A couple more pictures

Here are some shots I took in the halls during the breaks. At first I thought it was cool to take a picture with some of the notable pros I saw, so I got this one with Mark Seif...


...But then it occurred to me that the place was lousy with notable pros. There were big name players everywhere you looked. So, the only other person I took a picture with was Hevad "Rain" Khan, because I spent a while chatting with him and he was a really good guy. We were gonna go to dinner, but I got so flustered when I got knocked out that I forgot about it and could not find him later. Oh well. Great guy though.

I just realized as I was looking at some results from some of the tournaments this year, that table I was at with David Singer and Scott Sitron also had another fairly prominent pro -- Shane Schlager was sitting with us. I knew he looked familiar and I was wracking my brain trying to figure out where I knew him. Shane is really well-known for his internet play but has made a couple WSOP final tables and came in fourth in a WPT event.

I cannot event tall all of you how many big name pros I ran into at the Series. I recall one 20 minute break yesterday where I walked out of the room next to Chau Giang; I went into the registration room and saw Greg Raymer and David Benyamine buying into the $10k Omaha event; I then saw Mike Matusow and Men "The Master" in the hallway talking to some friends; and finally, I stood in line with David Williams and Kathy Liebert to get some food. I swear, that was one twenty minute break.

About the only pros I wanted to see but did not were Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, and Annie Duke. Doyle and Phil don't play in many events, preferring to mostly play cash games instead. I am not sure where Annie was as her big bro Howard Lederer was around.

Yes, I get a little star struck around these folks -- even moreso than I do when I run into Hollywood stars. I dunno why, just the way I am ;)

More pictures

You can see me in my Grant Hill jersey with my big stack of chips (the ones I won with my aces) here: http://www.printroom.com/ViewGallery.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=worldseriesofpoker&gallery_id=1138997&curpage=2

All done

Card dead. I was completley card dead in the $1500 tournament on Thursday. It was just depressing.

Things started out good enough. On about hand #15 I was in an early position and looked down at pocket rockets. I limped for $50 (we were at 25-50 blinds) hoping to get some action for my aces. There was another call behind me and then the button upped it to $300, a slight overbet. Both blinds folded and I took a while before popping it up to $500. At this point, I think the button should have put me on a real monster -- I had made a weak move and then re-raised. No way I make that move with anything less than Aces, Kings, or maybe A-K. Especially that early in the tournament, you'd have to be crazy to risk a huge chunk of your stack on a hand with a Queen or worse in it.

So, this I-think-I-know-how-to-play fool comes back at me, all-in. I was stunned. He had already lost about $700 chips from his starting stack of $3000 but it was not like he would be in huge trouble even if he lost this hand. I said to him, "you must have aces too" and I turned over my cards saying, "I call."

The doofus had kings. My aces held up and I was up around $5500 in chips after less than 30 minutes of play. Sweet!! I told the king-fool that I was sorry and everyone at the table told him there was no way to get away from his hand, but once he had left the room several players at the table spoke up and said he was an idiot. They all put me on aces in that position.

So, I was thinking this was going to be my day. I had chipped up into a dominant position very quickly. I resolved to play fairly tight and not get too loose with my newfound stack. It turned out that I did not have much of a choice.

I had to play tight because I caught nothing for the next 2 hours. I mean nothing. If I ever saw an ace or a king it was in an early position and there was a 3 or a 7 or something lame next to it. I was adamant that I would not get impatient so I just kept on folding. It also helped that I was at a table to with excellent players and I was nervous about making any moves on these guys. Though I did not know their names, two of them were wearing shirts that indicated they were sponsored by established poker websites and several of the players were talking about all the tournaments they had entered. These guys were pros and the online reporters kept on circling our table to note their play. I finally asked the one who looked really familliar what his name was and he told me. It was Steve Paul-Ambrose. He won a WPT event last year and has like $2 million in career tournament winnings. Yikes.

So, I just kept on folding, nursing my stack and trying to just capture blinds when I could. The lack of cards was driving me insane. I managed to tread water at between $5k and $6k in chips for the most part at the field shrunk. we had started with 2450 players in the tournament and it got down to 1000 or so after only 3 hours.

At this point, I had enough of a tight image that I was able to chip up a bit with some simple raises. I got to about $7000 in chips and they broke our table. While I was sad to see all the cultivating of my tight image go out the window, I was glad to be away from Ambrose and the other pros. Just my luck, I got sat at a table with Scott Sitron (a prominent internet pro who had just finished 20th in the $1500 NLH event a couple days ago) and...

...DAVID SINGER!!

For those of you who do not know him, David Singer is one of the top pros on the planet. Bluff Magazine and ESPN have him rated as the #3 player in the world right now. He won a bracelet at the $1500 Pot-Limit Hold'em event a few weeks ago and already has 4 cashes in this year's World Series so far. He was in the seat directly to my right and he was pretty short-stacked with just around $2000 in chips and we were at the point where the blinds were $100-200 and there was a $25 ante. He needed to make a move. If he went all-in, I might have a chance to knock him out. WOW!

I had only been at the table for about 6 hands when Singer pushed all-in from a mid-late position. I looked down at 9-7 and just could not bring myself to call him. He got a caller from the big-blind who turned over K-Q. Singer said, "oops" and showed an unsuited 10-2. "Doyle would be proud," I said to him and he smiled (Doyle Brunson won the Main Event at the World Series twice with a 10-2 and that hand is known as a Doyle Brunson). Moments later he was gone. My only lasting impression of him was that he wears a lot of big silver rings and he smelled kinda nice to sit next to because he was sucking on lots of breath mints. That's sorta wierd of me to notice, I guess, but -- well -- it is what I noticed.

Ok, back to my adventure. I am sitting here with a little less than $6500 in chips when I find a suited Q-J of clubs from late position. The action folded around to me and I made a standard raise of $700 (with the antes and blinds in the pot, we were starting every hand with $550 in chips in the middle). The small blind came back at me all-in for $1300 more. I had a real decision.

Now, I knew I was almost certainly behind in the hand. I put him on a medium pocket pair like 8s, 9s, or 10s, or maybe A-K or A-Q. If he had a monster like kings, queens, or aces then he calls there and waits for me to make a continuation bet before pushing -- at least that is how I figured the hand. I looked at the pot-- there was $2550 in there and it would cost me $1300 more to call it. I was getting 2-for-1 on my money. Again, I knew I was behind and I took a long time to make my decision, but I put the $1300 in to make the call. The better players at the table, including Scott Sitron, agreed with my call. I was praying that I had 2 live cards as my pot-odds would be quite good in that situation but he turned over an unsuited A-Q. I told the table I was praying for him to have A-K and several folks laughed.

The flop came 10-9-4 (no clubs) giving me an open-ended straight draw. The guy sitting to my left was rooting for me and said, "come on straight!" He had no idea what he was wishing for.

The turn brought a Jack, putting me waaay ahead. "I need an ace!" my opponent said. Sitron said, "or a king," just as a king fell on the river giving him a straight. I had been standing and I fell back in my chair. What a punch in the gut. I tried to perk up, knowing I had gotten my money in behind so I guess I did not deserve to win anyway, but it still stung a lot. I was down to slightly more than $4000 in chips, below the chip average for the first time all day and my lowest level since my success with the aces early on.

Still, I had enough to not be at all desperate. A few hands later I caught an unsuited A-J and raised to $600. Someone came over the top for $1000 more and I folded. A short time later I caught another A-J and raised again, this time to $700. But he button raised me $1200 and I again folded. Maybe I should have looked someone up, but I did not feel like making a stand with an unsuited A-J that could have been dominated. Heck, even if I caught an ace on the flop, how do I bet that hand against what could easily have been an A-Q or big slick? I probably was playing it too tight... I dunno.

Now my stack was getting really small. I was down to about $2500 in chips when I looked down at K-J of spades. I raised to $700 again from late position and got called by the big blind. The flop came K-8-3 (one spade) and the big blind checked. I checked too, trying to trap, and the turn brought a 5 of clubs (the 8 was a club too). The blind checked again and I pushed all-in for my final $1500 or so chips. I was worried he might have an ace and I did not want him to catch one on the river. I also was worried about giving him a free flush card if he was holding clubs. He took a little while before calling and turned over K-Q. Yikes, I was outkicked!! I had to have a jack on the river but got no such luck as there was another 8. I was out.

I am not certain, but I think I came in about 800th place out of 2450. Again, a good result, but not the money.

It was a very frustrating day. There is only so much you can do when you simply do not get any cards. Maybe getting a big stack early had been a bad thing as it might have made me too conservative as I protected it. I am not sure.

Ahhh well. It was fun, even if it was disappointing. I continue to learn more about all this and expect to get better. I'll be back!!!

Pics!

There is a gallery of photos from my table at the Tuesday $1500 event.

You can see it here: http://www.printroom.com/ViewgalleryPhoto.asp?userid=worldseriesofpoker&gallery_id=1137158&image_id=52

Worth noting-- the photos were taken at the very beginning of play, so my chip stack looks tiny ;)

Another tournament on tap!

Just wanted to quickly mention that I am in another $1500 NLH'em tournament about 13 hours from now. I think I learned some things about patience and replaying the hands in my head that I am eager to apply. Plus, I won't be nearly as nervous - I hope.

I am embarassed to admit that shortly after she sat down next to me, Anna Wroblewski, looked at me and said, "are you cold or nervous" because I was shaking so much. I was in the midst of a great run of cards and pushing the table around a bit and was having trouble stacking up all my chips (I was winning a lot of $25 chips, so my stack looked more impressive than it actually was). "I'm freezing," I lied because I did not want to seem like a stupid amatuer, but I am sure she saw through me. Still, I don't feel like the nerves affected my play. I really only got nervous and shakey when I was stacking chips. I dunno why -- it is sorta silly -- but my heart just pounds like crazy when I win a big pot and I sometimes cannot help but shake.

Ahh well. I am not even sure if nerves would tell the pros I was bluffing or that I had a big hand. So maybe it does not matter.

Anyway, wish me luck tomorrow!

A few other interesting hands

We always remember our losses more than our wins.

I am not sure who said that -- heck, I am not even sure if it is a famous saying -- but it raelly seems to hold true in poker. So, with that in mind, I bring you a few frustrating hands (you already heard about the wretched bad beat that took me out) from yesterday's $1500 NLH'em tournament.

Lets start with the one that made me feel the most like an idiot -- because I was so sure I had won that I announced it to the table only to be wrong. Gaack! It was fairly early in the tournament and I was in the big blind with a lousy unsuited 7-3. I was desperate to fold but did not get a chance because no one raised the pot. Three guys called it and the four of us saw a flop of 3-4-9. My lousy 7-3 had hit bottom pair. No way I would bet that sucker, that's for sure! I was still desperate to get out, but no one bet the flop so I was still in. The turn brought another 3. Ok, now I had trips and now I was quite interested in the hand. I checked, trying to trap, and was thrilled when one player bet 600. The other 2 players folded and I went into a little act, debating for a while to make it look like I was on a flush or straight draw, before reluctantly calling. I was at about 4000 in chips and was already expecting this hand to take me to about 6k.

Then the river -- a seven. I had hit a full boat! Even better, it was the third club to come and I was praying that the guy who had bet earlier had hit his flush or straight draw. I again checked, looking weak, and he bet another 600.

In retrospect, maybe I should have sniffed something fishy. 600 was a begging-to-be-called bet into a pot that was now at 2000. But, even if I had put him on a big hand, I would have bet it was that straight or flush he might have been drawing at. So, I said, "raise" and pushed out his 600 plus 1000 more. He called quickly and I said, "I've got you" as I turned over my 3s-over-7s full boat. Duuuuh. I am an idiot. He flipped over pocket 4s for a higher 4s-over-3s full boat.

You know, I probably got a huge break. If he had come back at me with a re-raise I would have called him for sure and been down under 1000 in chips. Instead, I still had about 1500 left and was able to fight my way back. Still, I sure learned that having a big hand does not mean you should let your guard down!!



Want to hear about another good one? Midway through the 3rd level of the tournament I had about 10k in chips, really great shape and certainly among the top 50 or so in chips at that early point. I was resolved to play fairly tight and not give up the very nice pile I had accumulated so far. I looked down and I had pocket Queens in a fairly early position with the blinds at 100-200. I love Qs but no way do I want a lot of players seeing a flop against them so I took it up to $600. Imagine my joy when 3 players called me. This was a very good pot and I silently prayed, "give me a queen on the flop and I will bust one of these suckers and really chip up!!" I got my wish...

The flop came and there was a Queen right there in the door. I almost jumped out of my seat when I saw it. But then I saw the other 2 cards. It was a 10 and a J and both of them were diamonds. I got my wish, but this meant that anyone with big slick had flopped a straight. Grrrrr.

I resolved not to let anyone get a free flush draw so I bet out 2-grand into the $2500 pot. A guy who had beeen playing quite aggressive and making some loose calls with A-middle and K-middle kinda hands (but getting quite lucky on those calls) came over the top all-in for about 5000 more.

I looked at him and silently prayed for him to be holding A-Q. Maybe he had pocket Js or pocket 10s, I hoped. I cursed the poke gods. This was exactly what I wanted to avoid when I had found myself with a big chip stack -- a big pot that could undo all the good I had done so far. I waited a bit. I looked at him and then just asked, "you holding big slick?" He did not answer and I am not enough of a pro to read him. Heck, if he had answered I am not sure what I would have done with it.

I sighed and looked at the flop again. Even if he had big slick, I had 7 outs with the final Q as well as full house options if I could catch a 10 or J. I said, "I call" and he nearly jumped out of his chair as he slammed his big slick to the table. I got no luck on the turn or river and suddenly found myself well below the chip average. Grrrrr.


Overall, my luck was pretty bad. I had an early hand where I called an all-in bet with 2 pair only to see the short-stacked player hit a 4-outter on the river. I also had a hand where my Q-J was out-kicked by a K-J and one where Anna Wroblewski beat me out of an 8000 chip pot when her K-Q outkicked my K-J. Nothing sucks like getting out-kicked by one card!


The worst bad luck though came when 2 somewhat short-stacked players went all-in ahead of me and I found a suited AK of hearts and called. One player had a suited QJ and the other had A-J. I was feeling great about getting another 6000 in chips but a J came on the turn and I lost to both of them. Grrrrr.

Still, all my luck was not bad and it would only be fair if I told you about a great escape I made about a half-hour before I was knocked out of the tournament. I was down to about $2000 when I found pocket 6s on the button. The same guy who had beaten me with the straight over my trip-Qs had made it $600 to go and I pushed all-in. He insta-called and turned over 9s. Yikes. I figured I was all done. The flop brought no help and the turn was a blank too. Then the river-- a 6!!! I had hit a 2-outter!! Whew, that was lucky!

The final hand

I am enough of a geek that I took a lot of notes on some of the hands I played in the $1500 NLH'em toruney on Tuesday and I will be posting info on them later. I am both pleased with how I did and so damn frustrated at several horrible bad-luck hands including the one that busted me for the night. I got good cards much of the day, which is lucky, but I got very unlucky in how many of the good card hands ended up in the end. With a little more luck in that regard, I would be among the tournament chip leaders right now.

I ended up going out in about 500th place. There were 2300+ players in the tournament so I fared pretty well. The top 200 make the money. Here is the story of the final hand I played.

I had about 7000 in chips (the average in the room was around 8000) and we were quite close to the dinner break. I was fairly resolved to just make the dinner break and assess my position at that time. But, I caught pocket Jacks in the small blind. We were playing at the 200-400 blind level with a $50 ante, which meant there was $1100 in chips in the pot before a single player had decided whether he liked his hand. Anyway, I've got my jacks and three guys have already called the $400 blind. I called it too as my pot odds were quite strong and so long as no A, K, or Q come on the flop, I figure I am in very good shape. I thought about a raise but I did not want to get in too deep with Jacks as they are really just a high-middle pair. Plus, the pot was big enough so that it would take a monster raise to get people out and I am not gonna drive out the scary hands to me (A+face) anyway. I felt good about no one having pocket Qs, Ks, or Aces based on the betting so far.

The flop is a dream - 10 9 4 rainbow - and I checked to see if I could trap someone and get even more value off my hand. One guy who has around $10k chips bets $1500 and the other players fold. I move all in on him. By my figuring, he is either making a move (the pot is around $4000 at this point) or has a mid-A and has hit the 10 9 or 4 to go with his ace. I don't really want him to call as he at least has an overcard and the pot is plenty big enough for me to just win it and be happy. He takes his time before deciding to call. He has A-10 for top pair with top kicker. It is a good call but I am a big favorite (approx. 80% chance I win).

Of course, the damn turn brings another ten giving him a set. I had less than a 5% chance of getting a jack on the river and it did not happen. I busted and am done.

The pot had something like 16 or 17,000 chips in it. For perspective, at that point that many chips would put you in the top 10 in chips in the entire room. Wow!!!

I was crushed. So depressing. I got my cards in at the right time. I was a huge favorite. I did everything right (I was even afraid of a call, so I was not being greedy)... and yet I lost.

Arrrggghhhh!!!!!

More on the other hands later...

Wow, what a first day!!

Well, my first day of play at the Series is over. It was a fabulous day full of wild swings and amazing hands. The table I was at saw at least a dozen hands that were decided on the river with a very unlikely final card swinging things from one player to another.

I'll get to how I did later (I am quite pleased) but wanted to first mention some of the cool guys I met today. I chatted a bit with Mark Seif, a bracelet winner who is on TV all the time. I also had a long conversation with Hevad "Rain" Khan. He's the guy who finished 6th at the Main Event last year and made a big name for himself with his huge celebratory antics after winning pots.



He's a great guy, very open and funny. He was sitting at the table next to mine much of the afternoon and we talked a few times about our chipstacks and how we were each doing. They have a new rule against excessive celbration at the Series this year and I asked him how he felt about it. he laughed and said, "They made that rule just for me. I made the Final Table and re-wrote the rule book last year -- not bad, huh?"





"Rain" is now one of my favorite players.



Sitting in the seat right next to me at my table most of the day was the attractive, younger, Asian woman. The liveupdate reporters, the guys who porovide running commentary on the Series online, kept on chatting with her and noting her hands (she whupped me for a big pot at one point -- more on that later). I asked her if she was someone I should know and she said, "No, I'm not famous but I play a lot so they know me." She was being modest. Turns out she is Anna Wroblewski, who writes a column for Bluff Magazine and is an internationally ranked player. She has already cashed in 3 events at the series this year and has career tournament earnings of close to a million dollars. She was an excellent player and it was fun to watch her play sitting right next to her. We chatted a fair amount during the play.

Well, gotta run now. I must get food!!! I am starving. I'll have a full rundown of a bunch of the interesting hands I played at little later.

Oh, and I'll also let you know how I did today ;)

I'm here!

I arrived in Vegas after an uneventful flight from Atlanta. I checked in at Harrah's and promptly went over to the Rio to register for my World Series events. I was too damn excited, jittery even, and was glad I had a day to calm down before sitting down to play in my first event.

The walk to where the WSOP is held is really long. It is in the Rio convention center, not anywhere close to the casino part of the hotel. I thought I was getting lost at times. Still, when you get there it is clear that you have arrived at the right place. There are tons of people around and room after room filled with poker tables. It is sorta unreal.

I went into the Amazon room, which is where the main portion of the tournaments are played. I was scanning the tables, looking for famous faces. They were televising (on ESPN360.com) the final table of the $5000 pot-limit Omaha tournament with Daniel Negranu, John Juanda, David Benyamine, and Johnny Chan at the table, but the crowd watching as large and the table was a long way away and I could not see anything.

I kept scanning the tables. The $2000 6-handed no-limit hold'em event was being played. As I watched the tables, I was not really looking where I walking. Suddenly, I bumped into someone and said, "Oh, sorry." He replied with a slight Asian accent, "No problem, baby." It was Scotty Nguyen, one of the best and most famous poker players in the world. I was so stunned I did not say anything to him. He made his way back to the table he was playing at. I felt like an idiot.

After watching the action for a little while, I decided to register for the $1500 NL hold-em event beginning Tuesday at noon. I had a cashier's check from Wachovia for $5000, enough to cover entries into 2 $1500 events and a $2000 event I was eyeing. The registration room told me I had to take cashier's checks to the main casino room though. It was a long walk and I was a little frustrated. Then, I got to the casino cashier and they told me it would take 24-hours for a cashier's check to clear! That would put my entry into the tuesday event in serious jeopardy. I was furious now. It took at least an hour of walking back and forth and talking to managers at the Rio to work it all out. It ended up being fine, but left a bad taste in my mouth.

Anyway, that is where things stand at the moment. I am about to play in the $1500 event. Wish me luck!!