More Run Bad but looking forward to 2012

Random recap of the year since the last post.


Played quite a bit of live poker in the last months of 2011 - cashed a handful of times, but mostly failed to fade 2 outers and inevitably made moves when I was crushed.


Finished out the Flatline season without cashing, save for a money-back chop that I negotiated at 1:30 in the morning on a bat-shit insane 8-game mix of my own design.   Anxious to start again in mid-January.


I will also be running and participating in "Worldline" our annual World Series of Poker satellite series.  This year it's 20 tournaments, scored as usual, with all of them counting towards a 1K seat.


Found a new home game this year, Eric T. hosts it.   Lots of fun, a 20K stack tournament SNG single table with no antes and soft players.  Have cashed 3 out of 6 times, and they are getting wise to me, but it still seems like it will be profitable.


HPC has been fairly cruel - either super card dead, or again (as I alluded above) I have been unable to dodge the requisite cards from hell.    Haven't cashed there in ages - probably close to 10 tournaments.


Also dabbled the other night at the Bike, found it soft and a good structure for $60, but the inmates are running the asylum over there.  Far worse than HPC in terms of dealer abuse and out of control regulars.   The Bike makes HPC look positively civilized.  Much cleaner card room, but much nastier people.


Had my aces cracked by A10 AIPF at PSP the other night.  Delightful, but typical.


I'm ready to start running like Mercier any day now.  All set and prepared.


Of course, as a good player Matthew S. pointed out to me in a recent e-mail, when we run bad we tend to play bad in tandem, because we get tilted and our decisions are poor.   This is largely true, but of course I'm not playing THAT bad - not nearly as bad as my results in the last six months have shown.


I was up over 1K in winnings from Flatline over 3 years - now I'm just under 800.   Stuck 200 for the season.  Ready to step back, readjust, and get more patient there.  Sven gave me the best advice ever for that league, and this reminds me - I've had dry stretches there before - his advice was, "Good cards will come".  This is super true now, with so many new fishy stations swimming about.


Two resolutions:


1
Must must MUST finally get an accurate spread sheet (now that I know how to do them) and keep track of my bank roll in all forms of poker.   Hopefully by the end of 2012 I will be able to add back online play (besides Flatline) as there are rumblings of sanity returning to our government.


2
Am going to take the plunge more often into cash game play in card rooms.


Busted in a sick manner one Sunday at HPC and had the afternoon to kill before the 430 second chance - took the opportunity to play $100 NL.   HPC's version of small stakes cash game No Limit Hold-Em, blinds at $2 and $3, 100 maximum buy in with $150 max reload.   I was shocked, shocked, SHOCKED at how timid the table was and at how SOFT it was.  There was one maniac who had no idea what he was doing, I managed to get all his chips and mine in the middle after the turn and he was dead to 3 cards, which of course he hit.   Unfazed, I reloaded and promptly stacked him once, twice, three times to finish up over $200 in profit.   That, was amazing and a wake up call to me.  The word about Vegas cash games is that they are WAY softer than SoCal.   Oh really?  Looks like I'll have to find out.


For a $100 max buy in table, I figure to budget 3 buy-ins.  If I'm felted 3 times, just like a tourney, I walk and wait for the next tournament to begin.  It simply appears to be way too profitable to pass up.


********


Very excited about 2012 actually - I can't run any worse, and hopefully with a fresh slate I'll be centered enough to make half decent decisions, so when the good cards do finally come, I can make them profitable.

Spontaneous Vegas

So it turns out one of the major regulars, who's also a great guy, in my Pepper Street Poker home game had a 50th birthday celebration planned for the first weekend in October and extended an invitation to me and a few others to join him with his rather large family and a few other friends.

Bet he didn't think I'd take him up on it!

For Mike (the birthday boy) it wasn't really about cards, but he did join me for one tournament. (More on that in a minute).

For me, it turned out to be mostly about teh pokerz, but I also made a really good faith effort to share in the celebration and be around for the major birthday events.

The first such good time after my arrival was on Friday night; the entire group, including all but 2 of Mike's 6 siblings (wow) and his folks and his lady companion (who is as groovy as he is) joined a smattering of friends (including me) for sausage and schnitzel at the massive Hofbrauhaus restaurant across from the Hard Rock.

The food was decent (you really can't go wrong with comfort cuisine) but the music and atmosphere was off the chain and a spanking good time was had by all. No, literally, it was spanking good - as the waitresses brought around giant wooden paddles and shots. The birthday boy knocked one back and then assumed the position to have his ass smacked hella hard. Those wacky Germans.

Afterwards I played blackjack for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE.  I was a bit scared, but thanks to Mike's expert advice, which apparently you can give freely without penalty in black jack (a good indication that the house can't be beat), I cashed out with $50 in profit.  Nice.

The following night it was Nikki Lee's Sports Bar where all of us, including another sister who just arrived (the 5th of Mike's 6 sibs) had an absolute blast (at least for the first quarter and a bit beyond) cheering on the Nebraska Cornhuskers as they faced off against the hated Wisconsin Badgers.

Now I know as much about College Football as a fish knows about a bicycle, but I quickly learned the Nebraska chants and got into the spirit very easily. It got a little tougher later on when Wisconsin decided to beat up on the big red (the nickname for Nebraska) like a proverbial red-headed step-child. Even the die hard fans didn't stick around for the entire slaughter, but it was still a heck of a lot of fun.

Sunday evening Mike and his brood were planning to see the "Love" Cirque show, I explained to him that my wife would have me tracked down and killed were I to see it without her; but we still had the morning and early afternoon for poker. I was very pleased to buy-in for the birthday boy (I figured he had a good chance of turning it into more anyway) and we both settled in to the same table (he in the 3, me in the 8, just about right) for a $50 splash-a-ment at Treasure Island.

This thing played out as many of these events do. I'm proud to say that Mike and I both were basically the only open raisers in the first phases of the 3 table tournament, and clearly also the best players. Not bragging really, no judgement - that's just how it was.

I did manage to tangle with him on a couple of hands. Nothing serious - but early on I did bluff him off a blind defense with a c-bet even though I blanked on a favorable board. Later when I tried to steal again he 3 bet me off my marginal starting cards on my follow up bet on the flop.

The most memorable hand between us is rapidly fading from my memory, it was in the middle of the tournament, we were still at our first table. I do believe he was drawing to a big hand and I fired a second barrel to get him off of it. I don't think I connected with the flop at all, but I honestly can't remember too much beyond that.

The good news was, we both made it to the final four. Less good for him was that he was on a teeny stack and they only paid 3. Luckily he was able to double up and I pounced on the opportunity to suggest that we all agree to take some $ off of 1st and 2nd to get the bubble (whoever it may be) his buy in back.

The other guys agreed, so when Mike unfortunately did get knocked out, he at least got a 50 spot for his efforts.

But backing up, before we were 4 we were 6. A home game hero to my right was the big stack but I wasn't too far behind. To my left was a familiar villain (not personal, just a poker geek term) - a passive station who had no concept of chip stack sizes or commitment thresholds.

To preface this silliness - we all had less than 20 bigs, the station had about 8.

I had been raising a fair amount and looked down at AK on the button after it was folded to me. After a 2.5x raise station defended his small blind, Mike in the big let his cards go.

Flop came Ax10 - and station check shoved my C-bet. Committed to the hand with about 40% of my stack, I knew I was dead, but had to call. He had A10.

Unremarkable hand really, but it was a noteworthy companion to a very similar hand a bit later after Station had been eliminated.

Home Game Hero still had a monster stacken - I had managed to accumulate back up, after a few well timed shoves and then a few chunky raises to get laydowns pre-flop. But I was still under 15 big blinds, ready to pull the trigger if the timing was right.

5 handed, HGH flat called UTG. He had been doing this all day with QJ, 77, K10, etc. I looked down at A10 and I shipped it, he called with AK.

I have no problem with how I played the hand really. Blinds were ridonkulous and there was no reason to play for 3rd or 2nd as the big jump was for 1st only. I'm either folding or shoving in that spot, and it's just not in my nature to let go of a big ace if I've been card dead for awhile, and I'm facing a passive player with an undeserved mountain in front of him.

The sick part of this hand was the results - and HGH's reaction.

I felt really good that I had managed to stay relatively placid in the face of a 3 outer deflating my own AK on the flop; Mike had to be amazed. I am much more demonstrative in the garage, no doubt because I am among friends and am not going to war the way I do in a card club. There it's all about having fun, and part of the fun is venting a bit.

No, I was completely zen about it, and proud that the Station who sucked out on me was far more emotive than me, even in trying to be a gracious winner.

So when a ten came on the turn after a blank flop on this AK vs. A10 round two, HGH pretty much lost his shit (not mad at me but exasperated) and once again - I was as flat as a mill pond.

Tommy Angelo would have been proud.

To finish up on the results - Mike did indeed "bubble" but got $50 of birthday money so he could get a Beatles T-shirt. I myself did finish third, I just couldn't accumulate enough to overcome my dearth of cards at end game. I don't think I misplayed my exit hand, I probably would remember if I did. But I do know I was silky chill with handshakes all around when the chip leader (who in the end was NOT the home game hero, he was eliminated shortly after his AK got sucked out on) knocked both of us remaining players out on the final hand.

As long as we're still talking about my tilt, which by the way to me was the highlight of my trip (birthday festivities excepted of course), let me tell you about the only real tournament of the three days.

The Wynn $125 nooner. Tough four table tournament, with 30 minute levels and deep blinds. I lasted over 3 hours.

Allen R. stopped in for a quick howdy, another PSP regular who coincidentally was in town for some debauchery with his youngster buddies.

He barely missed my exit, he was off playing 1/3.

My image was slightly loose / aggressive. Earlier I had been seated right next to an older fellow who was a bit of a character, but in a good way. He was a very good conversationalist and I enjoyed chatting it up with him, about movies and the business and in turn, my work.

He watched a hand go down with me and the table "pro" in the 1 seat early on.

This "pro" was the whole nine yards - hoody, sunglasses, i-pod, stone-cold killer (lol).

He had been pretty aggro early on, he seemed to have only one gear and that was pedal to the medal "I don't give a fuck, this is a re-entry event" aggressiveness.

But I have now played with these guys before quite a bit, and I know their game - it's all about image, and crafting it so that you think "Wow, this asshole is crazy. I'm never folding top pair to him!" And then they wake up with aces or kings and you pay them off with AJ all in pre-flop.

I am very grateful that I play tournament poker in Southern California, I really do feel comfortable against any kind of opponent, and I wasn't too worried about this guy. Not that I wasn't avoiding him, I pretty much was.

Anyway, blinds are low, we're all fairly deep at 80 blinds or so.

He raises in EP (again) and two people behind me call. I do as well on the button with Ac 5c sooooted. (I know, I know, but pot odds right?)

Flop comes middling cards with 2 clubs. He fires about a third of the rather bloated pot. The two stations release and I'm faced with better than 4 to 1. Insta-float.

The turn bricks with a face card unrelated to the texture so far. This time he stops his rhythm and tanks on the bet size.

He either hit his queen or blanked, because all the time he is taking, he is crafting how to best achieve his goal. He fires over half the pot, a HUGE c-bet for him (based on his bet sizing on previous hands) and a bet that just screams GO AWAY.

I really tanked a bit myself on this (something that I'm finally starting to do more, rather than just snap-decide) and did decipher what his bet size meant. It was the wrong price, no doubt, but I still had plenty of chips behind, and if I hit I stood to stack him because he was likely to fire a third barrel regardless - if he had indeed hit. If he had hit his queen, I'm guessing he would have done what he did earlier when his AK hit the turn, he bet for value on a fairly wet board against an ABC player (which is no doubt how he perceived me).

Annie Duke, my mentor these days with her incredible new book "Decide to Play Great Poker" would have had me either fold or 3 bet here (that is, shove) rather than call. His second barrel is so large here, that if I'm planning to bet the river I might as well put the chips to use now. He is likely to fold TPGK or even TPTK based on my image at the table thus far.

But I fucked up and called, planning to fold a giant third barrel if I blanked.

The river was a red Ace.

Hmmmmm..... was it good?

He bet. Another big bet, but not as big as it should have been mathematically. Probably under 1/3 of the pot.

Was it for value?

Not necessarily. On the river earlier with the goods, he had just stuck it in, and got looked up by an inferior bottom two pair to his set. Hugely profitable line if he's convinced he has the best hand against a station.

This time, he bet just enough to leave his remaining stack viable.

This is what convinced me to call. He shook his head and looked pissed. I fast rolled my A5, as is my custom, and this steamed him even more.

Big ass pot, ship it.

Old Friendly went on and on about "How could you make that call? You turned it over like you knew it was the best hand!" Actually, that's just a by-product of my fast-rolling technique. I can't stand reluctant show downs, it's infected my home game pretty badly, it just rubs me the wrong way. I never show if I don't have to, but if there is any delay on the dude I'm calling, I flip em quick as a courtesy to other players, on whose time we are wasting by sitting there staring at each other.

Anyway, it was the best decision I made all trip by far, based on a bunch of factors, and it was a shining moment for me. The turn, not so much, it's a ship it or fold situation (leaning towards fold) but I'm glad I didn't lose my nerve, heart or brains when the "pro" stuck in the maximum he could without seriously hurting his remaining bullets.

Flash forward 2 hours.

Old friendly had long since busted (in a nice manner btw) and I assumed he had departed. But when our table broke, there he was at my new home two seats to my left, and he gave me a friendly nod. He had re-entered.

Since his departure I had played the role of classic TAG, c-betting my raises after the flop nearly 100% of the time, only shutting down with multiple opponents in front, and as a result my chips were around average.

Time wore on and then I dipped into what I consider the danger zone (under 15 bigs) as the antes started to take their toll.

Over the next 3 orbits I shoved in position once, twice, three, times. Win, win, win, no showdowns. And with all those dead chippies adding no small amount to my stack. I was now at 16K with blinds at 400/800 and 100 antes. 20 bigs was well above average at this point as we had only been given 7500 to start.

I finally had just enough for a standard 2.5x raise. I did it twice, the second time I had to c-bet a single opponent with nothing (scary) but I knew he was a super nit and thankfully he released.

Still at around 16K a little later (the antes really were relentless) I looked down at KQos in the hijack. Standard raise.

Old Friendly on the button called. Blinds released.

Flop came Q79 rainbow. I c-bet and he wasn't going anywhere, calling quickly.

Turn was a beautiful K completing the rainbow. I checked, as is the line Ms. Duke approves of.

Old Friendly rapidly bet out a random hunk of chips that was nearly but not quite all I had behind.

I immediately said "All-In" figuring there was a fairly decent chance I had run into a set, but not really caring based on the math.

Old Friendly was flummoxed and asked for a count. When he realized it was just under 3K more (into a bloated 30k pot) he sheepishly called, practically before I had already turned up my top top.

"I need a miracle card on the river..." he muttered as he revealed his pocket sixes.

We all know the end to this story.

********

"Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright. The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light, And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout. But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has FAILED TO FADE A FUCKING TWO OUTER!!!!"

I can make light here, because I was expressionless when the card from hell hit. I was a little more demonstrative after I had graciously said goodbye, when Allen R. came over and consoled me.

"I don't play this game often enough for it not to sting..." I confessed. To him. And it did hurt, only because a double up in that spot would have put me right back in it with 40 bigs.

Anyway, I am proud of my demeanor in falling to the short end of a 96% equation.

I'm less proud of my tilt that manifested at the 9am Monte Carlo on the same day, where I had basically run over 2 tables worth of home game dopes for a good 90 minutes, only to get coolered twice and bubble.

I was nice enough on the outside, but inward I was rattled (especially by the way players insisted on still limping after I had quite effectively punished them for it over and over again) and I know this tilt was responsible for my last bit of spew that I probably could have prevented with a moment of reflection.

I said cursory goodbyes, and even gave a "See ya! Good luck!" (of the sarcastic eye-rolling variety) over my shoulder on my way out.

Not my finest moment.

But I was good for the remainder, until that grotesque poker exercise known as H.O.R.S.E. on my final night at the Orleans.

I said it pretty well at the table shortly before my demise...

"Razz is not a very difficult game, but it sure is sadistic."

Needless to say, in the midst of my tilt after a particularly massive draw at O8 that failed to materialize, and therefore did great damage to my already middling stack, I was faced with having to fast play my Razz starting cards.

We all know what fun that is.

With the king and ten showing big stack reraised me all in, it was inevitable that I would pair and brick off, my J6 losing to her 109 in typical razz fashion.

I was pretty nice on my exit, but by the time I reached my car (I went out to fill the tank with gas) I was fuming.

I think I'm done staying at the Orleans for awhile. It is a truly great room, and by great I literally mean one of the best poker rooms in the world, no exaggeration. The only place on the planet that regularly spreads 7+ table HORSE and Omaha/8 tournaments. The best value for structure NLHE daily I've ever played in; and a potentially huge cash game jackpot (six figure plus) that has seen me playing 2/4 for hours simply to possibly hit a big payday.

But the room is SoCal tough - nitty and savvy regulars. In over half a decade of making the Orleans my home base, I have never cashed in a tournament there.

Much as it pains me, it is time to move on and stick with NLHE in softer pastures.

I think my new room of choice is going to be Harrah's.

Harrah's room is quiet, closed off, and unlike Orleans which is one of the worst offenders in Vegas, entirely smoke free. Best of all the clientele is very soft, and they run 5 tournaments every day! True, they are turbos, but how can I beat 8am, 10am, 3pm, 8pm and 1am? The PERFECT times for filling up in between the more typical Vegas tourney times of noon and 7pm.

My hotel room is booked for early February. I am NOT going to rent a car for once, all the poker goodness at Harrah's is super close.

I plan to get in four full days, I will definitely hit at least 3 majors - for sure the Wynn, probably the V and/or A, and maybe, just maybe my first ever event at the B.

Very much looking forward to it!

Now where did I put that Zen?

For several years now, I've worked very hard on becoming "tilt-less", the Tommy Angelo mantra on keeping your cool and emotional neutrality at the table.

With a recent run of less than great results, a handful of min-cashes in my home game, a long string of early exits on Flatline and 6 straight HPC evening tournaments without a cash - I've found myself slipping back into my old ways.

Mixer, a good friend and poker confidante, has bested me at least a half dozen times live at showdown, as well as online in two memorable and crippling hands over the last couple of weeks. Most of these instances, and for sure the online hands, were him getting there on the river, despite my correct betting with the better hand.

Not that he played the hands wrong, he typically has had a gang of outs and gotten the right price to speculate when you consider implied odds. In most of these instances, I was leading the betting, he was calling down and then value bet heftily on fifth street, but not so hefty as to deny me irresistible pot odds. So I would pay him off and he would turn over the stone cold nuts again and again.

Especially frustrating because typically I would be well ahead and stood to drag a nice pot until the card from hell would hit and I would be stuck and forced to call when I knew I was beat.

So of late, from Mixer and also from others, notably d12, a spewy station (though a groovy person) and M00NWA1KER (a youngster who has some chops) had been getting the best of me at the river as well, seemingly with unlikely outs hitting. Most fun was getting it all in on a Jack high board with me having AA and he having AJ, one guess as to which card from hell hit on the river.

So I've been cracking under this run of bad variance.

Last Monday I was really genuinely pissed off at the poker table for the first time in a long time - I wasn't angry at other players whatsoever (there wasn't really any bad play from them to speak of, and even if there had been, I'm always in favor of players donking it up, results not withstanding) - I was mad at my seeming inability to fade the aforementioned hell cards.

Especially maddening, because I'm very happy with my game these days - I make very good reads, my lines of play are very well thought out and should (SHOULD) be working. To get bitch slapped over and over again as a reward for playing so well, is so fucking tiresome at times.

But I need to remember where I put that zen... I know it's around here somewhere.

There is a truism in poker, expressed by many professionals and wise amateurs, but probably most beautifully stated by Annie Duke in her bootcamps and now in her new book.

An inelegant paraphrase of this truism is that the main goal of poker is not to win money or pots, but to make the best decisions you can. The winning of money and pots only comes about as a result of pursuing this goal.

Greg Raymer has also echoed this - saying that as long as you are making correct decisions throughout your poker game, you cannot let results color your emotions, no matter how gut wrenching those results may be.

I get it, it's logical - but it sure can be hard to live by this credo.

So last night I was invited to a home game hosted by a regular in my game - it was a mix of his guys and mine; ten players, deepstack tournament, top three were to get paid.

So early on, with so many chips to play with, I was playing good and running good. C-betting my way to accumulation as well as floating and bluffing a bit against the right targets.

I was up, and then Mixer raised from the small blind against my big.

I had K8, which I knew was probably at or ahead of his range.

I flat called, the board came QxK. He c-bet less than half the pot and I flatted.

The turn was an 8. He checked, I bet half the pot. He called.

The turn was an Ace. Perfect, this was what I put him on.

He bet less than 1/3 of the pot, and I instantly knew what that meant from all those other river from hell showdowns.

He was strong. My middle two pair was probably no good.

I was getting almost 5 to 1. But what could he have to beat me? J10? Really?

That's all I was really worried about, but that was silly.

The flush draw didn't get there on the board - he had shut it down after the flop - Logic screamed that I was good, barring the gutterball from hell or some wonky higher two pair I suppose. A set was out, because he likes to fast play and would have kept leading on the turn with the flush draw out there.

I called fairly quickly, he insta rolled the nuts; broadway.

It was painful and I showed it; moaning and groaning a bit. Jack fucking 10.

I wasn't very mad at him, he did have a shitty flush draw to go with his open ended straight (yes, I consider the fourth best flush a shitty flush, wierd I know) and of course the 2 other aces and 4 nines for 15 outs total.

My turn bet gave him 3 to 1 to try and hit a roughly 3 to 1 draw, and he understandably took it. That's life.

Thankfully he didn't value bet me higher; I would hope I could have let my less than fantastic 2 pair go in the face of a potential truly crippling bet, but honestly I was so tilted when he dropped those chips in on the river (because I knew in my gut I was toast) that I very well may have stacked off.

Anyway, as I was saying, I pissed and moaned like a little bitch, with a few raised eyebrows firing off around the table as a result. I assured Mixer that I was only steamed at my bad luck, which was basically true - and went on to say that my frustration mostly stemmed from my aforementioned bad results over the last 2 months.

I gave examples, I grunted, I rolled my eyes, I sighed heavily.

What I needed to do was shut the fuck up.

Poker is a truly humbling game. Last night was a text book example of this.

I settled down and tightened up; I was slowly whittled down as the evening stretched on.

Then I was all in; I tripled up in a multi-way main pot with Jack high. Crazy.

I doubled up again when my AQ hit against a low pocket pair push.

I doubled up yet again in another race. Then again.

I was near the top in chips as the bubble approached, and I cranked up the aggression - getting better hands to fold in the face of not making the money after over 4 hours of play.

I didn't care too much - I was just incredibly lucky to be still around. I used this lack of fear to start running over the table.

Best of all, I finally faded a three outer against Mixer when my KQ held up against his QJ - AI PF.

In the end, the blinds were monstro, so I pushed for and got an even chop heads up when we had exchanged big swings of chips a few times.

$200 in my pocket, plus another $25 in bounties.

As I said, poker is a humbling game.

Though I was elated to have run and played so well, I also felt like a huge, world-class douche nozzle for my earlier grousing.

Mixer, God bless him, smiled and understood in the face of my heart felt shame.

I found my Zen.

It was just out of sight there, underneath my ego, which was also covering my once growing but now stunted and deprived humility.

I think the ego needs to be pushed aside and I need to let the sun and water have access to the humility and zen.

I'm better than a temper tantrum throwing Hellmuth, I know that.

I just need to remember last night from now on, and resolve to do better.

WSOP 2011

I posted this awhile back on my home game blog. I thought I would also post it here, along with some discussion of poker strategy. You can spot the new text from the old because the new stuff is italicized.

Yes, that dork in the sunglasses is me. No, I didn't actually wear them when I was playing, but I did have Allen take a shot of me looking "cool" for posterity. The official photographer came around and snapped one similar to the shot below.

Yes, as you probably all know and recognize - this is my actual poker face. Tres' dork.

In any case, a grand time was had by all - including my home game regulars Dog and Jason H., as well as Noah P. (can't seem to find a picture of him) who didn't play in a WSOP event, and yet somehow still managed to enjoy themselves.

My day of playing in WSOP Event #43, a $1500 NLHE event, went pretty quickly - but there were long stretches of folding, punctuated by occasional moments of terror.

The first such moment went like this - I was in the 2 seat, across the table in the 8 seat was a young "pro" from New Zealand. Probably 15 years younger than me, in artsy reading specs, tousled hair and a Full Tilt hoody. An odd wardrobe choice, considering the events of black Friday and Full Tilt's refusal to pay players back. The entire room probably had less than a dozen of these patches, and the room had over 3000 people in it. Somebody did eventually call him on it, and he just shrugged and claimed because he didn't live in the US it meant that it was all good. Whatever.

Anyway, the hand; With blinds only at 75/150 or thereabouts and me sitting on just a bit under my starting stack of 4500, I raised 3x UTG with Aces, it was the first hand I'd played in awhile. With hour long levels, this was by far the deepest and best structured tournament I'd ever played in. It was folded to Specs on the button, he flat called, the blinds released.

The flop came Qx10, I c-bet half the pot, Specs floated. The turn I can't remember, but it was a low blank. I checked the turn, intending to call. If I had the best hand on the flop, I figured it still was. Specs fired a 2/3 pot bet, it was a big bet. A hand committing bet for me - or I could fold. Without thinking enough, I shoved.

He tanked, forever and ever - counting out his chips to see how much he would have left.

I was nervous, I tried not to show it but I'm sure it bled through. I still thought I might have the best hand, but I could see that he would have enough left over that he wasn't committed to the hand.

In hindsight, I really like my line against him, because he did eventually lay it down. And, he showed! Q 10. Yikes.

He gave me credit for fast playing a set or some larger hand, which, I'm not sure. He said "Good hand" and tapped the table - a sure sign of respect, or really - he just didn't know me and wasn't ready to go for it this early.

Although, as I said in hindsight, I'm happy with my approach to the hand - at the time I felt not so great. The good news was, even though he was an aggressive pro, he wasn't comfortable going to the mat with top 2 against a "rock" like me who had barely played a hand. Still, I didn't think long enough about my move - though I really know deep down, it was a give up or shove moment. If I had called I had zero plan for the river. If a scare card had come, another broadway card or even an ace (which would have likely completed his draw if he had one) - I would have been up shit creek, with too many chips committed to get away from my rockets. Looking back, the better decision probably would have been to release, knowing he wasn't fooling around this early with such a large bet on the turn. He was protecting against my draw getting there, he wasn't bluffing - though his line was a classic 2 part float that I've used many a time.

That was by far the most memorable hand of my WSOP experience. The hand I went out on too was a biggy, and kind of sick in a bullshit home-game kinda way.

I had been in fold/shove mode for about a level and a half. I made it past the dinner break, and now the end of the day (10 levels) was approaching, and also, as it would turn out, was the money.

I pulled the trigger twice I believe, and didn't get looked up, but collected large enough pots with the blinds and antes, to give me pretty substantial breathing room to wait for premiums.

I could count on one hand, the number of limped pots in the 8 hours and 43 minutes of poker time that I played. Nobody limped at my table without getting raised; nobody. It just, didn't, happen.

Each and every player, to a man (and a woman or two) knew what they were doing. I wouldn't say I was greatly outclassed, but there weren't any dolts to be seen. After reading story after story on poker forums about how soft the fields were at the Rio, I was mildly disappointed at how solid everyone was.

There was one hippy dippy guy, just to the right of Specs, who had a lot of fun and luck early on fooling around with speculative hands out of position. He defended his small blind to the death I noticed - but he hit often enough and bet time after time so that he got paid handsomely. But I knew he was not long for the table unless his heater continued. It was rather gratifying to have my prediction of his fate come true, as he started to spew and spew as his luckboxing cooled off.

Anyhow - my last hand. As I said, I had pulled the trigger a few times and found success. Even managed to release pocket jacks again when I knew there was an over pair behind me (and there were actually two, kings vs. queens!)

But each time I pulled the trigger, there was one mouthy douche who had showed up only a couple of hours before - who would hem and haw and hem and haw and finally release.

Then I looked down at kings. Douche raised it up, I shoved, it came back around, he tanked FOREVER again, and finally folded with much griping and grousing.

Less than 20 minutes later, I was getting a bit more desperate. Douche raised it up for the umpteenth time from middle position. He didn't have a big stack, but he was getting involved a lot and always seemed to scrape by or luck out.

Fromt he cutoff I looked down at AQ suited - I really believed in my heart of hearts that I was ahead of his range. I shoved.

To my horror the small blind re-shoved. He was a rockish home gamer who I knew had me crushed.

The douche yammered on and on once again, but finally called and turned over...

wait for it...

...yep, aces.

Slow rolled in the WSOP! Nice!

Small blind had both of us covered, I had douche covered by just a little bit. Small blind had AK.

The board ran out and the aces held, but a queen spiked on the river so I got a small side pot to ease the pain a little. Otherwise I would have been bust - now I was sitting on less than 3K with the blinds at 150/300 and soon to be 200/400.

Two or three hands later I got it first in with A10. Rocky small blind from the previous hand with my AQ shoved again; this time he had kings and that was that.

I admit, I was a bit pissed at the slow roll and I berated the douche a bit. He wasn't worth it.

About 15 minutes after my bust out I cooled quite a bit and felt over all pretty happy with my experience. It was by far the longest session of poker I'd ever played - and I did pretty well. I won more than a handful of pots, sometimes with the goods, a couple of other times with c-bets and even two or three times by raising a weak lead with nothing.

I had played poker. Really, hung in there exceptionally well, with a bunch of dudes who all were at my level or above. In the end, the only original players from our table left were Specs and I. He would go on to make the money and play well into day 2. It turned out that I was 110 from the money, but they finished the night with only 35 non-paying spots left.

In the end, my call with AQ wasn't the best in the world, but I had to go with my read. I supposed I could have been more patient and lasted a few more orbits. One thing I never got a chance to do was limp with AA or KK and then shove the 3 bet, I know that would have worked.

Ah well. I CAN'T WAIT until the next one. I WILL be playing in it.

There were a couple of dudes in our group that didn't indulge, but they seemed to be having fun..

No, I didn't know they were doing this. But how can anyone not be giddy in the face of this...

A veritable ocean of poker players and an overwhelming din of shuffling chips. My table was right up against the stage - so I got to see tournament director Jack Effel up close and personal for his announcements. And I got a very good look as well at congressmen Joe Barton from Texas, who had the honor of yelling out "Shuffle Up and Deal!" at my event.

I must say, and some of you know this about me, as a facist rightwing nutball (not really, but on some stuff yeah, I'm evil) it did my heart good to finally, finally, FINALLY see someone from the right side of the aisle stand up for poker.

Rep. Barton has co-authored a bipartisan bill to legalize money transactions between banks/credit card companies and online poker sites. Here's hoping it goes through Joe! All of you should write your congress people and tell them to make it so! If you haven't already, click on the banner on this site to the right and join the Poker Players Alliance today!

Yes, I digress, but this stuff is important for poker players, especially us recreational ones. Numbers don't lie, attendance for the WSOP is up over 20% overall this year, it is crazy that our government wants to stand in the way of our right to be degenerate gamblers! (Or to put it another way, keep us from the beautiful game of skill that is poker).

Speaking of skill, my home game - Pepper St. Poker had two other players besides me (who wasn't even playing for the league after all) representing the humble garage out back - and both of them lasted longer than my mere 8 hours and 43 minutes.

Allen Q. almost made day 2, almost. After nearly ten hours of playing poker (plus a 90 minute dinner break and several other breaks, making for a 14 hour day) he got his money in way ahead, only to have trash call him down pre-flop and hit on the flop. Cest' le' pokerz.

Allan is a dear friend and confidante - he excels at reading people at the poker table and usually has superb timing at getting his chips in. That said, he is one of the most passive poker players I've ever sat down with (though he will dance if his stack is deep and/or the blinds are large). As I've noted before on this blog, it all stems from the hundreds of hours he played online for free. He seems convinced, that "making correct decisions" is all that matters irrespective of his opponents.

I know better; that if your opponent doesn't care about the money (or in his case, doesn't care because there IS NO MONEY to begin with) if fundamentally changes the game itself. The day that Allen recognizes the fundamental fallacy behind his reasoning and rationalizing play money poker, is the day that he becomes an incredibly dangerous poker player.

The other PSP rep, Eric T., did all of us more than one better, getting to day 2 with 10 big blinds, and then incredibly accumulating and making it into the money! Of all the years I've been doing this, in my home game, online with friends, and elsewhere - I've sent 9 people to the big show, including myself. This is the very first time someone has cashed. We are not worthy Eric!

Every PSP player who participated in the satellite that Eric won will be pocketing $165, and Eric himself will be taking home around $2000. Hopefully this will give some incentive next year for those of you who have been a bit unsure. The great thing about poker and this event, is it is truly a game where anyone on any given day can sit down with the best and beat them, at least in the short term.

I haven't played with Eric that much in my home game - until he cashed here in Vegas I would have pegged him as a typical TAG with an emphisis on the T. He routinely does not C-Bet, and will check fold if he's out of position when he blanks the flop. Still, I have to give him credit as a player based on his short term results. After returning from his World Series cash, he promptly took down a PSP tournament. He must be doing something that I'm not reading.

I am especially excited to play in the WSOP next year. While I still plan to take a shot in a satellite or two, I am also going to just flat out save up and buy my own way in so I can be the only one who collects if I cash. Eric has proved to me that it can be done, even playing ABC poker, and this fills me with confidence that I might not be dead money after all.

Most of all - I want to cash, and get all the monies - at least several thousand dollars that I can put entirely into a real poker bankroll. If I cash for crazy money, I would even set some aside for the Main Event, no doubt.

After the WSOP, there was still plenty of poker and other activities. Dog took it upon himself to take two food challenges. First, there was the firecracker burger at Aria's SkyBox, which featured Ghost Chili, a substance three times hotter than jabenero peppers. He had to first sign a waiver before he could indulge, just in case he passed out or something. The waitress was super paranoid about touching Dog's dishes and then accidentally wiping her face. Dog himself also wore rubber gloves and had pepto at hand.

In the end he couldn't quite finish it off. With 3 bites left he smartly called it quits - as there was only bragging rights and a free beer at stake. He was in severe pain, his bald head glistening in sweat and bright red. I was in awe. The next day he confided to me that he paid an even steeper price at 4am in the form of a spectacular gastro-intestinal detonation. Had he known that such a horrific cost was going to be endured, he would have simply had those last three bites. Ah well.

A far bigger pay day than a free beer was at hand for his next challenge - this.

Yes, that is a 9 pound bowl of the Vietnamese classic - Pho. With a progressive jackpot of around $900 to be paid to anyone who could consume this monstrosity in 87 minutes or less (the name of the offending restaurant being "Pho 87") this was just too juicy a proposition for the good Dog to pass up. Unfortunately, the noodles were also too juicy, despite Dog's rapid drinking of the broth and consumption of the meat, he couldn't quite stomach the fierce expansion of the pasta, and so too this challenge had to go un-beaten.

But for all of us on this trip, the destination (or the cash you might say) was secondary to the journey. We all played additional deep stack tournaments, and Allen and I even tried our hand at a $200 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or better event at the world famous Binion's gambling hall.

I played nearly as long as I did in the WSOP and busted out in heart breaking fashion with AA28 double suited against a garbage hand that had a mountain of chips behind it to call me down and flop a monster draw which hit on the turn.

This really was a true heart-breaker. I felt invigorated at the poker table after 8 hours, because I knew I was better (or at least AS good) than most of the other guys, and at least in the same league as the 2 "pros" that sat across from me.

I will definitely seek out more Omaha/8 tournaments of the Pot Limit variety - if the crowd at Binion's was any indication, I'm definitely not at the shallow end of the ability pool in this game.

It was a very memorable time for many reasons - most of all that I surprised myself at how well I played in an event that I just assumed I was dead money in. My years upon years of home cash game play in fixed limit O8, combined with a half decade of NLHE study and dedication, paid off big time as I held my own against these PLO8 specialists. For me, this was just as memorable as the WSOP in it's own way; the best time I've had from a pure playing standpoint in any event ever.

In fact, and I know I say this with every Vegas trip report, but this really was the best time ever. 5 days was probably too much, I was dead tired at the end, but I wouldn't change it for anything. The memories and these photos, courtesy of Allen and his kick ass low light camera, are truly priceless.

Look very carefully above and below. Where's Waldo?

Above - The money approaches. (My favorite shot of the trip.)

Jason finally breaks his stoic and intimidating table demeanor. And the next shot reveals why, Allen and Jason are at the same table in a 1000 player deep stack event. Hmmm.

Later, Allen reaches the money and min-cashes. The rest of the table is just as excited as he is.

Later, he takes it down at Binion's. Okay, he actually just poses in front of their famous pile of a million bucks. Benny Binion started this back in the early 70's and you can still do it today.

Someday...

Sometimes Perplexed

Normally I recognize pretty clearly where I'm at in my game. Tournament poker is hard, on any given day I am okay to fairly good. But sometimes, on occasion, I am perplexed.

With the wife and kid away this week, I'm taking the opportunity to play live every night until I leave to Vegas. Yesterday I played the HPC 10K nooner - and it was fine, it was great. I knew right where I was at. I was able to make things happen as normal, and when the bubble approached I made a decent/marginal call with a pair of 10's for all of my dwindling chips.

A pair of sixes called me as well, so I was in good shape to triple up after a helpful flop of 772, but alas, the AQ that had massively overbet (the one that I called, he had been betting this stupidly for awhile) spiked a six outer on the turn and then for good measure hit a five outer on the river for two pair.

No worries - I was fine with my play, it was then or never, as I was set to be crippled by the blinds soon enough.

Still comfy, and not too bummed at all, I entered the second chance tournament at 430 also knowing that I could head on over to my brothers house in Century City for a tasty dinner and some nice company afterwards.

For the first hour or so, every thing was cool. I took a hit here or there, I also made some great reads and was able to induce bluffs (something that I excel at at HPC, there are too many people who think aggression is the only gear) and get paid by slow playing top pair more than once.

Then I took a pretty big hit, calling a short stacks shove from the small blind. I had AJ in the big blind, he had A9. Flop was xJ9, turn was a blank, river - the case 9 (as someone said aloud they had folded 109.

I was especially proud of myself as I had 100% zero reaction to the 1 outer spiking - I was 98% after the turn and he hit. I was cool as a cucumber - it was standard, it was poker. The oaf who pounded the table and send "Send it!" literally had zero affect on me, I was utterly zen about it, as his short stack double up hurt me but didn't cripple me. Others moaned and groaned for me, I was chillax to the max.

I'm used to the occasional ding from hell, and I'm also very cognizant that just as often (when I do happen to get my money in bad) I am on the suck out end of these events. They are just part of the landscape to me these days, and I have to say it makes me a much happier player and person as well.

What gets to me though still, even more than if I misplay a hand even, is what happened to me next.

Over the next 90 minutes, I proceeded to be as utterly card dead as I have ever been in this game. Ever.

After 20 minutes of utter shit on shit - J4, 103, 29, etc. I began keeping track. Here is my hand history for 73 minutes of play.

Zero double paint. Zero. That means no JK, KQ, or JQ. No J10 either.

Zero pairs. Zero. Save for a single pair of Jacks - and it unfolded like this.

I'm in the cuttoff, early on through this dry spell and I look down at Jacks. Hooray! Blinds are pretty big, a couple of big stacks, I'm definitely going to shove.

Young turk UTG raises it up, no problem I'm still going to shove. Old man rock to my right shoves it in, he has me covered. Old man rock has played fewer hands than me. Yuck.

Really? How can I fold? Best case scenario he has AK. Otherwise he's for sure QQ, KK, AA.

I have quite a few chips still, this will be for my tournament life.

I fold.

Young Turk snap calls with queens. Old man rock flips up aces.

Wheeee.

My last pair of the day.

Zero suited connectors. Zero.

Best hand in 90 minutes besides JJ? 109 os. Made a standard raise from the cutoff. Flat called by the button, board comes AK7. Didn't bother to c-bet the LAG button who insta barreled my check.

By the end, as the blinds devoured my stack, I was laughing out loud. Any Ace, I was shoving.

Zero aces in the last half hour. Zero.

K3. UTG. Thinking about it... Sigh. Fold.

84. 93. 106.

Fold. Fold. Fold.

Now the blinds are super nasty. A third of my chips will be in the pot with my next big blind.

73. 94. Q4.

82.

Now my big blind is in. I haven't looked.

A raise from the big stack in middle position. A shove from a small stack on the button.

A three way pot if I stick in my chips, a third of which are already there anyway.

I drop them into the pot. "I haven't looked."

We turn up. Big stack has AK. Short stack has a pair of nines. I have Q2 os.

Rainbow flop brings an ace, the river is a nine.

Easy game.

So this is my quandary - what do I do when I run beyond cold? Is it possible to play for hours, and not see a single playable hand, and even if you do you run into action behind you that tells you your hand is no good? Yes. Last night proved that to me for the first time, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

I have to admit, I was steaming a bit beyond slightly as I texted my brother and let him know I wouldn't be joining him and his wife after all for ravioli. It was really, really, really frustrating to be utterly powerless to do anything - I couldn't even gambool it up and play badly or spew. I just had to sit there and take it. My one or two attempts to steal early on in the dry spell, didn't work out - through no glaring fault of my own, I just happened to run into two bigger hands.

The first time I was in the cutoff and it folded to me, I literally pretended to look at my cards and popped it, I was three bet large by a rockish small blind. I looked down at 62os. To big of a reraise to call, even in position, so I let it go. The second time was a button steal, I raised big with trash to clean out the limpers, but one hung on. Then he led out on the flop with a pot sized bet that I blanked on completely, so again I relinquished.

No Limit Hold-Em tournaments, more than any other form of poker, have shown me again and again, that they are less about the cards and more about the players. I have won tournaments without any pocket pair bigger than tens, I have cashed for thousands of dollars with nary a premium save for one or two. But this was the first time in my modern poker career, that I have been truly stymied by a seemingly endless avalanche of trash.

And it fried me worse than any bad beat ever could. Mostly because I was beating myself up for feeling so helpless. "I can do this, I need to man up and get it in with garbage!" But then I would stare really hard at K2 and realize what a hopeless situation it really was. The next hand will be better. Really.

So - I'm back in the saddle again tonight, for the $90 evening donkament at HPC. I've had poor results with the nightly's so far, but I've only played maybe 4 of them. Hopefully I will get a face card or two, without the requisite 3 or 5, and I can make something happen.

One thing's for sure, if I continue to run as horrific as last night, I won't have a third of my chips go in on a big blind.

In any case, if the run cold thing has to continue for a few days (as I plan to play tonight, tomorrow night at home for a cash game and Wednesday night back at HPC as well) then that's okay - as long as it's over and done with by the time the WSOP rolls around.

Plan much?

I love to pre-plan a preposterous amount.  So here is my hypothetical
2011 World Series of Poker Vegas trip itinerary. Keep in mind that although this schedule is based on the very likely time line that I will bust out of my World Series of Poker adventure, it doesn't mean in any way shape or form that I don't really believe I can go deep. I really do - but planning is mucho fun for me, and if I do go deep in my bracelet event, there won't be much left for me to plan!

As an aside, before winning my seat, I had originally thought I would partake in a bunch of satellites at the Rio - but now as that would entail the hassle of having to enter more multiple day events if I got lucky, I will content myself with a single Deep Stack at the Rio and of course the big $1500 event in which I'm staked.

Fri. - 6/24 - Arrive @8am

9am - Monte Carlo - $50
This one is simply because I know I'm going to get bored sitting around waiting for my 2pm tournament, the Rio Deep Stack, to get underway. The Monte Carlo's poker room at 9am is a fantastically mellow and ultra-low pressure environment for a trashy $50 tournament with an utterly ridiculous structure and equally silly recreational players. The perfect pre-meal palate cleanser before I head over to the Rio. It is almost assured to be under 3 hours and if I do cash (which I have done here before) it will be minimal anyway.

2pm - Rio Deep Stack - $240
I'll probably check into the Orleans before heading over to the Mecca of Poker for 2011.  The 2pm Rio Deepstack is my main appetizer and an ideal way to get my feet wet for the big day.   It takes place in the Amazon room or the Pavillion room - so essentially I'm playing in the exact same environs, and with the same table, chips, dealer, players, as the WSOP.   Who could ask for a better warm-up?   I am so glad I changed my travel plans to arrive a day earlier - I think it would have been a big mistake to play on the same day I flew in.  If I do happen to go deep in this particular tournament, it could be a very late night.  Last year this one typically finished up as the sun came up; but I know they've tweaked the structure a fair bit so it's not quite so deep, hopefully it won't go too much beyond midnight.   If it does, I just pray that I get into some real money.

7pm - Orleans Daily - $75
This one is entirely optional - and I know I'll want to do it if I only get a few hours play out of the previous tourney. Again, the Orleans is my nemesis - still the best daily tournament structure for the money, the players are straightforward and no better than the regulars I routinely hang with at Hollywood Park; and yet a cash here continues to elude me. Eventually I'll probably learn to give up on this crowd, but a big part of me really wants to get this monkey off my back. If I've played over 4 hours at the Rio there's a very good chance I'll just blow this one off to get ready for the big day.


Sat.            6/25

Noon - WSOP #43 - $1500   (Staked)
This is it! The main course! I'll likely get to the Rio far too early. I'm going to register the weekend prior so that I don't have to worry about signing up. Instead I'm hoping I can take advantage of the free seminar being offered in the Brasilia room, I believe "Jungleman" Cates will be lecturing on post-flop play. Jungleman is an online cash game phenom, so I know it will be good to soak up some poker thinking before I sit down. If it turns out the Brasilia room is a hassle in any way shape or form, I'll quickly blow it off and walk around a bit before making my way to my table.

Again, playing the day before in the same room will likely help alleviate the butterflies a bit. I just have to remember, like I would in my 20's when I would umpire a State Varsity baseball game, it's just another game. It's just another tournament. I'm also going to keep very aware, that my main goal in this is to savor the experience. To enjoy myself. To be friendly, to not fret - this is a remarkable once in a lifetime opportunity, and it would be a real shame to squander it with stress and doubt. There are plenty of guys worse than me who have luck boxed their way into the money, into big money, into a final table and even into a bracelet. Why not me? I have to focus on making the best decision I can at the moment, and then let go, let God and let the cards fall where they may.

I plan to snap pictures with my phone best I can, and to tweet like crazy in between hands and on breaks. Be sure to follow me @manzoni on twitter.

As far as strategy - what can I say. I've found in the more and more live events I attend, that I can't really go in with too much of a heavily defined plan. It all really is dependent on the players that I find myself among. Since there are hour long rounds, and I'm starting with 180 big blinds, there will be some time to observe before jumping in.

Really, the best plan I can commit to is to play pretty much the opposite of the tenor of the table. If I catch early on that most people are timid and folding a lot, I'll widen my range and be prepared to get aggressive, even if a flop blanks. If I find that there are 3 or more maniacs eager to get it all in - wanting very much to go big or go home, I may have to pretty much shut down and wait for premiums to arrive - or if I can speculate cheaply, I hope to set mine and bust a bully or two. But when the antes roll around, all bets - literally, are off.

As I've said here before, just two entries ago, I really have zero interest in playing for 8 hours or more and not coming anywhere near the money. I want to savor as intensely as I can for about 4 hours - and then well before the antes kick in at level six, regardless of who I'm facing - I will open up tremendously and be ready to push, push and push some more. If it turns out that I have to bluff into a monster pot, I'm ready to do it - hopefully I can get lucky and get the bulk of my chips in with the goods. I will not squeak and survive, simply because my only reward for doing so will be to exhaust myself with no real chance at cashing. I've got to shoot for 200 big blinds or more by the end of the first day, to have a realistic opportunity at a financial windfall. This isn't to sell myself short or to insure that I implode - this is just reality. I hope if I have to tell a tale of triple barrel bluffing off my chips into the nuts, that my backers (who are all real poker players) will be able to grasp the reality of the situation and be understanding.

In many ways - my fate has already been decided. If I agonize and beat myself up over not making a mistake, I will be distracted and disproportionately nervous. If I accept that there are certain things, or rather certain cards, that I can't control; and that I'm going to play the best I can and leave it up to the poker Gods, I know I'm going to have a great event; and beyond that a great long weekend of playing a heck of a lot of poker.

So with my acceptance and poker zen completely in place, I'll now continue with the silly over-planning. Regardless of how my main dish turns out, I still plan to enjoy some tasty second courses and a variety of deserts.

7pm - Mirage Daily - $60
The remainder of tournaments on the 25th obviously are entirely optional. Even if I can barely make this one at the Mirage, I'll likely pass if I've played 5+ hours at the Rio. I may pass regardless. I have a feeling that whatever does happen, even say if I bust after an hour, I'll be mentally stretched and fried. I may just want to hit the pool back at the hotel, or maybe catch an afternoon flick. A long walk will also probably do me some good.

But if for some reason I'm up for more poker - I plan to head down to the good old Mirage for some always rockin', usually drunken, recreational player fun in their turbo structured nightly. Unfortunately, it looks like according to their schedule, that they've discontinued their bounty tournaments - which were always a blast. Nonetheless, I know I'll get good fun value out of this venue.

10pm - T.I. Turbo -  $50
I don't see any way I'll realistically be up for this one, especially if I make it to the dinner break at the WSOP. BUT, and yes, it's a big but - if Cali and company are with me and circling the wagons, the super turbo at T.I. might be just the ticket. Always fun, always rather pointless, you can't really go wrong with the fastest dealers and the smoke-free-est room on the strip.


Sun.    6/26

I should note that at some point on this day I'm going to check in on Cali and Eric, who will be entering WSOP #45 - a 1K bracelet event. I don't want to distract them, but I think they'd appreciate a small dose of moral support with a quick howdy from the rail.

1pm - Aria Daily - $125
The morning after, I plan to sleep in. Then I'm off to the dailies. Good old Aria is not the tourist aquarium it used to be, but their daily is still the best structured deal around. If I haven't cashed yet, this is where I'll be headed.

or

Noon - Venetian DSE - $340
If by some weird circumstance I have made the money elsewhere (probably on Friday, but it could happen post-WSOP on Saturday) I very well may join Sven in this Venetian special (and potentially 3 day) event. After the WSOP, this shouldn't be high pressure at all - but it will nonetheless likely be a much tougher field than at the Rio, but the prize pool will be pretty bad ass.

7pm - Venetian Daily - $125
If I choose the Aria first, then this one will be my evening pick. (If I bust from the Venetian DSE then I'll make the Aria's 7pm). The Venetian will still be running their 7pm second chance, and it will be a good opportunity to hook back up with Sven who will likely be in the DSE (and hopefully still playing in it.)

10pm - T.I. Turbo - $50
For sure if I'm busted out of the 7pm, I'll be making this one - especially specially if I didn't make it to T.I. the night before. This poker room, as crappy as the tournament actually is, is always a place I seek out.


Mon.    6/27

Noon - Golden Nugget - $120
This time I'm going to do it, dammit! It's been almost 3 years, and I haven't made it downtown, but this time there's real incentive. According to 2+2, my poker forum of choice, the Nugget's Grand Series is the best structured by far of all the one day lower buy in special events. I'm going to make a very real and concerted effort to plan on this one - because I want a new experience, and with a good ass structure and a slightly smaller (though no doubt tougher) field on a Monday, I have as good a chance as any to make a real cash on this one. I've got to check it out! If by some bad luck, I bust out super quick in this one, I will high tail it over to Binion's for their 2pm NLHE.

7pm - Orleans H.O.R.S.E - $75
Here is my first really tasty bit of dessert - and I may avoid it if no one will play it with me, but Cali (assuming he busts on Sunday) will very likely come along for the ride. Since I am dead money here, if I get no takers - I'll likely head back to the Aria or Venetian. I don't really want to be downtown after the sun goes down.

10pm - T.I. Turbo - $50
Good old reliable! Really looking forward to the TD recognizing me when I come back over and over on this trip!


Tues.   6/28

Noon - Caesars Mega Stack - $250
or
2pm - Binion's Classic PLO8 - $200
Not sure which one of these I'll pony up for, though I'm leaning pretty heavily towards the NLHE event. If Cali is super enthusiastic about the PLO8, I'll join him - but I have the feeling that the price point will cool his jets. The Caesars event I may also blow off if the boys are in the mood for something more modestly priced - Aria will always be there for me.

7pm - Orleans Daily - $75
Finally, if I'm still itching for one more, I'll make sure it's close to my bed, as I'm flying out at the crack on Wednesday. I'll change my flight and stay another night if Cali goes deep obviously, or if for some crazy reason I final table!

You're gonna make it after aaaaaallllll......

Well, it turned out the irritating verbal free rolling I've been doing on this blog, in chat and in e-mails (saying I wasn't likely to win a seat) did it's job - I won the seat.

It all boiled down to staying frosty, making reads and getting lucky. I was especially lucky that the two other contenders in FlatWorld (my online World Series of Poker League) couldn't get anything going to save their lives, and were short stacked as the "improvement bubble" (the levels they would have to achieve to gain any more points) approached.

In the end, they both had to make desperate moves, and they both fell short. So neither had improved their scores. One was tied with me, the other a single point ahead. With 6 players left, it was up to me to move up one spot on the ladder to tie for the seat, and two spots to clinch it.

Early on I had gotten a generous double up from one of the better players in the league, our lone remaining female player, when I raised her big blind - I was in the small blind. I had done this to her twice before, once with AK and the second time with Kings. Both times she had folded. This time, I had aces - she re raised and I insta shoved with a massive overbet of my entire stack, hoping to make it look like a ridiculous bluff (that I have on tilted occasions before, done in this league). She didn't think but a few seconds before calling off with AQ. A queen came on the turn but the river was a glorious case Ace.

I used my big stack to steal, fairly relentlessly - and accumulate and pad my lead. Once the two contenders were gone I was really glad that I had some ammo to at least keep my head above water as the blinds got more serious.

Then, player number six had busted, and shortly thereafter so did player five. I had locked it up. Or had I? Slightly ahead of me in chips was Miles, the very same player we had sent to the WSOP two years before. Turns out, if I busted out next AND he took first place in this tournament, we would be tied for the seat. It wasn't over yet.

I would love to give more details on the hand that eliminated him, as well as specific info on earlier hands in this tournament - but suffice it to say, the emotions that overcame me when Miles did bust (I do dimly recall that he got unlucky) have smeared my memory into a hazy fog. I was actually quite emotional, tears welled up as I realized that come the last weekend in June, I would be playing in the big dance.

I had come so close the previous year, and the year before that. While not technically in second place in 2010, I felt as though I had fallen just short - when my cowboys got two outed by Sigfried and Roy. And I believe I actually was just behind Miles in 2009. This time, it was I who was able to come from behind and lock it up.

Easy game.

Funny enough though, I had just played in a Hollywood park evening tournament before Monday nights online showdown - and I had done rather well.

With 7 tables, I got smacked in the face with the deck more than a few times and got paid on monster hands. (Aces held up in a three way pot pre-flop, my K10 filled up on the turn against a flopped broadway straight, etc.) I then coasted to the final table, playing small ball and accumulating more and more from the passive targets I had selected. I wouldn't say I was a table bully, my VPIP (money Voluntarily Put In the Pot) was only probably around 20% after I had gained my mountain of chips. But the blinds and antes were so big, that every "small" pot I won was significant. Almost all of these wins were pre-flop and also a few on c-bets on favorable boards. If tried to go after medium stacks, but I pre-planned and was ready to get away against any big stacks or call against mini-stacks if I did get involved with them.

Finally, it was five handed and I had about a 4 to 1 chip lead against everyone else. There was not one HPC regular in the bunch, so I was feeling great. UTG folded, I was in the next spot and looked down at queens and popped it. The button folded, the small blind who had a tiny stack, shoved. The big blind who had the largest stack besides mine also insta-shoved. I had him covered by quite a bit, but I still wasn't happy. I knew I was likely behind or against AK in the best case scenario, and if I lost we would be likely chopping. (Because there were no regulars at the table, no one had brought up the idea of a chop yet. I had stayed silent on it, though I'm usually the first to make mention). I called. The SB had A10, the BB had Aces.

Queen on the flop, easy game.

The two remaining stacks were both way short. One turned to the other and said "Well, do you want to give him first and you and I split 2nd and 3rd?" The recreational player digested this, and then quickly agreed. I took it down for the first time at Hollywood Park. First place was $1370.

So really, I had enough money to play in the WSOP if I wanted. I thought about it for awhile, mentioned it to the wife who was elated at my win (she thought I should keep the money and use it for something practical, like couches or some shit, JK sweetie) but she agreed that it was sensible for me to use it to fund my buy-ins in all the little tournaments I had planned for the weekend. I would be free rolling at the Aria, Venetian, etc. I was on cloud 9.

I have no doubt that my victory at HPC boosted my confidence greatly for the following Monday night - feel good, run good = play good in teh pokerz.

So my plan between now and the WSOP is to try and play live once a week at HPC. I know I've sworn off evening tournaments during the week, but HPC recently moved the starting time up 45 minutes earlier to 6:30. I will have to make an effort to get down there when my work is light and nothing big is coming up the next day. I'll also likely do a Sunday 10K guarantee at some point. I feel good at a live table in a card room, I'd love to get to a point where I feel great. I know I'll be nervous as hell in the Rio regardless, but the more live hands I can get in between now and then, even if I reduce the butterflies only a little bit, it will be worth it.

As for my strategery, I've pretty much gone over that in the below post towards the end. But I still have an open mind. Any of you Flatliners who read this want to chime in on how I should approach the World Series, I would greatly appreciate it.

Initially in FlatWorld the idea was to get enough for a $1500 event seat. We fell short of that amount by a couple hundred, so I was going to just play in the 1K, the same event as Cali. Just today I've had two Flatliners chip in to buy shares outright, so I'm less than a hundred away from the $1500 mark. I think I will go ahead and foot the extra few bucks and enter the larger buy in event. Last year, the same 1500 event had almost a thousand fewer runners and yet still had a bigger prize pool than the corresponding 1K. Plus the 1500 gives me 4500 starting chips instead of the 1K's 3000.

I will be tweeting the hell out of my experience - and most of all, win or lose or whatever - I will put having fun and savoring the journey at the top of my list of priorities. This will likely be a once in a life time occurrence, I plan to make the most of it.