In a shocking turn of events yesterday, my predicition came true and the Oakland Raiders managed NOT to lose a football game. The fact that they didn't play may have contributed heavily to this odd circumstance. However, they did make news due to the fact that 63 year old Vince Evans is being brought out of retirement to replace Jamarcus Russell at quarterback.

     In other news, Peyton Manning did his best "Brett Farve" impersonation and the Saints somehow won the Superbowl. Tim Brown, Cris Carter, and Shannon Sharpe continue to NOT be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, although Shannon Sharpe remains as annoying as ever, as evidenced by his commentary in said Super Bowl.

    More tomorrow, after a blockbuster day like that, I have to rest!

   The FTOPS $5.50 Warm up will be starting in about 5 minutes and regisitration taking place for the next hour-ish. This is a great chance to get in on a $250k prize pool with over $22k going to the winner for only $5.50. Not many times are you able to buy into such a high paying tournament for such a low dollar amount. there are about 28,0000 player registered right now and that number will climb up well over 30k. If you want a low risk, high reward tournament to play while you are waiting for the Super Bowl, this is a good one.

   Once again, in a show of total ineptness, the morons who vote players into the NFL Hall of Fame left out Tim Brown, Cris Carter, and Shannon Sharpe, while managing to elect Ricky Jackson and Russ Grimm!?!?!??

    What the hell is that about? I mean come on, I guess the HOF in the NFL is bound to be as big a joke as MLB, but you would like to think that 2 of the all time 4 wide outs in NFL history could make it in, especially one that suffered without a valid quarterback for most of his career in Tim Brown. At least Carter had a prime Randall Cunningham and Culpepper in his career, while Brown suffered through the likes of Jeff George, Jay Schroeder,  and Todd Marinovich. I wonder what his numbers would have been if he would have played with anybody decent other than Rich Gannon for a couple of years.

   In any case, I think guys like Brown should be recognized for the classy ways they conducted themselves throughout their careers rather than just numbers. The same goes for Cris Carter, and while I personally find Shannon Sharpe about as appealing as a root canal, he was the top tight end in the league for at least a 6-8 year period and his production was incredible. Russ Grimm was a nice OL, but can you really tell me he did more for the position than Shannon Sharpe? And who the hell is Ricky Jackson? I mean he was a nice linebacker, but I could think of about 20 others of the top of my head who are at least as deserving as he is.

    Sure, Tim Brown will get in and so will Carter and Sharpe. But, when you know you are going to elect them anyway, why play these stupid games of making them wait a couple of years? Grow up, NFL HOF voters!!!

   I have had several emails from players asking my opinion on the new "Rush Poker" on Full Tilt. In case you don't play on FT or have not heard, this is a new cash ring game that you can sit down at, where you are whisked to a new table after eery hand. In fact, not only do you change tables after every hand, you can change tables right in the middle of a hand if you simply fold. The effect is that you are basically involved in a hand constantly, at all times. Of course, once the flop comes down and the subsequent turn and river, the game slows a bit while betting takes place, but you get the idea.

   Just to be perfectly clear, Rush Poker bears about as much resemblence to the actual game of poker as checkers does to chess. That is, Rush Poker is simply not poker. It is a game for action junkies who feel like they want to have a part of every hand. What you will get (and I have tried it to prove my point) is players who are willing to play anything and try to suck out any hand because you won't be sitting next to them in 3 seconds anyway. What this game does is bring more 'luck factor' into the game than it should ever have.

    Part of learning how to play poker is learning patience. Part of the game is watching your opponents and their betting patterns. Seeing what cards they will take to showdown, what they will open with from early position, how they defend blinds, etc is a huge part of the game and a huge part of being a successful poker player. Rush Poker takes away all of those elements and pretty much creates a game of Bingo. While Bingo can be fun if you win, it ain't poker folks!

   So, for those of you wondering, by all means go ahead and try Rush Poker, it is fun as a diversion. Maybe like putting $10 in a slot machine on your way to the tables at a casino; its kind of cool if you win, but you don't really expect your money back!

   A new slate of Full Tilt FTOPS tournaments are beginning next week with another Sunday warmup this Sunday, February 7th at 13:45 EST. For those of you who like a lot of bang for your buck, this is a $250k guarantee with only a $5.50 entry. There is bound to be 45,000-50,000 players, but hey, for $5 you can't beat it. This is of course, a prelude to the FTOPS events that will offer a whopping $20 million in prize money. You can find tons of satellites this week, so pick out the events that you want to play in and satellite your way in. Somebody has to win the money! Good luck, see you at the tables