Freaky Fortnight – The Cold November Nights Aren’t Cooling Down the Amusement

November has hit its stride already, and as the nights grow darker, the winter chill starts to set in. Yet this has done nothing to stem the flow of amusing stories coming from the worlds of online poker and gambling. Instead, the entertainment has continued, which is what we bring to you here. Another round of Freaky Fortnight is upon us, and there are some highly amusing tales from the first half of November in this one!

So, let’s get into it and find out what’s been providing giggles and titters to the poker and gambling worlds recently.

Hellmuth Asks “Why Does It Hurt So Much?” After Being Eliminated Prior to PokerStars 2023 NAPT Bubble

Everyone in the online poker scene is well aware of the antics introduced to every game by Phil Hellmuth. It has been this way since he began, and we’ve highlighted some of his more unusual episodes at ProfessionalRakeback.com before too. Back in late June, he was the subject of a story in our Freaky Fortnight post, after he attempted some strange tactics to try and get the better of his opponent Phil Ivey. And it seems as though he has been behaving in quite a humorous way once again.

On Tuesday, Nov. 7, the 17-time WSOP bracelet winner made his debut at the 2023 PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT). Hellmuth late registered into the Day 1C of the $1,650 Main Event.

He shared a post on his social media accounts, stating that he hadn’t played in a tournament for months. Things started off in a decent way for him too as he managed to become one of 60 players who advanced on to Day 2, holding 109,000 chips. The following day, he appeared at the relaunch of the PokerStars Big Game too, enjoying poker against familiar faces like Jennifer Tilly and Arden Cho amongst others.

It was on Thursday that he returned to the NAPT for Day 2, with each of the 252 players from the entry field of 1,095 looking to make a bit of money. In total 159 spots were available to win; yet, things started to go south for Hellmuth from here.

In the second level of the day and at about 12 spots away from the money, the “Poker Brat” suffered his demise. Hellmuth opened to 9,000 from under the gun, and Israel’s Liran Betito flat-called on the button. The dealer would proceed to spread the Ace of Clubs, Jack of Hearts and 6 of Spades for the flop, and Hellmuth continued for 9,000. Betito called at this point. The turn saw a 6 of Clubs land, with Hellmuth betting 15,000 at this point. Once again, Betito called.

It was the 8 of Clubs that fell on the river arrived, and Hellmuth wagered 25,000. Betito jammed, and Hellmuth called all-in. Yet Hellmuth’s 7 of Hearts and 6 of Hearts for trips did little to tackle Betito’s Ace of Diamonds and 6 of Diamonds full house, sending Hellmuth out of the competition.

Not This Time, Phil

After the loss, Hellmuth moved over to the rail where his sister Anne, a Special Olympics gold medalist, was waiting. She was visiting from Madison, Wisconsin to watch her brother compete in the event.

”Why does it hurt so much?,” he asked in a rhetorical way, clearly still hung up over his elimination from the NAPT. He then answered his own question, stating that despite it only being a $1,600-buyin event, it likely hurt because it was his first tournament since the WSOP and he had been playing so well to that point.

Well, Phil, that’s just the way the cards fall sometimes!

We’re sure he’ll be back on form in no time and look forward to including him in more Freaky Fortnight editions in the future.

Armed Robbers Tackled by Three Vietnamese Gamblers in Washington

Imagine that you’re sitting down with your buddies one night in your garage to play a round of cards. You’re all having a good time. You’re enjoying the company of one another. You’ve got a few drinks on the go. All sounds pretty laid back and relaxing, right?

Well, imagine that your card game is interrupted by two armed robbers, who demand all your cash, jewelry, valuables, and so on.

That’s precisely what happened to three Vietnamese men on Alaska Street in Tacoma, Washington on Nov. 7. Surveillance video from inside the garage clearly shows two men dressed in hoodies entering with one pointing a gun at the trio. One of the robbers yells out “Freeze!” in an almost Hollywood movie-esque scenario.

The three men respond, asking them not to shoot, before the robbers demand that they hand over their phones, their keys and their money. One of the gambling men begins emptying out his jacket pockets in the video, only for another to be whacked on the head by one of the robber’s guns. As the duo demand that the Vietnamese gamers hurry up, a violent brawl erupts.

Two of the men enjoying their evening of gambling leap up from behind the table and force the invaders back. Off camera, the brawl seems to continue, with one of the robber’s potentially pinned to the ground for a few seconds.

One of the Vietnamese men explained that one of his gambling buddies was his uncle. He also said that two other robbers were in the area in a getaway vehicle. What is unclear in the video is that when the gambler’s uncle confronts the two robbers, leading to the brawl, one of the people in the getaway car intentionally rams his uncle’s car, creating more chaos. At that point, the invaders escaped, jumped into the car and fled the scene.

Two of the would-be robbers have already been arrested, according to one of the gamblers.

While many who have seen the video footage commended the men for fighting back, others were amused by the whole situation. One asked for a “Part 3” to the saga, while another said that the uncle who attacked first would “rather risk dying” than returning home where he would have to tell his wife he lost it all.

Amusing is certainly one way to describe the incident. Those robbers weren’t expecting to be fought off – and clearly, their cowardly actions led to them fleeing with their tails between their legs!

Fascinating Story Behind Popular Paintings Revealed

Far be it for us to judge anyone or anything on their choice of leisure activities. After all, not everyone is a fan of poker, but we love it. Is it really so insane to imagine dogs playing the game, too?

Well, it’s not as insane as you may think. After all, that’s the theme of a popular series of artworks created by American artist C.M. Coolidge. He lived between 1844 and 1934, and his most famous works are entitled “Dogs Playing Poker.” Coolidge was commissioned by ad agency Brown & Bigelow between 1903 and the 1910s to produce 16 oil paintings of dogs performing human-like activities to actually advertise cigars. In addition, Coolidge made several other paintings depicting dogs playing poker.

“Poker Game” by C.M. Coolidge

In total, there are elven of them that feature dogs sitting around a card table, and they have become well-known across the United States of America. The first painting from 1894 sold for $658,000 at an auction in 2015.

The canines featured in the paintings all have an anthropomorphic nature to them, and this is likely why they have become so popular with people. They’re both bizarre and weird, but don’t have an alienating impact. After all, who here hasn’t sat around with friends and attempted to keep a poker face while enjoying a game or two?

Yet there could be more behind the paintings than this as explained in a Nov. 13 article by Art Plugged. Coolidge was said to be inspired for the series by another anthropomorphic dog artwork entitled “Laying Down the Law” by Sir Edwin Landseer. Some suggest that Landseer modelled some of his dogs from real-life acquaintances, including the English Lord Chancellor. Thus, it's likely that Coolidge's own work also functioned as a kind of social commentary.

Doubtless, Coolidge’s works of art in this series reflected society at the time; more so the middle class and working men that would likely have been his peers. The next time you see a painting from the collection, have a longer look. You may just find yourself even more amused than you were before.

Dan Katz Slammed for Screaming at Basketball Players About His Bet During a Game

Anyone who listens to the “Pardon My Take” (PMT) sports podcast, released three times per week by Barstool Sports, will know that it is hosted by Dan “Big Cat” Katz. The podcast has an audience of between 750,000 and 1.5 million listeners per episode, making it quite a successful show. Yet college basketball fans expressed their upset over Big Cat’s behavior during the broadcast of a game, when he openly rooted for specific players to score.

The reason behind this behavior? He wanted to win a bet he had placed on a “totals” market.

Katz was calling the FAU vs. Loyola Chicago college basketball game alongside founder of Barstool Dave Portnoy and Pardon My Take co-host Jake Marsh. FAU managed to wrap up the game with quite a comfortable win. With less than two minutes left of the event, Big Cat was seen screaming from the commentary desk, desperate for his bet to win.

“I need buckets to go in,” he exclaimed. “I can’t have buckets go in right now.”

Not too long after, Katz was heard yelling at Loyola’s players to commit fouls against FAU, and he also took the opportunity to slam his headset down on the commentary table.

His co-commentators seemed to find Katz’s behavior amusing although fans of the game weren’t appreciative of him injecting his own personal gambling setup into the event. Veteran college basketball journalist Jeff Goodman highlighted the clip as being “unwatchable,” while a fan on X (formerly Twitter) said, “These clowns are such a disgrace to the sports world.”

Katz doesn’t seem to be doing himself any favors by behaving in such a way during a college basketball game just because he has a wager on a totals market. What do you think? An amusing outburst by the PMT host? Or does he need shutting down for good?