No poker 'till Tuesday

Just waiting for Penn & Teller to start their show...

Tomorrow I'm not planning to play any tourneys - shaun and I might do the hoover dam visit in the morning, and we have tickets to some comedian at night.

Tuesday I play event 7, and the options are:

1) I bust early, in which case I play the venetian 7:00 "turbo" and the wednesday venetian deep stack;

2) I bust late on tuesday, in which case I play the wednesday venetian deep stack

Or, hopefully:

3) I make it to day two of the event, in which case that's all I'm playing.

So more updates to come on tuesday...

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A7 vs KK

I just walked into the final table room to check out the FT of the 40k event, and watched raymer win a big hand with KK vs A7

LOL
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Busto

I raised in mid position with A7cc, guy in late position - who has pushed 4 times in the last 6 hands - pushed again. I called, he has kings.

Prob a bad play by me, especially considering the advice from Nate - my edge is knowing that I was not pot committed and should have found a fold.
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Ugly level

I'm back down to about 2800 chips - couldn't make anything happen - no cards, and the only halfway decent spot was when I raised with pocket fours in late position, was called by the big blind. Flop came three rags, I bet and he raised. I can't call with fours, so I'm down to my starting stack.

Good news is that I just moved tables, so hopefully I can make something happen in the next level.

Blinds are now 100 / 200, so I'm down to 15bb's. Not in the red zone, but in a bit of trouble.

My buddy Nate sent me an email that put the deep stacks vs shallow stacks into perspective - the type of poker that I play online really does help me prepare for having a shallow stack. Making good decisions with 5 - 7 bb's is what the average live player doesn't do well.

So let's get back in and make some good double-up decisions!

775k for first, ~600 get paid.
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4k at the break

Really unfortunate table draw:

- the wsop bracelet winner to my right
- 3 high stakes players (thet all know each other, and the stories they're telling are a little scary...)
- one quiet asian guy who just sat down
- two weak spots: an old guy from florida and a young guy who can't remember to protect his hole cards
- a few other randoms.

So short impression is that I'd better not get too fancy...

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Kings full is good

Just won a good pot with kings full. Up to 3800 (after being down to 2400)

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Yikes...

The guy to my right is wearing a 2008 WSOP bracelet.

Not sure who he is.

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Shuffle up and deal!

We're just starting - 3k starting stacks, one hour levels, 25/25 followed by 25/50.

Nobody I recognize at my table, probably a good thing.

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Some pics

I posted these on Facebook, but to keep the updates consistant:

Here's the view from our room:






When I went to the Rio to get my seat assignment, I took a few pictures:

This was just ONE of the tournament rooms:




Phil Hellmuth:



Chris "Jesus" Ferguson:



Annie Duke:



Phil Ivey:



Daniel Negreanu and Gavin Smith:

Busto in 65th spot

at 11:33:

I have about 72k, blinds are 2k/4k/500.

Guy in middle position (who I have covered- barely) raises to 12k, I shove with A9s on the button.

Blinds both fold, middle position raiser tanks. After a minute or two he says "I hope you don't have AK or TT, call" - he's got AQ, I brick out, leaving me with 4,500.

Two hands later I shove with A3, losing to a rivered pair of tens.

I don't mind my move, as:
1) It was a great spot, and imo he made a mistake calling with AQo
2) I'm playing to win, not to min-cash. He calls with a pair - consistent with how he was playing - I have live cards.


Overall, I'm really glad I played. It was good to get some live experience before the wsop events, and it was an absolute blast. Great structure, comfortable environment, etc, etc.

I'm even considering switching from playung the 1.5k on tuesday and playing another one of these - I think the structure is better. I'd definitely come back in the future.

Another break

at 11:06pm:

I'm on an 83k stack at the break.

69 players left, avg stack is 97k

My table has all of the big stacks, which I can't decide if I like or not. My stack is big enough that I'm not too worried about being pushed around, but it's too small (relatively speaking) to push these guys around with.

Slowrollers are douchebags...

Since blogger.com is not posting my emailed posts - here are the last three I sent:


At 8:43 pm:


Just lost a pretty big pot. I liked my spot - repped the K on the river - but villain actually had the K.

When he called, I said "Kings are good", and he looked at me and nodded as if to say "show me your cards".

I showed my bluff, and he flipped over a King.

For the non-poker players reading, etiquette says that if you think you have the winner, you show. When somebody tells you that they have nothing, and you have something, you flip up your cards and show.

Fortunately, Karma dictates that this jerk will bust out shortly...

Anyways, down to 75k with 70 people left.

Need some cards...

Spam?

I guess the auto-signature from my blackberry has flagged my blog as being possible spam, so they've locked it down until somebody looks at it. Boo...

Hopefully that'll happen soon, and you can all learn how I busted from today's deep stacks event at the Venetian.

Sets are nice

Flopped a set of treys, won a monster pot. Sitting on 110k chips. Avg is about 70k

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Lost a few chips

Lost a few chips in a biggish pot - down to about average stack.

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65k at dinner break.

Blinds are getting big - about 120 players left. 54 make the money....

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AA>88

My aces just held up against 88 for a 45k pot - up to 75k.
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Bad laydown

Just lost a few chips when I layed down A6 on a six high board, against a guy who showed the bottom pair. The bad laydown was due to a read I had on him, I put him on a bluff.

I'm sitting on 44k chips, about average.

Kudos to the venetian - this structure is very good.

Dinner's in an hour - I'll post an update then.
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A3 > AJ

Same guy who doubled me earlier pushed in on my raise. I had A3, he had AJ.

The 3 on the flop (door card, obv), and then the other one on the turn, didn't please him.

I'm up to about 55k, avg stack is 45k. 160 players left
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Fun hand

Was rivered for a big pot to drop me down to 4k chips.

Doubled with pocket fives
Doubled with pocket sixes

Then made a good call against somebody doing some who was steaming - I called with KQo, he had K8o - that got me to about 19k.

Then this hand happened:

Blinds 500/1000 with a 100 ante.

I'm on the button with Ten Five off suit. Folds to me, I raise to 3k. SB folds, BB calls.

BB has me covered, but not by much.

Flop comes 23T, two diamonds. BB bets 5k. I push, he tanks. I'm thinking fold-fold-fold-fold. He makes the call, showing two diamonds for the flush draw.

Turn - Ten of diamonds, giving him the flush.

River - five, filling me up, giving me an above average stack for the first time in the tourney.

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2nd break update

I ran a bad bluff to drop to 7k, but since then have chipped up to 17k.

Avg stack is 21k, there are 324 players left.

Blinds are getting big - 400/800/75 coming up - so barely 20 bb's for me.

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15k at break

510 players left, avg stack 13k, I have 15.

Top 54 get paid, 1st is 46k

Fun structure...

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No hoover dam...

Managed to register for today's event at the venetian - hope it'll be a late night...

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Here a pro, there a pro, everywhere a pro-pro

I've heard the stories, but never really believed them. I knew that there would be a few pros walking around, but I had no idea how many there would be, and how accessible.

Granted, the $40k buyin event is happening today (day 2), so some of the big names I saw were playing it. The $1,500 Limit Omaha 8 or better event had the rest of them.

Some of the well known players I saw today include:
- Mike Matusow
- Daniel Negreanu
- Annie Duke
- Gavin Smith
- Phil Hellmuth
- Phil Ivey
- Men "the Master"
- Jimmy "Gobboboy" Frickie (sp?)
- Mike "sir watts" Watson (who I know online, and unfortunately I introduced myself to him about five minutes after he busted from the 40k)
- Justin Bonomo
- Huck Seed
- Doyle Brunson
- Chris Moneymaker
- Greg Raymer
- Bill Chen
- Kathy Liebert
- Chris Ferguson

The list goes on and on...

Ideally, my table on sunday has NONE of these ranked pros...


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Seat assignment

Event 4b - Brasilia, table 247, seat 2
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Arrived safely...

A few Vegas observations from a first time visitor:

- it's not nearly as "big" as I expected. Yes, the casinos are big, but frankly the signs are bigger than the buildings. Fallsview is, I believe an equivalent size to Bally's. That said, there are a million of 'em.

- it's hot here.

- unlike Florida, where (to be frank) everybody is huge, the tourists / people here are fairly lean. I expected a lot more girth / gluttony in the land of excess. Perhaps its a "west coast" thing.

- it's hot here.

- walking through the casino pit, I realize that degenerate gambling still depresses me. That somehow I've convinced myself that poker is NOT degenerate gambling impresses me. That my wife buys that line pleases me.

- did I mention that it's hot here? Keep in mind that when I organized my honeymoon, I booked a trip to Alaska. Greg does not do well in the heat.

- Bill's Gamblin Hall & Saloon - my residence for the week - ain't half bad! Nice view of the strip, big lcd tv, and a big sign on the front that says: "We now change your sheets DAILY!"


Shaun doesn't land for a few more hours, in the mean time I'm off to the Rio to get my seat assignment for event 4. The field is broken into two starting days - I drew day 1b, so I start Sunday.

Shaun and I may play the $120 tourney at Caeser's tonight, depending on how tired we are / when we have dinner. Hoover Dam's the plan for tomorrow.


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Fw: 2009 World Series of Poker Pre-Registration Confirmation

Ok - we're in. Just received confirmation that my pre-registration forms (and the $$) arrived safely, and I'm on the list.

Hopefully my recent online downswing is just me getting the run-bad out of the way before some live run-good...

I've also been looking at the different non-wsop tourney options out there, and the Venetian deep-stacks series looks like it could be fun. Assuming I bust out of event seven, I may play the wednesday tourney, delaying my flight back If I make the FT. Nothing firm, though.
------Original Message------
From: Joanne Douglass
To: undisclosed-recipients: ;
Subject: 2009 World Series of Poker Pre-Registration Confirmation
Sent: May 25, 2009 20:42

2009
Picture (Metafile) <Untitled%20Attachment>


Congratulations!  This is to confirm receipt of your funds in connection with pre-registration for the 2009 World Series of Poker®.  You must complete the registration process at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in order for you to receive your table and seat assignment. Please visit the WSOP Will Call window, located in the WSOP Tournament Area, at least one hour prior to your event to complete registration for the event(s) or to receive a return of your monies should you decide not to register.  Please be prepared to provide proof of identity (via a Drivers License, Passport or Military I.D) and to sign a Player Release Form.   For all non U.S. residents, a current passport, consular identification or alien registration card is required.
The World Series of Poker is the most prestigious poker event in the World and this year's WSOP will no doubt be the largest and the most exciting gaming event in history. Harrah's continues to lead the industry in creating an innovative gaming experience for valued guests.  Harrah's and the Tournament Staff sincerely wish you "GOOD LUCK" and we look forward to seeing you at the Final Table!
 If you have any other questions regarding Pre-registration or any of our WSOP events please contact our office at 702.777.6777.
Sincerely,
2009 WSOP Team

It's official!

OK - it's official - I'm on my way to Vegas. Tickets are booked, hotel room is reserved, and most importantly I've pre-registered for some WSOP tournaments!

I'll be in Vegas from May 29th to June 4th. I'm definitely playing WSOP Events 4 and 7 - the $1,000 and $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold'em tourneys. Along the way I plan on playing a few small buy-in tourneys, such as the $100 / $150 buy-in tourneys at the MGM Grand. I'll be deciding which other ones to play when I'm down there. If the structure looks decent, I'll play. Probably a good idea to play one or two before the WSOP events... Get my feet wet.

My brother-in-law, Shaun, has decided to come with me for the first few days, so I'll get a little bit of site-seeing in, but the focus of the trip will be on Poker. I'm hoping to get together with a few 2+2'ers while I'm down there too - maybe grab some dinner with some degenerate gamblers...

The purpose of this blog will be to keep the folks back home up-to-speed with my goings on. Some of you have bought a stake in me, others are just curious to hear how the trip / tourneys are going. I plan on posting my tourney results, as well as some of the more interesting hands played here.

I'm selling stakes of myself - at par - for the WSOP events. (So, to be clear, if you want to buy 1% of my WSOP action, you can do so for $25 (USD) and you'd then be entitled to 1% of whatever I cash in those WSOP events.) If you're interested in buying a piece of my action, send me an email.

That's it for now - the next few weeks will be crazy (as usual) with work, trying to get ready to take a week completely off. I'll hopefully get a bit of reading in - maybe re-read Harrington on Hold'em for a bit of preparation, and obviously get a bit of poker playing in... "Sorry, honey, I can't help with the dishes... I have to practice for my tourneys. You think Tiger Woods does dishes? No, he practices his bunker shots... Excuse me while I go work on my continuation betting..."