No Poker player likes to listen to bad beat stories. I listen out of respect, because usually its a friend telling me and its the right thing to do.

I wrote an article called Perspective. Some of you may have read it and those of you who have not, please do. It’s posted here.

I talked about my Kings getting snapped on the river by Queens and said I would “never” get mad again.It is tough,very tough.

I have taken some incredible beats since I wrote that story and it has me starting to think I have a curse.

At the California state Championship I had QQ, the flop 10-5-Q rainbow. we are in level 5 and there is 1200 in pot and I have 6200. I just push all in. I get called by one guy with K-3 off. He says I am bluffing….he sees my set and goes “oops” turn J river A…..see ya Scott.

Next nite level 6 blinds 400 200 I have 4300..AA in BB..3 limpers so I raise to 2k, one caller.. flop Ac 2H 5C again I push… guy thinks for about 4 minutes. he counts his chips and he has 2100 left and calls me with Q9 clubs..turn 6h river 7C…see ya scott…..

Last nite at the Bike Big Poker October… level 2 I am on my game up to 4100 in chips. we started with 2k…blinds are still 100-50.3 limpers in front of me and I look at QQ. I raise to 400… the button goes all in and it folds to me. 2600 raise so i think for a bit…study him…..he has been pretty lose and I had a feeling he was on AQ AJ…or small pair…so I call…he turns over Ac Jh….I show my QQ…flop Js-5h-Qh..someone says ,’Well I guess your done for the night” to the AJ guy…turn-7h……river Kh……..I LOSE……2 hands later I push with 10-10 and lose to AK when K hits turn….I lost at the WSOP to set over set..that happens ,but I need to know why….. I am not being targeted by players, most of the players here know each other and not to brag at all,but I do have a good poker rep here in the LA tourney scene.

I could go on and tell you about my satellites…But I won’t..What is so disturbing to me is I am going in on the flop with the best or pre flop with the best and losing on the turn but namely the river.

I have taken a break for almost 3 weeks after the Commerce craziness and before that I read some books and played in some home games but nothing major… 200-300 dollars a pop for tourneys is starting to where on me.

I have looked at my play,spoke with others and everyone says..just keep grinding and playing.. it will change…

Does anyone else have any advice for me, I am very easy going but this madness is beginning to get my blood boiling…

Thanks……………..take care…………………..

Since school has started I have been a ghost on this site and basically everything involving poker. It has been a sad last few weeks.

I am living in a house for the first time and I am loving it. The only bad thing is that it is easier to watch TV and play video games with the guys than to crack open the books. This has caused me to become backed up with my reading. I have never really been ahead in my reading in my first two years, so this isn’t a real big concern as long as I get on pace. However, the faster I get caught up, the faster I can allow myself to play more poker and do more work for this site.

The other problem is that I am working for the school newspaper this semester. This gives me two deadlines a week and normally at least one home game that I have to go to as I am covering men’s soccer right now. The writing doesn’t take much time for me, but going to games and having to sit around to get interviews does.

I would love to be sitting here writing my opinion on the new WSOP episodes and other poker shows, but I haven’t even been watching them. I will do my best to get caught up quickly and start punching the keys for one Wise Hand Poker. We can talk then.

If you have been reading the articles at all the different poker sites on the Internet,you should know by now several very well known poker players have recently been arrested or issued a citation for allegedly breaking the law.

As I have stated in several of my blogs,I have been so very fortunate to meet and become friends with several well known players and its truly an honor to be able to share my thoughts and adventures in my everyday life as well as my poker situations with them.

Mikel (Michael) Grazcs, I met him at this years LA Poker Classic as I was sweating Chris Bell. We talked for several hours and got to know each other very well in that short period of time.

Everyone knows I am a Deputy Sheriff and one of my abilities is being able to judge good character. It has helped me survive the twenty years of being on the job and it is now helping me in the poker world.

Mike and I again met at this years WSOP and I sweated him in a few events and even stayed an extra day calling off of work to sweat him at a final table he had made.

This is the type of guy I am. I support my friends in anyway possible and I generally go out of my way to be there for them if need be.

I have made several mistakes along the way with people I trusted and thought were friends. I think we all have had that expierence once or twice in our lifetimes.

Well at this years WSOP I went up on my days off to sweat a few people I considered friends. They acted like I wasn’t even there. Disappointing,maybe a little but I also enjoyed my time at the WSOP so it wasn’t a total loss,especially when it came to watching Mike. I sat next to Kristi Gazes at Mikes final table and we watched him flop a set of nines only to lose to a gut shut straight on the river. Truly heartbreaking I am sure after 3 days of playing to lose like that. However the professional Mike is he shook every ones hand and left.

It was late in the evening and I needed to make the three hour drive home. I was getting gas and missed a phone call. I listened to the message before leaving and it was Mike. He thanked me for coming to sweat him the past several days and if I was going to be back in town for anymore of the WSOP he wanted to treat me to dinner.

Here is a guy who just took a horrible beat,taking timeout to call ME when he has numerous other friends who support him day in and day out. I was very humbled and honored Mike Grazc took the time to call me. It just gave me more confidence in my reading ability of others. I was dead on about Mike,he is World Class.

I did return to Vegas 10 days later and Mike kept his word by treating me to a fantastic dinner along with two of his other buddies at Olive at the Bellagio.

I have kept in touch weekly with him since. I ask him advice about how I should of played a hand or how I shouldn’t of and we also talk about things in our personal life.

Mike is a gentleman gentleman and when he along with Chris Bell were detained because of a extravagant home game I felt horrible for him. But he showed his true colors by making a statement saying the officers were just doing there job and he has no ill feelings towards them.

He realized the group of officers who cited the players were not your everyday street cops. This group of guys investigate alcohol and gambling violations. They are not the one’s who come to your house when you need the police or the one’s who pull you over and cite you, or the cops looking for criminals.

I am honored and proud to be able to call Mike a friend and I look forward to a very long friendship. Mike I may not be able to beat you heads up in poker(yet) but get those golf clubs shined up. I am beginning to practice again!!!LOL.

last March I put on a charity poker tournament to raise money for families of fallen officers and firefighters who have died in the line of duty. It was at Commerce Casino here in Los Angeles and another good friend, Mark Seif took time out of his busy schedule to come out and be the emcee.

During the LAPC I contacted so many players they must of thought I lived at the casino. I wanted them to not only support the charity event but be there for all the others in attendance to take pictures with and be able to sit at a table with a pro. After all it was for a great cause and I wanted it to be a great night for all.

I met Shawn Sheikhan during the LAPC and he assured me he would be there. So on the day of the event Shawn made his way up to the ball room taking timeout of playing in his high stakes cash game to support our cause.

Shawn and I talked off and on all evening. He along with Mark were the only two professional players to show up. They did not disappoint the other players who showed. Mark and Shawn were great. They took pictures,signed autographs and played in the event.

I have kept in touch with Shawn on a weekly basis since the tournament and he is not only a great husband and father,he is a kind and caring individual and donates alot of time and money to different charities.

During the WSOP we had breakfast and lunch a few times. he picked me up at the hotel I was staying at and I hung out watching him play poker at the Bellagio,picking up a few pointers on the way.

I along with my family left our vacation a day early because Shawn made a final table at a WSOP event and I went there to sweat him.He had wished me luck in my first ever WSOP event and I wanted to be there for a friend. Thank you Lupe (my wife) for again putting up with me and poker..

Shawn ended up third and as I would be was disappointed on how he played a few hands. He eventually lost to Eric Seidel, so nothing to be ashamed about there.

The next day I went to the Bellagio with my family and met Shawn. Shawn gave me 2 500.00 chips and insisted I play a mega satellite that night to try and get in the main event. I have never accepted money to play poker from anyone but Shawn was pretty determined so I accepted and was 7 people from making the Main Event when the guy hit a 1 outer on the river to bury my dream.

Well let me get to the real story. Shawn was arrested by an a federal immigration agent going through files of immigrants who have been arrested for ANYTHING. A waste of the taxpayers money. Yes there are immigrants in this country who definitely need to be deported for their crimes. Its not an easy thing to do,getting one deported. Mounds of paper have to be filed and your investigation needs to be done thoroughly and professionally. One such factor is the country where the immigrant is from must have a treaty with the USA to allow us to deport them. Also, the crime comitted was felonious in nature and the immigrant is a danger to society and they must go!

FACT!!!!! Shawn, as some papers stated is NOT a sexual predator. Secondly he is not a danger to society and his country where he immigrated from has no treaty with us.Therefore there is no place to deport him.

I know what happened to Shawn 12 years ago. I am a cop. What he went through was complete and utter nonsense. The system failed him and he had to pay a price for it. Now because of some egotistical INS agent he has to relive a nightmare that should of never happened all over agin.

I will stake my 20 year reputation on Shawn Sheikhan!!!! he is a good man, a good father and a good friend and I will support him in anyway I can.

Take care,be safe

Scott Diamond

Well tomorrow is the deadline for the USA to pay around 3.4 billion, thats right “BILLION” dollars to Antigua and Barbuda due to the violation of the WTO.

It will be intresting to see if the swap meets and street corners will soon be filled with pirated products coming into our country from these nations.

The WTO allows our USA based companies as well as some others in foreign countries to protect their products under copyright laws.

With the USA violating the WTO due to the on-line gaming band this opens up the doors to our borders for all kind of counterfeit items.

Thank you for the comments posted. I tried to reply in the comments twice, but they did not post.

First of all I do not want the Media to talk with their bosses, I am sorry if it came out this way. I want them to talk with players who they feel will support them in this grievance.

The WPT and WSOP are able to continue to make decisions at will with no restrictions put on them.

If they decide to use no peek cards, they use them. If they decide to have pink purple gray felt they do it. If they want final tables sequestered they do it. If they want a certain individual on TV, they do it. I could go on and on. We the fans and more importantly the players, are being hurt by decisions being made.

There has to be some sort of mediator or committee to step up and say NO…this is not good for the fans or the players, lets compromise.

Every day I go to work and help protect the rights of others in the Los Angeles area. I am a nobody in the poker community.Just your average person with a passion to play poker. I wish I was more important in the Poker world because my message would be able to get out to more of the fans and players, but I am not, so Thanks to Wisehand poker, I can reach a portion of the poker world.

I was on Hldemradio 2 weeks ago and Earl Burton the host allowed me to speak about this issue and supported my thoughts. Earl then had on Mark Seif last week and the issue was discussed again with Mark also agreeing with me.

Its a huge responsibility for the small team of reporters who are posting updates this week at the Borgata. I know they take their jobs seriously and want the best for all of us in the poker world. To try and report on whats happening in a room of 560 people with a minimal staff is nearly impossible.

Trying to follow your favorite player is also nearly impossible, because when you now only have 5 reporters compared to 55 before the updates are short and uneventful…

As for the video blogs they give a fan a chance to see some of their favorite players in a relaxed atmosphere during a break in the action. The daily videos at the controlling media sight have become slow and dull to me.

I am hoping here for not only the fans of poker to step up for better reporting at events, but the professional players to DEMAND some changes. You are the ones who have made poker what it is today. If not for you and your desire to play and be the best the WPT and WSOP would have nothing.

I know there already has been a fight with the WPT regarding the use of your images but now the one source, tournament reports, who can get your image to the poker public is being jeapordized and what will be next?

I wish nothing but the best to all of you reporters and I hope we can give you all the opportunity you so deserve.

Take care, be safe!

Bj thank you for responding and being very gracious towards the comments I made about how Boring the reports have been.

You are truly a professional at what you do and I hope none of the reporters at Borgata have taken my remarks personally.

I am glad all of you have concerns regarding the limited information you are getting from the people in charge.

My goal here is to get the word out to benefit ALL of you in what you are doing for all of us poker fans.

Several top name professional players have also come out and said they agree with me how the reporting is unfair to the poker community.

My suggestion to all of you is to talk with other pros you see everyday and have them step up and assist by voicing their displeasure on how ONE entity is able to control the information going out to all THEIR fans.

They need not be afraid of getting blacklisted and losing their ticket to exposure. By them standing up for what is truly the best thing for poker right now I believe will eventually help them more than hurt them.

Its a tough decision for all of you to make. If your bosses find out you are trying to organize against them, you could easily lose your jobs. We saw that happen to one team after the Bellagio event this summer.

A committee needs to be set up and approach the WPT and let them know how unsatisfied your readers are because of the inability to get us quality updates because of the huge fields and restrictions you all have.

This committee needs to be made up of some of the most powerful players on the tournament scene along with some of the Marketing Directors from the casinos who host WPT events.

I personally know Mark Seif is a huge supporter of having it the way it was, you may be able to start with him,he is currently at the Borgata.

Daniel Negreneau also has posted how upset he is with the decision of the WPT. So I am sure there are others who will support your efforts.

I have seen several of you do your job and I have seen how serious you are and dedicated you are to poker. I know you will continue to do your best and I will continue to try and help all of you in anyway an amateur player and writer (me) can!!!

Take care

Just as I thought and have stated several times recently the updates for the Borgata are BORING.

It is almost impossible for one team of reporters to cover the 560 entrants and give us readers a real overview of whats going on at this event. Just look at the updates and tell me if you do not agree with my assessment.

Tomorrow i will be posting a blog regarding a case in England that dealt with an organization trying to monopolize an industry.

It is very similar to whats going on here in the poker world and might be some ammunition for a fight.

Off to work I go but until tomorrow, please be safe and take care

Let me start some debating here people! I know there are some very intelligent people who come to this site everyday to read what wisehand has put up.

My request to all of you is to please leave some comments on your thoughts about some of the blogs.

Now I dont want to turn this into a forum type of question and answer debate, but I value your opinions on certain issues that are happening in the world of poker.

Last night earl Burton did an interview with Mark Seif on his radio program. for those of you who didnt get a chance to listen, you missed a very informative show.

Mark gave his opinions on some of the issues facing the poker players and when Mark speaks people listen.

He is very upset with regards to the way the WSOP structure was this year and is also disturbed by the fact certain companies are trying to control the reporting at events as I have stated in previous blogs.

With players like Mark announcing their opinions of certain events,someone will eventually listen and start to voice their concerns and hopefully it rolls over to many others voicing their thoughts on the slow downward spiral of tournament poker issues.

As for me..well i have been getting spanked hard for the past 5 months when it comes to poker. Im not going to tell you any bad beat stories, but I will tell you I have gone into every pot on the flop holding the best hand and have lost 97% of them.

Hon Le told me the other night he wanted to put me in an event because he thinks I am a solid player, but I am running bad right now. I thanked him and told him I would let him know if it changes. I am so frustrated right now I actually smacked the table with my hand after a runner runner beat my set of queens on the flop and knocked me out of a super satellite. 10-Q-5 on flop I pushed with QQ got a call with a K-3 off. He said he thought I was bluffing.. turn J river A…believe me now!

The events have been running very smoothly and are attracting a great crowd. The satellites are continually running and there are still several big players coming out to try at catch their share of the prizepools.

I have not played this week, I was in San Diego the past 2 days because my new son-in-law shipped out to a second tour of Iraq early Tuesday and we spent the day and night down there with my twins and older daughter.

So not alot to report from the poker scene in LA right now and everyone seems to be concentrated on the WSOP Europe, but the time difference is making it hard to check updates.

Please voice your opinions!!! Have a great day and a wonderful weekend. I will be working the streets of LA Fri-Mon so no time for poker this weekend. Tuesday night though I will be back at the Commerce and hopefully I do something this weekend to get the blessing of the Poker Gods.

Take Care

Scott Diamond

I guess the marketing directors or whom ever makes the decisions at these large casinos,likes only having one live reporting staff doing their tournaments.

I just read Caesars Palace signed an exclusive with Card Player to do their big tournament series starting in October.

I would truly hope for a player boycott of this event to support the other sites who do tournament reporting, as a way of showing support for those soon to be unemployed.

I know this may sound harsh, but I have to say if it were not for some of these tournament reporters from the different sites that I have met over the past year, I would not be where I am at today in the Poker Community!

I am no star by a long shot, however when you meet one person they introduce you to another and so on and so on.

I remember who my friends are along the way and I will never forget their generosity and kindness.

Please voice your opinion regarding this monoply of tournament reporting in any way you can.

Thank you for your time and please be safe.

Scott Diamond
“The Deputy”

Well I hope all of you listened to Gary on Roundersradio the other night. His interview with Daniel was great and I hope the people in charge of making the decisions regarding tournaments listened.

Just yesterday while at work several of my buddies and I decided to pick two players who had made it to day 2 of the Biloxi Tournament for a last longer bet. The top 2 of us would be able to pick who was going to host the next home game and what he was going to have to serve us for dinner.
Now I know this may sound trivial to some of you. But not only is there competition amongst us Deputies when we play poker, but there are bragging rights that go along with hosting the game. How it’s setup and who is the best cook.

So as we were checking the updates yesterday we saw that Chris Moneymaker had busted and one of the guys had picked him. Then as we checked about an hour later the same site was talking how Chris just won a big pot.

I knew this was going to happen with just one team of tournament reporters responsible for bringing us the accurate updates and chip counts. They have taken on way too much responsibility and as I predicted mistake after mistake is going to be posted. This is not the fault of the team reporting. They are thin and have alot of responsibility. Before when several sites were reporting they all shared the information making sure it was accurate before posting. Also each site had a different viewpoint and covered other players, so we received more information which allowed us to have a better idea how the tournament was playing out. we were also able to email some of these reporters and ask them to check on a certain player for us. We could interact and it was almost like being there on the rail.

Steve Lispcomb if your reading…….please sit down with your staff and re-evaluate the decision you all made to have one entity report at these events. It truly is hurting us fans and other players who want to follow from around the world.

If your in Los Angeles you should stop by the Commerce Casino and either enter one of the tournaments that just started this week. The California State Championship series started Tuesday night with a $345.00 NL tournament. Six hundred forty three people entered and several big name professionals were in attendance. Minh Nguyen,Hon Le, Men The Master, Robert Turner, Hassan Habib, James Pittman, Paramit Gil along with several others.

The tournament director Cherri Dokken did another excellent job of having everything ready to go as well as running satellites continually til 1:00 am in the morning. Its how I get into tourneys and its a great way to save your bankroll.

I played in the first event and made it to level 5 before getting my aces cracked by jacks on the turn. Been having a run of poor luck at some of the bigger events lately. I decided to have a very positive attitude at not give up. If the $80.00 satellite I won Wednesday night by crushing the table in 45 minutes is a sign to come. look out I am back! I have my buyins to 2 more events and I am a man on a mission.

I hope all of you have a great weekend and be safe. Please write to the WPT and voice your opinion if you want better updates to these major events. Take care.

Scott Diamond
AKA “The Deputy”