Brandon Routh in 20 years
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
The odd couple and some marked cards
Everytime I get my Kia Spectrum (this is a midsize car?) from the Binion’s valet and drive up the interstate toward the Rio, I see at least one plane taking off from McCarran and I have to wonder…are these people sad? I know I would be, having to leave Las Vegas after what was undoubtedly for most a stay of a few short days.
The media room is a nice quiet respite from the thundering herds outside, in and around the tournament area. It’s nice to chat with my fellow www.pokerblog.commers to see what interesting stories they have to tell, and of course Pauly (taopoker.blogspot.com) always has the down and dirty about what’s going on. (Though I had one even he didn’t see yesterday, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott grinding with one of the Sapphire strippers in the hall.)
This will be my last full day in Vegas until Tuesday. Friends Brian and Heather are flying in Friday evening and we’re driving to L.A. Saturday to hit some sites. On Sunday, we’re taking the Universal Studios tour and Monday is the realization of the five-year dream, attending a taping of The Price is Right.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Last night, some more of my Tuscaloosa pals – my poker playing pals – flew in and we hung out at the Rio. I showed Jerry around the tournament room and he stood agape at the zoo exhibits behind the ropes – the Seidels, and the Tillys and the Forrests. He truly looked like the kid in the candy store. And then I showed him all the beautiful hospitality suite girls and he was the Jerry I’ve always known again.
I ducked my head in the Poker Stars suite at 6 in the evening for the David Sklansky seminar, which had a surprise guest when Norm McDonald plopped himself down beside a beautiful blonde on one of the couches.
One’s a balding straight-laced mathematician who prefers poker theory to parties. The other’s a wise-cracking comedian who’s not afraid to do a little dirty work and never misses his headline news. I give you the new odd couple: David Sklansky and Norm McDonald.
The “Saturday Night Live” alum was among the guests at a seminar held by poker’s greatest theorist in a hospitality suite at the WSOP Thursday night.
Wearing blue jeans and a Boston Red Sox baseball cap, McDonald enjoyed a little give and take with Sklansky.
When a listener asked about the all-in system for novices that Sklansky discussed in his book, “Tournament Poker for Advanced Players,” Sklansky replied that the system had been perfected in the new book “Kill Phil” by Blair Rodman and Lee Nelson.
“Did you get a piece of that?” McDonald asked in his deadpan delivery.
“No, I didn’t,” Sklansky said with a glum grin.
The theme of Sklansky’s talk was how to make proper all-in preflop decisions. He noted that even a mediocre hand can draw out on a good hand by the time the river hits.
“It makes it a reasonable play to move in preflop,” he said. “You can win two ways – the other players can fold or your hand can win.”
“It turns out there are a lot of moves that show a profit even if you will be called only when you are beat.”
Sklansky had the look of a 10-year-old giving his class a speech, or a deer in headlights, until he started writing on the dry erase board and doing mathematical computations and his comfort level started to grow. McDonald watched from a nearby couch as Sklansky wrote various hand matchups on the board and asked the audience to guess the winning percentages in all-in situations.
Many in the audience, including McDonald, guessed and missed.
“How many of you would call with jack-ten suited?” Sklansky asked about one situation.
“I would,” McDonald said.
Sklansky shook his head at another incorrect answer.
“Where you playing next week?” an older man in the front row asked McDonald.
Sklansky discussed a fairly comprehensive list of possible hand matchups and emphasized the need to memorize the list.
“When you’re in these hands you’ve got to know the pot odds,” he said.
Sklansky was busted in the second day of the $1,500 NLHE tournament on Wednesday when the small blind, with 100,000 in chips, raised with T-3 to 11,000 and Sklansky moved all in for 14,000 more with A-9 from the big blind. The T-3 was then priced in, called and won.
“He forced himself to call me,” Sklansky said. “He should have moved me all in or raised less where he could get away from the hand.”
Sklansky said it used to be that participants in the WSOP main event could tread water on day one and still have a chance to win the event. Now with the large fields, Sklansky said many players, including himself, find themselves having to take more risks to build a bigger stack on day one.
“If you’re trying to get 670th place and win $20,000 that old strategy will still work,” he said.
I spoke with McDonald after the speech and told him he should crash that movie they’re filming at the Golden Nugget. He said he hadn’t heard about it, but his ears perked up when I told him it was a movie about poker.
And on another note:
Almost everyone I talk to is complaining about the cards, and I'm not talking about getting cold decked. Most of the decks in use at the WSOP either have spots on the back or nail indentations in them. In short, many of the decks are marked in one way or another.
You may have read of the incident in the $50,000 HORSE tournament in which Andy Bloch ripped some cards in half that had obvious marks on them, finally getting the attention of the tournament directors to put new decks in play. His argument was that it was ridiculous that such a prestigious event with a high buy in (in which Harrah's was making the equivalent of the gross national product of Mozambique in rake) did not have fresh decks in play.
I spoke to a friend Thursday and he put it matter of factly, "They need to protect the integrity of the goddamn game."
Harrah's is making a mint on the WSOP so you'd think they could splurge for another few thousand decks of cards. But if they want to pinch pennies, here's my solution: play with the decks for a few days and then sell them on eBay as game used WSOP decks. Collectors will snatch them up and Harrah's will make most of its money back on the cost of the cards, which can then be used to buy new nail and spot free decks.
The media room is a nice quiet respite from the thundering herds outside, in and around the tournament area. It’s nice to chat with my fellow www.pokerblog.commers to see what interesting stories they have to tell, and of course Pauly (taopoker.blogspot.com) always has the down and dirty about what’s going on. (Though I had one even he didn’t see yesterday, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott grinding with one of the Sapphire strippers in the hall.)
This will be my last full day in Vegas until Tuesday. Friends Brian and Heather are flying in Friday evening and we’re driving to L.A. Saturday to hit some sites. On Sunday, we’re taking the Universal Studios tour and Monday is the realization of the five-year dream, attending a taping of The Price is Right.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Last night, some more of my Tuscaloosa pals – my poker playing pals – flew in and we hung out at the Rio. I showed Jerry around the tournament room and he stood agape at the zoo exhibits behind the ropes – the Seidels, and the Tillys and the Forrests. He truly looked like the kid in the candy store. And then I showed him all the beautiful hospitality suite girls and he was the Jerry I’ve always known again.
I ducked my head in the Poker Stars suite at 6 in the evening for the David Sklansky seminar, which had a surprise guest when Norm McDonald plopped himself down beside a beautiful blonde on one of the couches.
One’s a balding straight-laced mathematician who prefers poker theory to parties. The other’s a wise-cracking comedian who’s not afraid to do a little dirty work and never misses his headline news. I give you the new odd couple: David Sklansky and Norm McDonald.
The “Saturday Night Live” alum was among the guests at a seminar held by poker’s greatest theorist in a hospitality suite at the WSOP Thursday night.
Wearing blue jeans and a Boston Red Sox baseball cap, McDonald enjoyed a little give and take with Sklansky.
When a listener asked about the all-in system for novices that Sklansky discussed in his book, “Tournament Poker for Advanced Players,” Sklansky replied that the system had been perfected in the new book “Kill Phil” by Blair Rodman and Lee Nelson.
“Did you get a piece of that?” McDonald asked in his deadpan delivery.
“No, I didn’t,” Sklansky said with a glum grin.
The theme of Sklansky’s talk was how to make proper all-in preflop decisions. He noted that even a mediocre hand can draw out on a good hand by the time the river hits.
“It makes it a reasonable play to move in preflop,” he said. “You can win two ways – the other players can fold or your hand can win.”
“It turns out there are a lot of moves that show a profit even if you will be called only when you are beat.”
Sklansky had the look of a 10-year-old giving his class a speech, or a deer in headlights, until he started writing on the dry erase board and doing mathematical computations and his comfort level started to grow. McDonald watched from a nearby couch as Sklansky wrote various hand matchups on the board and asked the audience to guess the winning percentages in all-in situations.
Many in the audience, including McDonald, guessed and missed.
“How many of you would call with jack-ten suited?” Sklansky asked about one situation.
“I would,” McDonald said.
Sklansky shook his head at another incorrect answer.
“Where you playing next week?” an older man in the front row asked McDonald.
Sklansky discussed a fairly comprehensive list of possible hand matchups and emphasized the need to memorize the list.
“When you’re in these hands you’ve got to know the pot odds,” he said.
Sklansky was busted in the second day of the $1,500 NLHE tournament on Wednesday when the small blind, with 100,000 in chips, raised with T-3 to 11,000 and Sklansky moved all in for 14,000 more with A-9 from the big blind. The T-3 was then priced in, called and won.
“He forced himself to call me,” Sklansky said. “He should have moved me all in or raised less where he could get away from the hand.”
Sklansky said it used to be that participants in the WSOP main event could tread water on day one and still have a chance to win the event. Now with the large fields, Sklansky said many players, including himself, find themselves having to take more risks to build a bigger stack on day one.
“If you’re trying to get 670th place and win $20,000 that old strategy will still work,” he said.
I spoke with McDonald after the speech and told him he should crash that movie they’re filming at the Golden Nugget. He said he hadn’t heard about it, but his ears perked up when I told him it was a movie about poker.
And on another note:
Almost everyone I talk to is complaining about the cards, and I'm not talking about getting cold decked. Most of the decks in use at the WSOP either have spots on the back or nail indentations in them. In short, many of the decks are marked in one way or another.
You may have read of the incident in the $50,000 HORSE tournament in which Andy Bloch ripped some cards in half that had obvious marks on them, finally getting the attention of the tournament directors to put new decks in play. His argument was that it was ridiculous that such a prestigious event with a high buy in (in which Harrah's was making the equivalent of the gross national product of Mozambique in rake) did not have fresh decks in play.
I spoke to a friend Thursday and he put it matter of factly, "They need to protect the integrity of the goddamn game."
Harrah's is making a mint on the WSOP so you'd think they could splurge for another few thousand decks of cards. But if they want to pinch pennies, here's my solution: play with the decks for a few days and then sell them on eBay as game used WSOP decks. Collectors will snatch them up and Harrah's will make most of its money back on the cost of the cards, which can then be used to buy new nail and spot free decks.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Alexander makes an appearance
As promised, I made my way to the Golden Nugget poker room again Wednesday night. I was seated beside a gentleman named Larry who was used as an extra in this new poker movie "The Grand" that's in production in a ballroom in the casino.
Larry said he and two friends are staying at the Nugget and were asked if they wanted to participate in the filming, so they jumped at the chance. The three friends were seated at a poker table in the background while the film's stars sat at the main table.
Larry and his pals earned $56 for their day of work on Monday. Oh, to be a highly paid extra.
As we were chatting, I spotted Jason Alexander at the floorman's desk, looking for a game. Alexander sported his usual eyeglasses, plus a beard and a fanny pack that made him look like a middle-aged woman ready to tackle a slot machine followed by a buffet at the El Cortez.
Unfortunately, our no limit game was full so the former Mr. George Costanza was seated at the other NL game in the room. It was unsurprising then that half our table asked for a table change when seats came open on the other table.
The dynamic quickly changed when a seat opened in our game and a middle-aged Asian woman sat down with $300 and the line, "I've never played before."
She proceeded to quickly give that money away (nearly all of it to Larry) and dig into her purse for more.
"I'm not going to need that table change anymore," Larry said as the floorman Adrian walked by.
I guess money trumps celebrity every time.
Larry said he and two friends are staying at the Nugget and were asked if they wanted to participate in the filming, so they jumped at the chance. The three friends were seated at a poker table in the background while the film's stars sat at the main table.
Larry and his pals earned $56 for their day of work on Monday. Oh, to be a highly paid extra.
As we were chatting, I spotted Jason Alexander at the floorman's desk, looking for a game. Alexander sported his usual eyeglasses, plus a beard and a fanny pack that made him look like a middle-aged woman ready to tackle a slot machine followed by a buffet at the El Cortez.
Unfortunately, our no limit game was full so the former Mr. George Costanza was seated at the other NL game in the room. It was unsurprising then that half our table asked for a table change when seats came open on the other table.
The dynamic quickly changed when a seat opened in our game and a middle-aged Asian woman sat down with $300 and the line, "I've never played before."
She proceeded to quickly give that money away (nearly all of it to Larry) and dig into her purse for more.
"I'm not going to need that table change anymore," Larry said as the floorman Adrian walked by.
I guess money trumps celebrity every time.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
The Grand
The Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas has become L.A. East this week as scenes for an upcoming movie about poker are being filmed in the casino.
“The Grand,” described on the Internet Movie Database as an “improvisational comedy centered around a handful of actors in an actual poker tournament,” features an all-star cast of comedic actors, including Jason Alexander, Woody Harrelson, Ray Romano, Cheryl Hines, Michael McKean, Richard Kind and David Cross.
Some of the stars have darkened the doors of the Nugget’s real poker room to partake in a little no-limit hold’em. Alexander played on Monday night, though unfortunately this intrepid blogger was not around that evening. I’ve already imagined what I would have said if I took a big pot off of him. (Warning: obscure “Seinfeld” reference ahead.) “I’ll use this money toward a home with TWO solariums,” I’d say. OK, a bit cheesy perhaps.
I was playing at the Nugget Tuesday night when Kind walked in. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, he played Paul Lassiter on ABC’s TV show “Spin City.”
I talked with Kind about the movie and he told me he gets to bust both Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson in one scene from the big tournament, which is called The Grand.
Kind said he walks up to Hellmuth in one scene and asks, “Who are you?”
“I’m Phil,” the Poker Brat replies.
“Oh yes! You’re Phil Gordon, right?” Kind says.
I asked Kind when the movie might be released and he said he didn’t know. IMDB lists the movie as a 2007 release.
You might wonder how well Kind plays. I’d assess his play as pretty good. He certainly knows what the good hands are and he bet them strongly. His weakness seemed to be calling too many sizeable pre-flop raises after limping in, subsequently having to fold after the flop.
Kind unsurprisingly drew a fair amount of attention, although many couldn’t quite place him. One fellow walked by and did a double take.
A player at the table said, “He was in a television show.”
“I don’t watch TV,” the other guy replied and walked off.
“The Grand,” described on the Internet Movie Database as an “improvisational comedy centered around a handful of actors in an actual poker tournament,” features an all-star cast of comedic actors, including Jason Alexander, Woody Harrelson, Ray Romano, Cheryl Hines, Michael McKean, Richard Kind and David Cross.
Some of the stars have darkened the doors of the Nugget’s real poker room to partake in a little no-limit hold’em. Alexander played on Monday night, though unfortunately this intrepid blogger was not around that evening. I’ve already imagined what I would have said if I took a big pot off of him. (Warning: obscure “Seinfeld” reference ahead.) “I’ll use this money toward a home with TWO solariums,” I’d say. OK, a bit cheesy perhaps.
I was playing at the Nugget Tuesday night when Kind walked in. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, he played Paul Lassiter on ABC’s TV show “Spin City.”
I talked with Kind about the movie and he told me he gets to bust both Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson in one scene from the big tournament, which is called The Grand.
Kind said he walks up to Hellmuth in one scene and asks, “Who are you?”
“I’m Phil,” the Poker Brat replies.
“Oh yes! You’re Phil Gordon, right?” Kind says.
I asked Kind when the movie might be released and he said he didn’t know. IMDB lists the movie as a 2007 release.
You might wonder how well Kind plays. I’d assess his play as pretty good. He certainly knows what the good hands are and he bet them strongly. His weakness seemed to be calling too many sizeable pre-flop raises after limping in, subsequently having to fold after the flop.
Kind unsurprisingly drew a fair amount of attention, although many couldn’t quite place him. One fellow walked by and did a double take.
A player at the table said, “He was in a television show.”
“I don’t watch TV,” the other guy replied and walked off.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Over/under three hours?
Once again the under wins. If you'd bet the under every time I've played a World Series bracelet event you would be 3-0. Didn't get outplayed or make a boneheaded blunder. I just didn't catch any cards, yet again. Well, let me clarify. I did catch a couple hands, but at the wrong times...T-T and raise to 300 after a couple of limpers with 25-50 blinds and get mini-raised to 600 by a guy with 400 behind (tell me that's not a monster hand, so I lay down)...and the last hand I push all in 800 with J-J into the 50-100 blinds and guy goes over the top with kings...say goodnight Gracie.
Just never had any chips.
Meanwhile, John Phan is sucking out on everyone at the table behind me and builds a monster stack of about 10K in two hours. Must be nice to be lucky...
The poker playing celebrities were also in full force at the Rio Tuesday as James Woods and Jennifer Tilly were playing on tables near me.
I sat down to play a $275 satellite after my bust out. Apparently, Woods wasn’t far behind as I saw him go from satellite table to satellite table telling anyone who would listen that his aces were cracked by ace-king.
Meanwhile, Jerry Buss, the owner of the Lakers and probably the richest man in the room, wandered through the aisles in his standard poker gear of worn out blue jeans and untucked shirt waiting for a satellite to start.
Satellite director Margie Fasold tried to help this $660 buy in seven-card stud satellite begin by announcing, “If you want to play a well-known personality, Jerry Buss, owner of the Lakers, is sitting over here on table 106. If you want a lesson in stud, Jerry will give it to you.”
Just never had any chips.
Meanwhile, John Phan is sucking out on everyone at the table behind me and builds a monster stack of about 10K in two hours. Must be nice to be lucky...
The poker playing celebrities were also in full force at the Rio Tuesday as James Woods and Jennifer Tilly were playing on tables near me.
I sat down to play a $275 satellite after my bust out. Apparently, Woods wasn’t far behind as I saw him go from satellite table to satellite table telling anyone who would listen that his aces were cracked by ace-king.
Meanwhile, Jerry Buss, the owner of the Lakers and probably the richest man in the room, wandered through the aisles in his standard poker gear of worn out blue jeans and untucked shirt waiting for a satellite to start.
Satellite director Margie Fasold tried to help this $660 buy in seven-card stud satellite begin by announcing, “If you want to play a well-known personality, Jerry Buss, owner of the Lakers, is sitting over here on table 106. If you want a lesson in stud, Jerry will give it to you.”
Monday, July 17, 2006
Gimme the green
Last year, I struggled in Vegas during my trip to the WSOP until the very last week, when I finally had success in those two tournaments at Binion's. This year has been exactly the opposite as I've barely lost in the past week (knock on wood, cross my fingers, rub a bald man's heard).
The big one was last night when Scott, a buddy from Tuscaloosa who got into town on Saturday, and I went to Caesars to play the 7 p.m. tourney, a $120 buy in with a $100 rebuy. I was the shortest stack when we got down to 11 on the money bubble, yet ended up chopping it 3 ways for $4,200 and change. Tournaments are crazy. You never know when you'll catch fire and move up to the top.
That's a good omen as I prepare for the $1,500 NLHE at the WSOP tomorrow, my first tournament at the Rio this year.
I haven't played a hand of poker today. Stephen Ladowski, the fellow I met in Reno, called and said he was at the final table in the Omaha Hi-Lo today so I went to watch this final table that also featured Phil Hellmuth vying for his 10th bracelet.
Of course, Hellmuth was the last one to the party. He entered the ESPN final table area and walked around the felt, shaking each player's hand. Hellmuth paced the floor while the tournament director announced the nine contestants and noted that the Wisconsin native had another chance to win his tenth bracelet.
Stephen started sixth in chips, but couldn't catch a break and exited in eighth. The table is ongoing so I don't know if Hellmuth won.
I also had lunch with Gary Wise (www.wisehandpoker.com) who took me to the secret employee lunchroom in the bowels of the Rio. Gary told me he used to be a professional Magic player, with earning in the low six figures in tournaments of the card game. He met the likes of future poker players David Williams, Thomas Keller and Eric Forelich while playing the Magic tournament circuit.
"Little did they know, they were providing a breeding ground for future professional poker players," Gary said of Wizards of the Coast, the manufacturer of the card game.
There are hurricane force winds pounding on my hotel room window as I type and lightning flashes every few seconds. The weather seems quite strange for a city of Vegas' location and temperament.
It's off to study Harrington on Hold'em game and get a good night's rest for tomorrow. Blog you later.
The big one was last night when Scott, a buddy from Tuscaloosa who got into town on Saturday, and I went to Caesars to play the 7 p.m. tourney, a $120 buy in with a $100 rebuy. I was the shortest stack when we got down to 11 on the money bubble, yet ended up chopping it 3 ways for $4,200 and change. Tournaments are crazy. You never know when you'll catch fire and move up to the top.
That's a good omen as I prepare for the $1,500 NLHE at the WSOP tomorrow, my first tournament at the Rio this year.
I haven't played a hand of poker today. Stephen Ladowski, the fellow I met in Reno, called and said he was at the final table in the Omaha Hi-Lo today so I went to watch this final table that also featured Phil Hellmuth vying for his 10th bracelet.
Of course, Hellmuth was the last one to the party. He entered the ESPN final table area and walked around the felt, shaking each player's hand. Hellmuth paced the floor while the tournament director announced the nine contestants and noted that the Wisconsin native had another chance to win his tenth bracelet.
Stephen started sixth in chips, but couldn't catch a break and exited in eighth. The table is ongoing so I don't know if Hellmuth won.
I also had lunch with Gary Wise (www.wisehandpoker.com) who took me to the secret employee lunchroom in the bowels of the Rio. Gary told me he used to be a professional Magic player, with earning in the low six figures in tournaments of the card game. He met the likes of future poker players David Williams, Thomas Keller and Eric Forelich while playing the Magic tournament circuit.
"Little did they know, they were providing a breeding ground for future professional poker players," Gary said of Wizards of the Coast, the manufacturer of the card game.
There are hurricane force winds pounding on my hotel room window as I type and lightning flashes every few seconds. The weather seems quite strange for a city of Vegas' location and temperament.
It's off to study Harrington on Hold'em game and get a good night's rest for tomorrow. Blog you later.
Barry Tannenbaum seminar
Here's the gist on the seminar last week from the Danny DeVito of poker players:
People have different goals in tournaments.
That was the theme of a seminar given recently by Barry Tannenbaum, a professional limit player in Las Vegas and a Card Player columnist.
Some players just want to make the money while others will be unhappy with anything less than first place.
“If you’re playing to make the final table or to win you won’t cash as often,” Tannenbaum said. “If you’re intent on winning, at some point you will have to sacrifice safety for gain.”
The bespectacled poker pro said he is annoyed by players who say they just want to make the dinner break. He said those players won’t stand a chance at being successful tournament players.
Another bug in his ear is those players who lose most of their chips and go on tilt.
“People give up in no limit tournaments,” Tannenbaum said. “They get short stacked and they lose heart.”
Tannenbaum gave two tips for playing hands while short stacked to prevent going all in, including the famous stop and go trick. Using this maneuver, a player should call a pre-flop raise from the blinds and then push no matter what comes on the flop. That way their opponent may fold without seeing all five cards as they would have had the short stacked player raised all in before the flop.
Another tactic Tannenbaum recommended to listeners is to “call and wait” with a draw. He said to call a reasonable amount of chips with a short stack on the flop in position in hopes of either hitting the draw on the turn or possibly getting a free card if the opponent doesn’t bet the turn. If the short stack goes all in with the draw, he or she must hit the hand to avoid elimination.
“When there’s life there’s hope,” Tannenbaum said. “Chip and a chair is a real concept people.”
People have different goals in tournaments.
That was the theme of a seminar given recently by Barry Tannenbaum, a professional limit player in Las Vegas and a Card Player columnist.
Some players just want to make the money while others will be unhappy with anything less than first place.
“If you’re playing to make the final table or to win you won’t cash as often,” Tannenbaum said. “If you’re intent on winning, at some point you will have to sacrifice safety for gain.”
The bespectacled poker pro said he is annoyed by players who say they just want to make the dinner break. He said those players won’t stand a chance at being successful tournament players.
Another bug in his ear is those players who lose most of their chips and go on tilt.
“People give up in no limit tournaments,” Tannenbaum said. “They get short stacked and they lose heart.”
Tannenbaum gave two tips for playing hands while short stacked to prevent going all in, including the famous stop and go trick. Using this maneuver, a player should call a pre-flop raise from the blinds and then push no matter what comes on the flop. That way their opponent may fold without seeing all five cards as they would have had the short stacked player raised all in before the flop.
Another tactic Tannenbaum recommended to listeners is to “call and wait” with a draw. He said to call a reasonable amount of chips with a short stack on the flop in position in hopes of either hitting the draw on the turn or possibly getting a free card if the opponent doesn’t bet the turn. If the short stack goes all in with the draw, he or she must hit the hand to avoid elimination.
“When there’s life there’s hope,” Tannenbaum said. “Chip and a chair is a real concept people.”
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Kudos to Oliver Tse
Having criticized Oliver before, I thought it only fair to praise him for his efforts in putting ESPN to task for praising Dutch Boyd without bringing up the Poker Spot controversy that has made Boyd reviled by many in the poker industry. You can read much of the hoolaboo over Tse losing his WSOP media credentials at RGP. Here's the recent newspaper column I wrote discussing the issue:
DEAL ME IN
By Johnny Kampis
Sometimes you don’t get the whole story
The poker section of the ESPN Web site called it the feel good story of the World Series of Poker when Russ “Dutch” Boyd captured his first WSOP bracelet by winning the $2,500 buy in no limit hold’em shorthanded tournament on July 2.
You may recall coverage of Boyd in the 2003 WSOP when he made it deep into the tournament that Chris Moneymaker won, as ESPN spotlighted the genius who graduated high school at age 12 and college by the time most kids begin shaving. Then in 2004, ESPN featured Boyd and several of his buddies, including Scott Fischman and Joe Bartholdi, who called themselves “The Crew” and threatened to “take over” the WSOP. They did a pretty good job as Fischman managed to win two events and Boyd made the final table of the razz event.
While ESPN has shown the wunderkind Boyd in a positive light, the truth is Boyd is much reviled by many within the poker community. About a decade ago, when online poker was in its infancy, Boyd was involved with an upstart poker site called Pokerspot. The owners allegedly used players’ accounts for operational expenses. What’s not in doubt is that the most players on the site never got their money back. Boyd has said in interviews that he would refund those players if ever in a financial position to do so.
This story has been largely ignored by those media who report on poker, largely because most poker Web sites and magazines act as the game’s lapdogs, eager to promote the game, but adamant about not reporting anything that would put it in a negative light. Hence you won’t see anything about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into the World Poker Tour Enterprises stock dealings of poker stalwart Doyle Brunson in the magazine Card Player or “Amarillo” Slim Preston’s assault conviction involving his 12-year-old granddaughter on www.pokerpages.com.
I spoke with a proprietor of an online poker site about the Dutch Boyd issue Saturday and he told me he would never touch the story. “I won’t report on anything that could tear the game of poker down. It’s in a fight for its life now,” he said, referring to the bill currently in the House that could ban most forms of online gaming.
Whether or not you agree with the stance of the poker media, the old saying applies – it is what it is – and the attitude is not likely to change. It will be interesting to see if ESPN, a network that doggedly discusses many controversial issues within the sports community, will bring the Pokerspot issue up when its WSOP coverage airs in the next several months now that Boyd just claimed a purse of $475,000.
Reach Johnny Kampis at dealmeincolumn@hotmail.com.
DEAL ME IN
By Johnny Kampis
Sometimes you don’t get the whole story
The poker section of the ESPN Web site called it the feel good story of the World Series of Poker when Russ “Dutch” Boyd captured his first WSOP bracelet by winning the $2,500 buy in no limit hold’em shorthanded tournament on July 2.
You may recall coverage of Boyd in the 2003 WSOP when he made it deep into the tournament that Chris Moneymaker won, as ESPN spotlighted the genius who graduated high school at age 12 and college by the time most kids begin shaving. Then in 2004, ESPN featured Boyd and several of his buddies, including Scott Fischman and Joe Bartholdi, who called themselves “The Crew” and threatened to “take over” the WSOP. They did a pretty good job as Fischman managed to win two events and Boyd made the final table of the razz event.
While ESPN has shown the wunderkind Boyd in a positive light, the truth is Boyd is much reviled by many within the poker community. About a decade ago, when online poker was in its infancy, Boyd was involved with an upstart poker site called Pokerspot. The owners allegedly used players’ accounts for operational expenses. What’s not in doubt is that the most players on the site never got their money back. Boyd has said in interviews that he would refund those players if ever in a financial position to do so.
This story has been largely ignored by those media who report on poker, largely because most poker Web sites and magazines act as the game’s lapdogs, eager to promote the game, but adamant about not reporting anything that would put it in a negative light. Hence you won’t see anything about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into the World Poker Tour Enterprises stock dealings of poker stalwart Doyle Brunson in the magazine Card Player or “Amarillo” Slim Preston’s assault conviction involving his 12-year-old granddaughter on www.pokerpages.com.
I spoke with a proprietor of an online poker site about the Dutch Boyd issue Saturday and he told me he would never touch the story. “I won’t report on anything that could tear the game of poker down. It’s in a fight for its life now,” he said, referring to the bill currently in the House that could ban most forms of online gaming.
Whether or not you agree with the stance of the poker media, the old saying applies – it is what it is – and the attitude is not likely to change. It will be interesting to see if ESPN, a network that doggedly discusses many controversial issues within the sports community, will bring the Pokerspot issue up when its WSOP coverage airs in the next several months now that Boyd just claimed a purse of $475,000.
Reach Johnny Kampis at dealmeincolumn@hotmail.com.
'cue with Hoyt and Raymer
One advantage to being a poker player from Alabama is that Hoyt Corkins by default takes a liking to you and invites you to his summer barbecue.
The “Alabama Cowboy” and his longtime girlfriend, Natalie, hosted the ‘cue at their Spanish Trail home for a number of friends and fellow players on Saturday afternoon.
Among the guests were Greg Raymer and his wife, Cheryl, David Plastik, Richard Brodie (a.k.a. Quiet Lion) and Ted Lawson, who won a WSOP Omaha tournament on ESPN last year. There were also a number of friends and associates, including former Playmate and Top Pair magazine proprietor Jill Ann Spaulding and her little poodle named Hold’em, complete with pink painted nails.
Clad in a straw Doyle’s Room hat and shorts and chomping on a cigar, Hoyt welcomed us into his lovely home situated on a golf course, with a basketball goal in the backyard and a player piano in the living room.
The ‘cue was flown in from Natalie’s hometown of Memphis and sides included baked beans and meatballs. It almost felt like being back home for us ‘Bama boys.
It was nice to meet Plastik because unbeknownst to me at the time, he was the player sitting to my left when I played my first WSOP event in 2004. (The photo you see under my moniker is from that event.) Of course Plastik didn’t remember me, but when I mentioned all of the players who were at one time or another at our table – Phil Hellmuth, Amir Vahedi, Blair Rodman, Dewey Tomko, Charlie Shoten and O’Neil Longson – he did recall the event. It’s also the one in which Daniel Negreanu famously rebought 27 times.
Brodie, as you may have heard, wrote the first lines of code for Microsoft Word, but he’s spent the last several years traveling the tournament circuit. He’s a solid player who has often flown under the radar because he hasn’t been on television much.
Raymer, Brodie and I spent several minutes discussing game shows after I inquired whether Raymer had ever tried out for Jeopardy! The man is a wealth of knowledge. As someone was trying to pet Hold’em, he mentioned that poodles were the number one biting breed of dogs. Raymer has not auditioned for Jeopardy!, but Brodie told me he flunked the test. (I’ve always heard the quiz was very hard, but to hear that someone of the Quiet Lion’s intellect couldn’t make it is proof enough for me.) An interesting tidbit about Brodie is that he appeared on the old game show Sale of the Century and won the grand prize (a trip to Hong Kong or something.) Raymer always wanted to be on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Me too…
As the evening drug on, Raymer and Corkins talked a lot of poker. Some interesting bits:
n They discussed the high blind structures at WPT final tables and Corkins’ all-in strategy versus Hellmuth. Both agreed you can get Phil to lay down a hand with a big bet. “Phil’s the best player to go all-in against,” Raymer said.
n Ever since Raymer won the main event with the 8d8s, he has not lost with that hand. He says he now plays those two cards every time, no matter the situation. “I’m not superstitious about anything else,” he said, “but I’m superstitious about that.”
n Cheryl Raymer joined in on the conversation concerning crowds at the WSOP. All said the railbirds are making it hard to get to the tables during the tournament and to get to the bathrooms and back, especially with so many people asking for autographs. Both players are very accommodating when it comes to autograph seekers also. “Last year during a 30-minute break I headed to the bathroom and got back to the table and was still three minutes late,” Corkins said.
n Raymer recalled an incident at last year’s WSOP in which he laid down a hand to a re-raise right before a break and signed an autograph for a guy in the hall a few minutes later. “Good fold,” the guy told him. The autograph seeker was one of the railbirds and was able to see that Raymer’s opponent was holding pocket kings because the man was not protecting his hand very well. Raymer said he holds his cards in front of his chips so that he has to look down over the chips to see his cards. “Unless Yao Ming is standing behind me, nobody is going to be able to see my hand,” he said.
As early Sunday morning approached, we all said our adieus. I’ll be playing my first main event this year. The “Alabama Cowboy” and “Tuscaloosa” Johnny agreed to meet again at the final table.
The “Alabama Cowboy” and his longtime girlfriend, Natalie, hosted the ‘cue at their Spanish Trail home for a number of friends and fellow players on Saturday afternoon.
Among the guests were Greg Raymer and his wife, Cheryl, David Plastik, Richard Brodie (a.k.a. Quiet Lion) and Ted Lawson, who won a WSOP Omaha tournament on ESPN last year. There were also a number of friends and associates, including former Playmate and Top Pair magazine proprietor Jill Ann Spaulding and her little poodle named Hold’em, complete with pink painted nails.
Clad in a straw Doyle’s Room hat and shorts and chomping on a cigar, Hoyt welcomed us into his lovely home situated on a golf course, with a basketball goal in the backyard and a player piano in the living room.
The ‘cue was flown in from Natalie’s hometown of Memphis and sides included baked beans and meatballs. It almost felt like being back home for us ‘Bama boys.
It was nice to meet Plastik because unbeknownst to me at the time, he was the player sitting to my left when I played my first WSOP event in 2004. (The photo you see under my moniker is from that event.) Of course Plastik didn’t remember me, but when I mentioned all of the players who were at one time or another at our table – Phil Hellmuth, Amir Vahedi, Blair Rodman, Dewey Tomko, Charlie Shoten and O’Neil Longson – he did recall the event. It’s also the one in which Daniel Negreanu famously rebought 27 times.
Brodie, as you may have heard, wrote the first lines of code for Microsoft Word, but he’s spent the last several years traveling the tournament circuit. He’s a solid player who has often flown under the radar because he hasn’t been on television much.
Raymer, Brodie and I spent several minutes discussing game shows after I inquired whether Raymer had ever tried out for Jeopardy! The man is a wealth of knowledge. As someone was trying to pet Hold’em, he mentioned that poodles were the number one biting breed of dogs. Raymer has not auditioned for Jeopardy!, but Brodie told me he flunked the test. (I’ve always heard the quiz was very hard, but to hear that someone of the Quiet Lion’s intellect couldn’t make it is proof enough for me.) An interesting tidbit about Brodie is that he appeared on the old game show Sale of the Century and won the grand prize (a trip to Hong Kong or something.) Raymer always wanted to be on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Me too…
As the evening drug on, Raymer and Corkins talked a lot of poker. Some interesting bits:
n They discussed the high blind structures at WPT final tables and Corkins’ all-in strategy versus Hellmuth. Both agreed you can get Phil to lay down a hand with a big bet. “Phil’s the best player to go all-in against,” Raymer said.
n Ever since Raymer won the main event with the 8d8s, he has not lost with that hand. He says he now plays those two cards every time, no matter the situation. “I’m not superstitious about anything else,” he said, “but I’m superstitious about that.”
n Cheryl Raymer joined in on the conversation concerning crowds at the WSOP. All said the railbirds are making it hard to get to the tables during the tournament and to get to the bathrooms and back, especially with so many people asking for autographs. Both players are very accommodating when it comes to autograph seekers also. “Last year during a 30-minute break I headed to the bathroom and got back to the table and was still three minutes late,” Corkins said.
n Raymer recalled an incident at last year’s WSOP in which he laid down a hand to a re-raise right before a break and signed an autograph for a guy in the hall a few minutes later. “Good fold,” the guy told him. The autograph seeker was one of the railbirds and was able to see that Raymer’s opponent was holding pocket kings because the man was not protecting his hand very well. Raymer said he holds his cards in front of his chips so that he has to look down over the chips to see his cards. “Unless Yao Ming is standing behind me, nobody is going to be able to see my hand,” he said.
As early Sunday morning approached, we all said our adieus. I’ll be playing my first main event this year. The “Alabama Cowboy” and “Tuscaloosa” Johnny agreed to meet again at the final table.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Binion's blowhard
The portly man sat with $2,000 in front of him, ready to do business. Three stacks of greens, a few Benjamins, a couple of stacks of reds and a handful of blue chips stood as a fortress in front of the man, while the Gallery of Champions, all of the photos of the winners in the history of the WSOP main event, hung on the wall behind him in the Binion’s poker room.
Did I mention this was a $1-$2 blinds no limit game?
Brian -- that was his name -- scared a few big stacks away as he sat down and unracked his massive stacks of chips. He cursed out loud when one man with $1,500 racked up and left, as he’d hoped to bust the man. All that was left were players with two or three stacks of reds in front of them.
Brian went for the small helpings, taking $200 from one all in man who’d flopped a set of sixes, but it was no match for Brian, who had limped with aces and caught another on the flop.
“I put you on aces,” said the player to my left.
“If you put me on a hand you need to be playing over at the Rio,” Brian said as he riffled two stacks of reds.
“You think you’re Moneymaker or something?” inquired the player.
“Moneymaker ain’t shit. I took him for $25,000 last week,” Brian sneered.
“You look like Greg Raymer,” joked the dealer. “You his cousin?”
Brian looked behind him to Raymer’s photo on the wall. “Sure, can’t you see the resemblance?” he asked.
There are the characters that make poker interesting. I sat with Brian tonight in Binion's, managing to stay out of his way and win $125 in the process. I took $200 and change in an earlier session at Binion's. I usually play NL over at the Golden Nugget, but they are moving into a new poker room today and the room was closed. (I caught a glimpse of the new room. It's quite posh.)
I've done quite well at NL cash games on the trip so far, up about $1,300 or so in those. It's the other games that have taken me back down nearly to even.
I know most people don't like downtown, but I have to admit I love it. All of the casinos are certainly within walking distance. If I can't find a poker game at Binion's, I can walk to the Nugget or down to the Plaza. If I want snacks or a drink there's three stores serving those. There's the movie theater down at the Neonopolis. If I want a cheap and quick meal I can go to the Golden Gate for 99 cent shrimp cocktails or get 2 hot dogs for $1.29 at the old Pioneer Club. The conveniences down here are great.
On some days, like today, I never leave downtown. I finally broke down and got a rental car lined up for tomorrow so I have to head to the airport to pick it up. Hoyt's BBQ is tomorrow evening. That should be fun.
Oh, that tournament I played Wednesday night? Another one of those blowhards (except one who really CAN'T play) busted me when he limped with K-4 and called my raise from the small blind with aces. The flop was 4-5-6 and he called, the turn was 5 and I went all in and he called. You know what the river was. The guy was a card rack in the early part of the tournament, but had just lost a lot of chips and was steaming.
Did I mention this was a $1-$2 blinds no limit game?
Brian -- that was his name -- scared a few big stacks away as he sat down and unracked his massive stacks of chips. He cursed out loud when one man with $1,500 racked up and left, as he’d hoped to bust the man. All that was left were players with two or three stacks of reds in front of them.
Brian went for the small helpings, taking $200 from one all in man who’d flopped a set of sixes, but it was no match for Brian, who had limped with aces and caught another on the flop.
“I put you on aces,” said the player to my left.
“If you put me on a hand you need to be playing over at the Rio,” Brian said as he riffled two stacks of reds.
“You think you’re Moneymaker or something?” inquired the player.
“Moneymaker ain’t shit. I took him for $25,000 last week,” Brian sneered.
“You look like Greg Raymer,” joked the dealer. “You his cousin?”
Brian looked behind him to Raymer’s photo on the wall. “Sure, can’t you see the resemblance?” he asked.
There are the characters that make poker interesting. I sat with Brian tonight in Binion's, managing to stay out of his way and win $125 in the process. I took $200 and change in an earlier session at Binion's. I usually play NL over at the Golden Nugget, but they are moving into a new poker room today and the room was closed. (I caught a glimpse of the new room. It's quite posh.)
I've done quite well at NL cash games on the trip so far, up about $1,300 or so in those. It's the other games that have taken me back down nearly to even.
I know most people don't like downtown, but I have to admit I love it. All of the casinos are certainly within walking distance. If I can't find a poker game at Binion's, I can walk to the Nugget or down to the Plaza. If I want snacks or a drink there's three stores serving those. There's the movie theater down at the Neonopolis. If I want a cheap and quick meal I can go to the Golden Gate for 99 cent shrimp cocktails or get 2 hot dogs for $1.29 at the old Pioneer Club. The conveniences down here are great.
On some days, like today, I never leave downtown. I finally broke down and got a rental car lined up for tomorrow so I have to head to the airport to pick it up. Hoyt's BBQ is tomorrow evening. That should be fun.
Oh, that tournament I played Wednesday night? Another one of those blowhards (except one who really CAN'T play) busted me when he limped with K-4 and called my raise from the small blind with aces. The flop was 4-5-6 and he called, the turn was 5 and I went all in and he called. You know what the river was. The guy was a card rack in the early part of the tournament, but had just lost a lot of chips and was steaming.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
No family at the table
After leaving the Caro seminar, I was able to quickly find a seat at a 2-5 NL game in the Rio. The early going was slow, but I was able to win a big pot and double up (don't even remember the hand, I take notes real good...) and then won a big pot with A-7 in the BB. New, aggressive player raises to $15. I take off the flop and it comes J-7-7. I check raise his flop bet of $30 to $70, representing a jack and then bet $100 on the turn, which was an 8, and he goes all in for all of my stack.
Now, I was in a bit of a conundrum. Does he think I have a jack or a seven? Because if he thinks I've got a seven I'm in a world of hurt. I decided since I bet like I had a jack I had to call and he asks, "Did that ace-jack shrivel up?" When I turned over my hand he looked sick. (Johnny's rule of hold'em #63 -- if the other player appears as if he wants to worship the porcelain throne when you turn up your hand, your chances of winning the pot are looking pretty good!)
Meanwhile, the man to my right busted a player at the other end of the table and the guy came over to ask, "You about ready to leave?"
"You busted your buddy?" I asked the man to my right with a laugh.
"My son, actually," he replied.
"I guess I'll be buying dinner tonight. I've been buying dinner all week," he said with a laugh.
I cashed +$655 in that game and left in high spirits to take on a $225 satellite.
I got heads up with another guy and we agreed to save a 500 chip each and play for the rest. After a protracted heads up battle I suggested we just chop the whole thing, but he said he wanted to play for the experience. It ended the next hand as I went all in with 66 and he called with AT and he flopped his ace. I hate $1,120 swings (two 500 chips and $120) on coin flips, but that's poker.
I caught a seminar from Barry Tannenbaum in the Poker Stars suite before I left Wednesday, but I'll save that for later. Time for a free buffet at the Golden Nugget and the 8 p.m. tournament downstairs in the Binion's poker room.
Now, I was in a bit of a conundrum. Does he think I have a jack or a seven? Because if he thinks I've got a seven I'm in a world of hurt. I decided since I bet like I had a jack I had to call and he asks, "Did that ace-jack shrivel up?" When I turned over my hand he looked sick. (Johnny's rule of hold'em #63 -- if the other player appears as if he wants to worship the porcelain throne when you turn up your hand, your chances of winning the pot are looking pretty good!)
Meanwhile, the man to my right busted a player at the other end of the table and the guy came over to ask, "You about ready to leave?"
"You busted your buddy?" I asked the man to my right with a laugh.
"My son, actually," he replied.
"I guess I'll be buying dinner tonight. I've been buying dinner all week," he said with a laugh.
I cashed +$655 in that game and left in high spirits to take on a $225 satellite.
I got heads up with another guy and we agreed to save a 500 chip each and play for the rest. After a protracted heads up battle I suggested we just chop the whole thing, but he said he wanted to play for the experience. It ended the next hand as I went all in with 66 and he called with AT and he flopped his ace. I hate $1,120 swings (two 500 chips and $120) on coin flips, but that's poker.
I caught a seminar from Barry Tannenbaum in the Poker Stars suite before I left Wednesday, but I'll save that for later. Time for a free buffet at the Golden Nugget and the 8 p.m. tournament downstairs in the Binion's poker room.
Mike Caro speaks
You ever notice that in every photo you see of Mike Caro his hair is always sticking up? Does an unkempt mane imply madness, thereby earning him the moniker “Mad Genius of Poker?”
Caro’s hair was relatively combed as he took the stage in the Doyle's Room suite on Wednesday morning to give a seminar on hold’em play. It was standing room only as the crowd squeezed into the suite to listen to one of the original contributors of Super/System.
He opened the seminar with one of his classic tells – that the way players stack chips indicates how they’ll play.
“Conservative means conservative,” Caro said. “If it’s haphazard it’s their personality coming out. Expect them to be loose and reckless.”
Caro then proceeded into a number of tips for limit play, including his advice not to raise in middle position on the final betting round without the nuts.
“You’re much better off calling unless you have an unbeatable hand,” he said.
Caro also advised listeners not to play pocket twos through fours from an early position unless their foes are weak, and to always fold pocket twos through sevens from an early seat in a percentage payoff tournament.
The “mad genius” roamed side to side across the stage as he discussed the penalty of winning a poker tournament. “You have to win all the chips to get the trophy and then you have to give them away,” he said. “You’d rather stumble into [first] if you play for profit.”
In another tell tip, Caro said that players reaching for chips indicate they don’t want you to bet, so go ahead and put chips in the pot. “They’ve just told you that you don’t have to fear someone making an aggressive bet,” he said.
Caro advised the crowd not to put their opponent on a hand, but a range of hands. “You’ll never win at poker if you analyze it like chess.”
Even top players make the mistake of betting too much on the flop or pre-flop, according to Caro. The most profitable routine bet in no limit is one less than the size of the pot, he said. Caro also advised just calling preflop more often to see how the hand develops.
In his final tell of the seminar, Caro said to watch for a player making a little extra motion with their hand at the end of the bet. He said this is a sign of a weak hand or bluff.
In his “final affirmation,” Caro, clad in jeans and a sport coat, asked the crowd to repeat with him, “I am a lucky player. A powerful winning force surrounds me.”
Suddenly, one had to wonder if he had stumbled into a Tony Robbins seminar instead…
Caro’s hair was relatively combed as he took the stage in the Doyle's Room suite on Wednesday morning to give a seminar on hold’em play. It was standing room only as the crowd squeezed into the suite to listen to one of the original contributors of Super/System.
He opened the seminar with one of his classic tells – that the way players stack chips indicates how they’ll play.
“Conservative means conservative,” Caro said. “If it’s haphazard it’s their personality coming out. Expect them to be loose and reckless.”
Caro then proceeded into a number of tips for limit play, including his advice not to raise in middle position on the final betting round without the nuts.
“You’re much better off calling unless you have an unbeatable hand,” he said.
Caro also advised listeners not to play pocket twos through fours from an early position unless their foes are weak, and to always fold pocket twos through sevens from an early seat in a percentage payoff tournament.
The “mad genius” roamed side to side across the stage as he discussed the penalty of winning a poker tournament. “You have to win all the chips to get the trophy and then you have to give them away,” he said. “You’d rather stumble into [first] if you play for profit.”
In another tell tip, Caro said that players reaching for chips indicate they don’t want you to bet, so go ahead and put chips in the pot. “They’ve just told you that you don’t have to fear someone making an aggressive bet,” he said.
Caro advised the crowd not to put their opponent on a hand, but a range of hands. “You’ll never win at poker if you analyze it like chess.”
Even top players make the mistake of betting too much on the flop or pre-flop, according to Caro. The most profitable routine bet in no limit is one less than the size of the pot, he said. Caro also advised just calling preflop more often to see how the hand develops.
In his final tell of the seminar, Caro said to watch for a player making a little extra motion with their hand at the end of the bet. He said this is a sign of a weak hand or bluff.
In his “final affirmation,” Caro, clad in jeans and a sport coat, asked the crowd to repeat with him, “I am a lucky player. A powerful winning force surrounds me.”
Suddenly, one had to wonder if he had stumbled into a Tony Robbins seminar instead…
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Party Poker blog, Hoyt's BBQ and Wil's wee wee
Dan Michalski has assembled a team of six or either poker bloggers to cover the World Series of Poker for sponsor Party Poker. My job is to provide color and commentary from around the WSOP and Vegas regarding the WSOP. That’s what I’ll be doing in addition to this blog for the next several weeks. So check it out at www.pokerblog.com.
I met Gary Wise on Monday at the Rio. I haven’t mentioned his site yet, but I’ve sent him a few things for his new Web site, which we hope will grow by leaps and bounds in the near future. Read his site and my stuff there at www.wisehandpoker.com.
I got the email from Hoyt (or probably Natalee since Hoyt can’t type for shit…like I can’t play poker for shit) last night for his BBQ party on Saturday. They’re flying the stuff in from Memphis. I should have brought some Dreamland sauce from Tuscaloosa. If only I’d known…
Most of the bloggers have left town, but most of us still remaining met up at the “hooker” bar at the Rio on Monday night. It was good fun drinking beers and sharing stories. Wil Wheaton was there during the dinner break for the $1,000. I introduced myself as Johnny Kampis and then said I’m known as “Tuscaloosa” Johnny and then he knew who I was. For a blog that gets two hits a month, I was amazed at the number of bloggers who had heard of me prior to the weekend.
Wil seems like a great guy, but to me he’ll always be the kid with the leech on his wee wee. It’s an image a guy can’t get out of his head.
Poker wise, Monday was a good day. I sat in two 1-2 NL games and raked in about $450. I think I’m about even for the trip, but I’ll have to do some calculations. I still haven’t played any satellites at the Rio or been to the Orleans for their tournaments, but I expect to do both on Wednesday with more time to burn.
I need to get started writing for Dan, so the post ends here.
I met Gary Wise on Monday at the Rio. I haven’t mentioned his site yet, but I’ve sent him a few things for his new Web site, which we hope will grow by leaps and bounds in the near future. Read his site and my stuff there at www.wisehandpoker.com.
I got the email from Hoyt (or probably Natalee since Hoyt can’t type for shit…like I can’t play poker for shit) last night for his BBQ party on Saturday. They’re flying the stuff in from Memphis. I should have brought some Dreamland sauce from Tuscaloosa. If only I’d known…
Most of the bloggers have left town, but most of us still remaining met up at the “hooker” bar at the Rio on Monday night. It was good fun drinking beers and sharing stories. Wil Wheaton was there during the dinner break for the $1,000. I introduced myself as Johnny Kampis and then said I’m known as “Tuscaloosa” Johnny and then he knew who I was. For a blog that gets two hits a month, I was amazed at the number of bloggers who had heard of me prior to the weekend.
Wil seems like a great guy, but to me he’ll always be the kid with the leech on his wee wee. It’s an image a guy can’t get out of his head.
Poker wise, Monday was a good day. I sat in two 1-2 NL games and raked in about $450. I think I’m about even for the trip, but I’ll have to do some calculations. I still haven’t played any satellites at the Rio or been to the Orleans for their tournaments, but I expect to do both on Wednesday with more time to burn.
I need to get started writing for Dan, so the post ends here.
Bloggerpalooza continued
As usual, the WSOP area was filled with the regular masses as I walked there for the first time Friday morning. The pros, the wannabes, the gawking poker fans -- they all mingled among the various online poker suites, merchandise selling vendor booths and registration area outside the tournament room.
I walked by Shawn Sheikhan, who was berating a friend on a cell phone call. “You went in with that? You’re giving your fucking money away. You don’t need to be playing $5,000 tournaments,” he shouted into the phone.
Inside the tournament area, it was the usual madhouse. Cash games were taking place in one corner, satellites in another, while the day’s big tournament took up most of the space. I hopped on a list for the quickest game I could find, which turned out to be $4-$8 limit. Per usual, I couldn’t beat a donkfest and dropped maybe $35.
What I have yet to mention was the girl I met on the airplane. We’ll call her Karen. We sat beside each other and ended up chatting the entire flight from Denver to Vegas. Karen is from Edmonton and was coming into town for a wedding. We also shared a ride on the shuttle to downtown and agreed to meet again before she left town. (She stayed at the Golden Nugget.)
We made plans on Friday to meet at the MGM that night before I was to play in a blogger mixed game. Karen and I went to the Centrifugal bar for drinks and to watch the barhops and maidens dance on the bar every half hour.
“I can’t believe I’m going to be in Vegas for six weeks,” I told her while sipping a Guinness. At that very moment life was pretty good.
We headed to the poker room after I gave her some hold’em lessons in case she decided to sit in a game and I was just in time to grab a seat in the $2-$4 HORSE game before it filled up. (Karen would later sit in a $2-$4 hold’em game and drop $40 before departing with a headache. So much for my lessons.)
I had no luck in the game, but enjoyed meeting several more bloggers and drinking with them at the bar. (I saw Iggy play almost no poker all weekend, but he always seemed to be at a bar, sitting in a high chair of course.)
Saturday figured to be more eventful as the big bloggers’ tournament was planned for 10 a.m. at Caesars Palace. I had to set my alarm (regrettably, since I was still way behind on sleep) and make my way down to the Strip. The new poker room at Caesars is just off the sports book and it is impressive, with different cash game and tournament rooms.
Several speakers took their turns in front of the crowd before the no limit hold’em tournament, including Michael Craig, author of “The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King.” Craig related the knick knacks he’s stolen from various poker players, including Andy Beal’s watch, Chris Ferguson’s card cover and Ted Forrest’s Full Tilt jersey. (There’s a story behind the liftings that are too lengthy to describe at this moment. Craig isn’t quite the eager kleptomaniac as the previous sentence makes him sound.)
“I won’t betray confidence, but I’ll steal a pen in a heartbeat,” the author said with a laugh.
Craig is beginning to write his own blog, for Linda at Table Tango.
“I’m excited about writing the blog, writing about people calling me down with sixth pair and taking pictures of them pulling in the pot,” he said.
Jay Greenspan discussed his blog and his new book “Hunting Fish,” in which he travels from town to town across the country searching out the best backroom and casino games.
“I thought it would be nice to put out a book that documented that part of the game,” he said.
Howard Lederer took the microphone to discuss the current anti-online gaming legislation being considered by the House of Representatives.
One aspect of the bill that Lederer believes hasn’t been discussed enough is the provision that “forces banks to essentially become the cops” by monitoring financial transactions. He believes the move could increase the costs of the financial institutions, which would then be passed on to customers.
He also mentioned the provision that requires internet service providers to censor the internet.
“This is a practice that our government criticized China about,” Lederer said. “Apparently it’s ok if it’s something our government [doesn’t want on the Internet.]”
Lederer and other professional poker players traveled to Washington recently to speak on behalf of a lobbying organization fighting the legislation. The player nicknamed “The Professor” said he was glad poker finally had a voice in the capital arguing that poker was a game of skill.
“Poker has never been in Washington making that argument,” he said.
The senator to which Lederer spoke had a change of heart after hearing the poker player’s argument.
“Here was one senator who was neutral before our meeting and now he’s ready to move against it. It shows how foolish poker and poker players were not to be there until recently trying to fight [the legislation].”
Lederer believes the vote in the House will be closer than expected, which could bode well for the Senate tally. He said the American Gaming Association was originally against the bill, but now has taking a neutral stance on it.
“The idea of a prohibition is absurd,” Lederer said of online poker, a version of the game in which 23 million Americans play. “Our number one ally in the world, the UK, is heading in the opposite direction.”
Phil Gordon took the stage and joked about his best friend, Rafe Furst, winning a WSOP bracelet earlier in the week.
“I’m still working on mine, goddamn it,” he joked. “Talk about a fucking tilter.”
Gordon has made five WSOP final tables in the last three years without winning, while this was Furst’s first final table.
The tall poker pro then discussed the charity Cancer Research Prevention Foundation, for which he has helped raise more than a million dollars by convincing fellow players to donate 1 or 2 percent of their tournament winning to the cause. Gordon said Phil Hellmuth helped kick start the 2006 WSOP Put a Bad Beat on Cancer campaign by giving $25,000 from his winnings.
“I hope to make a $100,000 donation, which would be 1 percent of the $10 frickin million,” Gordon quipped.
The Full Tilter then emceed the Roshambo competition. To the unenlightened, this is Rock, Paper, Scissors with a mystical name. We all donated $15 or more toward Put a Bad Beat on Cancer for the chance to be called the blogger Roshambo champion.
Gordon had us all line up in two lines and pick an opponent. We then immediately tossed quickly to see who could take the best two out of three. Amazingly, as bad as others have whipped me at the game, I managed to win my first three matches, making it to the quarterfinals. I went paper first all three times, on the prevailing theory that your average Roshambo player starts off with rock. It worked magnificently until John Caldwell, proprietor of Pokernews.com, tossed me a curveball with the scissors opener. Having me completely off my game, Caldwell made quick work of me in the quarterfinals.
The winner of the competition, whose name escapes me, gets a one-hour poker lesson from Gordon.
The tournament had about 113 entrants, with the top 10 getting the cash and the winner getting the golden hammer trophy. I was never dealt the magical 7-2 until late in the affair and at that point felt it unwise to make a move with “the hammer.” I was earlier dealt Tuscaloosa Slick, or 6-2 for the unenlightened, but had to fold to a re-raise.
Because of numerous suckouts (QQ vs. KK, 77 vs. JJ, A2 vs. AT, etc.) I made it deep, but my luck finally ran out when Double As K-7 trumped my A-8. I had previously received a bustout bounty of aces coasters from a blogger I had not met and a signed dollar bill from Pauly, whose nines I cracked with A-5. Having nothing for Double As, I gave him my Bodog card cover. I bubbled in 12th with my ouster.
Iggy then proceeded to cream me at Roshambo for the millionth time.
I headed to bed early Saturday night as I was just exhausted from the first few days.
I decided to make Sunday my lazy day. No poker. No leaving downtown. And there was the matter of Karen.
As I said, she came here for a wedding. What I didn’t tell you was that the groom was her ex-boyfriend, a very serious ex-boyfriend. So it was pretty weird she got invited. To top it off, she discovered at the bridal shower Saturday night that he cheated on her by dating the bride while Karen and he were still together.
We talked late Saturday night and Karen told me she wanted to get sloppy drunk. I wasn’t sure what to expect beyond the getting drunk part, but things did seem to be lining up for a nice rendezvous.
So I hung around Sunday in the hotel room, waiting for Karen’s call. We met in front of Binion’s and proceeded to Mermaids to get the biggest, tallest daiquiris known to man, in souvenir plastic cups about two feet tall, and planted ourselves in front of penny slot machines. After an hour and half of reel spinning and daiquiri sipping, we walked our drunk selves onto Freemont Street.
Let me preference our next step with these two occurrences while at Mermaids: 1) Karen told me she had a deck of cards in her room, 2) She later asked me what the rules were for strip poker.
As we were in the street, I made the genius recommendation that we go to her room to play poker.
She obtained two rolls of nickels from the change booth at the Nugget and we headed up. I could barely keep my eyes open as we took turns dealing the cards. I called her down every hand, letting her take my nickels, and expecting her to ask for a sock next. But she didn’t.
Before we could play another game I had to worship the porcelain throne. Even though all I had to eat that day was a cereal bar and a couple of shrimp cocktails from the Golden Gate, I should be able to hold my liquor better than a girl.
I had to lie on the bed for awhile as I sobered up some and we played another hold’em game with nickels. This time I played for keeps and took her down. Rather than engage in any extracurricular activities, Karen wanted to get something to eat.
As Karen and I sat in the Nugget restaurant and I wavered between drunk and sober, I managed to let my glass of ice water slip from my right hand, dumping the entire contents into my groin and completely soaking my pants. It looked like I had peed all over myself.
The waitress had a laugh as we asked her for another glass of water and I explained my predicament. Not ten minutes later, I had managed to spill that one across the table top.
“I can’t take you anywhere,” Karen said in the manner of a scolding schoolteacher.
The waitress returned to survey the scene and could not contain her laughter.
“We need a sippy cup,” Karen told her.
“Don’t worry,” the waitress said. “My son does it all the time.”
Great, my motor skills had just been compared to those of a 3-year-old. In truth, the kid could probably run circles around me in my drunken state.
We finished eating and said our goodbyes. I was so sure something was going to happen between us. The stars seem to be aligned, but alas it was not to be. Karen flew back to Edmonton Monday morning.
The saying does apply – what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, unless I blog about it.
UPDATE: Just scored an invite to Hoyt Corkins' BBQ party on the 15th at his house. The pork is being flown in from Memphis. Guest list includes Esfandiari, Laak, Hachem, Raymer, Hellmuth, Lederer...
Other big news today is I'm officially blogging for Dan Michalski and Party Poker at www.pokerblog.com, along with several others. Pay is good and it's for a five-week period during the WSOP, with perhaps more opportunities down the road.
More on all the good news when I have more time to post... :)
I walked by Shawn Sheikhan, who was berating a friend on a cell phone call. “You went in with that? You’re giving your fucking money away. You don’t need to be playing $5,000 tournaments,” he shouted into the phone.
Inside the tournament area, it was the usual madhouse. Cash games were taking place in one corner, satellites in another, while the day’s big tournament took up most of the space. I hopped on a list for the quickest game I could find, which turned out to be $4-$8 limit. Per usual, I couldn’t beat a donkfest and dropped maybe $35.
What I have yet to mention was the girl I met on the airplane. We’ll call her Karen. We sat beside each other and ended up chatting the entire flight from Denver to Vegas. Karen is from Edmonton and was coming into town for a wedding. We also shared a ride on the shuttle to downtown and agreed to meet again before she left town. (She stayed at the Golden Nugget.)
We made plans on Friday to meet at the MGM that night before I was to play in a blogger mixed game. Karen and I went to the Centrifugal bar for drinks and to watch the barhops and maidens dance on the bar every half hour.
“I can’t believe I’m going to be in Vegas for six weeks,” I told her while sipping a Guinness. At that very moment life was pretty good.
We headed to the poker room after I gave her some hold’em lessons in case she decided to sit in a game and I was just in time to grab a seat in the $2-$4 HORSE game before it filled up. (Karen would later sit in a $2-$4 hold’em game and drop $40 before departing with a headache. So much for my lessons.)
I had no luck in the game, but enjoyed meeting several more bloggers and drinking with them at the bar. (I saw Iggy play almost no poker all weekend, but he always seemed to be at a bar, sitting in a high chair of course.)
Saturday figured to be more eventful as the big bloggers’ tournament was planned for 10 a.m. at Caesars Palace. I had to set my alarm (regrettably, since I was still way behind on sleep) and make my way down to the Strip. The new poker room at Caesars is just off the sports book and it is impressive, with different cash game and tournament rooms.
Several speakers took their turns in front of the crowd before the no limit hold’em tournament, including Michael Craig, author of “The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King.” Craig related the knick knacks he’s stolen from various poker players, including Andy Beal’s watch, Chris Ferguson’s card cover and Ted Forrest’s Full Tilt jersey. (There’s a story behind the liftings that are too lengthy to describe at this moment. Craig isn’t quite the eager kleptomaniac as the previous sentence makes him sound.)
“I won’t betray confidence, but I’ll steal a pen in a heartbeat,” the author said with a laugh.
Craig is beginning to write his own blog, for Linda at Table Tango.
“I’m excited about writing the blog, writing about people calling me down with sixth pair and taking pictures of them pulling in the pot,” he said.
Jay Greenspan discussed his blog and his new book “Hunting Fish,” in which he travels from town to town across the country searching out the best backroom and casino games.
“I thought it would be nice to put out a book that documented that part of the game,” he said.
Howard Lederer took the microphone to discuss the current anti-online gaming legislation being considered by the House of Representatives.
One aspect of the bill that Lederer believes hasn’t been discussed enough is the provision that “forces banks to essentially become the cops” by monitoring financial transactions. He believes the move could increase the costs of the financial institutions, which would then be passed on to customers.
He also mentioned the provision that requires internet service providers to censor the internet.
“This is a practice that our government criticized China about,” Lederer said. “Apparently it’s ok if it’s something our government [doesn’t want on the Internet.]”
Lederer and other professional poker players traveled to Washington recently to speak on behalf of a lobbying organization fighting the legislation. The player nicknamed “The Professor” said he was glad poker finally had a voice in the capital arguing that poker was a game of skill.
“Poker has never been in Washington making that argument,” he said.
The senator to which Lederer spoke had a change of heart after hearing the poker player’s argument.
“Here was one senator who was neutral before our meeting and now he’s ready to move against it. It shows how foolish poker and poker players were not to be there until recently trying to fight [the legislation].”
Lederer believes the vote in the House will be closer than expected, which could bode well for the Senate tally. He said the American Gaming Association was originally against the bill, but now has taking a neutral stance on it.
“The idea of a prohibition is absurd,” Lederer said of online poker, a version of the game in which 23 million Americans play. “Our number one ally in the world, the UK, is heading in the opposite direction.”
Phil Gordon took the stage and joked about his best friend, Rafe Furst, winning a WSOP bracelet earlier in the week.
“I’m still working on mine, goddamn it,” he joked. “Talk about a fucking tilter.”
Gordon has made five WSOP final tables in the last three years without winning, while this was Furst’s first final table.
The tall poker pro then discussed the charity Cancer Research Prevention Foundation, for which he has helped raise more than a million dollars by convincing fellow players to donate 1 or 2 percent of their tournament winning to the cause. Gordon said Phil Hellmuth helped kick start the 2006 WSOP Put a Bad Beat on Cancer campaign by giving $25,000 from his winnings.
“I hope to make a $100,000 donation, which would be 1 percent of the $10 frickin million,” Gordon quipped.
The Full Tilter then emceed the Roshambo competition. To the unenlightened, this is Rock, Paper, Scissors with a mystical name. We all donated $15 or more toward Put a Bad Beat on Cancer for the chance to be called the blogger Roshambo champion.
Gordon had us all line up in two lines and pick an opponent. We then immediately tossed quickly to see who could take the best two out of three. Amazingly, as bad as others have whipped me at the game, I managed to win my first three matches, making it to the quarterfinals. I went paper first all three times, on the prevailing theory that your average Roshambo player starts off with rock. It worked magnificently until John Caldwell, proprietor of Pokernews.com, tossed me a curveball with the scissors opener. Having me completely off my game, Caldwell made quick work of me in the quarterfinals.
The winner of the competition, whose name escapes me, gets a one-hour poker lesson from Gordon.
The tournament had about 113 entrants, with the top 10 getting the cash and the winner getting the golden hammer trophy. I was never dealt the magical 7-2 until late in the affair and at that point felt it unwise to make a move with “the hammer.” I was earlier dealt Tuscaloosa Slick, or 6-2 for the unenlightened, but had to fold to a re-raise.
Because of numerous suckouts (QQ vs. KK, 77 vs. JJ, A2 vs. AT, etc.) I made it deep, but my luck finally ran out when Double As K-7 trumped my A-8. I had previously received a bustout bounty of aces coasters from a blogger I had not met and a signed dollar bill from Pauly, whose nines I cracked with A-5. Having nothing for Double As, I gave him my Bodog card cover. I bubbled in 12th with my ouster.
Iggy then proceeded to cream me at Roshambo for the millionth time.
I headed to bed early Saturday night as I was just exhausted from the first few days.
I decided to make Sunday my lazy day. No poker. No leaving downtown. And there was the matter of Karen.
As I said, she came here for a wedding. What I didn’t tell you was that the groom was her ex-boyfriend, a very serious ex-boyfriend. So it was pretty weird she got invited. To top it off, she discovered at the bridal shower Saturday night that he cheated on her by dating the bride while Karen and he were still together.
We talked late Saturday night and Karen told me she wanted to get sloppy drunk. I wasn’t sure what to expect beyond the getting drunk part, but things did seem to be lining up for a nice rendezvous.
So I hung around Sunday in the hotel room, waiting for Karen’s call. We met in front of Binion’s and proceeded to Mermaids to get the biggest, tallest daiquiris known to man, in souvenir plastic cups about two feet tall, and planted ourselves in front of penny slot machines. After an hour and half of reel spinning and daiquiri sipping, we walked our drunk selves onto Freemont Street.
Let me preference our next step with these two occurrences while at Mermaids: 1) Karen told me she had a deck of cards in her room, 2) She later asked me what the rules were for strip poker.
As we were in the street, I made the genius recommendation that we go to her room to play poker.
She obtained two rolls of nickels from the change booth at the Nugget and we headed up. I could barely keep my eyes open as we took turns dealing the cards. I called her down every hand, letting her take my nickels, and expecting her to ask for a sock next. But she didn’t.
Before we could play another game I had to worship the porcelain throne. Even though all I had to eat that day was a cereal bar and a couple of shrimp cocktails from the Golden Gate, I should be able to hold my liquor better than a girl.
I had to lie on the bed for awhile as I sobered up some and we played another hold’em game with nickels. This time I played for keeps and took her down. Rather than engage in any extracurricular activities, Karen wanted to get something to eat.
As Karen and I sat in the Nugget restaurant and I wavered between drunk and sober, I managed to let my glass of ice water slip from my right hand, dumping the entire contents into my groin and completely soaking my pants. It looked like I had peed all over myself.
The waitress had a laugh as we asked her for another glass of water and I explained my predicament. Not ten minutes later, I had managed to spill that one across the table top.
“I can’t take you anywhere,” Karen said in the manner of a scolding schoolteacher.
The waitress returned to survey the scene and could not contain her laughter.
“We need a sippy cup,” Karen told her.
“Don’t worry,” the waitress said. “My son does it all the time.”
Great, my motor skills had just been compared to those of a 3-year-old. In truth, the kid could probably run circles around me in my drunken state.
We finished eating and said our goodbyes. I was so sure something was going to happen between us. The stars seem to be aligned, but alas it was not to be. Karen flew back to Edmonton Monday morning.
The saying does apply – what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, unless I blog about it.
UPDATE: Just scored an invite to Hoyt Corkins' BBQ party on the 15th at his house. The pork is being flown in from Memphis. Guest list includes Esfandiari, Laak, Hachem, Raymer, Hellmuth, Lederer...
Other big news today is I'm officially blogging for Dan Michalski and Party Poker at www.pokerblog.com, along with several others. Pay is good and it's for a five-week period during the WSOP, with perhaps more opportunities down the road.
More on all the good news when I have more time to post... :)
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Bloggerpalooza
I had almost forgotten how bright the lights are, how busty the women are, how annoying the little Mexican men are who flick the stripper cards toward my face.
Almost.
What can you say about Vegas? It fits like an old glove for me. I love this city.
And I’ve been so busy the last three days that this is my first chance to post.
The sky filled with the white flash of lightning as we descended on Vegas. An electrical storm over a city of a million lights was quite the sight. I arrived at Binion’s around 11:30 Thursday night and got my hotel key from the reservation desk just off the poker room. After getting settled I wandered back down to look for Ted. Sure enough, there was the old timer playing the nightly 8 p.m. tournament.
“You’re playing too tight Teddy,” I remarked when he mucked a hand as I walked up to the rail.
I offered him a hand, but he gave me a fist bump instead. Maybe he’s got a Howie Mandel thing going on.
Ted and I did some catching up since our last meeting in Reno. He made the final table a few minutes later and I bid him adieu to make my way down to the Excalibur where the bloggers were staying and meeting up that night.
There were several games going in the Excalibur poker room when I arrived, but not recognizing anybody there I sat down in a 1-2 NL game. Finally some familiar faces popped up – Dr. Pauly, Iggy, Tennessee Spaceman – and we chatted it up. I got up from my game an $80 loser and met up with a bunch of them at the Sherwood Forest Bar. I met new faces like Static Cling and Zeem and April Kyle, the fantastic organizer of the weekend’s events. Before I passed out, I decided to make my way back to Binion’s.
My head hit the pillow and I was out like a light.
Being newly arrived in Vegas, there was still enough excitement in my body that I couldn’t sleep past 10. That, and Ted making a racket in the room.
I noticed the laptop laying under his bed and asked him about it. Ted said he had lost $400 on Party Poker because he couldn’t operate the touch pad.
“I folded goddamn aces pre-flop,” he said.
A “sketchy” fellow, as Ted called him, was supposed to bring him a mouse for his laptop.
(Fast forward to Sunday morning as I type this. I just got a knock on the door and went to see who it was. A tall middle-eastern man with shades on his eyes and lipstick on his cheek appeared at the door asking for Ted. Yep, it was the “sketchy” fellow. He told me his name is Kay and handed me his number to give to Ted. We enjoyed a minutes long conversation about New Orleans after he asked me where I was from. Kay is a doctor and he knows some doctor in Lafayette, La., that he stayed with to attend a medical conference in the Big Easy several years ago.
Kay told me we should meet for dinner one night and parted with these helpful words, “I know everything in Vegas. Whatever you want, I got it.” He did deliver on the mouse – Ted got it Saturday night, and proceeded to break the retractable cord. Never let an old man near new technology.)
So Friday morning I headed down past the Neonopolis to the bus stop. Being here for six weeks I just don’t have the capital to ride taxis everywhere. Ted said it’s costing him about $30 a day, whereas I can get a 30-day bus pass for $40. Heck, you hear some interesting conversations and met some interesting characters on a public bus. The Vegas bus system is new and improved as well. They’ve added these double decker buses for Strip to Downtown routes and call them The Deuce, some clever name bestowed on the system by some clever smartass.
The ride at the top is pleasant and provides a nice view of the city.
I took my seat at the top Friday morning and heard some old fellow talking about the condos going up downtown across from the bus stop.
“They’re building these damn high rises everywhere,” said the man, who I swore sounded just like the D’Agostino fan I met at the World Poker Tour taping at the Borgata in September.
He’s really not exaggerating. In addition to the Downtown condos, you’ve got Turnberry Place on the north end of the Strip, The Sky just down from Turnberry, Panorama off the strip behind the Bellagio and the Playboy tower going up behind The Palms.
I still haven’t decided which residence I’ll choose after winning the WSOP.
The bus driver quipped that the new Nevada state bird is the crane, in reference to the massive structures used to build the towers.
I made the slow ride down to the Rio and took the familiar walk back to the convention center
To be continued later (Ted needs the phone line)
Almost.
What can you say about Vegas? It fits like an old glove for me. I love this city.
And I’ve been so busy the last three days that this is my first chance to post.
The sky filled with the white flash of lightning as we descended on Vegas. An electrical storm over a city of a million lights was quite the sight. I arrived at Binion’s around 11:30 Thursday night and got my hotel key from the reservation desk just off the poker room. After getting settled I wandered back down to look for Ted. Sure enough, there was the old timer playing the nightly 8 p.m. tournament.
“You’re playing too tight Teddy,” I remarked when he mucked a hand as I walked up to the rail.
I offered him a hand, but he gave me a fist bump instead. Maybe he’s got a Howie Mandel thing going on.
Ted and I did some catching up since our last meeting in Reno. He made the final table a few minutes later and I bid him adieu to make my way down to the Excalibur where the bloggers were staying and meeting up that night.
There were several games going in the Excalibur poker room when I arrived, but not recognizing anybody there I sat down in a 1-2 NL game. Finally some familiar faces popped up – Dr. Pauly, Iggy, Tennessee Spaceman – and we chatted it up. I got up from my game an $80 loser and met up with a bunch of them at the Sherwood Forest Bar. I met new faces like Static Cling and Zeem and April Kyle, the fantastic organizer of the weekend’s events. Before I passed out, I decided to make my way back to Binion’s.
My head hit the pillow and I was out like a light.
Being newly arrived in Vegas, there was still enough excitement in my body that I couldn’t sleep past 10. That, and Ted making a racket in the room.
I noticed the laptop laying under his bed and asked him about it. Ted said he had lost $400 on Party Poker because he couldn’t operate the touch pad.
“I folded goddamn aces pre-flop,” he said.
A “sketchy” fellow, as Ted called him, was supposed to bring him a mouse for his laptop.
(Fast forward to Sunday morning as I type this. I just got a knock on the door and went to see who it was. A tall middle-eastern man with shades on his eyes and lipstick on his cheek appeared at the door asking for Ted. Yep, it was the “sketchy” fellow. He told me his name is Kay and handed me his number to give to Ted. We enjoyed a minutes long conversation about New Orleans after he asked me where I was from. Kay is a doctor and he knows some doctor in Lafayette, La., that he stayed with to attend a medical conference in the Big Easy several years ago.
Kay told me we should meet for dinner one night and parted with these helpful words, “I know everything in Vegas. Whatever you want, I got it.” He did deliver on the mouse – Ted got it Saturday night, and proceeded to break the retractable cord. Never let an old man near new technology.)
So Friday morning I headed down past the Neonopolis to the bus stop. Being here for six weeks I just don’t have the capital to ride taxis everywhere. Ted said it’s costing him about $30 a day, whereas I can get a 30-day bus pass for $40. Heck, you hear some interesting conversations and met some interesting characters on a public bus. The Vegas bus system is new and improved as well. They’ve added these double decker buses for Strip to Downtown routes and call them The Deuce, some clever name bestowed on the system by some clever smartass.
The ride at the top is pleasant and provides a nice view of the city.
I took my seat at the top Friday morning and heard some old fellow talking about the condos going up downtown across from the bus stop.
“They’re building these damn high rises everywhere,” said the man, who I swore sounded just like the D’Agostino fan I met at the World Poker Tour taping at the Borgata in September.
He’s really not exaggerating. In addition to the Downtown condos, you’ve got Turnberry Place on the north end of the Strip, The Sky just down from Turnberry, Panorama off the strip behind the Bellagio and the Playboy tower going up behind The Palms.
I still haven’t decided which residence I’ll choose after winning the WSOP.
The bus driver quipped that the new Nevada state bird is the crane, in reference to the massive structures used to build the towers.
I made the slow ride down to the Rio and took the familiar walk back to the convention center
To be continued later (Ted needs the phone line)
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Yeah, I got the itch
24 hours from now I'll be sitting in a Denver airport waiting for my connecting flight to McCarran.
What can I say? Ah....
Will I be broke in six weeks? Or will I own the keys to a condo at Turnberry Place?
Stay tuned for updates throughout the summer. Where else on the net can you get trip reports from the bloggers tour and BARGE, as well as live vicariously through a participant in the main event and a trip to the shrine of Bob, a.k.a. The Price is Right? Nowhere, folks, nowhere.
Ciao.
What can I say? Ah....
Will I be broke in six weeks? Or will I own the keys to a condo at Turnberry Place?
Stay tuned for updates throughout the summer. Where else on the net can you get trip reports from the bloggers tour and BARGE, as well as live vicariously through a participant in the main event and a trip to the shrine of Bob, a.k.a. The Price is Right? Nowhere, folks, nowhere.
Ciao.
Monday, July 03, 2006
T-minus 3 days
Last week was sort of a poker boot camp for me -- lots of live action in Tuscaloosa, some MTTs, reading strategy books from the masters of the game as well as narratives from the likes of Chris Moneymaker for inspiration. (Not exactly the greatest writer of our time I'm afraid. If I read one more "I threw in with them" or "I bet straight away" I told myself I would put down the book, but I refrained.) One thing I noticed about Moneymaker after reading ths book is his scary gambling problem. The guy was up to his eyeballs in debt thanks to a nasty sports betting habit. He was only a break even poker player until he won the main event. Quite a lucky story.
Can it happen again?
It probably will for somebody, but the key here is will that somebody be yours truly.
I realized the other day while playing a tournament on Full Tilt that I just haven't played many MTTs in the past year. I'd been so busy with grinding out a living at the cash games and leaving my tournament action for my various trips that I never played many online tournaments. Maybe that was my mistake.
It hasn't been much of a living this year. Adding up my monthly totals for the first six months of this year, I found that I had won...are you ready for this?...a grand total of $3,000 playing poker.
Did I really win nearly $10,000 last August? (Oh yes, wasn't this in my last post?)
What the heck went wrong here? That's how fickle this silly game is. You think you're a world beater one month and the next you can't win a hand. It's pretty disheartening when you're sitting there in your little local $5-$10 limit game and terrible players are cackling as they draw out on you repeatedly. But then you realize how stupid it is really to play poker for a living. These people have real jobs and they're just playing poker to blow off some steam and have a good time while it's your fucking livelihood. Who's the chump?
I let a notable anniversary pass recently without acknowledgment -- that's the anniversary of my unemployment. It was one year ago sometime last week that I left the paper. Since I decided months ago not to go back, I haven't really thought about it much. But there it is. I'll discuss the significance of that more when I'm chilling in my Binion's hotel room.
Can it happen again?
It probably will for somebody, but the key here is will that somebody be yours truly.
I realized the other day while playing a tournament on Full Tilt that I just haven't played many MTTs in the past year. I'd been so busy with grinding out a living at the cash games and leaving my tournament action for my various trips that I never played many online tournaments. Maybe that was my mistake.
It hasn't been much of a living this year. Adding up my monthly totals for the first six months of this year, I found that I had won...are you ready for this?...a grand total of $3,000 playing poker.
Did I really win nearly $10,000 last August? (Oh yes, wasn't this in my last post?)
What the heck went wrong here? That's how fickle this silly game is. You think you're a world beater one month and the next you can't win a hand. It's pretty disheartening when you're sitting there in your little local $5-$10 limit game and terrible players are cackling as they draw out on you repeatedly. But then you realize how stupid it is really to play poker for a living. These people have real jobs and they're just playing poker to blow off some steam and have a good time while it's your fucking livelihood. Who's the chump?
I let a notable anniversary pass recently without acknowledgment -- that's the anniversary of my unemployment. It was one year ago sometime last week that I left the paper. Since I decided months ago not to go back, I haven't really thought about it much. But there it is. I'll discuss the significance of that more when I'm chilling in my Binion's hotel room.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Guide to Vegas and the WSOP
OK, here's the thing I promised:
HOW TO GET TO THE WSOP
The Rio is about a mile off the Strip. I walked the route a few times, but I wouldn’t recommend it as it’s hot as fire in the daytime and dark and scary at night. The cheapest way is by city bus, which was the method I mostly used last year. A 30-day pass is about $30 and single rides are $1.50 or $2. The bus drops you off right in front of the casino. Taxis are, of course, most expensive and were about $10-$12 from Downtown. Strip rates depend how close you are to the Rio. The taxis will drop you off near the back, which is a much closer walk to the WSOP area.
If you enter the Rio from the front you walk straight back through a long corridor to the back of the building. It’s a solid quarter mile walk.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT AT THE WSOP
It’s a sight to behold if you’ve never been. The tournament room is huge, but what do you expect from a facility that must hold 200 tables? You may notice the dark area in the back with the “stars” in black background. That’s the ESPN filming area. The cash games in 2005 were played front right in the room, while satellites were in the front left. On many days, all the tables will be used for only the main tournament of the day until tables can be broken down in the afternoon. The nightly second chance tournament is played in the back left of the room. Walk into the room on any given day and there are many different games going on at once.
SIGNING UP
The main tournament registration area is outside before you reach the room. You’ll also find tournament schedules and structures piled on tables out there. Sign up for cash games at the desk near the cash game area. They use the computer system where you can see how far down the list you are. Lots of hold’em games and limits, a few Omaha games and not much stud.
For satellites, unless there is a big crowd, you can just sit around and wait for one to end and then walk up and grab a seat for the next one. When it is busy, a line forms behind a podium in the area. There are lots of $125 satellites for 2 $500 buy-in chips and $50 satellites in which two players receive $225 vouchers for the nightly second chance tournament.
TOURNAMENTS
There is one, and sometimes two, bracelet events each day. All of the $1,500 NLHE tournaments will have monster fields near 2,000 people, while the bigger buy in NLHE are somewhat smaller. Limit hold’em and Omaha and stud events have more modest fields of 500 or less. Triple-draw lowball is a pro only field, and let’s not even talk about the $50,000 HORSE tournament.
There will be a daily $540 second chance tournament at 5 p.m. and another one for $225 at 11 p.m.
Super satellites, with a $230 buy in plus rebuys, take place daily at 3 p.m. for a seat in the main event. A nightly mega satellite for $1,060 is held at 7 p.m. Leading up to the ME on July 26 and July 27, there will be two supers and two megas each day. The first main event seat you win you must play, but if you win a second seat you get $10,000 in lammers that you can use to buy into other tournaments or sell. If you need to sell lammers, stand near the registration area and offer them up. You should be able to get face value so don’t take anything less.
FREEBIES TO LOOK FOR
Find the Full Tilt Poker hospitality suite and register there. In 2005, they gave out caps, T-shirts, posters and mouse pads, as well as free drinks – both alcoholic and non. There are plenty of poker magazines floating around. Not much else will be free until the WSOP exhibition show starts around the time of the main event, and that show has all the freebies you can stand – caps, visors, shirts, spinners, magazines, autographs from pros, etc. Bluff Magazine had an interesting promotion where they would take your picture and put you on a 5 x 7 photo that looked like the cover of their magazine, proclaiming you the winner of the WSOP. Not sure if they will bring that back in 2006.
WHAT TO EAT AND DRINK
There will be a snack bar set up outside the tournament area offering overpriced sandwiches and pizza. Drinks can be found there or in the gift shop next to it. All of the restaurants in the Rio are also overpriced. Even when you buy into a tournament and get a coupon it only pays for half of the $27 buffet. Fact is, when you’re at the WSOP you’re going to pay to eat. Not sure about food in the near vicinity other than a Mexican restaurant at the Palms that has decent prices and good food.
PROBLEMS TO AVOID
There was a serious bathroom shortage in 2005 as there was only one men’s bathroom near the tournament area. Avoid this line by walking 100 yards back toward the casino to a second bathroom. I believe the Rio is planning to set up some portable toilets somewhere near the tournament area if you’re not too discriminating.
There can also be some really long lines for tournament registration if you wait around until close to the time of the event. If you have the money already, pre-register online. If you have to sign up on site, do it when the lines are short, like really early in the morning or in the afternoon.
OTHER POKER IN VEGAS
Better than ever with the opening of posh new rooms at Caesars Palace and The Venetian. Best rooms in town include those two, Wynn, Bellagio and Mirage. MGM has a pretty nice room but not a wide selection of games. Higher limits can be found at the rest. Some friends of mine watched a $400-$800 razz game at Caesars over Memorial Day weekend that included Shawn Sheikhan and Eskimo Clark.
There are more tournaments than I can possibly list. Pick up an issue of Card Player for a comprehensive listing of the plethora of daily offerings. The biggest daily tournaments are at the Bellagio, Wynn and Mirage, with buy ins from $300 to $1,000 on many days. I like playing the $100 tournaments down at Binion’s and the Plaza (especially since I won one at Binion’s last summer for $3,300 and change).
As for other major tournaments, the Bellagio will hold the Bellagio Cup tournament again this summer from July 24-Aug. 10. All events are NLHE with $1,000 buy-ins running twice a day until Aug. 7, when the $10K main event begins.
The Orleans will host the Orleans Open from July 1-16. This event will feature a variety of poker disciplines with buy-ins starting at $300.
Last year, the Palms held a summer tournament and the Plaza had the Ultimate Poker Challenge, but I don’t believe either one is having those events this year to coincide with the WSOP.
HOW TO GET TO THE WSOP
The Rio is about a mile off the Strip. I walked the route a few times, but I wouldn’t recommend it as it’s hot as fire in the daytime and dark and scary at night. The cheapest way is by city bus, which was the method I mostly used last year. A 30-day pass is about $30 and single rides are $1.50 or $2. The bus drops you off right in front of the casino. Taxis are, of course, most expensive and were about $10-$12 from Downtown. Strip rates depend how close you are to the Rio. The taxis will drop you off near the back, which is a much closer walk to the WSOP area.
If you enter the Rio from the front you walk straight back through a long corridor to the back of the building. It’s a solid quarter mile walk.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT AT THE WSOP
It’s a sight to behold if you’ve never been. The tournament room is huge, but what do you expect from a facility that must hold 200 tables? You may notice the dark area in the back with the “stars” in black background. That’s the ESPN filming area. The cash games in 2005 were played front right in the room, while satellites were in the front left. On many days, all the tables will be used for only the main tournament of the day until tables can be broken down in the afternoon. The nightly second chance tournament is played in the back left of the room. Walk into the room on any given day and there are many different games going on at once.
SIGNING UP
The main tournament registration area is outside before you reach the room. You’ll also find tournament schedules and structures piled on tables out there. Sign up for cash games at the desk near the cash game area. They use the computer system where you can see how far down the list you are. Lots of hold’em games and limits, a few Omaha games and not much stud.
For satellites, unless there is a big crowd, you can just sit around and wait for one to end and then walk up and grab a seat for the next one. When it is busy, a line forms behind a podium in the area. There are lots of $125 satellites for 2 $500 buy-in chips and $50 satellites in which two players receive $225 vouchers for the nightly second chance tournament.
TOURNAMENTS
There is one, and sometimes two, bracelet events each day. All of the $1,500 NLHE tournaments will have monster fields near 2,000 people, while the bigger buy in NLHE are somewhat smaller. Limit hold’em and Omaha and stud events have more modest fields of 500 or less. Triple-draw lowball is a pro only field, and let’s not even talk about the $50,000 HORSE tournament.
There will be a daily $540 second chance tournament at 5 p.m. and another one for $225 at 11 p.m.
Super satellites, with a $230 buy in plus rebuys, take place daily at 3 p.m. for a seat in the main event. A nightly mega satellite for $1,060 is held at 7 p.m. Leading up to the ME on July 26 and July 27, there will be two supers and two megas each day. The first main event seat you win you must play, but if you win a second seat you get $10,000 in lammers that you can use to buy into other tournaments or sell. If you need to sell lammers, stand near the registration area and offer them up. You should be able to get face value so don’t take anything less.
FREEBIES TO LOOK FOR
Find the Full Tilt Poker hospitality suite and register there. In 2005, they gave out caps, T-shirts, posters and mouse pads, as well as free drinks – both alcoholic and non. There are plenty of poker magazines floating around. Not much else will be free until the WSOP exhibition show starts around the time of the main event, and that show has all the freebies you can stand – caps, visors, shirts, spinners, magazines, autographs from pros, etc. Bluff Magazine had an interesting promotion where they would take your picture and put you on a 5 x 7 photo that looked like the cover of their magazine, proclaiming you the winner of the WSOP. Not sure if they will bring that back in 2006.
WHAT TO EAT AND DRINK
There will be a snack bar set up outside the tournament area offering overpriced sandwiches and pizza. Drinks can be found there or in the gift shop next to it. All of the restaurants in the Rio are also overpriced. Even when you buy into a tournament and get a coupon it only pays for half of the $27 buffet. Fact is, when you’re at the WSOP you’re going to pay to eat. Not sure about food in the near vicinity other than a Mexican restaurant at the Palms that has decent prices and good food.
PROBLEMS TO AVOID
There was a serious bathroom shortage in 2005 as there was only one men’s bathroom near the tournament area. Avoid this line by walking 100 yards back toward the casino to a second bathroom. I believe the Rio is planning to set up some portable toilets somewhere near the tournament area if you’re not too discriminating.
There can also be some really long lines for tournament registration if you wait around until close to the time of the event. If you have the money already, pre-register online. If you have to sign up on site, do it when the lines are short, like really early in the morning or in the afternoon.
OTHER POKER IN VEGAS
Better than ever with the opening of posh new rooms at Caesars Palace and The Venetian. Best rooms in town include those two, Wynn, Bellagio and Mirage. MGM has a pretty nice room but not a wide selection of games. Higher limits can be found at the rest. Some friends of mine watched a $400-$800 razz game at Caesars over Memorial Day weekend that included Shawn Sheikhan and Eskimo Clark.
There are more tournaments than I can possibly list. Pick up an issue of Card Player for a comprehensive listing of the plethora of daily offerings. The biggest daily tournaments are at the Bellagio, Wynn and Mirage, with buy ins from $300 to $1,000 on many days. I like playing the $100 tournaments down at Binion’s and the Plaza (especially since I won one at Binion’s last summer for $3,300 and change).
As for other major tournaments, the Bellagio will hold the Bellagio Cup tournament again this summer from July 24-Aug. 10. All events are NLHE with $1,000 buy-ins running twice a day until Aug. 7, when the $10K main event begins.
The Orleans will host the Orleans Open from July 1-16. This event will feature a variety of poker disciplines with buy-ins starting at $300.
Last year, the Palms held a summer tournament and the Plaza had the Ultimate Poker Challenge, but I don’t believe either one is having those events this year to coincide with the WSOP.
Clonie Gowen in Maxim
From Card Player: The July Maxim features Clonie Gowen on the cover and in a bikini in a WSOP preview. Here's what she had to say:
"I've been asked to do this sort of thing before," says Gowan, "but the last offer was from Playboy. And though my sister and mother were all for it, I reviewed the terms and thought it best I keep my clothes on," Gowen said. "Maxim had someone for everything. There was a hair stylist, make-up artist, wardrobe technician, dozens of assistants, and when my nerves started to get the best of me, they had a bartender on staff pouring me a cocktail."
"I've been asked to do this sort of thing before," says Gowan, "but the last offer was from Playboy. And though my sister and mother were all for it, I reviewed the terms and thought it best I keep my clothes on," Gowen said. "Maxim had someone for everything. There was a hair stylist, make-up artist, wardrobe technician, dozens of assistants, and when my nerves started to get the best of me, they had a bartender on staff pouring me a cocktail."
Monday, June 26, 2006
WSOP time...come on down
Yesterday I watched a world cup match between Portugal and the Netherlands, then I walked over to my neighbor’s house to watch his paint dry.
But back in the real world, I’m starting to get more than a little excited about Vegas. The World Series of Poker is starting as we speak. I’ve decided against driving cross country and booked my flight for July 6. The blogger get together is that weekend. I play the $1,500 on July 18 and the next week some friends are flying into town and we’re driving to L.A. for a week and hopefully a spot on The Price is Right. (More on that in a minute.)
When I return it will be time to gear up for the main event. I haven’t received confirmation of my registration so I don’t yet know which day I will play. I asked for day two since I figured more weekend warriors will be in the field in an effort to cut taking many vacation days.
For now, I look at it as a lottery ticket, albeit a $10,000 one. Playing poker may not be quite so simple as pulling six ping pong balls out of a hopper, but to make it through a two-week field of 8,000 or so takes a lot of luck, skill often be damned. I have no unrealistic expectations of how I will fare. I would be plenty happy to make the dough and to make it any deeper would be a dream. All I can do is give it my best. It was always my goal to play the main event in 2006 so any success is icing on the cake, though a nice win would be a great financial help. I tell friends that $150,000 dropped in my lap post taxes would be all I need…pay my house off, send my parents back to Italy and buy me a new car.
To explain that second part – my dad was drafted back in the Vietnam days of the mid 1960s and was training at Fort Benning, Ga., when a particularly harsh drill instructor marched his boys a bit too hard and my dad was among the casualties with a broken foot. It was quite to his benefit as instead of preparing for a trip to the hells in southeast Asia, he was instead sent to a NATO base in Naples, Italy. He lived there for two years in an apartment and my mother lived with him for a year. I can only imagine being newly married and in love in a place like that. They’ve never been back, and I’ve secretly wanted to win enough money playing poker to send them there. So far, I haven’t come close. Did I really win $9,500 last August? It seems like a dream it was so long ago.
Anyway, back to the L.A. trip. Five summers ago, my friends Brian, his wife Heather and Mahn booked our first trip to Las Vegas and we planned to drive to L.A. for a day to try to get on TPIR. It’s been Brian’s favorite game show since he was a kid and it was always his dream to become a contestant. But back in the stone age of 2001, TPIR didn’t offer the e-ticketing it does today so we had to write for our tickets. Forty-five days after writing and the day of the flight having arrived, we still had not received our tickets so the side trip was scrapped.
The tickets came in the mail the next day.
This time was can print our tickets so that won’t be an issue. I’m hoping to audition for Jeopardy! while we’re out there as well and take the daunting quiz they give you.
My former boss sent me this interesting NYTimes article about potential TPIR contestants you might enjoy: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/arts/television/13pric.html?ex=1151208000&en=ea1fffc626b5c89b&ei=5070
I always thought an interesting follow up book if I ever get this first one published would be to write about TV game show contestants and their efforts for big money, big prizes...
But back in the real world, I’m starting to get more than a little excited about Vegas. The World Series of Poker is starting as we speak. I’ve decided against driving cross country and booked my flight for July 6. The blogger get together is that weekend. I play the $1,500 on July 18 and the next week some friends are flying into town and we’re driving to L.A. for a week and hopefully a spot on The Price is Right. (More on that in a minute.)
When I return it will be time to gear up for the main event. I haven’t received confirmation of my registration so I don’t yet know which day I will play. I asked for day two since I figured more weekend warriors will be in the field in an effort to cut taking many vacation days.
For now, I look at it as a lottery ticket, albeit a $10,000 one. Playing poker may not be quite so simple as pulling six ping pong balls out of a hopper, but to make it through a two-week field of 8,000 or so takes a lot of luck, skill often be damned. I have no unrealistic expectations of how I will fare. I would be plenty happy to make the dough and to make it any deeper would be a dream. All I can do is give it my best. It was always my goal to play the main event in 2006 so any success is icing on the cake, though a nice win would be a great financial help. I tell friends that $150,000 dropped in my lap post taxes would be all I need…pay my house off, send my parents back to Italy and buy me a new car.
To explain that second part – my dad was drafted back in the Vietnam days of the mid 1960s and was training at Fort Benning, Ga., when a particularly harsh drill instructor marched his boys a bit too hard and my dad was among the casualties with a broken foot. It was quite to his benefit as instead of preparing for a trip to the hells in southeast Asia, he was instead sent to a NATO base in Naples, Italy. He lived there for two years in an apartment and my mother lived with him for a year. I can only imagine being newly married and in love in a place like that. They’ve never been back, and I’ve secretly wanted to win enough money playing poker to send them there. So far, I haven’t come close. Did I really win $9,500 last August? It seems like a dream it was so long ago.
Anyway, back to the L.A. trip. Five summers ago, my friends Brian, his wife Heather and Mahn booked our first trip to Las Vegas and we planned to drive to L.A. for a day to try to get on TPIR. It’s been Brian’s favorite game show since he was a kid and it was always his dream to become a contestant. But back in the stone age of 2001, TPIR didn’t offer the e-ticketing it does today so we had to write for our tickets. Forty-five days after writing and the day of the flight having arrived, we still had not received our tickets so the side trip was scrapped.
The tickets came in the mail the next day.
This time was can print our tickets so that won’t be an issue. I’m hoping to audition for Jeopardy! while we’re out there as well and take the daunting quiz they give you.
My former boss sent me this interesting NYTimes article about potential TPIR contestants you might enjoy: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/arts/television/13pric.html?ex=1151208000&en=ea1fffc626b5c89b&ei=5070
I always thought an interesting follow up book if I ever get this first one published would be to write about TV game show contestants and their efforts for big money, big prizes...
Thursday, June 15, 2006
A man looks back at 30
I haven't been posting much lately, reverting back to my default lazy self. I've spent the past few days up in Cullman, that little burg in north Alabama that I can always go back to...and am expected to go back to.
I turned 30 today, not quite middle aged, not quite young anymore, sort of in the Twilight Zone of ages. At the very least, it will be much harder to pick up college aged girls. Without lying.
I'm typing at my parents' computer with its glacial internet and strange noise emitting monitor, as my dad flips on the news and hollers at my brother to come and eat. I decided to get a metal detector for my birthday, for something different to do while getting away from poker and as an impoteus to exercise more.
The odd thing about the past few months, pokerwise, is that I have struggled mightily and I continue to struggle, yet as the sunshine peeked through the clouds for brief hours, I managed to win two WSOP seats valued at $11,500. That's certainly exciting, but the euphoria ends pretty quick when you continue to lose at the cash gaems. Eleven thousand in cash would sure come in handy right now, yet I don't want to go selling all of my action lest I luck up, as the clouds disappear completely for a week, and I go very deep into the main event.
I've even dipped a bit into my reserves, pulling a grand out of my Ameritrade account to tide over my checking account for now. It's not dire by any means, but I like to keep my reserves as my reserves. Then again, what's the purpose for reserves if you don't use those reserves? But after you use your reserves then you have no more reserves. Ah, the trouble with finances.
Saturday, I ride with the family down to Orlando. My mother works at ALFA and her office often wins trips each summer to various vacation points in the Southeast. This year it's Mickey land.
I'll part with this comment from my friend Brian as he wished me happy b'day today, "Thirty years old and ain't got no damn job." I cannot deny.
I turned 30 today, not quite middle aged, not quite young anymore, sort of in the Twilight Zone of ages. At the very least, it will be much harder to pick up college aged girls. Without lying.
I'm typing at my parents' computer with its glacial internet and strange noise emitting monitor, as my dad flips on the news and hollers at my brother to come and eat. I decided to get a metal detector for my birthday, for something different to do while getting away from poker and as an impoteus to exercise more.
The odd thing about the past few months, pokerwise, is that I have struggled mightily and I continue to struggle, yet as the sunshine peeked through the clouds for brief hours, I managed to win two WSOP seats valued at $11,500. That's certainly exciting, but the euphoria ends pretty quick when you continue to lose at the cash gaems. Eleven thousand in cash would sure come in handy right now, yet I don't want to go selling all of my action lest I luck up, as the clouds disappear completely for a week, and I go very deep into the main event.
I've even dipped a bit into my reserves, pulling a grand out of my Ameritrade account to tide over my checking account for now. It's not dire by any means, but I like to keep my reserves as my reserves. Then again, what's the purpose for reserves if you don't use those reserves? But after you use your reserves then you have no more reserves. Ah, the trouble with finances.
Saturday, I ride with the family down to Orlando. My mother works at ALFA and her office often wins trips each summer to various vacation points in the Southeast. This year it's Mickey land.
I'll part with this comment from my friend Brian as he wished me happy b'day today, "Thirty years old and ain't got no damn job." I cannot deny.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Ode to the WSOP
No matter how much poker has grown or will grow, no matter how saturated the television market becomes with poker programming, the World Series of Poker will continue to be the sun around which the poker universe revolves.
The WSOP, after all, is where the explosion began, from the first freezeout tournament to the colorful characeters like Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim and Puggy Pearson that captured the attention of the early poker fans. As history has given way to the present, the uniqueness and quaintness of those early years has metamorphised into this huge event where thousands come to try their skill and their luck. The tournament has moved from Binion's to the Rio, soon to move to Caesar's Palace. Hell, the Horseshoe isn't even the Horseshoe anymore.
Even though the tournament has tossed aside its past and is virtually unrecognizable from what was first deemed the World Series of Poker, it continues to be the one central thing that aspiring poker players dare to reach. Winning the WSOP is climbing the Mt. Everest of poker tournaments, now more so than ever. Win it and you're called the world champion, World Poker Tour be damned.
When I started this run last June and jetsetted off to Vegas, I didn't try that hard to win my way into the main event. For one thing, it's no easy task and my poor start to the trip led me to more conservative use of my bankroll. For another, all good stories deserve a good ending. Hickory High wins the Indiana state basketball championship, Luke Skywalker blows up the Death Star, Cinderella finds her prince (or rather he finds her). Winning an WSOP entry and faring well in 2005 would have been rather anticlimatic, don't you think?
Wouldn't the storybook ending be me winning the damn thing this year, as the sun sets on my one-year professional poker tour?
At least I'll get the chance to find out. I won my entry on Sunday.
It was a mere 36-player field on Poker Share, it of the fantastic overlays (which ended Sunday unfortunately), and there were two $13,000 packages up for grabs, as well as $5,000 cash for third. We made a final table deal in which three $10,000 entries would be distributed (and no cash) while fourth would get $1,000.
It was a rather comfortable tournament for me as I don't EVER remember being all in. I built my stack steadily at first and then won a key race with QQ vs. AK. I also got lucky by drawing out on a guy I was trying to bluff and then played smart, aggressive poker when the contenders began to drop from the final table. When we were four handed, I was practically tied for third in chips; by the time I called the all in that ended the tournament, I had 50K and fourth was 15K.
So now I have my lottery ticket, one that could be worth up to $10 million. Win or lose, I can't wait to savor playing on poker's biggest stage.
The WSOP, after all, is where the explosion began, from the first freezeout tournament to the colorful characeters like Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim and Puggy Pearson that captured the attention of the early poker fans. As history has given way to the present, the uniqueness and quaintness of those early years has metamorphised into this huge event where thousands come to try their skill and their luck. The tournament has moved from Binion's to the Rio, soon to move to Caesar's Palace. Hell, the Horseshoe isn't even the Horseshoe anymore.
Even though the tournament has tossed aside its past and is virtually unrecognizable from what was first deemed the World Series of Poker, it continues to be the one central thing that aspiring poker players dare to reach. Winning the WSOP is climbing the Mt. Everest of poker tournaments, now more so than ever. Win it and you're called the world champion, World Poker Tour be damned.
When I started this run last June and jetsetted off to Vegas, I didn't try that hard to win my way into the main event. For one thing, it's no easy task and my poor start to the trip led me to more conservative use of my bankroll. For another, all good stories deserve a good ending. Hickory High wins the Indiana state basketball championship, Luke Skywalker blows up the Death Star, Cinderella finds her prince (or rather he finds her). Winning an WSOP entry and faring well in 2005 would have been rather anticlimatic, don't you think?
Wouldn't the storybook ending be me winning the damn thing this year, as the sun sets on my one-year professional poker tour?
At least I'll get the chance to find out. I won my entry on Sunday.
It was a mere 36-player field on Poker Share, it of the fantastic overlays (which ended Sunday unfortunately), and there were two $13,000 packages up for grabs, as well as $5,000 cash for third. We made a final table deal in which three $10,000 entries would be distributed (and no cash) while fourth would get $1,000.
It was a rather comfortable tournament for me as I don't EVER remember being all in. I built my stack steadily at first and then won a key race with QQ vs. AK. I also got lucky by drawing out on a guy I was trying to bluff and then played smart, aggressive poker when the contenders began to drop from the final table. When we were four handed, I was practically tied for third in chips; by the time I called the all in that ended the tournament, I had 50K and fourth was 15K.
So now I have my lottery ticket, one that could be worth up to $10 million. Win or lose, I can't wait to savor playing on poker's biggest stage.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
WSOP qualifiers update
Click on the link on the right for more good tips on where to qualify for the WSOP
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Return to the Big Easy
As terrible as the destruction in Biloxi was, the scene on either side of I-10 coming into New Orleans was somehow worse. After I crossed the long bridge over Lake Ponachatrain last Wednesday for my first trip to N.O. in a couple of years, I entered a twilight zone. Only a few buildings were torn down or gutted, as in Biloxi. I passed mostly empty houses with weed filled yards, huge empty parking lots and empty streets. The Chalmette area was among the worst flooded areas of the city and now looks like a post-apocolyptic ghost town. It stands as a sign of how far this city must come to return to some sense of normalcy.
The scene in New Orleans proper was not as depressing. While not filled with the hustle and bustle of old, Canal Street had its share of pedestrians and vehicles. Most of the ubiquitous convenience stores, camera shops and restaurants were now open and other prominent landmarks, like the Ritz-Carlton, plan to re-open in the coming months. I drove the several blocks from the interstate to the Harrah's parking deck and stowed my car for the weekend. Inside the Harrah's, it was business as usual -- or perhaps more than usual. Since several area landmarks had yet to re-open (such as the aquarium and IMAX) or were open with limited hours (such as Riverwalk, a shopping mall) the crowds seemed to be gathered at the casino.
Of course, hosting a major poker tournament can't hurt either.
If you've never been to Harrah's, let me inform you it's nice. Not Las Vegas nice, but quite nice compared to your average casino on or east of the Mississippi River. The poker room could use some expansion, as its 20 something tables were filled to capacity all weekend. I signed up for several games, including $1-$2 NL, after finishing Friday's tournament as was 74th on the list. Yikes.
The tournament was held in a theatre, away from the cash games and poker room. In the theatre, only tournaments, satellites and super satellites were taking place, and a bar was set up just outside. Overall, one of the nicer tournaments setups I've seen.
I sat down in a $2-$5 NL game Wednesday night and managed a nice haul thanks to some stones and another hit of the luck fairy's hooch. I was dealt T-6 in the BB and everyone limped. The flop came down T-6-J. I led out for $25 and the guy to my right called. A player with a huge stack pumped it to $125 and the action returned to me. As I had bought in for $300, a pretty paltry sum in this game I thought that either a) big stack thought he could muscle me out or b) he had a really big hand. I chose the former and pushed all in after thinking for a couple of minutes. The player to my left folded, but told the dealer to hold his cards for show after the hand. Big stack thought awhile and finally called, turning over KJ. My two pair held up and I took down a nice $600 pot. Meanwhile, my Cajun friend to the left told the dealer to turn over his hand -- ten, jack. Whew. He obviously put either me or big stack on pocket sixes. My lucky day.
I listened intently as Cajun explained his fold, and he really gave me a hard time after I told him where I was from. LSU and Bama don't have the friendliest of rivalries. The odd thing about the speech of Cajuns, is they sound a lot like someone from Jersey. How that came to be is anybody's guess as I don't think the French settled the northeast. Surely, my history teachers can't be wrong.
The scene in New Orleans proper was not as depressing. While not filled with the hustle and bustle of old, Canal Street had its share of pedestrians and vehicles. Most of the ubiquitous convenience stores, camera shops and restaurants were now open and other prominent landmarks, like the Ritz-Carlton, plan to re-open in the coming months. I drove the several blocks from the interstate to the Harrah's parking deck and stowed my car for the weekend. Inside the Harrah's, it was business as usual -- or perhaps more than usual. Since several area landmarks had yet to re-open (such as the aquarium and IMAX) or were open with limited hours (such as Riverwalk, a shopping mall) the crowds seemed to be gathered at the casino.
Of course, hosting a major poker tournament can't hurt either.
If you've never been to Harrah's, let me inform you it's nice. Not Las Vegas nice, but quite nice compared to your average casino on or east of the Mississippi River. The poker room could use some expansion, as its 20 something tables were filled to capacity all weekend. I signed up for several games, including $1-$2 NL, after finishing Friday's tournament as was 74th on the list. Yikes.
The tournament was held in a theatre, away from the cash games and poker room. In the theatre, only tournaments, satellites and super satellites were taking place, and a bar was set up just outside. Overall, one of the nicer tournaments setups I've seen.
I sat down in a $2-$5 NL game Wednesday night and managed a nice haul thanks to some stones and another hit of the luck fairy's hooch. I was dealt T-6 in the BB and everyone limped. The flop came down T-6-J. I led out for $25 and the guy to my right called. A player with a huge stack pumped it to $125 and the action returned to me. As I had bought in for $300, a pretty paltry sum in this game I thought that either a) big stack thought he could muscle me out or b) he had a really big hand. I chose the former and pushed all in after thinking for a couple of minutes. The player to my left folded, but told the dealer to hold his cards for show after the hand. Big stack thought awhile and finally called, turning over KJ. My two pair held up and I took down a nice $600 pot. Meanwhile, my Cajun friend to the left told the dealer to turn over his hand -- ten, jack. Whew. He obviously put either me or big stack on pocket sixes. My lucky day.
I listened intently as Cajun explained his fold, and he really gave me a hard time after I told him where I was from. LSU and Bama don't have the friendliest of rivalries. The odd thing about the speech of Cajuns, is they sound a lot like someone from Jersey. How that came to be is anybody's guess as I don't think the French settled the northeast. Surely, my history teachers can't be wrong.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Biloxi blues
After leaving Livingston, I headed south down I-20/59 toward the Gulf Coast. Most of my Tuscaloosa crew weren’t going to New Orleans until Thursday, but since I was already a quarter of the way there I figured I’d spend the night in Biloxi if any lodging were available.
As my Grand Prix moved further south, I began to encounter trees twisted into unnatural shapes and old buildings missing roofs. When I reached the coast, the destruction was almost unimaginable, but sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. I hit the coast front highway in Gulfport and turned east toward Biloxi. Rubble was piled everywhere, as concrete slabs and blown out signs were all that remained of many buildings. I passed an IHOP, the Bombay Bicycle Club, Jefferson Davis’ home Beauvoir – all places I’ve visited, and most gone beyond repair.
In some cases, the shells of the old casinos remained, but most of the former floating barges were completely destroyed. Three have re-opened – Imperial Palace, Isle of Capri and Palace, the former two having opened poker rooms to meet the demand.
I headed to IP to check out the poker room and got into a 1-2 NL game. Almost as soon as I sat down, my pal BJ from T-Town called and said he and some friends were already in New Orleans. Change of plans. As I had just sat down, I figured I might as well stay and play for an hour or so, especially since there was this old crazy man named Harold sitting at the table who would play ace rag for all his chips. As he had most of the chips at the table this kept him from going bust.
Finally, I picked up AK and raised to $15, Harold made it $55 and I pushed the rest of my $200 or so stack in the pot. Just my luck, Harold turns over KK. Thank you ace on the turn. Harold lost another pot and then gave the rest of his $130 to the dealer.
“He can probably afford it,” one player said of Harold’s gambling ways.
“I hope so,” I replied.
As my Grand Prix moved further south, I began to encounter trees twisted into unnatural shapes and old buildings missing roofs. When I reached the coast, the destruction was almost unimaginable, but sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. I hit the coast front highway in Gulfport and turned east toward Biloxi. Rubble was piled everywhere, as concrete slabs and blown out signs were all that remained of many buildings. I passed an IHOP, the Bombay Bicycle Club, Jefferson Davis’ home Beauvoir – all places I’ve visited, and most gone beyond repair.
In some cases, the shells of the old casinos remained, but most of the former floating barges were completely destroyed. Three have re-opened – Imperial Palace, Isle of Capri and Palace, the former two having opened poker rooms to meet the demand.
I headed to IP to check out the poker room and got into a 1-2 NL game. Almost as soon as I sat down, my pal BJ from T-Town called and said he and some friends were already in New Orleans. Change of plans. As I had just sat down, I figured I might as well stay and play for an hour or so, especially since there was this old crazy man named Harold sitting at the table who would play ace rag for all his chips. As he had most of the chips at the table this kept him from going bust.
Finally, I picked up AK and raised to $15, Harold made it $55 and I pushed the rest of my $200 or so stack in the pot. Just my luck, Harold turns over KK. Thank you ace on the turn. Harold lost another pot and then gave the rest of his $130 to the dealer.
“He can probably afford it,” one player said of Harold’s gambling ways.
“I hope so,” I replied.
Monday, May 22, 2006
My day in court
Most of the stereotypes that portray the South in the media are pure bullshit. The overalls and bare feet, the KKK running rampant, the no teeth backwoods squeal like a pig butt lover. But the one stereotype where the movies often get it right is the country courthouse.
So I thought as I sat in a chair outside the courtroom of the Sumter County Courthouse in Livingston, Al.., Wednesday afternoon, peering outside a large window at a stately magnolia growing outside the 19th Century building. Inside the courtroom, District Attorney Greg Griggers was prosecuting an assault charge against a man named Jerome who had invited me to see the deplorable and unsafe conditions of the Sumter County High School football field four years ago for a possible newspaper article. An incident at the school led to a fight, which my host tried to break up. But in the end, Jerome himself was charged with assault.
Finally his day in court had come, and I was the only one who could help get him off as I was the sole impartial witness to the fight. The bailiff summoned me and I walked into the room, with its high ceilings and ornately detailed judge’s bench. The facilities screamed Old South. The court reporter swore me in and I took my seat in the witness booth.
While reporting for The T-News, I always admired Griggers’ ability at questioning witnesses, but now the tables were turned and I was the one facing the grilling. Every bit of doubt I had in these events from four years ago he was able to turn on me and portray me as one who was unsure of what really happened. Trying to remember the details of an event that took place so long ago is almost impossible. The essential action was this: Jerome and I walked into the school office and found Jerome's sister and the school secretary jawing at each other. The sister asked to see the school principal and the secretary ignored her. As the secretary turned to walk out of the room, the sister grabbed her and I began to witness the first and only catfight of my life. Jerome tried to break it up and finally some teachers came into the room. One teacher grabbed Jerome and he pushed back, thus the assault charge. The teacher is white and Jerome is black, but I'm not sure it's fair to say the charge was racially motivated (and most of the jury was black, thus eliminating a bias factor against Jerome in his trial).
I finished my dribble and was excused from the courtroom after a few cross examinations. I got in my car and headed south. I received a call from Jerome later that night as I prepared to take a shower in my New Orleans hotel room. He was found guilty.
So I thought as I sat in a chair outside the courtroom of the Sumter County Courthouse in Livingston, Al.., Wednesday afternoon, peering outside a large window at a stately magnolia growing outside the 19th Century building. Inside the courtroom, District Attorney Greg Griggers was prosecuting an assault charge against a man named Jerome who had invited me to see the deplorable and unsafe conditions of the Sumter County High School football field four years ago for a possible newspaper article. An incident at the school led to a fight, which my host tried to break up. But in the end, Jerome himself was charged with assault.
Finally his day in court had come, and I was the only one who could help get him off as I was the sole impartial witness to the fight. The bailiff summoned me and I walked into the room, with its high ceilings and ornately detailed judge’s bench. The facilities screamed Old South. The court reporter swore me in and I took my seat in the witness booth.
While reporting for The T-News, I always admired Griggers’ ability at questioning witnesses, but now the tables were turned and I was the one facing the grilling. Every bit of doubt I had in these events from four years ago he was able to turn on me and portray me as one who was unsure of what really happened. Trying to remember the details of an event that took place so long ago is almost impossible. The essential action was this: Jerome and I walked into the school office and found Jerome's sister and the school secretary jawing at each other. The sister asked to see the school principal and the secretary ignored her. As the secretary turned to walk out of the room, the sister grabbed her and I began to witness the first and only catfight of my life. Jerome tried to break it up and finally some teachers came into the room. One teacher grabbed Jerome and he pushed back, thus the assault charge. The teacher is white and Jerome is black, but I'm not sure it's fair to say the charge was racially motivated (and most of the jury was black, thus eliminating a bias factor against Jerome in his trial).
I finished my dribble and was excused from the courtroom after a few cross examinations. I got in my car and headed south. I received a call from Jerome later that night as I prepared to take a shower in my New Orleans hotel room. He was found guilty.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Quote of the day + WSOP entry
"It’s become almost impossible for entry-level players to get a foothold, much less work their way up the ladder. Juice on the lower buy-in events can be as much as 25%. Add in travel expenses to the never-ending increases in juice and the tournament professional is soon to become an endangered species. The biggest names with huge bankrolls or sponsorship deals will survive, but run-of-the-mill touring pro will not make it unless he gets very lucky in a few big events. " -- 2 + 2 user Blair, lamenting the increasing fees that casinos are charging for tournament entries.
So this is what it feels like...to win a tournament I mean. Now I remember the reason I love this game. It allows me to fulfill my competitive nature in a game of wits when I can't adequately compete in other endeavors. (Though I was the captain of the 1999 University of Alabama Intramural Wiffleball Championship team...)
The tournament in question was a 82-player $10+$1 affair on Poker Share Sunday afternoon. I wouldn't usually get involved in such small fry stuff, but this was part of the Bluff Poker Tour and the winner would get a $1,500 WSOP entry of their choice in addition to about $250 in prize money. Talk about an overlay.
And we started with 2,500 in chips with a slow blind structure, a fantastic pace if you want some play. When we got down to three handed I had 70,000 in chips and the blinds were only 500-1,000! When's the last time you played a tournament where that happened?
I was patient, waited for the aggressive chip leader to make some wrong moves and nailed him. So now I have at least one bracelet event buy in waiting for me this summer, and if there was every any doubt about whether or not I would definitely go to Vegas this ended it.
So this is what it feels like...to win a tournament I mean. Now I remember the reason I love this game. It allows me to fulfill my competitive nature in a game of wits when I can't adequately compete in other endeavors. (Though I was the captain of the 1999 University of Alabama Intramural Wiffleball Championship team...)
The tournament in question was a 82-player $10+$1 affair on Poker Share Sunday afternoon. I wouldn't usually get involved in such small fry stuff, but this was part of the Bluff Poker Tour and the winner would get a $1,500 WSOP entry of their choice in addition to about $250 in prize money. Talk about an overlay.
And we started with 2,500 in chips with a slow blind structure, a fantastic pace if you want some play. When we got down to three handed I had 70,000 in chips and the blinds were only 500-1,000! When's the last time you played a tournament where that happened?
I was patient, waited for the aggressive chip leader to make some wrong moves and nailed him. So now I have at least one bracelet event buy in waiting for me this summer, and if there was every any doubt about whether or not I would definitely go to Vegas this ended it.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Quote of the day
"About six months ago I talked to this 17-year-old kid online. He had a brand new Porsche and a condominium he paid for with cash. Dude, when I was 17 I was delivering Chinese food for about $8 an hour." -- Josh Arieh, on the Card Player radio show "The Circuit" discussing the financial success of young online poker players.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Bloggers convention link
Anyone who is thinking about going to this probably already knows all of this already, but here's the link to the World Poker Bloggers Tour thing in Vegas this summer. It's the second week in July, with the tournament on July 8 at Caesar's Palace.
http://www.thisisnotapokerblog.com/archives2/cat_wpbt.html
http://www.thisisnotapokerblog.com/archives2/cat_wpbt.html
Quote of the day
"That is kind of like asking how do I prepare to go to Vietnam. Dodge lots of bullets and get lucky at key times," -- 2 + 2 forum member CerebralDamage in response to a question on how to prepare for a major live tournament.
I'm finding some pretty funny stuff out there so I think I'll make "Quote of the Day" a regular feature of this blog, it just won't be every day necessarily, only when the mood strikes.
I'm finding some pretty funny stuff out there so I think I'll make "Quote of the Day" a regular feature of this blog, it just won't be every day necessarily, only when the mood strikes.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Good times, bad times, you know I've had my share
The good news: just had an almost +$3,000 week.
The bad news: it only leaves me slightly ahead for the month of April.
I think the most important thing for me is I have my confidence back, and a poker player without confidence is like a Jedi without the Force…or a fat kid without cake.
This is why I love online poker:
Buy-in for $120 at VIP Poker (the former Planet Poker) in a $3/$5 NL game just trying to double up. We are playing three handed.
Hand #6: I get KsJh and make it $15 from the button. Both blinds call.
Flop is Js 2c 3c
Check-check-I bet $40.
SB folds and BB check-raises me all in for my last $60. OK, I think, can’t fold here. Turn and river are blanks. He shows Qh3s
Hand #7: Very next hand, I pick up KK in BB. Button limps and SB folds. I make it $20. Button pops it to $80.
Does he aces? Maybe so, maybe not, but I’ve got to have stones with the second nut pre-flop hand so I push the rest of my stack in the pot (perhaps another $200). He instacalls and board comes Q high. I show first and he folds.
Hand #10: I am in the BB with AK. Button folds and the SB decides he hasn’t quite donked off enough chips so he goes all in over my $5 BB for $100 and change.
I figure at worst I’m a coin flip and more likely I’m 66 percent or better so I call. I get nervous as the board completely misses me. Well, it missed his Q3 as well. If that’s his favorite hand may I suggest finding a new one.
And ten hands later I’m at about $630 and decide I’ve done enough damage for one day. “Take care,” I type to the remaining donk as I depart the table.
I’m far from out of the woods, but I can at least see the daylight. And the killer donkeys seem to have stopped chasing me through Neverwin Forest. Now I look toward Vegas and the WSOP with a brighter outlook (and hopefully a decent bankroll if I can keep this up.)
It’s my goal to head to Vegas around July 6-7 for the bloggers’ weekend, which would be my first trip for that fracas, and stay through BARGE, which runs Aug. 15-20. Yep, that’s a LONG time, about six weeks in all.
It appears I’ll be able to swing it because Ted’s wife is a bigtime slot player at the Reno Fitzgerald’s and they offer her a deal where she can get a room at the Vegas Fitzgerald’s for about $400 for the entire month of July.
After Ted and I split the room, we’re talking about $200 for the month! $7 a day! Unreal.
I also believe I can get a room at the Plaza for BARGE for a couple of weeks in August at $20 per night.
It appears six weeks in Vegas may be very affordable, though I may get sick of 99-cent shrimp cocktails at Golden Gate before it’s over.
The bad news: it only leaves me slightly ahead for the month of April.
I think the most important thing for me is I have my confidence back, and a poker player without confidence is like a Jedi without the Force…or a fat kid without cake.
This is why I love online poker:
Buy-in for $120 at VIP Poker (the former Planet Poker) in a $3/$5 NL game just trying to double up. We are playing three handed.
Hand #6: I get KsJh and make it $15 from the button. Both blinds call.
Flop is Js 2c 3c
Check-check-I bet $40.
SB folds and BB check-raises me all in for my last $60. OK, I think, can’t fold here. Turn and river are blanks. He shows Qh3s
Hand #7: Very next hand, I pick up KK in BB. Button limps and SB folds. I make it $20. Button pops it to $80.
Does he aces? Maybe so, maybe not, but I’ve got to have stones with the second nut pre-flop hand so I push the rest of my stack in the pot (perhaps another $200). He instacalls and board comes Q high. I show first and he folds.
Hand #10: I am in the BB with AK. Button folds and the SB decides he hasn’t quite donked off enough chips so he goes all in over my $5 BB for $100 and change.
I figure at worst I’m a coin flip and more likely I’m 66 percent or better so I call. I get nervous as the board completely misses me. Well, it missed his Q3 as well. If that’s his favorite hand may I suggest finding a new one.
And ten hands later I’m at about $630 and decide I’ve done enough damage for one day. “Take care,” I type to the remaining donk as I depart the table.
I’m far from out of the woods, but I can at least see the daylight. And the killer donkeys seem to have stopped chasing me through Neverwin Forest. Now I look toward Vegas and the WSOP with a brighter outlook (and hopefully a decent bankroll if I can keep this up.)
It’s my goal to head to Vegas around July 6-7 for the bloggers’ weekend, which would be my first trip for that fracas, and stay through BARGE, which runs Aug. 15-20. Yep, that’s a LONG time, about six weeks in all.
It appears I’ll be able to swing it because Ted’s wife is a bigtime slot player at the Reno Fitzgerald’s and they offer her a deal where she can get a room at the Vegas Fitzgerald’s for about $400 for the entire month of July.
After Ted and I split the room, we’re talking about $200 for the month! $7 a day! Unreal.
I also believe I can get a room at the Plaza for BARGE for a couple of weeks in August at $20 per night.
It appears six weeks in Vegas may be very affordable, though I may get sick of 99-cent shrimp cocktails at Golden Gate before it’s over.
Quote of the day
"Gee, I hope it works" -- RGPer Howard Beale's response to a post that Paris Hilton may begin writting a monthly poker column for Bluff magazine, a move that the original poster said could really put poker on the map.
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