A long time coming.....

OK, Video Poker is my Achilles Heel of gambling. I don't know what it is, I think it's the speed and the action. It's really not the money, though when playing dollars as opposed to quarters and each game being 2-3 seconds long, the difference between $1.25 and $5 for those minor seconds can be staggering. I also like the stupid "double down" feature of VP, even though it's a zero EV proposition (it's no different than cutting cards or flipping coins), the DD certainly affects variance, and variance allows you to occasionally be a short term winner in VP.

Oh yeah, and it allows me to get players points so that I never have to pay for a room in Las Vegas again. However, VP is still a -EV game, though it's a great way to spend time at the casino bars watching sports.

Speaking of which, when I was in Connecticut last month, I spend a few nights at the Mohegan Sun, where one of my favorite pastime is to play VP, watch the Yankees win, and the Red Sox, hopefully, lose. On my last 2 night stay there, I was upgraded to a wonderful Junior Suite overlooking the river (at the Sun, I have to pay for rooms, nearly everyone does except for whales.

I had a great last night there. Miss A was with me, we took my father out to dinner, and I had been a net winner in VP for the trip (live poker in CT is only at Foxwoods). After dinner, I watch the Red Sox win (boo) and I'm feeding the VP machines with relentless abandon. All my luck appears to have run out (and the drinks, since last call is at 12:30am) when I hit the miracle, the Royal. If you look at the picture, notice that it's only a 2 card Royal, I drew 3 on that hand....almost as astronomical as when I hit a natural at the MGM Grand (in the 1st 5 cards!). Notice that they have a max coin about 5 (it's 25), so it was a $6 play for $4,800. Yikes!

Needless to say, we cashed soon after, paid the taxman, tipped the bartender $100, and played a little craps to end the evening. I'm off to Vegas in August with a healthy bankroll for fun with the college buddies and fantasy football.

Finally!

It appears that US online poker players will finally be allowed to withdraw money from their Neteller accounts that have been frozen since late last year. Yours truly left a modest amount in Neteller, but the UIGEA, passed by congress last year, was interested in hundreds of thousands of accounts of grinders like myself. I am happy to hear this news; I was able to withdraw the amount today and I expect payment in 2-3 business days. Playing online poker is still doable: the enforcement act is targeted to financial institutions who are being asked to monitor our international transaction......sound like a good idea to you?

Gaudi or Gaudy?

So I never really downloaded pictures from a recent trip to Spain, but I was handed a few from a friend. Instead of spoiling the architecture with a photo of myself, here's one of the houses designed by Antoni Gaudi, who lived until the early 20th century. His architectural style is of the sea and earth, with wavy lines (few corners), mosaic style colors, and what some would call gaudy elements.

This building is the Casa Batillo, where an event we attended was held. Click the link if you want to host a party there....

Gaudi's most famous [incomplete] work is the Sagrada Familla, which we saw on a bus/walking tour. To me, it's a massive construction project......impressive, but not beautiful.

"Gaudy" is determined to be of 16th century origin, implying a magnificent feast....hm.

The World Series Has Begun!

Wow, another year has gone by and the World Series of Poker is back at the Rio in Las Vegas. This year, the event was pushed back a month and the main event (WSOPME) will not conflict with the other events during the series.

Personally, I'm surprised with the amount of promotional hotel offers I received over the last few months for June and July. The WSOP is a huge international draw and I suspected that rooms would be as scarce as during the Super Bowl, NCAA Basketball, or New Year's Eve. Alas, I am not attending as I'll be returning in August for the 2nd annual reunion / Fantasy Football draft with my college buddies from the 90s.

Do you realize that football is only 2 months away....I can't wait. The NBA playoffs are a bore.

As usual, I suggest CardPlayer.com for coverage of the WSOP. For their tourney schedule page, click here.

Hey Cirque, did you forget your trampoline?

I was in Mexico last week, to attend the wedding of Andrea's friend. It may have been OK, but it was on the heels of a trip to Barcelona, Spain, where I had spent the previous week working (more at a later time). I had a 6am flight back to the US and then had to leave the next day for Mexico. I wasn't able to relax until about the 3rd-4th day.

However, we were quite entertained by a man I affectionately dubbed "Cirque". This guy appeared as French as you could get, not only by the apparent suicidal swimsuit (if this look isn't a "swimsuit" or "bathing suit" nothing is), but he did have the pasty black haired look like he didn't know much English among a group of Texans.

Betty: "He Pierre, why don't you come to Mexico with us, you'd have fun?"

Preston:"Are you kidding, he'd embarrass us."

Betty:"What could he possible do to embarrass us?"

Every time this man walked around, he was the toast of the town. Thankfully, no one was openly laughing at him to his face, but he was certainly a talkative sight to see. Andrea was able to snap this picture while I was getting us more drinks to combat the effects of tainted water and ice.

30,000 miles and counting

This year is really flying by. With 2 trips to London, one to LV and one to Japan, I've flown over 30,000 miles this year not including that trip to Australia in November. These trips just make the time go by so quickly that I can't beleive I haven't written much since the end of January. Since most of this time has revolved around work, it was probably best. Not only that, I'm headed back to Europe this week. Hopefully, I'll get a few pictures from that trip. Oh yeah, headed the Mexico the day after I get back from Europe. Oh, and then I'll be in Puerto Rico in June......yikes. The poker has been sporadic lately, actually I clawed to a few small wins punctuated by a few substantial losses recently. Andrea and I even went to Couchatta 2 w/e's ago and while she won $40 playing 3/6/12 all night (and a spinner for a STR8 flush), I lost $250 playing same. Agression doesn't work in low limit live games with people willing to call down any pair who can hit 2pr by the end.....it was crap.

We've been playing some golf lately too. 2 weeks ago, I went to Houston National and shot the best round in a while 40-48, but then I played in some bad weather at QV where I didn't even break 100. It will soon get hot in Hosuton, so I need to get my game in gear when I return from my trips.

Another trip to LV

January was again my first trip to Vegas in 07. This 3-night trip was average, as far as Vegas trips go, but Andrea and I did see a few shows. We saw LOVE by Cirque at the Mirage which was pretty good, but you have to be crazy about Beatles music. If you think the Beatles are just OK, this show isn't for you. There aren't many OMG moments, but it was nice.

We also saw the Crazy Horse burlesque show at MGM Grand, formerly known as La Femme. I can't believe it, but I actually fell asleep in a burlesque show. What I described to a friend at work confirmed that it is identical to the actual revue at the Crazy Horse in Paris. However, it just was a bit slow for me.....surprising!

The rest of Vegas was good. We had a fabulous meal with Steven and Joanie at Lawry's Steak house. If you get a chance to dine out in Vegas, Chicago, Dallas, or Beverly Hills, this restaurant is a must. I've been there only twice but it is prime rib that you can dream about with excellent service. The LV location is off-strip, but close to Flamingo on Howard Hughes blvd about a mile from the strip.

I didn't play any live poker, but did OK on the weekend except for a terrible night at video poker at NYNY (the bar at times square). We had fun playing while watching the dueling pianos.

I may not seem so excited about the trip since at one point in time, I had reservations to leave LV for Japan on the early morning of Andrea's b-day. That wouldn't have been fun, schlepping my laptop and a few suits to Yokohama for a 2-day meeting. Thankfully, the meeting has been postponed for another time.

Travel will be a huge bear for me this year. Before June, I have plans to be in Japan, Australia, Puerto Rico, Calgary, and Cancun (OK, that's a "vacation"). I may possibly be back in the UK and I was cut from a list of people to go to a conference in Spain that I was a bit upset about.

Nevertheless, the mileage got Andrea and I dual upgrades to first class for the ride home from LV. I'll have to parlay the miles into a trip to New England this summer/fall to play some golf and get back to Foxwoods/Mohegan Sun.

The Colour of Money

I've been meaning to post this one for a long time, but I'm terribly late. On my recent trip to England, for business, I was able to spend 2 hours in the local casino before my return home. In the UK, you have to be a member of a Casino and it takes 24hrs to process the application. Luckily, I had applied three years ago on my last visit.

This small Grosvenor casino (there are many) had a few roulette tables, four blackjack tables, some slots and a small bar. It was attached to a hotel near the tube, so it's pretty convenient. After walking around a bit, I decided that I'd play blackjack, as I wasn't in the mood for roulette or slots, and I was flying to Las Vegas in less than a week. There were 4 tables, 2 of £5, one of £10 and one of £25. Remember, the exchange rate is nearly 2:1, so a £25 table is a $50 per hand bet! Since the £5 were jamming, I decided to wait for a time at the £10 table. I waited for a while and there was one hole open (#2) but no seats....after standing for some time, I was able to play while standing behinAsian asian ladies (who weren't as bothered by me as I thought they'd be).

A few things stand out. One, you can't tip the dealer or play for the dealer. "The Grosvenor Casino feels that we are paid handsomely" they will say when you try to tip them. OK, whatever.

You can tip the waitresses. You don't get free drinks here. In fact, you get a pint of lager for £2.40. Instead of change, I give the lass a £5 chip. That's right, I paid $10 for a pint of lager and the privledge to lose money. Yikes.

Lastly, the dealer has no down card. That's right, no down card. Therefore, after all player hitting takes place, the dealer immediately takes a second card to his up card and then plays out the hand. I think that this action favors the house immensely by allowing low cards and high cards to come consecutively with the dealer's second card. The only way to truly bust (since there is no standard separation between the dealers second card and 3rd) is if the dealer's hole card is low and he hits two highs consecutively. I don't like it. therefore, I hit more aggressively than normal.

I took my stack of £5 red, and worked it up a bit. I ended up £150 (almost $300), which is nice at those limits (10-15 bets plus what I gave the waitresses). Crap thing is that I lost a percentage changing my £350 back to US currency! See pic.

A Hand From New Years Day (OK, eve)

After NYE, where Andrea and I went out to dinner, then met some friends for a quick midnight celebration at you-know-where, I played some poker well into the night. In fact, I played from 2:30 to 6:45 in the morning.....hey, I had the next day off!

At one point, I was playing 2-$100NL tables and 2-$200NL tables. I was down a bit for most of the session, but had some nice luck on the 200NL tables. I was a bit overly aggressive, but that late at night, you really don't get played back at much. If someone else is also agressive, you either stay away from them or change tables. I wasn't seeing much competition on this table when I ran into a nut-peddler. Take a look at his minraises....either weakness or they are thinking that they are trapping.

Now really, after we swap several minrasises on the turn, does he really think he can beat me with an overpair?

Again, the PFR with 1 limper may be a bit agressive with K8s, but also note that the limper is the guy with aces....NEVER limp with Aces unless you are perceived as tight, you can be assured of a raise behind and you take advantage of the raise behind. His reraise to $10 is a minraise for $4. At this point, how can I not call $4 into a $17 pot (4.25 to 1). If the flop doesn't hit me, I'm gone.

Then I hit top and bottom pair and turn the 2nd nut flush draw. How he may think I have AK here is crazy....even on the turn I have to be afraid of T9, but that isn't consistent with his PFR.

I suppose my check on the flop is weak, but I was looking to CR. How can he not lead here with AA with a rainbow flop and no str8 draw? It only led to his demise on the turn where he was down to pairing the board with a non-club or an Ace.

Big pot...net over $250.

I'm sure Andrea will read me as Farting Machine, who folded pre-flop. Not so!

Happy New Year!

FullTiltPoker Game #1512413448: Table Revere - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 7:43:21 ET - 2007/01/01

Seat 1: ralloyd ($93.80)
Seat 3: caztx ($392)
Seat 4: a69metsfan ($266.65)
Seat 5: Farting Machine ($205.15)
Seat 6: muth 99 ($76.05)
Seat 7: Narena ($193), is sitting out
Seat 8: chardy999 ($201.50)

chardy999 posts the small blind of $1
caztx posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #7

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to caztx [8c Kc]

a69metsfan calls $2
Farting Machine folds
muth 99 folds
chardy999 folds
caztx raises to $6
a69metsfan raises to $10
caztx calls $4

*** FLOP *** [Kd 8h Jc]
caztx checks
a69metsfan checks

*** TURN *** [Kd 8h Jc] [7c]

caztx bets $16
a69metsfan raises to $32
caztx raises to $75
a69metsfan raises to $118
caztx raises to $161
a69metsfan raises to $204
caztx raises to $247
a69metsfan raises to $256.65, and is all in
caztx calls $9.65
a69metsfan shows [Ah Ac]
caztx shows [8c Kc]
*** RIVER *** [Kd 8h Jc 7c] [2s]
a69metsfan shows a pair of Aces
caztx shows two pair, Kings and Eights
caztx wins the pot ($531.30) with two pair, Kings and Eights
a69metsfan is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $534.30 Rake $3
Board: [Kd 8h Jc 7c 2s]
Seat 3: caztx (big blind) showed [8c Kc] and won ($531.30) with two pair, Kings and Eights
Seat 4: a69metsfan showed [Ah Ac] and lost with a pair of Aces

Happy New Year!

Well today is my birthday (Dec 29th), but I'm stuck at work with little chance of getting out early. Last night I went to the Texas Bowl with a few friends; Rutgers creamed Kansas State at Reliant Stadium. The place wasn't full by any means, but there was great support from both sides. I don't think many Houstonians like me were there just to see a game.

I had a fantastic Christmas....the generosity of everyone is really special. I don't have incredible NYE plans, but I plan to have dinner with Andrea and then hoist a few with some friends.

Not much is going on...need to get back to the grind on the last work day of 2006.

Have a happy, and don't go shooting your guns in the air on NYE.

I think I'm headed back....

It appears that I may be headed back to Australia in early February. A lot more travel for at least a bit more work....I think I'll be participating in a 1-2 day workshop. This time, I better get in a downtown hotel. I hope I don't miss the Super Bowl.

At least I'll get the frequent flier miles (and Continental Elite bonus).

I may also have to go to the UK for a preliminary workshop in early Jan. I will likely miss the BCS Championship game (college football to the ladies), but I suppose that isn't so bad for a trip to a cool city.

Pics of Joondalup Country Club

Here are some of the pics of the course. Note that the colors are outstanding. They are just coming into summer and there isn't any haze to be seen. Everything was dry (very dry) and crisp. Enjoy!

Here's one with several 'roos in sight. In the next photo, notice their back legs, they are like pillars! Their front legs almost look lame.

They are quite tame and you can get really close. They were only protective when near the younger ones, which is what you'd expect. Supposedly, they are like deer in America; the population needs to be controlled.

Yes, this is a pic of a lot of golf carts.....However, check out the colors. Fantastic!

This one is a bit dark, but it illustrates the great golf holes at this course. A single golf ball, encased in an individual box, was $5.95 AUS! Since there were 'roos in the fairway and snakes in the rough, I spent a lot of money on golf balls.

Look at this putting green, it's like mini-golf. Look, you can't even see the legs of the guy putting! It was a bit of a joke, really. The regular greens weren't that bad. They putt very true and fast.

Yeah, I don't think I'm going to get that golf ball, thank you! Great holes....desert, but lush, and colorful...

This hole was their signature hole. I zoomed in on this shot to get a better perspective on that bunker. It's huge! It may not look like much until you look at the people on the green. From the green, imagine going straight down in elevation all the way into that bunker. From the bunker, it had to be 150 ft or more in elevation to the green. I was right and short of the green with my second shot, I thought I was going to die walking up that hill in tennis shoes.....my putting suffered.

Another shot of the ROOS!

One of their three nine hole layouts was carved from a rock quarry. Here, you can see that perspective, with the houses at "grade" level. If you hit a wicked slice, you could bounce back in play....too bad there weren't many holes like this and I was hooking the ball!

Last pic...another perspective of the rock quarry. Believe it or not, the wind was blistering that day, but it wasn't so bad in the quarry part. You can see the shadow cast from the quarry wall as we were well below grade. This was a par 3! Can you believe it!

Thanks for looking at the pics. Maybe I'll play again in February. Cheers.

The Dingo Ate My Baby!

There hasn't been a lot in the last month because I was recently sent to Australia the week of Thanksgiving. The downer was that it was an up-and-back trip as I was going for a four-hour meeting!

It was an arduous flight, about 38 hours each way. You smell pretty bad when you arrive. To complicate things, my flight from Houston to Tokyo was cancelled and I had to fly to Detroit just for the privledge to fly Northwest Airlines to Tokyo. That plane smelled like a locker room. When I arrived, I was staying 25km from the city, in a beachcomer/backpacker hotel, complete with paper walls and horseflies.

In the end, the meeting went well, and I got a few pictures along the way. On my departure date (10pm at night), I got to play golf in a company outing at a place called Joondalup resort. The course was fantastic and we saw 'roos, Kangaroos, on the course! I'll put a few pics up in the next post.

I also got to stick my feet in the Indian Ocean (see pic), so there's a tick off my list.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday and I hope you have a great Winter Holiday season.

Last update, I now have to go to London in Jan and back to Perth in Feb....looks like I'll rack up the miles in 2007. Wish me well!

Go "see-Saw III"....before its too late

The day after it opened, Andrea and I saw Saw III just before Halloween. I love smart horror movies, ones that don't just have a killer running around (Halloween, Friday the 13th, etc.), or teen romps (I know what..., Scream, etc), but those that have a twist or are just plain creepy (Saw, The Ring, Fear.com, etc).

Now Saw III didn't get very great reviews, but who ever gives a horror flick a great review?

See it. It's gross, it's scary, it brings out the bogeyman. I can't link to a pic....likely a copyright issue.

There's also "Horrorfest, 8 films to die for" - 8 films you were never meant to see, this weekend, there 8 never released films are put together in a one-weekend only special in theatres.

Turkey and poker anyone?

OK, I think those of us in Houston should be considering a home game sometime during the holiday weekend. Methinks that the day after Thanksgiving, Friday the 24th, we could put together an afternoon game that could lead to a LONG session of cards. Let's call it a MID STAKES POKER game (as opposed to High Stakes Poker on GSN).

We could have a rotating cast of characters, those that would play the afternoon, those that prefer the early evening, and those who would play the entire time (anyone?). Someone could bring over a small TV and we could have some college football running in the background too. Texas vs. Texas A&M starts at 12pm and LSU plays at 2:30pm. Hmm, maybe we should play at a bar....

Please USE THE COMMENTS section to show your interest about a home game. We could play elsewhere over the weekend, but I don't want to shop on Friday, I want to take some money.

Home of the Whopper!

Two police officers in New Mexico were served pot-spiked Whoppers through the drive through in New Mexico. Do all drive throughs have cameras on the ordering window? I suspect there was no reason not to believe the employees didn't know they were cops, but if there isn't a camera there, they wouldn't know until the order was placed and the car drove around the side of the building....

Lastly, one could have hid the attack better using BKs Italian Chicken Sandwich.....but I suppose no one orders those.

BORAT! You must see this moviefilm.

Weeks ago, Andrea and I caught an advanced screening of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. I could only take Da AliG Show in small doses, but I've got to admit, this was one crazy movie. Without going into details (and PLEASE don't read a formal review), through uncomfortable humor, Borat uncovers the quirkiness of Americans and often exposes strong anti-semitism and insensitivity to people from other cultures. OK, and there's the occasional naked wrestling bit thrown in for good measure.

All of the people in the film did sign a consent form and some of them aren't happy about it.

The movie was the highest grossing film last weekend and there's little wonder why: I've spotted the character on the Today Show, reruns of Da Ali G show (on HBO), and even heard on Howard Stern.

Go see it.

The aftermath of the Safe Port Act (a.k.a. the bill that killed PartyPoker in the USA)

Since the signing of the Safe Port Act, witht the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act appended to it, my poker content has surely suffered a bit. I waited out the scene for a few week, and then I ended up at my new primary site, FullTilt. Full Tilt is advertised as a site designed by the pros and where the pros play. Now, I don't really care much for the pros that play there, but I must admit that it is pretty interesting watching Mike Matasow donk off thousands playing $200/$400 limit Omaha Hi-lo. Oh yeah, he does play higher.

Full Tilt is one site that offers Rackback. Rackback is simply where a percentage of your rake paid (or rake dropped as you sit through hands) is returned to you. Some sites, like RakeTheRake offer 27% RB for FT and they have referral programs too. Send a comment to me if you want a referral code.

Obviously, I've started playing again. In fact, after playing a live game with friends last Friday, I put in a 10hr session from 2:30am-12:30pm. All night, yes. FYI, don't play against the morning crowed (post 10am) if you've been playing all night....but the late night crowd is pretty profitable.

Good Luck.

Poker Hottie?!

It seems that a Poker Hottie (Brandie Hawbaker) was chip leader after day 2 of the Fiesta el Lago Tournament at Bellagio. Unfortunately, she "busted" (see pic link and then look at the pic on the right of the page) out on day 3, but she surely made some waves at the table with her low cut dress......

Fabulous.

Are you LOST?

Yes, I'm addicted to this show. Shut it...it's good. It's certainly not the best, but how many shows actually make you think, make you guess, surprise you, and intentially will not close all the loose ends. You can watch recent episodes on ABC.com.

24 is great, but LOST is better. It's too bad that when LOST premiered, it never hinted at what it could be....I had no desire to watch the premiere, even when billboards were pasted all over the city 3 years ago. I had friends that worshiped the show, but there seemed to be no premise. It was just a plance crash.

Every once in a while, the show plays an "omnibus" episode which encapsules the better part of a season (or two) in one hour. There was such a show available before season 3, which is how you can get people hooked on the show. I watched such a show in the middle of season 2, when the World Poker Tour was a repeat....and now I have a DVR so I don't miss it.

Well, thanks to those people who kept the show alive. Now, the story lines are facinating. I suspect the DVDs are good as well, but I suppose a DVD set once the story is fully told (it can't go on forever), would be even more enlightening. You can tell they are writing this on the fly.

Speaking of which, monitoring the blogs and bulletin boards is one of the best parts of the show. It's the LOST experience (no, not the internet searching version) that makes us all conjure the conspiracy theories.

Here are some sights to visit. Some take this VERY seriously.

http://www.thelostexperience.com/
http://lost-reviews.blogspot.com/

OR....you can look at Pop Candy on USA Today, where I've even made a post or two
http://blogs.usatoday.com/popcandy/2006/10/lets_talk_lost__1.html#comment-24121650

Is it really Black Friday (the 13th)?

Today, the President signed the Safe Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006, which many may know includes the attached Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in the final hours before the end of the session. Who would veto a safe port act....hmm? I don't blame the President...what can he do?

I blame Bill Frist. I won't even glamourize him here....I'll just post the picture to the right.

Well, all is not lost. Partypoker is likely pulling out of the US Market (and losing my business), but FullTilt, PokerStars, and Interpoker will now catch my eyes. FullTilt has rackeback, which may be better for me than bonuses....I've paid an incredible amount of rake.

The article below gives more details. Cardplayer has been at the forefront w.r.t. reporting this issue.

Below courtesy of Cardplayer.com

President Signs Unlawful Internet Gambling Act
Bush Really Signed the Safe Port Act with Unlawful Internet Gambling Act Attached
President Bush today signed the port security bill that also includes legislation to limit the ways online poker fans can deposit money into their favorite accounts.
The official name of the bill is the Safe Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006. On the last Friday in September, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist worked into the night to get the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGE) attached to the port act. Congress passed the act nearly unanimously in the last vote before an extended election-year recess.
Earlier that week, Frist tried to get the UIGE attached to a major defense spending bill, but both Republican and Democrats spoke out against this action because of the importance of the defense spending bill.
Several online sites, including PartyPoker and 888.com, said they will stop allowing real-money players located in America to play on its sites after Bush signed the bill.
Other sites like PokerStars, Absolute Poker, Bodog and Full Tilt said they will still do business with Americans in the U.S. even after Bush signed the bill into law.
Click here to read a story about the act’s passage, and click here to visit CardPlayer.com’s archive of legislation articles.

Several Bad Beats

No, not my hands specificaly. Friday is the pseudo-doomsday for online poker, though the activity will still persist as the bill passed by the Legislature is not enforceable and does not create new law (note that it is an "enforcement act").

There are some great articles on cardplayer.com from an attorney's perspective about the online gaming enforcement act. These are great writeups.

OK, back to card playing....I picked up this thread from a poker discussion at The Motley Fool, where some people were sweating Mike Matasow and Eric Lindgren on FullTiltPoker.

So here we go...

How you know God hates you:

Full Tilt Poker Game #1083579448: Table Canfield (6 max)
$200/$400 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:10:00 ET - 2006/10/09
Seat 1: PimpOwnage ($39,400)
Seat 2: Erick Lindgren ($16,000)
Seat 3: Erik1223 ($40,000)
Seat 4: Mike Matusow ($35,888)
Seat 5: TexasLimitKing ($5,598.50)
Seat 6: dazzy ($51,297)
PimpOwnage posts the small blind of $200
Erick Lindgren posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Erik1223 raises to $1,400
Mike Matusow calls $1,400
TexasLimitKing folds
dazzy folds
PimpOwnage folds
Erick Lindgren folds

*** FLOP *** [9c 6c 9s]
Erik1223 bets $2,400
Mike Matusow calls $2,400

*** TURN *** [9c 6c 9s] [9h]
Erik1223 bets $4,800
Mike Matusow calls $4,800

*** RIVER *** [9c 6c 9s 9h] [8c]
Erik1223 bets $17,800
Mike Matusow raises to $27,288, and is all in
Erik1223 calls $9,488

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Mike Matusow shows [9d Ad] (four of a kind, Nines)
Erik1223 shows [7c 5c] (a straight flush, Nine high)
Erik1223 wins the pot ($72,373) with a straight flush, Nine high
Mike Matusow is sitting out

*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $72,376 Rake $3Board: [9c 6c 9s 9h 8c]
Erik1223 showed [7c 5c] and won ($72,373) with a straight flush, Nine high
Mike Matusow showed [9d Ad] and lost with four of a kind

Thank you sir, may I have another?

I've been meaning to write about LV for quite some time. I was there for a 4 night weekend with old College friends (some I hadn't seen in 15 years) and a fantasy football draft. I wanted to get my gamble on, to assure I keep my free rooms, but my friends aren't quite as gambling inclined.

However, I did manage to play a lot of blackjack and video poker between the socializing. Live poker was too tough to schedule. After the draft on Sat, I didn't want to hit the clubs, so I put in a 17 hour marathon session of BJ at Harrah's. No, I lost big...all of it in the last 4 hours. I should have played poker, but no points to be gained there....

As a result of my all nighter, I was knackered the next day and spent Sunday in hibernation after transferring my gear to the MGM. After awaking from a 18hr slumber, I was bright eyed and bushy tailed for Monday morning. Real early.

Thankfully, I still had a friend or two in town. I decided to play the 11am $65 freezeout at MGM to start my day. My friend Scott G was itching to play, as he'd never played in a tournament before and he's only played $2/4 limit live. I was up so early that I did brekkie, read the paper, and played some VP while waiting for Scott.

The MGM $65 am tourney is a $50 entry freezout with $10 for the house (huge cut) and $5 extra for the dealers to get additional chips (400 more). I believe I started with 1200 chips and 25/50 blinds with rounds of 20 minutes so it is a bit of a crapshoot and I expected it to be an all-in fest accoring to the Harrington books as I had an "M" of 16 from the start. There is a 60 player cap, but there is a waiting list for the 1st level. So, if there is no waiting list, it is like a rebuy tournament without an add-on. Scott and I were seated at separate tables.

So there I sit, sober, with a 20oz diet coke in-between my legs since it won't fit int he cupholder. It's 11am, and no, I'm not drinking. I'll try to remember the hands to the best of my ability...

I fold the 1st four hands. On my 5th hand, I pick up AQo in EP. The table has folded to initial raises so far, so I raise to 150 and get called in two spots, including the SB. The flop comes Q75r and I bet out 400 into a pot of about 450 with my top pair top kicker (TPTK). The next player folds and I get minraised by the SB.

Now I'm thinking that I should have bet a smaller fraction of the pot on the flop, but I did only get minraised here. The board isn't too drawy (no 86 or 64 likely) so I decide to go all in (yes on the 1st hand) since I would have had only 650 by folding and 250 left if I simply called. The SB called and I thought I was in trouble until he flips over the 88. For one pair.

One pair? An underpair? "Yes!" I say under my breath as I know I have him dead to 2 outs or running cards to make a straight.

The turn. WHAM. An 8. I was an 88-12 favorite on the flop. Good night ladies, I busted out on my first hand. No sympathy for me, I take the walk of shame, as the SECOND (thankfully not first) person to bust out of the tournament.

I walk over to my friend Scott, who knows I play incessantly online and live, who is raking a humongous pot. He's stunned, but of course, he doesn't care.

F-this, I think...I'll go wager more on one blackjack hand than on that entire tournament (nice thinking Caz).

I play blackjack and win a few hundred back from my overnight stand a few days ago.

A few HOURS later, my friend comes over to me, and shows me three $500 white chips and a few others....he WON his 1st tournament he ever played in for an $1800 score!

Of course I'm happy for him, but I'm also reeling that I busted out on the 1st hand. He's never seen me play and I'm sure my good friend thinks I'm full of crap.

The only thing I can think to say is...."so are we playing the 7pm $150 tonight?"

The answer was yes....so a better story awaits.

Welcome back Sick Boy

It's been over a month since I posted something. Not to make excuses, I was on vacation for a week and then I got slammed at work (oh yeah, and it's football season - fantasy football is a time sucker). Nevertheless, there are things I've been wanting to get down....Vegas, Pennsylvania, the Giants, poker, etc.

At least I've started. The title of this post is intentional from watching the premiere of the new TV show Smith, on CBS. Ray Liotta stars in this over-hyped show as the leader of a high-profile team of theives that executes fantastic international crimes. The cast includes Virginia Madsen, and a very familiar face.....which I finally found out to be an aged Sick Boy from the movie Trainspotting, John Lee Miller. It took me the better part of an hour to figure this out (and thank goodness for IMDB for confirmation). Minus the blond hair (or much hair at all), the Scottish brogue, and the propensity for speaking like Sean Connery, I don't think I've seen Sick Boy for many years. If you look up his bio on IMDB, you'll see he was once married to Angelina Jolie? OK, Sick Boy, props for you.

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.