Pokertime...

So tonight we have a live tournament among friends in Houston tonight. A couple of people from our crew are attending, so maybe one of our regulars will take some winnings tonight. Last tournament, Jim S. came in second for a nice finish.

I'll be heading to Vegas one week from today. Getting geared up.

I'm sure most of you saw that Jamie Gold won the WSOPME last week. He was a talent agent from California (he used to represent James Gandolfini) and was pretty well off. He tipped the dealers $2million of the $12 million he won?!? The dealers (my dad is a dealer) are tipped very well from the $5million taken from the prize pool. A $600 entry fee is taken from each player, so I feel the excessive tip may set a bad precedent. I do believe in tipping for a great finish, but $2 million? A bit excessive.

Picture courtesy of www.gandolfini.com

Selling life insurance

Quote from the circuit radio broadcast (courtesy of Gavin Smith):

"Poker has more disappointment than dating and selling life insurance combined."

The WSOPME ended about 4am last night, Jamie Gold took the $12 million prize. I'll give a full report soon. Allen Cunningham, the well known pro who has won 3 bracelets in the last 2 years, came in 4th.

The Final Table is Set

From Cardplayer.com, the final table has been set for the WSOPME. There is one well known pro at the table, Allen Cunningham, who won two WSOP braclets in 2005. He is 2nd in chips and must be the favorite to win the event. The current leader is Jamie Gold, who has held the chip lead for several days.

Check out the bracelet pic. don't you think it's nice they surrounded the jewelry box with a cheap set of home poker chips?


Check out the mint chocolate chips to the right....those are T$100,000 units each....stack of 20? T$2 million.

The Main Event will take one day off and the final table will play on Thursday August 10th. ESPN is showing the final table live (OK, w/ small delay) for somewhere around $25 on PPV. If you haev the time, it may be worth it, but the final table notoriously goes until the wee hours of the morning, Pacific time. Phil Helmuth will broadcast for radio and Phil Gordon will work for ESPN.

The chip counts are as follows:

Seat 1 - Richard Lee - $11,820,000
Seat 2 - Erik Friberg - $9,605,000
Seat 3 - Paul Wasicka - $7,970,000
Seat 4 - Dan Nassif - $2,600,000
Seat 5 - Allen Cunningham (see photo) - $17,770,000
Seat 6 - Michael Binger - $3,140,000
Seat 7 - Doug Kim - $6,770,000
Seat 8 - Jamie Gold - $26,650,000
Seat 9 - Rhett Butler - $4,815,000

It's good to see a known pro at the final table. 9 unknowns doesn't make for the best of TV, unless ESPN does some creative editing to get us to "know" these guys during the ME run.

Hot time....summer in the city

Yeah yeah, it's hot all over the US this summer. You know what? There are few places that are as hot, for as long, as it is in Houston, Texas. Friday, I take off 1/2 day to play golf and it is just a struggle to slap it around for four hours. We played out at Meadowbrook Farms and it was good golf with good company. I actually smacked the crap out of the driver that day, scored decently (OK 91 is good lately), and nearly got another hole in one (2 1/2 feet long on a par 3). Yes, I made the putt.

The sun took so much out of me that I didn't even go out that night.....however, I did play poker (of course). The inital 2 Sng's worked out great, a 1st and a 3rd. The rest of the night was par, netting a slight loss on 2 busted Sngs and several NL ring games. After many glasses of wine, I did fire up the crack machine again (much to Andrea's chagrin) and after a mighty loss (of epic proportions) I crawled back to par while betting $60/hand on a nice run. Yikes, that crack machine is not good, but I love it.

Actually, cashing in those inital 2 initial Sngs, I crossed the threshhold back to the black for the 1st time in quite a while. I'm grinding away at the NL cash game level as I really ran bad the 1st 6 months of this year....I can do it, but I've got a long way to go in the cash games.

Limit? I never play limit online anymore. I only play limit live at home or in Casinos. I'll certainly play a lot of 1-2 NL when I go to Vegas at the end of the month.

Yes, I'm going to Vegas at the end of the month. It's a fraternity reunion where we'll have 15-20 people convening on Vegas for a fantasy football draft. I'm staying 4 nights, so I should get in a lot of cards....

The rest of the weekend you say? Saturday was filled with watching Clerks twice (directors commentary included for prepping to see Clerks 2), doing domestic shopping, a nice meal at Spaghetti Western (check it out), and a visit to see PJ with a good amount of wine involved.

Sunday was a bit of the same, going to the club to have lunch and run some errands with Andrea. Maybe get in to see Clerks 2 (snoochie boochies!), or that Decend horror flick that has a trailer for SAW III.....I love that franchise.

Talk about a risky fake ID

If you came of age (21) in the paranoia age of the 80s or early 90s, you've done it before....admit it.....you've tried to get into a bar using someone else's ID. It wasn't fake, but it wasn't you either.

From CNN.com, there was an article about a waitress who when asking for ID, was handed her own drivers license. What are the odds of that? Now this isn't your fraternity brother lending you his spare ID for the night, this was a stolen purse and then using the ID in public? Stick to using the credit cards baby!

I remember when I was 17 and a freshman in college, I used to borrow an ID from a Senior in my fraternity that I didn't know all that well. His name was Bob, he was 23, and he had a mustache. I was 17, heavy, baby faced, and had much more hair. So were the days....it was easier to get into places when I was 17 than it was when I was 20. I actually didn't do much bar-hopping my last year before turning 21, I kept the fraternity scene, apartments, and the like.....I was also kinda poor, buying Piels light, Yeungling (not the real lager), and Miester Brau, affectionately known as Mr. Beer.

Results from 28 July and the weekend

Friday, we had a good group again. Me, Klay, Diane, Tonja, Scott, Randi, David, Andrea, and Jared played from 8-2:30am. Winners included Tonja, Klay, and myself (apologies if I missed anyone). Amusingly enough, I won the 1st two hands of the night (initiating a kill pot) and that set a decent tone for the night. I lost only two key hands (when I was ahead on the turn) that would have made it a great night for such limits. In sum, the group was great (I even bought food), and the cards were fun.

As far as the rest of the weekend, I managed to play a few tourneys and grinded out a modest amount at some cash games.

However, I did succumb to the crack machine (online blackjack) after a late night out on Saturday......I'm amazed I walked away from the crack machine a winner for the 2nd time in a row, winning just under $600. A long way from the total loss, I'm afraid, but a win nonetheless.

My trip to Vegas for a college reunion is less than 4 weeks away. We look to have a load of people there (on the basis of a fantasy football draft) and I hope to have time to play cards, BJ, and some Video Poker in the time that I'm there....

Total players in 2006 WSOP ME

from CardPlayer.com

Mon Jul 31 23:25:00 PDT 2006
Final Numbers For Main Event
After 3 day ones have concluded, and day 1D still going on for the next 4 in a half hours, the final number of participants in this years main event has just been announced. This year 8,773 people entered the main event. This number makes it the biggest Main Event in World Series of Poker history. This is almost 3,000 more than the number of participants last year. Keep it here with cardplayer as we will continue to give you live updates and chip counts until the main event champion is crowned.

Wow. A first prize of $10-11 million?! The prize structure won't be announced for another day or two. A lot of pros have been eliminated from the field, but there are some interesting stories, movies, and pictures. I've attached one, of Joe Sebok, son of Barry Greenstein. Joe lost that bet to Gavin Smith and has to dress as a superhero for every day he's playing in the series. Gavin is busted, but Joe is still alive. If he makes the final table, he doesn't have to wear it....but I hope ESPN highlights Joe at the spotlight table during day 2. In this pic, he's dressed as Wonder Woman and he's also dressed as Spiderman, Robin, and someone else....can't remember.