Reed and I strolled over to Bellagio Wednesday afternoon and bought into the Bellagio 1K. Before it began, we both played in a single table satellite. Instead of the regular 15 minute levels, we had to play 9 minute levels in order to finish before the tournament began at 2. I promptly won the first hand and chipped up to the mid 2,000s with a 2K starting stack. Then, I promptly lost a race with JT v. A9 on a 985 board. If I had won the pot, I would have had roughy 1/3 of the chips in play. I chipped up, because the play in the sat. was atrocious and was ai with AA v. QJ on Jxx. Again, I lost another very large pot that would have left me with over 1/3 of the chips, but villain ran a straight. I chipped up and doubled with AJ v. AT. Meanwhile, Reed lost a pot that left him with T125. We raced off the T25 and Reed somehow won to double. He tripled the next hand and doubled shortly after. With 5 or 6 players left, I raised, Reed rr ai and I asked for a count. It didn’t really matter what it was, because I want to give him a little slowroll. I called with AA and he flopped top set w/ 88. And again, I lost another monster pot that would have left me with a cinch. Fortunately, the other players didn’t understand basic strategy and Reed and I finished 1st and 2nd. Lol!

Reed lost in the 4th or 5th level with KK v. AA ai pre. Meanwhile, I was steadily moving along. There were 152 runners in the tournament and I doubled with TT v. AK and K7 with 4 tables remaining. We redrew at 27 players and I decided I was going to give them hell up until the bubble. I quickly chipped up from 65 to 130 after I ran a bluff and got another player to hand his chips over to me. The latter hand was quite hilarious. I called with KQo from the sb after it was raised late to 6K at 1K/2K. I checked on Q32 and villain checked it back. The turn was a 4. I bet 25K and villain raised ai for 7Kish more with AJ. I guess he didn’t like the overbet. We got into the money and I was among the chip leaders after I made a pot odds call from the bb with T3s when the sb raised ai. He showed 93 and I scooped the pot with the ten-high. I couldn’t really get anything going when we redrew. The player to my right never folded. He was atrocious. After I ran that bluff on him before, I decided it would not be in my best interest to try again. You can’t bluff a guy that doesn’t have a fold button. He limped light and often from early position which later really helped my cause. He made a couple bad plays and in return a decent player tilted his chips over to him with bottom pair and a gutter. The other very poor player left was to my left and he began to accumulate a very large stack. When we went to the final table, I was in 4th behind the two of them and a younger international player that sat to my left at the final table…

The player to my left took a commanding chip lead w/ 7 players remaining after knocking out a player in 10th w/ J9 v A9 and a huge knock out with 88 v. AT on an all heart 8xx flop.  He had 1/3 of the chips in play at this point.  I maneuvered nicely, but I couldn’t seem to get a firm grasp of things and my chip chart was all over the place.  The funniest hand of the tournament happened w/ 7 players remaining.  Idiot limped early again, I completed from the sb w/ 65 and the bb checked.  The flop was AQ5 all clubs.  I and the bb checked and idiot bet.  I folded and bb called.  BB check called on the turn (3) and lead for 100K on the river (2) and idiot merely called.  The bb tabled Kxcc for the nuts and idiot showed J4cc for the 2nd nuts!  It was amazing.  He limped early with J4s and didn’t go broke with the 2nd nuts.  I think he had btw 150-175 remaining.  He was obv very proud of himself.  I got semi-short and opened to 22K at 4/8 w/ AJhh, Idiot raised ai and I snapped.  He showed KQhh and I held.  The next hand the guy to my left tried to fold our of turn from his bb.  I raised to 30 w/ QJo and the chip leader rr to 200k and showed AK.  The next hand was very, very annoying.  The chip leader folded, limp, idiot raised ai for 16k, fold, fold, sb completed and I decided I was going to raise it up to isolate as I was getting very good odds on my money and I didn’t mind if the short stack survived as he would still be very shorty.  I raised to 65k and the sb called 45k more.  What?!?!  I had J7o and he jammed for his last 125is on 965 w/ two diamonds and showed 97dd.  Ah!!!  He made a flush but the short stack four flushed on the river to survive.  After I doubled, I was very confident with a stack of 380K and lost the next two pots to go under 300K.  We lost a couple players and were not 5-handed.  Here is the turning point of the tournament for me.  I raised to 42K at 6/12K from the sb and the bb called.  I checked and planned to be done with the hand on a flop of 532 w/ all spades.  I didn’t have a spade.  I checked the turn (A) and villain bet 25K.  He just seemed weak, so I raised to 80K and he instantly announced ai.  I folded and he showed KThh.  It was quite a play.  I was left with around 150K.  I folded through until my next small blind.  Villain open limped the button and I raised ai for 123K more w/ A8o.  He tanked and called w/ 44 and turned quads.

I was very disappointed with the result, but I was very happy w/ how I played throughout the tournament.  I couldn’t help but consider how things could have gone if I had won the last race.  I would have been around 280K, the chip leader around 900K and the other 3 players would have had 300ish combined.  The pay scale was 54, 32, 16, 8ish and 6,600, but I had to settle for 5th.  So is the nature of tournament poker, but I’m hoping I’ll take this as positive momentum and play the best I can in the WSOP M.E..

Yesterday Reed and I chilled at the condo until the final table at Venetian. We arrived a bit early and the final table began at 4:00. I decided against playing and gave Reed a sweat instead. He got off to a bit of a rocky start, as he just couldn’t seem to win back-to-back hands. However, if he lost a hand, he pretty much chipped back up in the next few hands. He maintained the chip lead up until heads-up, but he ran QQ into KK and lost the chip lead for the first time since there were two tables remaining. It was nice a nice run, however, and a great start to his trip. He netted 28K after dealer toke, so I received $2,800 myself. We cashed out, went to In ‘n Out and chilled at the condo for the remainder of the day. We’re going to head over to Bellagio shortly. Reed is going to play the 1K and I think I’m going to join him. Hopefully, we’re not paired at the same table again so we both have a chance of going deep this time.  Maybe this time I’ll have to ship 10% when the day is done!

Reed and I played in the Venetian Deep Stack tournament this afternoon.  I nearly made it to the 2nd break when I ran QQ into Reed’s 44.  The squeeze play was set-up nice w/ a raise to 1,600 at 300/600/50.  Reed called from the BTN, the sb called and I decided before I looked that I was going to jam with a strong hand if I were to be so lucky.  I peeked at QQ and casually moved my stack of roughly 16,000 into the middle.  The original raiser asked for a count but eventually folded, but Reed called with a fairly large chip stack and flopped a set.  I wanted to play cash at the Venetian but wasn’t in the mood nor was in the mood to play at Wynn.  Instead, however, I went to a pool party at Shannon’s.  We ate, drank and played a little beer pong.  They went to Jet, but I went to go sweat Reed at the Venetian for a bit.  He went on a very  nice rush with two tables left and is entering the final table with about a third of the chips.  We swapped 10% final table, so I will be a very interested onlooker tomorrow at 4.  Best of luck to him!

The play in this tournament was atrocious in the first few levels.  Reed and I had probably the worst table in the history of poker.  This older Asian player was having the time of his life.  He couldn’t find the fold button and played some very interesting hands.  He limped early at 2/400 and the action was raised and rr behind him.  He called with K6cc and c/c on a Axx flop with two clubs.  He checked in the dark on both the turn and river and called a bet on the river (K).  He was someone good.  The other player had Q2o and was trying to somehow run a bluff against this clown.  In another doozy (sp?), our Pro limed and the action was again raised and rr behind him.  He found the call button with 84cc and checked in the dark, I think, on the flop.  He called the ai on Q43, but he was unable to catch up vs. KK.  It was quite a humorous few hours of poker.

 It’s been a couple days, so I’m going to combine Saturday and Sunday into a single entry.  It doesn’t even require a full entry.  For the most part, Saturday was spent partying and Sunday was spent in recovery.  It all started with Cody’s FT on Satuday. I started to drink shortly after I arrived at the Rio around 6:00 and it went on into the early hours of the morning. During the dinner break, we prop bet on Keno.  The game was obv my idea and Titan Tom won a 6-way prop for $400/person.  Originally, the wager was $200/person, but we agreed the stakes would double if nobody won the first game.  We each picked a single number.  Thankfully, my number, 24, hit in the subsequent games after the games in which we bet.  Cody nearly made a miraculous comeback, but he fell up a bit short.  We went back to the house and got ready to go out.  We ended up having a few taxis pick us and head over to Palms.  We got a table and (3) bottles at Moon.  At least I think it was Moon.  It really would have been a better night if I hadn’t taken those shots.  Oh well, we live, learn and relearn I guess.  I didn’t crash until after 5:00 and slept till nearly 5:00 in the evening.  Shannon went to play the Mixed Hold’em event, so I went with him to get my car and went back to the condo to finish recovering.  I took it easy the rest of the day and sweat GBecks on PokerNews.com.  He had the chip lead with 40ish players remaining, but he came up short of the final table.  I awaited Reed’s arrival to Vegas and then crashed shortly after.  It’s back to the tables today.

I had a meh day at the tables.  We started with a fresh new 5/10 table and I came out playing quite LAG.  I straddled and raised the option and got HU against an early limper with A2s.  I checked behind on the flop, bet the turn and folded the river.  Shortly after against the same player, I raised late and he called out of the blinds.  I flopped a flush with A3dd on J52 and bet 50.  I bet 75 on the turn (2) and was again called.  I bet 400 on the river (blank).  He tanked and eventually called.  I raised KK from late and was called by a player out of the blinds.  A couple players were sitting out, so the hand was played against the player sitting across the table.  He was around my age and very competent.  I decided to bet the flop of AAx.  He check-raised to 225.  I decided that I wasn’t going to let it go, but I needed to convince him I didn’t have an ace in order to give him reason to double-barrel the turn.  He obliged with a hefty bet on the turn.  It was effectively an ai bet.  I raised ai, he snapped and showed AQ.  I have to give him credit.  He disguised the strength of his hand quite well, but it only was effective against someone willing to stack off relatively light there.  In another hand the player to his left raised to 60, the next player, who was quite short called and I raised to 200 with ATo when the action got around back to me.  The initial raiser instantly called and the next player called ai for 130.  The flop was AKT and I asked for a count then promptly checked.  In retrospect, I should have bet/folded like 200, but I got greedy.  He bet 400, I jammed, he snapped and showed AK.  I don’t hate myself for the play, because he’s not going to show up with KK or QJ given the pf action here and TT is very unlikely.  There are plenty of AK combos live and I think he calls quickly in that spot pre with AQ given that I think he was assuming I 3betting relatively light with the other player very short and would very well bet that flop.  However, he probably wouldn’t call an ai at that point, so it would have been better to bet/fold and if called check it down at that point.  The next big pot wasn’t that far away.  I straddled and a few players called, the player two to my right raised to 140, I rr to 420 with JJ, he raised ai for 1,300ish and I called.  We didn’t roll our hands over, but I was pretty confident I had the best hand with his reaction to my snap pre.  Nevertheless, the river was a king, I threw up and he rolled over AK.  I wisely took a quick dinner break and came back to manage a $2,630 loser.  Eh, it’s alright.

I called it quits at 10:00 and met up with Carl Olson and some of his friends at O’Sheas.  We had a couple drinks there and caught up a bit and talked about this crazy world of poker that we’ve been apart of for what seems so long now.  After a few others showed up, we went across the street to Caesars for a bit.  Carl and Wein multi-tabled black jack for a down and a half and grinded out a very nice win at $50/hand.  It’s always nice to meet new people in the poker community and put a face to the online names you’ve known for some time.  I called it an early night, got the car at Bellagio valet, dropped Carl off and went back to crash.  Tim finished in 8th.  He doubled early but was still very short.  He busted with QQxx v T973 all in pre on TTxxx.  He’ll be back at another FT soon enough.  And speaking of final tables, Cody is 2nd in chips in the $1,500.  The FT starts at 2:00, so I’m going to coast over there later and hopefully get really drunk sweating the FT.

Yesterday pretty much couldn’t have been any better.  I played 5/10 for 9 hours at Wynn at won $6,434.  I obv got hit by the deck, but I didn’t give really give anything away the entire session.  I started the session playing very LAG.  With opening raises of 5x, I established  a very good image from the start.  In one hand in particular, I check/called the turn w/ what I thought was an ace-high flush draw and fired out 240 on the rivered spade.  The guy thought out loud.  In the meantime, I noticed that there weren’t four spades on board, rather there were three of them and two clubs.  After much deliberation, villain finally folded.  Phew!  That was not the start I was planning on having making a mistake like that.  Thankfully, I got away with it probably due to the fact I played the hand as if I had the best of it.  Maybe that was the case.  Or, maybe it wasn’t.

I’ve been telling myself going into each session that I have to look for spots to not pay off and save money.  It’s live poker, so if I make a mistake there isn’t much time for it to be made up for not just in that session but even in a week or month.  Sometimes, in these games, a big chunk of your earnings for a week or month will come down to a single hand, so it’s important that I don’t give much away.  I only had one spot today that this situation came up.  It was early in the session, so it wasn’t important I made the fold.  If I didn’t, it would likely linger over my head for the remainder of the session.  I had been very active and opened KJs for 50.  I got a single caller and bet 120 on K72 with suits.  I was check/raised by a player that limp/called pre to 360.  I thought for a bit but it was mostly about the consideration of how I’m going to feel after the hand if I continue and win or lose the pot.  I folded and the gentleman squirmed and said, “I was hoping you had AK there.”

The most interesting hand of the day was one in which I was merely dealt into and folded utg.  It was very early into my session.  The game was playing either 7 or 8 handed.  I folded utg, utg+1 limps (1,100), cut off limps (3,000+), bb raises to 90 (3,000), utg+1 calls 90, co raises to 390, bb calls 390 and utg+1 raises to 1,100.  As co is deliberating, utg+1 turns over KK and says, “I have pocket kings, blah, blah, blah, if you have aces, then you have aces.” This is obv a terrible thing to do as the hand is 3-handed.  The co soon rr ai and bb folds TT.  The co obv has AA and wins a very weird pot in which the player utg+1 limps aces, calls the initial raise and back raises the 4bet ai the next time around and the co limps AA late, back raises the 3bet and is shown KK before he has the chance to commit the rest of the money into the pot with a player that he has covered still to act behind him.  A few of us gave the player a piece of our mind for destroying the integrity of the hand and that was that.

A very big hand half way into my session really dictated the back half.  I had been very active and 3bet pre with AQs to 190.  The player that flatted the initial raise called.  We had taken a few flop together in which he had check/folded on each occasion and I actually hit the flop in each on with TPTK+.  The flop came QT5 with suits, he checked I bet 240, he raised 400 more and I set him ai.  He snapped, I vomit, running tens, and he shows 55.  Wow!  He had about 1,500 to start the hand.  Thereafter, I pretty much just sat back and waited for good spots.  Although I had shown down only good hands and never been picked off in a big bluff, nor did I run any elaborate bluffs either, I was being continually paid off.  I raised to 40 with TT and the guy who had shown the KK earlier rr to 100.  I called and bet 120 into him on T96.  He raised to 280 and I merely called.  We checked the turn (J) and I set him in for his last 600ish on the river (blank) and he threw a little fit before throwing his hands in the air as to say, “I know I’m beat, but I don’t care” and flipped over AA.  In a couple hands against the player sitting to my left, I raised to 40 with QQ and bet the flop on J75.  He called and the turn was another jack.  I didn’t like the card, but he had a stack worth playing for.  I checked, he bet 200 and set him in for his last 400.  He deliberated for a couple minutes and eventually folded.  The next handed, I straddled and several players limped.  I raised 150 more, he quickly raised ai and I snapped.  I showed KK, he showed AQs and I held.  Earlier in the session I ran a meh bluff against that player that was lingering over his head.  I limped 43 in the cut after a couple limpers and he raised.  We took the flop 4/5-ways and check on 886.  I was considering a bet on the flop but decided against it.  The turn was an ace.  I didn’t see much reason to bet this card, since the pf raiser must have an ace if he declined to cbet after raising a field of limpers pre.  However, I didn’t see a problem with a check/raise line from 200 to 620.  Like I said, it was a little meh.  He eventually folded, but he never believed me and I can’t really blame him.

So for the most part, I got hit by the deck and the big pots were very straight-forward, but I think I helped myself greatly with the image I built early.  Also, I think I played really well in some of the smaller hands in which I was very accurate to steal a pot here and there in hu or 3-way pots that were up to 200 in size.  After I cashed out, I went over to the Rio to see what was going on.  Tim was deep in the 1,500 PLO R and I sweated him until they reached the final table.  The FT is at 2:00.  I’ll arrive a little late, but I’m looking forward to that.  Good luck to him.  Today I’m also going to see a very good friend way back from middle school.  We see each other about once every 1.5 years on average, as we have busy schedules and haven’t lived in the same area since high school.  He’s here for a bachelor party weekend for our friend A.J. that is getting married soon.  We’ll have too see how the day pans out, but I’m sure I’ll play at some point tonight.

Today I didn’t play any poker.  I hadn’t planned on it, but it just kind of happened that way.  Anuj flew in in the afternoon.  After I picked him up, we dropped by the Mandalay Bay and then headed over to the Rio.  We were planning on having lunch prior to him playing in the $1,500 Stud, but his wire was sent to the wrong location.  Therefore, we had to get to a Bank of America, get a cashier’s check and arrive back at the Rio before 5:00, so the Rio could call the bank to verify the check.  It wasn’t without a sweat.  We barely made it.  At that point, I was pretty drained from running around town, so I went to the cafeteria to get a bit.  Matt called and told me it would be better that he went home for a couple weeks to concentrate playing online and I ran into Mike Katz whom had justed busted deep in the $1,500 NL event.  We had lunch and chatted a bit and instead of playing a session I headed back with him to hang out with the guys.  I sweat Adam, Cody and Jerry for a bit before giving Katz a lesson on Pasoy.  We only played for a half hour or so, but he got the concept of the game.  Meanwhile, I put down a few Corona’s before Shannon Shorr arose from his slumber and we moved the party outside to the hot tub and pool.  It was a relaxing time and a nice change of pace on the trip.  These guys are among the most talented groups of poker players and it’s always a good time picking at there brains.  Today I’m going to play at Wynn and maybe a little 5/10 at the Rio later this evening.  Time to get things back on track and plug some hours over the next three days.  Hopefully, I’ll sweat a final table soon too.  I’m sure it isn’t too far away.

I had plans in the early evening, which I will address later in this post, so I decided to get a brief session in at Wynn in the afternoon.  I played for a few hours.  Thus, I have about 40 hours remaining to play in June at Wynn to qualify for the 100k freeroll on July 1st.  While I was waiting for a seat to open at 5/10, I sat in at 2/5 for a bit.  Shortly into the session, I raised pre w/ 55.  The player to my right called and we went to the flop heads-up.  The flop was 655.  Bam!  I had earlier bet/fold 15 on Axx w/ KQ and player showed KJ, so I went for the same play although this was against a different player.  He raised to 45 and I called.  He bet 85 on the turn (T) and I quickly called and bet 125 on the river (9).  I like the river, as it completed a straight draw, but I was raising ai regardless.  He tanked, eventually called and obv mucked.  Shortly after, he said, “I knew I was beat.  I just wanted to see it.”   In another hand, I raised with TT and we took a flop 5-ways and it came T44.  I doinked for 20 and an older player called in the sb.  I bet 40 on the turn (K) and 200 on the river (Q).  He snapped the river and obv mucked.  I’m not sure what he really had there.  I really think he would have raised either flop or turn if he had trips, but maybe he was just played scared with trips with running paint cards and didn’t want to get raised.  I called with 77 pre oop and we checked the flop.  I turned a ‘7 from Heaven’ and lead 30 and bet 125 on the river.  The pf raiser reluctantly called on the turn and snapped the river.  It’s an easy game when you keep flopping the nuts.  The last hand of note was the last of the big pots I won during the session.  The same villain from the hand before raised and I flat with KK on the button.  The villain from the TT hand called as well.  The pf raiser bet on 974 with two clubs.  I took a look at the other player and thought he was going to fold and decided to flat.  Unfortunately, he called.  The turn was another 9.  Check, bet 200 and I just called because the guy only had 90ish left and I didn’t want to have to raise/fold if the other player had trips.  He folded and the guy check/call the river for the remainder.

I ran like God, but I really like how I played in some of the smaller pots.  I avoided confrontation with mediocre holding and took really nice lines with my strong holdings.  I’ve been running bluffs with the same line in the last couple weeks and was unsuccessful, so I decided I might as well try those lines with my strong hands and it worked out very well.  In total, I won $1,491 in the session.  Then, I picked Zac up from Mandalay Bay from his shave (lol) and we then went to the majestic Palace Station to pick up Nick.  An obv hater drew a rather large penis on the back of my car and made a stab at Kansas.  My license plate is ‘ROQ CHLK’ btw.  Someone was obviously pretty jealous.  Matt met up with us at the Hilton at Benhi Hanas.  Nick and Zac treated as compensation for borrowing my car last weekend and Nick lost the flip.  In the process of dinner, we also put away 4 large carafes of HOT sake.  Then, we went to the bar at the restaurant and watched the Lakers get pounded into the ground.  And again, Nick lost the flip for the bar tab.  I dropped them off at Palm’s and went over to the Rio to play.  I decided against it and watched the 10k LHE Championship.  It wasn’t anything exciting, but I wasn’t ready to go home yet.

Lets hope today is similar to the last two at the tables!

Matt and I left at 5:35 A.M. which was only 5 minutes after my projected departure. While I drove, Matt obv slept. I was a little drowsy, so we stopped at Jack in the Box for breakfast/lunch/whatever. We started listening to the U.S. Open as we approached Las Vegas. The next few hours were spent watching golf. Wow! It was certainly an incredible day of golf. Afterward, Matt went to the Rio while I ran around town running an errand and spent a bit at Casa de GBecks with the guys for a while. Then, I was off to the Rio to play myself. I played a little 5/10. Early on, I bet 20 in a multi-way straddle w/ 86 on AQ5. I got two callers and fired 150 on turn (9) after both players checked. The player in the middle folded and the other guy said, “I’ll donate to ya,” as he slid in the call. He checked on the river (5) and I fired 300. It was a thin bet to say the least, but I really thought he had a Q. He actually had Q9, but he couldn’t find the fold button and I lost a bit on the hand. A lap later I raised to 60 w/ KK after one limper. Player called behind me and a talkative player in his 20s rr to 200 in the sb. I didn’t want to flat, but I also didn’t want to 4bet less than ai here with effective stacks being 1,500 to start the hand. It just seemed too strong to 4bet to like 600ish, so I went for it all. Other player folded and he didn’t snap. Yes! He thought for about a minute and reluctantly called. I said, “KK.” He said, “AK”. The board came JTXXX and I shipped it. I was up around 1,400 when the key hand came up. I limped and a middle-aged player raised to 50. SB called and I called as well w/ 22. The flop was 964 with two hearts and it went check, check, check with the preflop raiser last to act. SB bet 125 on the turn (2h). I followed him into the pot and we were heads-up to the river. The river was a 4 and I grabbed a stack of chips as villain considered his next move. He checked and I felt I set the hand up well to disguise a large river bet as a bluff. I bet 400 and he check-raised to 1,150 with 200ish behind. I should have mucked it right away, because I eventually convinced myself I lured him to cr the river after he caught me grabbing chips prior to his action on the river.   I called and he showed 99.  I played a few more laps and called it a night. I’m very disappointed with myself on that hand, but I came up ahead 448.

Tomorrow I’m planning on getting a few things done in the morning and going to the Wynn to play a session over there. Afterwards, I’m going to watch the Lakers with Zac, Nick and others alongside several alcoholic beverages. It should be a blast.

The curse is over!  With Matt’s win the Stars mega satellite, I finally have a profit in an online mega satellite.  Matt and I had a save for $1,500, so I came ahead 500+ for the afternoon.  I’m obv very happy for him.  He’ll be playing a couple events in the next week.  Hopefully he can string something together in that time.  We’re leaving at 5:30 in the morning.

Today only reinforced to take a brief hiatus from online poker.  I lost (2) 6,900 FPP satellites in which 3/10 players won 370 seats into the Mega.  I played (1) 109 Turbo satellite on Tilt.  That was a waste of time.  I did absolutely nothing after the opening few hands on Tilt.  I opened QQ, villain 3bet and I called.  I donked on 542 and won the pot.  I dwindled down to 3,000 and scrapped to the starting stack (5,000).  I raised 2.5x sb v. bb w/ AA.  He called and I overbet ai on 975.  He showed 76, turned a 4flush and rivered a flush.  I won a 12k race w/ JJ v. AK.  Villain turned gs royal draw and missed for a nice little sweat.  I was at 10kish.  Btn raised I called in sb w/ KJs.  Flop was QTx.  I bet ai for twice the pot, he snapped w/ AT and I missed.  I ran my last 600 up to about 5 and lost w/ 85s v. AK.  Matt and I are leaving for Vegas tonight.

I’m at the home base in Woodland Hills.  After tonight’s mega satellites on Stars and Tilt, Matt and I are driving to Vegas.  He’ll be driving too Vegas and I’ll be heading back.  I haven’t played a singe hand besides (2) FPP SNGs on Stars via satellite to the $370 at 1:30.  It’s been a was so far.  The family is coming over for Father’s Day.  Tiger Woods is pretty much a lock for the U.S. Open and I hope Matt and I are successful online today.  Until August 1st, today’s appearances will be only for BraveJayhawk.  I’ll write another blog entry later.  I just wanted to check in.

    I’m leaving for L.A. for a few days.  Matt and I are driving back to Vegas Sunday after we bust or win the M.E. satellites on Tilt and Stars.  Yesterday, I woke up at noon.  It seems late, but considering I didn’t go to sleep until after 7, I didn’t get much sleep.  I was planning on watching Tom’s final table, but it wasn’t at the feature table.  I was not in the mood, nor the condition, to stand on the rail for hours.  Instead, I played 5/10 NL.  The game didn’t have any stability at all.  We had plenty of action early on, but a few players kept walking away from the table for 10-20 minutes at a time.  It was a game in which once a couple players left for a few minutes another player was surely to follow.  ‘Third Man Walking’ would have prevented this from happening, but the Rio doesn’t implement it.  I lost an annoying hand with J8dd from the Mississippi Straddle.  A bunch of players limped and I raised 175 more.  The big blind tanked.  Eventually, he folded.  I made it around to the cut, but he wasn’t going anywhere.  He raised ai for 150ish more and I obv called.  He showed A7, the flop was JJQ and I was unable to fade the running straight.  I couldn’t get any traction in the game and was overall annoyed that players kept taking a break, so I called it an early session.  It wasn’t a total disaster.  I lost $465.  Tom busted in 7th and Rory, who beat Garrett HU in Round 2, finished in 4th.

I went back to Garrett’s and hung out for a while and played a few games of pool.  It’s amazing how well I play sports if I don’t wager any money.  I beat Sean 2/3 , Garrett 1/1 and Tim 1/1 in 8-ball.  I also beat Sean in a game of 9-ball.  If only I began to bet, I’m sure things would have been gone south quite quickly.  Since I’m taking a hiatus from online poker, I won’t be playing until Monday, leaving plenty of time for clients in the afternoon.  I’ll spend the rest of the extended weekend with Hailey.  I want to see a couple movies and we may go to Valencia Country Club Friday night for a social event for the annual golf tournament my dad and brother are playing in.  Hopefully, they improve upon the last place finish my dad posted last year.

    Yesterday GBecks and SBRounder advanced into the 2nd round of the $1,500 Shootout. I hung with the guys at there place for a few hours. After shooting the shit for a bit, I asked Garrett if he wanted to play pool. He agreed and we went downstairs for a few games. We didn’t play for anything, as I’m terrible in sports, etc. that I make a bet (i.e. golf). Apparently, winning the first game wasn’t enough. I won the second game and I had a shot to win the third, but Garrett capitalized and ran his last three balls to win. I was shocked and very pleased. We went to the Rio. I played 2/5 and Garrett and Tom played Round 2. While I booked a $750 win at 2/5, Tom wrapped up a winner in and advanced to the final table. I was going to check on how he was doing and caught the dealer spread the flop as Tom’s AJ trumped his opponents AK on Jxxxx.

The 2/5 was slowing down a bit, so we broke the game and I went to play 5/10 while Garrett was still playing in the shootout. A middle-aged Asian player raised to 120 on a hand with the Mississippi straddle from the small blind. I rr to 390 w/ Q, he quickly announced, “All-in,” and I snapped. I rolled my hand over as he sweat the hand with his neighbors on his side of the table. He said, “You’re good.” The flop was Axx to which said, “That’s not good.” He replied, “You’re still good.” The turn was a J to which I replied, “That’s not good. He replied, “You’re still good. The river was a T to which I again replied, “That’s not good.” Once again, he said, “You’re good.” It was quite a sweat, but I would have been happier if I knew I was fading an 8 the whole time. He started the hand w/ between 1,000 to 1,200ish. Later, I rr to 120 w/ AA and the player behind me 4bet ai w/ QQ and I held for a $1,000 pot. I really like how I played at this table, but I couldn’t seem to win in mediocre sized pots. The hands were played well for the most part, but I kept coming up short in those medium-sized pots. So, I decided to do something else. A loosish player limped early, next player raised to 40, I called, limper rr to 110 and we both called. I had 77. The flop was 776 with suits and I quickly bet 200. The rr has a somewhat tight range with a limp-raise here and he wasn’t really a player that liked folding very much, but in this scenario he tank folded. The original raiser, however, called after a short deliberation. The turn was a J. Normally, I would check here, but this player made some very loose calls flop and turn early with a draw against a lone opponent, so I really felt that I should bet here. I asked for a count and bet 400 of 1,700. He thought for a few seconds and announced, “All-in.” I snap obv and he mucks QQ. Other than that, I couldn’t find myself a winner in those medium-sized pots. I won a lot of small pots a few big pots, but I’m obv very satisfied with the results. I won $750 in 2/5 and $2,660 in 5/10. The game was slowing down and it was getting late, so I decided to call it a night and watch the completion of Garrett’s shootout. He doubled shortly after I arrived with T8ss v. J9 in a 3-way limped pot on 97x. He over-raised all-in, villain tank/called and Garrett ran spades for a flush. This brought the match to heads-up and at one point he had a 5 to 1 chip lead. He was unable to close the match with QT v. Ax and lost a healthy pot with unknown v. K7hh on a XhXhXXhX board. They played heads-up for nearly two and a half hours, but it was to no avail. With the blinds at 4/8K with 300K in play Garrett raised all-in for 100ish after villain limped the button. Villain snapped and showed QQ and flopped a set on KQx v. Garrett’s 77. I’m about to head over to the Rio to sweat Tom.

Even though we share the same date of birth, I despise the $50 bill. It has a nuance really. I always ask for it to be broken down if it’s given as change, because it’s just annoying to me for some reason. $1 gets an item out of a vending machine. $5 is a cheap meal at fast food. $10 is an upscale meal at fast food food. $20 is for a meal at B.J.s. For a baller meal, I don’t mind using a Benjamin, but I’d just rather use a credit card for a meal in the middle. The sole purpose of a $50 bill is a graduation present of birthday present from a grandparent to grandchild. Anyways, I spoke with Brian today and he’ll be starting very shortly at $6.50 turbos, Richard began playing them last night and Otto has a 27% ROI through 160 tournaments. It’s not sustainable, but I’m very impressed to say the least for the amazing start. In 50 NL 6-max, Robert is running at 2bbs/100 through 37K hands played and Jason is running at an outstanding 15bbs/100 through 29K hands played. I’m more than satisfied with how things have been going with RPT Staking so far!

I watched Tim West’s final table (5K Shootout) this afternoon.  The short stack doubled about a half dozen times before the first player was knocked out.  We couldn’t complain since two of the double-ups were by TW.  He eventually lost w/ 99 v. KK to go out in 5th place.  Afterwards, I decided to play 5/10 at the Rio.  The Mississippi Straddle is in effect at the Rio and I took pretty much every opportunity to straddle from the button.  Early on I lost KQ v. AJ on KQXTX.  I raised pre got two callers and bet 80 on the flop.  The nice doink to my left took a card off and spiked broadway on the turn at which point the last 200 went into the pot.  I won a big pot w/ JJ against a girl my age.  She had bee quite active and I decided to flat oop.  The flop was JT9 with suits.  I donk bet 60 (?) and she called.  I bet 120 turn (A) and quickly called the all-in for 500ish more.  She tabled AJ and I held.  I lost two pots against a middle-aged Asian woman, but I couldn’t expect to lose much less.  We saw the flop multi-way and I held 22.  She bet and the next player raised on 652 to 75.  I flatted and she quickly re-raised 200 more.  She was playing very snug and had limped early.  I knew right away she had a tight range and I decided to go with my gut and muck.  She had nearly 800 behind fwiw.  A few hands later I limped QQ in early position, a couple other players limped and the Asian woman raised to 40.  She rarely raised pre, so I decided to limp-raise/fold 175 more.  The player to my left jammed for 300ish total and she instantly rr ai.  I folded and she held w/ AA v. AQs.  I should have raised a bit less on that hand, but I’m overall satisfied with the hand.  After the hand, I said, “Now I know you had me beat for sure that hand!”  It’s not that the hand gave any information of the previous hand, but it finally clicked she wouldn’t 4bet there with an overpair.  She said, “I had a straight.”  Overall, I’m very happy with my play.  Thankfully, I was able to book a win for 255 in 7 hours.  I’ll be back at the tables tomorrow after a few hours with clients and bookkeeping.

    I slept in till nearly noon this afternoon.  It’s the first time in a while that I slept in past 10.  I played 2/5 at Wynn.  For the most part, I’m very happy with my play.  I rr some doink with red short and a button down that had just come from the pool with KQo.  He called oop.  I chump bet 60 (180ish) on K76 which was check-raised to 200.  I set  him in for his last 130 or so.  He beat me in the pot w/ AJo.  he turned the world with a Ts for a 4flush and gutter.  He went for the flush on river.  That was pretty much the end of it more me.  Nothing seemed to go right the rest of the session.  I ran a 3barrell bluff w/ 65 on a 7728Q board for 20, 40 and 80 only to be called by 52.  That hand was a bit annoying, as I thought I took a nice line that should have won the pot.  I made a reckless bluff w/ air last to act in a multi-way pot.  There was no reason to make the play, but I got a little unlucky that the preflop raiser didn’t raise with AA against a donk bet and the next player supposedly over-called a very small bet with a flopped straight on 874 with 2 hearts.  I took a card off w/ JT with enormous pot odds in position.  The turn card was a suited 6 or 5.  I checked behind and bluffed the river for 300.  The guy with AA called and the guy with the supposed straight folded.  There’s no good reason that there wasn’t a raise on the flop.  It’s quite ridiculous really, but I still shouldn’t have made such a careless play.

I  couldn’t get any traction at all after that hand and watched my stack dwindle.  In all, I lost nearly 800 in 7 hours of play.  Since I’m committed to not playing online, I sure hope I can find a little fire (confidence) in my next few sessions to try and get something going.  Tomorrow, I’m going to watch Tim West’s final table at the Rio at 2:00 and spend the time before then with clients.  I’ll probably be back at the tables on Monday unless I decided to play a session at the Rio tomorrow.

This morning’s session online was a disaster. I couldn’t catch a break. It was the afternoon session that was really the kicker. I decided to play HU 5/10 & 10/20 that obv wasn’t a very good decision. I wasn’t willing to fold a hand. I lost a couple big hands and then lost my mind. I raise ai for several hands. The results of the hands are irrelevant. Even still, they punctuate the way things have been going for me lately. I lost KJ v. TT on XXXKT and another coinflip with KJ or KQ v. 44. I choose against donating the rest of the account and signed off. Then, I sat at the computer for nearly a half hour. Poker has consumed my life since I began college in August ‘01. The journey to success wasn’t without a struggle. That’s why it’s so difficult to come to terms with reality. It’s unlikely I’ll become the player I once thought I could be and I realized something else. I have the same feeling in my stomach that I had prior to dropping out of Kansas to play poker full-time and last year when I decided I’d return back to school. Well, I’m already in school, but I still have that feeling that something needs to change. I went with that feeling several times in the last several years and I never had any doubts afterwards, so I’m going to go with it again. I’m going to take an extended break from playing online poker. Other than playing the mega satellites next Sunday, I won’t play online poker until August 1st. In the meantime, I’m going to play live cash games in Vegas and spend more time with my clients. Also, I’m going hire additional stakees and spend countless hours on the forums trying to figure things out. Hopefully, when August 1st comes around, I’ll be thinking clearly and have a plan of action. I have an idea of what it should be, but we’ll just have to wait and see if I’m able to come out with the proper playing mindset then. If I lose my mind playing live, I’m in for some real trouble. I’ll still report daily. I’m also going to start sharing personal stories from my poker experience. I’ll start to start with a positive one tomorrow.

Cheers!

Edit:  I’m not depressed or anything just realizing it’s just time to do things a little differently.  I still enjoy poker very much, but I’ve taken a lot more to coaching than playing in the last 1.5 years.  Lastly, congrats to Shannon Shorr for finishing 2nd in Event #7 (2K NLH).

    Since a friend of mine is ‘thankfully holding on to my money (~12K) for me so I can’t lose it,’ I’m pretty much restricted to playing 2/5 NL for the time being.  I’ve been mentally preparing myself for live poker for months now.  It’s been a struggle for me for the past few years.  Sometimes I have too much fun and a lot of times I get to creative.  Overall, I’m satisfied with how I played yesterday.  The session lasted from 1:45 till 7:45 and I won $160.  Obv it wasn’t a big win or anything, but I did the best with what I had.

I spoke with Otto before leaving for the Rio earlier that afternoon.  He’s from Finland and began playing the 6.50 turbo SNGs on FT yesterday and got off to a great start.  He’s wrapping up his second session as I type.  Unfortunately, the cash games didn’t begin at the Rio until 3:00, so I had to go play at Bellagio.  I really want to play with the Mississippi straddle at the Rio, but the lists have been enormous each day I’ve been at the Rio.  I wrapped my session up and talked to Hailey for a bit.  I miss you!  Anuj arrived in the afternoon to play the $2,500 O/8 & Stud 8/b event.  It sounded terrible and he looked terrible.  Apparently, and it was evident, Anuj hadn’t slept in nearly two days.  However, he grinded (lol) into the night and made it to Day 2.  Very nice, Anuj!  Also, Shannon Shorr is at the $2,000 final table this afternoon with a slightly below average, but in the middle of the pack, chip count.  Best of luck to him!

As for me, today I’m talking with another prospective client to play turbo SNGs on FT.  Maybe I’ll hire a few more players, but I need to hire a turbo SNG coach as well.  I’m not going to even try to do it myself and Matt isn’t an expert in the department either.  It’s not a knock on him, but he just doesn’t play the volume necessary to be as effective of a SNG coach as he is a small stakes cash game coach.  Any recommendations?

    … well it would be a crime to begin with the most exciting news of the day.  Unfortunately tone can’t be transmitted through text.  I’m being sarcastic.  Anyways, I woke up somewhat early at 9:15 ish and went to the SUPER Wal Mart for groceries.  I was quite satisfied with the selection and my choices, but it wasn’t enough to pass on a lunch at Del Taco.  The next chunk of the afternoon was spent on the phone with clients.  It’s always exciting to start staking/coaching with a new client.  Otto is from Finland and he’ll be playing $6.50 turbo SNGs and Connie will continue playing 2/4 NL (FR) and begin playing a bit of .25/.50 6-max.  She’s a fabulous player that needs a bit of fine tuning and an introduction into 6-max.  The money just isn’t very good anymore in full ring unless you’re plugging a lot of volume.  If you’re a multi-tabling phenom, a lot of money can be earned at any limit through 3/6 across any of the major sites, but it’s difficult for those like Connie and myself that aren’t capable of putting in 6+ hours per day.  I’m certain she’ll transition nicely into 6-max and soon begin playing in the 100 & 200 levels.

Afterwards, I went to Garrett’s for a little BBQ.  While he was finishing up with the grilling, I took over for him momentarily.  It was my first time every playing on Absolute.  In fact, I don’t even have an account there.  Anyways, he was playing in the $1,000 buy-in, but his table wouldn’t open.  He began the re-installation process and I finished it just in time to wake up with KK.  It was nearly folded, but I was able to raise to 45 at 5/10.  The next player rr.  A player in the blinds flatted and so did the limper.  I decided to over raise slightly to 800ish.  The rr flatted and the other players folded.  The flop was 852.  I lead 1850 and he cutsy raised 2357 more.  I vomit and sound the emergency alarm for GBecks.  He went with the hand and lost to AA.  Pretty standard.

Before I left for Garrett’s, I spoke with a person who owes me 12K.  I reassured him that it was imperative that I receive the money back by the date we had agreed upon.  If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have the comfort to play the games here in Vegas that I had desired.  It was probably the most insulting comment I’ve ever heard from a person that owed me money.  I’d rather he not called back if I had known what he was going to say.  “You should be happy your money is in someone else’s hands.  That way you can’t lose it.”  It was the most demeaning comment that I have ever received in my entire life.  It took a lot out of me.  I’m not going to lie; it made me tear up.  I have to thank the guys though.  My confidence was a lot higher after hanging out with them.  They’re a very bright group of players and it’s always a pleasure and an honor to talk poker with them.  I left there thinking much more positive than I had when I got there.  I asked Garrett to see if there were any games running on Poker.com.  There were, so I said, “goodnight,” and head back to my place to put in a session.

I lost w/ KT to K2 ai on KT2 for 450, but that was even nearly the hand of the night.  I noticed I had a hand in 2/4 full ring where I had T4o in the small or big blind on a flop of T42.  I was confused, though, because the pot was 122.  Somehow, I called a raise pre with T4o in a multi-way pot.  I don’t even remember seeing the hand dealt to me originally.  I obv broke into a smile.  I checked.  A player bet pot (122) and the next few players folded.  Since I didn’t remember pre, I wasn’t even sure if he was the original raiser.  I wasn’t going to ever fold here, but I just decided to hope he was and if so it was likely he had an over pair with that large bet with 2 or 3 players behind him.  I raised ai, he snapped called and shows TT.  Yep, that’s right.  I somehow call a raise pre with T4 in a multi-way pot without have any recollection of being dealt the hand in the first place, flop top two pair, the pf raiser cbets pot, I check-raise ai and I’m drawing dead.  Actually, I was drawing nearly dead, as I had a 3-flush.  I actually turned a flush draw, but it was not meant to be.  I was in so much shock that I don’t even think my heart rate jumped, not even a bit.  I played a little more then called it quits.  At least I managed to be a $150 winner, but I obv ended the session with a sour taste in my mouth.

    I arrived in LV yesterday afternoon at 1:30 ish.  After a couple hour nap, I went over to casa de Garrett Beckman, Tim & Tom West and Sean Johnson.  Only Sean and my friend Ryan from Lawrence were at the house while the others were playing the 1K rebuy.  Ryan saw for the first time the beautiful ROQ CHLK vanity license plate.  He was quite impressed and maybe a a bit jealous.  We recollected on the incredible year of the Jayhawks on the drive over to the Rio.  We were planning on having dinner with Garrett, Tim and Tom at the dinner break which was supposed to be at 6:50.  However, another level was added prior to the dinner break.  Ryan and I grinded at video poker at a bar at the Rio.  The bartender spilled my Crown & Coke and the machine I was playing at didn’t like it.  It wouldn’t work, nor print a receipt, so we had to move a few spots down.  In all, I drank (2) C & Cs while I won $1.25 in video poker.  After a $1 tip per beverage, I was net -$.75.  Not a bad start for the trip and not a bad little buzz.  Ryan, on the other hand, was not so fortunate, but I’m sure his buzz was sufficient for the lost $20.

I had spicy tuna sushi from the cafe before we met up with the guys at dinner break.  It was surprisingly pretty good even though it had probably been sitting there all day.  We drove through Jack in the Box and chilled at the house during the dinner break.  They were running a bit late, so I was going to park the car when we arrived at the Rio.  I did so, but it wasn’t until a little scare from a cop.  GB drove in the exit lane on the 215 and merged into the through lane at the last second, because  there was a lot of traffic.  It’s a typical L.A. douche bag move and the motorcycle cop that was somehow right there as it happened agreed.  We escaped without too much hassle.

I dropped the guys off and met with Adam Geyer and Mike Katz at the next dinner break.  They were playing in the $1,500 Omaha 8/b.  We caught up a bit on the brief 30 minute break and then I went home.  I wanted to play cash, but the list was an eternity long and I was getting tired.  I didn’t go with my instincts and took the 215 back.  It was approaching 11:00 and they closed all but one lane.  What should have been a 15 minute drive took about 45 minutes.  It was not how I wanted to end the day.

One day down and still many to come.  Cheers Lawrence!

    I returned safely from Mono Hot Springs yesterday evening. I arrived into Los Angeles with a Mono Hot Spring visor, a dozen mosquito bites and cuts on both my head and foot. The rather large intake of alcohol Friday night lead to a majority of the bumps and bruises. Crown & Pepsi was the culprit and I awoke the next morning not feeling very well. Tom Lyon coined the nickname ‘Yach’ which was unfortunately quite appropriate. Apparently I relieved myself in the late hours of the night. Of course, I have no recollection after an entire bottle of Crown Royal. I do, however, remember the morning session on the patio.

I almost forgot. I also got quite sunburned. I was terrible in horseshoes, spent Saturday recovering until 5:00 in the evening and spread nearly $1,000 across a dozen others in Paigow. It was just terrible. The laws of mathematics have been defied in the last several trips to Mono Hot Springs. I guess the damage wasn’t enough in MHS, so I decided to lose nearly 40 hands in two and a half hours on the drive back to Valencia. As always, however, the trip was a blast. It’s an annual venture, comprising of a lot of history. Several of the attendees have been attended the trip for nearly a dozen years. We gamble, play horseshoes, eat and fish. I fished for about 10 minutes this year. Apparently, I was still satisfied with the fish I caught last year.

The WCOOP schedule was released.  Unfortunately, the schedule seems too enticing to pass on.  Hopefully, they’ll have STEPS into the larger buy-ins.  If so, I think I could manage qualifying into the 5 & 10K buy-ins.  This would be really exciting, but if they have other types of satellites for those events, I wouldn’t be nearly as confident.  It’s 6:04 A.M..  I have to finish packing.  Then, I’m off to Las Vegas!  I’ll report daily.  I’m sooo excited!