As Amy keeps reminding me, I have been lax in my blog postings of late so I will try to do better in 2009. I've spent the better part of two weeks at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi for the newly named Southern Poker Championship. They've had a WPT tournament event down here before in 2006, but then it was called the Gulf Coast Poker Championship.
As you probably know, the big January tournament in Mississippi used to be the World Poker Open in Tunica. A brief history of that event for the unenlightened (and if I get any of this wrong pleae write to correct me)-- it was started as the Jack Binion World Poker Open close to a decade ago back when the Binions still owned all of the Horseshoe casinos. Since it was discovered that the convention area of the Horseshoe was not over water (and thus illegal for gaming activities according to Mississippi law) the Horseshoe partnered with the Gold Strike to jointly hold the WPO. So you would see players in tournaments split between the Gold Strike ballroom and poker room and the Horseshoe poker room and gaming area in the back of the casino and shuffling back and forth as fields were condensed. At some point a few years ago the rights to the WPO were obtained by the Gold Strike and the entire tournament moved over there.
After Harrah's purchased the Grand Casino and started holding its World Series of Poker Circuit events there in January (in effect piggybacking on the popularity of the WPO), MGM-Mirage (the current owners of both the Gold Strike and the Beau Rivage) decided to move its signature WPT event to Biloxi and name it the Southern Poker Championship. The WPO is now relegated to second-tier status in October with a $5,000 main event, which is interesting because when it was begun the WPO was one of the must attend events in the country in a time when there weren't a lot of big tournaments.
The move seems to have drawn more poker's A-listers to the scene. The fact that the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure just took place in the Bahamas and Biloxi is an easy plane ride from there has probably helped the cause too. Some of the notables here include Barry Greenstein, Ted Forrest, Layne Flack, Vanessa Rousso, Chad Brown, Scott Clements, Robert Williamson, Clonie Gowen, Hoyt Corkins, Tiffany Michelle, Brandon Cantu, David Pham...you get the idea. Tougher field than one might have expected.
I've been running around the last few days trying to get some work done for the next issue. I have interviewed Hevad Khan and Matt Graham (winner of a LHE Shootout WSOP bracelet in 2008 and a $5K event at the Five Diamond last month) for profiles, did the Ask Hoyt with you know who and gotten numbers for future interviews with Brown, Gavin Smith, Clements and Ted Lawson. I did, however, find time to get some poker playing in and took third in the nightly $200 second chance tournament on Tuesday for a $1,040 or so profit. That tournament was won by Ut Nguyen, younger brother of Men. I may have busted him earlier in the final table, but didn't want to gamble. As I like to say, you love to be the one putting in the third bet, but you sure hate to be the one calling it for most of your chips.
I broke this trip into two parts, the first one being last Tuesday through Saturday to mostly play poker before coming home to see Amy for a couple of days and then the second leg being this Tuesday through Sunday to mostly work on the magazine. The first leg was also profitable, with a profit of nearly $400. I stuck to satellites and 10-20 Omaha Hi-Lo for the most part. I did OK on sats this trip, going 2 for 8 (remember that these are two winner affairs so 1 out of 5 would be average), and did better in O8, winning $830 in one lengthy session, before giving up $500 the next day. I didn't play much NLHE because as I think I've mentioned before I hate playing games with the time charge instead of the standard rake structure because I feel I am penalized for playing TAG poker. Case in point, the one session of $1-$2 NLHE I did play I took two small pots, but paid $24 in rake for two hours of time. So that likely cost me $15-$20 in extra rake.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Saying goodbye to 2008 and a good morning to 2009
I am back from being MIA. Over the past month I was first busy putting together articles for The Season, a special pub by Crimson Tide Sports Marketing documenting 'Bama's 12-0 regular season (they certainly fell flat at the end there, didn't they?). After finishing that I spent the next week getting all of my stuff done for the January issue of Rounder. And by then it was Christmas time.
Hope you kids got everything you wanted from Santa.
If you're like me, you're eager to get the new year off to a good start. I am still in that gray area between full-time job hunting and seeking more freelance work/playing better, winning more at poker (all options that seem more difficult than they should be). Jobs are tough to come by these days...good ones, anyway. But so is freelance work.
I recently tallied my poker earnings for 2008 and I came out a little better than I thought, but they were still in the low five figures. You may recall that earlier in the year I had a goal of winning in the neighborhood of $25K to $30K from poker, but I ended up about half of that. It's funny how poker comes in streaks and spurts. Last year, I was up close to $5K after the first WEEK of 2008 after winning my share of satellites my first day in Tunica for the World Poker Open and then taking down a big daily tournament at the next-door Horseshoe the following day. Although most of the rest of the year was slow I did finish well by winning a small $11+R PLO tournament on PokerStars in mid-December for nearly $1K.
Now I'm off again, headed to the Beau Rivage in Biloxi this afternoon for the Southern Poker Championship, which is now the January World Poker Tour event in Mississippi. I'm going down for a few days, mainly to play, and then headed back to Tuscaloosa for the weekend. Then it's back down there for a week mostly to cover things for Rounder.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Roll Tide!
What a season it's been for my beloved Crimson Tide, but can it continue against Florida in the SEC Championship on Saturday? This is Bama's toughest game of the season by far (including a possible national championship game if they beat Florida) so it may take some magic for it to happen. Of course, I recall a certain unbeatable Miami team taking on Bama in the 1993 Sugar Bowl as a two touchdown favorite. Remember how that turned out? Alabama 34 Miami 13.
Someone put together a nice season highlight compilation video on You Tube. Here it is if you care to watch:
I have slowed down my poker playing here at the end of the year for a number of reasons. For one, I had a bad month of November and when I run bad I just kind of chill out and take a break from the game. I haven't played in town in two weeks and have played little online, as well. I have been jumping back into those little $1-$2 NL CAP games on FTP a bit this week, but my luck has continued to be terrible.
I'm also focusing more on building up my freelance writing, including expanding beyond poker. I got a fortuitous phone call from an old boss last week who recently moved back to Tuscaloosa to start a new media company. Check out Yellow Hammer Media here. I'm doing four articles for a special publication we're working on to come out in a couple of weeks.
After that I'll be busy cranking out articles for the January issue of Rounder. Hoping to interview Peter Eastgate, Kenna James and Jonathan Little for the next round of profiles.
The week after that is Christmas so serious poker playing may have to wait until January when I head down to Biloxi for a week or two for the Southern Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage.
Someone put together a nice season highlight compilation video on You Tube. Here it is if you care to watch:
I have slowed down my poker playing here at the end of the year for a number of reasons. For one, I had a bad month of November and when I run bad I just kind of chill out and take a break from the game. I haven't played in town in two weeks and have played little online, as well. I have been jumping back into those little $1-$2 NL CAP games on FTP a bit this week, but my luck has continued to be terrible.
I'm also focusing more on building up my freelance writing, including expanding beyond poker. I got a fortuitous phone call from an old boss last week who recently moved back to Tuscaloosa to start a new media company. Check out Yellow Hammer Media here. I'm doing four articles for a special publication we're working on to come out in a couple of weeks.
After that I'll be busy cranking out articles for the January issue of Rounder. Hoping to interview Peter Eastgate, Kenna James and Jonathan Little for the next round of profiles.
The week after that is Christmas so serious poker playing may have to wait until January when I head down to Biloxi for a week or two for the Southern Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Poker miscellany
This has been a slow month for me poker playing wise. It started out cold and hasn't gotten any better so I've taken it easy and have played very little poker this month. I look forward to the holidays and then will gear up for the first Southern Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi where I will be in January with Rounder both writing and playing (and hitting those satellites hard I assure you!)
I may make a quick trip to New Orleans during their Winter Bayou whatchmacallit in a couple of weeks, but it will be only to sightsee with my wife and not to play.
We've got a pretty good issue of Rounder coming out in December. I profiled Tiffany Michelle, Victor Ramdin and Gavin Griffin this month. I've always liked Victor the few times I've met him. Just seems like a super nice guy. I met and got Gavin's number at the media meet and greet at the Palms this summer. Actually, I met his girlfriend Kristen first and she took me over to him. Both are good folks. She seems very sweet and the work both of them did (especially Gavin with the pink hair dye job) to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research was exemplary. I haven't met Tiffany Michelle in person; just talked to her after being given her number by my editor Evert to contact her for a profile. Here is one interesting Tiffany tidbit you may not know: she considers her most interesting role as a dead patient on an episode of ER when she was 18.
Here is what she had to say: “It was pretty awesome to have Noah Wyle on top of me trying to revive me and have blood come pouring out of my mouth. Those are the things about acting that are so outside of everyday life that make it a lot of fun.”
You meet too many bad people in the world of poker so it's good to see the success of these three, all of whom seem deserving of good fortune in the game (despite a certain UB controversy we've all read and heard about).
Over at Al Can Hang's Full Tilt Poker Blogger from the Rail blog you can see a post I sent him around the time of the WSOP final table looking at other WSOP promotions/gimmicks over the years and how well they worked. I had fun putting that one together.
I may make a quick trip to New Orleans during their Winter Bayou whatchmacallit in a couple of weeks, but it will be only to sightsee with my wife and not to play.
We've got a pretty good issue of Rounder coming out in December. I profiled Tiffany Michelle, Victor Ramdin and Gavin Griffin this month. I've always liked Victor the few times I've met him. Just seems like a super nice guy. I met and got Gavin's number at the media meet and greet at the Palms this summer. Actually, I met his girlfriend Kristen first and she took me over to him. Both are good folks. She seems very sweet and the work both of them did (especially Gavin with the pink hair dye job) to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research was exemplary. I haven't met Tiffany Michelle in person; just talked to her after being given her number by my editor Evert to contact her for a profile. Here is one interesting Tiffany tidbit you may not know: she considers her most interesting role as a dead patient on an episode of ER when she was 18.
Here is what she had to say: “It was pretty awesome to have Noah Wyle on top of me trying to revive me and have blood come pouring out of my mouth. Those are the things about acting that are so outside of everyday life that make it a lot of fun.”
You meet too many bad people in the world of poker so it's good to see the success of these three, all of whom seem deserving of good fortune in the game (despite a certain UB controversy we've all read and heard about).
Over at Al Can Hang's Full Tilt Poker Blogger from the Rail blog you can see a post I sent him around the time of the WSOP final table looking at other WSOP promotions/gimmicks over the years and how well they worked. I had fun putting that one together.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
B.J. McBrayer
I definitely need to give a shout out to B.J. McBrayer. He's a local guy in Tuscaloosa who's about 25 or 26 who I've played a lot of poker with over the last few years. Everyone always knew B.J. was a good player and lately he's finally truly broken through on the tournament circuit. He finished runner-up to Clonie Gowen in the main event of the World Poker Open and followed that by chopping the main event of the IP Poker Classic in Biloxi three ways. His cashes over the last month total about $120,000. B.J.'s a good guy. I can't say anything bad about him (aside from that stupid Yankees cap he wears) so I certainly root for his success. I suspect you will see his name in tournament reports many times in the years to come.
Monday, October 27, 2008
An enjoyable World Poker Open
The World Poker Open at the Gold Strike in Tunica will never come close to reaching the status it once had. Consider these factors:
* When the WPO first started it was one of the few major events held each year. It was an event that everyone came to, even though back then the final was only a $5,000 buy-in (which returned to form this October). Now you have two $10K events a month, and considering that there is nothing to do in Tunica but play poker, this is not going to be a must see stop on the tournament trail.
* Up until this January, Harrah's had been running its WSOP Circuit in January almost concurrently with the WPO. I know many poker players liked having two options across town (across cotton patches might be a more apt description). If they didn't want to play the event that day at the Gold Strike they could go to the Grand Casino (now rebranded Harrah's) for a circuit event. Now with the WPO in October that advantage does not exist. It will be interesting to see the attendance numbers at the circuit event next January-February.
* The World Poker Tour cut the WPO from its schedule and the Gulf Coast Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage, the sister property of the Gold Strike, is the WPT stop in Mississippi in January. MGM Mirage's flagship tournament is now on the coast so if players are looking for the most action and chance for TV time the Beau is now the place to go.
Despite all of these factors turnout was still pretty good at the WPO this month. The schedule has been trimmed and most of the events have smaller buy-ins, which may actually appeal more to the more recreational tournament player near Tunica. The WPO is becoming more and more like other regional tournaments that don't attract the big shots of poker, but is the stomping grounds for the great Southern players like Timothy "T.K." Miles, Matt "Cub" Culberson and Tim Hebert.
Personally, I prefer to see a slate of $300 and $500 events rather than a bunch of $1,000 and $1,500 events. I can't afford to play the big ones, but I can buy into or satellite into the smaller events. This was a relatively short trip for me as I went Sunday through Friday of last week.
I stuck to satellites mostly as planned and did well cashing in 6 of 14. I like the format set up by Ken Lambert, who runs poker operations at both the Gold Strike and Beau Rivage for MGM Mirage. The $125 buy-in sats have two winners with each receiving 5 $100 buy-in chips and $50 cash. I like having two equal winners rather than one person receiving all of the dough (of course even one winner sats usually have a chop somewhere in there) since you never feel to far out of it as long as you have chips. I think my profit in the sats was a little over $1,000. Unfortunately, I didn't do well otherwise and left Tunica with about a $400 profit. The bright moment was the trip was cashing in the $300 Omaha Hi-Lo tournament. My 16th place finish was a bit disappointing, however, since when we got into the money with 18 players I had about an average stack but couldn't win a hand the rest of the way.
* When the WPO first started it was one of the few major events held each year. It was an event that everyone came to, even though back then the final was only a $5,000 buy-in (which returned to form this October). Now you have two $10K events a month, and considering that there is nothing to do in Tunica but play poker, this is not going to be a must see stop on the tournament trail.
* Up until this January, Harrah's had been running its WSOP Circuit in January almost concurrently with the WPO. I know many poker players liked having two options across town (across cotton patches might be a more apt description). If they didn't want to play the event that day at the Gold Strike they could go to the Grand Casino (now rebranded Harrah's) for a circuit event. Now with the WPO in October that advantage does not exist. It will be interesting to see the attendance numbers at the circuit event next January-February.
* The World Poker Tour cut the WPO from its schedule and the Gulf Coast Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage, the sister property of the Gold Strike, is the WPT stop in Mississippi in January. MGM Mirage's flagship tournament is now on the coast so if players are looking for the most action and chance for TV time the Beau is now the place to go.
Despite all of these factors turnout was still pretty good at the WPO this month. The schedule has been trimmed and most of the events have smaller buy-ins, which may actually appeal more to the more recreational tournament player near Tunica. The WPO is becoming more and more like other regional tournaments that don't attract the big shots of poker, but is the stomping grounds for the great Southern players like Timothy "T.K." Miles, Matt "Cub" Culberson and Tim Hebert.
Personally, I prefer to see a slate of $300 and $500 events rather than a bunch of $1,000 and $1,500 events. I can't afford to play the big ones, but I can buy into or satellite into the smaller events. This was a relatively short trip for me as I went Sunday through Friday of last week.
I stuck to satellites mostly as planned and did well cashing in 6 of 14. I like the format set up by Ken Lambert, who runs poker operations at both the Gold Strike and Beau Rivage for MGM Mirage. The $125 buy-in sats have two winners with each receiving 5 $100 buy-in chips and $50 cash. I like having two equal winners rather than one person receiving all of the dough (of course even one winner sats usually have a chop somewhere in there) since you never feel to far out of it as long as you have chips. I think my profit in the sats was a little over $1,000. Unfortunately, I didn't do well otherwise and left Tunica with about a $400 profit. The bright moment was the trip was cashing in the $300 Omaha Hi-Lo tournament. My 16th place finish was a bit disappointing, however, since when we got into the money with 18 players I had about an average stack but couldn't win a hand the rest of the way.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Trouble on The Plains
Not to gloat in Auburn's troubles, but things are really getting bad over there. For instance...
Friday, October 10, 2008
MacGyver: The College Years
MacGyver was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid so when I ran across these videos online some time back I got a kick out of them. MacGyver: The College Years is a sporadic series of videos posted on YouTube paroding the international superspy and gadget master during his younger days at Phoenix University. The first one was posted in February 2007 and the fourth, and as of now last one, was posted this April. The videos are hit and miss, with a mix of funny moments and stupid ones. The second episode is my favorite (though I don't get the maniacal evil laughter at the end from our young anti-hero). Take a look for youselves:
Monday, October 06, 2008
We're #2!....and WPO
Perhaps it's a bit late to be gloating over the Georgia win (especially after the mediocre performance against Kentucky this past Saturday), but I haven't posted in a couple of weeks so now is my time to brag on the 'Bama boys.
Are we back? Time will tell, but 6-0 is a heck of a way to start the season. One might argue our only true test so far has been Georgia, but with Tennessee and Auburn looking very weak at this point in the season we could be 12-0 and headed to the SEC Championship game if we can win in Baton Rogue. Fingers firmly crossed.
As for me, I did not get that job at the university I was hopeful about so I'm still on the hunt. Since I'm likely to still lack full-time employment later this month I plan to head to Tunica for the World Poker Open for a week. This event may not quite be as lustrious as it used to be (no longer a WPT event, dumped to a new month to get it out of the way of the Beau's WPT event in January), but it's still where I cut my poker tournament teeth, so to speak. I'll be up there with Rounder mag, pressing flesh and playing some poker. The poker playing has been very mediocre for me lately so perhaps the change of scenery will yield a change in luck.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
WCOOP is over
I've been very busy the last few weeks blogging the WCOOP for PokerStars. It had originally been my intention to play in a few events, but when Brad contacted me about working it I couldn't pass that up. So I've spent the last 16 or 17 days watching three or four online tables at a time and reporting on the outcomes of the thousands of deals. All told, I worked 122.5 hours in that span. So as you can see I didn't have a lot of free time.
I can't describe to you how envious I was watching the final five players working out a deal last night.
"Oh you guys want more? I'll take $1.3 million instead of $1.6 million."
"I want to be guaranteed $800K so I have a chance to win $1 million." (They played for $200K and the bracelet.)
These aren't direct quotes, but they give you a general gist of the conversation. Can you imagine being in their shoes?
The interesting thing is that the guy who won (ckingusc) got less money than the guy who finished in second (liberace) due to the deal that was made with five left. I think the winner got $1.26 million or so and the second place guy got $1.3 million or so.
I have played little poker lately due to the time constrints. I've got about 600W$ I built up for WCOOP that I will apply to the PCA satellites. A tip to the Bahamas in January would be very nice and is a good goal to shoot for.
Meanwhile, I am still waiting to hear whether or not I get the job I interviewed for at UA. That would be a good one for me.
I can't describe to you how envious I was watching the final five players working out a deal last night.
"Oh you guys want more? I'll take $1.3 million instead of $1.6 million."
"I want to be guaranteed $800K so I have a chance to win $1 million." (They played for $200K and the bracelet.)
These aren't direct quotes, but they give you a general gist of the conversation. Can you imagine being in their shoes?
The interesting thing is that the guy who won (ckingusc) got less money than the guy who finished in second (liberace) due to the deal that was made with five left. I think the winner got $1.26 million or so and the second place guy got $1.3 million or so.
I have played little poker lately due to the time constrints. I've got about 600W$ I built up for WCOOP that I will apply to the PCA satellites. A tip to the Bahamas in January would be very nice and is a good goal to shoot for.
Meanwhile, I am still waiting to hear whether or not I get the job I interviewed for at UA. That would be a good one for me.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Olympics, college football and fall TV
Amy always asks why I never blog anymore. I just haven't had much to say. That's a good reason. Right?
I'm having Olympic withdrawls this week. Since Seoul 1988 I've been a very avid viewer of the Games, and with NBC airing them on its multiple networks this year I was glued to the set most of the day. The Beijing games brought back memories of 2004. I had just gotten my monstrosity of an HD TV right before the Athens games and I remember that we didn't even get NBC in HD and they had to add a special channel, and even that channel showed the games in HD a day after they had aired on the regular NBC network. HD viewing has certainly changed in four years.
I am so ready for college football now. Definitely my favorite sporting season. I was like a kid on Christmas catching some of the South Carolina vs. North Carolina St. game last night on ESPN. Bama takes on Clemson in the Georgia Dome on Saturday night. Oh boy. This is the best season opener we've had since we traveled to Pasadena to take on UCLA in 2000. That was the year we were ranked third in the preseason and won three games all season. I have higher expectations for this year.
And lastly for this TV junkie it's almost fall TV time. Prison Break (a fourth season, really?) starts Monday and the new 90210 premieres on Tuesday. 90210 you ask, really? I have to try it for the nostalgic value, especially with some of the old cast returning. I was hooked on that show as a teenager. Probably I'll watch it once and never turn it on again...
I'm having Olympic withdrawls this week. Since Seoul 1988 I've been a very avid viewer of the Games, and with NBC airing them on its multiple networks this year I was glued to the set most of the day. The Beijing games brought back memories of 2004. I had just gotten my monstrosity of an HD TV right before the Athens games and I remember that we didn't even get NBC in HD and they had to add a special channel, and even that channel showed the games in HD a day after they had aired on the regular NBC network. HD viewing has certainly changed in four years.
I am so ready for college football now. Definitely my favorite sporting season. I was like a kid on Christmas catching some of the South Carolina vs. North Carolina St. game last night on ESPN. Bama takes on Clemson in the Georgia Dome on Saturday night. Oh boy. This is the best season opener we've had since we traveled to Pasadena to take on UCLA in 2000. That was the year we were ranked third in the preseason and won three games all season. I have higher expectations for this year.
And lastly for this TV junkie it's almost fall TV time. Prison Break (a fourth season, really?) starts Monday and the new 90210 premieres on Tuesday. 90210 you ask, really? I have to try it for the nostalgic value, especially with some of the old cast returning. I was hooked on that show as a teenager. Probably I'll watch it once and never turn it on again...
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Vegas, WCOOP and overlays
Sorry I have been away for so long. Amy keeps asking me every day when I am going to post again and I just haven't been in the mood to write anything. So today I'll finally get back on the horse and write something. First, some Vegas afterthoughts in easy to read bullet form:
- Lengthy trips to Vegas may be out for me in the future unless the work is really good. As a married man planning on starting a family of more than two soon I won't be keen on being away for long periods anymore. As much as I love Vegas I am also starting to get a little tired of it. It's definitely getting to be a "been there, done that" feeling.
- Conversely, I still didn't feel like I had time to do all I wanted to do, even being there for more than three weeks. Never made it to an Area 51s game, didn't play as many tournaments as I wanted, didn't see enough new stuff. I guess there's just too much to do in Vegas. I'm also one of those people who never feels like he gets enough done on any given day. "There's never enough time" if you know what I mean.
- Railing Iggy definitely brought back wonderful memories of my only WSOP main event appearance in 2006. And he even busted on Day 3 in the money as I did.
- No celebrity encounters this year. I had hoped to say hello to James Woods since I got to interview him by phone for Rounder in the spring, but I never saw him. First summer since 2005 in which I didn't talk to Norm McDonald. Saw Jason Alexander walking past the hooker bar one night. Didn't even see Shannon Elizabeth, who "stalked" me in '06.
- The Golden Nugget pool is awesome. Amy and I partook one day while we stayed there. Tried the water slide once through the shark tank. Neat.
- The best part of going to Vegas these days, I think, is meeting old friends again. It's great to be able to hang out with Otis, Iggy, Pauly, Kristin, Jason, Dan, Jen, Gary, etc. etc., whether bowling, drinking or both. (And even more fun to own them at bowling!)
- Very disappointing trip financially. Lost at poker, and the contacts I made networking out there are only slowly starting to pan out, which leads me into the good news...
I'll be live blogging much of the World Championship of Online Poker for PokerStars, starting Sept. 5 and continuing through Sept. 22. Otis has put me down on the schedule for nearly every day and the shifts will be seven hours. I don't know all of the details of the "how" of it all, but I believe the format will be similar to what the "Site that Shall Not Be Named" on my blog does at the World Series of Poker. I'm ecstatic about the work as the pay is good and could lead to more blogging for PokerStars down the road. Many thanks to my man Otis.
Many thanks also to Al, who is doing a fine job with the Full Tilt Poker "Poker From the Rail" Blog. He has created a Blogger from the Rail corner in which he posts about bloggers on the web and allows us to do some guest posts. If you scroll down a bit you'll see my guest post from last week in which I talk about my WSOP main event favorite Dennis Phillips. I hope to do many more guest posts here in the future.
Since I'll be blogging the WCOOP that means I won't be playing much in it. I have played some FTOPS events, but have had no results. I busted about halfway through the first event, the $215 NLHE. I had terrible luck and tilty play in the $215 Stud and was one of the first ones out. I most recently went out a little more than halfway through the $215 LHE. And that tournament leads me to the conclusion of this post -- a discussion on overlays.
I'd love your feedback on this one. Perhaps you will call me "idiot" and "moron" like the players at my FTOPS LHE table did this week. Here's the setup: The event had a guaranteed prize pool of $200,000, but there were only 932 players in the event so the prize pool did not climb above the guaranteed $200,000 mark.
Here's where semantics may come in. Someone started talking about why he played just because of the overlay and I said that there wasn't really an overlay. I think it really depends on what the definition of overlay is. If you define overlay as the number of entrants not meeting the guaranteed prize pool, then yes, it was an overlay. I define overlay as "free" money where the host site is actually contributing to the prize pool to make up a shortfall. That was not the case here. (This is discounting the bustout bounties, which would make the FTOPS LHE event an overlay in my mind. We argued whether or not this was an overlay based solely on the number of entrants.)
The math is pretty simple. The cost of entry was $200 + $16, or $216. Based on 932 players, the money contributed for both prize pool and rake was $201,312, so FTP made $1,312 in rake and did not have to contribute money for a guaranteed prize pool shortfall. (Again, they did lose money based on bustout bounties, but that was not part of the argument.) For arguing that it wasn't a "true" overlay in that we did not get "free" money I was called all sorts of names. I said it shouldn't have been called an overlay, but a tournament with reduced rake. (Discounting bustout bounties, each player paid about $1.40 in fees.) What do you think?
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Introducing my new blog...
While I procrastinate on blogging on Vegas afterthoughts I've managed to start a new blog with another one soon forthcoming. I figure why put all of my eggs in one basket? I hope in starting new blogs and writing on other non-poker related topics I am able to find new sources of revenue from more freelance writing and/or advertising.
That being said, my first new blog is called Press Start and focuses on video games. Specifically, I'm covering remakes of the old classics and the new releases of the old classics on the current consoles' download services, with some thoughts on the new stuff thrown in as well. I feel that there is still sufficient interest in the older games, but they get the short shrift from the more popular video gaming websites. For example, IGN and Gamespot miss many potential reviews of the Wii's Virtual Console, PS3 and Xbox Live Arcade releases. (Gamespot went months without reviewing a single VC release on the Wii.)
So please visit my new blog and feel free to give your input.
The second new blog is coming soon and will probably be of even more interest to the general population...
That being said, my first new blog is called Press Start and focuses on video games. Specifically, I'm covering remakes of the old classics and the new releases of the old classics on the current consoles' download services, with some thoughts on the new stuff thrown in as well. I feel that there is still sufficient interest in the older games, but they get the short shrift from the more popular video gaming websites. For example, IGN and Gamespot miss many potential reviews of the Wii's Virtual Console, PS3 and Xbox Live Arcade releases. (Gamespot went months without reviewing a single VC release on the Wii.)
So please visit my new blog and feel free to give your input.
The second new blog is coming soon and will probably be of even more interest to the general population...
Monday, July 28, 2008
Site of the Week
Now occasionally as a blog owner you get queries from people asking if you'll review their site. More times than not these sites aren't worth reading, but I've recently been looking at a site I feel is worth your time. The site is called Poker Intensity and features a variable cornucopia of info on online poker. What struck me first about the site is that it doesn't shill for scum like Absolute Poker; in fact, the owners of the site recommend that you DO NOT play there. There is event a black list of sites to avoid. Instead, you get honest reviews of other preferred sites like PokerStars, where I plan to win a WCOOP tournament in the next couple of months.
Poker Intensity also features some recent and relevant poker news articles (hey, maybe I can write for them), online deposit methods, guides for new players and perhaps the coolest feature is a poker odds calculator that lets you input the odds of winning hands from hold'em to Omaha hi-lo to razz.
If you get bored of poker, the site also has a sister link to a horse betting site if that's your thing. That site also has info on sportsbooks and bingo. Gamble it up.
Overall, I recommend checking out the site. You can probably find something on there to interest you.
Poker Intensity also features some recent and relevant poker news articles (hey, maybe I can write for them), online deposit methods, guides for new players and perhaps the coolest feature is a poker odds calculator that lets you input the odds of winning hands from hold'em to Omaha hi-lo to razz.
If you get bored of poker, the site also has a sister link to a horse betting site if that's your thing. That site also has info on sportsbooks and bingo. Gamble it up.
Overall, I recommend checking out the site. You can probably find something on there to interest you.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Life after Vegas
I've been on blogger vacation the last week. Posting has been a very low priority since my return from Vegas as I've been trying to catch up on other things. The first thing I did on my first morning back was mow my jungle. Nearly four weeks without cutting your yard in an Alabama summer tends to yield high grass. Where I come from we call it hay.
I still have plenty of yardwork to do, but it's been reaching triple digits on the thermostat around here and that's pretty brutal in the land of high humidity. So I've been cleaning up the house and such, and spending time with Amy.
I didn't have a profitable trip to Vegas from the poker playing standpoint, but I hope some of the networking I did will lead to more freelance writing opportunities. That remains to be seen as the weeks pass. Meanwhile, I am on the job hunt and there are a couple of good ones at UA I wouldn't mind getting. If that happens I've probably made my last lengthy World Series of Poker trip, but that's alright. I now suffer from burnout.
I'm gearing up for FTOPS and WCOOP now. A nice score in one of the events in those series would do wonders for my bankroll and state of mind. My initial $39 investment in my first WCOOP satellite has now yielded $725 in W dollars in less than a week so maybe I can keep that going. I've got some WSOP wrapup thoughts I never posted on any of the sites I have been blogging for so maybe I'll get to that soon.
I still have plenty of yardwork to do, but it's been reaching triple digits on the thermostat around here and that's pretty brutal in the land of high humidity. So I've been cleaning up the house and such, and spending time with Amy.
I didn't have a profitable trip to Vegas from the poker playing standpoint, but I hope some of the networking I did will lead to more freelance writing opportunities. That remains to be seen as the weeks pass. Meanwhile, I am on the job hunt and there are a couple of good ones at UA I wouldn't mind getting. If that happens I've probably made my last lengthy World Series of Poker trip, but that's alright. I now suffer from burnout.
I'm gearing up for FTOPS and WCOOP now. A nice score in one of the events in those series would do wonders for my bankroll and state of mind. My initial $39 investment in my first WCOOP satellite has now yielded $725 in W dollars in less than a week so maybe I can keep that going. I've got some WSOP wrapup thoughts I never posted on any of the sites I have been blogging for so maybe I'll get to that soon.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
The end is near
and I am ready to come home. I don't even remember what I last posted on here between the writing I do for my own blog, Pokerati and Full Tilt Poker. Most of the substantive stuff is on the other two sites.
I'm playing in a blackjack tournament at the Golden Nugget. It's a $100 buy-in with a $50,000 prize pool -- half to first. Here's the thing. Even though I've played few casino blackjack tournaments in my life I wrote many blackjack tournament strategy columns for Wise Hand Poker in a contract the site had with Get21.com, an upstart BJ tourney site (not even sure if it's still around, to be honest, as the supposed BJ tourney fad that the UBT was supposed to ignite didn't happen). So I had to study the game. I read all of Ken Smith's columns on his website. I read Ken Einiger's book. I got pretty knowledgable about BJ tournaments, but never really put that info into practice. So today I did and got past the first round. Too bad there's still three rounds to go to win. But, hey, you never know. At least if I bust out I will have spent a total of one to two hours at the table, whereas I've spent more than a solid work week at the tournament poker tables with only red ink to show for it.
A young kid was aggressive early and moved out to a big lead, but he kept betting big and eventually came back to the field. Meanwhile, I got lucky when I put out the occasional big bet and it became a close race. Only one would advance to the next round. The key hand was when I was dealt an 8 and he got a hard 12 with the dealer showing an 8. We were close in chips and he had out a 2,000 bet (the max) and I had 800. I decided to double down to get my wager close to his and hit a face card for an 18. The kid hit and got a 4 and wisely decided to stay with his 16. To my luck the dealer turned over a 4 and hit a 5 for 17, giving me a winning hand and the kid a loser.
Headed over to the Bellagio now to play a quick couple hours of poker before packing it in. Have to play the second round of the BJ tourney at 9:45 in the morning.
I'm playing in a blackjack tournament at the Golden Nugget. It's a $100 buy-in with a $50,000 prize pool -- half to first. Here's the thing. Even though I've played few casino blackjack tournaments in my life I wrote many blackjack tournament strategy columns for Wise Hand Poker in a contract the site had with Get21.com, an upstart BJ tourney site (not even sure if it's still around, to be honest, as the supposed BJ tourney fad that the UBT was supposed to ignite didn't happen). So I had to study the game. I read all of Ken Smith's columns on his website. I read Ken Einiger's book. I got pretty knowledgable about BJ tournaments, but never really put that info into practice. So today I did and got past the first round. Too bad there's still three rounds to go to win. But, hey, you never know. At least if I bust out I will have spent a total of one to two hours at the table, whereas I've spent more than a solid work week at the tournament poker tables with only red ink to show for it.
A young kid was aggressive early and moved out to a big lead, but he kept betting big and eventually came back to the field. Meanwhile, I got lucky when I put out the occasional big bet and it became a close race. Only one would advance to the next round. The key hand was when I was dealt an 8 and he got a hard 12 with the dealer showing an 8. We were close in chips and he had out a 2,000 bet (the max) and I had 800. I decided to double down to get my wager close to his and hit a face card for an 18. The kid hit and got a 4 and wisely decided to stay with his 16. To my luck the dealer turned over a 4 and hit a 5 for 17, giving me a winning hand and the kid a loser.
Headed over to the Bellagio now to play a quick couple hours of poker before packing it in. Have to play the second round of the BJ tourney at 9:45 in the morning.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Recent updates via FTP posts
The latest update is that Iggy is now out. He lost a coin flip in the first level when he pushed in with A-J and was called by Jeremiah Smith and his nines. Iggy finished something like 405th for $28K. Not bad, sir, not bad at all...
Here's what I've been sending the last few days to Full Tilt Poker for the Blogger from the Rail posts:
Greetings from the World Series. I’ve been here for more than two weeks now, but am just now officially posting as the Blogger from the Rail. (Doesn’t it sound like a title of such importance?) If any of you reading this have never been to the WSOP or even Las Vegas, you need to plan a trip. If you love poker you have to come experience it.
This is actually my fifth year at poker’s grandest event. The first time, in 2004, the tournament was still held at Binion’s Horseshoe. It’s really hard to think of the size of the WSOP then with the size of it now. Today, for Day 2B of the main event they’ve got players spread all over the Rio, from the main play area of the Amazon ballroom to the Rio poker room, which is a good third of a mile away. I hear it’s in the neighborhood of 2,700 players playing today. Insane. I remember in 2004 when they were trying to find space for the nearly 2,600 players at Binion’s. Here in 2006, before the UIGEA was passed, there were nearly 9,000 runners. There were still nearly 7,000 this year. I think this poker fad has legs.
Let me share a quick history of my WSOP play. During that first trip in 2004, I took a shot at an event. It was the $1,000 with rebuys and I was attempting it on one buy in (Dumb move, I know. But as a novice what did I know?) At my table at various times were players with names like Vahedi, Tomko, Plastik, Longson, Rodman, Shoten and this guy they call Hellmuth. You may not be surprised to learn I didn’t fare so well.
I played one $1,500 NLHE event in 2005 with no luck and another in 2006 with similar fortunes. I won a main event seat in 2006 through another online poker site and was a card rack on Day 1, catching aces five times and flopping quad deuces against Patrik Antonius. I managed to take half his stack in another hand in which I turned a set of nines. My good fortune continued until I ran kings into aces shortly after making the money in Day 3. The 770th finish was good enough for $16,500.
Last year I played no WSOP events, but thanks to Full Tilt Poker and its Battle of the Bloggers Tournaments I was able to play the $1,500 HORSE event. I sat with Mike Matusow, himself a FTP pro. As seems to be usual in the $1,500 events I play here I didn’t last long. In fact, Matusow and another player busted me in the third level during Stud/8 when I missed both my low and flush draws.
I’ve used my Vegas bankroll I earned through the blogger tournaments to play other tournaments around town, but haven’t had much luck. I finally cashed last night in a $340 Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza event, but only got $740 for the effort.
I’ll be bringing you more from the Rio in the coming days. Thanks for your patronage.
I have to admit I have watched the main event the last two years with great envy. After taking part in 2006 and experiencing the highs and lows of playing in poker’s biggest tournament, I am jealous every year I have to watch and not participate.
I felt a little thrill in railing Iggy, one of our most famous poker bloggers. He has been called the “Blogfather” because he was one of the first and best. This year, he won his first main event seat and I could sense the joy he had in getting to play the thing. It was like when a little kid opens his presents on Christmas. I remember that feeling. Well, then I asked him how it felt to play in it on Day 2 and he looked uninterested. “It beats work,” he said as he continued to fold his rag hands.
Players were eliminated briskly on Day 2. More than 63 percent of the field survived Day 1, but many hit the door quickly as the blinds and antes grew. At the end of the day less than 1,300 survived and prop bets were made among poker writers on whether or not enough players will be eliminated on Day 3 to reach the money line of 666.
By the end of the day you could sense palpable excitement in Iggy as he held nearly 87,000 chips (close to the average) entering Thursday’s Day 3 play. As we walked from the Rio to the Palms in search of beer he threatened to let out a primordial scream. Finally, as the afternoon had grown long he caught some hands.
Day 3 is the most treacherous day of the Series. It provides great disappointment for half the remaining field and great joy for most of the rest who survive into the cash. After all, $20,000+ is big money for most people, especially since many of them got into the main event for much less than $10,000.
I personally have a rooting interest in a few people today. There is Iggy, of course. There’s also Stephen L. from Toronto, a guy I met in Reno a couple of years ago and have been friends with since. And there’s Hoyt Corkins, my fellow Alabamian who I’ve gotten to know over the last few years, especially since I’ve been working with Rounder magazine where we feature a monthly Q & A segment with him. Hoyt and I are supposed to go hiking on Mt. Charleston when he busts out of the main event, but honestly I hope the trip can wait until next year. I’d be just as happy to see him make the final table.
Hand for hand play lasted an eternity Thursday at the Rio. I’m sure it seemed that way for the short-stacked participants, at least. The most amazing story was that of Argentinean Fernando Gordo, or more accurately his stack. Gordo did not show up Thursday to play his 140,000 stack and was blinded off as the day progressed. When the money bubble burst his stack was still alive, but down to 1,500. That stack earned him $21,230.
The three guys I was tracking had mixed results. My Toronto pal Stephen Ladowsky nursed a short stack most of the day and finally went out around 480th when he pushed with A-Q and ran into aces. Iggy managed to maintain and build his stack with some blind steals and re-steals and finished Day 3 with 177,000. Hoyt Corkins fared even better, using his aggressive style to build his stack up to nearly 480,000. It was funny watching him pace the aisles before play began this afternoon. Hoyt seemed more nervous today than he did before the final table of the World Poker Open in Tunica in January. (He finished second there.) I guess that shows you the importance of the World Series of Poker to people.
Iggy seemed very relaxed and drew fellow poker writer Jeremiah Smith two seats to his right. I talked with Jeremiah (who enters the day second in chip count with about $1.3 million) quite a bit last year so it’s good to see the former PokerWire reporter doing so well in this event. Plus, Jeremiah was dressed in Full Tilt Poker gear so of course we love him here on Poker From the Rail.
Phil Hellmuth and Jean Robert-Bellande are at the ESPN featured table today. There’s a dynamic duo for you that should make for good television.
I probably won’t stick around the Rio long here on Day 4 because if I want to make my fortune before I leave Vegas I need to try to satellite into the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza main event on Sunday. Maybe if I can win a mint it will give me a good bankroll for the upcoming FTOPS events.
Here's what I've been sending the last few days to Full Tilt Poker for the Blogger from the Rail posts:
Greetings from the World Series. I’ve been here for more than two weeks now, but am just now officially posting as the Blogger from the Rail. (Doesn’t it sound like a title of such importance?) If any of you reading this have never been to the WSOP or even Las Vegas, you need to plan a trip. If you love poker you have to come experience it.
This is actually my fifth year at poker’s grandest event. The first time, in 2004, the tournament was still held at Binion’s Horseshoe. It’s really hard to think of the size of the WSOP then with the size of it now. Today, for Day 2B of the main event they’ve got players spread all over the Rio, from the main play area of the Amazon ballroom to the Rio poker room, which is a good third of a mile away. I hear it’s in the neighborhood of 2,700 players playing today. Insane. I remember in 2004 when they were trying to find space for the nearly 2,600 players at Binion’s. Here in 2006, before the UIGEA was passed, there were nearly 9,000 runners. There were still nearly 7,000 this year. I think this poker fad has legs.
Let me share a quick history of my WSOP play. During that first trip in 2004, I took a shot at an event. It was the $1,000 with rebuys and I was attempting it on one buy in (Dumb move, I know. But as a novice what did I know?) At my table at various times were players with names like Vahedi, Tomko, Plastik, Longson, Rodman, Shoten and this guy they call Hellmuth. You may not be surprised to learn I didn’t fare so well.
I played one $1,500 NLHE event in 2005 with no luck and another in 2006 with similar fortunes. I won a main event seat in 2006 through another online poker site and was a card rack on Day 1, catching aces five times and flopping quad deuces against Patrik Antonius. I managed to take half his stack in another hand in which I turned a set of nines. My good fortune continued until I ran kings into aces shortly after making the money in Day 3. The 770th finish was good enough for $16,500.
Last year I played no WSOP events, but thanks to Full Tilt Poker and its Battle of the Bloggers Tournaments I was able to play the $1,500 HORSE event. I sat with Mike Matusow, himself a FTP pro. As seems to be usual in the $1,500 events I play here I didn’t last long. In fact, Matusow and another player busted me in the third level during Stud/8 when I missed both my low and flush draws.
I’ve used my Vegas bankroll I earned through the blogger tournaments to play other tournaments around town, but haven’t had much luck. I finally cashed last night in a $340 Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza event, but only got $740 for the effort.
I’ll be bringing you more from the Rio in the coming days. Thanks for your patronage.
I have to admit I have watched the main event the last two years with great envy. After taking part in 2006 and experiencing the highs and lows of playing in poker’s biggest tournament, I am jealous every year I have to watch and not participate.
I felt a little thrill in railing Iggy, one of our most famous poker bloggers. He has been called the “Blogfather” because he was one of the first and best. This year, he won his first main event seat and I could sense the joy he had in getting to play the thing. It was like when a little kid opens his presents on Christmas. I remember that feeling. Well, then I asked him how it felt to play in it on Day 2 and he looked uninterested. “It beats work,” he said as he continued to fold his rag hands.
Players were eliminated briskly on Day 2. More than 63 percent of the field survived Day 1, but many hit the door quickly as the blinds and antes grew. At the end of the day less than 1,300 survived and prop bets were made among poker writers on whether or not enough players will be eliminated on Day 3 to reach the money line of 666.
By the end of the day you could sense palpable excitement in Iggy as he held nearly 87,000 chips (close to the average) entering Thursday’s Day 3 play. As we walked from the Rio to the Palms in search of beer he threatened to let out a primordial scream. Finally, as the afternoon had grown long he caught some hands.
Day 3 is the most treacherous day of the Series. It provides great disappointment for half the remaining field and great joy for most of the rest who survive into the cash. After all, $20,000+ is big money for most people, especially since many of them got into the main event for much less than $10,000.
I personally have a rooting interest in a few people today. There is Iggy, of course. There’s also Stephen L. from Toronto, a guy I met in Reno a couple of years ago and have been friends with since. And there’s Hoyt Corkins, my fellow Alabamian who I’ve gotten to know over the last few years, especially since I’ve been working with Rounder magazine where we feature a monthly Q & A segment with him. Hoyt and I are supposed to go hiking on Mt. Charleston when he busts out of the main event, but honestly I hope the trip can wait until next year. I’d be just as happy to see him make the final table.
Hand for hand play lasted an eternity Thursday at the Rio. I’m sure it seemed that way for the short-stacked participants, at least. The most amazing story was that of Argentinean Fernando Gordo, or more accurately his stack. Gordo did not show up Thursday to play his 140,000 stack and was blinded off as the day progressed. When the money bubble burst his stack was still alive, but down to 1,500. That stack earned him $21,230.
The three guys I was tracking had mixed results. My Toronto pal Stephen Ladowsky nursed a short stack most of the day and finally went out around 480th when he pushed with A-Q and ran into aces. Iggy managed to maintain and build his stack with some blind steals and re-steals and finished Day 3 with 177,000. Hoyt Corkins fared even better, using his aggressive style to build his stack up to nearly 480,000. It was funny watching him pace the aisles before play began this afternoon. Hoyt seemed more nervous today than he did before the final table of the World Poker Open in Tunica in January. (He finished second there.) I guess that shows you the importance of the World Series of Poker to people.
Iggy seemed very relaxed and drew fellow poker writer Jeremiah Smith two seats to his right. I talked with Jeremiah (who enters the day second in chip count with about $1.3 million) quite a bit last year so it’s good to see the former PokerWire reporter doing so well in this event. Plus, Jeremiah was dressed in Full Tilt Poker gear so of course we love him here on Poker From the Rail.
Phil Hellmuth and Jean Robert-Bellande are at the ESPN featured table today. There’s a dynamic duo for you that should make for good television.
I probably won’t stick around the Rio long here on Day 4 because if I want to make my fortune before I leave Vegas I need to try to satellite into the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza main event on Sunday. Maybe if I can win a mint it will give me a good bankroll for the upcoming FTOPS events.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Vegas trip photo dump
Here's much of the trip so far in pictures...
My Golden Gate box...er, room
The view out of the window
George Clooney stills my woman away at the wax museum
She plays piano like no other. Eat your heart out Liberace.
A wax figure of Ben Affleck playing poker seems a bit dated.
Why is she giving Bush the thumbs-up?
EDIT: Amy tells me she is not giving the thumbs-up, but is instead pointing (presumbly in a politician style).
I give him the thumbs-down.
Maybe a Faberge egg...after my first $10 million
The Imperial Palace has a fantastic car museum....and nearly all of them are for sale.
My Golden Gate box...er, room
The view out of the window
George Clooney stills my woman away at the wax museum
She plays piano like no other. Eat your heart out Liberace.
A wax figure of Ben Affleck playing poker seems a bit dated.
Why is she giving Bush the thumbs-up?
EDIT: Amy tells me she is not giving the thumbs-up, but is instead pointing (presumbly in a politician style).
I give him the thumbs-down.
Maybe a Faberge egg...after my first $10 million
The Imperial Palace has a fantastic car museum....and nearly all of them are for sale.
A cash...finally
The most recent news first: I cashed in a real live Vegas tournament! After my constant struggles I finally made the money, but I will not need any wheelbarrows to haul it home. I finished 22nd out of 513 in the Venetian DSE $340 NLHE event Tuesday, earning $740 or about a $400 profit. I won one key flip late when I raised with 10-10 from the button and the BB shoved. I pondered and called and he flipped over K-J. Thankfully, the only paint on the board was a Q. I lost another key coin flip with 9-9 vs. A-K that would have put me in a great position for a run at the final table. I lucked up with four tables remaining to beat A-Q with my A-2 when I rivered a duece. When we got down to three tables I may have overplayed 5-5 by raising all in after a limp (from a guy who I knew would fold his limp, one of those old, nitty players). Here's the thing: I had like 120K and the blinds were 6K and 12K with a 3K ante. So there was 45K in the flop preflop, plus 12K more from this guy. It would seem that shoves were a good idea. But here I ran into J-J. I flopped a 5, but the case jack came on the turn (someone said they folded the other one). That crippled me and I was gone within five minutes.
I've been railing Iggy today a bit in the main event. He's got about 50K after starting the day with 37K. He has Joe Bartholdi and David Singer at his table...tough break there...
Amy and I had a wonderful four days together. The GN room was nice. We went to see Penn & Teller, Madame Tussauds, Red Rock Canyon and other touristy stuff she hadn't seen before. We had to go to that coffeeshop in New York New York to get one of those exquisite desserts for her birthday.
I've been railing Iggy today a bit in the main event. He's got about 50K after starting the day with 37K. He has Joe Bartholdi and David Singer at his table...tough break there...
Amy and I had a wonderful four days together. The GN room was nice. We went to see Penn & Teller, Madame Tussauds, Red Rock Canyon and other touristy stuff she hadn't seen before. We had to go to that coffeeshop in New York New York to get one of those exquisite desserts for her birthday.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
No cigars
This has been a trip about coming close with nothing to show for it. The tournament tally so far:
Golden Nugget Grand Series Omaha Hi/Lo -- 21st of 162
Caesars Mega Stack NLHE -- 120ish of 560
Golden Nugget Grand Series HORSE -- 39th of 143
Of course, there was also the $1,500 WSOP HORSE in which I busted out in the third level...maybe I should have played the Limit Shootout instead or the NL donkament. Regardless, I have no cashes in any tournaments. I managed to chop a couple of satellites, but that's about it.
So to heck with playing poker. I have been focused today on writing about it.
I get one more main event shot in about an hour when I play the 6 p.m. mega satellite. An unidentified person is putting me in for a 50/50 split of any main event winnings.
Amy arrives tomorrow night so I am very excited about that. I miss my wife terribly.
The radio show went well. I think. I know that our owner Hank was happy with it. I believe you are supposed to be able to listen to it in archived fashion on http://www.holdemradio.com/, but I couldn't find the show on there. You can subscribe to the shows on iTunes, but they haven't updated the podcasts in more than a month. When I know how to listen to the show I will post it here.
Last night I watched the craziness at Phil Ivey's charity tournament at the Golden Nugget. Go to http://www.pokerati.com/ to read about the foolish behavior, as well as about this drunk fellow...
Hoyt and I talked briefly on the phone today. Sometime after he busts out of the main event we're going hiking up on Mt. Charleston. All I have are sneakers, but I'll give it a go.
That's the short report. Look forward to meeting Lucko and Riggstad and seeing Al Can't Hang and Iggy again. All are arriving in the next couple of days. Looking more forward to seeing my love...
Get here soon my Angelina!
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