RENO - Biggest Little Cash Game in the World - PART 3

 Just got back from the WSOP, but before I can regale you with tales of triumph and tragedy from that great event (and there were plenty of both) I have to finish what I started with the conclusion Blog regarding my Reno summer Peppermill Poker escapades!

After my biggest losing cash game session in my life (a whopping $400 loss I believe) I retreated to the cozy confines of my room and dined on an angus cheeseburger that was quite excellent and quite a bit better than the previous evening's French dip.

I awoke refreshed and once again hit the cafe counter - this time for an omelette that was way to big and that I sadly had to leave unfinished as I didn't want to have to be rolled into the poker room.

I strolled in just after 11am and Michele was holding court once again, and this time with a much bigger stack of chips than she'd had the previous day.  They likely had been playing for several hours at this point.  I said howdy and chatted just a bit before registering for the noon donk-a-ment.

Once again the field seemed delightfully soft - lots of passive play and of course very loose in the early levels.  I chipped up rapidly after the first break as I cranked up the aggression and my opponents instinctively tightened up.   I had a full double and then some when I flopped the stone cold nuts and the villain had 2 pair...

It was shortly after this hand that THAT GUY showed up at our table.  You know of whom I speak.  You've also seen him at sporting events and at movie theaters.  You usually hear him first, but eventually you come face to face with THAT GUY.  The non-stop talker who won't SHUT THE FUCK UP.  Yeah, he showed up.  Thankfully, I was prepared.

Thank GOD for earbuds.

And so in my cocoon of silence (or rather the not so silent Zac Brown Band) I continued on and had two more hands of interest before my departure just a few spots from the money (spoiler alert!)

Back down to a dozen big blinds or so, after inevitable card-deadness and active big stacks, I checked my option in the big blind with Qh9h after the active and big stack cutoff suspiciously limped.  Flop was 7T3 with 2 hearts, my plan was to check raise jam and I did.  Villain tanked for awhile then found a call with the A7 of diamonds.  Ok.  Thankfully the turn spiked a 9c and the river hit a Qd for good measure.  Nice double up which propelled me to the final table.

It was there that I flopped two pair with K9 and got it in only to run into a set of eights.  I was crippled with half a big blind behind, which thankfully the Peppermill let me put in first before the required ante, so I stood to quintuple up with T3 which turned trips, unfortunately one of the 4 other players in the hand turned broadway and so I was out!

Boo!  Or rather, Yay!  I was eager to get back to cash.  It was around 3pm and I ducked out for a bite, but then came back in and got seated initially away from Michele for a couple of hours.

Again, I was excited because the table was older and seemed to be pretty soft.  But I tempered my excitement remembering the day before, how my overconfidence had gotten the better of me more than once and led to unnecessary spew-age.

I chipped up just a little bit at my first table.  I had requested a table change to have a chance at getting over to Michele, and the change came through and I moved on over...

Once again she was a couple of seats to my right, and I would never go easy on her (she's too good of a player for that) but once again we never really got tangled up in any significant hands together.   The drunk fellow who sat down on my immediate right however, he would be my salvation for the evening and the poker trip at large.

This was a very loose and passive bunch and I found myself checking my option in the single $2 blind with the mighty A2 and 6 limpers behind.  The pot was 12 dollars and the flop was 7T2 rainbow, and believe it or not (though I believed it) it checked through.

Turn was another deuce (happy dance ensued on the inside)  I then did something I rarely do, I led out.  I fired a $10 bet, because the board had two spades and I had none, and I figured any kind of draw was likely to call.

Fortunately, I got better news than that - it folded around to drinky on the button and he check-raised me to $30.  This was either a massive combo draw or a made deuce (or in some horrible alternate universe a boat that he had slow played when it was just a set on the flop) so there was no reason for me to fool around.  I re-raised to $130 to go and he mini-tanked and called, leaving himself about $150 behind.

The river was not a heart and didn't pair the board further, so I led out all-in. Drinky beat me into the pot (gulp!) and proudly rolled over K2 for the second best trips.  I quickly showed my hand and his smile faded and he slumped in disgust.  I was thrilled to drag a $300+ pot.  Best of all, Drinky re-loaded (both with the booze and with chips).

This is more like it!

About an hour later a young buck sat down across the table and decided he was going to take control by putting out a $10 straddle on every hand.  He lost a couple big pots (not to me unfortunately) and re-loaded, but didn't slow down with the straddles.  I bided my time and eventually did wake up with AA in middle position.

I opened to $30 (over a limp by Drinky), definitely playing my hand face up here, and of course the button defended his straddle, but so did my old friend Drinky! 

Flop was Qh3h2s, Drinky checked, I bet just under 2/3 pot ($60) and naturally the button flat called.  He had been doing this in pretty much every hand, so honestly I wasn't that worried about him.  Drinky then surprised us all by jamming his almost $200 stack into the middle and re-opened the action.  I was happy to reship my $600+ in chips and Mr. Macho Button Straddle-Man had to painfully release his hand after the obligatory theatrics.

I knew I was likely way ahead here, so the old tournament player in me quickly turned up my cards when the turn bricked and before the river came...  Drinky saw what I had and quickly flung his cards into the muck!  Before the river was turned up!  So yes, that means that whatever the river was - it didn't matter.  The chips got pushed my way and Drinky sulked.  And Drinky re-loaded.

Unfortunately he only reloaded for a single C-note.  That hundo did eventually find it's way into my stack when I finally flopped a set after three full days of play, and so I finished up the evening in for $300 out for $1045.  

So great to book a nice win (my biggest ever in cash, jeez I really need to play more of these things!) and get unstuck for the past 3 days.  I ended my entire Peppermill poker party with a $435 profit!

I was exhausted, I was elated when I cashed out at around 7pm.  Michele was still playing, but I was burnt toast and I wanted to be able to get some rest for some super fun Tahoe hiking and hanging out with my good friends from grade school the next day.  We were all celebrating our belated 50th birthdays and it really was the reason for the entire trip!  The poker just turned out to be a great bonus!

I would entertain you with exciting tales of our cash game and tournament play up at the cabin, but I fear it would just be too much excitement for one blog!   Besides, the man code forbids it or something.  A private poker game among friends is a sacred thing, blah blah blah...

Anyways, if you are still here that means you read the whole thing!  I really appreciate it!  

Stay tuned for my 2021 WSOP re-cap in another week or two - I was going to video the whole thing ala' Rampage or Andrew Neeme, but then decided it was too much work.  So I pretty much stuck to twitter and I'll be pulling my hands from that source to create another poker blog (and not a Vlog) re my WSOP adventure.  Can't wait to share it with you!

RENO - Biggest Little Cash Game in the World - PART 2

 I slept well in a very clean and very cushy Peppermill room, though I will say the decor really isn't my thing.

Obviously that's my luggage lol

Despite staying at Liberace's house, I still felt good as I wandered down to find some food.  The cafe Milano was hopping and the service was friendly.  The food was a bit better than Denny's, which for me means really good as Denny's is awesome.  'Twas a bit more spendy than I would've liked, but I think that when you turn fifty you automatically assume that a breakfast bill for one person should be less than $20 which I know logically is just an absurd notion these days.

I wandered into the poker room around 11am or so and Michele was already there and had been playing since 9am.  We chatted a bit, then I walked to the back and registered for the noon Donkament.

12K

And Donkament it was - judging by the starting stack and structure sheet it was going to be an absolute turbo, which was fine by me.  I didn't want to be spending 5+ hours grinding and not cash, I wanted to finish top 3 in 3 hours or bust early so I could go make some money.

But then we got playing and I got excited because my opponents, though they were all kind and lovely, were almost all soft and easy targets for tournament shenanigans, which I employed early and often - understanding deeply that with the bingo blinds looming there was no time to waste.

1st level I found THE overpair on the button (that would be my favorite starting hand which is AA ha ha) - I opened for 4x as is my usual in soft low stake turbos in the first level - and only the bb defended.

Flop 224 rainbow, I cbet 1/3 pot.  Turn was a second heart, I sized up to 2/3, bb called. (The pot is now 4K and we had 12K starting stacks lol) River was a non-heart 7, I bet 3/4 pot, bb snapped.  Gulp.  He had pocket 10s and so I managed to get 3 streets of value with an overpair vs. overpair and increased my stack by over 50%.

In hindsight, although I have worked really hard on getting thin value on the river - and here it worked out, I wouldn't hate a check back on 5th street. As is often the case with an overpair, or flopping top pair, I was likely either well ahead or well behind here.  I think in this hand, two streets of value is more than good enough.  If he'd had a 2 here, and there were a ton more 2s in his range than mine, I would've just handed over half of my stack.

Shortly thereafter I busted what must've been the same guy for 3500 more chips in a flip - my AK vs JJ, no waiting on the flop for a six outer.

I actually did tighten up a bit thereafter, no reason to force things when the table was playing super loose.  As you likely know if you keep up with this blog and are deep into poker (and if you don't and you're not why are you reading this?) I like to key off what the table is doing and generally do the opposite.

Alas, maybe this time I should've eschewed my normal approach and tried to force things, because when we got back from the break I realized that I had a whopping 12 blinds.   Not time to panic, but not that great considering we'd started with 3 tables and we still had - 3 almost full tables.

Early on I open ripped over three limpers in the big blind with J10o, it got through and I dragged a pot that  increased my stack by 30%.  

I continued the game of chicken with three more expertly timed (I must say) shoves that also got through.  One with KK, one with 7c8c and one with pocket 6s.

Then this happened - 4 limpers and I woke up with AJ on the button.   Though I now had almost 20 big blinds it seemed an easy jam again.  One of the limpers snapped and showed JJ.  Yuck.  He had me covered.

Barry Greenstein on the river.

I dragged my chips silently.  Gus (what I call any player that's older than me and limps with JJ) was not happy.

Now that I had chirping chips, and the 3rd table had finally broken and the blinds were bigger - I started getting a little respect with my opens, even though I was sizing to barely more than a min-raise.

As the table tightened up, I opened up and for the next hour my VPIP was likely easily over 70%.

We finally colored up the 100s and 500s and I kept the pedal to the metal.  Not interesting hands, but a lot of squeezing to great effect and when I did get heads up a chunky turn bet or a river bomb were getting the job done.  It's hard to call off for your tournament life, even when you have top pair.

Happy to have lots of Red 5K chips in my life!

Two table play lasted a lot shorter than three table play - we redrew for the final table just before the third break.   

For the first time I played with a guy who was the tournament chip leader - by A LOT.   

I had no interest in min-cashing.  I think they were paying 4 people and I ended up finishing 4th for $340 after my JJ got run down by the chip leaders AQ.   He saw me play enough hands prior that he had zero problem beating me into the pot when I 3 bet jammed over his open.

Yes, the picture below does look a bit like ICM suicide - you can see the micro stack in the distance and another smaller one on my right.  

But we are talking about pay jumps in the hundreds, not the thousands - and I really wanted the sexy mini-trophy they had waiting for the winner.  It would've meant a lot more than $300-$800 more dollars in my pocket ever could.  

Poker is not my occupation, it's my passion. 

Also, I understand that in a super turbo - flips are everything.  I was ecstatic to get all my chips in against the best player in the tournament (besides me frankly) as the 60 in a 60/40.

So I was out, pocketed my $250+ profit and promptly sat down at a different table than Michele in the single $2 blind match the stack buy in cash game.

Once again I'd bought in for $400 and I chipped up to $550 right away in about an hour.  The entire table was older than me and I was in heaven.

Alas the rest of the session would not be as good as I had thought it might be after I'd won my first few hands.

While I was up I recorded hands - this was the last one that I won of any size...

I opened to $15 from MP with A10o over one limper (probably could've should've made it $20).  One guy on my left flat called, limper defended.   Flop was 88Q rainbow, so I was done but it checked through.  Turn was 7x, I check called a $10 bet by V to my left.  Limper folded. River was a king, I did something that I rarely do - I led out with a third sized pot bet.  I got a frustrated sigh and a fold.  Yay.

A lone highlight of the cash session.

I played for another 5 hours (after a 3 hour tournament).   

Took a $200 hit when my QJ got run down by Q8 who filled up on the river - I had flopped two pair.  That was fun.

Lost another sizable pot when a sticky, and younger Villain called my pot sized bet on the river with second pair.  Not fun, but kind of my own fault as my line was a bit wonky.

In the end, I was in for $500 and out for $100.  My tournament profit was erased and I was down over $185 overall for the trip in poker.

Worst of all, I barely got to play with Michele.  My notes are sparse on this second day (as I was losing) and I only dimly remember her joining my table about midway through my session.   She also didn't have the best day, though she never had to top off when I was playing with her.

I couldn't help but be disappointed that I was down so much - though in a game of this size it wasn't an above average loss by any means.  I'd watched enough poker vlogs to know this.  But it stung all the same because when I sat down and got paid so handsomely on my first winning hand I just assumed that I was at a soft table and the rest of the day would be similar.

Well, one thing I now realize at the cash game table - the player dynamic can change lightening fast.  All it takes is a couple of soft-spots to rack up and a couple of  decent regs to sit down, and that's pretty much what happened.

So once again I retired to my room, at about 9pm or so, and indulged in a lovely room service burger with perfectly salted fat fries.   A definite highlight to the afternoon and evening.

Still, I awoke the next day refreshed and ready to go - another tournament at noon and then my last session of cash before escaping to the mountains with my good friends from grade school for our belated 50th birthday celebration.   Was very much looking forward to the poker day and the hiking escapades as well.

Stay tuned for the third and final chapter!

Reno - Biggest Little Cash Game in the World - PART 1

 It had completely slipped my mind that I never wrote up a report for my trip to Reno at the end of July.

I was in town to go see a bunch of my old grade school friends to have a year delayed celebration of our 50th birthdays.  One of the friends has a cabin in South Lake Tahoe, so we were all going to gather and commiserate over the weekend.   The forest fire smoke was threatening, but the forecast was looking pretty good.  It turned out, the sky was blue and clear for us - but you don't care about that!  You're here for poker!

I showed up 3 days before I was due at the cabin and went to the Peppermill in Reno, where my plan was to hang out and play mostly cash game poker.

Why all the sudden cash games?   Truth be told, I have been itching to play cash for over a year now.  I've really been inspired by all the great cash game poker vlogs on YouTube.  It's weird to say I've fallen in love with cash game poker while not playing any - but it's the truth.

Be sure to check out Andrew Neeme, Brad Owen, Rampage Poker (Ethan Yau) or Ben Deach by searching their names on YouTube.  These are the vloggers I love.  Their video journals focus on poker hands and their narration and production values are truly great.

But why not play cash in LA Chris?  Two reasons.   

One, the rake for low stakes is absolutely HORRIBLE.  They drag $5 out of every pot regardless of size (for the most part) plus typically $2 more for their jackpots and promotions.  Absolutely absurd and entirely unbeatable at a stake where they also require you to buy in short.

Two, masks.  Hate them.  Not wearing them at the poker table.  Blech.

The Peppermill on the other hand, according to Ben Deach's videos, has a half hour time rake of $5 at their single $2 blind game.   An amazing value.   Also, the buy-in is match the stack, so no need to buy in for 50 big blinds or some other stupidly low amount.

And of course, in July Nevada was entirely mask free.  Easy decision!

Perhaps best of all as well, my friend Michele whom I met on our weekly poker nights on zoom, playing with some of the same guys who would be at the cabin - would be in town to play poker at the Peppermill as well, so I would have someone to chat with at the table.  Always much better and more enjoyable to have a friend to socialize with.   Even better, Michele knew just about everyone there, so she was chatty and friendly with them and they in turn were chatty and friendly with me.   

I have to say, there's hardly anything that I'm grateful for that happened in the pandemic - but meeting a new friend, actually several new friends, was one thing that I am indeed happy about.

Day 1 was a Tuesday and I arrived late in the afternoon.  Michele had been playing for most of the day.  I put in for a seat at the single $2 No Limit Hold-Em game, and of the 3 tables running, I got to sit down 2 seats to the left of Michele.  Good times.  She had a mountain of chips and was having a good old time.

I had bought in for $400, which was 200 big blinds - a nice comfortable stack where I would have room to maneuver post-flop.  MUCH better than Southern California.

After a couple of hours of splashing around, I realized I was stuck $200.  All my twitter feed says is that it was a couple of hands where I should've known better.  But when it dawned on me that I was down two barrels of red birds, I reached into my wallet and topped back off to $400 total.  I was happy as a clam, chatting it up with Michele and helping myself to the free soda fountain just 10 steps from my table.

A word about the Peppermill poker room.   Super clean, smoke free, very friendly floor, top notch gear (chips, chairs, tables) and a reasonable rake.  Best of all even though the room is loaded with 'regulars' they are primarily older and softer players.  If I lived in Reno, this place would be my second home.  I HIGHLY recommend it!

Less than a half hour later I got lucky when I rivered the nut flush and stacked an opponent who had turned the king high flush.  I was glad that I went for it on the river with an overbet - I figured I had a decent chance of getting paid if he had a 10 or better flush - lucky for me it was the second nuts!

After than nice score I misplayed 99 and lost $80 to a thin value bet on the river.  The very next hand I won it all back by riveting 2 pair with AK and getting paid.

I chipped back down quite a bit again, kind of death by a thousand cuts type stuff - but then this hand happened...

I opened to $7 in MP with K10 sooted. CO called. The button, who had been active, 3 bet to $20. I defended and so did the CO.  I was really looking to smash the flop or give up here.

Flop was 2K2.  I check called the buttons $25 C-Bet and so did the Cutoff.  Now the pot was bloated and the turn was a brick.  It checked through.

The river was a queen, not the greatest card.  I checked, CO checked, Button bet $50.  I called and the CO let it go.  Button showed 1010 and I was good.  Nice to drag a sizable pot playing passively, it doesn't always work out well with this kind of line!  Now I was up over $500, which meant I was only stuck $100 on the night.

Building Back Better

I had played for nearly 6 hours - for sure my longest cash session early.  It had been a ton of fun, not only because Michele was good to hang with, but because the table was also friendly and poker is FUN!!!

This hand happened just before I racked up...

I flatted with 67 of hearts on the button after MP opened for $7.   Flop was 4c5h4h - gin flop for sure.

The big blind had defended the open as well and he lead out into the $21 pot for an absurd $75 with about a hundred behind in his stack.

The button also had about 200 behind, I had him well covered also.  I jammed all in.  Button folded, big blind tanked (and tanked and tanked) and finally folded saying he had queens.   Well raise pre-flop then my man!  Jeez...

Yeah, there were a lot of trappy seniors at the Mill during my 3 days there.  Can't tell you how many times I ran into KK or AA in a multi-way limped pot.  Thankfully I don't think I suffered any big hits from these landmines, at least I don't remember it happening.  I do remember, many times, the big hands getting cracked - and of course the codgers who slow-played them groaning and moaning about their bad luck.

So after dragging that lovely $100+ pot I finished the night at $556 after being in for $600.  Definitely felt like a win!

I was drop dead tired, so I made my way to my room and after scarfing down a passable French Dip Sammich,  I slipped into a restful slumber with visions of turns and rivers spiking in my head.  

My plan for the next day was to play in the noon tournament, followed by more cash!   A great first day and I knew the next day would be even better!

Stay tuned for part 2!!!!

Mini-Vegas Tourney Trip

 I wasn't even sure if I was going to have time to play cards when I hopped on a plane last Friday night to catch up with my wife and daughter in Vegas and visit with the in-laws.   But the family only had minimal plans, most of which involved swimming in the pool at the house and eating - so I was easily able to grab an afternoon for teh pokerz.

I'd had my eye on the Orleans Summer Series for a couple of months - and it turned out I would be able to play in one of the events after all.   An 11am $300 entry with a 50K guarantee.  It turns out they would be able to double that guarantee on the day I played.  Noice!

If you're a regular reader of this blog you know that I've hardly ever cashed at the Orleans.  In fact, I think there's a good chance that I've NEVER made the money here.

This time around I'd hoped it would be different.

I sat down at one of the outer tables that wrapped around the bar area outside the actual poker room itself.  Looks like there would be plenty of runners.  455 entries, it turned out.  A big field and a long way to go.

I relaxed a bit - there was no reason to stress.  This was a big tournament with a ton of people who play poker all the time.  No pressure!  Besides, I was just too gosh darn happy to be playing live poker in a casino for the first time in well over a year.   

Yes, I had a big grin on my face for the first hour of play or so.

90 minutes went by with little to report - then this hand unfolded...

I opened in middle position with A10 soooted.  The button, a regular from my moose lodge in Burbank I think (but wasn't 100% sure with his mask and shades on) flat called.  He had been calling on almost every pot I opened, so I wasn't surprised or that concerned.   The big blind also called.

Flop was 754 with two clubs.  Yes, I had the A10 of clubs.   I c-bet, down-bet, small and the button clicked it back.  The big blind shoved his whole stack, I had him covered with about twice as many chips as he had.

I thought for a moment, I knew my moose lodge buddy was likely on a draw or had possibly flopped a wonky pair.  His calling range at the lodge and in this tournament no doubt was VERY wide.

I ripped my entire stack to get him to go away - I barely had him covered - he beat me into the pot.  (Gulp!)  He showed 67 off suit, no flush draw.  So I was right, wonky pair, open ended.   The big blind turned over AJ off suit, just overs.

So my aces were gone.   The turn was a 10 and I was in the lead.  The river was a queen of CLUBS.

Ship it!!!

Felt great to have more breathing room and, if I'm being honest, it felt great to bust my Moose friend.  If he was who I think he was, he plays entirely by his emotions and tries to make things personal at the poker table.  Frequently going out of his way to get into pots with me.  Glad to see he got bit playing with trash.  Sorry, not sorry.

Time went by and before I knew it we were at the first break.  I had chipped up a bit more here and there with small ball and aggression.  No premiums in sight.

Back from a quick bite, this legend sat down across the table from me.

You may or not remember him - "Miami" John Cernuto is

an old school tournament grinder who has been around forever and he was prominently featured in various old ESPN WSOP shows. He has 5 million in tournament earnings and 3 bracelets I believe.

I was excited to see him, and he was friendly and affable as he confidently splashed around and accumulated.

I mentioned that he was at my table later when I was at a different table - and the dealer there rolled her eyes and said something to the effect of.  "Yeah, John's ok.  He can be pretty rude if he's losing though..."

Well, for his time with me (2 hours or so) he was a perfect gentleman and pillaged his neighbors stacks with a smile.  Thankfully I didn't get involved with him in a hand.

The second break came and went, and shortly thereafter our table broke and I was put in the poker room proper - at the very last table that was to break if the floor plan was to be followed.   I knew I was likely at this table for the remainder of the tournament.

Just before my first table had broke, I got it in three ways - all in pre-flop.  I had AK.  A short stack had KK and another player who had me covered had KQ and attempted to get rid of me with a shove, but of course I wasn't going anywhere.  An ace spiked on the flop and we held - a lovely almost triple up!

Clearly cleaned for Covid lol

Oh and I almost forgot - I busted another player right before the table break with quads!  I didn't get to see his hand because he flung his cards deep into he muck with disgust before walking off.  Always nice to get paid with 4 of a kind ha ha.

And then at my new table - I continued to chip up nicely, even though one of the opponents on my left was a very capable poker player, my old friend Carlos from my home game!   #SmallWorld and so on...

I was way above chip average for several more hours.  During that time I did get tangled up with Carlos in one interesting hand.

I had been playing fairly aggressively and opening a lot - so I know Carlos and others at the table were getting pretty fed up.   I 3-bet a MP opener from the HJ with AhQh, Carlos defended his button and the opener on my right also defended.

Flop was 1054 with 2 hearts.  A great flop to c-bet which I did.  I sized up a bit bigger than half pot, which is what I do on wet boards, and Carlos and the 3-better carved out chips to call.

The pot was now pretty bloated and I had just a bit more than a pot-sized bet behind.  The flop peeled off a beautiful queen and I jammed.  Carlos looked disgusted and tanked and folded, the player on my right folded as well.  Later I told Carlos what I had.  He said he'd had 77.

Up until my arrival at the second table I had been tweeting quite a bit - but the second table was in a dead zone so I pretty much stopped recording hands.  However I do remember a couple, as they were critical.

After the 45 minute dinner break (at 630 or 7 I think) I came back to a slightly above average stack.  The table had gotten tougher as weaker players had busted and stronger ones replaced them.

One particularly tough player on my immediate left had effectively shut me down as he was big on the 3 betting and also being sticky to my opens and c-bets.

I had tried to open from the SB and steal from him a couple of times with no success.  

Then shortly after he lost  a big pot and had about a third of my stack behind, I limped in the SB with 7c2c.  He checked.

Flop was 647 with two clubs.  Bingo bango bongo.  I checked, he bet small, I jammed.  He grimaced but still called quickly.  He had 68, no flush draw.

Naturally he DRILLED the turn with a red 5.  The river was a brick.  It was a fairly big chunk of my chips and I was certainly tilted.  

"Well I guess that's how it's done.  Just drill your gunshot and profit..."   I couldn't help myself.

He said something nice back but I didn't care.  This game can still be infuriating ha ha!

I managed to bite my tongue for the rest of the night over this hand, though I did commiserate a little bit with Carlos on the next break, expressing my frustration.    It's not that my opponent was bad - it was just a lousy call for his tournament life.  Oh well.

As the money approached, my stack was now just below average.  I rocked the short stack fairly well, picking great spots to 3 bet jam which thankfully all got through, many times with lighter holdings.

Then finally after an active player in MP opened I was on the button and looked down at AQ.  A real hand for once - I shipped it!   The opener snapped with AK.

I had him covered, but not by a lot.  I was crippled.

And of course the money was tantalizingly close.   

Visions of bubbling at the Orleans, missing the money AGAIN, couldn't help but occupy my brain.

The money wasn't close enough that I could just fold forever, but I did let the blinds pass through me more than once as I was whittled down to less than 4 big blinds.

It was not looking good for our hero.  I jammed at one point in MP with 109 sooted, and somehow it got through with no one looking me up.  The big stack on the big blind across the table said she was likely going to call with any two, but then folded 82 off face up.

And then, we went hand for hand, for one hand - and then the bubble burst!

I managed to double up after that with a jam of JJ that held against AK.

Then I had to jam again awhile later (after making a pay jump) - with Kd2d on the button.  My old sticky Mr. Gut-Shot snapped with 77.  I flopped all the outs, a gut-shot and a flush draw, but still lost.   

GG Orleans!  I was sad of course not to go deeper, but I was ELATED to have cashed at the Orleans, FINALLY!!!    

I finished 55 out of 450 for $549.  It was 9 hours of grueling tournament poker, but I was pretty darn happy.  Especially satisfying to let the in-laws know that yes, I made some money.  (They are always astounded when I don't cash - they figure if you don't cash in a tournament you must not know what you're doing lol)

********

So I figured that was all for poker on 4th of July weekend.  We had a lovely 4th by the pool and enjoyed fireworks shot off by neighbors in every direction.  They don't do the safe and sane thing in Vegas.  These were major rockets in the suburbs!

Then it was Monday and there wasn't a lot going on.  So I figured why not head on down to the loverly South-Point casino?   

They had several dailies every day - the one I had my eye on worked out for the timing and also the price point.  A $60 with unlimited re-entries and a $2000 guaranteed prize pool.   Sweeeeet.

Before ponying up and sitting down, I took time to grab some selfies with Benny Binion.

Not sure why there was a statue of the old gangster (yes, he killed people) here miles away from the actual Binion's casino (which by the way has CLOSED it's poker room) but there it was.

They also had a hot dog cart with delicious dogs for only $1.25!  Score!  I grabbed one and scarfed it down before sitting down to gamble it up.

I was definitely digging the non-traditional colors.  We only started with 10K in chips, but I was fine with that.  It looked like we were going to get at least 80 runners.  I didn't want to do the 9 hour thing again at all.

Turns out there would be 115 entries total.  I myself almost had to re-enter because I punted away half my chips in the first half hour with this astoundingly stupid hand.

The nicest man in the world was sitting directly to my left.  He was from Chicago and he was just lovely.

He opened under the gun and it folded to me on the big blind with AQ.  Normally this is an immediate 3-bet, but I knew my fine friend was opening with a SUPER TIGHT range.  I very likely was well behind.

Flop was all low cards rainbow.  I pondered check-raising if he c-bet, but he didn't!  Check check.

Turn was a 10 bringing a second heart.  Check check.

River was another low card, but a third heart.   Somewhere in the dark recesses of my lizard brain I thought that AQ might be good, and also that if he finally bet maybe I could use the river as a scare card and turn my hand into a bluff.

Bad idea.   Makes very little sense.  The hot dog must've scrambled my neurons.

I checked, he finally bet a small amount.  I check-raised a stupidly large amount (nearly half of my chips).

He groaned and moaned about letting me get there, and for a moment there was a glimmer of hope.

"Oh well I can always re-enter" he said before splashing in his chips.  I fast rolled him and he looked ready to muck, before he realized that his pocket queens were WAY GOOD.

My bluff made very little sense, but he did indeed actually think about mucking ha ha.

So I had half my chips, but still had 15 or so big blinds.  And the good news was, I didn't let it get me down.  I eagerly looked for spots to get my chips in, where I was likely to be ahead - and I did good.  I 3-bet jammed a few times expertly, including one time where I let it rip after 5 limpers.  I had a garbage hand, but it didn't matter - the table was SOFT and I had enough chips still to do some damage.

Coming back after the break, I was at about 25 big blinds, and one of the few semi-professionals in the entire room sat down on my immediate left.  Boo.

This tournament no doubt was heavily raked - I wouldn't be shocked if the house was taking over 30%, but there were still a few pros who no doubt accurately saw the super soft field as enough of a positive factor to partake.  This dude on my left was one of them.

He put the kibosh on my blatant thievery for awhile, but I still hung in there and chipped up slowly with a tighter opening range and good post flop aggression.

Then our table broke.  After the 2nd break (breaks every hour and 20 minutes I think) I ran into this hand against the semi-pro who had come over with me and now sat 2 seats to my left.

Opened 2.5x from the CO with 99.  Semi-Pro defended his small blind.  I was just hoping for a low flop, but was delighted to see 962 rainbow.

I knew he would be aggressive and sticky, so I happily c-bet (1/3 pot).  He check-raised all in!  An absurd overbet that made very little sense.   I have to chalk it up to him classifying me as an aggressive liar or something.  The shove felt very emotional and personal.  I of course snapped him off and he was fairly aggrieved.  He'd had J9, and flopped top pair.  Don't have any clue why he would dump all of his chips in against someone who's only calling with a hand that beats him and folding everything else.

I had him barely covered, so it was a great and true double up.

Now I was in fantastic shape, with nary a strong opponent in sight.  I immediately cranked up the aggression and steadily accumulated chips for the next hour and a half.

Before I knew it, the bubble approached...

We re-drew for the final two tables, there was 18 of us and only 15 were getting paid.

After a player dropped a motion was made to pay the bubble and I politely smiled and said "absolutely not."

My table mates were a bit aghast,  and disgruntled, but they didn't press it.  I wasn't going to give up the chance to pillage with impunity.   The one remaining "pro" in the entire tournament couldn't help but smile slightly after I had told the TD that the answer was no.  He was a shorter stack, but he understood.

Anyways, my 'shocking' denial didn't matter much for long because two players busted out almost immediately afterwards in a double knock-out. at the other table  I briefly got moved to fill in the seat at that table.

We played maybe one orbit before we had to redraw for the final table.  Once the money bubble burst it became a chaotic shove-fest, that I pretty much stayed out of.

Once we were at the final table I was actually 3rd in chips with just under 200K, but I felt great as I knew deep down that the best player left was none other than yours truly.  It's a strange feeling to have - both satisfying and yet humbling.  I knew if I didn't finish top 3 it was going to be either bad luck or a brain aneurysm on my part.

I tangled a few times with the one big stack at the table who seemed rather fearless and eager to mix it up with other big stacks.  

The first time she opened from the CO and I 3-bet her rather large from the SB with KsJs, she looked rather shocked when I raised her.  She tanked for a good 30 seconds (I could tell it was a bit of the ol' Hollywood) before folding.

I hadn't played with her hardly at all in the tournament, so she didn't know what to expect from me.  But I had a good idea after watching her for an orbit or two what to expect from her.

She was opening WAY too often, considering she had two other big stacks on her immediate left. She was also c-betting boards with a sizing that was WAY too large, even on boards that didn't hit her range.

So I was ready to tangle.  After my shocking 3-bet, it was an orbit later that I 3 bet again from the button after she opened.  I had JJ.   This time she defended.    Flop was Q83 rainbow.  

She led out half pot.  I flat called.

She checked the Q turn.  Feeling a lot better, I checked back.

The river was a 6.  She led out small.   I pondered what to do.   I knew she hated to fold, and I knew she could very likely pay me with Ace high (not to mention 10s, 9s, 7s, etc)

I cut out 3x her lead and pushed it forward.  She tanked for a bit, then called.

I fast rolled the jacks, she shook her head and showed AK before mucking.  Good times.

In the meantime through all of this, we had 4 short stacks go out fast, and then there was five of us left.  Including a lovely older woman who didn't speak a word of english.

I finally busted her after she called off my river jam with AJ and no pair.  I had trip 8s after a very nice turn.

With only four of us left, the two gentleman at the table had been pushing since we sat down for a chop.  The woman was indifferent.  I had run the numbers in my head and was fairly confident, being the chip leader, that I would get at least 1K if we ran the numbers.

I agreed and asked the TD if he could do an ICM calculation, he was very agreeable to this.

The older of the two gentleman said something like "It's 800-something apiece"  I smiled and said, "Well I would love to see an ICM calculation"  He didn't know what that was and I explained it to him.  ICM stands for Independent Chip Model, and it's a formula that tournament directors run to mathematically determine what the value of the chips are in cash.  He understood and shrugged his shoulders ok.

This had been a dream table in a lot of ways, and my opponents lack of experience as well as their lovely personalities were a big part of that dream.

They ran the numbers and came back - I would indeed be getting $1000, $1072 to be exact - with the others getting roughly $860, $780 and $740 each.  Sold!

Normally these days I am typically opposed to almost all chops - but here with the blinds on the rise and my sizable chip lead being only 35 blinds, as well as my earlier stated desire to NOT do the 9 hour thing, I was happy to take the deal, and thankfully so were my fellow poker players.

Before they brought out the cash (in casino chips of course) they handed me this lovely card protector / spinner.  Wow!  It's metal, it's spinny, it's dope!  I was just as happy to receive this as I was the cash!

The second largest stack was a bit sad that he had missed out on this - "Hey, I didn't know we were playing for that!"

I smiled and told him truthfully "If I had known this was a prize I would've said something."

But the ship had sailed, we were awarded the monies.  I toked a green chip and took the rest to the cage!

I can't tell you how satisfying it was to be the wrecking ball in this tournament!  It was truly a great time!

I played very well, using selective aggression and looking for the right moments to accumulate.

I didn't have very many premiums - no Aces, Kings or Queens that I can recall.  Flopping a set  of 9s against a tough opponent who spazzed out and over bet the pot was for sure the crucial hand.  It gave me all the energy and momentum to lay waste to the field on my way to the final chip lead.  

As an added bonus - this tournament also went to the Hendon Mob website, so I got some GPI points and also added my very first official first place result to the data base!  (I've taken down more than a handful of casino tournaments over the years, but most don't end up on the Hendon Mob.) This makes me very happy, probably more happy than I should be but oh well!

I am SUPER excited about my upcoming trips to Reno in a month and to the WSOP in the fall.  Cannot WAIT to play more live casino poker and flex my tournament skillz.  Hopefully I will also play and run good in cash.

Until then, thanks for reading if you made it this far!  I look forward to writing up those trips as well - hopefully the results are as good!

The BEST laid plans...

 2021 is turning out to be a Cracker Jack year, especially compared to that piece of flaming garbage 2020, when it comes to the poker!

I've already played in my garage four times, click here to read reports on our get togethers, and I'm eagerly looking forward to my return to the actual felt in a casino - hopefully sooner rather than later!

Thank the Poker gods, the plexiglass finally came down in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago and masks are no longer required.  Of course it had been down for almost a month in Vegas, with nary a mask in sight as well.

I haven't been to any SoCal card rooms yet, but hopefully I can squeeze in a weekend tournament soon. My itch to play cash is tempered by the ridiculous rake in Los Angeles, so I'll probably hold off on that.

Also, I final tabled the second of two Moose tournaments I've been to in the last few weeks.  I cashed in sixth for a couple hundred bucks, which was disappointing, but it was still fantastic to be back and splashing around with these delightful folks.

My exit was a bit of a punt, with a 22 big blind stack in the small blind I jammed with A10 after the button opened 2.5x after a middle position player had limped in.  The limper folded, the button snapped with JJ and that was that.  Against an active player I have no problem with my line here - but against a guy who hadn't played a hand since the final table started 45 minutes prior, this was a call, followed likely by a check/fold on the flop unless I smashed 2 pair or better.

You'll notice the masks - we wore them until we got down to 3 tables (LA County said at the time masks were still required for groups of 25 or more).  We also posed for our final table pic with them, but thankfully for 3 table play down to my exit we didn't have to wear them.

It wasn't that big a deal, a bigger deal to me was the tables didn't have felt, for sanitary reasons I guess, but it made picking up cards tough!  Hopefully they will get rid of this feature soon.  Guys, even the CDC has said, Covid through surface contact isn't a thing!

And so two big poker trips loom -

The first will be at the end of July, I'm headed to the Peppermill in Reno for a couple of days.  The focus will be on cash, probably 1/3 but perhaps 2/5.  I don't doubt I will play their noon tournaments, but I'm not counting on those to pay for the trip.  I would love it if I could swing it via' the live games.

I'm also bringing along a small chip set to play with friends from grade school in a cabin in Lake Tahoe that weekend.  Looking forward to some truly social poker with them.

Coming back from Reno/Tahoe, I see the next few months as a build up to the World Series of Poker, which is coming back gang-busters at the Rio, starting at the end of September and going through November.

I have already booked my flight and my room for the last week of October.

My plan is to play the 1K Seniors bracelet event - this is the first year I'm eligible, so I'm pretty pumped to play in a big field where I won't be in the lower half of skill-sets.  I don't expect the field to be terribly soft (as it would've been if I'd turned 50 a decade ago) but I'm also not expecting too many tables of doom out there.

I will indeed bring two bullets, as there are two starting days - but my plan is to judge carefully and cautiously on the first day just how soft my table and the rest of the room is.  If it's glaringly obvious to me that the players all around are weak, then I will have the second 1K in the chamber and ready to go for day 2 if I bust.

So that's the BIG tournament I plan to play - but there's a few others that I'm excited to try.

On the day I arrive I plan to late register for event #50 which is a $600 mixed event of NLH and PLO.   I imagine I will be dead money, but it should be a lot of fun.

Next day, Wednesday, is the big one - 1K Seniors - planning to do an evening Deep Stack if I bust.

If I make it to day 2 I will have Thursday off. There likely won't be an afternoon Deep Stack as the Pavilion likely will be overflowing.  I will have to look elsewhere for poker - the Orleans is likely to be the best choice with lower buy-ins and different options.  Of course if I bust on Wednesday AND if I judge the field to be soft enough, I will fire bullet number 2.   

On paper the Seniors event is 5 days - I won't be shocked if it goes to 6.  Thankfully I plan to be in Vegas all of those days, so hopefully I'll run deep!

Alternate plans if I bust the event are to play in the Colossus, which also has two starting days of Friday and Saturday.  If I bust those I likely will be tired and done with tournament poker and likely head back early if I can.

UNLESS - I can manage to wrangle a friend or two to join me for the Sunday 1K Tag-Team Event!  This is one that I've longed to play for years, and I have a good feeling in 2021 that there will be more than one of my poker compatriots along for the ride this time around.  Hopefully they will join up with me so we can make a deep run in this amaze-balls event!

I have to say, win or lose, run deep or bust early - I'm SUPER excited for the WSOP and can't wait for October!

In the meantime leading up to the big week I'm going to try to be a good boy and do equal amounts of work playing (in my garage and 45 minutes south in the LA card rooms) and studying.   I really want to be in a good place when I'm forking over a good chunk of my bankroll for a shot at a deep run and serious cash - and I think I will be.    

If there's one thing I've learned about this game, playing poker is NOT like riding a bicycle - at all.  It's a game that is forever changing and evolving and if you haven't been working on your game, you stand to be left behind when you show up at a tournament with real players.

WSOP is COMING!!  CAN'T WAIT!!!

Holy crap what happened?

 I never got around to reporting on my WPT Experience at Rolling Thunder, a 5K Main Event where my entry was paid thanks to the satellite I won playing at LearnWPT (see previous post).

It was overall another amazing experience, this time around I made it to day 2 and though I didn't cash, I thought I made a pretty good showing and was excited about the prospect of more live poker in 2020 and the WSOP.  You can read a bite sized account here on my twitter feed.  That is the link to my page, here is the link to the first tweet.

And then this wacky pandemic thing hit and I haven't played live literally since the WPT Event!  Wow, holy crap!

Boo!

Man do I miss live poker!   So instead of playing in my garage, in California card rooms and the Rio in the summer - I've played exclusively online since my trip to Sacramento.   Thankfully, it's been 100% for real money and 100% with my friends - from SoCal, NoCal and the Moose Lodge.

The good news, I've played on average 3 or 4 tournaments every week and I am up over $5000 in profit.  Considering I play almost exclusively $10 and $20 tournaments, that's fairly impressive to me!

So yes I feel good about that.  But the bad news is, online poker to me isn't nearly half the fun of live pokers.  I miss it terribly!

One thing that softens the crummy-ness of online play a bit is that two of the three leagues I play in (SoCal and NorCal) both have zoom meetings when we play.  So I get to see my friends and interact somewhat.  Honestly, if it wasn't for zoom I wouldn't play even a fraction of the amount that I do.  Playing with people I like is my favorite thing about the game - I can't imagine just clicking buttons and numbers without the human interaction to go with it.

So after bad news and good news - the latest news is GREAT news and that is thanks to modern medicine and the miracle vaccine I will be returning to live poker VERY soon.

First - in my home game.  I'll be asking that everyone who comes be vaccinated like me.  It will be the honor system, and I know it will be fine.

I've scheduled the official soft reopening of my home game for May 22nd with a multi-table tournament - and I'll likely even be able to squeeze in a single table tournament and maybe a cash game before that date as well!   So that is something I'm looking forward to IMMENSELY!

I plan to host as much as I can until my group is "caught up" - meaning our points system (to choose Player of the Year) for 2020 is correct and up to date and we have a Tournament of Champions as well.  This means probably at least 2 tournaments a month, hopefully the wife will be ok with it!

Second - I've got my eyeball on Vegas and other places to get my card-room fix as well.

Of course there's the WSOP, which will be held in the fall (Oct-Nov) but there's also just the city of Vegas itself which I know I'll be getting to probably in the summer in the first week of July to visit the in-laws with the wife and kiddo.  Hopefully I can slip away and play some tournament poker on that trip, I would love to do a tourney in the Venetian now that the giant piece of crap owner is dead, I won't feel too guilty about spending my money there.

I'm also looking long and hard at the Peppermill Casino in Reno, which has a great poker room I'm told.  I'm scheduled to visit friends at Tahoe in the last weekend of July, I would love to play a day or two of cash or maybe tourney at the Peppermill leading up to that visit.

And of course, there are the local rooms with their absurd cash game rake and preposterous tournament vig. I won't be doing any of them until they are indoors and get rid of the plexiglass.  I realize this might take awhile, but I really don't want to play in a glass box.

Stupid.

Of course I will make an exception if there's still plexiglass in Vegas when I go in July, and at the Peppermill later that same month.  But I will not be heading to the WSOP if somehow they still have plexiglass up in the Pavillion/Brasillia/Amazon rooms.  That's just stupid beyond belief if they do that. 3000 people passing each other chips and cards, most of them hopefully vaccinated - yeah, let's put up a stupid wall of plastic that likely doesn't do shit.

But I am hopeful, that the plexi-boxes will be all gone by the time fall rolls around.  I am also, probably naively, praying that the dreaded masks will also be a thing of the past.   There is ZERO reason to wear them if one is vaccinated, other than preventing yourself from still spreading Covid. But the point is, once everyone has a chance to get jabbed, the onus should be on those who refuse the needle to protect themselves, not on the rest of us who are immune. Hopefully the deaths per capital will be so low by October that we can finally be free of the suffocating wet napkin thing on our faces.   I have no problems with masks before we've reached herd immunity, but I will not be happy or going to the WSOP if they are insisting on them with a low deaths per capita number in our country.

So there it is.   FUCK OFF pandemic!  It's time for live poker!!!!  LET'S FUCKING GO!!!!

Ahem.  Yes.  So also, hopefully all three groups that I play with online will still continue - I've enjoyed it very much, despite my griping here.  I would hate for my online fun to disappear altogether.

What the whaaaat?

Crazy but this just happened...

Photo Courtesy LearnWPT

Yes, it was the LearnWPT workshop that I mentioned was coming up in my last post - held at the Commerce Casino in the beautiful city of Commerce in Los Angeles - I spent almost two full days once again immersed in the knowledge tornado wrought by Nick Binger and Lucky Chewy - and it was great, it was awesome, I learned a lot and the class gets better every time.

This was my third seminar of this kind in four years, and the gang at LearnWPT has really refined the advanced curriculum. I felt this time through, even more than the last time in the Mastery class, that all the pieces fell in place and that my game will be stronger than ever before going forward.

That said, I had no illusions about taking down the class ending satellite again.  I had done it in 2017 in Atlantic City - I realized then that the odds were long and I would have to get very lucky.  This time, facing off against three tables of fellow students, I figured it was someone else's turn and I wouldn't have any pressure on myself to "take it down".   This was just poker for fun - if I ran good I figured I might have a chance at the final table or even the second and third place prizes.

Oh yeah, and those prizes were no joke.   A full WPT Workshop for 2nd ($2,000 value) and for 3rd place a full years subscription to their platinum online GTO Solver ($1,000 value and well worth it).

So I would be super happy if I went deep, final table would be great, a lesser prize would be amazing - I never even considered that I could take the top prize AGAIN.

As a reader of this blog I know you are very aware that I have worked super hard on my game - and that even with all the work it still takes a good amount of luck in any given tournament to make a deep run.

Starting Stack - Plus Groovy SWAG Card Protector

Well I confess, I had plenty of run good this time around.

I doubled up very early on - in the second level I believe.  Directly to my left was this nice soft spoken guy that I couldn't help notice had been the subject of two days of interview and b-roll being shot by a LearnWPT camera crew.  He was decked out in Zynga poker SWAG so my guess was that he was a Zynga poker winner of a LearnWPT workshop package.

Anyways, he was a bit intimidating with his sunglasses and headphones, but he also seemed pretty friendly when we weren't in hands together.

I was a little surprised to see him limp under the gun, as prior to this he had been raising aggressively both pre and post-flop.  I was on the big blind and checked my option, with one or two other limpers in between as we saw a flop of 10x4.  I had 104 in the hole (as Sven calls it, the "Good Buddy" hand, 10-4 Good Buddy!  Get it?) and had flopped two pair.  I checked and Zynga guy led out for half pot, it folded to me and I check raised his bet 3x.  He thought for a beat and then shoved the remaining 6K or so of his stack into the middle.  I snapped.

My 10-4 held and I chipped up quite a bit and Mr. Zynga was out.  He got a very nice exit interview that I overheard from my seat.  I was sad to see him go as a nice guy, but as a player I was just as happy to see him exit, as having someone who was aggressive on my direct left (albeit trying to get tricky with KK) is not something I enjoy.

And so the run good continued.  In the course of the tournament I had at least three massive all-ins where my hand held up, including a giant three way collision at the final table where my AK beat QQ and AJ.

Another three way all in saw a standard open from a big stack under the gun, and a shove from a short stack in the cutoff.  I was on the button with AA and so I just called, hoping to induce the UTG to ship it for protection.  Yes, I know - now I'm getting tricky with a premium - but I'm doing it from the button and given the UTG players aggression and poker smarts, I was rather shocked that he then just called my flat.

So we were off to a flop of Jack high rainbow.  With the short stack all in, the UTG big stack checked do me and I bet about half pot, 8K into 15K, the big stack insta-shoved.  I snapped fearing only a set of Jacks, he had pocket Kings which mercifully didn't hit the turn or river.

Chipping up about mid-tournament.

Without that streak of luck I wouldn't have been able to end up on top, that's for sure.  But I also had to get to work as the "bubble" approached.  I really had to apply the pressure, and I'm glad to say I did - even when I didn't have the cards, which was often.

I was very fortunate that a couple of the more aggressive students busted out with coolers and collisions at the final table, and when we were four handed and then after the bubble as well, it was me vs. some students who were quite a bit tighter.

At one point four handed and then again three handed, I didn't pay too much attention to my own hole cards - I just hit the gas and applied pressure as much as I could.

Then one gentleman two seats to my left had had enough and began open shoving with maybe 20 bigs behind, every time I opened on his big blind. I simply waited for a better than average hand and then eventually called with KQ.  I lost to his A7, but by then I had so many chips I was still ok.

After we were "in the money" my two remaining opponents, both really nice guys who were as excited as I was, both had even stacks and I had about double what each of them had, that is, I had about 35 big blinds, still enough to open and maneuver a little bit.

Photo Courtesy LearnWPT

The fellow to my right still found a way to open 4x which was pretty ambitious.

The gentleman on my left, who previously had been the one 3-bet shoving, was opening a more standard 2.5x, I was able to tussle with him a few times.  This is the one hand I remember well.

I opened 2x on the button and he defended from the SB, the big blind also came along.

I had J3o, flop was 210Q rainbow.  My opponent in the SB led out into me a tiny bet - about 1/4 pot.  The Big Blind folded.  I knew this lead meant the SB likely wasn't very strong.  The problem was that there was not enough chips left behind for him if I just called and tried to take it away later, if he bet again on the turn he would be committed - the time to act was now.  I held my breath and shoved all in.

He tanked a bit and then eventually folded a 10 face up.  Whew!  I didn't think he was that strong, but I was relieved that my aggression had worked.

I knew at that moment that there was a good chance I could win this thing, barring any catastrophic bad luck.

The man on my right soon busted when he got tangled up with the other fellow - I was super excited, even though my remaining opponent now had doubled up and had almost as many chips as I had.

We were were now heads up.  Gary was his name, and he had shown himself to be a tough opponent, especially when he used his whole stack to counter my aggression.

I was therefore a bit surprised when he suddenly tightened up considerably in heads-up play.

Photo Courtesy LearnWPT

After I had opened 2.5x three times in a row and he had folded every time, and after he had limped his button every time as well - I started to really pour on the aggression. He had tightened up a lot as compared to three way play - in almost no time at all he had about 20K compared to my 120K.

Now it was the waiting game - I wasn't just going to hand over my chips, I had to have a decent hand.

I found it in short order with the Hollywood Park Nuts.   Side note: I had been telling my fellow players more than once at the final table, after finding out that none of them were from Los Angeles (pretty crazy) that I had opened several times with "the Hollywood Park Nuts". They were bemused and bewildered, having no idea what hand I was talking about.

If you play poker in SoCal you of course know what the HP Nuts are - Jack King Off.  Suit.

I opened, my opponent shoved with Q10 and I snapped.

A bunch of broadway cards came out on the flop, along with a nine, but somehow I managed to flop top pair and hold - game over!

Photo Courtesy LearnWPT

I was fairly flabbergasted - and truthfully, even now almost 24 hours later, I still am!   How did this happen?

It is really crazy, because though I have certainly worked on my game - I haven't dedicated myself fully, the way I would if this were my profession or my livelihood.  I study twice a week, and I play online when I can.  Then of course on the weekends I will play once or maybe twice if my schedule allows.

My mind boggles when I think how good I've gotten with merely a part time application of myself to studying the game.

I know a TON of my good results are because of LearnWPT.

Private poker coaches, even the lesser known ones, typically are $200 an hour or more.   LearnWPT gives two FULL days of immersive instruction and comprehensive and coherent strategy for a fraction of that price, and it's instructors are well known pros with proven results.  Even top of the line coaches often will simply talk in stream of consciousness or simply review hands - LearnWPT has an entire strategic system that is mathematically driven and carefully crafted and forged from over a decade of formal instruction.

Why a bunch of my fellow amateur poker players haven't jumped on board the LearnWPT train, I honestly don't know.  I'm sure they flinch at the 'cost' - but really, with $7000 of satellite winnings now under my belt after me not paying even half of that for the seminars, the instruction has MORE than paid for itself.   And let's not forget my other results since taking my first workshop in 2017.

Half a dozen $2000+ scores at SoCal casinos.   Five Moose Lodge tournament wins, including the Multi-League Overlay Championship and SLR Tournament of Champions - both for over $1000.
The World Series of Poker 2018 Main Event - I entered for a $1225 satellite and cashed for $15000.  The World Series of Poker 2019 Colossus - 313th out of 13,000+ for almost $2000.

These results to me are pretty astounding, considering how infrequently I play card room tournaments and for that matter only play at the Moose Lodge maybe twice a month at the most.

I am super super happy with where my game is at - and I'm beyond excited at the prospect of another shot at a WPT Main Event.

Not sure where I'm going to play - right now I've got my eyeball on the Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa this May 1st, but we will see.  It will likely cost upwards of $1500 in travel and lodging, which isn't the biggest deal, but I would really like to figure out if there's a more economical option on the table.  If not - I'm still taking my shot!

If I do go to Tampa in May, it means rededicating myself to studying and playing as much as I can between now and then.

The WPT GTO solver has been great these past two weeks - I've gotten up to over 500 hands with just an hour or so of time a couple nights a week.  I will keep on with that - and I also need to really start writing down hands when I get back on the felt.

Speaking of being back on the felt, I think that's going to happen this Thursday night at the Moose - I'll also be playing this weekend in Phoenix after watching baseball in the day with my family.  I've got my eye on a tournament on Saturday night, and some cash game play for Sunday night.  Hope I continue to run and play good!