My momma told me there would be days like today. The kind of day when nothing goes right. Luckily, we are just talking about poker.
I slept good and woke up ready to roll with my 121,000 chip stack. I don't think I ever got above that number the whole day. My table draw was really tough. Everyone played an aggressive re-raising kind of game. After losing a few pots, I built my stack back up to about 120,000 and got into a critical hand. After a lot of action, we end up getting 70k each in the pot with my pair against his Ace high flush draw with one card to come. He missed the flush but hit his Ace on the river. I could have been at 200k, but instead I was now in bad shape at 50k. I battled the rest of the day and actually feel pretty good about things.
The last hand kind of summed it all up. The crazy poor-playing European guy raised it to 5k from 2nd position. A pretty tight-aggressive player flat called on the button. I looked down at A5 in the BB with about 40k in front of me. I decide to shove all-in hoping that the tight player behind the Euro guy would cause the Euro to fold. I figure the tight guy would never call with a hand that wasn't good enough to raise the crazy Euro. This "squeeze play" can be a very effective way to pick up chips.
I thought my brilliant plan blew up when the crazy Euro called in about 2 nano-seconds. Tight guy quickly folded. I was pleasantly surprised to see Euro turn over QcTc. I was actually in the LEAD! The flop was good, but the turn brought a T that held up on the river.
That turn card was pretty much a reflection of the whole tourney. I didn't really have much chance with the cards I got. I had AA the first hand, picked up KK twice, never had QQ or JJ. Statistically, I should have had each of them about 3 times. I never flopped trips in 2 days. I did flop 2 pair once that turned into a full house that LOST to a higher full house. Just one of those trips that wasn't meant to be. Nothing to be disappointed about.
I'll be back in town on Wednesday ready to get back to the real world. I've got plenty to do to keep me busy up until the World Series. I appreciate everyone taking their time to keep up with me.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Day 1 Update WPT Championships
Hey Poker Fans,
Pretty good Day 1 report. I finished with 121,000 in chips. I won the first and last hands of the day. Everything in between didn't really matter much. I was kind of card dead, so I had to rely on a few bluffs and steals to stay afloat.
I couldn't figure out whether the first hand was a good or a bad omen. When I got to my table to start the day, there were only 2 other players there. All the other tables had 6-8 players ready to go. After shuffle up and deal, the first guy folds, the second guy folds, and I win!!! Woooo!!!! Just for grins I decide to peek at my cards. Yeah, I start the day with ACES!!!! Good omen - 1st time it's ever happened to me. Bad omen - I got no action. Oh well, I guess we'll find out.
A little bit later, Sammy Farha sits down in chair 9. I was really excited to be playing with him and even more excited because I had position (get to act after he does). I was looking forward to learning something. I actually won most of the pots that we played together - one of them pretty big.
The first 4 levels of the day were very boring. I didn't get many hands at all and had bad flops when I did have a little something. I managed to manufacture enough chips to stay close to the starting stack.
The last level of the day, things really got going. I started picking up some hands and pushing the action. I always like when I get a little run of good cards because that opens up the rest of my game and can be really deceptive.
My favorite hand of the day: I had worked up to about 130k with about 45 minutes of play left. I was on the button with QT and made my standard raise to 1700. In poker, I always have a confrontational aspect to the guys that sit directly behind me because I "steal" their chips so many times by opening for a raise. The BB glares at me and calls the 1700. The flop comes Kh6h3s. The BB leads out for 2,500. Very few players would hit top pair there and lead out - almost everyone wants to check to me, let me bet and then reraise me. So, with this thought in mind, I reraise him to 6,000 trying to represent the K. He finally calls and another K comes on the turn. He bets 5,000 which seems like an awkward play. I actually thought the guy had something like A6. I reraised him to 14k, again, trying to represent a K. After some thought, the other player reraises me to 30k. I think long and hard about going all-in because I just KNOW he doesn't have a K. I finally chicken out and tell him "this is hilarious, because I'd bet $100 that my Q high is good. Do you want to make a side bet?" He never answered, I fold, and he shows me 55. He did have the best hand, but I had the right idea the whole time.
I was really pleased with the whole day. I usually have hands that bug me because I played them wrong, but none today. It was really nice to go to sleep without rehashing any bonehead moves.
In closing, I need to calm down some of the excitement out there. It took me three years and 13 major tournaments to win one. Everyone out here is really good - especially in the 25k tourney. So, everybody realize the odds that we are up against. If it only takes me 3 more years to win another one, I will be thrilled. Trust me, I am going to have fun, I am going to play as hard as I can, and I am going to walk away smiling.
Now, it's off to breakfast. My friend Andrew got 2nd place in a tourney last night, so HE IS BUYING!!!
Pretty good Day 1 report. I finished with 121,000 in chips. I won the first and last hands of the day. Everything in between didn't really matter much. I was kind of card dead, so I had to rely on a few bluffs and steals to stay afloat.
I couldn't figure out whether the first hand was a good or a bad omen. When I got to my table to start the day, there were only 2 other players there. All the other tables had 6-8 players ready to go. After shuffle up and deal, the first guy folds, the second guy folds, and I win!!! Woooo!!!! Just for grins I decide to peek at my cards. Yeah, I start the day with ACES!!!! Good omen - 1st time it's ever happened to me. Bad omen - I got no action. Oh well, I guess we'll find out.
A little bit later, Sammy Farha sits down in chair 9. I was really excited to be playing with him and even more excited because I had position (get to act after he does). I was looking forward to learning something. I actually won most of the pots that we played together - one of them pretty big.
The first 4 levels of the day were very boring. I didn't get many hands at all and had bad flops when I did have a little something. I managed to manufacture enough chips to stay close to the starting stack.
The last level of the day, things really got going. I started picking up some hands and pushing the action. I always like when I get a little run of good cards because that opens up the rest of my game and can be really deceptive.
My favorite hand of the day: I had worked up to about 130k with about 45 minutes of play left. I was on the button with QT and made my standard raise to 1700. In poker, I always have a confrontational aspect to the guys that sit directly behind me because I "steal" their chips so many times by opening for a raise. The BB glares at me and calls the 1700. The flop comes Kh6h3s. The BB leads out for 2,500. Very few players would hit top pair there and lead out - almost everyone wants to check to me, let me bet and then reraise me. So, with this thought in mind, I reraise him to 6,000 trying to represent the K. He finally calls and another K comes on the turn. He bets 5,000 which seems like an awkward play. I actually thought the guy had something like A6. I reraised him to 14k, again, trying to represent a K. After some thought, the other player reraises me to 30k. I think long and hard about going all-in because I just KNOW he doesn't have a K. I finally chicken out and tell him "this is hilarious, because I'd bet $100 that my Q high is good. Do you want to make a side bet?" He never answered, I fold, and he shows me 55. He did have the best hand, but I had the right idea the whole time.
I was really pleased with the whole day. I usually have hands that bug me because I played them wrong, but none today. It was really nice to go to sleep without rehashing any bonehead moves.
In closing, I need to calm down some of the excitement out there. It took me three years and 13 major tournaments to win one. Everyone out here is really good - especially in the 25k tourney. So, everybody realize the odds that we are up against. If it only takes me 3 more years to win another one, I will be thrilled. Trust me, I am going to have fun, I am going to play as hard as I can, and I am going to walk away smiling.
Now, it's off to breakfast. My friend Andrew got 2nd place in a tourney last night, so HE IS BUYING!!!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
We're in Vegas!
What a great watch party! I had so much fun and was so grateful for the turnout.
Tony and I arrived in Vegas about 3:15 Saturday. Our plan was just to chill, get some good food, and play some blackjack switch. The Blackjack table killed me. We are the big gamblers playing $5-$10 per hand. Andrew is in Vegas, as well. The three of us went to one of our favorite places for dinner - California Pizza Kitchen.
Afterwards, we sat down at the Mirage and the 3 of us played a $70 single table tourney. I feel really unaffected by the big win. It's still just fun to sit and play cards with anyone. All 3 of us busted out really quick.
This tourney I'm going to try to give updates from this blog and see how it works. Check back here throughout the tourney. We get started in a couple of hours.
Tony and I arrived in Vegas about 3:15 Saturday. Our plan was just to chill, get some good food, and play some blackjack switch. The Blackjack table killed me. We are the big gamblers playing $5-$10 per hand. Andrew is in Vegas, as well. The three of us went to one of our favorite places for dinner - California Pizza Kitchen.
Afterwards, we sat down at the Mirage and the 3 of us played a $70 single table tourney. I feel really unaffected by the big win. It's still just fun to sit and play cards with anyone. All 3 of us busted out really quick.
This tourney I'm going to try to give updates from this blog and see how it works. Check back here throughout the tourney. We get started in a couple of hours.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Yeah, I'm a blogger now
Welcome to the first edition of my blog. I mainly plan to use it to update everyone on my poker tourneys. I've always struggled to figure out who to include in my text messages and emails. Some of the people who receive them may not really care. Now, they can make the decision and check out my blog at their convenience. Hopefully, I'll become adept at doing updates from my cell phone.
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