My First World Series (The Final Chapter)

I had seen my dreams of winning a World Series of Poker Main Event seat dashed on Thursday night (May 20) when late in the tournament (a $1000 buy-in multi-table satellite) I folded my pocket sevens pre-flop to a raise and an all-in re-raise in front of me. I was pretty sure the two players just had big overcards, but with two of them in there the odds of a bigger pair than mine was good. So I folded and of course they both turned over big cards, but no pocket pairs. The board didn't help either player and the ace-high hand won. Had I played I would have knocked out two players, tripled my chips and most likely locked up a $10,000 payday. Anyway, it was not to be that night (my second in Vegas) and I headed back to the Golden Nugget dejected. It was very late and I had played alot of poker that day. Three tournaments with one win and two out of the money finishes. Tomorrow, Friday, was the final day to win a seat in the main event which started Saturday, May 22. There were 4 tournaments scheduled starting at 10 am, 2pm, 7pm and 11pm. These would be the last chances I had at playing in the world series as I had no intention of paying the $10,000 entry out of pocket! I still had a week left in Vegas and wanted to conserve money for the cash games and the occasional meal I might want to enjoy.
I headed back across Fremont Street to the Golden Nugget where my room and king size bed was awaiting my return. I stopped beneath the electronic canopy that runs for four blocks over the street and watched the incredible light display. I felt good. I was in Vegas playing good poker and having a great time. At the same time I felt so alone. I didn't really know anyone and all I had been doing was playing poker and sleeping since I got into town. As I strolled through the casino I saw Phil Ivey at a private craps table. There was a velvet rope around the table, but I inched as close as I could to get a view of his action. He was betting $10,000 on the pass line with at least $20,000 odds behind it. He had $10,000 on every number across the board as well, so he was basically risking $80,000 per roll of the dice! Here's a 26 year old kid from Atlantic City living the high life in Vegas. Must be nice! I continued to my room and tried to get some sleep. I had a big day ahead of me.
I knew I'd never make the 10am tournament so I decided to sleep in and get a good breakfast and play in the 2pm event. I'm glad I went over to Binion's for breakfast because the line for registration was already getting long. I got in line at around noon. It took me an hour to get registered and the line was continuing to grow. I was in my seat at 2pm raring to go but then they announced that due to the long lines for registration the tournament start would be delayed and that it should start at 3pm. I stayed close to my table and killed some time watching the single table satellites where Chris Moneymaker was trying to win his own seat in the main event. I also got to chat with Phil Helmuth's nemesis Sam Grizzle and Scotty Nguyen, the 1998 World Champion. I saw Kenna James and he remembered me from the tournament at the Sands. I congratulated him on his win in the Austral-Asian Championship back in February and then we exchanged e-mail addresses to keep in touch as he was organizing a group travel rate to Melbourne for the tournament next year.
I headed back to my seat and looked out across a sea of tables in the room. The tournament director was calling for everyone to get seated so they could get started. It turns out that 580 people had signed up for this event which had a $225 buy-in with unlimited re-buys for the first hour. That's a big field to beat, but I knew that the more people who played, the bigger the prize pool and the better chance I had at winning a seat in the main event.
I got comfortable and we started to play. Starting with $500 in chips, I managed to run up my chips to about $1700 by the end of the re-buy period and was still in for my original $225. Some people played so aggressively (recklessly) that they had to rebuy multiple times so that was driving up the prize pool and putting more chips in play for me to accumulate. At the end of the rebuy period there is an optional $200 add-on which gives you an additional $500 in chips. I debated doing this as it wouldn't really give me that much more of an advantage, but I wanted the best opportunity to survive and win and those extra chips could make the difference when the smoke cleared and this thing was over. I did the add-on and came back from the break to a chip stack of $2200. I lost my sunglasses somewhere during the break and would have to play the rest of the event without one of the tools of the trade. It must have worked because I started to build my chips and knocked a few players out. My confidence was growing and I was also getting great cards to boot. I was hitting alot of flops, making alot of draws and things were really going my way. I was building enough of a chip stack where I could really afford to gamble if I wanted and was starting to become the table bully. I was moved around a few times as they broke tables and combined players. I was moved about 5 times and each time I was the chip leader at the new table.
I was sitting across from Thor Hansen, a pro who I remembered from the final table at the Sands tournament. We did a rough estimate of the average chip stack and what it might take to win a seat. I had about $16,000 at this point and we figured that we would need a bit over $20,000 to survive and get awarded a seat. I was on my way but would still need to play well and survive as the blinds and antes were constantly creeping up every twenty minutes. Finally, there had been enough players eliminated that all the tables were combined upstairs in the main tournament room. There's alot of history in that room, as that is where the final table of the World Series of Poker is held each year. We had to have our chips bagged and tagged and they would be waiting for us upstairs at our new seat assignments. There were still about 150 players left in the tournament, but the they were still counting all the money from the rebuys and add-ons so nobody knew just how many seats we were playing for. I tightened up and played very conservatively until I knew where I had to be. I had a chip stack of over $36,000 and now there were less than 100 players. Players continued to drop and then there were 6 tables...then there were 5. Finally, they announced the prize pool was over $260,000 and there would be 26 $10,000 seats to the main event awarded. I was so close I could taste it. I looked around the room, counted the remaining players and calculated the average chip stack. I was golden as long as I didn't make any mistakes, but in no-limit hold em every hand can be your last hand if you're not careful!
I folded alot of great hands including ace-king and even pocket queens. Why risk playing them? I couldn't believe how willing some players were to gamble this close to victory. I just wanted a seat so bad. Soon we were down to 3 tables and only 10 players away from finishing this. With only three tables it was easy to keep an eye on everything happening around me. I could barely stay in my seat, jumping up every time someone went all-in at my table or one of the other two.
Amarillo Slim was the only pro I recognized still playing. He had a big chip stack, maybe a bit more than me. The average chip stack was probably about $18,000 andf I had more than twice that. I was close to my goal and only a few more players had to go for this to be over. It finally came down to the action at Slim's table. I could see at least two players who wouldn't survive the next blind and I could taste victory. A deal was offered up to give the leftover cash to 27th place so he'd be a little closer to his $10,000 buy-in, but it had to be unanimous and old slim just wouldn't agree to a deal. Two hands later it was all over and the 26th player won his $10,000 seat with exactly one $500 chip left in his hand. Since that was the amount of the ante each hand, he was only one hand away from elimination himslef and had gotten very lucky.
I was walking on air and congratulated the other players as they handed out the paperwork for us complete to get prize certificates. It took about an hour to get everything done and then we were given our prize vouchers to turn in for our table and seat assignments. I would be starting play the next morning at 11 am just three tables away from the ESPN televised feature table.
The satellite had been so big that Binion's had to cancel the 7pm for lack of tables and now it was 11pm and with over 2000 players already registered for the main event they decided to cancel that one, too. I had won my seat in the last possible satellite on the last possible day before the main event. I couldn't believe it. I had actually won a seat and would be playing in the World Series of Poker at Binion's Horseshoe. I was so excited and proud of my achievement. I had accomplished what I set out to do. I had come to Vegas Wednesday night and won my seat Friday night. I vowed to leave myself more time in future years.
It was hard to get any sleep with all the adrenaline pumping through me and my mind was racing a mile a minute thinking of all the possibilities that lay ahead. All I wanted to do was tell someone what I had done, but I knew it was late back east and people were probably asleep. I called my mom anyway and woker her up to tell her about it!
I got up early Saturday morning and had a good breakfast so I would have the energy I'd need for the day ahead. I started to go over some strategy in my head as I headed to Binion's for something to eat. I knew I'd be starting with $10,000 in chips and blinds of $25 and $50. With one hour levels (they raise the blinds every hour) I knew I could afford to be patient and wait for the right cards to play. I headed over to the free player buffet (you spend $10,000 entering a tournament you figure the least they can do is feed you) and loaded up with a big breakfast. I saw familiar faces from the TV tournaments all around.
There was quite a long line forming to get into the main tournament room. Mostly, it was spectators, but the final count for paid entries to the tournament was 2,576! Half the field would play today with the other half starting on Sunday, with the survivors combining on Monday. Monday was my birthday and my new goal was to survive to play on my birthday.
The crowds were unbelievable as I made my way to my seat for the start of the tournament. The tables were really packed into the room and it was difficult just to maneuver through them to sit down. The press and TV camera crews were everywhere, interviewing all the big name players as they arrived. I sat in my seat and looked around. The $10,000 in chips were neatly stacked in fron of each seat. The chips were brand new and I riffled through them. There were green $25 chips, a black $100 chip, a pink $500 chip and then yellow $1000 chips.
The time had finally arrived and Matt Savage, the tournament director came on the PA system and made some opening remarks. Then I heard it. "Shuffle up and deal!" The 2004 World Series of Poker was starting and here I was in the middle of it with $10,000 in chips in front of me. I was in awe. To think that only a year ago I was watching the 2003 series on ESPN and dreaming of playing in it!
The dealer shuffled and dealt the first hand out to the table. I looked down at tow queens and thought not a bad way to start things off. I raised to $150, got got a few callers and the dealer put out the flop. I don't remember what cards came out, but I bet out and the other players folded and I scooped the first pot! I looked down at my next hand to see the Ace and Queen of hearts! I raised again to $150, got a queen on the flop and scopped the next pot. Things were looking good on day one for me! I didn't play the next hand but there was alot of action on that one. After the flop, the player in seat seven had made a large bet. The player on my immediate left announced raise and then seat 7 moved all-in. The player to my left called and they turned over their cards. The player in seat 7 had made a straight. The player to my left had the Ace and King of hearts and with 2 hearts on the flop had made the nut fluch draw. It was still a draw and I couldn't believe a player was risking all his chips on the third hand of the biggest tournament in the world on a draw! I remember the river card was the ten of hearts and I winced at the thought of the pain that the player in seat 7 must be experiencing right now. He stood slowly and quietly walked away, quite possible the first player eliminated. The seat was quickly filled from the nearly 300 alternate players waiting outside to play.
That hand seemed to set the pace for the rest of the day. After that, a hand wasn't played out after the flop unless it was for most if not all of your chips. I played it safe and waited for some good hands, but in hindsight probably still played too many. The decision to fold came pretty easy though when you are faced with a massive bet on the flop and drawing hands are just too expensive to gamble with.
I did get trapped in one big hand when I played my ace-jack in an unraised pot and caught a jack on the flop. I played the hand a bit too strong and lost a chunk of my chips when the player to my left revealed he had slow played a pocket pair of queens!! That hurt!
I won another pot with ace-king when I caught a king on the flop, but the player folded to my bet so it was a small victory. Later against the same player, I made a good read on him and folded a big pair face up on the table as I told him his three kings were good. He showed me I was correct in my call and flashed me his hand. I was happy that I had saved myself some money on that one.
I couldn't believe the actual physical feeling of pressure I felt as the hours dragged by. It was like an enormous weight on my shoulders. In my mind, all I could think about was the fact that it was day one of a seven day tournament! I hope that this is a sensation that is unique to your first time in the main event and that the pressure will be somewhat less intense in future attempts.
My final hand came over five hours into the day. I was on the button and down to about $5000 in chips. The action had come around to me, with everyone else folding in front of me. I looked down at my two hole cards to see a pair of sevens. I felt confident with a medium pair in this position against two random blind hands. I tossed in a raise to make the bet $1200 and looked to the blinds for their reactions. I was hoping to end it right there and take down the blinds and antes. The small blind quickly folded, but the big blind started to think for a minute and then moved all in. If he thought I was making a button steal he might do that with any number of hands, but something told me he had two big cards, probably ace-king. The big blind had more chips than me so if I called an lost I was out of the tournament. If I folded I'd be the short stack at the table and vulnerable. If I was right and my hand held up I would be back to a little more than what I started the day with. I went with my gut and pushed my remaining chips in. I turned my cards over in front of me and the big blind flipped over an ace and a king. The race was on!
The flop was all low cards which was good for me but actually started a straight draw for my opponent. The turn was an eight, no help for either, but I was still ahead. The dealer paused, burned a card and turned over the final card; the river. It was an ace! My first World Series of Poker was over!
I was disappointed for sure, but the pressure lifted almost immediately, too. The other players wished me luck and I rose and walked away from the table. I walked out of Binion's into the warm May sunlight and took a stroll down Fremont Street to clear my head. My first attempt at the WSOP had come to an abrupt end, but I still felt a great sense of accomplishment just from coming out to Vegas and winning a seat. I still had an entire week in Vegas ahead of me and I wanted to make the most of it so I headed back to the Golden Nugget poker room and found a $10/$20 game. I spent the rest of my time in Vegas playing poker in the GN poker room. I was having fun, winning almost daily and enjoying all the comped meals. In my best session I won over $1200, and on one break from the table I dumped $20 into a Wheel of Fortune slot machine and hit a $1600 jackpot on my last three coins. When I made my reservations I had made a mistake in the dates and it turned out that I had to check out of the hotel on Friday and my flight home wasn't until Saturday morning. I checked out of my room at 2pm Friday, left my bags with the bellhop and sat down at a poker table. I played for 15 hours straight with no breaks. At 5 am Saturday I cashed in my chips (up over $1000), hopped into a cab and headed for the airport for my 7 am flight home. I left Vegas tired, but with a smile on my face and cash in my pocket. I will never forget my first World Series of Poker

World's Greatest Uncle

Well, it is official.
I am the World's Greatest Uncle and I have the commemorative keychain to prove it! Evidently there was some kind of vote and the decision was made. My goddaughter, Hannah, made the presentation on Christmas day.
Christmas really sped by this year. I remember getting up late Saturday morning to go out and do all my usual last minute gift buying and the next thing I knew it was Monday morning and it was all over! I spent Christmas Eve in South Jersey and drove out to my sister's in Oxford, PA on Sunday morning getting there just in time to miss what looked like a wonderful breakfast. Spending the day with my sister, her husband, my three nieces and my mom was fun. Dinner was great and I snagged some sweet loot, too. The electronic card shuffler was a great gift from mom and will save a lot of time as well as prevent the usual confusion and accusations of David Blaine-like maneuvers in the weekly home poker games. I am about to surf over to Amazon and cash in the gift certificates I received from my sister. I can never have enough books and usually read through a few tomes per week.
Now, the race is on to decide what to do for New Year's Eve. Any suggestions??

Thursday Night Game

Last night we faced off again in Wallingford for a no holds barred session of No Limit Texas Hold 'em. With 14 players showing up, it was impossible to play our usual game so we set up two tables and drew cards for random seat assignments. I ended up at the kiddie table. We didn't get started until 11pm so I knew it probably wouldn't be a long session and set out to make the best of it. I played solid poker as there is just no bluffing these players and not worth the risk. They call every bet, so you have to make sure you have the goods and then just try to trap them for as much as you can. They get lucky sometimes and draw out but you can't change the basic game plan. I was up a few hundred at one point and ran into one of those hands where my skill was no match for the other player's luck. I even dipped to below my original buy-in at one point, but came back strong in a huge hand with two other players calling my all-in bet. When my king-high heart flush held up I scooped a pot with about $200 in it. I cashed out at 2am with $196 for a net profit of $136, dissapointing for the amount of money that was actually up for grabs, but not bad for a three hour session either.
I'm not sure if I'll get any play in this weekend, but I will be down in AC early next week.
As I am not big on political correctness, Merry Christmas to all!!

Top 20 Money Winners

Here's a list of the top twenty tournament money winners for the year 2005. There is still a week and a half left so there could be some last minute upsets, but here are where they stand as of today. In parenthesis are the number of cashes they had in tournaments. Phil Ivey really hadn't been playing in that many events until this year since he does so well in the biggest cash game in the world which he plays in on an almost daily basis. He recently was the first player to post a $10 million buy-in for a six-handed, winner-take-all ( $60 million!!) tournament that will be played and televised later this year!

1. Joe Hachem $7,527,103(3)
2. Steven Dannenmann $4,350,000(2)
3. Tuan Le $2,856,150(1)
4. Michael Mizrachi $2,656,004(20)
5. John Barch $2,528,085(4)
6. Mike Gracz $2,190,827(8)
7. Aaron Kanter $2,048,034(4)
8. Mike Matusow $2,009,225(3)
9. Andrew Black $1,850,478(8)
10. Gavin Smith $1,793,070(15)
11. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson $1,783,303(13)
12. Phil Ivey $1,728,508(7)
13. Paul Maxfield $1,726,108(3)
14. Minh Ly $1,677,566(17)
15. Al "T" Ardebili $1,576,474(8)
16. Hieu "Tony" Ma $1,557,968(16)
17. Scott "Magic" Lazar $1,504,334(4)
18. John Stolzmann $1,480,219(2)
19. Rob Hollink $1,449,630(11)
20. Men "The Master" Nguyen $1,386,976(44)

Bah Humbug

I have to admit I have been a little lax in postings this past week. I'm not sure what it is, but I just don't feel in the Xmas spirit this year. I think I could use a nocturnal visit from the ghost of Christmas future, but I'd settle for a quick visit from Jessica Simpson! I did all my shopping online so I avoided all the chaos at the malls, but I think I missed something at the same time. I guess as you get older and don't have kids Christmas starts to lose the luster it had when you were growing up. Maybe my attitude will change Christmas day when I visit my sister and mom and see my nieces and how excited they still are about the holiday.
On the business front, it looks like my $2 million deal in South Jersey will finally settle next month and that pending commission will certainly put me in a festive spirit. The home game in Wallingford is scheduled for tomorrow night and it looks like it will be a good one, with at least 8 players (well, they're actually not all players). I'll let you know how that goes in Friday's post!
In the meantime I will try to get more into the spirit of the holiday. Hope you all have a happy and merry!!

2005 Stella Awards

The Stella Awards are named after 81 year old Stella Liebeck of New Mexico who spilled hot coffee on her herself and then successfully sued McDonald's. That case inspired the annual Stella Awards for the most frivolous, ridiculous, successful lawsuits in the United States. Let's review this year's winners:

7th Place: Kathleen Robertson of Austin, TX was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised by the verdict considering the misbehaving little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.

6th Place: 19 year old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.

5th Place: Terrence Dickson of Bristol, PA was leaving a house he had just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and garage had locked when he pulled it shut. The family was away on vacation, and Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found, and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of $500,000.

4th Place: Jerry Williams of Little Rock, AK, was awarded $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his neighbor's beag;e. The beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. The award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog might have been just a little provoked at the time by Mr. Williams, who had climbed the fence into the yard and was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.

3rd Place: A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, PA, $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx (tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.

2nd Place: Kara Walton of Claymont, DE, successfully sued the owner of a nightclub in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and knocked out her two front teeth. This occured while Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the window in the ladies room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.

1st Place: This year's runaway winner was Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, OK. Mrs. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home (from an OU football game), having driven onto the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver seat to go into the back and make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising her in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded her $1,750,000 plus a new motor home. The company actually changed their manual on the basis of this suit, just in case there were any other complete morons driving around.

Weekend Update

I hate to say it, but this weekend was another one without any poker. I tend to slack off around the holidays unfortunately, but I do have big plans in mind for the new year so I guess it's OK for now.
Friday night was another quiet, uneventful evening. Saturday I ventured out to dinner at Hibachi in Springfield for a little teppanyaki experience. I went with the filet and red snapper combo and was not disappointed. I have to say that their flaming volcano specialty drink will put a buzz on you rather quickly! I indulged in a few of the original silver bullets, the 16 ounce Sapporo lagers!
As of this morning I am 22 points away from finishing in first place in the Delco Delinquents fantasy football league (looks like Tedman will clinch the fourth and final spot for the playoffs, as well!). As long as my opponent doesn't score more than 22 points in tonight's game I am golden! He has the Falcons Defense and Alge Crumpler, their Tight End. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.
I haven't started any Xmas shopping yet, but it should be pretty easy this year with a few personalized Visa gift cards and a spa gift certificate all purchased online.
I have also started planning for a winter trip that will start with a few days at The Peninsula in Beverly Hills and end with the final destination being the Grand Wailea Resort & Spa on the island of Maui. I haven't been there since 1997 so I am really looking forward to going back.
Anyway, that's it for now. I am expecting to play in the Wallingford home game one night this week and hoping to squeeze at least one day down at the Taj or Borgata.

Favorite Atlantic City Restaurants

This may take a few posts to complete as the list is not short, but I'm going to try to impart to you the premeire gastronomic experiences in America's Favorite Playground; Atlantic City, New Jersey. First off I should point out that I prefer restaurants that cater to the four major food groups: Beef, beef, beef and of course, beef! I do appreciate the occasional seafood diversion, but hands down I would have to say my favorite place for steak is located in the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and it is called The Old Homestead. A New York City landmark for 135 years, the Old Homestead is a perfect fit at the Borgata with its rich warm woods that give it the feel of a gentleman's club. Greg and Marc Sherry have mirrored the menu from their Big Apple showplace, and why shouldn't they? They haven't had an empty seat there for years!
My favorite steak is the ribeye and the Old Homestead does this cut justice with it's 36 ounce Gotham Rib Steak. Yes, it's $42 and no, that doesn't include a baked potatoe, but didn't you just hit the crap tables for a cool grand? Everything is ala carte so by the time you add the potatoe and veggie (if you must) you're at $60 and you have to try the Iceberg Wedge which comes with crumbled blue cheese dressing and applewood bacon, so figure you're at $70 now.
You'll need a hearty red wine to accompany your steak and they have a great selection of bottles and wines by the glass, as well. The raw bar is impressive and I have never seen cocktail shrimp that big outside of the Chernobyl National Aquarium! At $6 a piece you'll add another $36 to your bill with a nice size serving.
If you actually have room for desert (I did once so far) they have some nice selections to choose from and you know their cheesecake is going to be consistently phenomenal. I went for the Ben & Jerry sampler with three selections served in a spinning display stand. I think it was Chunky Monkey, Cherry Garcia and I honestly can't recall the third as I was being rolled out of the place in a self-induced food coma. It is a great dining experience and if you're being comped you may want to splurge on their legendary Kobe beef. Beer-fed and hand massaged, these cows are the envy of the trade and the Old Homestead actually have a trademark on their version, a 14 ounce sirloin priced at $95. They also have a $41 Kobe Beef hamburger!
Anyway, I highly recommend you take at least one night out of your busy schedules and indulge yourself in a dining experience at this restaurant. You will not be disappointed.
I'll cover some of my other favorites in future posts, and until then, loosen the belt and pop the top button!

Tuesday Night Game

Last night I returned to the scene of the crime and played in that Wallingford home game again. This time there were 7 players to start and the buy-in was again $60. When I flopped top two pair on the first hand of the night, I knew it was a sign that things would be good again! I played a steady game throughout the 5 hour session and ended up cashing out with $570 on my original $60 buy-in. The player to my right made 8 re-buys! He was playing bad, but he just couldn't get a break even on the rare occasion he actually had some decent cards.
Some highlights of the session would be the Ace high flush I made with 2 other players all-in and then making quad threes while playing against the most aggressive bettor at the table. It was a good night and anytime I can make $100 an hour without driving to Atlantic City I'm happy!
Hopefully they are playing again Thursday night!

Weekend Update

This weekend will have to go down as one of the more boring weekends I can recall. I did get a little playtime in Friday night at a small homegame in Wallingford. There were 6 players with a $60 buy-in and we decided to play $1-2 No Limit Texas Hold'em. The night got off to a great start for me when the action broke loose on the very first hand! I was one seat off the dealer button and was looking at the Ace-Eight suited in clubs. I limped in for $2 as did the button and small blind, but when the action got to the big blind he raised it up to $6 and now I had a decision. I put the player on a bigger ace-high hand than mine, which would make me about a 3 to 1 dog before the flop, but I decided to see the flop and make another decision then since I would get to act after him. The button also called the raise and the small blind folded so it was three players to the flop which came with 3 clubs, including the king, giving me the absolute nuts! Since my original thought was that the raiser might have Ace-King, this was a great hand to slow play so when he bet out I just called and the button called, as well. This was great for the first hand of the night. The turn card was a blank, I think maybe a red three. The original raiser bet out again, I called and the button folded. The river card was another club and the raiser checked this time, so I bet out the last of my chips and he goes in the tank like he can't decide what to do. I still put him on Ace-King which wouldn't be a bad hand if there weren't four clubs on the board. He seems torn and is mumbling out loud that he doesn't think I have the flush and finally calls my all-in bet. I turn over the nut flush and he turns over his pocket aces! Tough beat on the first hand and I know pocket aces is hard for alot of players to fold after the flop, but with the clubs out there I would have thought he'd pick up on that. Anyway, I doubled my buy-in on the first hand and was off to the races. We played for about 4 hours and I would have won more, but the poker gods were not on my side for the second to last hand and I lost a $100+ pot to a lucky river card that made my opponent a higher pair. He had no business staying in the hand with the substantial bets I was making, but some people don't know when they're beat, stay in a hand on a draw and get a lucky suck-out sometimes. They are losing players in the long run, but that's poker and you have to deal with it. All in all it was a good night for me and there was over $600 in the pot because of the other players having to rebuy more chips. I will definitely play in that game again next time I am invited.

Fun With Nigerians

If any of you have ever received one of those bogus offers via fax or e-mail from someone in Nigeria claiming to have millions of dollars in a secret account and they just need your help in getting it out of the country, you will appreciate this. Paul Phillips, pro poker playerand internet millionaire with a hell of alot of free time on his hands, actually had an extended communication with one of these scammers and the correspondence is pretty funny. Check it out here

Fun With Nigerians

Humpday Ramblings

Nothing to report on the poker front today. I'm not sure if I'm going to make it down to AC at all this week, but I really should go Sunday. Between the Trump Classic and the WSOP Circuit event at the Showboat the cash games should be awesome.
I have become addicted to Sudoku puzzles which the Inquirer recently added to their crossword section. They are the puzzles where you have to complete the grid so that every row, colum and 3 x 3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.
Ted's favorite comedian ALI G, is in trouble with the Kazakstan government for the behaviour of his alter ego, Borat, the Kazak reporter. Check out his webpage for the latest update: Borat

Green Sneakers?

Is it just me or does this girl have absolutely no fashion sense whatsoever? I mean green sneakers with blue shorts?? Come on!!

Chili Party & Weekend Update

Friday was the annual chili party at Kirkpatrick's nursery and if you read Ted's report then you know it was quite a feast. I have to agree with Ted and say that the beer-battered, deep-fried striper skewers were INCREDIBLE! I ate my fill of chili, venison stew and "lizard sticks", as they call the venison skewers, and washed it down with plenty of ice cold beer. Of course some others in attendence werecertainly more focused on that menu item! Ted's ribs were superb and may just be his finest effort yet! Some of the other highlights of the evening were the firing of the potato cannon, Bill & Matt's roaring fire pit with flames that may have topped the twelve foot mark, and of course to be graced with the presence of the one and only CNN!
Saturday night saw a little poker at Hirsty's house with a small game of 6 players and I ended up with a small win after we played for just an hour or two.
On the poker front, The Trump Classic at the Taj Mahal starts this week and runs through December 16, and also in Atlantic City,the Showboat is hosting a World Series of Poker Circuit Event that starts tomorrow and runs through the 9th. Of course the hot event is in Vegas at Bellagio where the Five Diamond Classic starts tomorrow and runs through the 9th, as well.
I will most likely be playing in a few of the Trump Classic events and will try to win a seat in the $5000 buy-in main event.

Wednesdays With The Donald

So I headed down to Atlantic City around 3 pm Wednesday and the timing was good because there was very little traffic once I got on the AC Expressway. I checked into a beautiful suite and immediately headed down to the poker room at the Taj. I was planning on playing cash games and I should have stuck to my plan, but there was a tourney starting at 6:15 pm and I decided to play it. It was a freezeout tournament which means if you lose your chips you're done, there are no rebuys. We started out with about 120 players total, ten to a table and we each had $5000 in chips with blinds of $25 and $50. The blinds would increase every 20 minutes so you don't have alot of time to sit around and wait for the right cards.
Things started out kind of slow for me and the dealer was particularly slow which really has a negative impact on the players since you need as many hands dealt each level as possible. I was getting cold cards for the first 20 or 30 minutes, but in the second level when blinds were $50 and $100 I started to pick up some pots and actually managed to get all in with the best of it twice. The first time I raised with pocket aces , had two callers and then a player moved all in. I of course called, the others dropped and it was my pocket rockets against my opponents measly Ace-King. The aces held up and I had about $8000. I won some more pots and a little while later had another great opportunity when I was dealt Ace-Queen suited in clubs. I made it $1200 to go with the blinds at $150 and $300 and a $25 ante. I had one caller and I got both a queen and two clubs on the flop for top pair, top kicker and the nut flush draw. My opponent bet into me and I reraised him all in. He called and turned over King-queen unsuited so he was about a 3.5 to 1 dog. Another queen came giving us both trips and a blank on the river meant my ace kicker played and he was knocked out of the tournament. At this point I had over $15,000 in chips and things were looking good. I won a few more nice pots with pocket jacks and twice with pocket sevens dealt within two hands of each other. Our table broke and I was assigned to another table. When I got to my seat I recognized two other players at the table that I had played with before. I also had about half of the chips in play on the table. The average chip stack was about $8200 and I had close to $30,000.
Unfortunately, the cards went cold on me and I lost alot of chips to the rising blinds and antes. With the blinds at $1000 and $2000 with a $300 ante I was getting low on chips and had to make a move soon if I wanted to have a chance. We were down to only three tables with 32 players and only 18 would be getting any money back. I made a move from early position with King Jack and got all my chips in, a bet of about $9000. Everyone folded around to the donkey who had gone all-in in each of the last three hands. He actually called my bet with 7-8! ANd it wasn't like he had tons of chips, the call was probably for maore than half of his chips. I catch a king on the flop and the donkey catches runner-runner cards to make a ten high straight! Unbelievable, but I was knocked out in 30th place and no prize money. That's the way it goes sometimes. That is poker. The way things were going I would have bet anything I was making the final table. Oh well, it's all good experience and I learned something I can use, as always.
It was almost midnite and I was feeling a little tired so I got some dinner, had a few beers and called it a night. I will be back down next week, but I am sticking to the cash games this time as I really need to start building my bankroll for next season when I plan to play alot of the big
tournaments.
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Now I'm off to the BBQ where I'll be seeing Tedman in action on his grill!

My First World Series of Poker (part II)

I awoke Friday with the pressure of knowing that if I didn't win my seat in the main event today then I would not be playing. I headed over to the Horseshoe for a late breakfast and as I was eating I noticed a line starting to form in the hallway outside the restaurant. I knew the only tournaments being held today were satellites and I coudn't believe that they were lining up this early for the 2 pm event. I finished breakfast and headed out to investigate. I was wrong. This was the line for the 2 pm event registration so I jumped in as people poured into the hallway and the line continued to grow, snaking its way down the hallway past the gift shop and towards the escalators.
The line inched forward as players paid their $225 entry fee and recieved a receipt with their seat assignment. It took me over an hour to get to the registration table and pay my entry so I was glad that I got in line when I did. After getting my seat assignment I headed back to my hotel room as I had about 2 hours until the tournament would start. As I strolled through the poker room at the Golden Nugget on the way to my room, I noticed a table tucked in the corner with two guards around it. As I got closer I saw why. Sitting at the table was probably the greatest collection of high stakes poker players in the world. Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Phil Ivey, Bobby Baldwin, Sammy Farha, Gus Hansen and a few others. On the felt in front of them were piles ofcolored chips that aren't often seen inside the casino by most visitors. Several players had at least a million dollars in chips in front of them putting the cash value of the table in the $10 million range. They were playing mixed poker games for limits of $4000 and $8000. That means in a hand of Hold 'em with no raises it would cost you about $24,000 to play a single hand to the river. I was informed by the floorman that the minimum buy-in to sit and play with them was $250,000. I watched them play for a few minutes and headed up to my room.
I walked back over to the Horshoe a little before 2 pm ready to play and feeling confident. I found my table and seat and the dealer was already there so that was a good sign it might start on time. After a few minutes an announcement was made that the tournament would be delayed in starting due to the fact that there were still several hundred playes in line waiting to buy-in. Since I didn't want to miss the first hand, I waited at the table as the minutes ticked away and the room became a sea of anxious players and dealers. Over an hour later, at about 3:15, another announcement was made asking us to please take our seats as the event was about to get under way. A record 580 players had registered and we were finally going to get started. With that many plyers I knew there would be at least 12 seats awarded and after rebuys it might be double that. That still meant I had to finish in the top 4% of the field. We started with $500 in chips and blinds of $25, which didn't give you a lot of room to work with and they'd be going up every 20 minutes! I'd have to play aggressive but cautiously at the same time. I noticed there were alot of pros playing in this event, and I can't blame them. Why not save the $10,000 and get into the main event at a discount? I could see alot of familiar faces at the table around me, and I knew I would be playing against some of them soon. I managed to survive the first hour without having to rebuy and made it to the first break with about $1700 in chips. Not bad, but not great either as the blinds were now $100-$200 and I had to be very careful about what hands I played while not waiting too long as the blinds were going up every twenty minutes and would simply eat away at your chips if you tried to wait for the best cards each hand. I don't remember many specific hands but I do remember getting both alot of great starting cards and hitting alot of flops so my chips started to accumulate to the point where I was the chip leader at the table and could put alot of pressure on the other players by raising almost every hand I played. As players are eliminated they break down tables and combine players at new tables with the ultimate goal being a final table of nine players and eventually one winnner. Of course in this event we would play until there were as many players as there were $10,000 prizes to award. I had to guestimate how many players were left and I figured that since there were 580 starting players with $500 in chips then I would need a stack of at least $24,000 in chips to be close to winning a seat. I made that my goal and as I look back on it now I still don't remember exactly how I did it, but I kept winning and my chips kept growing.
About 5 or 6 hours into the tournament we were down to about 150 players and I had about $40,000 in chips so I felt pretty good, but I knew it would only take a few mistakes to blow it all. The number of players kept dwindling and finally I found myself upstairs in the main tournament room (we started with tables spread out over two floors of the casino) with only 6 tables left and 54 players. They finally announced that there was over $270,000 in the prize pool which meant there would be 26 prizes of $10,000 each and the 27th player would get the remaining cash; not enough to buy-in to the main event, but not bad for a few hours work either. I knew I had enough chips to survive so I really concentrated on playing smart, not getting involved in marginal hands and waiting for others to screw up and get eliminated. If this had been a regular tournament with tiered prizes for first place, second place, etc., then I would have used my chips to play more aggressively and concentrate on making the final table, but since I had a good shot at winning a seat, my main goal was just to make it to the final 26 players. I remember folding alot of great hands that I would normally play, even Ace-King and a pair of queens before the flop, but there really was no point at risking it this late. I guess I would have played a pair of aces, but the pressure was intense. When we got down to about 30 players, I found that myself and Amarillo Slim, one of the greatest poker players and gamblers of all time, were the chip leaders. It was quite a rush and meant that we would be getting some extra cash for our efforts. As players were eliminated one by one, victory was so close I could feel it. Each table was playing "hand-for-hand" which means that the dealers at each table deal at the same time and then wait for each table to finish their current hand before dealing the next hand again simultaneously. The reason they do this is to prevent players from playing slowly and trying to hang on by stalling the action while play would continue at the other tables. It makes it more fair and it is done when you get close to awarding the prize money. The 29th player was eliminated and then every player knew that it might take only one more hand to end this. The 28th player was finally knocked out and the tournament ended shortly after 11 pm with 26 of us getting $10,000 prizes and the 28th player got the remaining cash in the pot, about $4000. The 26th player actually won his seat with a single $500 chip left in his hand, which is the exact amount of the ante needed to play the next hand.
We had been playing for about 8 hours and I had so much adrenaline pumping through me I couldn't even think about being tired. We were all excited and there was alot of high fives and congratulating to be done with the kid with one chip left getting alot of the attention for his incredible luck.
It took about an hour for the tournament director to pass out the paperwork for us to sign to collect our prizes; twenty beautiful blue $500 tournament entry chips and $200 in cash. We then took the chips to the tournament registration desk and turned them in for an entry ticket to the main event with our table and seat assignment. I would be starting the next day in the main tournament room just two tables away from the ESPN-televised feature table.
I was walking on air as I headed back to my room to try to sleep. The biggest tournament of my young poker career would be starting at high noon, just a few hours away! (to be cont....)

Thanksgiving & My 1st World Series of Poker (part I)

I was giving some thought to the things I am thankful for and of course I am thankful for my family and friends, my health (I believe I still have it) and other tangible things like a roof over head, car, money, etc., but as far as poker goes I am really thankful that I had the opportunity to play in the last World Series of Poker to be held at Binion's Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas. That's where it has been held since Benny Binion started it back in 1970, but the casino had fallen on some tough times due to mismanagement and in January 2004 the IRS raided the casino and shut it down, tossing all the hotel patrons out on the street and seizing all the cash in the cage. For a moment it looked as though Binion's and the World Series were history, but Harrah's stepped in and bought the casino and the rights to the tournament. They saved the tournament just in time, but never again (after 2004) would it be held downtown in its birthpace. The casino reopened in April, just a few weeks before the 6 week marathon that is the World Series of Poker would begin.
I flew into Vegas on a Wednesday night, just three days before the main event was scheduled to start. That meant I had two days to win the $10,000 buy-in or I would not be participating in the historic tournament. I checked into the Golden Nugget, just across the street from the Horseshoe, and after dropping off my luggage in the room I headed straight for the poker room.
Walking into Binion's that first night and for the first time in my life was a memorable experience. I could feel the excitement and the history of the place in the air. I noticed alot of the same faces I had seen on ESPN broadcasts of the World Series and the Travel Channel's World Poker Tour playing at various tables around the room.
It was too late to play in a tournament so I headed to a the cash tables and got involved in a $10-$20 hold-em game. There was something special about playing in that poker room surrounded by the Gallery of Champions on the wall; pictures of all the World Series of Poker winners for the past 35 years. I won some money that first night and headed back to my hotel to sleep and get an early start on the next day.
I can never really sleep when I'm in Vegas. It's just too disconcerting to know that everything is open 24 hours and your mind races if you start to think about all the possibilities just outside your room. I got up early and headed downstairs to start playing. I had some time to kill before the first satellite tournament at the Horseshoe so I played some craps at the Nugget. I won a few hundred dollars, had a late breakfast and headed across the street. They would be holding satellite tournaments throughout the day where you could try to win the $10,000.00 required to actually participate in the world championship main event. These events ranged from single tables where ten players vied in a winner-takes- all elimination match with buy-ins from $100 to $1000, and multi-table events with a $200 buy-in and hundreds of players with as many $10,000.00 prizes as the entry fees and re-buys allowed. In these event you started with $500 in chips and you could rebuy back in as many times as you wanted during the first hour, but after that if you lost your chips you were gone. This creates alot of wreckless gambling as players make a mad race for chips and the play can be fast and furious. You have to be very good (or lucky) or have alot of money for rebuys to survive that first hour. The first one I played in had a few hundred players so there might be enough money to award maybe 10 entries into the big one. I didn't fair well in that one and busted out. I headed over to a single table satellite that was just forming and jumped in for $125. With these you only get $300 in chips and the play is very fast with the whole match lasting maybe an hour. I won that one and pocketed $1250 which I then used to enter a $1000 buy-in multi table satellite being played that night with about 200 players. That meant about 19 seats would be awarded with the excess cash going to the 20th place finisher. I played better in this one, even escaping certain death at one early point in the tournament when I found myself all-in with pocket jacks against my opponent's pocket kings and I happened to make a miraculous flush on the last card to win the hand when I was a 4 to 1 underdog to start. I came within 20 players of winning a coveted seat, but once again it was not meant to be and I was eliminated with about 40 players left in the tournament.
By this time it was close to midnite and I was tired and hungry so I headed back to my hotel, ordered some room service and prepared myself for the next day, Friday. The last day of tournaments to win a seat into the main event. My last chance if I wanted to be part of the historic event that would start at high noon on Saturday! There would be three super-satellites held that Friday with the first starting at 11 am, a little early for me so I planned on getting some needed sleep and trying my luck at the 3 pm tourney. The final one would start at 7 pm. Little did I know that a record turnout at the 3 pm event would throw the Horseshoe into such a state of chaos that the event would be over an hour late getting starting and there would be no way to hold another tournament that day. (to be continued.....)

Weekend Update

I did not play any poker this weekend (much to my disappointment), but I hung out in Media and still had a great time all the same. I am planning on hitting the Taj in Atlantic City on Wednesday night and will be staying overnight in the Sultan's Suite compliments of The Donald. There should be some good action games the night before Thanksgiving and I can't wait to sit and play with all the fish at those tables. I'll let you know how it goes when I get back.
Thanksgiving dinner will be in south Jersey and then I'll be back in Media on Friday.

Honing My Skills

Played in a cash game last night with 6 players. I played tight most of the night and really didn't try any bluffs as two of the players were pretty loose and called almost everything. I made some great reads and made two huge laydowns that would have wiped me out if I had called the other player's "all-in" bets. Both times I had to lay down two pair when I sensed that the river card made the other player a straight. Both times I was right as he showed his hand and asked me with disappointment, "why didn't you bet?".
I was up pretty good early on but got involved in a big hand where I ended up getting beat by a straight on the river and lost about $1600, but later that night against the same player I flopped the nut straight when I limped into the pot with 6-8 suited in spades and the flop came 5-7-9. To my delight the other player bet out, I re-raised and he went all in with his two pair (5-7). I called immediately and turned over my straight. He was drawing to 4 outs to make a full house and beat me , but no help came for him on the turn or the river and I doubled up to about $4100. The game broke shorlty after that key hand and I went home with a small profit.
It seems that the one factor I have mastered in this game is patience. I can wait for the right cards and the right time to make a move and I also seem to be able to stay out of trouble with my great reads. The World Series of Poker Circuit Event is coming to Atlantic City the end of this month at the Showboat casino. I am looking forward to that one as I haven't played in a major event since September at the Borgata Poker Open. After finishing 12th last year in that event out of 345 players I was knocked out on the first day this year when my pocket aces lost to a lucky suck-out by my opponent who called a raise pre-flop with Q-2 of hearts and caught his flush on the river (I was at least a 4 to 1 favorite going into the hand).

J Lo Shows her True Colors

Now this event actually happened two years ago this month, but I felt like I had to tell people about it anyway. Back in November 2003, when J Lo and Ben Affleck were still being refered to as Benifer, it was the night before the Million Dollar Showdown at the Sands poker tournament and I happened to be at the Borgata where Ben Affleck was playing craps with J Lo at his side and he seemed to be having a hell of a lucky run at the table with racks of chips in front him. When he finished for the night he was coloring out his chips and with his substantial win felt a tip of $5000 was appropriate for the dealers of the game. He tossed the chip onto the felt, but before the dealers could rake in the generous gratuity bestowed upon them by the hulking actor, J LO reached out, grabbed the chip and replaced it with 3 black $100 chips in its place! The two walked away from the table as the dealers mumbled curses under their breath at the diva that had just dogged them. Maybe that was the beginning of the end for the duo as just a few months later their love affair was over.

Hello & Welcome

I've been thinking about doing this for some time and finally took the plunge after some prodding from several more experienced bloggers. I just wanted to be part of the group!
I've been keeping a handwritten journal of my poker experiences of the past few years and now plan to post those and continue digitally recording them for the foreseeable future.
I've been playing poker seriously for a little over two years now after making the final table in the firsttournament I ever played in a casino (The Borgata) back in November 2003. A week later I won $10k in a satellite tournament at the Sands and two days later was playing in my first "major" tourney ($10,000 buy-in), sitting with the big-name pros in the Million Dollar Showdown at the Sands which was televised on Thanksgiving Day 2003 courtesy of Fox Sports.
Since then I have played in a few more major events and dozens of smaller events ( and countless online tournies), making more than a dozen final tables (final nine players) and "cashing" (that's where you actually leave with more money than it cost you to enter) in another 30+. The highlight so far probably being the 2004 World Series of Poker at Binion's in downtown Las Vegas, where I won my $10,000 seat into the Main Event in the largest satellite tournament in Binion's Horseshoe history (competing with 580 players to be exact; Including one of the greatest poker players in history, Amarillo Slim!) the night before it started . But I'll get to that in more detail later. For now I am happy to be up and running and looking forward to sharing my experiences on and off the felt with you as I travel the tournament circuit and chase the cash games from Atlantic City, NJ to Foxwoods in Connecticut, to the famous cardrooms of southern California and of course the gambler's Mecca: Las Vegas, Nevada.
I hope you enjoy it and I hope it inspires you to improve your game and get out there and play. Remember, if you can't spot the sucker at the table in the first 30 minutes, then the sucker is YOU!