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!

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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.