Best Father's Day Gift

So I've since gone 0-7 in Wsop events since my last update. I feel like I'm playing well, just running like crap. I'm 0-11 in all ins in the past week over 7 events. I ran into aces twice for my tournament life (once with queens, another with JTs where I 3bet shoved w/ a lot of dead money in the pot), lost 7 flips (yes I lost'em all), lost as a 3-2 fav, also got crippled in the $2500 10 game mix w/ JT95 ds (during plo round) when almost all the chips went in on a KQ96 ssxx board and my opponent w/ JJT7 (w/ 3 spades) rivers the flush, and I finally busted in a hand when I was behind today.

Well actually the hand played out where I opr ep w/ QQ to 350 at blinds 75-150, get a mp caller, flop comes 732r, I bet 450, mp raises to 1250, I call w/ about 2500 behind because I was pretty sure he was putting me all in on any turn card and if I shove flop he folds a lot of hands he was going to shove turn with, turn 6, I check, he shoves, I call, he rolls over 66, gg me. Maybe I could've shoved flop and won the pot there but I felt like there was more value in trying to let him bluff off or valuetown himself by just calling his raise.

Anyway I am still showing a profit due to having pieces of 2 friends that made final tables at the Wsop. I'm not too concerned about my own results because I'm very critical of my own plays and I feel like I'm playing very well but things aren't panning out results wise. That's poker for ya. Also we are only at the halfway point of the Wsop and all it takes is one deep run.

Also I can't feel bad because I have the best family in the world. Since I was going to be busy all weekend with the Wsop and a new venture I'm working on (announcement coming soon) my wife, kid, and their friends went to San Diego, California to explore LegoLand and whatever else is fun out there. Sure it's Father's Day today but I wanted my wife and kid to have fun out in San Diego. Plus my 10 year old kid left this for me, and I must admit this is about the coolest thing I've ever received in my life (birthdays and Christmas's included)... a montage of sorts, of my life (I scanned each page of the booklet she left me next to my bed)...


Page 1















Page 2




















Page 3 (sure she should've used "Accomplishments" but can't be too nitpicky)





















Page 4





















Page 5





















Page 6




















Wsop bracelet or not, I win in life!

WSOP Start

I just got home after busting the 1st event I played, the $1500 limit omaha 8 hi lo. I played 9.5 1 hr levels and busted during the last level of the day. I'm not that upset though for a couple of reasons. 1st is that I felt like I played really well, especially in a game which isn't my specialty. I know I'm +ev in this event but after playing today I feel like I'm hugely +ev in future limit om8 events up to a $5k buyin or so. This isn't to brag but to instill a self confidence in me going forward for this game. If there's one quality about me that has contributed to a lot of my longterm success, it's the ability to look at myself and assess w/ near certainty where I stand in relation to everybody else in poker.

When I reflect back on past om8 tournaments I play, I see the mistakes I made (just like I've done w/ other forms of poker)...this is a sign that I'm getting better and seeing what the right plays are. Today I felt like I played near perfect except for an obvious river value bet I missed (also compounded by not paying attention to my opponent's stack, so 2 missteps that led to 1 error). I might've made a couple of loose calls preflop but they weren't mistakes because they were situational and I felt the worse shape I could be was about even money.

I ran pretty bad during the last 2 levels, including losing 2 pots where I'm a big fav to scoop going into the river, instead had to settle for a chop when my opponents got there w/o much equity for half. I also folded some big hands including 2458 w/ 3 spades on a A77Q9 board where I turned a flush and just c/c'ed turn then c/f'ed river vs. an old guy where I'm close to 100% sure I'm beat; another hand where I c/f'ed to a 1 big bet w/ 3 big bets left on the turn w/ AJT2 on a J932 2 flush board vs another old guy and old lady (older people tend to "have it" a lot more in this game than other games), the old guy showed a set of 99s to scoop so I was right. My reads were spot on today and I took optimal lines whenever I played a hand so again I felt really happy w/ my play overall.

Anyway the 2nd reason I'm not upset for spending all day playing a tournament then busting late (like most others) is because I feel like I gain a little bit of experience every time I play, and the longer the better. Granted in nl tournaments I don't get that feeling much since I feel like I know almost everything I need to know (although picking up on tournament regs' playing styles and habits is valuable) but in other games I don't play as much I'm always observing and trying to gain that valuable experience.

As for the rest of the WSOP I'm planning on playing a lot of events and as long as I feel good mentally and physically I'm planning on playing pretty much every day. Since I'm a well rounded player I'll be playing in all sorts of events, mostly nl and pl hold'em but a lot of the mix game events as well. My ultimate goal is to win a bracelet or 2 (or more) and to know that I played the best that I can play.

I am sacrificing time that I could be playing the juicy cash games during the WSOP. I'm sure my hrly is higher playing cash games than tournaments but I just enjoy WSOP tournaments so much and I'm hungry for my 1st ever bracelet, so there's a lot of happiness and life ev associated w/ playing these WSOP events.

Also I posted in the CR forum but if I make a final table, anybody from here that come sweats me at a ft I will buy them dinner at my celebratory dinner (limited to $1k total for you guys, but not necessarily for the whole bill which will be bigger because of friends and family that will be there). Obviously I'll have to make a ft 1st which is not easy.

Other observations at the WSOP so far:

-Turnout so far doesn't seem affected by Black Friday. They had 128 for the $25k hu and a record # 925 entrants for today's $1500 om 8, granted it's only 3 events so far (other being employees' event which attracted a big # as well)...I'm sure the main event will be lower than years past though

-The featured table is a lot more elaborate...bigger and more eye catching....too bad only 3 events are supposed to be televised (WSOP rematches, $50k Players' Championship, and the $10k main event)



















-Very few patches being worn, especially after yesterday when James Bord confronted John Juanda about FTP and security guards had to be called in...after all Juanda was wearing a FTP patch and was an easy mark; note: I wore a CR patch today, more brownie pts due my way from the higher ups at CR, even more so when I win my bracelet w/ it on ;)

-Lots of cash games going on...biggest I saw was a $200/$500/$1k PLO game and it was almost full

-Lots of railbirds as usual

-Phil Ivey is suing FTP (for $150 mil) and is abstaining from this year's WSOP (he isn't really boycotting it..that's just the wrong choice of words)...as for my thoughts on this, good for him, and a noble act from him, but put me in the boat that wonders if he did it for us, or because that was the only option he had for numerous reasons, including keeping that indestructible and and almost mystifying image he's always had...other theories were running around as well, including wanting to get out of his no compete cause

-Met Gakn29, a fellow CR vid maker today, nice guy...saw Mement Mori but not sure if he noticed me (or even knows me!)

Finally it looks like I'm getting a little more recognition with the poker media because I saw that PokerNews was updating my chip counts (1st time ever). For those of you that want to sweat me, follow on PokerNews or better yet, follow me on twitter located to the right of this blog (I update every couple of hrs, including stack sizes, notables on table, interesting or amusing hands, etc.)...after all, you may get a free dinner out of it.

Reno Trip

I went up to Reno this past weekend to participate in the $1090 "All In" main event and a televised $50/$100nl 6handed cash game at the Atlantis Hotel (not to be confused w/ the hotel w/ same name in the Bahamas). I guess you could say the trip went well, w/ winning the main event for $33k and being the big winner in the cash game w/ a $15k profit.

Even though my original plan was to play in the cash game, I decided to fly in a couple of days early to partake in the $1090 main event. I've been playing more live tournaments this year and for the most part have been enjoying the experience.

I'll summarize my tournament experience in the next few paragraphs but I would advise most to skip it and read my cash game experience which was much more interesting (skip down to ***Cash Game***) unless you like reading about tournament summaries.

***Tournament***

So I knew there would be tv cameras around because they told me the tournament, mostly the final table would be filmed so I wore patches from Cardrunners and FTP (because they offered to pay me per episode I was on...now only if I can get them to sign me!). Normally I eschew wearing anything that might peg me as some kind of poker pro but if I'm going to get paid for wearing stuff, I'm in (also if I'm representing a site I will agree to promote the site in any way if asked).

Well it turns out the main event was comprised mostly of locals and you can reenter as many times as you want if you bust before the 1st break. I didn't know that until about 30mins left for the break and decided to gamble to get a big stack. Well that didn't work out so well and I ended up having a 6k stack (from starting 20k stack) w/ 1 hand left before break and I decided to opr w/ T2s w/ the intent of getting all in at some point. Fortunately for me one guy had JJ and another guy had AA and I busted (not often you hear that as the truth) and I got the opportunity to rebuy w/ a new 20k stack.

Anyway I ended up running my new stack to the chiplead midway through day 1 and pretty much held it all the way to the win. I played well w/ my only big pots where I was all in (but had other guy covered each time) included KK vs. AJs aipf, KJ vs 99 on JT585 all in at riv (don't ask), QT vs A9 of diamonds all in on flop TT7 (all black), and A2 vs 99 all in on flop 345r.

When we were down to the final 13 (and 11 get itm) a couple of people proposed taking some money off the top to pay the 12th and 13th players. Normally I don't want to be the bad guy and don't object but this time I objected for a few reasons. I was a big chipleader and wanted to abuse the bubble, most of the players left really wanted to cash (easier to abuse), most of the players weren't very good, and it was getting late (around 2am) which meant most of the players were up past their bedtime (older people...lol). Also I was cl in a Wynn event a couple of weeks ago and I didn't object at the same proposal but after I busted I was regretting that decision because that was a time where I could've accumulated a bigger stack and maybe things could've turned out differently. I was not going to give up +ev spots anymore to be nice to everybody else. Anyway I ran my chiplead up from 500k to over 600k abusing the bubble and play ended for the night when we got itm w/ 11 players left.

The next day at the final table I happened to be the youngest player (I guess that means it was kinda soft?) and was on the direct right of Jennifer Harmon. Her husband Marco and her were invited pros and were bounties in the tournament. I happened to knock out one of the other bounties (the hotel owner..a Sasha Cohen ringer and a super nice guy) and won $1k for it (so got my 1st buyin back). The final six players would play on a televised final table. Well Jennifer busted in 8th which was bad for the tv producers hoping to land a good tv deal...at least they had me...lol (obv. a joke).

At the tv table I put a guy all in w/ 99 vs. his QQ and flopped a 9 to bust him. I had 900k to his 250k w/ blinds at 12k/24k so it was kind of standard (although my read on him was he usually has AJ+ or a big pair there but it was 5handed and I had plenty of chips, plus I'm allowed to get lucky once in awhile after being on the other end too many times this year, especially in bigger tournaments). After that I coasted to victory w/ the hu match only lasting about 4 hands (final hand got all in on turn w/ T4 on a 643T board vs 94..don't remember the river card since my opponent was drawing dead).

Balla Trophy:

























***Cash Game***

I was excited to be part of this for a couple of reasons. It was going to be televised and we were going to play $50/$100 nl 6handed. I have played in live games that big before but not 6handed and obviously not on tv. I wasn't sure how big the game was going to play (whether there would be much straddling going on or stakes would be kicked up, as the producer said that would be a possibility) so I brought plenty just in case (about $100k).

We drew for seats and it turned out I drew the worst possible seat being on the direct right of Dan (DJK123) Kelly, the kid that won the WSOP $25k 6handed event last year. I'll get to that in a moment. We also had Brent Roberts, a prolific online cash game player, Dan Harmetz, a rich guy that won over $300k on High Stakes Poker on GSN, a pro from Phoenix named Jesse, and a local older guy named Mike (very friendly guy).

Everybody bought in for $25k except DJK who bought in for $50k (even worse for me since he's on my direct left). Early on I made a couple of betsizing mistakes and felt tilted from that (but it didn't affect my play). Very early hand, Jesse opens to $300 from co, Mike calls from sb, I have AJ of hearts from bb and consider 3betting to set a tone but elect to call since I really have no reads on my opponents; flop 885 w/ 2 hearts, chk, chk, Jesse bets $500, Mike c/r to $1500, I cold call, Jesse folds, turn J, Mike bets $2500, I call, river 9 of hearts making my nut flush, Mike checks and I bet $6k and he tank folds A8. Granted there was $9400 in the pot and a $6k value bet doesn't seem so bad but right after I bet it I realized it was too big. Every draw got there including fd and oesd and it's early on and players are probably going to be more conservative than curious. I felt like I costed myself $4500 (because that was a bet that was probably going to get called, and later he told me he would've called that amount).

About an hour later I raise to $300 w/ T9o from the sb vs/ DJK's bb and he calls, flop comes 986r, I bet $400, he calls, turn 7, chk chk, riv 5 making a 9 high straight on board and I bet $700 into the $1400 pot but accidently throw out an extra $1k chip making my bet $1700. He folds and I hit my head (figuratively) for my error in betting chips. Granted he might not have called $700 but I think he would have for the hopeful chop, so I think I cost myself $700 there.

At this point I'm up about $4k but thinking how badly I betsized those 2 hands and should be up another $5200 or so, not to mention it doesn't look all that good on tv. Anyway I decide to buckle down and make sure I don't make any more betsizing mistakes.

DJK made my day tough because he was 3betting more than the entire table combined and I was the person he was 3betting the most because he was on my direct left and I would open plenty of hands, especially in late position. I had to make some adjustments like tightening up (which I didn't like to do) and opening smaller ($225 to $250 vs standard table open of $300).

Finally we play this hand...Mike opens to $300 from co, I flat w/ QTo on button (for reasons I won't mention, although I considered 3betting), DJK 3bets to $1400 from the sb, Mike folds, and finally I elect to call in position (after having folded numerous middling hands to his 3bet oop). Granted this call is thin but I needed to play a hand vs DJK and I was in position. Flop comes T73 w/ 2 hearts, he bets $1800, I call, turn ace of clubs, chk chk, riv 9 of diamonds, he bets $4200 (?) I tank call and he shows me KTo...doh! The river call is super thin and I think folding was best (w/o knowing DJK's hand) after thinking about it. Once he checks the turn and bets the river it's always for value. He would've bet the turn w/ all of his bluffs. Now I'm not sure how thinly he value bets the river though, if his range includes QT or JT but I think he probably bets a little smaller w/ those hands in case he runs into a better ten. I also called because I folded every hand it seems to him up to that point and I wanted to let him know I would call w/o much (not sure if that's enough of a justification to call though). At this point I got stuck for the 1st time all day.

Dan Kelly ready to raise as usual:



















I was never flustered or tilted in seriousness at any point though. I took it one hand at a time and made decisions that I felt were best....also I was on tv and was representing CR (and FTP) and I wanted to make myself, CR, and FTP look good!

I did offer $200 (then upped it to $300, then $400) midway through the day to everybody to change seats w/ me. No surprise everybody turned it out (who wants to be on the direct right of a constant 3better anyways).

Eventually I got up about $5k and everybody agreed to kick up the stakes to $100/$200 nl for the last 1-2 hrs. I admit this is the biggest I've played but again the amount of money didn't really affect my decisions, I just focused on the correct decision at every moment including bet amounts. Well the last hour I finally picked up a couple of good starting hands vs DJK (AK and AJs) and as always he 3bet me but I 4bet him w/ AK and he folded and I called w AJs ip and flopped an ace and won a decent pot.

I made a $100 prop bet w/ him that we would finish the final 16 hands within the last 30mins of filming and I won that pretty easily. I played every hand very quickly to try to win it, but didn't make any bad decisions in haste for that reason. Also on the final hand Jesse and Brent in the blinds decided to do a $5k flip (just shipping in $5k blind and letting the board roll out determining the winner) if everybody folded to them. Well everybody folded to them and I booked $100 w/ DJK and Mike each on Jesse winning and he ended up w/ 66 vs Brent's Q7o (talk about flipping for real) and winning.

So I ended up winning $15,300 which made me the big winner in the game along w/ another $300 in props (unless I miscounted DJK's stack at the end..I think he ended up about $10k winner). The producers told me they will have a tv deal in place within a month and I'll know the air times and channel then. They're telling me the content was great but I'm a little skeptical because I'll admit the table talk was not that entertaining. Maybe the poker content will be cool but we'll see. They also told me the show , called "High Stakes Hold'em", will have a different angle than other cash game shows in that they're going to have viewers try to play along and determine players' hole cards. Former WSOP player of the year Tom Schneider is one of the commentators for the show (along w/ one of the TV producers).

Racking up:



















I didn't end up getting involved in any huge pots (that was saved for DJK and Jesse..many times over) but just played meticulously and won steady over the course of 12 hrs (long session w/ 15 min breaks every 90 mins). I did ask if I can talk about the hands before it aired and they said it was ok (hence my blogging about it). There were some other interesting hands but you'll have to watch it to see. They told me the series will be aired over 13 episodes and include the tournament final table. I guess since I won the tournament and was the big cash game winner I'm the man...lol...but seriously it was for me just about playing the best I can play, whether it was televised or not. I was highly critical of myself when I made mistakes and I made a couple but at least I'll learn from them and will play even better poker in the future (in front of or off camera).

Special thanks to Lana of Cardrunners for hooking me up w/ the invite to the cash game. It was a good trip and I hope I represent Cardrunners well when it airs!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

So the big news in the world of online poker is this million dollar bet that happened recently. Apparently a high stakes player offered $900k to his friends' $300k that he can run 70 miles in 24 hrs. You can read about it from the friend's perspective here...

http://www.cardrunners.com/blog/internetpokers

It's actually a very good read and would recommend everybody spend a few mins reading it. Anyway the guy ran 70 miles in 24 hrs and won $300k.

In the piece, Haseeb (the friend/roommate), a high stakes nl hu specialist, says there are many people at every level of poker that are so deeply unhappy. I want to cover that statement and just say that I disagree. There is a chance he is just conveying it based on personal experiences (he had gotten hacked for a good amount of money after having a bad downswing).

It is possible at really high stakes and nosebleeds ($25/50+) that a higher % of players take poker more seriously because of the amount of money being passed around that mood swings happen more frequently than lower stakes which may lead to unhappiness. I'm not the person to answer that definitely because I haven't really played that high online. I do see and read about Phil Galfond, Durrrr, Stinger, and others and they don't seem unhappy but I guess I can't say for sure because I don't know them personally. If I had to bet I would say they are happy though.

At lower stakes I think as a whole, professional poker players are not unhappy. Just like any field, there will be people that love their jobs and people that hate their jobs. Last summer I got to meet some of the guys I play vs. on a daily basis online and even though almost all of them were in their early to mid twenties (sign of the times), they all seemed outgoing and happy w/ their lives. Granted most of them are winning players and have more money than most at the same age. Here are the kids I met last summer...

















From a personal standpoint I am a happy person and have always been, and I've been playing poker professionally for well over a decade. I've been on numerous downswings and have experienced the really high highs and the really low lows yet I've always been a positive and happy person. Heck I'm in the midst of a 6 week downswing right now (this entire year) and I'm ok w/ it and happy w/ life in general.

Pretty much all my poker playing friends are content and not unhappy (w/ the exception of one). Heck one's getting married in a week and probably couldn't be happier. Also if you read Doublefly's blog at

http://doubleflypoker.blogspot.com/

a fellow grinder w/ a family, his life seems fulfilled and happy (awesome poker blog for those that don't know...really check it out if you can).

I guess the common trend here is that we all seem to have a balanced life where poker doesn't encompass our lives. I'm not saying go get married and you'll be happy (heck 50% of married people eventually get unhappy and end up getting divorced) but I think if your entire life is poker there is a greater likelihood that you may end up unhappy.

Besides family, pursue other goals and interests outside of poker, make new friends and hang out w/ old friends, read books, watch tv and movies, play video games, work out, whatever it takes to create some semblance of balance in your life if you're a poker player. Just don't overdo it and put poker in the backburner where you fall behind the new generation of players. If you can learn to balance your game, you can learn to balance your life. What I'm saying is simple advice but I do see young guys where poker is their entire lives and whether they're happy or not idk but I think the chance that you end up unhappy goes up if you don't have balance in your life, so for everybody out there...go get a life!
















If for some reason you are a professional poker player and generally unhappy then poker might not be right for you. Maybe it's your personality and you're generally unhappy then go see a doctor or a shrink, but if poker is the cause I'd recommend pursuing another career. I think it's better for a myriad of reasons to be happy doing something where you don't make much money vs. being unhappy doing something where you make a lot of money. Sometimes happiness is tied into how much money you make and have, and I get that, but this is really simple stuff...do what makes you happy.



















Finally my wife and I got invited to a couple of Chinese New Year's gala's/celebrations reserved for the high rollers (mostly asian) at the Venetian and the Wynn last weekend (my friend is a high stakes baccarat player and got us invites). Besides throwing an extravagant dinner w/ famous Chinese singers singing (flown in from Asia), they have a drawing where the top prize is a $200+k car. The 1st night the car was a Bentley, the 2nd night a convertible Ferrari. They gave away 20-30 prizes including 10 cars as the top 10 prizes and the rest being cash (from $2k to $20k) each night. (Me next to the Ferrari...too bad it's not mine).

When they drew for the 2nd prize at the Venetian, which was a BMW 750i, they called out last name Chan (half the crowd ooh'ed and ahh'ed because it was mostly a Chinese crowd), 1st name John.....yep, you guessed it...freaking Johnny Chan walked up and accepted the keys to his brand new BMW. I guess he plays high stakes baccarat from time to time. We didn't get to partake in the drawings because they were reserved for the high rollers. As for my friend he didn't win anything, but don't feel bad for him, he won a Lamborghini 2 years ago which he turned in for cash $160k. Maybe that's how you get happy.

NYE at Palms

I was not planning on going out for New Year's eve. Actually I was planning on doing what I've been doing for the past 8yrs while I've lived in Vegas. That is just having a quiet celebration w/ my wife and kid in our house and taking in the fireworks over the Vegas strip from our balcony. Also I was planning on grinding a little w/ one of my 2011 goals being achieving supernova elite. Well my kid was staying w/ her cousins in Los Angeles and my buddy Joe T sent me a last minute text saying he got Jeannie and me VIP passes at the Palms for the NYE celebration.

We've always avoided the strip during NYE because it gets closed off to all automobiles and it becomes a zoo w/ thousands of people walking shoulder to shoulder on the strip. Well Palms happens to be just off the strip so I knew we were able to drive directly to it. Once we got there there was literally no parking available so I had to park across the street at a bank's parking lot.

Anyway we get our VIP wristbands and get into Palm's primary nightclub Rain. We were happy to see that we got our own booth. For those of you that don't know, booths in nightclubs are expensive to rent out. I remember spending $3k on one in LAX (at Luxor) on my wife's birthday last year. A lot of that is paying for the alcohol which they overcharge you immensely for. For her b-day we had to order a minimum of 2 bottles and we ended up getting 2 bottles of grey goose for $300-$400 a bottle. Yeah, you can get the same bottle for 1/10th the price at any liquor store.

Anyway this was a booth in a hit nightclub on NYE so I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to hang out in a booth all night. Besides the alcohol hot girls bring, there is plenty of space and sofas to sit down on. If you aren't fortunate to get a booth you have to spend the whole time standing up in the club, not to mention being jammed in space.

I guess Joe's roommate's new gf had some hookups and got the booth. I'm not sure of the price but I heard somewhere between $5k and $10k. Also Rain had Oakenfold as their DJ for the night. I'm not sure who he is but I heard he's some world famous DJ. Well we ended up drinking, partying, and ringing in the New Year's there and had a blast. My wife and I are not much of drinkers but we'll shoot down a glass or 2 on special occasions and I guess NYE would qualify as one.

Somewhat funny story of the night...walking out of restroom, some guy asks me if I have a light, I say no, he says you sure, I say yeah but my buddy might have one...I turn to my buddy, he says he asked you for white, not a light, I say wtf is that, he says it's coke, I think really? Do I look like a %^$& coke head?!

Anyway besides talking about my awesome NYE night out, I thought this would give me a chance to post some pics for those of you that wanted to put a face on myself, my wife, and some Vegas friends (along w/ pics of the scene last night)...

The booth awaits...



















Rain...



















Joe's fiance getting drunk on Fiji...
























Oakenfold dancer electrifying the crowd...
























Oakenfold the DJ...



















Hemma and his gf Laurie...



















Joe, Jeannie, and me...
























Yeah I run good in life :)
























On balcony of Moon, another nightclub/bar at Palms...



















Hope everybody had a great New Year's eve!

Next time I'll recap my 2010 and talk about my goals and outlook for 2011.

The week that was

I've had a pretty eventful week (for me anyway). Started the weekend w/ a bang by participating in the Cardrunners' 5th anniversary $5 rebuy tournament on Saturday. Several CR pros had bounties on their heads including myself. I gave away a free lesson but the guy that busted me has yet to claim it...wonder if that is saying something...lol. I was fortunate to bust a fellow CR pro ChipaHoya who was giving away a cake...yes a cake. I received it the other day and took a picture of it. Wow it came in a big box and was expecting it to be a big cake but apparently it was wrapped heavily and had ice packs in it to keep it cool so it turned out to be a lot smaller than I thought it would but nonetheless it was good....thanks Chip!



















Anyway I ended up cashing in the tournament and fortunately I busted out when I did (not often you hear that statement) because I needed to attend the Las Vegas Wranglers' game that was starting shortly. They are a minor league ice hockey team here in Las Vegas. I needed to attend because my kid was part of her school choir singing the national anthem and some popular Christmas songs (during intermission). Well after the Wranglers scored their 1st goal people starting throwing teddy bears into the rink. It was quite a site...pic here...



















Apparently it was toys for tots night or something like that. Obviously I thought it was very cool for the team to do that and had I known I would've brought a big teddy bear to toss myself (or maybe a note of me giving away a free poker lesson and my contact info since I have an unused offer).

Sunday was obviously football all day. I was in contention for playoff spots across my 3 leagues and unfortunately 2 of my teams choked and missed the playoffs. At least my 3dime team made the playoffs and is the #1 seed. I did take a pretty sick beat in one fantasy league where I was up 50pts going into Monday Night Football and had AP and Joe Flacco vs other teams' Matt Schaub, AJ, Sidney Rice, and Minn defense. I was probably at least a 10-1 fav and we had a total pts bet for $500 w/ me having the 50 pt lead and lost when Schaub and AJ went bonkers.

Now this league is the 1dime league comprised of mid - high stakes online regs and I think I lost to a certain guy I play vs. on a regular basis in my games. What's significant about this guy? Well this guy played a hand vs me a couple of months ago at nl600 where we got in $600 each w/ AK vs AK preflop and we ran it twice and he won both!! He had AK of spades and flop rolled off w/ 1 spade both times and both times it came runner runner spade. Yeah I guess you could say that guy owns me in everything.

Also on Sunday I played a multitude of tournaments for once (been awhile because of NFL) including the nl hu miniftops. I managed to beat my 1st 2 opponents fairly easily then lost to the biggest donk in my 3rd round matchup. I had him down 5-1 in chips and somehow he came back and won. It was also tilting because that was the bubble round..if you win that round you cash. Anyway I find out later that Kristy Arnett of Pokernews won it. She covers tournaments around the world and I didn't know she played online poker but apparently she's been getting coaching and playing 6max nl cash games online. What's significant of this? Well besides the fact that she's female, attractive and just won a nice tournament for $31k, I got to interview her for our podcast Cashplays (look for that soon). I really came away impressed by her knowledge of poker but unfortunately she would not give me back my buyin for that tournament when I asked. Side note...asian women are awesome at poker and at life...Barry G and Doublefly (his blog link on the right) know what I'm talking about and that's why I married one ;) . Kristy pictured...

















I had to hurry to my kid's school after that interview to watch my kid sing in her choir for her school's annual Christmas play. Obviously as a dad it was awesome watching my kid be in it. I did get her Guitar Hero last year so it's good to see that she put that game to good use (improving her vocals). Now only if she would stop asking me for a real guitar (or maybe I will give in to that this Christmas). I managed to get a few good snapshots of the play including this one...



















As for poker I managed to find time to play a little (but not too much). I made a couple of videos for CR where I played some nl1k 6max and hu. The hu match was interesting in that the guy got up $2700 or so on me but the whole time I felt like it was a matter of time before I beat him, and beat him I did. The videos are available on CR again for those that have a subscription and are interested in checking them out.

Also I played a hu match w/ my CashPlays cohost Jeremiah Smith the other day. We did it because he likes giving away money...I'm kidding...we did it because we thought it would be cool since we're cohosts on a podcast that focuses on cash games and maybe we can make a video or two out of it to share w/ our listeners and CR members. I went in thinking of making it a live session but after we played I think it's better to make it a leakfinder series where I help out Jeremiah and point out some of his mistakes and how to go about fixing them. The match lasted a couple of hours but it will be a 10 part series because of all the numerous screw ups Jeremiah made (zing!)...no it will probably be a 2 part series I'm thinking right now and I really think they will be informative. I won't reveal how the match ended up other than that Jeremiah might as well have played w/ his cards face up ;) .

Anyway since I haven't talked about poker much lately here is an interesting hand I played...

Full Tilt, $5/$10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

Poker Tools by CardRunners - Hand Details

MP: $1,000 (100 bb)

CO: $2,169 (216.9 bb)

BTN: $543 (54.3 bb)

SB: $3,963 (396.3 bb)

BB: $1,000 (100 bb)

Hero (UTG): $1,000 (100 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 8 8

Hero raises to $30, MP raises to $95, CO folds, BTN calls $95, 2 folds, Hero calls $65

Flop: ($300) 9 8 8 (3 players)

Hero checks, MP checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($300) A (3 players)

Hero checks, MP bets $150, BTN folds, Hero calls $150

River: ($600) 7 (2 players)

Hero checks, MP checks

Results: $600 pot ($3 rake)

Final Board: 9 8 8 A 7

MP showed A K and lost (-$245 net)

Hero showed 8 8 and won $597 ($352 net)

I don't want to get into too much detail here because villain is a fellow CR pro and we have history and definitely some kind of metagame going but wow is his river check back sick. He tanked down to a few seconds and I knew at the time he had a big diamond, possibly AQ w/ the Q of diamond (because the K of diamond would surely bet) and he was thinking whether betting had any value vs. me because he knows I probably won't call w/ much worse (even though sometimes I would) while I could check/shove w/ better. I was pretty shocked to see his hand tbh and I think I get an opponent to bet that hand 99% of the time (so I can check/shove all in).

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everybody!

WPT Wrap Up (HH's/Observations/Thoughts/Girls)

Before I detail my final day which was day 3, I'll provide a link to a summary of my 1st 2 days of the $10k Bellagio WPT event that I wrote in my Cardrunners blog. I usually crosspost between my CR blog and here but elected to just leave my day 1 and 2 exploits on CR because they had an interest in how I did.

http://www.cardrunners.com/blog/Nicolak/wpt-10k-update



















The above pic was taken right before the tournament started and had Mike Sexton, Jack Mclelland (tournament director) and the "Royal Flush girls" in it. Why did I show the pic besides it being eye candy? Well the girls were walking around all the time in the tournament room which made it hard to focus on poker sometimes, esp. the 3rd girl from the left in the black.

So I busted in 56th and cashed for $13,725. I have to admit I was highly disappointed even though I got deep and cashed. Bellagio has a weird payout structure where they pay 100 if a big buyin tournament gets over 400 entrants. This one had 440 or so and 100 got paid. I've heard some of the "name" tournament players complaining about it, probably because they're confident they can win more mtts or finish higher than most so theoretically it's costing them money. On the flip side it gives back money to more people so they can stay in action and keep games going instead of a few people getting most of the money. Also having a big buy in tournament that pays out 25%-30% (vs the standard 10%) probably will attract more entrants so that'll increase the overall prize pool while making the tournament a little softer.

I tend to think paying out a slightly higher % is better overall. I even think I'm one of the favorites to win any buy in tournament so having a flatter payout probably hurts me a little more. Even so I think having money distributed to more people is better for the overall landscape of poker.

As for this actual tournament, if you didn't read my previous post about my 1st 2 days you might not know I made it to day 3 w/ a pretty decent stack. We started the day w/ 140 left and as mentioned before 100 get in the money. W/ the blinds at 1k-2k and a 160k stack I had plenty of play and did not need to gamble or take flips for my stack, especially when I felt like I was one of the better players left in the tournament.

On my starting table were Dan Shak (who I had played w/ all day, seemed like a very nice guy, but played a very tight straightforward style), John Hennigan, Todd Terry, a guy on his left that was seriously the most dead ringer for Tony Romo in America (I really wanted to take a picture of him but felt it'd be rude to ask), a few unknowns inc. a young kid that had a ton of chips.

Anyway I tried an early light 3bet to try to pick up a few chips and set a tone if I got called and had to show my hand but got 4bet and had to fold (he showed me Aces..nice timing on my part). Then I realized the kid w/ all the chips started raising almost every hand, and he should have because nobody was playing back at him. I was essentially card dead, and for me that means not even seeing an Ax, Kx suited, broadways, sc's, 98o type hands so I didn't really try to combat him.

Finally he opr to 5k utg, I flat w/ a mid pp, Hennigan 3bets to 17500, kid 4bets to 54kish, I fold, Hennigan calls, flop T73r, kid shoves, Hennigan w/ 80k behind snap calls w/ 55 (great read), kid rolls over A9o, turn T riv 7, gg Hennigan. Yes I would've tripled up because my pp was slightly higher and wouldn't have been counterfeited but I didn't want to risk 100bbs and my mtt life to find out if my mid pp was good there. I was planning on calling 3 streets if the board rolled out pretty safely w/ no ace or king if Hennigan didn't squeeze. So now I know this kid had no fear, partially due to the fact that he can't go broke since he had everybody covered.

Then when we're a few spots from the money he opr from the co and I flat w/ KT from the sb which is very likely ahead of his range. I didn't need to 3bet because Shak in the bb was never squeezing and this kid was capable of 4betting light and I'd have to fold if I 3bet and he 4bet. Flop comes down T93r and I call him down every street when it comes 2, 2, turn and riv and he shows T3o...doh!

So now I'm down to 230k or so and we get into the money a little bit later and play this hand that I agonized over at the time... kid opr in the co (surprise) to 7200 w/ blinds at 1500/3k, I have QQ in the sb and 3bet to 22,500 (kid was calling everything preflop so I sized my 3bet a little bigger), Shak in the bb 4bets to 55k, kid snapfolds and I face a very difficult decision. I started the hand w/ 230k and Shak the same. Now I played w/ him 2 days straight and I'm 99% certain (I want to say 100% but it may seem unrealistic if I say I know for sure he's got 1 of only 4 hands) he's got QQ+ and AK only here. I'm sure he folds JJ or worse here and he's never 3 or 4 betting light, like ever. So finally I tank fold and he's been talkative and friendly w/ me the 2 days we've been playing and tells me he had AK (because I asked politely afterwards) which I believe. That was a best case scenario and even then I felt like I didn't need to flip for my tournament life because again, I'm confident and well, baller :)

Nothing transpires for a couple of levels and I maintain my 230k stack then I play this interesting hand. I'm in the bb and post the 5k bb, older guy in hijack opens to 20k which probably indicates 99-KK and possibly AK (some of these live guys, esp the older guys have no idea how to balance their range as you can tell by his preflop betsizing) and I decide to call w/ 22. I could've folded but I called because I had huge implied odds knowing that his range is weighted towards bigger pairs and he was the type to stack off w/ it. Plus I could bluff him if the board ran out scary.

Flop comes A93r, I chk, he bets 20k, I call because I already feel like that's a great flop to bluff later in the hand if he does have a big pp which I felt like he did. Turn J, goes chk chk like I expected (if he bets I would give up on my bluff and just fold), river 5, I bet 60k into 85-90k pot and I really expected him to fold unless he showed up w/ AK. He tanks for awhile and calls w KK...DOH!!

Here are my observations on this hand. The call w/ 22 preflop is kinda thin most of the time but for reasons I explained I thought it was a good call here. His river call is a head scratcher because I'm not sure what he expects to beat w/ how the hand played out. I'm (along w/ almost anybody else) always going to show up w/ Ax or sets here (except for this time I guess) because there is really no draw on the flop and most people would turn T9 or 98 into a bluffcatcher. I assumed he had some clue on how to read hands and I didn't see any signs from him that he was a donkey, not to mention we were down to 60 or so in a 10k event so most bad players are weeded out by then (oversight, Doug Lee was one of the chipleaders when I busted so I guess a donkey will make it deep once in awhile). I'm not even sure why he tanked...was he thinking of what hands he could beat? because I couldn't really think of any, even though he did beat me this specific hand. The best logic I heard was from a friend that I talked to w/ about this hand and he said he probably called so he can tell his buddies how he raised w/ KK and got called by AT, AJ, whatever and lost and how he never wins w/ big pairs. Anyway I felt like this was a great spot to bluff but it backfired...sometimes it happens.

So now I'm down to 120k and get moved to a table w/ Vanesso Rousso, Keith Gipson (dating Lacey Jones fwiw...run better please), Johnny Chan, Antonio Esfiandari, and Thor Hansen. I still felt like I had some play w/ 20bbs or so and felt like I was in the same class or better w/ this group. I pick up A5o from the sb and opr to 14k, bb 3bets to 40k, and I jam for 120k total thinking I could be ahead of bb's range because he was the most active and aggressive player on the table from what I saw. He calls and wins w/ 44 and I'm out. In hindsight I think limp/shove is slightly better here but he may still call w/ 44 because he had 4x more chips than me.

Anyway I was disappointed that I busted because I felt like I was one of the better players in it but I came away thinking that these 10k buyin events w/ 200-400 players were not all that tough even though there were tons of "name" players in them (mostly just live tournament pros including a bunch of known online kids better known by their handles). I saw fundamental mistakes some of these guys were making even though most knew how to betsize properly. Also other than my 22 hand (and even then it seemed like an opportune time to bluff and increase my stack) my live reads were really good and I felt like I knew what to do in pretty much every spot, even if I needed some time to think about it, eg QQ vs Shak's 4bet range. This has a lot to do w/ becoming a better player every passing year and now I'm pretty confident I can do well in any tournament no matter the size or buyin. I guess if it was a 1 table SnG w/ Ivey, Durr, Antonius, Galfond, South, Jungleman I'd feel outclassed but those guys are usually busy crushing nosebleeds so I don't have to worry about that spot ever coming up.

Why is this relevant? It's because while I'll still be focusing on cash games mostly, I'm planning on playing more big buyin live events down the line starting next year. So don't be surprised if I bink one for 7 figures.

Also I had not played a 10k event in almost 3 years (outside of the WSOP main event but that's a different kind of 10k event w/ the huge player field) and didn't know what to expect of the overall competition. I saw that it was a little tougher than the last one I played but in those 3 years my game has shown more improvement than the rest of the field and that gives me a ton of confidence in future big buy in events. It just goes to show you w/ experience, hard work, and dedication one can excel in poker, whether that's cash games or tournaments, no matter the buyin or size. Even though I didn't win a million dollars ($900k to be exact for this tournament) I know I can beat this game of poker that can be frustrating for a lot of people, including some of you out there. All I can hope is that most, if not all of you guys get to a point where you can ooze the confidence I feel, and that requires a dedication in becoming the best you can be...something that I've always strived for. It doesn't necessarily have to be in poker, just about anything in life.

Shameless plug: Cardrunners is a great tool to improve your game (hey I need to score points w/ my employers).

***Any statement that seems arrogant on my part, which is probably the entire post and you have a problem w/ it, can kiss my ^$#!***

***Some statements have a bit of sarcasm in them inc. the one right above, rest is up to you guys to figure out which ;) ***

Oh, and this is Lacey Jones for those that didn't know....

Thanks

Seems like it's been awhile since I last posted anything so I wanted to write something about what's been happening, and that would be Thanksgiving. I had some family and friends come over and we did the whole turkey dinner tradition and what not. My wife and my mom collaborated on making the dinner and they did an excellent job. I wish I had taken a picture of the whole dinner setup because it was pretty cool. I was too entrenched in the fact that I was hungry at the time and the NYJ-Cincy NFL game not going the way I wanted (I was all over Cincy at +10, +3.5, moneyline, not to mention my nickel opponent had almost the entire NYJ offense on his team...NY won 26-10 so what should've been a time of thanks was more of a time of This Sucks, well just football wise anyway).

Seriously I was eating dinner in our dining room w/ my family and friends and was happy we had a chance to get together and all. Anyway I think it was a good time to reflect on all the things I'm blessed w/ and to give thanks for all those things. Being the Christian I am I give God all my thanks.

Now I'd like to give some thanks to others.... I'll start w/ my eyes rolling thanks...

Thanks to the Patriots and Jets for bringing a small damper to my Thanksgiving..they hurt my wallet and my fantasy prospects

Thanks to the weather in Vegas, it's so damn cold it makes it hard to go outside (the one good thing is that ski season is just right around the corner)

Thanks Venetian for putting your main event on a Sunday last week...I missed most of the NFL action...maybe if I cashed I wouldn't have felt as bad

Additional thanks to them for the $10 food voucher...that's so considerate after putting up $2500 for the buyin

One more thanks to Doug Lee for busting me in that event...maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that...thanks Doug for being the subject of one of the longest and funniest running threads on 2+2, and yeah I know who you are

Thanks to Cardrunners and the other instructional sites for ruining what was perfectly a good (and highly profitable) game for me

Thanks to the right wing moralists who are trying to tell us what to do in the comfort of our own homes, and yeah, especially in the state of Washington

Thanks to all the guys that haven't paid me back...you guys are making me realize it's better to say no, and that I thank you for

Now I can give real thanks where they're due...

Thanks to my wife for everything she's been, and for letting me go to Los Angeles the day Joe won the NAPT. It just so happened that was our anniversary as well (12 years and counting). I told her I'd spend the day w/ her but she was adamant I be there to sweat my friends and in case one of them won (which Joe did) that I should be there. So w/ her approval I got to witness my buddy win it all. Before I left I ordered a vase of flowers, box of chocolates, and a couple of Happy Anniversary balloons to be delivered to our house while I was gone. She was happy, I was happy, so everybody was happy...next year I'm making sure our anniversary will be one she won't forget for her sacrifice.

Thanks to my daughter for growing up so quickly and being the best kid any parent can hope for. Even though at times I feel like I haven't done the best job as a parent, you would never know it when you're around her. Brag...she's yet to get worse than an A through 4 years of elementary school.

Thanks to the Dallas Cowboys for letting me win 1 football bet yesterday (they may have lost but they covered, and in the world of sportsbetting that's all that counts)

Thanks to Cardrunners for actually letting me join their stable of pros and vidmakers...haha I fooled them good on this one. Also I'm actually an employee of a company...that hasn't been the case in over 14 years.

Thanks again to Cr and other instructional sites to actually helping my game some as well. Even though I was doing perfectly fine before they came along, they actually helped me realize some of the mistakes I was making. Still, I think I would've won at a higher rate if none of the sites existed but it was bound to happen and the games evolve so the sites are useful tools in improving one's game, including mine.

Thanks to PokerRoad and Jeremiah for actually thinking I know what I'm talking about

Thanks to all my friends that shaped my game

Thanks to all the Nevadans that voted for Harry Reid. He's a big advocate in our fight for legalization of online poker.

Thanks to Michael Vick, Steven Jackson, Arian Foster, Greg Jennings, Marques Colston, James Jones, Davone Bess, Jacob Tamme, Marcedes Lewis, Tim Hightower, and Joseph Addai for getting my team in 1st place in the 3dime league and getting me the most points so far through 11 weeks. Let's finish this season strong boys!

Thanks to the new Kinect accessory to the Xbox 360 for giving me a fun way to exercise. It's a full body motion sensor that allows you to play games moving your body around. Great fun, great exercise....my kid and me fooling around on it the night we got it (it snaps photos of you while you play)...
























Finally thanks to all the readers out there. Hope you guys all had a great Thanksgiving and thanks for reading my stories and thoughts in poker and in my life.

Get some ARod

Just got back from Arkansas the other day and a spent a day catching up on sleep before heading over to the Bellagio to check out the action on a Friday night. Normally I go to a poker room w/ no particular game in mind to play in. I just play in the game I feel like playing while putting some weight into which game is softer (live bumhunting?). Anyway when I got there the choices were $50-$100 mix and $10-$20 nl. The lineup in the mix game was pretty solid (meaning the game wasn't great) so I elected to play some $10-$20 nl. This is a benefit of knowing how to play multiple games.

I sit down and don't really recognize anybody, mainly because I don't frequent the Bellagio poker room enough (hoping to change that). I do know Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke who I played w/ last time. I'm assuming he's a reg in this game now. Anyway I buy in for $5k and play for a little bit before Alex Rodriguez of NY Yankees fame sits in the game. Immediately $ signs flash in my eyes. ARod happens to be the highest paid baseball player w/ a contract worth $275mil over 10 years. He already made $250mil in his previous 10 year contract. Now having that much money probably allows him to spend some of it any way he chooses and I was hoping he chose to share some of it on my poker table.

After an hour of play my wife comes over and says she's up $1k from the $2-$5 nl game she played and is quitting. I tell her to sit down and learn from the best, so she grabs a seat behind Gobboboy. No seriously, she sits down behind me and asks how I'm doing. I tell her I'm even and she rolls her eyes giving me the "I made $1k in a smaller game and you can't make a penny in this game" look. I tell her just give me an hour because baseball's richest player just sat down. He sat down w/ $2k which was kinda disappointing to see considering how rich he was.

If I had to assign stats to ARod's play, it would be about 40/4/0 w/ an agg level of about 5. He was limping in a lot of pots but betting and raising postflop quite frequently. Finally we play this pot...he open limps ep, young kid raises to $120 right behind (I think isolation play immediately), 2 guys call to me in the bb where I hold AJo and elect to call (3betting was strongly considered because everybody except the preflop raiser probably had less than premium hands, w/ the preflop raiser having a wider range than normal trying to iso ARod...but the main consideration was that I wanted to play a pot w/ ARod and 3betting would've probably blown him off his hand). ARod calls and the flop comes down AQJr and it gets checked to the preflop raiser that bets $260, the button calls, and now I have a decision to make. The preflop raiser and the button had about $5k as well so I didn't want to checkraise and face a 3bet so I elected to call and ARod called to close the action. In hindsight checkraising was probably a little better based on the preflop raiser's flop bet of $260 into a $600 pot which is likely indicative of a mediocre hand like KQ or AT. The turn comes an ace and it gets checked around. I could've led the turn but figured the case ace or a full house was out there that would bet so I could put in a check raise. Anyway getting checked around the turn isn't bad either because a ten or king could roll off the river where somebody makes a 2nd best hand as well, plus I might get paid off by the case ace or a Qx hand at the river. The river is a 3 so I lead out for $1200 into the $1600 pot hoping to get paid off by 1 person at least. ARod tanks for awhile and finally says "call" and the other guys get out of the way. I roll over AJ and he flips over A8s. Being the target in the game, others console him and tell him he had to call (not really, but to his credit it's a tough spot for him).

Anyway he played a couple of more laps and quit. I feel good I won $1600 from him for a couple of reasons. He's uber rich and more importantly, I lost $400 betting on the Yankees to make it to the World Series so a little redemption there. Also he's dating Cameron Diaz so I'm not feeling sorry for him. Anyway I ended up winning $2500 so I was able to give my wife the "yeah, who's talking now bitch" look...but w/o the bitch part really.




















*Fantasy Football Update*

In 3dime my team is 4-3 and 2nd in total pts so I'm in 4th place in overall standings. Top 4 out of 14 make the playoffs so I'm doing well there. My te has been a problem all year w/ Celek so I picked up Marcedes Lewis and Jacob Tamme (Indy te starting now that DC is out for the year). Also getting Vick back at qb in a week will be a boost.

In 1dime my team has reeled off 5 wins in a row to stand at 5-2 and in 4th place. This league also has the top 4 making the playoffs. I really think I did a good job building the team....as it stands I have at qbs : Flacco, Fitzpatrick; rbs: AP, Torain, BJax, Woodhead, PT; wrs: Fitzgerald, Britt (unfortunately had him on my bench last week when he went off for 50pts), Welker, Crabtree, Murphy, Breaston; te: ZMiller. It's a 12 team league w/ a bunch of young online poker players so maybe I can teach them a thing or two about fantasy football.

In nickel, I stand at 4-3 and in 2nd place mostly because my team has the 2nd highest total pts for the season. I've got some injury concerns w/ Collie and Floyd hurt but I think my team should make the playoffs. The core of my team (w/ pts ranking up to date) is Peyton Manning (4th), Gore (1st), Roddy White (1st), Z Miller (2nd) so I like my team going forward.

Overall I'm pretty satisfied w/ my teams so far at the midway point of the fantasy season.

On the road

A buddy and I went to visit a friend in Arkansas and we've spent about a week doing some cool things, from exploring caverns to taking a road trip to Dallas to watch the Cowboys take on the NY Giants on MNF. It's been a busy week so I haven't had a chance to get online to do anything. I haven't played any poker in a week but this time I have an excuse. I decided to get an Iphone right before the trip and I am maximizing it's usage. It's great for navigating on the road (GPS w/ traffic indicator) and taking pics like this one...



















This was at Dallas Stadium for the MNF game. I'll be writing about my trip when I get home later this week (along w/ some pics I took). Also I'll be working on my 2nd video for Cardrunners (along w/ my usual grind).