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Sunday, September 03, 2006
Friday, September 01, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
GPT Fall 2006 Kicks Off This Sunday - 2pm
Hold'em this Sunday, $10 buy-in with $5 re-buys for the first three levels at 1000 or less, and one $5 add-on (30 minute levels). Same structure for the TOC and points as last season.
A few other things:
1) If you haven't played with us the rumors are true: free beer at my house (if you are of age).
2) I am on driveway 3.0 - my car can't be on it so neither can yours this week. We cannot repeat the HU hold'em fiasco when had the whole cul-de sac filled with cars because my next door neighbor is former Special Forces, and the next time Hank left my house late at night (no comments from the peanut gallery) my neighbor almost shot him (if you don't believe me just ask him. Hank, not the neighbor, who may shoot you).
If you can carpool awesome (you're staying for the cash game when you bust anyway, douche). If not, please park at the END of my street (12th lane). There is a nice grassy spot at the end of the street with nothing but signs (all of which hopefully survive this season).
3) As Hank's follow-up email indicated, we need to confirm emails. If you are new, or returning and haven't done it yet, send an email to gainesvillepokertour@yahoo.com with your name, nickname, and cell # (cell # optional). In the future we won't be using blast e-mails but rather our 2006 list. If you've already done this no need to repeat it (in fact, please don't) - Hank insisted on the blast this time. In the future your effort will be rewarded.
4) I'm not sure where "3" hold'em events came from rather than 2 but we'll see. The Player's Committee continues to shape the schedule. But it will be easier to make more tourneys if you didn't like weekday events.
5) Phil is the only Frenchman I ever liked, and he drinks bourbon, so we need a different DD.
Blicka blicka.
A few other things:
1) If you haven't played with us the rumors are true: free beer at my house (if you are of age).
2) I am on driveway 3.0 - my car can't be on it so neither can yours this week. We cannot repeat the HU hold'em fiasco when had the whole cul-de sac filled with cars because my next door neighbor is former Special Forces, and the next time Hank left my house late at night (no comments from the peanut gallery) my neighbor almost shot him (if you don't believe me just ask him. Hank, not the neighbor, who may shoot you).
If you can carpool awesome (you're staying for the cash game when you bust anyway, douche). If not, please park at the END of my street (12th lane). There is a nice grassy spot at the end of the street with nothing but signs (all of which hopefully survive this season).
3) As Hank's follow-up email indicated, we need to confirm emails. If you are new, or returning and haven't done it yet, send an email to gainesvillepokertour@yahoo.com with your name, nickname, and cell # (cell # optional). In the future we won't be using blast e-mails but rather our 2006 list. If you've already done this no need to repeat it (in fact, please don't) - Hank insisted on the blast this time. In the future your effort will be rewarded.
4) I'm not sure where "3" hold'em events came from rather than 2 but we'll see. The Player's Committee continues to shape the schedule. But it will be easier to make more tourneys if you didn't like weekday events.
5) Phil is the only Frenchman I ever liked, and he drinks bourbon, so we need a different DD.
Blicka blicka.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Another Gator - Tunica
This guy took a bad beat from Hoyt at the TOC but made it to the final table at the Tunica Circuit event (and finished 6th). Then he cashed in three WSOP events including 15th in Omaha/8.
Brandon Adams- two degrees from UF, author of a poker novel, and graduate student in finance.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Monday, August 07, 2006
WSOP Watch (3)
Brent finished 168th and collected $47k pure profit. And it should be some nice publicity. Better even than All-In Condoms...
Saturday, August 05, 2006
WSOP Watch (2)
Another G-ville player has gone deep. He's not in our group (too re-otch, be-otch) but is from Nich's game (who cashed at 816th) and Doug's game. He co-wrote a movie called All In and as part of that got a free roll in the tourney. He called over to Doug's last night after making the money.
The movie, FWIW, it still looking for a distributor. Odds are when we finally get to see it it will be much better than Michael Madsen's last poker project because it was actually written by someone who knows the game. "Tilt" - I've never seen a show other than that one that peaked with the title.
BMPE - Best Movie Promotion Ever. Wonder if this was Brent's idea.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
PPT Round 1
If you didn’t watch it yet then don’t read. Some issues:
The clock sucks and has no place in real tournament poker. These are professionals for fuck’s sake.
Hit-out Harrington – who’d a thunk it?
The commentators suck. I never thought I’d miss Vince Van Patten. I love Mark Seif in tournaments when he’s running over tables, but he was horrendous. I think they didn’t get enough tape and kept looking comments like “every professional wants to be the first to win a PPT tournament.” Really, Mark? Then why the fuck do you have a mic in your hand, genius? One hand a few weeks ago they just called comically wrong. I don’t remember the specifics but basically the underdog flopped a monster draw and they started talking about how happy the (pre-flop) favorite was with his hand. You could look at the percentages or the players’ faces and know exactly the opposite was true. Yeesh, Vince we hardly knew ye.
Two of the final three players were “famous” faces from the very first season of the WPT. They’re also people you haven’t seen much of since – I’ve thought of both of them as basically “semi-pros.” I was surprised, but overall the final table was a pretty good line-up (what a shocker given the field).
What the fuck is it with all-in fests late? I’ve seen this in the WSOP Circuits they’re running on ESPN – like Gavin Smith pushing a small pair like they’re aces (against kings no less). Why would a professional with an advantage strive so hard to get all their chips in pre-flop? Tonight (a spoiler) heads-up with blinds of 15,000/30,000 and 3,000 antes, Bigler limped in with A8o (why he didn’t raise is another question) and Juanda pushed in for almost 700,000 with a pair of 3s. Seriously? With 15 seconds left on the clock Bigler called. Juanda had just ass-hatted Bigler the hand before when Bigler didn’t follow up a turn raise with a river bet and Juanda nicked his 5s with 7s. That hand gave him a slight chip lead – around 130,000. Why push with 3s there?
Interestingly the flop came with three spades and both players had one, so Bigler went to about a 53% favorite. Luckily he didn’t hit, although Juanda would have deserved it for such a douche play.
The clock sucks and has no place in real tournament poker. These are professionals for fuck’s sake.
Hit-out Harrington – who’d a thunk it?
The commentators suck. I never thought I’d miss Vince Van Patten. I love Mark Seif in tournaments when he’s running over tables, but he was horrendous. I think they didn’t get enough tape and kept looking comments like “every professional wants to be the first to win a PPT tournament.” Really, Mark? Then why the fuck do you have a mic in your hand, genius? One hand a few weeks ago they just called comically wrong. I don’t remember the specifics but basically the underdog flopped a monster draw and they started talking about how happy the (pre-flop) favorite was with his hand. You could look at the percentages or the players’ faces and know exactly the opposite was true. Yeesh, Vince we hardly knew ye.
Two of the final three players were “famous” faces from the very first season of the WPT. They’re also people you haven’t seen much of since – I’ve thought of both of them as basically “semi-pros.” I was surprised, but overall the final table was a pretty good line-up (what a shocker given the field).
What the fuck is it with all-in fests late? I’ve seen this in the WSOP Circuits they’re running on ESPN – like Gavin Smith pushing a small pair like they’re aces (against kings no less). Why would a professional with an advantage strive so hard to get all their chips in pre-flop? Tonight (a spoiler) heads-up with blinds of 15,000/30,000 and 3,000 antes, Bigler limped in with A8o (why he didn’t raise is another question) and Juanda pushed in for almost 700,000 with a pair of 3s. Seriously? With 15 seconds left on the clock Bigler called. Juanda had just ass-hatted Bigler the hand before when Bigler didn’t follow up a turn raise with a river bet and Juanda nicked his 5s with 7s. That hand gave him a slight chip lead – around 130,000. Why push with 3s there?
Interestingly the flop came with three spades and both players had one, so Bigler went to about a 53% favorite. Luckily he didn’t hit, although Juanda would have deserved it for such a douche play.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Scenes from a Poker Table
After Hachem said something to Kido Pham (the scariest-looking Vietnamese dude ever) about looking at him - Kido’s response:
“You know what I’m thinking? That you’re another fluke like Chris Moneymaker.”
Awesome.
Monday, July 31, 2006
I'm in the Penthouse, Bitch
So I swung through Vegas after a business trip in LA. I wasn’t there long but of course I got some poker in. And of course my month-long losing streak did not end. The first 1/2 table I sat at included two potential world champions. Which is to say two Internet chumps. Obviously most of the real prospects weren’t playing 1/2 NL at the Mirage on Thursday night.
I played at four different tables over a roughly 24-hour period, and they all had a similar pattern – reasonable raises pre-flop, and over-betting post-flop. It’s pretty easy to design a game plan for that type of table, but it takes some hands to set a decent trap. After some very patient play I had an interesting hand come up. This is not a bad beat story, by the way, although I will offer one of those.
The UTG player was an old guy who had re-bought twice. I tried really hard this trip not to give old guys and women more credit than I should, which is a regular leak for me in Vegas. I had seen him raise with overcards and make continuation bets. He raised to 12 from UTG, which was above normal for the table. I looked down at
. My first thought was to make a stiff raise and isolate him – he only had about 55 or 60 left. But, the player in front of me flat called, and I did just have 8s.
I called as did the button and the big blind. The flop was the kind I had been waiting for:
.
The initial raiser (the old guy) led for all his chips - $55. The next player folded and, with two diamonds out, I of course moved in for $150 total. The next player folded and the big blind insta-called. It was music to my ears. I’m expecting to see aces or kings, or maybe even AK (because of his earlier continuation bets and the fact he was short stacked and moved in for more than the pot on the flop) from the old guy and two sevens from the big blind. As you may have guessed, that’s not at all what I saw.
The old guy turns over
and the big blind showed
for the best draw in poker – the open-ended straight flush draw.
Mathematically I was still a slight favorite, but having another set in the hand took some of my boat outs away, and I would have traded hands with the big blind if he had let me.
The
came on the turn and the board didn’t pair on the river. Given my luck lately it sucked to be sure, but it was a really fun hand to be in, especially after hours of monotony. Obviously if I had raised I would have moved the big blind off his little suited connector, but I would have played a small pot with a hand that flopped a set. Overall I think I played it in the ideal fashion. Except for the losing part.
So, one bad beat story. I did a $100 + 15 SNG at the Mirage, the second time I’ve done one (I bubbled last time). They pay two spots but usually end in a chop because you get 1500 in chips with 15-minute levels and starting blinds of 25/50 that go straight to 50/100 in level two. In the first eight hands I had queens twice and deuces twice. Nothing exciting on the latter two. The first time I had queens I raised, got one caller, and bet the flop and he folded. The next time (we were already at level two) the big stack (who had busted someone on the first hand – of course) raised to 300 UTG, and I made it 800. He asked if that was all-in, and I said no I had 750 left, “but whatever you do, don’t flat call – put me in or fold.” So, of course he flat called.
The flop came 7TT rainbow. I had my chips in hand and he checked. I bet it and said “please don’t have ace-ten, please don’t have ace-ten.” I well knew this is the kind of schmuck who would raise UTG with AT and then call a re-raise out of position, but what am I going to do, not play my queens? I was supposed to be AI pre-flop anyway, this guy just didn’t know any better. He calls and as I’m standing up from the table he shows AQ. Ace-queen? Seriously? I don’t believe in table talk with strangers so I didn’t say anything, but of course what I was thinking was “well now I know why you flat called – I mean, you wanted to make sure you hit something!."
I’m happy to report that even though I only left myself with 750, he still did not have the proper odds to call – he was getting 3.33-to-1 as about a 6-to-1 dog. I’m sad to report that an ace came on the turn. But then, this is a bad beat story, so you know that was coming. If I had jacks the price would actually be right to call – but that’s all the more reason to play AQ all-in there if you plan to play post-flop. What a douche. I finished 9th and went back to watch the baseball games, where we had more money down anyway.
The trip wasn’t all bad. While I like to think it’s because I always stay at the Mirage, what actually happened was that I got an “availability upgrade.” My buddy and I got a two-bedroom suite the size of Hank’s condo for $129. Can’t beat that. I’m in the penthouse, bitch...
I played at four different tables over a roughly 24-hour period, and they all had a similar pattern – reasonable raises pre-flop, and over-betting post-flop. It’s pretty easy to design a game plan for that type of table, but it takes some hands to set a decent trap. After some very patient play I had an interesting hand come up. This is not a bad beat story, by the way, although I will offer one of those.
The UTG player was an old guy who had re-bought twice. I tried really hard this trip not to give old guys and women more credit than I should, which is a regular leak for me in Vegas. I had seen him raise with overcards and make continuation bets. He raised to 12 from UTG, which was above normal for the table. I looked down at
. My first thought was to make a stiff raise and isolate him – he only had about 55 or 60 left. But, the player in front of me flat called, and I did just have 8s.I called as did the button and the big blind. The flop was the kind I had been waiting for:
. The initial raiser (the old guy) led for all his chips - $55. The next player folded and, with two diamonds out, I of course moved in for $150 total. The next player folded and the big blind insta-called. It was music to my ears. I’m expecting to see aces or kings, or maybe even AK (because of his earlier continuation bets and the fact he was short stacked and moved in for more than the pot on the flop) from the old guy and two sevens from the big blind. As you may have guessed, that’s not at all what I saw.
The old guy turns over
and the big blind showed for the best draw in poker – the open-ended straight flush draw.Mathematically I was still a slight favorite, but having another set in the hand took some of my boat outs away, and I would have traded hands with the big blind if he had let me.
The
came on the turn and the board didn’t pair on the river. Given my luck lately it sucked to be sure, but it was a really fun hand to be in, especially after hours of monotony. Obviously if I had raised I would have moved the big blind off his little suited connector, but I would have played a small pot with a hand that flopped a set. Overall I think I played it in the ideal fashion. Except for the losing part. So, one bad beat story. I did a $100 + 15 SNG at the Mirage, the second time I’ve done one (I bubbled last time). They pay two spots but usually end in a chop because you get 1500 in chips with 15-minute levels and starting blinds of 25/50 that go straight to 50/100 in level two. In the first eight hands I had queens twice and deuces twice. Nothing exciting on the latter two. The first time I had queens I raised, got one caller, and bet the flop and he folded. The next time (we were already at level two) the big stack (who had busted someone on the first hand – of course) raised to 300 UTG, and I made it 800. He asked if that was all-in, and I said no I had 750 left, “but whatever you do, don’t flat call – put me in or fold.” So, of course he flat called.
The flop came 7TT rainbow. I had my chips in hand and he checked. I bet it and said “please don’t have ace-ten, please don’t have ace-ten.” I well knew this is the kind of schmuck who would raise UTG with AT and then call a re-raise out of position, but what am I going to do, not play my queens? I was supposed to be AI pre-flop anyway, this guy just didn’t know any better. He calls and as I’m standing up from the table he shows AQ. Ace-queen? Seriously? I don’t believe in table talk with strangers so I didn’t say anything, but of course what I was thinking was “well now I know why you flat called – I mean, you wanted to make sure you hit something!."
I’m happy to report that even though I only left myself with 750, he still did not have the proper odds to call – he was getting 3.33-to-1 as about a 6-to-1 dog. I’m sad to report that an ace came on the turn. But then, this is a bad beat story, so you know that was coming. If I had jacks the price would actually be right to call – but that’s all the more reason to play AQ all-in there if you plan to play post-flop. What a douche. I finished 9th and went back to watch the baseball games, where we had more money down anyway.
The trip wasn’t all bad. While I like to think it’s because I always stay at the Mirage, what actually happened was that I got an “availability upgrade.” My buddy and I got a two-bedroom suite the size of Hank’s condo for $129. Can’t beat that. I’m in the penthouse, bitch...
WSOP Watch
This guy isn't an alum, but someone who used to run the NL game when Doug was still PL, and who taught me a few things about NLHE when I was transitioning from limit (a painful transition even after 20/40). Obviously still eary but he finished his heat 18th in chip count - and got his pic on Card Player.
#18
#18
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Sweet
This is the chick who agonized about calling Sheik's aces last year and only lost her hand when time ran out to act. A very fitting way for her to go out...
Sat Jul 29 15:18:00 PDT 2006 Tiffany Williamson Eliminated Mark Shoichet raises preflop to $600 and Tiffany Williamson makes the call. The flop comes 9-4-3 and Shoichet bets $600. Williamson raises to $3,000 and Shoichet goes all-in. Williamson then asks Shoichet, "Do you have trips?" After 5 minutes, Shoichet calls the clock on Williamson. She calls and turns over 10-10. Shoichet has K-K and the board bricks out for Williamson, who is eliminated early on in the championship event.
Sat Jul 29 15:18:00 PDT 2006 Tiffany Williamson Eliminated Mark Shoichet raises preflop to $600 and Tiffany Williamson makes the call. The flop comes 9-4-3 and Shoichet bets $600. Williamson raises to $3,000 and Shoichet goes all-in. Williamson then asks Shoichet, "Do you have trips?" After 5 minutes, Shoichet calls the clock on Williamson. She calls and turns over 10-10. Shoichet has K-K and the board bricks out for Williamson, who is eliminated early on in the championship event.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Awesome
When smack-talking is in order:
Mon Jul 24 13:06:00 PDT 2006
Early "F-Bomb" Penalty
The player in seat 1 at table 50 (Bryan Micon and Allen Kessler's table) begins complaining about the small stakes, saying that they have been playing at the level 1 stakes for "three hands [past the level 2 mark] already." Ross Mallor, sitting to Micon's left, says, "Relax sir, you're blood pressure is rising!" The man jumps up and says, "Don't you [F-bomb]ing talk to me!" Mallor is dumbfounded and says, "Well I won't talk to you for at least ten minutes," as a floorman, who was standing behind seat 1 the whole time, gives the man a penalty.
Mon Jul 24 13:06:00 PDT 2006
Early "F-Bomb" Penalty
The player in seat 1 at table 50 (Bryan Micon and Allen Kessler's table) begins complaining about the small stakes, saying that they have been playing at the level 1 stakes for "three hands [past the level 2 mark] already." Ross Mallor, sitting to Micon's left, says, "Relax sir, you're blood pressure is rising!" The man jumps up and says, "Don't you [F-bomb]ing talk to me!" Mallor is dumbfounded and says, "Well I won't talk to you for at least ten minutes," as a floorman, who was standing behind seat 1 the whole time, gives the man a penalty.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
GPT Alumni Watch - Jason Lee
Jason only made five events last year, preferring to stick mostly to hold'em. But when you can win a $160 double shoot-out on Stars - a tough format that requires winning two tables, and therefore two heads-up matches - that's not a bad thing. He's also been crushing Paradise (I won't say how badly in case the IRS is reading) so he might be up for some side game action as well. Good luck Jason!
More HU Pics
Results:
1st - "Big Bro" Doug
2nd - Hank Bye
3rd - "OJ" Kevin
4th - Drumm (two "m's")
Doug and Drumm (two "m's") in the day's headline match at the featured table.
Easily one of the most disturbing things you will ever see on this website, this is the real reason that Doug prevailed against Drumm (two "m's") was that the match carried a bonus prize – a cream horn.
GPT semi-regular played a marathon match against newbie Anthony which outlasted all other first-round matches and saw the blinds frozen at 200/400. Travis managed to get all-in good several times, but eventually lost. He won his next three matches before eventually being bounced by Pablo.
“I have Doug out-chipped!” But Kevin eventually lost.
Jim beat newbie Justin in his first round match, and faced off against Hank Bye in the second round. He dropped Hank Bye to the losers bracket and beat Scott in the next round before losing to Kevin in round 4. Hank Bye and Jim met again in the losers bracket in the day’s only rematch, which Hank Bye won. Hank Bye battled through the losers bracket after starting 0 and 1 to finish second.
Kevin was the first player to be guaranteed to be in the money, and had to wait quite a while for the next match (hence the time in the pool). After losing to Doug his first losers bracket match was for third place against Hank Bye.
Between people who busted out and those waiting for matches, the cash game was well populated. As you can see, Sean is thrilled to be in it...
1st - "Big Bro" Doug
2nd - Hank Bye
3rd - "OJ" Kevin
4th - Drumm (two "m's")
Doug and Drumm (two "m's") in the day's headline match at the featured table.
Easily one of the most disturbing things you will ever see on this website, this is the real reason that Doug prevailed against Drumm (two "m's") was that the match carried a bonus prize – a cream horn.
GPT semi-regular played a marathon match against newbie Anthony which outlasted all other first-round matches and saw the blinds frozen at 200/400. Travis managed to get all-in good several times, but eventually lost. He won his next three matches before eventually being bounced by Pablo.
“I have Doug out-chipped!” But Kevin eventually lost.
Jim beat newbie Justin in his first round match, and faced off against Hank Bye in the second round. He dropped Hank Bye to the losers bracket and beat Scott in the next round before losing to Kevin in round 4. Hank Bye and Jim met again in the losers bracket in the day’s only rematch, which Hank Bye won. Hank Bye battled through the losers bracket after starting 0 and 1 to finish second.
Kevin was the first player to be guaranteed to be in the money, and had to wait quite a while for the next match (hence the time in the pool). After losing to Doug his first losers bracket match was for third place against Hank Bye.
Between people who busted out and those waiting for matches, the cash game was well populated. As you can see, Sean is thrilled to be in it...
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Doug Delivers - Heads-up Champion
The Barrington Ridge crowd represented with three of the four cashes in the HU tourney. We just beat the previous record with 23 entrants.
Drumm (two "m's") ran through the field at the Featured Table before facing Doug. After dispatching Drumm (two "m's"), Doug beat Kevin (who had guaranteed himself a cash two hours earlier) in a marathon match. Doug faced off in the final against Hank, and if I had watched it instead of playing on-line, I could tell you what happened. I'm sure it was enthralling, but Doug ultimately won. Kevin took third with Drumm (two "m's") cashing fourth. Congrats to Hank for not letting non-tour players take all the cash...
Doug has now cashed in three of his four GPT appearances. If he keeps it up he might get his tour card for the Fall 2006 season. That’s not true of all the new faces Saturday...
_____________
Tons of pics - more to come.
The Hand that Never Was - This is from the match between Doug and Kevin. Doug raised from the small with pocket fours. Kevin folded reluctantly and they three the flop out. After Doug went wild, Kevin said "run it out," which Doug thought was pointless, but did anyway. Needles-in-hay, they would have been AI on the flop. As it happens, Kevin would have caught an eight on the river to cripple Doug.
The Boat that Everyone Saw - Except Hank
In Hank's match with Jim he was frustrated on a couple of occasions. In this hand, Hank held a pair of sevens with two kings on the board. Jim bet into him, and Hank went with his (wrong) read announcing “I don’t think you have a king.” He did. With all the chips in, Hank spiked a seven on the turn to take a big league, but as he was celebrating he flipped the last card face down and didn’t notice that it paired the board with deuces, giving Jim a kings-full. As you can see, plenty of people were pointing it out...
Heads-up is often a game of top pair, or the best draw. It’s very rare that a player can show his opponent the nuts, but Drumm (two "m's") found a way.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Friday, July 07, 2006
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Heads-up Hold'em -- July 15, 2006
Heads-up Hold'em/Pool Party at Bearded Mike's.
$20 buy-in, double elimination.
Side games, beer pong, and prop betting.
Bring your swim suits.
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