I caved last night and began playing online again.  It’s been an alright start.  I’ve been on my best behavior in cash games.  After (2) sessions of 1/2, I’m up about $500.  Of course, I don’t have anything to show of it after playing 9 tournaments.  It’s been real annoying as I haven’t found myself in the money yet.  I have several finishes in the top 20% but have failed to get a deep finish yet.  Along with 9 washes, I collected a $20 bounty, 10% of my brother in the 163 on Tilt and have a little more room to work with to improven upon my Stars and Tilt ROIs.

Saturday was a blast at Medieval Times.  Hailey and I left a little later than the rest of the crowd but we arrived just in time to go in with the rest of group.  We had a couple beverages prior to the start of the festivities.  MT is probably most enjoyable for the younger ones but it’s also offers plenty of entertainment for those that are drunk, especially those in a large group.  We were in the yellow section and our knight didn’t disappointed.  He earned his right to compete in the finals but then he was stabbed in the back by the green knight.  It was obv rigged.  Actually, it really was but we were a bit annoyed that our guy wasn’t able to compete for the championship.  Instead the prince fought against the green knight and his (4) apprentices.  We obv booed the green knight.  Karma played its special part and the green knight lost.  Of course, the night wasn’t perfect and the way in which it ended was very annoying.  I accept that LA has terrible traffic but I’ll never accept it at 11:00 at night on a Saturday night.  It took nearly 1:20 minutes to drive 41 miles which was more than it took to drive to MT earlier that day.  I was very tilted and had to make a couple phone calls to vent.

I played a short session at Commerce this afternoon.  I played in (2) key pots and then ended the session after only a couple hours.  I raised to 40 w/ AJ and received 2 callers.  The flop came KJT with two clubs.  I had the Ac.  I checked without a plan and the player that had already lost (3) $500 buy-ins in a short amount of time bet 100.  The other player folded.  I considered taking a card off and then decided I may as well go with it if I wanted to play since villain only had 400 left.  I raised ai, he thought for a bit, shrugged his shoulders and called.  The turn was an Ace and the river was a King.  I rolled my hand over and said, “You got it.”  However, he shook his head and mucked.  Unless, I counterfeit his JT which I think is unlikely considering his mannerisms he must of hand a flush draw.    In the second hand.  I raised to 65 from the small blind after two players limped in the middle and the button limped as well w/ A9o.  They all called.  The flop was J97 and I planned to cr the first two players ai as they hand about 500 and 400remaining respectively.  It checked around and I bet 220 on the turn (2).  The second player called and left himself about 125 remaining.  I bet it ai dark before the river and he shook his head and flashed a 9 to me before he threw his cards into the muck.  The game was good but I just wasn’t in the mood to play.  I’ve made the mistake to often in the past and didn’t want to regret it later so I racked up and left.

I only have a few more days before my online hiatus comes to an end.  I decided today that I’m going to use my online winnings to fund my entries into FTOPS and WCOOP so I have plenty of motivation to grind the smaller limits.  I would like to play about 10K worth of buy-ins so I have some serious work to get to and I’ll start up on the 1st doing so.  This won’t conflict with playing live however.  I’m going to play Tuesday, Thursday and possibly Wednesday during the middle of the week.

I’m starting to be recognized by a lot of the regulars at Commerce.  Thankfully it’s not for getting into any fights and I’ve been on my best behavior.  A few of the regulars figured I was here on vacation and staying in the meantime at the hotel attached to the casino.  I informed them that I’m a local and that’ll be playing here fairly often.  They mentioned online poker a couple times, but I think it was because they prefer I go back home and play on the Internet instead of at Commerce.  Anyways, I doinked through $1,400 on the second hand of the day.  I was prepared to c/f the turn after I raised pre and check raised 60 to 180 w/ J9 on Q93, but I fell for the trap after villain bet pot + 200 on the turn.  I put the rest in and was drawing dead against his set of 3s.  I made another thin play w/ 99 against an middle-aged Asian player in the big blind.  I raised to 50, he raised to 250 and I insta-jammed.  He had KK but I caught a 9 on the turn.  I wasn’t a very good play at all, but I’m not just going to include the hands I played well.

Other than those to missteps, I played quite well.  In a key hand of the day, I raised to 60 and the player to my right defended  his post.  I bet all streets with KK on J6432 for 110, 240 and 300.   The hand concluded with a victory rip and muck.  The biggest hand of the day was an interesting one.  I called w/ 54cc from middle position.  I flop was A37 with one club.  We checked it to the button and he bet 25.  4 or 5 of us saw the turn (9c).  Now I had a double gutter and a flush draw.  The first player to act bet 125.  He was playing pretty well and hadn’t gotten out of line.  I had a lot of outs now and I popped it to 400.  The bettor on the flop had rougly 600 and the bettor on the turn had about 400 left.  I was obv committed against both of them but the math was right so I made the play in hopes to take it down right there.  The player that bet the flop folded and the other player called.  The river was a 2s completing a spade flush from the flop.  He checked, I announced ai and after a couple minutes of deliberation he said, “… I’ll pay you off.”

I’m very comfortable in the game but I need to stop making these rather large hero calls.  There’s just no reason to do so when half the table is there to pay the rake and dust off the money they brought with them.  I’m taking today off and may or may not play tomorrow afternoon.  Hailey and I are going with a group of friends for our friend Jim’s birthday at Medieval Times tomorrow night, so I may just relax and hit the felt again on Sunday night.

Also, a little congrats to my brother.  He made 3 final tables last night and got 11th in another.  He managed a 2nd in the 77 6max on Stars.  Zach finished 3rd in one of the same tournaments Matt final tabled.  He also doubled with Q6 v. AA ai pre.  It’s not that big of a deal but after the flop came TT4 it’s safe to say he was prepared to exit the tournament.

I obv slept in this morning.  I either turned the alarm off while I was asleep or didn’t properly set the alarms.  It’s a coinflip if you ask me.  Luckily, mother called shortly before 9:00 and I was able to make it to Westchester a little before 10 for breakfast with my grandma and cousin.  We went to a very good breakfast and lunch place called Dinah’s.  If it were Monday or Thursday, I may have gone for the all you can eat chicken but I had to settle for the standard breakfast special instead which is always an excellent choice.  Afterwards, we went to work on the garage.  Grandma is worse than myself when it comes to throwing things away, but we managed to thin her collection by a bit.  I’m sure it won’t last but it looks a lot better than it did a few months ago.

I went straight from there to Commerce.  It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that I got lost.  Shocker!  Eh, not really unfortunately.  I dusted off about 900 on the second hand.  I 3bet out of the blinds to 140 w/ K4dd after it was opened to 40 by an elder Asian gentleman in middle position and flatted by the sb.  The original raiser and I took the flop hu and I cr ai 200 to 700ish on 432 and failed to improve against QQ.  I played a hand very well against a middle-aged guy that had been seat hopping until he was in his luckily seat.  I 3bet to 90 pre w/ AQhh in position and he called.  The flop came Q66 with two spades and he lead 240.  I was quite startled.  This guy wasn’t frugal with his money up to this point.  I was never going to fold, but I couldn’t think of the best line to take.  I thought for a minute and a half and eventually set him in for his last 400.  I contemplated on flatting but I wasn’t completely sure as to what I would do if a spade came off.  Flatting was probably the best line and just not fold to anything on turn and/or river because I’m pretty much flipping my hand face up by shipping the flop.  He said he had a queen and was running down my obv range out loud.  He was just about to fold when I asked if he wanted to look at a card for $100.  I realized that was too much and gave him a discount to $50.  After a little bit longer I said, “You’re not calling” gave him a quick look as I creeped my cards toward the muck and became dead silent.  He called, I victory ripped AQ, he showed QJ and rivered a 6 to chop.  I was really happy with how I played this hand.  Against a decent thinking player, this never would have worked.  I barely got the question in before he was set to muck his hand but he obv didn’t pay attention to that.

I managed a medium sized win, had dinner at the table and booked it.  I may not play till Sunday as I’m pretty busy the next few days, but I’m very optimistic as to how I’m going to fare in this game over the course of time.

It’s heaven here on earth in the poker world.  Well, maybe not for everyone.  However, with the addition of the 5/10 NL w/ 500-1,500 buy-in, it’s certainly going to be my safe haven when it comes to live poker.  I had a great session last night that lasted 6 hours until 4:00 in the wee hours of the morning.  Early on I made a mistake in a hand with KK.  The game is a bad beat jackpot game which is obv ridiculous for that limit.  It’s 13,000 and to qualify four aces [or better] need to beat AAATT [or better] in which both hands play both cards.  Villain 1 never raised pre and liked to call a lot.  Villain 2 didn’t have a fold button.  They both limped as well did a couple other players and I raised to at least 70 pre but it may have been more w/ KK.  Villain 1 and 2 were the only callers.  The flop was AAT and it checked around.  The turn was another A and Villain 1 bet 45, Villain 2 folded and I called.  This where I made the mistake.  I should done something a little extra that’ll I’ll get to in a second.  The river was a baby card and I went into the tank.  I tried to make it look like I had a qualifying jackpot hand and eventually checked.  Villain 1 bet 400.  This is where I made the next mistake.  I should have made it obvious I had TT+ and gage a reaction off of him.  Instead, I pondered a bit and literally kissed the chips good bye.  Villain 1 showed A9.  No jackpot.  I was so paranoid about nullifying the jackpot with inappropriate table talk that I didn’t allow myself the chance to accurately read my opponent.  I should have gave him a look on the turn as to say I had it.  Therefore, he would never make such a large bet on the river in fear that I may fold and cost him a piece of the jackpot as well.  Even still, I should have folded because villain would never bet this large with a qualifying jackpot hand as long as he was aware that it was a jackpot situation.  Again, I could have made him aware of it and gaged his reaction.  It was a weird situation that you can’t really prepare yourself for unless you’ve been in the situation before or at the table and witnessed another player in a similar situation.  I hate that the game is a BBJ game but that’s just how it is.  Since villain limp called a raise, I gave him credit for a wide range of hands that consisted of AX with X being equal to or greater than T.  Oh well.

The key hand of the night came against Villain 2.  I had made 2 mistakes shortly before in which I bet to big on the river.  Both times I had the nuts or second nuts.  He was a calling station but liked calling smaller bets.  In the hand of note, I very hesitantly called w/ T2o after everyone limped in front of me.  I was either on the button or cut.  The flop was KT2.  Villain 2 was the preflop raiser and he raised to 25-35 very often.  The raise this time was to 25.  I bet 140 or 160.  Villain 2 was the only caller.  The turn was a 9 and he check/called 280.  The river was an ace and he checked again.  I would auto check this online, but I had a very good read on villain and learned previously that he’s a calling station but won’t call excessively large bets even if it is warranted by the pot size.  He liked getting attractive pot odds for medium sized bets for the game we were playing in the 200-300 range.  I bet 320 and he called.  He was not very happy with himself after I rolled my hand over but I was very happy with the way I played the hand.  He unraveled a couple hands later.  I limped 96 in a multi way pot.  I bet on T87 and he called.  I bet the turn for 140, he raised ai for 400ish and I snapped.

It was a very satisfying session and the game was still very good when I left although the previously mentioned player left.  However, I was a bit tired and was just happy enough to book the session.  I could have only stayed for another couple hours, as I have to leave Commerce before rush hour starts up.  I’m going to my grandma’s Tuesday morning for breakfast with my cousin, sister and a very good family friend.  Then, my cousin (David) and I are going to help my grandma clean the garage a bit.  I’ll help out for a few hours and then going to the Commerce for another session.

I haven’t playing in poker since returning from Las Vegas.  I still have another 12.5 days until I begin playing online poker again.  I miss playing online, but I really needed a break from it at the same time.  I’ll be back at the tables in time for the FTOPS in August.  Sigh.  Staking has been a little rough lately.  Jason has been destroying 100NL 6-max at Tilt and I haven’t loss with any of the others, but I just can’t find much stability.  I’ve lost another 2 player in the last couple weeks even though they both showed promising results.  Again, I’m looking for more additions.  However, if you’re not in it for the long run, please don’t apply.

I don’t have any plans for this evening yet.  Hailey and I will most likely be going out to a bar but it’s still in the air.  Tomorrow I’m going to my cousin’s engagement party in El Segundo.  I’m going to see my sister’s house before hand and may go to Commerce afterwards.  If not, I’ll certainly be going to Commerce on Monday or Tuesday.  I’m probably not going to play in the tournament series at the Hustler.  Instead, I’m going to grind it out at 5/10 at Commerce.  I should play at least 3 days per week up until the school year begins on August 26th.  I’m sure there is plenty of money to be won just waiting to be taken, so it’s going to be a matter of putting in some hours to collect it.  Even still, I’m looking forwards to playing online again.  I think I’ve straightened a few things out and expect promising results right from the beginning.

I had a great time in Las Vegas but as with all things, good things as well must come to an end.  I could have stayed a couple more days and hung out with some friends with Lawrence, but I just didn’t have energy left in the tank.  This summer was very exciting.  I had my largest cash game session to date at 5/10, finished 5th in a Bellagio 1K and had quite a ride sweating various friends in WSOP events.  It was only fitting that the most exciting part of the summer came at the end when my brother and close friend, Garrett Beckman, both made deep runs in the WSOP M.E..  I spent nearly every hour at the Rio for those exciting 6 days.  I played for the first day and another few hours on the second but the remainder was spent on the rail.  Nevertheless, it was a very exciting experience to say the least.  It’s very true what they say.  “The day you get knocked out of the main event is the worst day of the year.”  I’ve come to understand the importance of this event to a poker player in the last three years.  I didn’t played last year but the taste I had two years ago is still even to keep me determined.  Again, I can’t wait to play again.  The 2009 WSOP is nearly a year away but I’ll begin preparing very soon for it.  I plan on playing a lot more tournaments relative to the amount I have played in the last two years.  I may play at the Hustler later this month in the tournament series there and I’ll most likely play a handful of event at the Bicycle in August.

My brother and I have a lot of things to plan in the next couple weeks.  Our lease ends in the last third of August and we don’t have much of an idea as of yet as to where we are going to live.  School starts on August 26th and I’m planning on playing at Commerce 2-3 time per week beginning on Monday.  I have another couple weeks till my online hiatus comes to an end but I’ll plenty of work with my players that play online.  Beginning in August, I’ll start grinding Steps on Stars for the WCOOP and the FTOPS begins sometime in August.  I’m not planning on leaving L.A. till Labor Day weekend at the earliest, so I’ll have plenty of time to get things in order.

The end of the WSOP is almost like the end of the year to a poker player.  It’s almost like a new year has begun and I’m very excited about the next couple of months.  I’ve learned a lot in the last year.  I wouldn’t say it’s more than any year before it, but the things I’m learning have a lot more to do with things outside of poker.  One thing is for certain.  I play poker to make money, but I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it.  The reason I began to play poker professionally was because it was something I enjoyed.  I plan on poker being a part of my life for a long time but it’s important that I’m enjoying it in the process.  I’ve had a handful of days in the last several weeks that I didn’t feel anything after playing poker.  I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been able to detach myself emotionally from my results or that I’m no longer enjoying it as much as I have in the past.  It’s something I’m going to have to find out.  I’ll keep myself busy with many other non poker-playing endeavors to maintain a decent level of insanity but I still have my poker dreams as well.

It was a very exciting few days, but it has come to an end for Matt and Garrett.  They both had very impress runs in the WSOP M.E. and should obv be very proud of themselves.  They have nothing to be disappointed about, but it’s not that simple.  I’m leaving Vegas in the afternoon on Monday.  I’ll do a recap within the next few days of the summer.

P.S.  My cell phone broke yesterday afternoon.  I’m very sorry that I didn’t respond to your messages.  I’m going to have it fixed by Tuesday.

Matt had a great day boosting his stack from 173 to 625K.  About 200 players hit the rail in the last 2 hours of play after the money bubble.  Garrett ‘GBecks’ Beckman and Tim ‘Tmay420′ West are also still alive with 192 and 63,500K respectively.  Matt has an early break table today and will most certainly change tables within the first 30 minutes.  A lot of our friends are coming out in the next couple day.  Patrick and Reed are coming out this afternoon and evening and Shane and Zach are coming out tomorrow afternoon.  It should make for a great weekend with a deep WSOP M.E. sweat.

It was a meh day really. I wanted to portray an extremely aggressive image. I have to say I didn’t fall short of that this afternoon. I fired, fired and fired again. I won the first several pots including a 3bet with AA to 4,400 against the player immediately to my right and he folded. I chipped up to 80K, lost it back shortly and was right around my starting stack. I raised ATo from middle position at 3/600 to 1,600, Johan Stroakers rr to ~4,500 and I insta shoved for his remaining 18Kish. He reluctantly called with AQ and I held after the flop came AKT. I was at around 80K when a very big pot arose. The player to my right raised to 1,700, I rr to 4,400 and he quickly raised ai when it got around back to him. I obv snapped, he showed AK and flopped an ace for an 83K pot. Shortly after, I raised to 1,600 w/ AK. The player to my direct left called and the sb raised ai. I overshipped and caught an ace on the turn to beat his QQ. We moved to the Amazon room and I picked up KK on the first hand. The player two to my right raised to 1,600, I rr to 4,400 and rr 12K more. I shoved and he folded after a short deliberation. In between, I played a lot of pots that went without a showdown and succeeded and failed with a couple small bluffs. I liked the table a lot and had a very good image. After the first break, I attempted a very big bluff. The player two to my right had been opening a lot of pots and the player to my right had been raising and 3betting often after doubling against me. I just had enough of it and decided I was going to 4bet/fold any two cards when it was 3bet to 6,000 by the player to my direct right. I 4bet to 21K, the original raiser 5bet ai for a few thousand more and the other player rr ai as well. Ooops! I obv folded my rags and they chopped the pot with KK. It was certainly a risky play at this stage of the tournament, but it felt right and I made the decision to do so before I looked at my cards. Sometime your gut is just wrong. This is obv one of those cases. I lost a race two rounds later after I flatted pre w/ AK against the aggressive player two to my right and the small blind came along. He check-raised ai 5,000 to a tad less than 10K w/ Q7 with one spade on an all spade flop of AJ7. He caught a spade on the river to scoop the 25K pot. Then, I raised the next hand early w/ KQdd and the player that raised the previous hand called out of the big blind. I checked it back on a AQx flop. He led 3K on the turn (J) and I thought for about a minute before calling. Villain checked on the river (A) and I thought for about 30 seconds before I bet 5,500 (about 1/3 of my stack). I really like the line I took on this hand and I’m actually pretty surprised I wasn’t called here. It was all over a few hands later. The hijack opened for 2,200 at 3/600. He was a fairly liberal opener pre and the button called. I looked at QQ and raised ai. The first player folded and I was almost certain the button was going to call after he asked for a count. It was about 19K more and I thought there was a great chance he had a pocket pair. I was obv in great shape, because he would have certainly snapped w/ AK. He called and showed AQ and caught an ace on the turn.

I can’t be too disappointed with myself. I can look back at the cold 4bet bluff pre, but I made the play and I’m going to stick with it. I also had the assurance of a 50+ big blind stack if it failed which I put to good use. If it wasn’t for a lost race for 25K and a 70/30 for 45K, I would have been right back in it. I enjoyed myself and have another 10K under my belt. I’ll be better prepared for the next time around and can’t wait for my next chance next year.

Matt made it through w/ 173K. I’m very happy for him and excited that he’s in very good position going into Day 3. I’m going to have a look at his table draw in the morning and hopefully have some good advice to share with him. Best of luck as well to Tim West, Tom Braband and other friends and obv GBecks!

It’s about 12 hours from the start of Day 2b.  I didn’t really do much of anything today.  Considering I slept in till 3:00, I didn’t have much day left.  Shannon won the Bellagio 3K and we went out to celebrate afterwards.  We went to Cheesecake Factory and then to Green Valley Ranch.  Apparently, Cody had quite the roll going at the craps table, but I didn’t get in any of that action.  Adam, Tom and I decided to go juice up a 1/2 game, but the list was a bit too long.  Therefore, we grinded it out at Paigow instead.  I lost $5 along the way and had a few beverages before it was time to head back home.  I met up with Anuj for  a bit at Bellagio.  I pretty much hung out at the Rio the rest of the day with dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant in between.  At the moment, Tim is stilling the M.E., but Tom and Luke busted.  Tom busted KK v. AA and Luke couldn’t get much going and eventually 3bet ai w/ 88 v. KQ and couldn’t fade half the deck after the flop came JT7.  I’m pretty tired and going to sleep in till 10:00 and try to get to the Rio around 11:30.

I’m prepared for a long day tomorrow and very much looking forward to playing again.  If I’m able to hang around for a while, it’ll be many days of poker ahead without any breaks until the final table is set on Monday.  However, I’m prepared for tomorrow and if I’m fortunate enough to make it through I’ll certainly be prepared for Thursday.  If the information is correct at Poker Pages, I really like my table draw, but myself and another player with about 2x my chip stack were given the same seat assignment.  If it is my seat, I’ll have the most chips, so I hope it is indeed my seat.  The table is located near the restaurant in the casino area, so it’ll surely be among the first few tables to break unless they break tables in the Amazon room first for cash games.  We’ll just have to wait and see tomorrow afternoon.

If you want to follow the coverage, visit PokerNews dot com.  Click ‘Live Reporting’.  Although they don’t update as much, I’ll most certainly be somewhat covered at PocketFives dot com.  Thank you for the support!

I got through with 66,375 and Matt ended the day with 29Kish.  Once the last couple seats were filled at my table, I realized my prayers were answered.  I hate a softish table that would not break and I got off to a great start.  We started with 20K and 50/100 blinds.  A player limped in the middle, I completed from the sb w/ 97 and the big blind checked.  I lead 225 on A86 w/ two spades.  The bb called and the limper raised to 500.  We both called.  The turn was gin (T) and I lead for 1,200 and both players called.  The river card was an offsuit 4 and I got a little greedy and the last player somehow checked AT.  In hindsight, it was a poor play on my part, because I’m not assured of the check-raise being called, but I may gain a little equity if a player were to have bluffed at the pot without a hand they could call a bet themselves.  Even still, it was a very good start.  I quickly did away with the player to my left.  He wasn’t in the mood to fold on this day.  He raised to 400, I calledw/ AQ and the player behind me called.  Villain bet 1,200 on AAJ, I quickly called and the last player folded.  Again, I turned gin (Q) and villain bet 3,000.  He’s not going anywhere w/ AK/AT, but I decided just to flat anyway and reeval the river to see how much I can extract.  The river card was a mess.  It was a K that made a backdoor straight.  Villain checked and I probably bet too much 6Kish and he folded.  Shortly after, I raised to 300 w/ TT and bet 800 on 764.  Villain called.  I bet 1,200 on the turn (K) and he called.  The river was a 9 and I decided to showoff and bet 3,o00.  He tanked, eventually called and mucked as I victory ripped.  I finished villain off about an hour in when I flopped a full house w/ 83 from the bb.  I lead and he called.  I set him in on the turn and he called with a turned flush.

The player who replaced him was a competent cash game player from L.A..  I wouldn’t have known this if I had did away with him shortly after his arrival, but I was unable to hold with Q9cc v. 22 on JX2 all clubs.  He spiked a Jack on the river.  I took 41K into the first break.  Over the course of the next two and a half levels, I was pretty stagnant.  I didn’t flop or turn the nuts every hand (sigh), but I had complete control over the table.  I held 50Kish at the dinner break and was getting pretty tired in the next to last level.  I took a 5mg pick me up that kicked in at the beginning of the last level.  I began to open many pots.  I think I won the first 4 or 5 pots of the last level.  I was relentless.  I took some time off in between these splurges until I picked up QQ utg and was rr by Paul McKinney in middle position.  He’s 84, chews on a long cigar and is quite the character.  He played very few hands, but he did rr the player next to him earlier and showed 74 after playing only a couple hands over a two hour span.  This, however, was a lot different.  It didn’t matter that I was very active and raising a bunch of pots.  Paul wasn’t going to play back light.  I raised to 1,600 at 2/400 and he rr to 5,000.  He had around 20k left.  I decided to flat and pretty much check fold unimproved.  I hoped that my flat would show a lot of strength on its own so I wouldn’t have to commit further to the hand.  The flop was KTx and I check folded to 6,000.

I obv made a few bluffs.  I floated the LA cash game player w/ J9cc on T52 with one clubs on the button.  I checked it back on the turn (T) and I overbet the river (blank).  I made a big bluff against the player who replaced him in the last hour.  He raised to 1,200 at 2/400, I called with T6 (obv) and everyone else folded.  He checked on J54r, I bet 2,000, he instantly raised to 6,000 and I rr to 17,000.  He tanked but his mannerisms pretty much said he was done with the hand.  He folded and I gave him a looksy.

Another story of note was this older player that played nearly 6 hours and maybe won a single hand.  He lost with AQ v. 97cc on a flop of Q86 with two clubs.  He had a few comments for villain, but he still had 3Kish chips left w/ the blinds 150/300.  He proceeded to fold every single hand until he had 225 remaining.  Then, he announced, “All-in!”.  A couple players called and I bought a nice price for my J9dd with a raise to 2,300.  Everyone else folded, he showed AK and the flop came T98.  That was the end of the road for him.  It’s amazing how weak a few players at the table played.  It was a very nice group of players at the table, but a few of them played far too timid.  It was alright by me though.

Garrett also made it through the day after battling an illness all day.  He is a little short of 60K and Tom Braband has 92K.  We don’t play until Wednesday.

I’m poised and ready to go.  I’ve been waiting to play in the M.E. again for two years and I’m more than prepared for a long, long week.

I got back into Vegas yesterday and GBecks took me back to my condo.  I had quite the scare when I got home.  The side door was wide open!  Reed had forgotten to bolt it from the inside.  I rushed to my room to see if my money had been stolen and it wasn’t where I had always left it each night.  My heart was pounding as I struggled for air.  I was getting a little fainty and had to lie down for a moment.  Garrett noticed something was terribly wrong.  We checked the drawers again but it wasn’t there.  Then, Garrett pointed to my Full Tilt bag.  Phew!  It was there, but that was quite a scare!  We went to the Rio and I bought into the WSOP M.E. for Sunday.  Garrett and I decided to play the 1060 Mega Satellite, but we were unable to succeed.  I went back to the condo for the remainder of the evening and slept in a bit.  Today I spent several hours doing accounting for my poker accounts.  It wasn’t very fun but it had to be done sooner or later.  Hailey is coming into town tomorrow night.  We’re going to Lotus of Siam, my favorite Thai restaurant and possibly the best in the country, tomorrow night.  We haven’t made our plans for the 4th yet, but we’re going to the American Idol concert on Saturday.  I’m probably going to play some cash tonight at Rio, but I sure can’t wait till Sunday!