6/12 HORSE at Venetian

Friday there was nothing but HE games up but Saturday there was a HORSE list with one name, Doug. I put Tyler down and went over to the Palazzo next door. Jill and I played 3-way Action Poker (like other things, 3way is the best form of vidpoker). We got a snack at Grand Luxe and went back over about 3 hours later.



The list had 9 names but the game wasn't running. I had a killer migraine (too many jello shots and cigars and not enough water I'm guessing) but I really wanted to play this game. They told me it was about to come together and it did about 20 minutes later.



I bought in for 300 and they used $3 chips which I had never seen there. My first HE hand was a walkover and the second I raised with QTo from the small and took the BB. Then it was a painful head and not much play. I quickly learned this games comes together every Saturday. I was one of two strangers at the table - they were holding seats for people including "Sarge" who apparently is the action player.

Unfortunately most of my action came in HE and O8. I had a good spot in razz and RR the completion with ace up and 47 down but I bricked off against 2 people catching good and had to dump it. In the second round of HE I limped behind a couple of limpers with Q8 spades. The flop came Q high and I bet after it was checked to me. I got one call from the only other stranger 2 spots behind. Turn was another queen and I led and he raised. I flat called because if he was bluffing a raise does little, there were no obvious draws (T and rag on board) and if he did happen to have a queen it likely would be better. River was a K and I checked to give a bluffing hand another chance, and to avoid losing another bet to a better queen. He bet, I called, and he showed ace-high saying "I was hoping you'd fold." Yeah, can't do that with three queens.



Only other big hand was O8 the second round when I limped AQd T5h. Flop was A and T one diamond and I raised an early lead. Called in two spots and by the better. At least two of these are going low. Turn was a 9d giving me two pair and the nut flush draw and bricking a low. Checked to me I bet and all 3 called. River was a diamond...oh, and a ten, so I have tens full. I probably have the high with the flush. First player bets and the one seat calls before Doug can act. Then Doug lifts his hand up and says that ten might have been bad for him, and I have to ask him to please protect his hand - the one seat is a friend of his, and although I don't think he's even looking, the cards are flashing him. The one seat never took the bet back but after Doug called I asked to be sure that that money was in the pot before I made the obvious raise to built the pot between me and the quarters. The lead called, Doug folded, and the one seat called. I announced tens-full and the nut-flush. In a home game might have been fun to do it the other way. The dealer actually announced my flush and I said no, I'll go with the boat. Either was good and it was a nice pot.



I packed up after a few razz hands - I just couldn't take it. Jill had brought me Advil and $160 of video poker winnings that she made off of a 20, but my head never got better.



I finished up a whole $4 - stud games are expensive when you have a lot of unplayable hands - or 0 after toking 1 and pocketing one 3-dollar souvenir. It sucked playing mostly flop games but it was nice to be up in my first HORSE game in a casino, and among a regulars' game.

End of an Era...

The domains listed below expired on Jul. 25, 2008.This is your final notice to renew your domain name(s)! YOU MUST RENEW BY Aug. 06, 2008 OR THE DOMAINS LISTED BELOW WILL BE CANCELLED.

FLORIDAPOKERTOUR.NET

GAINESVILLEPOKERTOUR.COM

Moment of silence, please.

Paid-up in Heads-up

Bearded Mike
Travis (not T-bone)
Sean
Scott Shirey
Seth "Gus"
Shelley ("Shelley?!")
T-Bone

Leaving Las Vegas

The lads got a VIP table at Tao Beach and it was pretty swank. As expected everyone had their palms out and they worked to screw us, but I am Jack's complete lack of surprise. We finally left after 3 and I queued in the massive cab stand line at Venetian and got to Rio about 20 minutes before my car was to arrive. Just enough time to finish packing and freshen up. I have about 7 hours of travel in front of me then an on-line satellite tonight at 8:30. I'll be better off than poor Hoodster playing in the 1.5k NLH WSOP tomorrow.

Ipanema Beach Bar in Jeans

That's how I roll. I didn't pack a pair of shorts this week, duh. But I really wanted a cigar outside of the dank, dark bar inside and a top shelf margarita. And even tho I gave the bartender a 20 for a 15 dollar drink he just closed down with my glass almost empty without asking if I need another. That's what happens when you're a dude in jeans by the pool.

What a weird week this has been. I have been at the tables about a third of the time I expected to be. I was so disgusted by my snap-call on that poser last night with the losing hand that I pretty much decided I was done with cards for the trip. The good news is Andy, Ads, and Ades have been a complete delight and I "got lucky" on this trip just meeting them. I learned more talking to them than I did at the tables and whenever I'm here learning is always a close second to making money when it comes to goals. I finished up in cash tho nothing to write home about (and yet, here I write) and at this point in my young tourney career I don't expect cashes so I'm not surprised. I can't wait to visit Brighton now.

I also think I'll be spending a lot more time at TDL on Stars. While my showing at the WSOP was nowhere near great I played with the best and think I played correctly in most every hand. I broke a really good hand against Williamson and went on to win, and I laid down a dealt pat-8 three-way when it was obvious to me I was drawing near-dead. I am not overwhelmed playing the game against the best pros and that clearly should translate to on-line play.

Talking with Jack Effel

Jack is the tournament director for the WSOP and he was around table 1 a lot during Event 40 talking to Robert. During a break I heard another official say to him "we shouldn't even have this tournament next year" and I as I was walking by I said "hey, hey!" and Jack said "this guy likes it!"

So, I passed by Jack a could days later outside of Starbucks and as I did said "don't get rid of triple draw." He came over and started asking me questions starting with what I thought about the rule they use for re-shuffling the deadwood, which varies from the rules used by Commerce. I told him frankly it's moot when not played with rebuys - we didn't have a single reshuffle in 5-1/2 hours at my table. Only when you have rebuys do people call draw 3 bets with a bare deuce and draw 4. I said this mostly because I was afraid to admit I didn't really understand the nuance of their rule discussion!

He asked which I prefer and I said clearly no rebuys and he agreed with me. Doesn't make sense for a limit game. I said I'd rather it be 5k no rebuys than with rebuys, but I don't know if I meant it. On one hand, I don't want to play it at 5k really, and I'd rather go in with a budget and decide whether to rebuy based on how I'm doing. On the other hand, I like when it's played correctly because it's a game I understand. In rebuy periods pat hands are never pat. A number 6 is in real jeopardy during rebuys to be sure. At this point either format is better than no event - that would be really disappointing.

Last Meal

This is the part I hate. When I went to bed early this morning it was 24 hours until I would need to leave for my flight. The lads think I'm nuts of course taking a 6am flight but then, they stay here 4 to 6 weeks at a time! They probably think doing one week is crazy.

I never followed up on the third mega stack. It was the smaller buy-in so the structure didn't have as much play but still was deep. I was almost out early in level 4 when I raised with queens and got pushed by AK and called - pretty standard. He flopped and ace and while I was telling everyone good luck and standing up from the table the case queen slid off - the 9 seat had folded KQ.

In level 4 at 200/400 I had around 5500 and had been pretty card dead other than those queens. The one seat who had played a lot of pots both limped and raised limped in and the 2 seat immediately pushed. I didn't think the two seat was strong at all - the way he shoved just wasn't right, no pondering or reflection, just stick it in. I wake up with tens and move AI behind the 2 seat who barely has me covered. The limper then insta-called and I said "uh-oh." He turned over queens. Just to be cruel, the dealer put a ten out on the turn again as I was getting up, but before I could sit back down a queen hit the river. I don't think this hand would have played much differently if the 1 seat had opened vs. limping. If the two seat is the second raiser it's possible I could fold tens there but given the blinds I think a shove is standard. Also, given how many pots the 1 seat opened I'd be more inclined to discount the second raise, especially if he made it in the same manner.

The mistakes I made on this trip mostly revolve around ignoring the "when the big bet comes, watch out" rule. Of course, two nights ago I had the guy push on the river right after I moved over from lowball and called. 120 dollar bet with the winning hand. In that case though I took some time, joked around and got him to laugh under his shades - I had something to go on. When I called in Mega 2 with top and bottom pair on the turn I didn't take two seconds to think about it. Last night I made a snap-call on that stiff 100 dollar river bet. Sometimes I think I just have to sleep at night for the 100 dollars. Had I replayed that hand I think I would have come to the same conclusion just based on the bucket I had this guy in, but at least then I would feel better about it.

I'm waiting now for a big breakfast that'll basically be the last meal. Plan is Tao tonight with the lads and I'm likely to head to the airport after - no use sleeping of course.

Given how furiously my trip started - with a mega stack less than two hours after I landed and the WSOP the next day - I didn't play a ton of poker this week. At least much less than I thought. But, I got to talk poker a lot more than I expected. Vegas trips are like battle plans - once contact is made plans are useless. The week has gone nothing like I planned but for the most part it was change for the better.

I'm back in October.

Sun is coming up

Uhgg. I'll be on the way to the airport in 24 hours...

I suck

Jason made about 2500 out of mega-stack while playing at the WSOP - he ran over on the first break. He went out of the short-handed Event with a set of queens vs. a straight draw that hit.

Adrian is right now at the final table of the Venetian 8pm tourney and looks to made a G or so. That means I am officially the only bloke in our little group with no cashes this year. To be fair, my like tourney experience is still fairly light, especially compared to all these guys. And, nearly half of my live tourneys have been WSOP events.

To make matters worse I had my first losing cash game of the week and finished down about 230 when I got chased down by a flush draw and then check-called a stiff 100 dollar bet on the river when the third diamond came off. It was another example of where I think I disguised mu hand but in so doing it contributed to me putting my opponent on a weak ace. When I check-raised a turn that gave me a nut flush draw to go with my aces and second kicker and he flat called I thought he just wasn't getting away from the ace. He didn't strike me as a particularly imaginative player but wound up with a 10 high flush.

I took a time out and went to Grand Lux with Andy and Adam to commiserate, them over the 8pm tourney and me getting my first twerking in a while.

We didn't get the KCL game going due to their time in the tourney. There was a 6/12 HORSE game going but I let it get away going to check on Jason. I found him at O'Shea's with a room full of top on-line pros playing beer pong. There's something wrong with these guys getting tanked on the cheapest St. Louis beer possible. While there Jason dropped 100 playing war on a 5 dollar table when he shoved with one hand and had his 9 nicked by "Sahara's" ten. Bad beat, bro.

Adrian just doubled up with AK all-in preflop against AJ.

As for poker my trip is ending with a bit of a whimper. I played one bad hand tonight that has me smarting and I'm over HE right now. One thing this week really reminds me is what hard work it is to play good poker. When you're not focused nearly 100% on the game, don't bother.

We plan to all go out to Tao tomorrow and I have a 6 am flight Saturday so I'm likely to be destroyed. I don't know if I'll be doing much of anything tomorrow which is a lot like today.

Game on for next year. The lads spend 4 or 5 weeks out here so it should be easy to schedule around in 2009, and a condo is a distinct possibility.

Jason at 17k in WSOP

After level 2 and he's headed over to Caesars to play his day 2 seat there.

History Making at the Venetian

The Hoodster pretty well covered what happened at Venetian last night (http://www.hoodster.com/?p=81) but we got a 4/8 Deuce to Seven Triple Draw cash game going. It was a first for the casino. The only time it has been played there is as part of a mixed game.

The only thing Andy left out was that I was pretty loud and obnoxious - shocker. I made an effort to show how raucously fun the game was and I'd like to think it worked since we added 2 outsiders to our game following the one who started the game with us. Then the beer helped me show how fun it was - I hope Adam's shoulders aren't sore.

It was a little beserk of course for all of us to play this against each other with a rake but it was the best fun I've had in a casino. I kept picturing the "Chesterfield South" scene in Rounders. I pressed every draw as you should - we had a lot of 3-betting pre-draw - and I hit a lot of them early on. I was up over 100 which net of all the tokes I was throwing was pretty good. Then I bricked off a few times late and the game broke and I finished down! How is THAT possible?!

Andy was the other player there who really knew the game but Adam and Adrian play it PL so it's just a matter of adjusting. I tangled with Andy once and I bricked off every time which was good because when I folded with a draw to go needing 2 against his pat hand he showed down the nuts - I was drawing 2 to an 8 the whole time, yikes! Adam was quiet early and I hit against his rougher pats a couple of times but then he went on a tear and was the big winner.

Goal for tonight - get a 1/2 KCL game going at the Venetian. I think there's a good chance we can get strangers to wonder in because it's no limit. That would be nice so we have someone to pay for the rake.

Multi-tabling - live

As most of you know Jason Lee is a sicko. He played the Mega with all us lads yesterday not realizing it was a two-day event - he has the 5k short handed HE at the WSOP today. Of course come 2am be was bagging chips.

So, he started the WSOP at noon and depending on how he's doing at the break may run over to Caesars for the 2pm start of the final few tables in the mega. Many pros multi-table during the WSOP, but not at two different casinos. I think the prize is like 3x the buy-in if he gets blinded off.

Jason Lee

Shows up and dicks around and is still in mega stack with lots of chips. Of course.

Venetian - first TDL game ever

They have done as mixed but we got the first TDL game only going ever.

Pocket pairs

I almost joked in my last post that my goal today was to go out with a pair higher than 7s since my first tourney was pocket 6s (to K9s) and my second was 7s (to AQs) so I wanted to lose a race with a bigger pair. Well...

The Hoodster

I don't know how to set up blogrolls and can't do it from here anyway but here's the link to Andy's blog:

http://www.hoodster.com/

With friends like these...

I traded 10% with my new mate Andy. He moved to our table when I was AI with Q6 suited - it was that time for my stack. I got the blinds uncontested and got 7s the very next hand when Andy got his first hand and I moved in. I said I wish we got to play some hands together and he said yeah I know - and called!

The 8 seat pondered it for about a minute before folding and we flipped 'em and he had AQ suited. When the ace came the guy next to 8 seat said "nice fold" to him.

Afterwards Andy said once he thought about it he shouldn't have called. I disagree because 1) one reason they don't like players trading big percentages is so the integrity of the game isn't in jeopardy, 2) my existence in the tourney doesn't have much equity when I'm short stacked, and 3) calling was protection in a sense and I'm absolutely convinced the 8 seat had AJ and would have called. Better my chips wind up with Andy than with him.

So the punchline - Andy goes down to 10k and goes on dinner break, but it's not dinner. When he and Adrian (Adam's brother) figure out there are no other poker players in the food court they return to find Andy has been blinded off to 5k (when asked if he thought it was dinner break he of course explained to the table that he had an important call). He moves in dark and has 42 against faces and spikes a 2 to double up. He does it again but this time wakes up with AK suited and doubles up again.

Adam, Adrian, and I cheered him on until after 1 am and then bailed. I got an update after 2 am saying there were 18 left. Day 2 starts today at 2 pm. I'm not sure what they payouts are at this level but I'll get a few bucks. First is around 50k...

Today's mega stack is the smaller buy-in. G-ville alum Fish made the final table to Monday's tournament which was played yesterday but I didn't hear how he finished.

We found a fourth for TDL if we can tear ourselves away from the tourneys to play.

Cripled at the second break

I finished level 4 under 6k and the next blind level is 300/600 so I am in yellow zone territory.

I folded some hands today pre-flop where 1) I was trailing only modestly, and 2) that hit huge flops. But, that's what happens when you let yourself get short.

As always it was one hand, but at least not a big hand out of position, instead a tricky hand in position. The 9 seat player had paid of my nuts in a hand where we had checked the flop and turn and I hit the river. After that hand he told me he would be betting the next time I checked. Note to self.

So, folded to be on the button and I make a steal raise to 500 at the 100/200 level with K3d. So, I'm not proud of the hand but it certainly qualifies in this spot. SB folds and BB says "let's see a flop" and calls 300 - mister 9 seat. Flop is K89 with two hearts. He checks I check. The turn is a black 3 - gin. He leads for 3100. I hadn't been at the table long but had seen him slow play aces and also throw chips around. And I was thinking about his words to me that next time he would bet when I checked.

At this point I figured he had hearts or a weak king, but the over-bet was huge. I thought if I called and no heart came off I'd get a small value bet or value call in. Wrong, blank river and he fires 7200. Now, the rule is when the big bet comes, watch out. I didn't have too much more than that and he didn't move in which would be the bully move. The problem was, I knew he had no idea I had two-pair - he was putting me on ace-king.

I called leaving me with just over 2k and he showed K9 for a flopped top 2. And then he said "you have ace-king right?" Well, no, but either way it was the losing hand. One thing about successfully confusing an opponent is that it can back-fire.

I doubled up a couple of times after that and went into the break just under 6k.

12,600 at break

Up a whole 100, weee. 74 is nailing flops on my table but I never had it. So far a Brit is running it over - what is it with Brits now?!

My one big pot was 34 from BB when someone raised min UTG+1 and I was getting 9 to 1. Flop came 234 and I got two calls on the flop, one on turn, checked down the river and netted 1900. I chased a couple of tight players with hands I could crack them with and that's where I spent my winnings - that and not hitting.

I traded 10% with the Brits and Andy is at 18k.

British Invasion

Andy, Adam and I went to El Diablos tonight. I drank those Brits under the table. They have the address to this page now and hopefully read this and challenge me to a "re-match." Of course, they didn't know we were "competing" but I'm an Injun so always on...

Andy had asked Venetian about triple draw and they said they would do a list, so we have a plan. Andy will have them start the list, Adam will add his name, and then I'll add mine. With any luck we get to that tipping point where the curious see a table will actually happen and we get one together. Would be so awesome.

We all are playing the Caesars mega-stack tomorrow at noon.

Andy plans to add KCL to their rotation so I have to visit that mixed game...

First cash game here

I went to Planet Hollywood which was recommended by the woman sitting next to me on the plane. She said her husband didn't do well in the series when he was out here but covered most of his buy-ins at PH. I went with Sean and he got coolered on two hands. I got a lot of playable hands and chopped around in mostly small pots. I doubled up from 200 to 400 - pays for over half of my tourney tomorrow.

My two big hands: a Brit who had played a lot of pots raised from the SB after I raised with jacks. Folded to me I called in position. The flop came 9 high and he bet the pot which was about 65. I pondered it a while. Either I was crushed before the flop and still was, he was crushed and still was, he was racing and now was way behind, or was crushed and had flopped a set. I finally said "yeah let's do it" and moved in. He said "I don't think we should" which was music to my ears. He pushed the rest in which had me a little worried - thought he might have put me on a monster and made a crying call with queens but my jacks were good and he never showed his cards.

Later I raised from the button with AQo first into the pot shortly after being caught making small river bluffs (about 20 total) in two consecutive hands. The BB called and the flop came QQJ with two diamonds. He checked and I bet 20. Turn was a blank. He checked and I bet 30 and he pondered and put his red chips in the middle. As soon as they crossed the line I said "call" and flipped my hand over. It was an 8 dollar mistake - he still had white chips. On the river I said AI but of course he could call and saved himself 8 dollars.

Only bad hand - the Brit, I limped with AJ and he raised and I called. Flop was A84 and I led and he called. Turn a jack I checked and he checked. River was an 8. I didn't like it - I got a good piece of the flop what could he have? A4 which I'm beating on the flop and now, or x8 which I am no longer beating? I checked, he bet 40 and I insta-called. "What, no raise?" He asked. Nope, I say not turning over my cards. He showed the nuts, wired 8s for quads and got a 135 dollar bonus for high hand to boot.

I had one cute bluff. I can't even remember the board but I missed and there was 25 in and the turn had been checked around 3-way. One player checks river and I bet five into 25. They both folded and I showed 67 for a busted straight draw and 7 high. I think a normal sized bet probably gets called there but it smelled so much like a bet looking for a call that they folded. Given how little the Brit folded it was pretty sweet.

Andy asks about Dickbag

See, not just me...

"Tell me u beat that jerk 2 ur right...?"

No hard feelings from my new Brit friend

For my little gag yesterday;

"Yo bearded mikey, this is the world famous poker pro andy hood, the guy who managed 2 resist selling ur cards! How'd u get on? Gimme a shout dude."

And the circle widens...

Deeb

Media guy just told me Deeb went out 31 or 32 last night.

TDL day 2

About a third of the remaining players are Asian - coincidence?

"Racist"

TDL final 5 tables today

I don't see Freddy or Shulman left here. Skalnsky, Jiing, Raymer, and Chen I recognize and that's it. Some Brit pro I don't know who was at table 2 which had the floor called over about a half dozen times is still in. I just saw Sklansky explain to a guy the draw was on him after a check. He's lost in the hand and is almost to the money? They pay 4 tables.

Costanza moment

Chau Jing was a table away yesterday and I was going to make a comment at our table that I had a marketing idea for him - a tshirt with the pic of him rubbing his belly with the quote "I love play pokah." But I didn't say it.

What I forgot - in that famous Omaha hand, the opponent was Robert fucking Williamson, two to my right.

LoL - great event photography

I'm really glad Kaelaine snapped those pics for me because I think the "official" even photos have my eyes closed in every one. So good. Apparently I slept through level 1.

Dickbag who goes out with pat pair of 3s

Rookie mistake in limit

I (conveniently?) Forgot a level 1 hand. I won the first two pots I played and then went to raise with a two-card nut draw - and I over-chipped. I must have thought about that 20 times before the tourney, making sure to announce raise. Of course in limit an over-chip (100 in this case) with no verbal counts as a call. The button called and took 3 and I think he surely would have folded to a raise. He wound up winning the hand in a pot that should have been heads-up at worst instead of 3-way. D'oh!

The button asked during that hand "is ace high or low?" I said this is like the Dukakis skit Lovitz did on SNL - "I can't believe I'm losing to this guy!" I found out later that Williamson plays regularly with him so he was shooting an angle.

The pics are up on the WSOP site already so later I'll be able to identify the characters in these stories.

http://www.printroom.com/ViewgalleryPhoto.asp?userid=worldseriesofpoker&gallery_id=1142697_id=5

Oh, and I may be on espn360

Jean Robere or however you spell the guy's name who sent onto Survivor and was a dick to everyone (as is his rep) was right behind me with a camera trained on him from the other side of the table. I assume it's for thos little internet snippets of his I saw on espn360 during final table breaks.

Last hand

There are other assorted stories but my final one was with, who else, Deeb. I raised UTG with 235 at 200/400 blinds I was AI for my last 800. Deeb gave me some protection three-betting and we both drew 2. I paired the five and blah. Second draw was a ten and blah and Freddy had drawn 2 as well. I kept the ten - not a great card obviously but drawing 2 would make me a huge dog against any one card draw. He drew one and turned his 9-draw face up. I turned up my ten draw. This time everyone was surprise I kept that, but hey, a two card draw on the end is a bad spot to be in! Freddy turned over a 4 and said "you're drawing dead, man" in that patented Freddy cadence that doesn't sound asinine though it might from the mouth of a lesser being. I drew an ace anyway so I could only have beat a pair, and obviously drawing 2 would not have helped me.

I finished around the 100 mark - board said 108 but they hadn't updated it in about 10 minutes. Another WSOP another lesson. 3 WSOP events no cashes, which sucks.

What sucks more is they are talking about not having it next year, and if they do possibly 2000 with rebuys. That would suck for me - they're going to get to the point where I wind up playing stupid hold'em in the WSOP.

I am meeting up with Sean and his wife tomorrow. They moved out here a year ago or so. I may wind up at Venetian tonight but probably will take tomorrow off before going back to mega-stack on Tuesday.

My friend Andy

So I ran the gag on Andy like I knew him from Gutshot and he bought it. It was funny but then I felt badly because he was as nice as Adam and I thought when Adam tells him, Andy will think I'm a dick. Anyway after a couple hours he said "you want your stuff from yesterday?" Huh? He holds up a case with cards that I had in my man-purse in the tourney the day before. Better that than my ipod but wtf? I thought Adam had shot an angle on me from the start, cheeky bastard. But actually he told him during level 2 and gave him the cards to give to me. D'oh.

I was in a couple of hands with him. I hit a number 5 with him and dickpie and then he bet into my pat hand with dickpie in. Dickpie folded so I flat called - his bet into us scared me a bit and without the third player there was no dead money to pump. He tapped pat and so did I and he bet and I called. He announced "8" and I said "mine's better" and tabled the smooth 8. A couple of hours later we tangled again and I wound up with 87652 and had a sick feeling. He checked on the end and so did I. He announced "8" and I said "mine's worse." I tabled it anyway and he showed 87642 - so close!

3 of the 4 pros - in the meatgrinder

Pics from table one

Nick Shulman not Schlein that I wrote earlier

A wonderful woman from PokerPages took some pics. Not sure how I can upload these but will try to send.

Williamson out 114

Deeb took him out. An Asian lady I have never seen showed up. Tips she is not a casual player include the huge chip stack she brought and the special strap she has on her purse that clips under the railing on the table.

She wastes no time getting into a heated hand with Deeb. Deeb is drawing one to #2 after the first draw (he was flashing me his hand) when he raises and she re-raises and then raps pat after he calls. She bets and he calls and takes another. Last draw he takes one and she bets and he folds. Deeb has a massive chip stack and can afford these chases.

I outlasted another pro but I am the short stack here by a long way.

Tangling with Deeb

I had Freddy on my immediate left, great for the pictures I got for my wall, bad for my tourney prospects. Stealing the BB was pretty much out of the question, and he had a habit of 3-betting my raises.

I got into a hand with him almost as soon as he sat down and won that and the next hand with him. Then he won the next three we were in. In the third I raised and he three bet and I drew to 2368. On the second draw he was pat and I put him on a 9 and check-called. I drew one and caught an ace - I wasn't checking blind because I planned to value bet an 86. He checked behind and showed a 95 - stronger than the nine I expected to see but I was definitely drawing live. I thought a lot about that hand and the fact that I played it by the book a card ahead and just didn't hit. It is a sick game.

I got dealt a pat 87632 and made it three bets after the semi-pro in seat one popped it. My thinking was to flat call would tip my hand when I rapped pat. Deeb and the raiser called, Deeb took two and the other guy one after I rapped. I bet, Freddy called and the one seat popped it. Well, I could call and break it and draw to a number 2. Based on the action I didn't think I had many outs. I folded. I was partly mortified but my read was I was beat and drawing thin. Well, Deeb took one two more times and the one seat was pat twice. They checked down the river and the one seat showed an 86. My pat hand would have been dead and I was drawing to four outs at most three-way as the cards layed. A tough fold but turned out to be correct.

I can't help but think Deeb played loose against me early and used that later - definitely got more off me in the 3 pots he won vs. my meager early 2. The sixth time we tangled HU I raised from the SB with 237, again pretty standard. He re-popped and I called and drew 2 as did he. I caught a 6 and checked, he bet, and I raised and said I had 450 left. We got 1150 in with two draws to go and I was AI. I bricked on the second draw and then Deeb stood pat on the last draw when I put the card out for my final draw. He turned over 98 and I turned my 2367. Deeb was surprised. I stood up knees on chair and sweated it - and flipped over a 9! I win! Deeb goes "you're not supposed to have a 7 there you're supposed to have 9!" And I'm thinking yeah well I'm not that dickbag.

Dickbag goes out - pat with a pair of 3s

This may be the best story so far that doesn't involve me. So the dickbag to my right, the "hey you remember that time" guy is criticizing everyone's play. He's lamenting how everyone draws 15 against him and gets there. I keep saying "well it is called TRIPLE draw." Attack me fine, I'm an amateur, but like the rest of the three pros at our table don't know what they're doing? Also, he basically accuses Deep and Williamson of colluding against him. Williamson laughed, Deeb had his headphones on and it's a good thing. Any of you who saw that "going south" episode of HSP know that Freddy probably would have taken his fucking head off. I said "I can not believe you just said that. Settle down there kid."

What I don't bother to explain is there's a simple reason I chase him. Not only does position etc. play a part, but I've seen him show down hands. I KNOW he is drawing one to rough 9s because I've seen him get there, and both win and lose. In one hand against me he made the mistake of showing the three he caught on the last draw before showing the rest of his hand which included 98! Of course I'm chasing you down!

So, he gets into a hand with Deeb and is pat after the first draw and gets AI. Deeb draws 2 going into the final draw. Now, a king is a favorite over a two card draw on the end, even the roughest king possible. How can this kid lose! Deeb flips over 236 before looking at the final 2. The kid flips over what looks like a rough 9 again. I am so proud to say I'm the first one who spotted it, followed closely by Williamson. "Pair of 3s" I exclaim!

I wish I had taken the time to look at his face but I didn't. After telling us for hours about how bad we all are, he misreads his hand and get AI and pat with 3s. Could this be more fucking perfect! One problem - even tho the kid is packing up Deeb still has two cards to turn up. If he pairs the 6 or goes runner-runner the dickbag still wins. First card is a 9 and the second is a 7. The irony is EVEN if the kid had the hand he thought he did, he was losing. That's what happens when you play rough 9s like they're monsters. The smoothest 98 is the 34th nuts - a pretty beatable hand.

After he left I had a couple hands where it was me and four pros and one open seat. The good news is that didn't last, the bad news is an amateur/semi-pro showed up with a mountain of chips and a tendency to raise.

Cash vs. Tourney

With blinds pretty high I limped UTG with 235. Now, that is a standard raise in TDL. However, think about it, there is no "book" for TDL tourneys. The chapter we all know and love is for cash games. If you had to name THE one adjustment for going from cash to tourneys it's simply that at times you sacrifice equity for survival.

My thinking was I was happy to play this hand for two bets but I didn't want to get sucked into playing for 900 before the first draw. Pot size control - not as important as in NL but important here. Sure enough, the one seat - the only other amateur at the table but someone who probably was semi-pro - popped it. The Full Tilt pro (Schlein?) In the BB called and so did I. I caught another 5 and blah. The BB bet out, I called, one seat raised, and BB re-popped. If I had open raised to begin with I'd probably be married to this hand to the river. As it was, I folded. Maybe if I had raised, three bets to the BB would have gotten me HU. In that can I would have faced a check-call situation instead of in a meat grinder, and made it to the second draw. Woulda coulda shoulda, but sacrificing value with that draw is not terrible I think, like it would be in a cash game.

Negreanu - out 144

Of 238 total. I just lasted longer than the guy who wrote the book...

Deeb made a last longer bet with some Texan for the buy-in amount. And when I say Texan I mean huge hat and a belt buckle that could kill a man. The guy had shown up even later than Deeb and was two tables away. Apparently he showed up gambling because he had tripled up already. When Deeb found this out he wanted to re-cut the deal, and he did - 5 to 4 odds, 5k payout. Williamson took 20% of Deeb's action. The Texan was out about an hour later.

Robert Williamson

He was in the 3 seat most of the time I was there but busted before me. Right before the second break I raised UTG with 23679 and he called from the BB and drew 3. I seriously considered standing pat against a 3 card draw but I had a draw to the #2 and if I rapped pat I thought 1) I'd get little value out of the hand, 2) I risked getting outplayed on later streets, and 3) if he did catch up I would be in a bad spot. Breaking the 9 now was better than after the second draw when he raps pat. Plus, I was a huge favorite to at least improve to an 8.

I drew one and bet ahead of course. He called and drew two and I drew one again. He checked and I checked behind - he rapped pat! I laughed out loud when he did - he was going for the check-raise and missed a bet. I drew one and he bet out 400. I caught an 8 and said "I have to call you" and it was good.

One thing about pros in this game is they make thin value bets. He was trying to check raise me with a 9 after the second draw which I find a stretch. But, he's the pro.

5700 at second break

Not great progress. Blinds going up fast. You know that old SNL skit where the fan is like groveling to someone like Joe Montana and he's like "you remember, that time, you threw that game-winning pass in the Super Bowl?!"

Uh, yeah.

"That was AWESOME!"

Well, the guy to my right is THAT guy and he's just peppering Deeb with moronic shit. And telling him stories about other poker players - like Deeb gives a shit. Deeb took it mostly in stride but I don't know how because it drove me nuts.

Early on in the tourney Deeb made a joke about entering tournaments for the 10 dollar off voucher at restaurants they give you with each entry. I said I'll give you mine if you autograph your entry card for me. The funny thing was I didn't even have mine because I registered yesterday. He personalized it and gave it to me. Freddy skipped pretty much all of level 1 and then was on my immediate left the entire time I was in the tourney.

5925 at first break

Played 2 pots with Freddy Deeb and won both. He signed his entry card and gave it to me. Robert Wiliamson is at my table as well.

"This is crazy, this is crazy"

As I ponder that I'm about to play in a 2500 buy-in event for a sick lowball game against what's likely to be a shit-ton of pros I keep picturing Chevy Chase in Vacation as he stands at the edge of the pool about to jump in with Christy Brinkley. Well, it is crazy, but he was looking to get lucky and so am I.

Table 2 - Levels 6 thru 8

I was still pretty short. When antes came in at 400/800 there was 2200 in the pot every hand. I moved in from the small blind with a suited Q5 against my new buddy Adam in the BB. Here's where not being a dick bag is beneficial. If we were near the money or my chips were any threat, any one at that table would take me down. But, when you're not seen as a threat people are more likely to lay down marginal situations if they like you. Sounds obvious but most people don't seem to care about such things. Getting 2-to-1 he folded with 85 in a spot that's usually a napkin-call. I showed him I actually had him dominated because I felt he knew I was in napkin-AI mode in spots where everyone has folded given the blinds and antes. More a Hansen approach than Negreanu but a necessary weapon.

There was something about AQ at this table. In a hand I wasn't in a Hellmuth wannabe pondered a raise and call in front of him. This guy had a jacket with "Team Berry" or something, patch on the side, hat and sunglasses with the MP3 built in. It was like a parody of a parody. He took two minutes and had me and Adam convinced he had aces or kings. He pushed with AQ got called and sucked out. In another spot he laid down queens face up in the face of too much action - after an appropriate delay of course. I hated this guy at the table because time was my enemy.

Adam made a sick call on him that exemplifies the problem of people over-betting in bluffs and semi-bluffs. He checked his BB after Adam completed the SB and they went heads-up. The flop was 9 high with 2 clubs, Adam checked and Philmath moved in. It was a massive over-bet. It was 7x the pot. Adam called with Ace-high (AT). Philmath had 68c for a gut-shot straight flush draw. An awesome draw to be sure but why bet so much? Adam admitted later that had he bet less - say 70% of the pot, he would have laid it down. Betting so much got him action. Even if he did get a smaller bet called he's in position and very likely to see the river for free if he doesn't like the turn. Going nuts with a SF draw is fine but not in a tournament when someone has you covered. The table's only dickpie missed his draw fortunately.

My next AI was pretty standard - I opened with tens, the 4 seat moved in and I called. He had AQ and missed and I doubled up.

I laid down an ace in a situation that had Andy and Eric questioning my sanity. I had A9 and figured I'd move in but before it came to me there were 2 AIs in front. The second AI was really a call because he had the original raiser and me covered but it sounded more ominous - like he had a big hand. I laid it down face up. My thinking was while A high is a standard move-in hand short-stacked, and I needed to triple up, I likely was dominated with one live card. In this situation I think 9T is a better hand to call-off my money with three-way (mmmmm, three way...).

The original raiser had jacks and the caller had the popular AQ. Now, as it happened the board came all diamonds and a diamond on the turn - meaning my poor dominated 9 would have made a flush. Still, I think that was the right laydown. My ace was no good against the caller and my "live" card wasn't so live against the jacks. The jacks held up and that guy thought my decision to fold was brilliant!

About three hands later I woke up with queens, moved in for about 6k, and got called by, wait for, AQ by the same guy I raced my tens with. The case queen came on the flop and he was drawing to runner-runner ace with the ace of hearts dead - the guy behind the caller flashed it when he folded. The board paired twice giving me two boats and the pot. At my high I was just over 20k - nothing to write home about.

Obviously I was going to have to press a marginal situation - or two - at some point. We were at Level 8 which was 800/1600 with a 200 ante and I had about 12k. A new player to the table opened in early position and I moved in with sixes. I thought this was an easy call - he was getting 2-to-1 - but he actually pondered it a while. I told him this table would be very mad at him if he took me out and told everyone to run over him if he did. I actually started to think he may fold. When he called and showed his cards I knew why-he had opened with K9 diamonds. That's the right call given the odds of course. About half the table started chanting "let's go Mike!" which was cool. None of us wanted to leave this table. The flop came two diamonds and with two overs and a flush draw I started packing up. The K came on the river and the new guy gave me the standard "sorry. Not necessary of course - a race is a race.

I said my goodbyes and shook some hands and made plans to run into Adam and Eric at Rio. Adam has a friend at my same table - table 1, bitches - at the TDL WSOP event and I plan to say "Andy? Andy Hood! What an honor to meet you!" as if I know him from The Gutshot in London where he plays cash games. It should be pretty funny.

I went a whole tourney with no bad beat stories. I don't know if that means I didn't play correctly, I got lucky a lot, or if I just have a realistic view of poker. I'd like to think it's the last one.

Table 2 - Levels 3 thru 5

When my table 31 broke I wound up at table 55 and it was playing very differently. Whereas my first table was pretty passive pre-flop with some raises below 3x BB and few pre-flop re-raises, practically every pot here was being raised and for a lot. With just over 6k in chips a standard raise was almost 10% of my chips so I had to be careful.

But what's worse, they regularly were raising above average. At 100/200 the raises were coming at 7, 8, and 9. So not only was it more than 10% but any re-raise on my part has to be for all of it. A standard RR would be 2500 to 3k (depending on initial raise, limpers, etc.) So half my chips or close to it. I soon realized limping was practically impossible and the only real defense was snapping someone off with a hand - if I could get one of course.

My first all-in of the day came at 300/600 - and it was accidental. It's a positive attribute that I went that long without being at risk. I tried to limp with A6d because the table had settled some and seen some flops. But, instead of throwing in a 5 and a 1 I threw in a 1k and 100, which made it a raise. I made a big deal about asking if I had to raise trying the reverse-move of ah shucks I didn't mean to raise with my aces. Quiet guy in the 2 seat didn't believe me and moved in. Folded to me I had 15% to 20% of my chips in the pot I decided to gamble and wound up against AQ. I was in bad shape until I flopped the nuts and he was drawing dead.

Insult to his injury, Adam to my left noticed the pot didn't look right. We stopped the dealer and reconstructed it and figured out he shorted me the blinds - 900. He got it back from the change he gave the guy with the dominating hand and had just been sucked out on. Eric (6 seat) mentioned if he had protested I would have been screwed because the pot had been disbursed. Don't know if that's right but rings true.

One tourney, no cashes

I got in pretty early and registered for tomorrow. Since a 1500 hold'em started at noon there were no cash games. When I saw the dregs there I thought I should have done HE in the WSOP but if I did well I couldn't play tomorrow.

I went over to Caesar's and made it with 30 minutes to spare for today's mega stack - 340 for 12500 chips, 50 minute levels, 25/50 starting blinds.

I tried out the new small ball strategy and it was working pretty well. I was value betting in the right spots and bluffing well. I even had a few people raising the same 2-1/2x the BB I was raising. One thing I learned today-small ball depends on remaining fairly successful. Really if you are below 50 BB's you can't use it optimally.

I misplayed 2 AK hands at my first table. The first time I took the passive approach too far, didn't bet the turn when I picked up the nut flush draw with 3 hearts on board, and wound up checking it down to a cut-off raiser who had 2-6 and hit trips on the river (he was chicken shit not value betting that - like I checked a flush twice).

The next time I opened and made a continuation bet which is pretty standard, but I got called in two spots. Board was 45A rainbow. Turns was nine and second diamond, I checked, next guy bet 3k and the old guy behind him moved in for half that. I convinced myself my kicker was better and I called. River was Jd and we checked it down. Old guy hit a flush, other guy had 45 of spades for two pair.

I love him playing that there although he was the first to call my pre-flop raise not last or close to it. Still, a suited 45 is a great deep stack hand and I don't begrudge him. What you don't want to play is AK out of position - when lots of money goes in on the turn it's rarely the best hand. I knew better and dumped chips anyway which was disappointing.

My best hand at that first table was J9 of clubs. I called a small raise in position and the flop was 8 of clubs, 7 of spades, 2x. The initial raiser checked as did the next guy and I thought about betting but checked. Turn was the MOST perfect card - 10 clubs. So now I have the nut straight and open-end straight flush draw. I hoped to go to war. At 50/100 blinds the pot was already about 1400 so I bet 1k. Initial raiser called. River paired the 10 and he checked. There was a time when I might have been spooked by the paired board but I felt pretty sure that he did not have a set and boat up, and my hand was bet. He called a 1200 value bet with AK high!

I had 6400 at the first break, hust about half starting stack, not good. We were an outer table and it broke early in level 3. I was sad I had worked so hard to profile these guys and then I was getting moved, but the next table was pretty fun. It got to the point where they were chearing my name when I was all-in, but more on that later.

Vegas Baby!

In the limo on the way to the hotel - a limo and no checked bags is the only way to do it. Plan is to register for the tourney for tomorrow and maybe find a cash game for a few hours until I check in.

Rough Start

Michael overslept and I didn't wake him while getting ready or rush him - mistake. We left about 5:15 for a 6 am flight and I got to the airport with just less than the 30 minutes to flight.

I wasn't able to check in on-line so I had to go to the counter which was packed for the next flight. Some angel in line asked me if I was on the 6 am flight - I guess he saw the "oh shit" look on my face.

The guy at the counter was giving me crap already while checking a couple in, and there was a woman there on the ATL flight with a boarding pass but needing to check a bag, and he didn't care that I couldn't check in on-line. And that's when I met the dickpie.

He started in with "oh are you just moving over here? Are there two lines?" Now, I'm sympathetic to an extent. I hate when people show up late and burn time I could be spending in the Crown Room. Oh you overslept so just inconvenience the rest of us. But in my defense I had no bags to check, and I would have had a boarding pass already if delta.com had worked.

But wait, there's more. What about the lady with the bag to check who had moved up in front of everyone? Well, dickpie was playing Big Angry Black Man and she happened to be black. Racist? Yeah, I think he was.

Now, what I wanted to tell him is look, Mr. Two-Flights-a-Year, if this were a real airport and there was a Medallion line like there should be, I'd be skipping riff-raff like you anyway. But this is partly Delta's fault and partly mine so I smile and apologize and assure him I didn't mean to inconvenience everyone.

Then he says it's not his problem and he has a live animal (in a little carry on - in my mind it's a Paris Hilton chihuahua because the juxtaposition would be priceless) and he's not letting me skip. I say please even though I know it's not up to him. When the Delta guy says 6 am people have priority (yep, that's how it works when you show up late) I again apologize only to hear the witty retort "don't say anything else to me."

What are you, 6? Did an adult just say that? In my mind I'm thinking, or else what? There's something else implied there and I really want to continue this line of dialogue, but I'm not checked in and still subject to the whim of the guy at the desk. The lady with the bag to check let's me go first - I reasoned with her that at least she had a boarding pass!

The desk guy told me I couldn't check in on-line because I have a common name. You know, because I've changed it since I started flying Delta 13 years ago and since becoming Platinum. Wtf? Anyway, I rushed to the gate committing dickpie's face to memory. They hadn't even started boarding yet so I got there in time to be the second guy on the plane, so suckit BABM.

50 minutes until wheels up to Vegas...

Dickbag of the year award?

From PLO with rebuys again:

Some drama on the very last hand of the night, folks.

Daniel Makowsky limped from under the gun, Nikolay Evdakov raised pot to 7,200, Sorel Mizzi called from the big blind, and Makowsky called as well.

The flop came . Mizzi bet pot, Makowsky raised all in, and Evdakov folded. Immediately, Evdakov called the clock on Mizzi, a response of sorts to some of the earlier bickering about stalling. Mizzi complained that he had a legitimate decision to make, but the clock was enforced nonetheless.

Mizzi made the call, showing for a set of jacks. Makowsky showed -- he'd flopped a king-high straight.

The turn was the and the river the , and Mizzi was eliminated. Makowsky is now up to 397,500, and may well be the chip leader heading into Day 2.

'Cos you don't have much left

PLO with Rebuys, Event 34
On a flop of , a player in the small blind bet pot, Kevin O'Donnell reraised pot, a late position player called with his remaining chips, and the small blind called as well, also putting in the last of his chips.

The SB showed , O'Donnell showed , and the late position player showed .

The turn was the and the river the . O'Donnell had made runner-runner flush to knock out both players.

"How can you repop there?" asked one of O'Donnell as he got up to leave. "'Cos you don't have much left," came the reply.

He's up to 176,000.

2 Days to Go

I am at that pre-Vegas trip point where I can hardly think of anything else but poker. I actually haven’t had a trip like this ever – on my own where it’s nothing but cards. Even last year during the WSOP Jill was there, and even though she plays the good wife and encourages me to play as much as possible, it’s just not the same. In March it’s much more basketball than poker.

I picked up two books in the last week. I think I have to final table something one day just to pay for all the books I’ve bought over the years. Hansen’s book is a very interesting idea for a poker book – it describes every hand he was in on his way to winning the Aussie Millions – but it’s not as great as the concept. For one thing he’s less than precise in what he was thinking at times (e.g., “I guess I thought that…”). Really the book boils down to be aggressive with position, steal as much as possible, and back-off if you get too much action with junk hands. No one really needs a book to know how Hansen plays and much of it recounts him raising with junk and winning the blinds and antes. There are some monster calls and big hands and I don’t regret getting it, but it could have been better in the hands of another.

Negreanu’s new book finally came out this week and of course I got it the day it was released. I’m playing the 2-7 TDL even in the WSOP this year and the only reason I even play that stupid game is because he wrote the chapter in SS2. If he had written about Crazy Pineapple or Gary’s Asshole I’d probably be looking for those events. Anyway, in the tradition of Super System he got several collaborators on certain subjects (I like Todd Brunson but his chapter on high stakes cash games is more of a curiosity than of practical use, to me anyway).

Negreanu’s section, which is a substantial part of the book, is on his small ball strategy in tournament play. It couldn’t be more different from Hansen’s approach which only proves that poker approaches are like batting stances – to each his own. I think the most groundbreaking thing about it is how weak it looks. It’s basically weak-loose/loose-passive in the majority of situations, and that’s pre-and-post-flop! Everyone knows Daniel raises about 2-1/2x the big blind pre-flop with a broad range of hands, but what surprised me is how passive he suggests playing post-flop.

The rationale in a lot of cases to not taking an aggressive approach on the flop can mostly be summarized as “if you’re behind you’re way behind, and if you’re ahead you’re way ahead.” He prefers to let more cards come off to “gain information” rather than through betting, especially since his hand may improve, and the “information” from flop-betting is flawed. He also prefers to let people way behind bluff off their money or catch-up a little, and risking two outs or five outs to lose doesn’t bother him. A lot of it too comes down to controlling the size of the pot, a key NL concept that he uses to small-ball advantage. I’m definitely going to try this out in some of the deep stack tournaments I’ll be doing next week.

74 gear

Test, and live game tune-up...

Well my first game back to live cash games was a bumpy one down 200 but it was a short-handed game so a lotta fun. I think I played at least half the hands dealt - not a real formula for cash game success but a good way to get back into the flow. It would have been worse had I not hit out with AJ vs. an MIS's AK shove right before the game broke up.

Season 4 TOC Re-cap

First, let it be known the Lee won the Kill Trophy for 2008, and it wasn’t even close. During one of the later tourneys Baklava screwed up the eliminations scoring and cheated Lee of two kills and it was never fixed because it didn’t matter.

Second, congratulations to Lee and Phil. I'm going to update the blog but no one really reads it anymore so I want to mention a few things. In short, after a GPT season that was The Year of the Woman, this year was The Year of the Pinko (which, if you think about it, is not that different). Lee won two of eight events this year and ran over the TOC table. I think he literally was never lsower than starting stack - 100 or so. In his tour de force he knocked out every player except me (Phil took care of that choir).

Hank won his third Player of the Year award in four seasons but Phil had the best average finish among anyone playing more than one tournament (Sweet won his only entry in PLO and More Dave finished third in his only event). Phil came on late to cash in all of the final four events (third in razz, runner-up in 5CD/KCL and PLO, and the champion of HORSE) and finished runner up to Lee in the TOC.

Lee began his ToC triumph with 5500 chips, second behind Hank against a field of seven (Jim couldn’t make the tournament). After I predicted that Tim would be first out and Hank said someone would be out before the end of the first level, Lee took care of the dirty work. Tim had been raising a lot of hands and made a stiff re-raise after Lee called my initial (junk) raise from the blind. Lee flat called and they took a flop of all clubs. Lee let Tim bet and then raised him, and then called his AI. Lee tabled A8c for the nuts and left Tim with runner-runner outs – maybe – which he missed. As usual, Tim was gracious in defeat and a really good sport about being called with a suited ace by a player out-of-position.

And then there were six. The next person to tangle with Lee was Sweet, who got all-in holding kings against Lee’s AKo. Lee had enough chips to survive a showdown, Sweet did not. Sweet looked to be in pretty good shape – until the flop brought three diamonds. As you could guess, Lee’s ace was a diamond and he went from a worse than 2-to-1 dog 43/57 dog. Sweet held the king of diamonds but everyone at the table fully expected Lee to hit at that point, and that’s exactly what happened when at ace came on the turn. Sweet didn’t hit the case on the river and then there were five.

While still in level two Bak raised five-handed and I called with 9s7s looking to get tricky. Lee called out of the blind and checked the flop dark, which was KxQs4x. It was checked around and the turn put another spade on the board. Lee checked and Bak bet 225, I called, and Lee announced raise. Before I could even muck Bak was all-in, which made my insta-fold a nano-insta-fold. Lee’s top-two was pretty predictable at that point, but what did Bak raise to 125 with pre-flop? AKs? How about Ks4s. He flopped top and bottom and turned the second-nut flush draw, but he missed and was out. Then there were four.

This is the last hand I’m going to know anything about because it didn’t end well for me. I was around 2500 chips and called Phil’s UTG raise from the button with pocket-fives. There’s a website with that name so it has to be good. Flop was almost just what I was looking for, J65 with two hearts. Phil checked and I overbet the pot with 600. Phil immediately announced raise, and I had a sick feeling. I wasn’t at all sure I was winning with bottom set then. I said “you better check my stack before you say how much” and just to be sick he bet 1200 when I held 1800 chips. Then I felt really sick. Given how low the blinds were 1800 chips was enough to do battle with, but there was a huge stack at the table and I would be short-stack by a wide margin, and for fuck’s sake I did have a set. Ultimately what got me was the two hearts – I couldn’t shake the notion that he could have a big flush draw like AK or AQ which is actually beating a flopped pair of jacks as the cards lie. I made a crying-all-in which he of course called and he had exactly what it felt like – top set of jacks. There’s only one person in the GPT who hits one-outers and it ain’t me, so then there were three.

I watched some of the three way but my mind was mostly on getting over-setted to go out of the last ToC ever and how I could have gotten away from that hand. Lee and Phil were confident that there would be a liberal on the wall. Either way, with me bubbling Hank is now the only person to cash in all four ToCs, winning two, finishing runner-up to me in year one, and third this year. Heads-up did not take long with Lee’s chip stack.

I almost disabled comments for this post but I did wait several days to write a summary which means I may have messed some things up, so flame away.

Oh, one more thing – I am going to e-mail updates from the WSOP that will get posted directly to this blog. I am playing in Event 40, 2-7 TDL which thankfully has no re-buys this year. I haven’t decided whether to play stud/8 because there are so many deep stack hold’em tournaments going on while I’m there. Last year I took my stakes for things I planned to play. This year, after the Sunday’s tourney I’m just putting my bankroll wherever it leads me with no plan other than Caesar’s mega-stack NLHE on Tuesday.

I’ll see you at heads-up, bitches.

T-8 days

Gee guys, thanks a lot...

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74 on HSP

"Aces up."

Congrats to Hank - 2nd in field of 66 PL 5-Card Draw.

PokerStars Game #17846963342: Tournament #90240700, $10+$1 5 Card Draw Pot Limit - Level XV (2500/5000) - 2008/06/01 - 16:21:59 (ET)
Table '90240700 1' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: nuri999 (72754 in chips)
Seat 5: millencolin7 (26246 in chips)
millencolin7: posts small blind 2500
nuri999: posts big blind 5000
*** DEALING HANDS ***
millencolin7: raises 10000 to 15000
nuri999: calls 10000
nuri999: discards 1 card
millencolin7: discards 3 cards
nuri999: bets 15000
millencolin7: calls 11246 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (3754) returned to nuri999
*** SHOW DOWN ***
nuri999: shows [6c 3c 7c 4c Qc] (a flush, Queen high)
millencolin7: shows [Ah As 9h Tc Td] (two pair, Aces and Tens)
millencolin7 said, "damn"
millencolin7 said, "aces up"
nuri999 collected 52492 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 52492 | Rake 0
Seat 2: nuri999 (big blind) showed [6c 3c 7c 4c Qc] and won (52492) with a flush, Queen high
Seat 5: millencolin7 (button) (small blind) showed [Ah As 9h Tc Td] and lost with two pair, Aces and Tens

An Abomination

Other than the use of the term "corporate greed," I completely agree with him.

Poker Tournament Schedule Ruins Integrity: Joe Saumarez-Smith
2008-05-12 00:05 (New York)


Commentary by Joe Saumarez-Smith
May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Organizers of the World Series of
Poker, the game's top competition, have thrown players a curve
ball that threatens the integrity of the multimillion-dollar
tournament.
This year Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment Inc. has
changed the event so that instead of playing over two weeks in
July, those who make the final table of nine players will be
asked to come back and finish during two days in November.
This, the organisers say, will allow the final table to be
shown on Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN and give the broadcaster time to
generate publicity that will maximise the audience. The 12 days
in which the estimated 7,000 players are whittled down to nine
will be broadcast in the weeks before the final, allowing viewers
to get a feel for how the players have progressed to the summit
of the poker world.
Players will benefit, the organizers say, because the
additional coverage and raised profiles surrounding the final
table will mean they can demand more cash from sponsors.
For me, and for many others in the poker community, it is an
extraordinarily stupid decision. It is a plan that ruins the
integrity of the tournament and stinks of corporate greed being
placed above the interests of the game of poker.
Consider the possible implications:
-- Players get coaching. If a rank amateur manages to get
through to the final table, then, if they have any sense, they
will employ a top player to coach them for the next four months.
Even if this means giving away 10 percent of their final table
purse, this will be good value for them.

Coaching

This effectively means that the nine sitting down in
November will have a completely different skill level to the nine
that would have sat down in July. Is this fair to the more
skilful players?
-- Increased likelihood of player collusion. Poker isn't a
team game but it is a game where a group of players can gang up,
to their mutual advantage. It's certainly not impossible that
with four months before the final table that several players
could agree to target other players.
-- If players don't agree to collude, it is far more likely
that they make a deal about dividing up the prize money. Last
year there was $22 million final table prize money, with the
winner getting $8.25 million and the ninth-place finisher
receiving $526,934.

Private Guarantee

Even if you are the most skilful player at the table, you
have to accept there is a fair degree of randomness about who
wins. The structure is so distorted toward a massive first-place
prize that players are almost certain to agree on a deal. For
example, every player could privately be guaranteed $1 million in
winnings and agree to play for the rest.
Deals may be a pragmatic way for players to reduce
randomness but it doesn't do much for the integrity of the
tournament.
-- Previous coverage distorts future play. ESPN will be
broadcasting highlights from the run-up to the final table so
players will be able to find out how their opponents play. Table
image is such a huge part of a player's game and television
simply allows people to see through that image.
All these pitfalls, just to boost ESPN's ratings and
Harrah's sponsorship revenues? It's not even as though either of
those companies add money to the tournament. Competitors are
playing for each other's entry money minus the rapacious 6
percent deduction made by Harrah's for entry and staffing costs.

`Fantastic Idea'

Not everyone agrees with me.
``I'm not sure I buy any of the theories,'' said Seth
Palansky, a spokesman for the World Series of Poker at Harrah's.
``Various theories have the amateurs and professionals both at a
disadvantage. A lot of the theories are conspiracies and not
reality and I would say wait until Nov. 9 to see how it works.''
Rob Tobias, a spokesman for ESPN, said the schedule ``will
add a new element to a very successful and popular event. We look
forward to documenting all of the exciting stories that make the
World Series of Poker Main Event the seminal competition in all
of poker.''
Tom Schneider, who was World Series of Poker player of the
year in 2007, said at the official launch, ``I think it is
fantastic idea, and I can't wait to make a final table like this.
Two years ago, who came in fourth? You probably don't remember.
In this format, everyone who makes the final table will be
remembered. They will get promoted properly and everyone will get
the attention that they deserve.''

Mental Marathon

But 2006 winner Jamie Gold summed up many people's feelings.
``It is supposed to be a mental marathon, and you aren't supposed
to get a break of several months in between,'' he told Card
Player magazine. ``It's making it two separate events instead of
one poker tournament, which I thought was part of the allure and
the great competitive nature of the event.''
For me, poker has clearly benefited from the involvement of
big corporations like Harrah's and ESPN, whose mass marketing has
undoubtedly brought new players into the game. But there are
things you can mess with and things you cannot. This year's
changes have overstepped that line.

(Joe Saumarez-Smith is chief executive officer of Sports
Gaming, a U.K. management consulting firm to the gaming industry.
He also owns European online bingo companies and odds comparison
Web sites. The opinions expressed are his own.)

Lee goes where only Hank has gone

No one else has won two titles in “regulation” season. In Season 1 when we played 20-something tournaments everyone had multiple titles. Last year Tim, Candy, and Bak had two each - and Hank had 3. In Season 2 Hank, Sean, Candy, and Shelley all had 2. But, in an eight game season it's a much tougher feat.

There’s no pic from the last tourney and I have no idea where the one from the previous win is. But, one of these if from a 5CD tourney which is appropriate since the last one was 5CD/KCL, and the other has a slight edit to make it “number one,” baby! (Not my best photoshop work, like Hank with Daniel, but it works.)

Sorry Lee. For some reason when I searched my computer for Lee pics most of what I got was naked pictures of Stacey Lee Coldren and I have no idea who that is, but to be fair, it was a better surprise than finding naked pictures of you.

Lee’s most recent win also vaunts him to first in kills with a commanding lead. HORSE is a tough game in which to gather kills with means PLO is the last real opportunity to make up ground. Hank retains the points lead and with my early exit in Event 6 Lee is the only one with a chance to catch him. Both Hank and Lee have a chance to sweep all three trophies.

The other good news from Lee’s win is the TOC probably will be held at the house with the keg because of the non-champs I have 39 points, Tim has 36, Phil has 24, and Candy has 22.

The interesting part is Tim is the only one who likes PLO and is the odds-on favorite to win Event 7. Of course Candy has a history with HORSE. Which mean if the Palmer’s sweep the last two both Phil and I would likely limp in without wins.

Not to say my goal Saturday isn’t to take Tim out because, by the way, it kinda is. Good luck Tim!

Funny ads for Gutshot

Jim Wins - Another TOC Seat Locked Up

Razz did not disappoint, in terms of being an extremely frustrating game. With eight people, three played extremely loosely early on – it worked out for two people but not for me. Tim was first out and escaped the Turkey trophy temporarily since I forgot to bring it to Hank’s. Bak and I were next followed by early chip leader Lee, Event Four’s Champion. The obvious favorite, Hank, bubbled, just as he had done on-line the day before in a Stars field about eight times larger than ours.

Phil battled back from life support, and the likely first out, all the way back to cashing, and finished third. Jim and Shelley played heads-up for about 30 minutes. Jim pounded her bring-ins with raises. She eventually “went with” a hand, as you often have to do in lowball, and paired low cards twice. The “Ricky Bobby” of the GPT now has two first-outs and one Championship, securing his seat in the Tournament of Champions, which increasingly looks like it will be held at his house!


So far the TOC looks like this: Hank, Baklava, Lee, and Jim. With Hank’s two titles there is one At Large bid available. Of the non-Champions, I lead in points with 38 ahead of Tim with 28, Candy at 19, and Sean at 18 (with just two tournaments).

Hank is well in the lead with 57 points to score his third Player of the Year trophy in four seasons.

"I am Jack's wasted life"

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