Europe Tomorrow
nolan, Mar 12 2008
Tomorrow morning / Late tonight I'm hopping on a plane over to Heathrow to start my European adventure. I'll be landing in London Thursday afternoon.
I'll try and update my status via blog so if anyone is in the area and wants to meet up shoot me a PM or leave a comment, I'll have a skype phone and my laptop with me so arrangements should not be too difficult.
I'm pretty scared though, as I'm aware the rest of the globe is more or less like this:
Vietnam Tour #1
Nazgul, Mar 12 2008
I figured traveling through Vietnam would be a good reason to pick up my blogging again. I’m here with my girlfriend Melissa and there is just so much to see here that I can hardly talk about it all. We have been taking tons of pictures so far, I’ll try to pick the nice ones to show you as good as I can how we are experiencing the trip.
A small intro might be needed here, impatient ones scroll down for the pics. I met Melissa 4-5 years ago at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam when I was still a student. That’s about the time when I picked up poker as well. I came straight from Korea after staying there for 6 months for progaming, and when I returned to Holland I started playing poker before the school season started. We were both studying international business but true to my calling as a poker bum I dropped out about one year ago, after already slacking for a full year before that. Melissa is Vietnamese and has been in Holland for studying. Now almost finished with her master she’ll soon be trying to find a job there as well.
The trip starts off at Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) where her parents live. The trip was going to be long, about 13 hours in the plane and 17 hours from door to door. We were leaving in the late-morning and having a completely messed up sleeping rhythm I figured it would be a good idea to skip a night before getting on the plane. After falling asleep during takeoff the next moment of consciousness came 8 hours later when we there were only 2 hours left before transitioning. Solid start so far.
First night in Saigon we met her parents and went out for dinner. Her mother had already come to Holland once before so that was at least a familiar face. Back home there are no good Vietnamese restaurants so this was my first experience with Vietnamese food. The dinner was fun and her parents were really nice and wanted me to try everything. I’m returning from this trip fat from overeating or skinny from eating healthy.
Melissa, me
Jetlag is usually pretty good for my rhythm (unless its Vegas where waking up too early is a sin) and the next day we woke up at 7am after a good nights rest. Today we’d be meeting Phuong who has been Melissa’s best friend since they were very young. She’d be bringing her boyfriend for dinner and her cousin who she said played poker as well. Meeting poker players through non-poker players is always a bit sketchy. Usually whenever someone says they are a poker player alarm bells immediately go off inside my head. People who think because they are beating the weekly homegame that they are actually good at poker, but in reality don’t know the difference between diamonds and spades (diamonds are better). It was a relief to hear Sai (Phuong’s cousin) 24 tables on stars and is actually not much different from the crowd here at LP. He had even heard of LP that was really fun to hear.
From left to right: me, J.J. (Phuongs boyfriend), Sai (cousin), Phuong
So by now we crossed the city these last few days a fair bit and the streets here are just something else. There are about 10 times more mopeds on the streets than cars. At first seemed like complete chaos, but after riding on the back of the moped with Melissa driving it is starting to look like these people actually have some idea of what they are doing. That doesn’t mean they intend on following any traffic rules but it is something. The way traffic works here is that if you want to cross the street or take a turn you dump your vehicle in someone else’s way and hope they stop. Everyone is anticipating this drives kinda slowly. I didn’t get to take any pictures of the traffic yet but we are returning to Saigon at the end of the trip and then I’ll be the ultimate tourist making pictures of the traffic.
it probably takes more than 5 minutes to fix your electricity, common sight in the city
On the third day we planned to visit the Vietcong tunnels in Cu Chi. This being one of the things I was looking forward to the most I was really excited to go here. Might be that there isn’t so much to just a tunnel, but to live, sleep, fight, and eat in it is mind-boggling. Cu Chi is about two hours removed from Saigon and an agency in the city arranges tours, so we took a bus with them from Saigon early in the morning. After about one hour the bus stopped for a break at a huge handcraft shop outside of the city. Usually all you see in the city is tiny stores and a lot of the stuff they sell is lower quality tourist stuff. Here you entered into the working area where you could see how everything was being made, and then went into a larger part where they were selling everything. This shop has some of the nicest decorative items and we will definitely be returning here to bring half the store back to Holland.
In Cu Chi they had a big area functioning as a museum for the tunnels. Our tour started off with showing the traps the Vietcong used. If anything qualifies as sick then this is probably it. They show some crazy inventiveness in terrifying the enemy by using simple traps. They had a bunch more but here’s a few I remembered the use of.
Spinning trap, both sides are camouflaged and spin around a middle point, first guy falls in then the trap is ready for the next victim
Rolling trap, enters your leg multiple times while you get suck in
Sticking trap, step on the wooden panel and 4 spikes enter your leg from different angles so you cannot get out
After a quick course through the traps they took us to a tunnel where you could go in yourself. The tunnel was cemented and widened for fat tourists so it’s not really the same, but it gives you a good impression of how it would feel to live in these things. At first you are excited to experience such a thing but once you start crawling after 10m your legs start to hurt. The air is thick and breathing is harder than normal. A bit further you need to go on all fours (which was always the case in the original tunnels) and things become even harder. Eventually after 60 meters you are anxious to get out and physically exhausted. After coming up I was sweating all over and felt like I just played a football match.
Posing
Reality
After spending 4 days in Saigon, meeting the family and going to the tunnels we flew to the North of Vietnam to visit Ha Long Bay. At the time of writing this blog we just returned from Ha Long Bay and arrived at our next location Nha Trang. Ha Long Bay is without a doubt the most beautiful natural scenery I’ve seen so far and that is not just in Vietnam but I really have never seen anything like this. I can’t really describe it deservingly but here’s a quote of something I read that translates my feelings nicely.
| | Majestic and mysterious, inspiring and imperious:words alone cannot do justice to the natural wonder that is HaLong Bay. Imagine 3000 or more incredible islands rising from the emeral waters of the Gulf of Tonking and you have a vision of breatheaking beauty. Halong Bay is pure art, a priceless collection of unfinished sculptures hewn from the hand of nature. |
We took a couple hundred pictures at HLB, or at least I took some and Melissa took hundreds. My next blog will be on our three day trip through Ha Long Bay.
That’s it for today hope you enjoyed it, here’s a few random pics to end with.
at what point do they start calling these lobsters?
fighting for ice scream against 13 year olds at an all you can eat ice cream buffet
jack-fruit
snake wine
this is for DustySwede
ChoboPokeR_r, Mar 11 2008
--- Nuked ---
How much luck is needed to win an MTT?
makito, Mar 11 2008
Well, I cant sleep its 5 am and I been thinking about this and I want some opinions or i just wanted to get writting down anyways
How much luck do you need to win a MTT? what percentage is skill and what percentage is luck? I mean you can play your A game going all in with the best hand and have someone suck out with 72o. yes I understand thats why bankroll management comes into play because of the variance. but what does it take to win an MTT? does the starts have to be lined up, does it have to be your lucky game and do you have to play 100% perfect? how often does this happen?
Why do downswings happen? is it a period of time that you just get unlucky? that your KK runns into AA everytime? or that you get rivered 9 hands in a row? what causes a downswing?
Do you believe in the law of atraction? (see the secret video) do you believe that if you have a bad beat the more you think about it the more bad beats are going to come? that asking and wanting a good hand real bad and getting it? could you stop downswings from happening by applying the law of attraction, and just attracting the good luck and good things?
bla i probably didnt make any senses i just havent slept in almost 2 days and im just thinking crazy in my head
let the flames come
long day today
Reload, Mar 10 2008
played a couple of 3 hours sessions...ended the first one down about 2-3 Buy ins...2nd session i just got done...and broke even. i gave my friend $5 and i entered LAPT step 1 and i'm at step 3 now. WTF if i go all the way! but anyways...i'm a little under $40 and i started with $54. i'm only down a couple dollars (i'd still be in the 50's if it wasn't for the donation + lapt)
anyway...big hands:
+ http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/402301 - JJ vs KA holds up
+ http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/402294 - tilted flush draw after 600 BB pot hits
- http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/402286 - AA vs QTo, T high flop...hits runner runner straight for hecka deep.
+ http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/402281 - JJ vs AA all in preflop... spikes J on river.
+ http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/402257 - AQo v A8s villian was a total fish/donkey
- http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/402256 - 56s v 45o. i think i should've bet flop. combo draw misses vs his bottom pair
o http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/402242 - would've been a bad call but sucks that i folded. normally i would've called but i'm trying to nit up
- http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/402219 - 46s v AJo. knew he was pushing air, sucks i got counterfeited
+ http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/402029 - 55 v KT. phil hellmuth style call
- http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/402025 - 46s v AQs, flush under flush
My first blog + Graphs and stuff
Bigbobm, Mar 10 2008
Hey. It's Bob, the guy who does the interviews. I go to Western New England College in Mass, and I'm a senior math major.
I've decided to make a blog for a few reasons that I don't feel like typing out right now, but the main reason is because of the recent situation I've been put in.
As most of you know, Prima has recently cut off a bunch of skins that are on their network. One of them happened to be RedNines, which is where I held a majority of my br. Prior to this incident I was playing 1/2 and 1.5/3 on Prima. Fortunately I had bit left on FTP for various MTTs or when they send me more bonuses and whatnot. Shit hit the fan pretty quick when I started to run bad, and I then realized I needed to make a pretty decent cash out because I'm poor offline.
So basically what I was left with was about $300 and a pretty negative outlook on my poker future. I was debating getting a part time job and just waiting until Prima unlocked my account. I didn't really want to get staked because that just adds too much pressure on me to play. So after thinking about it and talking to a few people, I got a $200 loan from and a ton of motivation from a few people to help me clear my head and the negative outlook I had.
Alright, so heres the plan. I'm going to regrind the crap out of the micro stakes and completely forget about anything I have on Prima. If and when that is released, cool thats gonna be quite the bonus. I'm going to stick to a 20bi rule and try to play around 3k hands a day and every few days I'll let you clowns and clownettes (yug  ) know whats up, and today was the first day of the grind.
Funniest Hand - http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/402093
Biggest Pot - http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/402095
Graph and stats of the day.
Thanks for caring and stuff. Gl nits
Does money bring hapiness ??
100Large, Mar 10 2008
What do you guys think ? I know if i had a spare 10k lying around i would feel ALOT better, so would my bills. Or am i wrong, is money really an illusion and its all in the head? Can we be happy being broke in a North American Society ?
I need money bigger then this ASS.
I so wanna watch this!
ChoboPokeR_r, Mar 10 2008
--- Nuked ---
PStars tourney schedule?
TheHuHu, Mar 09 2008
 .
brawl
Reload, Mar 09 2008
and crown/henn/hp
too good, up all night playing the embodiment of greatness in the form of a game
Wynn Classic: Go-Time! 2k NLHE Report
JonnyCosMo, Mar 09 2008
Yesterday I entered the $2,000 NLHE event at the Wynn Classic with Myth and FrinkX. Rekrul for some reason felt inspired enough to play the tournament as well. So naturally I ran like absolute god with my table draw, as one entire half of the table was pretty bad loose/passive limping stations. The kid to my left seemed fairly competent though, but very tight. And you know what I do to tight regulars... More about that in a bit. Myth also drew an amazing table, but was unfortunately seated at the table that was to break 2nd. Rekrul easily ran the worst out of all of us in table draws. His table included PBDrunks, Bushman, and Mr.Smokey01. LOL GL HF Dan!
So blinds started at 25/50 and we got a 6,000 chip starting stack for this event. I took down a few small uncontested pots and built myself up to 8,000ish without anything too big. Then a weird hand came up, it got folded to me in the cut-off and I raised to 150 with 88, it gets to the big blind (was a young kid that looked like he might know how to play, esp since he repopped me, which no one does too often in these tournaments) who reraises to 450. He had his original 6,000 starting stack so I decided to call. Flop came down 4-7-Q rainbow, and he checked, so I checked behind. Turn came a K, he checked and I checked behind thinking it's pretty easy for him to play JJ, TT, AQ, AK, KK, AA in the same stupid / trappy fashion. River came an Ace, and he checked once again which made me eliminate AQ, AK, KK, AA from his range and make me think he had JJ or TT. So since my hand had no showdown value I decided to make a value bet looking bluff of 700. He quickly called and tabled AK... jesus wtf? Myth's table breaks and they move my good friend Poker Pro Ann over to my table! Blinds moved to 50/100. Next interesting hand I get into is vs the tight kid to my left, who kept getting frustrated that his limps were getting raised. Solution: Don't open limp? Tard... So I open T9o from the cut-off to 300 and he calls on the button. Flop comes 4-T-Q, and I check he bets 400 into a 750 pot. I call. Turn comes a A, I check, he checks behind. River came a 2, and I check yet again. He fires 800 into the 1500 pot. I check-raise to 2600. He slams his fist on the table and insta folds. I had to show him, and I never show my cards like ever, but this was just too funny to me, GG nit.
So they break my table and move me to yet another very soft looking table with the exception of the guy to my right who was this very nice older guy who apparently watched my ft win the other night. He seemed to know a lot about poker, and played use to be an online grinder but now only plays live poker because he recognizes that the games are x100 softer live. Smart man, smart man indeed... Two of the players at my table I played with during Day 1 of the $1500 event as well, one of which I had absolutely annihilated during the bubble since he was one of the short stacks while I was raising every hand. The table was easy, but the cards weren't kind to me... Blinds moved up to 100/200, I raised AQ and flopped Qd-6s-4s, c-bet and get a call. Turn comes 9d, I double barrel and he calls. He has spades duh... river comes 9s. I check, he fires 3/4 pot, I fold. Next, there is a limper, then the old man who was short stacked on the bubble in the $1500 makes it 700. I look at TT on the button and flat call. The big blind flat calls as well. Flop comes 4-4-8, they both check to me and I bet 1800. Big blind insta folds, and the old man calls. Turn comes a 2, he checks and I check behind. River comes a 7, he bets 2400. I hate my life... tank forever and it really felt like I only beat a bluff from this particular player. I took a count of my chips and realized if I called and lost I'd have 3200 left at 100/200 which is somewhat okay. It was just so gross that the pot was like almost 6,000. So finally I decided to make a sloppy call, and threw in the 2400. He showed 44 for quad 4's. That makes sense.  So I'm at 3200. 30 minutes later I'm back at 10,000 without going to showdown. There weren't any key hands that went down, I just won a ton of small pots in good spots. Poker Pro Ann once again got shuffled to my table, along with a big stack that was sat to my direct left. Great. In the first orbit the big stack opened 3 pots, so he was most definitely a little aggro.
Blinds go up to 200/400 w 25 ante, and I get a little ballsy with the big stack to my left. It gets folded to me in the cut-off and I raise K2o to 1000 vs my weak blinds. The big stack on the button makes it 2500 to go. The blinds insta fold, and action is back around to me. I count out my stack and realize I have about 9,000 to reshove on him. Time to show this fucker that I'm the wrong person to be repopping light. All-in. He asks for a count and tanks for a little bit, but some of his mannerisms made me think that this was just some hollywood act he was doing to save face. Finally he folds. I show the duece. He gives me a pat on the back. After this hand, Poker Pro Ann gets a little short and reshoves as a squeeze over me and the big stack. I decide her range is fairly wide in that spot and call with AJo. the big stack folds and me and Ann run a 8k chip flip AJo vs her 66. She holds and that drops me back to 10k. An orbit later I pick up AA, raise to 1000 utg+1. The big stack to my left was replaced with a shorter stack who had about 6,000 total in chips. He reraises to 2700... sweet :D! Action gets folded back around to me and I look at his stack and realize he pot committed himelf so just put the chips in, he says "I hope I didn't get cold decked" as he put the rest in and turned over KK. "You got cold decked" I said as I turned over AA. Flop comes 2-7-K and I'm like UUGGG that hurts. Ann then says she folded an ace. And I'm like yuck! No worries, turn Ace, ZING I RUN GOOD!!! 1 outer for the win. River bricks and the kid gets eliminated and I get back to 16k. I lose a few pots that bring me down to 12k before my table breaks and I get moved to a new table.
Blinds were now 300/600 w 50 ante. This new table seemed to be one of the tougher tables in the tournament. The big stack definitely seemed to know what he was doing, and was running over this table. There were a few old asian guys who were fighting back, and reshipping it in on him which was nice to see. My 5th hand at the table, I was in the big blind with T3o, and the big stack raises to 1500, active looking asian guy calls, I reshove 12k all-in. Big stack insta folds and asian guy asks for a chip count before he folded. After this hand I went on a pretty hot card rush. Picked up JJ and reshoved over a short stack and busted his 77. That got me to 22k. Then picked up KK vs the big stack and turned a set, as I shoved over his turn bet and he folded. That brought me to 34k with the average around 20k with 40 players left. I picked up a few other pots and go my stack around 40,000 with 36 players left.
Then things went to hell...
Picked up AK, guy reshoves for his last 10k and I call. He has JJ and holds. Knocks me back to 30k. I then pick up 99 vs a 7k stack and call his reshove on me. He has AJ, he spikes an ace. Down to 22k. Then get reshuffled to a new table... back with Poker Pro Ann! And... who is this guy hiding in his hooded sweatshirt with over 65,000 in chips? Oh It's Mr.Smokey01... fuck my life. To make matters worse, he was running over the table and no one was doing anything to stop him. Everyone was playing dead for him... it was so sick. So I decide to take action before this gets out of hand. I repopped with T9o the first time, then a few hands later picked up AQo and repopped his raise once again. Both times he just folded. I really hoped that this might discourage him from open raising light... Nope! Fucking relentless, and it was just so sick that no one was doing anything vs him. And obv I can't just be trying to war Mr.Smokey01 out of spite, caz he's eventually gonna get fed up and decide to somehow own me. Anyways, I hovered around 20,000 as we went to dinner break with 30 players left. I get a salad and a prep talk from peachy on how to handle Smokey at my table.
Come back from dinner break with 400/800 blinds. Gets folded to the guy in the cut-off who shoves 7500 all-in. I look down at 88 in the big blind and call. He has J7o. Flop comes Q-K-J... yuck. Turn and river blank and I get knocked down to 12,000. I make a few small steals and get myself back up to around 17,000. Then with 27 players left, they reshuffled the final 3 tables. I sit down at my new seat to find Mr.Smokey01 w/ his hammer of chips to my direct left, and Bushman the left of that. ROFL... not running so good with table draws anymore. Running really really bad with table draws infact.
So first hand at our new table, I open KQo to 2k, and Smokey makes it clear that I'm not going to be able to open light and make the small steals I've been doing, as he repops to 7k. I fold. I open the next pot with AQs, planning on going with it and everyone folds. An orbit later I pick up A9s in the big blind, there is a limp utg from a weak/dumb player. Active player raises to 3,200. Old guy behind him calls. I shove 14,800 total from the big blind with my A9s as a squeeze. UTG folds, and the active player reshoves and shows AKo. Flop comes J-8-9 and I jump up and scream "HOW GOOD DO I RUN HERE!?!" Turn 7, river King. And I'm out Oops, jinx'd it. Out in 24th, 18 paid.
Going home to San Diego today for a couple days, and will be back in Vegas on Wednesday.
Wynn Classic: Go-Time! 2k NLHE Report
JonnyCosMo, Mar 09 2008
Yesterday I entered the $2,000 NLHE event at the Wynn Classic with Myth and FrinkX. Rekrul for some reason felt inspired enough to play the tournament as well. So naturally I ran like absolute god with my table draw, as one entire half of the table was pretty bad loose/passive limping stations. The kid to my left seemed fairly competent though, but very tight. And you know what I do to tight regulars... More about that in a bit. Myth also drew an amazing table, but was unfortunately seated at the table that was to break 2nd. Rekrul easily ran the worst out of all of us in table draws. His table included PBDrunks, Bushman, and Mr.Smokey01. LOL GL HF Dan!
So blinds started at 25/50 and we got a 6,000 chip starting stack for this event. I took down a few small uncontested pots and built myself up to 8,000ish without anything too big. Then a weird hand came up, it got folded to me in the cut-off and I raised to 150 with 88, it gets to the big blind (was a young kid that looked like he might know how to play, esp since he repopped me, which no one does too often in these tournaments) who reraises to 450. He had his original 6,000 starting stack so I decided to call. Flop came down 4-7-Q rainbow, and he checked, so I checked behind. Turn came a K, he checked and I checked behind thinking it's pretty easy for him to play JJ, TT, AQ, AK, KK, AA in the same stupid / trappy fashion. River came an Ace, and he checked once again which made me eliminate AQ, AK, KK, AA from his range and make me think he had JJ or TT. So since my hand had no showdown value I decided to make a value bet looking bluff of 700. He quickly called and tabled AK... jesus wtf? Myth's table breaks and they move my good friend Poker Pro Ann over to my table! Blinds moved to 50/100. Next interesting hand I get into is vs the tight kid to my left, who kept getting frustrated that his limps were getting raised. Solution: Don't open limp? Tard... So I open T9o from the cut-off to 300 and he calls on the button. Flop comes 4-T-Q, and I check he bets 400 into a 750 pot. I call. Turn comes a A, I check, he checks behind. River came a 2, and I check yet again. He fires 800 into the 1500 pot. I check-raise to 2600. He slams his fist on the table and insta folds. I had to show him, and I never show my cards like ever, but this was just too funny to me, GG nit.
So they break my table and move me to yet another very soft looking table with the exception of the guy to my right who was this very nice older guy who apparently watched my ft win the other night. He seemed to know a lot about poker, and played use to be an online grinder but now only plays live poker because he recognizes that the games are x100 softer live. Smart man, smart man indeed... Two of the players at my table I played with during Day 1 of the $1500 event as well, one of which I had absolutely annihilated during the bubble since he was one of the short stacks while I was raising every hand. The table was easy, but the cards weren't kind to me... Blinds moved up to 100/200, I raised AQ and flopped Qd-6s-4s, c-bet and get a call. Turn comes 9d, I double barrel and he calls. He has spades duh... river comes 9s. I check, he fires 3/4 pot, I fold. Next, there is a limper, then the old man who was short stacked on the bubble in the $1500 makes it 700. I look at TT on the button and flat call. The big blind flat calls as well. Flop comes 4-4-8, they both check to me and I bet 1800. Big blind insta folds, and the old man calls. Turn comes a 2, he checks and I check behind. River comes a 7, he bets 2400. I hate my life... tank forever and it really felt like I only beat a bluff from this particular player. I took a count of my chips and realized if I called and lost I'd have 3200 left at 100/200 which is somewhat okay. It was just so gross that the pot was like almost 6,000. So finally I decided to make a sloppy call, and threw in the 2400. He showed 44 for quad 4's. That makes sense. So I'm at 3200. 30 minutes later I'm back at 10,000 without going to showdown. There weren't any key hands that went down, I just won a ton of small pots in good spots. Poker Pro Ann once again got shuffled to my table, along with a big stack that was sat to my direct left. Great. In the first orbit the big stack opened 3 pots, so he was most definitely a little aggro.
Blinds go up to 200/400 w 25 ante, and I get a little ballsy with the big stack to my left. It gets folded to me in the cut-off and I raise K2o to 1000 vs my weak blinds. The big stack on the button makes it 2500 to go. The blinds insta fold, and action is back around to me. I count out my stack and realize I have about 9,000 to reshove on him. Time to show this fucker that I'm the wrong person to be repopping light. All-in. He asks for a count and tanks for a little bit, but some of his mannerisms made me think that this was just some hollywood act he was doing to save face. Finally he folds. I show the duece. He gives me a pat on the back. After this hand, Poker Pro Ann gets a little short and reshoves as a squeeze over me and the big stack. I decide her range is fairly wide in that spot and call with AJo. the big stack folds and me and Ann run a 8k chip flip AJo vs her 66. She holds and that drops me back to 10k. An orbit later I pick up AA, raise to 1000 utg+1. The big stack to my left was replaced with a shorter stack who had about 6,000 total in chips. He reraises to 2700... sweet :D! Action gets folded back around to me and I look at his stack and realize he pot committed himelf so just put the chips in, he says "I hope I didn't get cold decked" as he put the rest in and turned over KK. "You got cold decked" I said as I turned over AA. Flop comes 2-7-K and I'm like UUGGG that hurts. Ann then says she folded an ace. And I'm like yuck! No worries, turn Ace, ZING I RUN GOOD!!! 1 outer for the win. River bricks and the kid gets eliminated and I get back to 16k. I lose a few pots that bring me down to 12k before my table breaks and I get moved to a new table.
Blinds were now 300/600 w 50 ante. This new table seemed to be one of the tougher tables in the tournament. The big stack definitely seemed to know what he was doing, and was running over this table. There were a few old asian guys who were fighting back, and reshipping it in on him which was nice to see. My 5th hand at the table, I was in the big blind with T3o, and the big stack raises to 1500, active looking asian guy calls, I reshove 12k all-in. Big stack insta folds and asian guy asks for a chip count before he folded. After this hand I went on a pretty hot card rush. Picked up JJ and reshoved over a short stack and busted his 77. That got me to 22k. Then picked up KK vs the big stack and turned a set, as I shoved over his turn bet and he folded. That brought me to 34k with the average around 20k with 40 players left. I picked up a few other pots and go my stack around 40,000 with 36 players left.
Then things went to hell...
Picked up AK, guy reshoves for his last 10k and I call. He has JJ and holds. Knocks me back to 30k. I then pick up 99 vs a 7k stack and call his reshove on me. He has AJ, he spikes an ace. Down to 22k. Then get reshuffled to a new table... back with Poker Pro Ann! And... who is this guy hiding in his hooded sweatshirt with over 65,000 in chips? Oh It's Mr.Smokey01... fuck my life. To make matters worse, he was running over the table and no one was doing anything to stop him. Everyone was playing dead for him... it was so sick. So I decide to take action before this gets out of hand. I repopped with T9o the first time, then a few hands later picked up AQo and repopped his raise once again. Both times he just folded. I really hoped that this might discourage him from open raising light... Nope! Fucking relentless, and it was just so sick that no one was doing anything vs him. And obv I can't just be trying to war Mr.Smokey01 out of spite, caz he's eventually gonna get fed up and decide to somehow own me. Anyways, I hovered around 20,000 as we went to dinner break with 30 players left. I get a salad and a prep talk from peachy on how to handle Smokey at my table.
Come back from dinner break with 400/800 blinds. Gets folded to the guy in the cut-off who shoves 7500 all-in. I look down at 88 in the big blind and call. He has J7o. Flop comes Q-K-J... yuck. Turn and river blank and I get knocked down to 12,000. I make a few small steals and get myself back up to around 17,000. Then with 27 players left, they reshuffled the final 3 tables. I sit down at my new seat to find Mr.Smokey01 w/ his hammer of chips to my direct left, and Bushman the left of that. ROFL... not running so good with table draws anymore. Running really really bad with table draws infact.
So first hand at our new table, I open KQo to 2k, and Smokey makes it clear that I'm not going to be able to open light and make the small steals I've been doing, as he repops to 7k. I fold. I open the next pot with AQs, planning on going with it and everyone folds. An orbit later I pick up A9s in the big blind, there is a limp utg from a weak/dumb player. Active player raises to 3,200. Old guy behind him calls. I shove 14,800 total from the big blind with my A9s as a squeeze. UTG folds, and the active player reshoves and shows AKo. Flop comes J-8-9 and I jump up and scream "HOW GOOD DO I RUN HERE!?!" Turn 7, river King. And I'm out Oops, jinx'd it. Out in 24th, 18 paid.
Going home to San Diego today for a couple days, and will be back in Vegas on Wednesday.
moving down.
nolan, Mar 09 2008
2008 3/6 full ring graph .
up like 10bi in six max. haven't played much 2/4. i'm obviously struggling / doing something wrong. i think i'm going to move down to 2/4 or start 9 tabling the 6m and see if the change of pace helps.
i usually don't get too tilted but this stretch has been kind of brutal and i feel lost which is abornmal for me when dealing with a downswing so i dont know.
might take the month off as i leave for europe in a few days and don't get back until the 26th.
hmm.
Dream Theater in BA
Roald, Mar 09 2008
Just got home from Argentina. The primary purpose of my trip was to catch a couple of Dream Theater concerts in Buenos Aires. My wife was still down there for surgery and the dates coincided so perfectly that there really was no question about whether I should go or not.
We went to both shows and had decent seats both nights. I am a bit of a snob when it comes to seating (due to my atrocious eyesight) but in this case there was little I could do to improve my situation. It wasn't like here in the US where they say tickets on sale 10 am saturday. They went on sale when they went on sale and only checking the page every hour was what could be done. Tickets were damn expensive too. 250 pesos per seat which is like $80 but still very expensive for the locals. Nonetheless, the place was PACKED - I can't believe how many people love DT down there.
The shows were also very awesome. The energy of the audience was way more intense than anything you'd see here in the US. People chanted during all solos and just really got into it in general. I also found it funny how people demanded punctuality by the band. The tickets said 9 pm and by 9:10 people were visibly upset that DT hadn't taken the stage yet.
The set the first night was pretty much what I expected. They played almost the entire Systematic Chaos album (nothing wrong with that obv) but unlike the last time I saw them, they had cool movies to go along with nearly every song. They played 'Endless Sacrifice' off of 'train of thought' and it was received remarkably well. I was so happy people down there apparently love that album. Definitely that is a huge contrast.
The second night, they played only 2 songs repeated from the first and the show was much more mellow as a whole. This was a great thing since I was exhausted from the night before. They played songs from nearly every album and the flow was great. As the encore, they did one of their medleys which I don't particularly care for so we left early.
In all, it was definitely worth the trip
Wynn Classic: Final Table Shipped!
JonnyCosMo, Mar 08 2008
So as most of you know by now already, I won the Event #8 $1500 NLHE at the Wynn Classic last night for $98,700. This is easily by far my biggest day / tournament score / anything ever. Peachy staked me for the event so in total I made myself $49,350 which is pretty insane, and puts me up close to 75k on the year including my online wins. The final table was all I could ask for, here is how it went down:
I started with 188,500 which was good for 2nd in chips going into the final table. The chip leader was a man named Frank Kassela who had 253,000. There were 3 people hovering around 100k in chips, and the rest had around 30-40k in chips. Blinds at the final table started at 1500/3000. My game plan was simple, play a very solid / aggressive game, and don't do anything stupid. I started the first hand on the button, because that's where we left off at from the previous day. In the first hand, action got folded to Frank who was one to the right of the cut-off, and he raised to 7450. Bushman folded between us, and I look down at 87dd and pop it to 23,000 trying to send a message that it won't be wise to be opening light when I'm on the button. Everyone folds and Frank calls my 3 bet, flop comes 3d-4h-5h giving me a gutshot and a backdoor flush draw. He check/folds to my 35,000 c-bet and I move my stack above 200,000 with that pot. A couple hands later, Frank opens from UTG and I look down at QQ and repop once again to 24,000. He folds, and someone across the table makes a comment that I "came to play".
Our first bust out came when Jason Berry limped utg, and from playing with Jason all day before (he was the guy who check-called two streets with AK high vs me and check-folded the river) I knew that his hand was probably some weird marginal hands that he wanted to see a flop with. It was pretty clear he didnt know what to do for the most part, as he limped 3k from his 30k stack... Action got folded around to Bushman in the sb and he limped, and I checked my option with 64o in the big blind. Flop comes 4-4-5... ding? Bushman checks, I check, Jason shoves all-in for his last 25k. Bushman folds, and I snap call obv. Jason has A7s, and the turn drops a 2, and river drops a 8 and Jason was out in 9th. This pot moved my stack past Frank's and into the chip lead.
We played a couple orbits with me chipping up a little through a few blind steals. I noticed Frank had tighten up considerably from the previous day, although he could have been just card dead. During this time, Neal Matthews (who I described in my last blog post as the spewtard who dead straddled utg for shits and giggles) chipped up with a couple well-timed raises against Ray (Thay3r's ultra nit friend) and Chris Amarel (the loud mouth kid). Blinds had moved up to 2k/4k and Eillen Kelly found herself short stacked with 40k and chips and shoved all-in from UTG+1. Action as folded around to me and I looked at JJ... sweet. So I said "Call" without really thinking about the situation too much. This happened to be a clear mistake since both Ray and Chris were to my left in the blinds, and if I call I can't fold to either of their shoves anyways, so I should have just shoved to isolate. Well Ray, who had been the tightest player ever on Day 1 and basically folded his big blind every singe orbit to me, instantly raised all-in for 75k total from the small blind. Chris Amarel instantly jumped up from his chair and yelled "WHOA!" after looking at his hand. It was clear he had a pretty tough decision. He tanked for a good 5 minutes before folding, and I looked over at the rest of Ray's chips and told him I couldn't fold. I was really surprised when Ray turned over AQo??? Weird... he must have been sick card dead forever to decide to fight back in this spot with AQo. Eillen Kelly had 55, so I was in some absurd 200k chip flip. The board ran out K-8-3-9-8, which was such an epic hold as I knocked both Ray and Eillen out of the tournament.
That pot put me up to about 420,000 in chips which was over half the chips in play. The next elimination was Chris Bush (aka Bushman) thank the lord caz he was clearly the best player at the table, but never had enough chips to do anything. Action was folded around to Frank Kassela in the small blind who limped in? Bushman obv shoved from the big blind for 40,000 and Frank limp-calls off 36,000 more with T5o. Wtf? Bushman tabled K2o and they were in a race... until the flop came down T-5-5 leaving Bushman drawing near dead. Sweet, good play Frank! You're my hero! Bushman obv doesn't suck out and gets eliminated in 6th.
The next elimination was bitter sweet. Neal Matthews had been a thorn in my side all of Day 1, running like fucking god just to get to the final table. So when he table got 5 handed I started to pick up the pace and raise more, hoping I could get myself into the situation I was in over the summer when I won, where I had a massive stack and kept raising every hand and they just rolled over and died for me. Well Neal was the last person on earth that would let me have my way. In a hand earlier, I raised A8s from the cut-off and he called in the big blind. Flop came 3-5-9 rainbow and he check-called my c-bet. Turn dropped a 6, and we checked it through. River came a Q and he lead for pot. I thought about raising for a few minutes then dumped my hand and he showed A5 thinking he bluffed me. Well action got folded to me on the button (and at this point I was raising every button), and I look down at TT, which was like the fucking nuts to me. So I raise, and Neal obv calls from the big blind. Flop came Q-Q-T and I almost wet myself. Neal then leads for pot, and at this point I'm thinking "ROFL POOR GUY IS GONNA GET WAXED" as I flat call. Turn comes a 3, and he insta shoves and I do my fastest Phil Hellmuth snap call ever as I jump out of my seat. Neal tabled A8dd, drawing dead with a flush draw and is busted in 5th.
We were now down to 4 handed as blinds moved to 3k/6k. I raised my button, my cut-off, got a walk in the big blind, and raised my small blind before Chris Amarel decided it was enough and repopped me preflop. This was the first time someone had repopped me preflop since I 4-bet butt fucked Dutch Boyd the day before with the K8dd. Atleast someone knows how to play back. I insta folded, since obv my image was waaaaay too bad to do anything creative there and Chris was a really sick tight player for the most part. The next player we lost was Craig Rice, who was a really nice guy that I talked to all the day before. Overall, he never gave himself enough of a chance to double-up and win. He got into a flip vs Frank, AK vs 88 and ended up on the losing end, out in 4th.
A few hands later I raise KQo from the button to 15k, 3 handed and Chris Amarel shoves for his last 68k. I called and Chris tabled 88. I told him I was running too good for him to win this. So when the flop came 2-3-5, obv I was in a little shock. Wtf this isn't suppose to happen? I'm running too good to lose a flip. Turn comes a 3, and I'm still like 'huh? This is new?'... but ofcourse, river drops my King ball and eliminates Chris out in 3rd place. For as loud as he was during the final table, and the day before, he was very nice when he busted. Going into heads-up I had 550k in chips, to Frank's 250k.
Before heads-up started vs Frank Kassela
My player read on Frank was simple: He was a live donkey with a limited understanding of how to play a good game of poker. A good example of this is when he knocked out Bushman with the T5o. At the same time, I told Myth the day before that I really felt Frank was dangerous since he was very fearless, somewhat creative, and makes random bluffs. With that said, the heads-up match started very poorly for me. In the first 10 minutes, it seemed Frank was winning every hand that went to showdown. I was still very comfortable while playing him mainly because he only raised his button 50% of the time, and limped it the other half, while calling almost 100% of my button raises from the big blind. Anyone who knows anything can tell you that playing that way is a recipe to get served. It got a little frustrating that Frank was hitting all these pairs, and I was completely card dead for the first part of the heads-up match. I had dropped to 325,000 at this point and Frank had about 475,000 with most of Frank's chips coming from the following hand: I had 76dd and raised button to 18k, he calls. Flop comes Kd-4d-9s, he checks, I bet 28k he calls. Turn comes 8c, he checks and I bet 70k and he SNAP calls. So I'm like uggg get there one time? River is the Kc, he checks and I tank for a few minutes trying to decide whether or not I wanted to fire the 160k on the river, and finally came to realize that I can just give this up to him and find a better spot. So I check behind and he tables 43o...jesus christ, fucking station, my 6 and 7 were live outs too? What a sick hold
Sooooooo a few hands later... He limped the button and I checked my option with 53o. The flop came 4s-6s-7s for a flopped straight on a monotone board. I checked to Frank who bets 8,000. I check-raised to 25,000, and Frank insta-called. Turn came Qd, I lead for 60k and he SNAP calls once again. River is 2c, and I jam all-in for 255,000 into the 180,000 pot. He think for about 4 seconds then calls. I table my straight and he's is just hating his life as he shows me 8c7d for 2nd pair no kicker. Sweet stack off. He then continues to complain about how good I run for flopping a straight in a limped pot etc... This pot cripples him to just over 130k, as I had about 670k at this point. He started making some over aggro shoves all-in on top of my raises and c-bets and chipped himself back up to 180k. I was just waiting for my spot to bust him, because with the way he was playing, I definitely felt like it was coming soon. That is when I made a somewhat big mistake. He raised to 18k, and I looked down at AKs from the big blind and reraised to 54k. He insta-called my reraise and the flop came 2-4-8 rainbow. Instead of checking here, I decided to make the most retarded c-bet of my life knowing full well that he wasn't folding. I bet 75k and he insta shoved. This play was so preplanned, and I knew it. He wasn't giving my c-bets any respect at all and definitely was making plays at them all match. I thought about calling for a few minutes, but again, I decided that I can find a better spot and folded, which put him up close to 300k again.
I win a few smallish pots and chip him down to 225k, until finally I thought I had won the tournament when I had him all-in on a A-3-K-8 board. He check-raised the turn all-in for 108k more after I double barreled, and I decided to make the call with AT. He tabled A5 thinking he had the best hand? Nopez, HOLD ONE TIME DEALER!!! But it was not to be as the river dropped another 8 chopping the pot. Boo!!! We traded pots for another 10 minutes before the final hand of the tournament came up:
The board in the final hand of the tournament
I raised to 18k with Qh8c, he called from the big blind. The flop came Qc-2h-8h giving me two pair. Frank checked, I bet 25k, and Frank snap called. The turn came Jh, Frank checked, I bet 60k and Frank check-raised to 140k leaving 80k behind. I felt a little gross about this as Frank could easily have had a flush here or a hand like QJ. I still wasn't really in the mood to just make some massive laydown here esp vs a player like Frank. It got even prettier when I looked back at my hand and realized that I had the Qh. I shoved all-in and Frank snap called which made me feel pretty sick, thinking he had to have the flush to call that fast. Nope, Frank tables Jc2c like it was the nuts. I show him that he was drawing dead on the turn yet again and close my eyes. River comes a Qd!!! SHIIIPPP IITTTTT
Right after my Q8 holds on the last hand
Frank was a gracious loser, although I heard him continue to complain to his friends about how good I ran. I kind of thought it was clear that he just fucked himself in our heads-up match. We played heads-up for well over an hour, and the entire final table was over before 7:15 which was a little over 3 hours with several breaks. After signing an assload of tax forms and id shit they shipped my $98,700 in chips (obv I've never held so many 5k chips in my life) as well as my trophy. Some photographer took a bunch of pics and that was it.
Me & my sick trophy
And after that I went back to the hotel with Myth and went to sleep. No I didn't party, obv these tournaments take a toll on your head. I'm actually saving my celebration for when my friends from SD come out to Vegas next weekend anyways. I played the $2,000 NLHE today, and did not run nearly as good as I did in the $1,500. I'll write more about it tomorrow, but basically I played as well as I could for 8 hours and busted in 24th place when 18 pay. zZz Fucking Smokey and his big stack annilated my table. Ok, later!
Wynn Classic: Final Table Shipped!
JonnyCosMo, Mar 08 2008
So as most of you know by now already, I won the Event #8 $1500 NLHE at the Wynn Classic last night for $98,700. This is easily by far my biggest day / tournament score / anything ever. Peachy staked me for the event so in total I made myself $49,350 which is pretty insane, and puts me up close to 75k on the year including my online wins. The final table was all I could ask for, here is how it went down:
I started with 188,500 which was good for 2nd in chips going into the final table. The chip leader was a man named Frank Kassela who had 253,000. There were 3 people hovering around 100k in chips, and the rest had around 30-40k in chips. Blinds at the final table started at 1500/3000. My game plan was simple, play a very solid / aggressive game, and don't do anything stupid. I started the first hand on the button, because that's where we left off at from the previous day. In the first hand, action got folded to Frank who was one to the right of the cut-off, and he raised to 7450. Bushman folded between us, and I look down at 87dd and pop it to 23,000 trying to send a message that it won't be wise to be opening light when I'm on the button. Everyone folds and Frank calls my 3 bet, flop comes 3d-4h-5h giving me a gutshot and a backdoor flush draw. He check/folds to my 35,000 c-bet and I move my stack above 200,000 with that pot. A couple hands later, Frank opens from UTG and I look down at QQ and repop once again to 24,000. He folds, and someone across the table makes a comment that I "came to play".
Our first bust out came when Jason Berry limped utg, and from playing with Jason all day before (he was the guy who check-called two streets with AK high vs me and check-folded the river) I knew that his hand was probably some weird marginal hands that he wanted to see a flop with. It was pretty clear he didnt know what to do for the most part, as he limped 3k from his 30k stack... Action got folded around to Bushman in the sb and he limped, and I checked my option with 64o in the big blind. Flop comes 4-4-5... ding? Bushman checks, I check, Jason shoves all-in for his last 25k. Bushman folds, and I snap call obv. Jason has A7s, and the turn drops a 2, and river drops a 8 and Jason was out in 9th. This pot moved my stack past Frank's and into the chip lead.
We played a couple orbits with me chipping up a little through a few blind steals. I noticed Frank had tighten up considerably from the previous day, although he could have been just card dead. During this time, Neal Matthews (who I described in my last blog post as the spewtard who dead straddled utg for shits and giggles) chipped up with a couple well-timed raises against Ray (Thay3r's ultra nit friend) and Chris Amarel (the loud mouth kid). Blinds had moved up to 2k/4k and Eillen Kelly found herself short stacked with 40k and chips and shoved all-in from UTG+1. Action as folded around to me and I looked at JJ... sweet. So I said "Call" without really thinking about the situation too much. This happened to be a clear mistake since both Ray and Chris were to my left in the blinds, and if I call I can't fold to either of their shoves anyways, so I should have just shoved to isolate. Well Ray, who had been the tightest player ever on Day 1 and basically folded his big blind every singe orbit to me, instantly raised all-in for 75k total from the small blind. Chris Amarel instantly jumped up from his chair and yelled "WHOA!" after looking at his hand. It was clear he had a pretty tough decision. He tanked for a good 5 minutes before folding, and I looked over at the rest of Ray's chips and told him I couldn't fold. I was really surprised when Ray turned over AQo??? Weird... he must have been sick card dead forever to decide to fight back in this spot with AQo. Eillen Kelly had 55, so I was in some absurd 200k chip flip. The board ran out K-8-3-9-8, which was such an epic hold as I knocked both Ray and Eillen out of the tournament.
That pot put me up to about 420,000 in chips which was over half the chips in play. The next elimination was Chris Bush (aka Bushman) thank the lord caz he was clearly the best player at the table, but never had enough chips to do anything. Action was folded around to Frank Kassela in the small blind who limped in? Bushman obv shoved from the big blind for 40,000 and Frank limp-calls off 36,000 more with T5o. Wtf? Bushman tabled K2o and they were in a race... until the flop came down T-5-5 leaving Bushman drawing near dead. Sweet, good play Frank! You're my hero! Bushman obv doesn't suck out and gets eliminated in 6th.
The next elimination was bitter sweet. Neal Matthews had been a thorn in my side all of Day 1, running like fucking god just to get to the final table. So when he table got 5 handed I started to pick up the pace and raise more, hoping I could get myself into the situation I was in over the summer when I won, where I had a massive stack and kept raising every hand and they just rolled over and died for me. Well Neal was the last person on earth that would let me have my way. In a hand earlier, I raised A8s from the cut-off and he called in the big blind. Flop came 3-5-9 rainbow and he check-called my c-bet. Turn dropped a 6, and we checked it through. River came a Q and he lead for pot. I thought about raising for a few minutes then dumped my hand and he showed A5 thinking he bluffed me. Well action got folded to me on the button (and at this point I was raising every button), and I look down at TT, which was like the fucking nuts to me. So I raise, and Neal obv calls from the big blind. Flop came Q-Q-T and I almost wet myself. Neal then leads for pot, and at this point I'm thinking "ROFL POOR GUY IS GONNA GET WAXED" as I flat call. Turn comes a 3, and he insta shoves and I do my fastest Phil Hellmuth snap call ever as I jump out of my seat. Neal tabled A8dd, drawing dead with a flush draw and is busted in 5th.
We were now down to 4 handed as blinds moved to 3k/6k. I raised my button, my cut-off, got a walk in the big blind, and raised my small blind before Chris Amarel decided it was enough and repopped me preflop. This was the first time someone had repopped me preflop since I 4-bet butt fucked Dutch Boyd the day before with the K8dd. Atleast someone knows how to play back. I insta folded, since obv my image was waaaaay too bad to do anything creative there and Chris was a really sick tight player for the most part. The next player we lost was Craig Rice, who was a really nice guy that I talked to all the day before. Overall, he never gave himself enough of a chance to double-up and win. He got into a flip vs Frank, AK vs 88 and ended up on the losing end, out in 4th.
A few hands later I raise KQo from the button to 15k, 3 handed and Chris Amarel shoves for his last 68k. I called and Chris tabled 88. I told him I was running too good for him to win this. So when the flop came 2-3-5, obv I was in a little shock. Wtf this isn't suppose to happen? I'm running too good to lose a flip. Turn comes a 3, and I'm still like 'huh? This is new?'... but ofcourse, river drops my King ball and eliminates Chris out in 3rd place. For as loud as he was during the final table, and the day before, he was very nice when he busted. Going into heads-up I had 550k in chips, to Frank's 250k.
Before heads-up started vs Frank Kassela
My player read on Frank was simple: He was a live donkey with a limited understanding of how to play a good game of poker. A good example of this is when he knocked out Bushman with the T5o. At the same time, I told Myth the day before that I really felt Frank was dangerous since he was very fearless, somewhat creative, and makes random bluffs. With that said, the heads-up match started very poorly for me. In the first 10 minutes, it seemed Frank was winning every hand that went to showdown. I was still very comfortable while playing him mainly because he only raised his button 50% of the time, and limped it the other half, while calling almost 100% of my button raises from the big blind. Anyone who knows anything can tell you that playing that way is a recipe to get served. It got a little frustrating that Frank was hitting all these pairs, and I was completely card dead for the first part of the heads-up match. I had dropped to 325,000 at this point and Frank had about 475,000 with most of Frank's chips coming from the following hand: I had 76dd and raised button to 18k, he calls. Flop comes Kd-4d-9s, he checks, I bet 28k he calls. Turn comes 8c, he checks and I bet 70k and he SNAP calls. So I'm like uggg get there one time? River is the Kc, he checks and I tank for a few minutes trying to decide whether or not I wanted to fire the 160k on the river, and finally came to realize that I can just give this up to him and find a better spot. So I check behind and he tables 43o...jesus christ, fucking station, my 6 and 7 were live outs too? What a sick hold
Sooooooo a few hands later... He limped the button and I checked my option with 53o. The flop came 4s-6s-7s for a flopped straight on a monotone board. I checked to Frank who bets 8,000. I check-raised to 25,000, and Frank insta-called. Turn came Qd, I lead for 60k and he SNAP calls once again. River is 2c, and I jam all-in for 255,000 into the 180,000 pot. He think for about 4 seconds then calls. I table my straight and he's is just hating his life as he shows me 8c7d for 2nd pair no kicker. Sweet stack off. He then continues to complain about how good I run for flopping a straight in a limped pot etc... This pot cripples him to just over 130k, as I had about 670k at this point. He started making some over aggro shoves all-in on top of my raises and c-bets and chipped himself back up to 180k. I was just waiting for my spot to bust him, because with the way he was playing, I definitely felt like it was coming soon. That is when I made a somewhat big mistake. He raised to 18k, and I looked down at AKs from the big blind and reraised to 54k. He insta-called my reraise and the flop came 2-4-8 rainbow. Instead of checking here, I decided to make the most retarded c-bet of my life knowing full well that he wasn't folding. I bet 75k and he insta shoved. This play was so preplanned, and I knew it. He wasn't giving my c-bets any respect at all and definitely was making plays at them all match. I thought about calling for a few minutes, but again, I decided that I can find a better spot and folded, which put him up close to 300k again.
I win a few smallish pots and chip him down to 225k, until finally I thought I had won the tournament when I had him all-in on a A-3-K-8 board. He check-raised the turn all-in for 108k more after I double barreled, and I decided to make the call with AT. He tabled A5 thinking he had the best hand? Nopez, HOLD ONE TIME DEALER!!! But it was not to be as the river dropped another 8 chopping the pot. Boo!!! We traded pots for another 10 minutes before the final hand of the tournament came up:
The board in the final hand of the tournament
I raised to 18k with Qh8c, he called from the big blind. The flop came Qc-2h-8h giving me two pair. Frank checked, I bet 25k, and Frank snap called. The turn came Jh, Frank checked, I bet 60k and Frank check-raised to 140k leaving 80k behind. I felt a little gross about this as Frank could easily have had a flush here or a hand like QJ. I still wasn't really in the mood to just make some massive laydown here esp vs a player like Frank. It got even prettier when I looked back at my hand and realized that I had the Qh. I shoved all-in and Frank snap called which made me feel pretty sick, thinking he had to have the flush to call that fast. Nope, Frank tables Jc2c like it was the nuts. I show him that he was drawing dead on the turn yet again and close my eyes. River comes a Qd!!! SHIIIPPP IITTTTT
Right after my Q8 holds on the last hand
Frank was a gracious loser, although I heard him continue to complain to his friends about how good I ran. I kind of thought it was clear that he just fucked himself in our heads-up match. We played heads-up for well over an hour, and the entire final table was over before 7:15 which was a little over 3 hours with several breaks. After signing an assload of tax forms and id shit they shipped my $98,700 in chips (obv I've never held so many 5k chips in my life) as well as my trophy. Some photographer took a bunch of pics and that was it.
Me & my sick trophy
And after that I went back to the hotel with Myth and went to sleep. No I didn't party, obv these tournaments take a toll on your head. I'm actually saving my celebration for when my friends from SD come out to Vegas next weekend anyways. I played the $2,000 NLHE today, and did not run nearly as good as I did in the $1,500. I'll write more about it tomorrow, but basically I played as well as I could for 8 hours and busted in 24th place when 18 pay. zZz Fucking Smokey and his big stack annilated my table. Ok, later!
weeee
ChoboPokeR_r, Mar 08 2008
--- Nuked ---
Lost a bet
iop, Mar 08 2008
Lost a bet yesterday at a pre-party before going out
You move you die
ChoboPokeR_r, Mar 08 2008
--- Nuked ---
totally changed my mind
CrownRoyal, Mar 07 2008
I work up to sometimes 12 hours a day and i don't wanna grind poker after all of that. Prob just gonna play poker for entertainment and gambool it up in a tournament every now and then and just deposit as I feel like it.
I'm gonna try to save $300 a week though and take a shot at being a live pro sometime in a few months, dunno how that will work out but having money saved can never be bad anyway
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