"Not Today"

Winning first hand back from break - 600 chips
Standing on an 85 and getting raised - 2,000 chips
Talking shit to a World Champion - Priceless


*** THIRD DRAW ***
millencolin7: stands pat
FossilMan: discards 1 card
millencolin7: bets 300
FossilMan: raises 300 to 600
millencolin7 said, "hit out?"
millencolin7: calls 300
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FossilMan: shows [8c 5c 2d 6h 4s] (Lo: 8,6,5,4,2)
millencolin7: shows [5d 2h 4d 3d 8h] (Lo: 8,5,4,3,2)
millencolin7 collected 3450 from pot
millencolin7 said, "not today"

Well, He's Less of a Douche Than Jamie Gold

And ironically, he cleared more money even though top prize was down $3.5 mm this year...

I Can Dodge Bullets, Baby - But Not Posts

http://www.rawvegas.tv/watch.php?vID=555ae79aad35a05fa9f17ab0d0ca91

My First WSOP (Part 1 of 2)

The overall summary is 0 for 2 – two events, no cashes. I’m already making plans for next year.

After a week in London I came back to Gainesville for three days before leaving again for Vegas for the WSOP and Cancun the week after. My plan when I went was to play Event 46 Stud/8 with a small Stud/8 at Binion’s the day before ($100 buy-in – since I had actually never played a live Stud/8 tourney outside of the GPT), and the Venetian Deep Stack on Friday. I wound up adding a second WSOP event.


So, I fly 3,000 miles and guess who is at my starting table for Stud/8 – the only other GPT player in the whole thing, Jim. Showing up and seeing him there was a surreal event, but also soothing as you can well imagine. I was in the seven seat and Jim was in the two seat and I had visions of us getting into a four-way hand and chopping the pot between us, taking two donkeys to the river. Sadly, that never happened. I had pondered pitching a small last-longer bet for fun, and by the dinner break I was glad I hadn’t. I finished level 1 with 1,700 chips (down from 2k – all tourneys this year started with chips 2x the buy-in), but was down to 800 by the end of level 2 – about half Jim’s stack.

I met my wife and a friend at Voodoo for a quick bite (and by "quick bite" I mean…). I had one of the huge Witchdoctor drinks because I figured at that point I didn’t need to exactly stay sharp – I’d double up or be out pretty soon when I got back, and probably the latter. The guy in the three seat had been a veritable Jamie Fucking Gold – hit in the face with the deck. After seeing him hit two well-hidden boats and get paid off I made the mistake of getting into a hand with him late in level 2. I had started with a low that developed into a hidden two pair in a three way pot. JFG and another player both looked low so I went to the river, only to find JFG with another hidden boat, and the third player with a busted low. Never get in the way of a player on a rush – no matter how many times I remind myself of this I still do it.

Jamie/Ramer/Matusow

I got back a little before the end of the dinner break and chatted with Jim for a few and smoked a quick cigarillo before they let us back in. We were in an annex in the back of the convention center, not even in the Amazon room – fucking Hold’em. When I came back in Negreanu was at his table two tables away from us reading. I had seen him bothered countless times during the first two hours and of course never approached him because I am not “that guy.” But with a few minutes left before play resumed I politely asked him for an autograph and he said “get fucked, man, I’m working here.” No, not really – he was as gracious as you would imagine. He signed his Razor card, I thanked him trying not to sound like a star-struck Japanese teenage girl, and he said “respect.” I’m so glad he wasn’t a dick because it would have ruined my whole trip.

So goal one was making it to the dinner break which I had done. The next goals were 2) outlast Jim (no offense, Jim), 3) outlast Negreanu, 4) make it to day two, and finally 5) cash. This no doubt appears modest to some. Had I been Hank my list of goals would have looked like this: 1) Win bracelet, 2) tell everyone at the final table if they had named the game after me it would have been called “Stud/9,” 3) get a picture of my balls on the railing of a WSOP table. But, this was my first WSOP and I had my own ideas. (Incidentally, Dan’s goals would have looked like this: 1) get a picture of my balls on the railing of a WSOP table, 2) get a picture with Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth…with my balls out).

My first hand back I was dealt rolled-up fours – who’s Jamie Fucking Gold now, ya luckbag? The case 4 was folded right after the bring-in and I feared no one in the hand actually saw it so they wouldn’t factor that in later. I limped – had the 4 been behind me I certainly would have raised because the case 4 would have been noticed for sure then, but I was looking to disguise my hand somewhat, and looking to three-bet it if someone raised – especially Golden Boy (as a further irony, the guy actually resembled Greg Raymer, more in girth than anything else, and in fact when he won his first hand 20 minutes or so into the tourney he raised his arms in the “yes” fashion of Raymer when he won the main event in 2005. In addition, he flashed his belly, ala Mike Matusow – who does this guy NOT remind me of?).

Fortunately I caught low on fourth and fifth and bricked off sixth, further disguising my hand. I never improved from third street, but it was enough to win the high half. On the very next hand I started with A32 and was the bring-in, and once again limped. I made my low on fifth and never caught an ace. I think my high was like a pair of fours and I chopped with the low hand, and was back at 2,100 chips five minutes into level three.

The guy in the four seat was the most insufferable windbag with whom I’ve ever had the displeasure to play poker. Our first dealer was a poor schmuck who had never dealt stud and had been dealing all hold’em – he literally stopped dealing the first hand after two cards and did that a couple more times before getting into the groove. How I pitied that poor man, sitting directly across from the Rules Nazi. Had the guy in the four seat yelled “No Soup for you!” at the dealer I would have been Jack’s complete lack of surprise.

Rules Nazi/Mall Cop

And when I say Rules Nazi I don’t mean substantive things – I mean things like berating the dealer for cutting the cards before pulling the antes in. This is done in ante games to prevent cheating of course and to ensure the pot is right before the deal starts. Last year, with 1k in starting chips, the button anted 5 and no one else anted. This year with twice the chips everyone anted, so that means what? It means the potential cheating was for five fucking dollars – thanks Nazi, for “protecting” the game.

The worst part was the Nazi stopped the game to get the floor over to complain that we were supposed to have more than 10 five-dollar chips to start so it wouldn’t slow down the game with players passing chips and the dealer having to chop 25s for antes. See the irony here? We stopped play so we could talk about ways to speed up the game. There were roughly 78 tables, and everyone had the same stack of chips. This was of course an elaborate power trip and an opportunity for him to announce to everyone that he had been at the rules committee meeting the night before and so-and-so personally told him we would have $100 in fives to start.

And in case anyone missed it, he mentioned it about a half dozen more times. Now, if you’ve ever played stud you know that the nature of the game is the fives (or whatever low ante chips) go from one end of the table to the other – that’s just stud, and of course I gently mentioned this, to no betterment of the situation. Then he chastised the dealer some more for telling him initially that the floor wasn’t going to do anything about it – even though the dealer had called the floor as requested the first time. Besides being a fatuous prick he was just a sad case. I’m convinced that he didn’t pay enough attention to the actual players that he could identify things like which players always raise with an ace in the door, or how often some players complete with a low door card, or who the players are who call third street bets but fold on fourth when they brick, or who will re-raise when they have two low cards up on fourth in a multi-way pot. But, he could describe every dealer we had and what mistakes they make and don’t make.

He actually made the ludicrous statement at one point that he doesn’t play as many tournaments anymore because “of all the bad rulings.” Hey fuckstick, pay attention to the game the way you do the dealers, and spend less time announcing how important you are, and you might have some modicum of success. At that point I couldn’t take it and I told a story loudly to the guy next to me about a friend who is a huge Duke basketball fan, but anytime a crucial call costs them the game he always says “we shouldn’t have allowed the game to get close enough where a call will matter, so I never blame the refs.” It had no effect. The only comeuppance for our Mall Cop was one dealer who announced on the first heads-up hand he dealt that he pulls all the bets into the pot (it’s customary in a split-pot game to leave the bets in front of each player when it’s heads-up since it speeds up the game) because he had lost a job once over someone pulling back a bet, and if anyone didn’t like it that was too bad. YES – I said that’s right Bunkie, take control of the game! The Nazi said not a word.

Jim went out late in level 4. I’m sorry to say I don’t remember the hand but I think he was three-way with a high and lost, probably to JFG. Goal 2 accomplished. As I nursed my short stack during level 5 at 100-200 I kept looking over at Negreanu’s table. I could see he had about 600 and I had about five big bets. I had a hand where I started with wired queens and raised and a new player in the one seat, who had been playing very fast (but had a nice stack) ever since he got to our table re-raised. Another player called and I called. He caught an Ace on fourth and I immediately went away. The winning high hand in that pot was a pair of 8s – doh! I got two queens again a couple of hands later and wound up chopping with the high.

With about four big bets and Negreanu at 400 or 500 (he had no purples left either) I was the bring-in with a deuce up and wired kings, and I brought it in for a raise. My thinking was I really wanted to get the chips in as early as possible and take seven cards. In effect, I was taking the Sklanskyesque approach of pricing myself into the pot. When I thought about it later the other alternative seemed better – limp, hope that it was raised so I could three-bet and isolate. If it wasn’t raised, and the boards came scary I could get away from two little kings. I think folding queens to eights earlier probably had a lot to do with deciding to play it fast. Plus, we had only about 15 minutes left in the level and with the ante at 25 and holding four big bets, which would soon be two big bets, I couldn’t wait forever.

The hand went three way and both boards fortunately for me looked low. In fact, the six seat hit a nine on sixth which looked like a great development for me. It was not. The six seat was a nice old guy – Friday (the next day) was his birthday, and the day his wife was retiring as president of a community college in North Carolina. So, he had enough things going for him, did he really need to hit against me? On sixth I caught my fourth spade and wound up hitting runner-runner for a flush. I was almost proud on the end when I announced “King-high flush” only to hear Six announce “full house.” He had started with a pair of nines and board that looked like a pair of sevens and a busted low draw actually was nines-full. And Negreanu was still in.

Six/Bearded Mike Buster

I took my leave and wished everyone luck except for the Nazi, and wondered over to Negreanu’s table. He was all-in and it looked like he would outlast me by a couple of minutes. The guy next to him obviously had been giving him shit and Negreanu was in his patented chatter mode. He had started with two queens and decided to get it in early (sound familiar). The kid giving him the business revealed his trip-sevens as Negreanu’s last card came down. Everyone knew that a queen had already been folded so he squeezed it out “it’s paint….it’s red….it’s a QUEEN! Yeah, uh, how ya like me now!” I’m not making that part up. He yelled over to someone at another table “hey (something) I just hit a one-outer!” And then he broke into some Lil John – “Yaaaya, Whhhhat. Yaaaya, Whhhhhat.” It was fucking priceless.

And with that I went up to the Voodoo Lounge where our friend had gotten a VIP table and had two bottles of champagne and a huge bottle of Grey Goose (my only concession to Le French, other than Phil). She had been drinking since about 11 am non-stop and was a real trouper to stick around, especially since when I left dinner I said “see you in about 20 minutes.” She left shortly after and for the life of me I don’t know why I didn’t think to call Jason who’s number I had. But, he was probably resting for Event 47 since it was a noon start.

In addition to Jim and Jason I saw Fish and Andrew Dykeman, neither of whom are GPT players but both people I know from cash games in Gainesville. When I saw Andrew he looked to be in a 5/10 NL game with a couple thou in front of him. They ran cash games in the Amazon room as low as 1/2. That’s right – 1/2 cash game players for hold’em got tables in the Amazon room while the Stud/8 players got the tent outside. Fucking hold’em.

I spent so much energy on the Nazi I’m too tired to detail how I wound up in another event but I’ll add that later. The Rio was awesome – a lot of room for the price, although after staying in a shoebox in London for a week any normal room looks like a suite. They gave me $200 off the room with my buy-in card so it was like the tournament cost me $800. Next year I’m going to try to put together a “poker compound” during the WSOP. For any GPT players interested I’m going to get a condo/house, probably for a couple of weeks, and the per-person price will be very reasonable. Just something to keep in mind.

Peace!

GPT at WSOP - Event 22

Congratulations to Jason who not only cashed, but only missed the final table by a few spots!

Heads-Up is Coming in July...

$25 buy-in, double elimination.

You Must Pre-Register for this Tournament. There wil be no registrations allowed the day of.

More details will follow.

Web Site Updated

My 6th Royal Flush - Unreal...

Of course it was in holdem although I never play holdem I am millencolin7 PokerStars Game #9609879452: Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2007/04/25 - 23:10:16 (ET)
Table 'Titan II' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: Shylove ($49.25 in chips)
Seat 2: deadriver77 ($28.50 in chips)
Seat 3: A-10Warthog2 ($49.50 in chips)
Seat 4: i got the 6 ($85.20 in chips)
Seat 5: AlZeiMeR ($28.45 in chips)
Seat 6: MrNyNe ($48.75 in chips)
Seat 7: ironglove ($83.10 in chips)
Seat 8: bubba2244 ($24.45 in chips)
Seat 9: millencolin7 ($48.75 in chips)
A-10Warthog2: posts small blind $0.25
i got the 6: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to millencolin7 [Td Jd]
AlZeiMeR: folds
ironglove said, "thank you"
MrNyNe: folds
ironglove: folds
bubba2244: calls $0.50
millencolin7: calls $0.50
Shylove: folds
deadriver77: calls $0.50
A-10Warthog2: folds
i got the 6: checks
*** FLOP *** [Kd 3c 4d]
ironglove said, "GWB should be dealt with"
i got the 6: bets $1.50
bubba2244: calls $1.50
millencolin7: calls $1.50
deadriver77: folds
*** TURN *** [Kd 3c 4d] [Qd]
i got the 6: bets $3.50
ironglove said, "he represents "oilocracy""
bubba2244: calls $3.50
millencolin7: raises $7 to $10.50
i got the 6: calls $7
bubba2244: folds
*** RIVER *** [Kd 3c 4d Qd] [Ad]
i got the 6: checks
ironglove is sitting out
millencolin7: bets $7
i got the 6: calls $7
*** SHOW DOWN ***
millencolin7: shows [Td Jd] (a Royal Flush)
i got the 6: mucks hand
millencolin7 collected $43.10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $45.25 Rake $2.15
Board [Kd 3c 4d Qd Ad]
Seat 1: Shylove folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: deadriver77 (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: A-10Warthog2 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: i got the 6 (big blind) mucked [8d 3d]
Seat 5: AlZeiMeR folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: MrNyNe folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: ironglove folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: bubba2244 folded on the Turn
Seat 9: millencolin7 showed [Td Jd] and won ($43.10) with a Royal Flush

Chinese Restaurant near Mike's house

Is This Still America?!

If a law student can't get naked and spanked, what is this country coming to?

What Do I Know about Investing?

Best Panhandler Ever

So what's it like knowing someone as famous as I am?

Bak Wins GPT’s Last O/8 Title – Ever

We had a record low field of nine and played a 60 minute level three, in part to time the dinner break to the NCAA selection show (Go Gators!). We’ve been looking for things to cut from next fall’s shorter season, and Omaha/8 got the vote-with-the-feet (or lack thereof) nod. Even the people who showed up cursed it, with only Bak holding his tongue due to an enormous early chip lead.

The web site is updated. Hank went from the short-stack and a likely bubble to second place, with a small assist from me deciding to take on the chip stack’s monster draw holding a set and no possible low when there were four left.

It was Bak’s second title to go along with a runner-up and he’s now in fifth place ahead of Sean, Phil, and Alex. JD is on the bubble with Shelley (SHELLEY!?) just behind him. I’m a notch ahead of Bak, with Candy still holding on for third. Hank is 14 points behind Tim, who remained in first place.

Sean Takes a Swan Song, and First Place

This week we welcomed a long overdo new player, Lyon. Lyon tried to set the rebuy record in a game he has never played before, but he came up way short of Keith’s record. But, in keeping with Keith’s tradition, he was first out as if he had some place to be (although unlike Keith, he probably did).

We had 12 for A-to-M which is a nice showing. After Lyon did the obligatory rebuy-champ-first-out-move Bak was next, and he was not happy. He doesn’t like the ace-to-five version of lowball. Next out was Dan, who I busted, and it was so nice. He brough a rookie who took about five minutes to learn the game and then started killing me, so he deserved it (we love you Dan!). Can was out next – she’s been coasting after such a strong start to give the rest of us a chance. Thanks Candy – I for one am thankful. Hank would never be such a good sport!

Once we got to the final table the rookie crippled me when I had a 6 and raised him, and he moved it for a little more. Do you know how painful it is calling a 7-to-1 bet when you think it’s 5-to-1 you’re up against the nuts? Yeah, he had the “roughest possible 5” as Baklava would say. But, ironically, I bounced him out next. I think he was playing fast because Dan was tired of waiting for him and it was push his chips or go home. Still, he was our second-best A-5 rookie after Kelvin who won the first A-5 he ever played. I just dumped 10 in a 1/2 game on-line so I hope you appreciate this write-up.

Tim went out on the bubble. I don’t remember exactly how but I know it was draw-out against a pat hand because that is the same way Candy went out, and I remember that the First Couple of the GPT went out the same way.

Shelley got short-stacked and finally ran out of luck, and I followed her out when Phil caught a Q and I paired my 4 with A234 (is that a good draw in this game? I’m such a donk). Sean started with a big chip lead, and Phil played his heart out and took the lead. With the lead, he called Sean’s all-in holding a nut-draw, and caught a ten against Sean’s pat-8. The very next hand he made a frustration all-in with Sean holding a one-card draw to a 6. It didn’t work out, and Sean took down his first title of Spring 2007.

Tim’s bubble was enough to keep him in the lead by 17 points over Hank, who leads Candy by four points. Enough being sporting Candy – time to bear down! I, miraculously, am in fourth with zero titles and zero second place finishes. We really need to change the rules next year so donks like me don’t rank so highly. Sean vaults to fifth just ahead of Bak. Alex and Phil are tied for the last spot.

Sean and I racked up some kills and I’m actually tied with Alex for the lead. Wonder of wonders. JD and Sean are tied for second, with The First Couple on everyone’s heals.





P.S. Lee, thank you for the Red Stripe. There are some left.

To Tim From Tyler:

Angry Hank Thwarts Three-pete

The GPT drew a record-low nine for Stud/8. Good job guys! Candy was there, but I’m not allowed to talk about it. With all nine players at one table the tournament lost no one until the 150/300 level. The first person out (that I can talk about) was newbie Joey followed by Alex, both of whom were playing Stud/8 for the first time. Still, rook-on-rook violence resulted in Alex adding another kill to overtake JD for the lead. Alex’s departure doubled Hank’s kill total for the year.

Bearded Mike was crippled by Shelley (“Shelley!?”) in two hands – once when rolled-up trips fell to a flush on fifth street, and once after he hit the case king for KKQQ against her QQJJ – and she caught the case jack. He went out sixth and doesn’t like Stud/8 anymore.

Hank decided to get all of his kills in one tournament and knocked out Sean, Shelley, Tim, and Baklava successively to take his second title of the year.

I know readers of this space are disappointed to not see a picture of Hank making some kind of drunken, pseudo-sexual obscene pose, but alas, there are no pictures.

Tim’s third place finish helped him maintain the season lead with 97 points versus Hank’s 85. Candy is now third at 77, and Bearded Mike and Baklava are at 63 and 62 respectively. Alex, JD (with only four tourneys), and Sean round out the Top 8. Lee’s absence dropped him just out of the top.

The next tournament is Sunday at Bearded Mike’s house at 2pm – Ace-to-Five.

One Ball, Two Titles

KCL had 13 players, a bump up from the last two events. Despite placing second in deuce-to-seven triple draw, JD was first out in the single-draw variety. That also meant he couldn’t add to his season-leading kill total. Candy made her second early exit in a row, costing her the season lead in points. Of course, it’s possible that after Tim stormed out of five-card draw she just decided that home was too unbearable to keep showing up her husband. Get off the shnod Candy!


After Alex lost three close hands in a row, he was next out. Bearded Mike got Phil all-in with a slight chip margin and a 3567 vs. his 2346. After turning over a queen he was tossing the chips to Phil when Frenchie revealed his eight-outer – a king, and took his leave. After Sean’s rough-ten fell to a T8, the final table was set with seven.


Shelley looked to be in jeopardy but pulled a number-five against a rough-8 to double up. Still, she fell before Hank, who went out to Bearded Mike’s 9 and set up the bubble. Bak pulled a 97 but was bounced when he found himself up against Tim’s 87. He was not happy. After some back-and-forth Bearded Mike eventually got his third kill of the night by taking out Jim.

And then he blew a 35k chip lead with 72k in play. After being whittled down to 10k we went AI UTG with 234xx and ran into a luckbag’s pat 9. Tim and Dave battled until with a 1k chip lead Tim put Dave’s pat-8 all-in, and drew three cards to the second-nuts. Just kidding, I have no idea how it ended, but we know this: Tim has twice as many titles as he has balls, and the season point lead with 88 points. Congratulations Tim!

For all the two-balled (and no-balled) players without two titles, the next event is Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Hank’s house.

Blicka blicka.

Timmy - Stud for a Day

Jim had the chance to an unprecedented three-peat in Stud as a two-time reigning Champion, but he went out on the bubble and gave me a rare kill. Season-leader Candy made a rare early exit and was first out. Hank had a rare miss of the cash table, and joined Sean on the X-Box.

I made it to my first cash by outlasting a huge field of seven others. Baklava and I got all my chips in with me holding JQK of hearts, and the unluckiest stud player ever caught a third 10 on fifth to put me drawing to two outs or runner-runner.

Baklava was out next leaving Phil head-up with Tim. Tim was coming off a win in the on-like GPL after taking down Jason’s A6 flopped two-pair with a 74 that spiked trips on the river. Seriously. You can’t fade that, and he won.

After coming into the game with only one kill, I added three in a limit event – of course. Tim pulled a Hank, claiming only the last kill of the night. Candy’s early exit means JD maintains the lead in kills on the year.

The tournament page is updated (in the original post the TP software's site was down and not taking updates). Candy maintains the lead but it narrowed quite a bit, and she leads Tim by only six points. Hank is now third with 62. The next two spots needed no updating because they are held by people with only three events each: JD at 55 and Alex at 52. Lee and I are tied at 44 and Bak has 41. Sean is just outside of the Top 8 at 40, but his attendance at future events is in doubt anyway...

There’s something that feels inevitable about Hank and Five-Card Draw. He plays it more on-line than anyone else in the GPT, and it’s a game that places a premium on reading hands and situations. Starting with 11, we got down to the “final table” at seven. Phil went out relatively quickly, and then the game ground for over an hour before losing another player. After that Tim bubbled to set the four-way stage of Cash Money Playas.

Candy eliminated the next two players (and scored three of the last four kills missing only Tim) building a huge chip stack, and Hank and Candy settled in for a long head-up battle. The drama was too much to Tim to take, and he didn’t wait around for the end this time. Candy began head-up with a chip lead, but Hank whittled it down over time. When they were nearly even in chips they worked out a chop for the cash, and continued playing for points. Hank finally won, scoring his only kill of the day and his first of the year.

Hank now has cashed is every event except Hold’em, and Candy has cashed in two events including the Hold’em win. For the season Candy maintains a Hank-esque lead over the field with 72 points, with Hank and JD neck-and-neck at 56 and 55 points respectively. There currently are two players in the Top Eight who only have two events: Lee and Sean.

JD remains the leader for the Kill Trophy despite missing the year’s biggest even, Hold’em. JD’s 10 kills have Alex notched, whose nine kills also comes from only three events. Candy’s eight kills ranks third.

The new TOC-rake method of 8% of all buyins/rebuys/add-ons has been quite a success. The pot currently is $117 after only four events. By way of comparison, last year’s total pot was $185. Even ignoring Hold’em, that’s a pace that will translate into a bigger prize than Season 1, when we played 21 events (there are 15 this season).