I watched WPT season 1 and after googling found pokerroom and 2+2.

Bought Matthew Hilger's 'Internet Texas Hold'em' and decided my life would consist of making my living by playing poker on the beach just like the cover of that book promised.

The Poker-on-the-beach didn't quite work out as I'd planned, but at least I found the best forum on the internets.

Sold play chips for 10$, ran it up to over a milly on stars starting by 2 tbling 1/2c 6m. 2$ ea tbl.

Would read RPG regularly. Saw an advert for Empire Poker. Sign up through affiliate for free $25. Ran hotter than the sun likely from this.

Bonus whored for next six months. I remember playing stud even though I have no idea how to play it on crypto network due to contributed rake structure. Still have no idea how to play stud.

Somehow sportsbook.com would allow first time depositers to accrue 100% deposit money, even if depositors would withdraw actual money. Had $800 in deposit freeroll money. Bet it on a Vikings vs. Packers game. I won. Have 1500. Bet it all on random Supersonics vs. Jazz game where Jazz were +300 underdogs. Jazz win.

Play $50 6max bodog tourney a few months after. Win it for 6k. Next month win 30k playing 3tables max on bodog 3/6 nl 6max.

Find 2+2. Read MSNL **** thread obsessively. Poker is my job. This is the result of running incredibly lucky.

Crypto monthlies FTW!

$2-$4 Limit Hold'em @ the Sahara in LV.

/thread

It is left to the reader to figure out the year (or even decade)

From the bottom

RGP back when Russ Georgiv kept saying he was best ever.

Played at Planet Poker and Paradise. Amazing that an internet disconnect was the equivalent of an auto-check.

Came here first after reading that Sklansky/Miller LHE book.

Add me to the Paradise Poker gang. I loved MTTs, but they took too long, so I played STTs instead. I sucked, but the field sucked worse so I made mobnies. Started reading a few poker books at that point (Super System and something called "Get the Edge at Low-Limit Texas Holdem), but no online strategy sites.

Moved to Stars after UIGEA forced Paradise out of the US market. I finally found 2+2 when someone sent me a link to the thread exposing the POTRIPPER/Absolute scandal. I found the thread fascinating, especially the statistical analysis, but didn't really get involved in 2+2 at the time. A few months later, after I tried unsuccessfully to switch from STTs to cash (at way too high steaks for BR) I finally started participating in strat.

Played Lhe @ Party/Absolute/Cryptologic.

Remember employing the strategy of always playing BB before Leaving a table. That strategy has subsequently been proven to be suboptimal.

I read RGP back in the day. I am convinced that a decent number of posters ITT do not know what RGP is.

I never read RGP and have no idea what it looked like, but I know what it was.

I got into 2p2 by buying my 3rd or 4th 2p2 book and seeing the link on the back of the book. I finally decided to see what this place was. What a wildly different place it is now. There were no mods then, one limit forum, one very cluttered nlhe forum, and plo was other poker. Crazy.

Watched moneymaker and saw Helmuth advertise his book there, went and bought it. First site Empirepoker, then onto Jetsetpoker, and then Absolute, Signed my woman up so I could use her CC to play. One day get a random 20 bucks in her account and ship a 109 seat to the Aruba classic. promptly ship the seat for 8500.00 in value and message them, It went something like this "hello I shipped a seat to the Aruba tourney on my woman account, It was me playing so can you switch it over to me?" Their response "sure happens all the time!!! GL in the tourney" or something like that lol.

I get there and Mike Matasow was at the front desk greeting guys and Freddy Deeb was seated a table away from me. Also everyone was talking about pottripper and Anette15 and how they couldn't believe she was real as this was her first live appearance, and CL after day 1 lol.

Been playing off and on since but got a stable in 2010 and still active with that.

started

Those who never played LHE online will always be noobs to me.

Use to scroll through the hot college girls thread on 2+2. Played counter strike 1.6 and when my graphic card blew up, I decided to download pokerstars an play a top pair only strategy. After doing well with the playmonies, I wanted to learn more. Soon after I realized 2+2 was actually a poker strategy site all along.

I started playing lowball. A2345 was best hand. There would be a BBJ if you had A2346 lost. Players would signal which they were going with “Downtown” or “Uptown” talk.

Yep

When I first found 2+2, Mike was constantly posting sports betting picks here, trying to devise a computer program to beat sports betting. But then came DERB instead.

FTFY

Ad naseum about it being rigged. I believe he even proved it by multi-accounting and showing proof.

I can't recall if he said all of poker was rigged because he was always making outrageous claims.

I think, and this may just be a false memory, he even claimed Stu Ungar's last WSOP was totally rigged for him to win.

Partypoker,Red Nines,Stars around 2004 started playing....first FT was $5r with Johnny Bax,Premier and Rainkahn at and I remember JB sat out for 2 orbits as a time out cause he felt he played a hand really bad lol

I don't even recall Russ saying online poker, it was live poker I remember him going on about. Which he would prove, but you had to pay him to find out, or some ****.

Well, I was right about his claims about Stu Ungar.

http://www.majorwager.com/forums/mes...ing-contd.html
**The solution came about in the 1997 WSOP FINAL EVENT $10,000 NO-LIMIT. Stu would be backed in this event by a basically anonymous source.[the cheats] He would use the "COBALT BLUE" glasses to read the "MARKED CARDS" in the tournament. He couldn't wear the contacts because he was doing so much drugs at this time. This is the give away. The small "COBALT BLUE" glasses should not of been used.

Contact lenses should be made from the same prescription as the glasses. However Stu Unger couldn't wear the contacts lenses because drugs had affected his body in so many ways. Notice the "small glasses" Stu Unger wears in the tape of the 1997 WSOP. They are made small like this so anybody looking over his shoulder would have a harder time of seeing the cards from behind him. That would be a give away in itself. It is also a reason you wear contact lenses.***

You are also right that he wanted to get paid and he had some secret videos.

***Well people, the 1997 $10,000 WSOP was won using marked cards with the aid
of the MANAGEMENT. Many birds were killed with this happening. For those of
you that think this is a work of fiction just check out everything we have
stated. How the events have gone down and watch the video tapes. It would
take quite an imagination to come up with this story. Check out all the
pieces to this puzzle. The "FIX" was in at the WSOP again. Watch it on video
tape.

We will take a day or two off while people evaluate this. Well people, how
many of you were cheated in this tournament? How long are you going to let
the casinos go without answering questions. Watch both tapes. John Martino
and I still have "RUBY RED" contacts and glasses. They are obsolete compared
to the "COBALT BLUE" lenses and contacts.

John M Russ G "whistle-blowers" newgca@aol.com ps I Russ
Georgiev watched this. I can even prove I was in Vegas at this time***

Pacific Poker in 2004 and my old account on 2+2 was in July of that year. I was not a losing player but would have become one without this forum. Amazing how great I thought the Harrington books were back then and how i'd never open one again now.