great albums, by some of the best bands out there, but at the same time, they're not always the most listened to albums, or maybe even the favorite albums of the person/people compiling the list.

For this Top 10, I'd like to see what people's Top 10 all time most listened to albums are. I know this is somewhat hard to judge, but based off what you remember of your musical tastes throughout your life, and what albums were at one point or another on constant rotation in your record player/cassette deck/cd player/etc, form an approximate list. This is not supposed to be a best or favorite album list at all, so no need to be embarassed by some possibly questionable past musical tastes.

I enjoyed responding to this, enough so to share with the blogsphere (and hopefully see some other's similar lists). So without further ado, in the vein of my previous top ten album lists: Here are my Top Ten "Most Listened" to albums of all time.

This list is heavily weighted for me on albums from the nineties, as the albums that made it through the time period from high school -> college -> post-college (and in almost every case still get in to my rotation) have recieved 10x as much play as anything else in my collection.

In Chronological order, culled to a top ten.

Nine Inch Nails: Pretty Hate Machine (1989)
I didn't meet Reznor until late 1990, when I started dating a girl who was a huge Nails fan. But since then his music has been in heavy rotation. Reznor's magnum opus "The Fragile" is by far my favorite Nails record, but there's no question this has recieved the most play of any album in my collection. Still gets played start to finish, sixteen years after I got my first copy.
Favorite Tracks: Down in It, Sin, Terrible Lie,

Pearl Jam: Ten (1991)
I was already a big fan of Temple of the Dog, so the progression to Pearl Jam was a natural. This album was a constant staple during the college days. The brilliance of Garden keeps this album in rotation today, albeit with very limited listenability due to popular radio absolutely wearing this album out, not to mention Pearl Jam's descent from brilliance through mediocrity to pure crap across their career.
Favorite tracks: Garden, Black, Alive

Use Your Illusion II (1991)
In the late eighties / early nineties I had already developed an interest in a wide variety of music, including Metallica and GnR. I still consider Estranged to be one of the greatest songs of all time, especially one of the most underrated. Haven't listened to either album in years, but the magic of bittorent fixed that while I was pulling together the list (sadly easier to dl them than to find the scratched up CDs among the thousands I own). I started out including both Guns and Roses: Use Your Illusion I along with II, as most still consider this one large album. I certainly do. But after re-listening to both albums, I realized I'm a much larger fan of II than I, and I know for a fact I played II just a little more than I, however Illusion I is certainly close. .
Favorite Tracks: Breakdown, Estranged, 14 Years, Locomotive

U2: Achtung Baby (1991)
While their 1987 smash The Joshua Tree might have been one of the defining albums of the eighties, Achtung Baby recieved 10x as much play in my collection. I still break it out to this day for The Fly and So Cruel.
Favorite Tracks: The Fly, So Cruel, Mysterious Ways, Zoo Station

Rage Against the Machine: Rage Against the Machine (1992)
Rage's debut album was one of the freshest, most unique sounds. A complete evolution in music at the time, ushering in the rapcore sound to follow.
Favorite Tracks: Bombtrack, Know Your Enemy, Wake Up

Snoop Dog: Doggystyle (1993)
Dre's Chronic was quickly eclipsed by Snoop's debut. Snoop's album crossed about every barrier, and really drove hip-hop in to suburbia. Everyone owned this album, and everyone constantly played it. Still gets spins at parties, to great accord.
Favorite Tracks: Tha Shiznit, Doggy Dogg World, Aint No Fun

Nirvana: Unplugged in New York (1994)
I was fortunate enough to get handed a copy of Nirvana's Bleach in late 1990, so I was already a fan when Nevermind exploded on to the world stage in 1991 and introduced the world to Seattle's amazing music scene. And while Nevermind's power got heavy rotation for several years, the singles were absolutely everywhere so it dropped out of my rotation pretty quickly. However the absolute brilliance of their 1994 visit to MTV's New York studios to drop this album still gets heavy rotation in my collection. It was in constant rotation as a mellow album during and immediately after college.
Favorite Tracks: Oh Me, Plateu, Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam

Radiohead: The Bends (1995)
OK Computer (1997) is exceptionally close. Radiohead's subsequent 2000 release Kid A is close as well, because my favorite Radiohead track by far is The National Anthem. But as a whole album, I spent most of 1995-1997 with The Bends on repeat - my roommate at the time and I were both huge Radiohead fans, and we'd have The Bends playing on the stereo every night, most nights falling asleep listening to it.
Favorite Tracks: High and Dry, The Bends, Fake Plastic Trees,

Tool : Aenima (1996)
Lateralis will likely overtake Aenima in time, and its certainly possible that 10,000 days will then overtake Lateralus. But Aenima has been in heavy constant rotation since its release.
Favorite Tracks: Stinkfist, Eulogy, Fourty Six & 2

Sublime: Sublime(1996)
While "40 oz to Freedom" was probably a superior album as a whole, the ability to toss Sublime's self titled album in to the CD player on repeat during a party was almost unequaled during the mid-nineties.
Favorite Tracks: Garden Grove, Doin' Time, What I Got

Honorable mention from this decade, because its playcount rivals those above and will likely surpass some of the albums from 1991 given another year or two:

A Perfect Circle: Thirteenth Step (2003)
Overtaking APC's 2000 release Mer de Noms was difficult, but Thirteenth Step's added depth as a sophomore release over the heavier debut gave added listenability. The dynamic range displayed on the CD allows for continuous listening without burining out. Three years later I'm still listening to this entire album at least once a week.
Favorite Tracks: Blue, Pet, Gravity, Weak and Powerless

Others that probably should be on the list, but didn't make it when I first wrote it:

311: Grassroots (1994)
I was fortunate enough to get introduced to 311 with the release of their first major album, Music. And while I celebrate their entire collection, Grassroots holds the position as the most listened to of all their albums.

Beastie Boys: Ill Communication (1994)
While the Dust Brother's help makes Paul's Boutique their most influential album, Ill Communication is by far their best and one that has recieved significant time in my top most played. Very much still in rotation to this day.

One other I also have to mention is Hootie and the Blowfish, Cracked Rear View. This album probably recieved so much play in the period 1995-1998 that it deserves its own entry. For deeply personal reasons (I can't listen to much from the album anymore without deep deep sadness) it hasn't received almost any rotation since then, so I left it off the list. But on a pure memory basis, I bet its probably my #3 or #4 most listened to album just based on the fact that it was played almost non-stop during those years.

UFC Ultimate Fight Night 04.06

I'm slammed at work with a major project set to launch next wednesday, and another two weeks after that, so very little time lately for poker or anything else. Sorry for the lack of major content the past couple weeks.

I do have enough time for a quick handicapping of the UFC Ultimate Fight Night that happens tomorrow night. Without further ado, the fights:

Luke Cummo vs Jason von Flue
131 Luke Cummo -208
132 Jason von Flue +188

JVF is 11-4-1 but is undefeated in his last five fights(four wins and a draw). Cummo is being seriously overrated due to his tough performance on TUF:2. Luke is a good guy with a good chin and solid Jiu-Jitsu but JVF has more than twice the fight experience, solid submissions, and is better than the 34% chance he's being given here.

Brad Imes vs Dan Christianson
133 Brad Imes -204
134 Dan Christianson +184

Christianson is an experienced MMA fighter. The question with Imes is going to be how much has he benefitted from joining the Militech camp and training with them for the past six months - so far in his career he's depended on size and strength. he's going to face a serious test in Christianson. Christianson was a late addition to the card and came to weigh-ins three pounds overweight - but managed to cut the three poundsto make weight in under an hour. However, I look for Imes to win this fight with the benefit of his new Militech skills: Imes taking the fight to the ground and winning a unanimous decision.

Chris Leben vs Luigi Fioravanti
135 Chris Leben -553
136 Luigi Fioravanti +503

Leben's a monster and wins this one in a walk pretty easily. Leben dominates this fight much like he did Jorge Rivera (first round KO) in his last fight on UFN:3.

Josh Koscheck vs Ansar Chalangov
137 Josh Koscheck -273
138 Ansar Chalangov +253

We last saw sambo fighter Chalangov at UFC:56 - Full Force where he got KO'd in the first round by American Top Team'er Thiago Alves. However, Chalangov needs only a 30% chance of winning this fight to make him +EV here, and he's significantly better than 2:1 here. Koscheck is a punk with strong wrestling but no technique. Chalangov in the upset.

Josh Burkman vs Jon Fitch
139 Josh Burkman -243
140 Jon Fitch +223

Burkman is a Team Quest fighter (Randy Couture, Dan Henderson) who broke his arm in TUF season 2 and was unable to continue. Fitch lost two of his first three fights, and then has won eight straight since then. Fitch is a strong wrestler with a purple belt in jui-jitsu. I look for Fitch to pull off the upset here, derailing Burkman's rising career.

Trevor Prangley vs Chael Sonnen
141 Trevor Prangley -314
142 Chael Sonnen +284

Sonnen is a Team Quest fighter who is 13-7 with his most recent loss to Renato Sobral in UFC:55. Prangley trains with American Kickboxing Academy and is 11-3 with a most recent appearance in UFC:56 where he took Jeremy Horn the distance but lost in a very close decision. Sonnen and Prangley previously met in Janurary 2003, where Prangley won with a first round submission. Sonnen is a solid wrestler but Prangley is a well-rounded fighter (with three appearances in the UFC octagon) with superior conditioning, and he wins this one by submission in the second round.

Stephan Bonnar vs Keith Jardine
143 Stephan Bonnar -333
144 Keith Jardine +303

Bonnar is a significantly superior fighter, with strong jiu-jitsu and good takedowns. Keith is pure punching power and strength, but is not well-rounded and has not demonstrated good conditioning in any of his fights. Bonnar by submission in the second round.

Joe Stevenson vs Josh Neer
145 Joe Stevenson -424
146 Josh Neer +384

Neer is another from the Militech camp, with a pretty impressive record of 16-3-1. Stevenson is a fan favorite, and opened at close to a 5:1 favorite - he's now fallen to a 4:1 favorite but this line is still larger than I'd like to see. I'm making a very weak prediction for Stevenson but not recommending any units here unless you're just an action junkie who wants action on every fight.

Rashad Evans vs Sam Hoger
147 Rashad Evans -194
148 Sam Hoger +181

Hoger has solid Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills. Rashad is a punk with limited skills who is tremendously overvalued by the public due to his TUF win and his undefeated record. This lined opened at +200 for Hoger so a lot of the value has already been bet out of it, but i'll still recommend him here.

Final recommendations:

Jason von Flue +188 : .53 units to win 1 unit
Brad Imes -204 : 1.02 units to win .5 unit
Chris Leben -553 : 2.26 units to win .5 unit
Ansar Chalangov +253 : .5 unit to win 1.265 units
Jon Fitch +223 : .5 unit to win 1.115 units
Trevor Prangley -314 : 1.57 units to win .5 unit
Stephan Bonnar -333 : 1.665 units to win .5 unit
Joe Stevenson -424: 1.06 units to win .25 unit
Sam Hoger +181 : .55 units to win 1 unit

Prior UFC results: 12-5 record last two UFCs. 5-3 on UFC 58, 7-2 on UFC 57. Click each for more detailed record.

Idol week 4

I think this week's going to be tough. I think Mandisa at +408 is probably the single best value and if you wanted to vote just one line that's where i'd recommend.

The official pick of the week is to arbitrage the following three:

Selection 1 : American Idol
Who will be eliminated on April 5th, 2006?

801) Bucky Covington +230
Risking 100.00 to Win 230.00 USD ---

802) Ace Young +297
Risking 85.19 to Win 253.00 USD ---

805) Mandisa +408
Risking 67.65 to Win 276.00 USD

With a scenario of;

Bucky eliminiated: +$77.16
Ace eliminiated: +$85.35
Mandisa eliminated: +$90.81

Based on Elliot's low busy percentages (courtesy dialidol and my own calling) there's a strong possiblity he's going to be bottom three this week, but I don't think he'll be the one kicked so I'm not including him in the arbitrage.

"season" record: 2-1 on eliminations, +1.53 units

For record keeping, I will count as a win if this arbitrage hits and a loss if it does not (i.e. Elliot gets kicked).

Please note on the (in my opinion very outside chance) this arbitrage does not hit, a loss will result in a 2.52 unit loss, so if you're not comfortable adjust your units down (just cut the units in half above: .5 unit on Bucky, .426 units on Ace, .338 units on Mandisa for a total of 1.264 units at risk, etc)