Poker Game Journal

August 2005

August 29
I made it through Day 1b at the $5000 World Poker Tour Legends of Poker event with $24,225 in chips. Today, the blinds will start at $200-400 with $50 antes and I think we are playing six levels. I should be finished tonight around 3:00am. I will talk more about the hands and the tournament when it is all over. [I was eliminated the second day. Here is my event report.]

August 26
I had a long day at work yesterday starting with playing in the media event. All of the invited guests started out with $2,000 in chips and had a chance to win their way into the World Poker Tour event at the Legends of Poker.

I accumulated chips in the early rounds by creating situations. I didn't have many hands, but what I had worked out for me. In the fourth round, I started losing my chips and kept losing them until I was eliminated. My final hand, I pushed in for all of my chips and was called with A7 of diamonds. The blinds were only $100-200 w/ $25 antes, but my opponent felt obligated to call my $1,200 raise. He flopped two pair, but all of the cards were diamonds giving me a flush draw and a six draw. I never got there and was forced to do the commentating on the final table rather than playing on it.

Live at the Bike was interesting to say the least tonight. We were in there for six and a half hours and I think it got to my head a little. About five and a half hours into the show, Bart said something about 96 (that might not have been the exact hand, but the point is the same) being a "two-gapper". I said that it was a three gapper. Now, I know that there are only two cards that are in betwen 9 and 6, yet my mouth kept rambling. Sometimes it takes my brain a few seconds to keep up with my mouth. Anyway, about 1 minute into the argument, I said that I was positive the viewers would let us know who was wrong. I knew before the answers came in that I was in for it.

About five minutes later, we got into another debate. This time, I was passionate about my answer and I don't care if Bart or the viewers agree with me. Tournament poker players can be considered great poker players. I decided to devote an article to the subject.

On a lighter note, Live at the Bike had their "whale game" on Wednesday night. Some of the players that played in the game were Jerry Buss, Gabe Kaplan, Yosh Nakano, Tim Phan, and Tuan Le. Barry Greenstein did some guest commentary and the show ended up being a great one. After the show was over, Barry got into the game and at 2:00 am, he hit the jackpot with Johnny Chan. Normally, there is not a jackpot in that game, but since we have a $1,000,000 promotion going on, the game was eligible. Johnny had pocket tens and Barry had AK. The board had three aces on it. Johnny won the big end of the jackpot which was $20,000, but he only netted about $13,000 because he lost the pot to Barry. Imagine if they actually won the $1,000,000 drawing on Monday night. Can you think of two players who need it more? :)

August 25
I played in the Legends of Poker points playoff tournament, but I was knocked out in the third round. Sometimes No Limit tournaments are just a bunch of people shoving their chips into the middle and hoping to get lucky. That is what it was like today.

We only started with $500 in chips and we got a few more depending on how many points we had. I was probably one of the top twenty in points and I only got $265 more, so a lot of the other players had less. The players thought it was important to accumulate chips in the first round ($10-15 blinds) and many of them were going all-in. I think we lost two players within ten minutes.

I picked up a few blinds early on, but also had to lay two hands down preflop when a player came over the top of me for all of his chips. When we took our break after the second round, I had $425 in chips. In the third round, the blinds were $25-50 and I knew I had to pick one hand. I actually folded AJ in the big blind (both players ended up having AK and I would have lost). Two hands later, I was dealt AQ. A player in early position raised to $150 and I moved all-in for $375. For some strange reason, the small blind said, "Let's gamble" and he threw his last $400 in the pot. The original raiser decided to call both our all-in bets. I don't know why, but I had no doubt that I had the best hand preflop and it was confirmed when the original raiser showed KQ and the small blind showed 54. Yes, I did say 54. Mr. small blind ended up winning the hand with two pair and I took a hike.

I am playing in a media tournament this afternoon where the winner receives an entry into the $5,000 WPT event at the Legends of Poker. The other Live at the Bike commentators get to play in it as well and we decided to make a last longer bet.

After Legends, I am going to start playing more tournaments online. I haven't been playing as much as usual because I don't have as much time, but I miss it. ParadisePoker has satellites for the WPT Foxwoods event and I want to win one.

August 22
I decided to skip the $1,000 No Limit event at the Bike today because I am a little tired. I didn't think I would play my best game after the long weekend I had.

Yesterday, I got a call from one of my best friends from high school. He currently lives in Missouri, but is in California visiting. I decided to take a trip down to San Diego so I could see him. I was happy that I not only saw him, but saw two other long time friends. One of them, I have known since Kindergarten. We had a lot of fun catching up and sucked down a few drinks in the process. They kind of made fun of me because they said I couldn't hang like I used to, but I really didn't want to get buzzed before the day of a tournament. I ended up getting home around 1:00 a.m. which is earlier than I normally go to bed, but I still was exhausted today.

The next tournament for me is Wednesday. It is the Best All Around points playoff event and I have enough points to start the day off as one of the chip leaders. Hopefully, I can use them to win the $50,000 first prize.

August 20
I played in the $1500 No Limit event yesterday and totally bombed out. We started out with $3,000 in chips and I knew that meant that I had a lot of time to pick my battles. However, I did not listen to myself.

In the first round, one player limped for $50 in middle position and it was folded to me in the big blind. I looked at AQ and decided to make a good raise and try and win the pot right there. I raised to $250 and the limper called. The flop was 843 and I led out with a five hundred dollar bet. My opponent thought about it for a few seconds and called the bet. The turn was a nine and I led out again. When my opponent moved all-in, I had to lay my hand down. I don't think I could have played the hand any worse. First off, by raising, I was only trying to win $75 (The $50 call and the $25 small blind). I could have seen a flop and check raised him on a bluff and would have won more money that way. Second, once I tried to steal the pot on the flop, I should have given up on the turn.

I stuck around and fought and worked my way back up to the $3,000, but if I hadn't lost that big pot, I might have built my stack up to $5,000 instead. It didn't take long for me to lose most of them. I raised a couple pots (once with AQ and another with KQ), but on both hands, I was facing more than one opponent. I had to lay my hand down on the flop when I didn't hit the board.

We took our break after the second round and I only had $1,075 left in chips. On the first hand back, we lost two players (one was Paul Darden) at our table. Instead of playing 10 handed, we had 7 players. Paul was in the big blind was in the big blind when he was eliminated so that meant that on the next hand, we only had one big blind. All players folded to me in the cutoff and I looked down at A3. It wasn't a great hand, but since I only had the button and the big blind to worry about, it was the best chance I had. The big blind was $200, so I threw in the whole $1,075 in front of me. The button folded and the big blind called instantly. He had pocket jacks. The flop was Q44. The turn was horrible. It was the jack which meant I was drawing dead.

I didn't mind getting knocked out in that situation. In fact, I was happy with the way I played every hand except for the first AQ. It was one of those days when things didn't fall into place.

I got home and played some online poker. I decided to take a look at the games on Full Tilt Poker and noticed they had a $8-16 Omaha Hi Low game going. It was only three handed, but I wanted to play in it. I sat down and played two hands before I realized that Erik Seidel was one of the players. He asked if I was "SR" and I told him, "yes." He also asked if it was the first time I have played on the site. I told him about my "Pieces of the Pros" win and how John made me a little money. I also told him that I would make sure to check back on that game. One of the things that I noticed was if you ever in a short handed game with one of Full Tilt's Pros, you will never have to wait for a game to fill up. I think it took a total of ten minutes before we had a full game and more players on the waiting list. I had a good time, but I didn't win much. I played some Limit Holdem later in the evening and managed to win the equivalent of my buy-in for the buy-in earlier in the day.

I might play in the $1,000 No Limit event on Monday, but I am not sure about it. I know I am going to play in the Points Playoff tournament and most likely the $5,000 WPT event. I also can't forget about the Ladies event. Once again, mean ol' Steve Lipscomb overlooked me as one of the invited guests to the Ladies Invitational, so I have to try and win the last seat the hard way. If I manage to beat all of the other women in the $100 tournament, I will get the seat. Shouldn't be too difficult. :)

August 19
Last night, we had one of the most exciting shows on Live at the Bike. The game started out as a $300-500 buy-in No Limit, but it eventually turned into an unrestricted buy-in with some big name tournament players playing in it.

John Hoang was sitting at the table from the beginning and John Phan, the current Cardplayer tournament player of the year points leader, joined in shortly after. The two of them decided that they wanted to play for higher stakes. Both players got $2,000 in chips to use against each other if they ever got in a heads up situation. It wasn't long before everybody on the table wanted to play for more money, so the game was switched.

Some of the other well-known tournament players that played in the game were Ron Rose, Hon Le, and Paul Darden. Some of the players played well while others played like maniacs. Ron Rose played a pretty solid game of poker, but he started out getting his big hands cracked. John Phan played like a total maniac and ended up losing all of his money he put on the table. Bart interviewed him after he lost and he said that the game was smaller than he is used to playing. He was just there to have fun. I guess it would be similar to me playing $1-2 Limit Holdem. Hon Le played surprisingly tight and I think he just won a little bit of money. One of the players I was most impressed by was Paul Darden. He played a solid aggressive game and ended up a winner.

Like I said, there was a lot of money on the table, but there was even more money on the table in the form of jewelry. Paul had a watch that shined like the North Star. Phan had a diamond encrusted Jade Buddha that he wore around his neck and another player Steve had four gold bracelets and a dog tag with his name around his neck. It looked like poker has been good to all of them.

I am playing in the $1,500 No Limit tournament at the Bike today. The structure is the best one so far. We will start out with $3,000 in chips and have hour long rounds. It should give me plenty of time to find opportunities to build my stack. I would love it if I added a second victory ring to my finger.

August 17
I had a great day at work yesterday and not just because I won money. I got to play in a $20-40 Omaha Hi Low game with a half kill and it was so great. Normally, the Bike doesn't spread the game so I have never played this limit in a brick and mortar casino. I felt so comfortable and confident while playing. Overall I have been a successful No Limit player, but I feel so much more in my element when playing Omaha. It was a nice change to my day and I hope that they spread the game more often.

When I walked away from the game, I felt good. Good about the way I played and good about the money I won. I felt even better after talking with a player who normally plays in the $6-12 Omaha game. She congratulated me for my recent Legends win and we talked for a short period of time. She said that she wanted to play, but she was running late on that day. I told her that if she had played, she might have changed the whole outcome of the tournament. She was still as pleasant as can be when she said, "A lot of it came down to luck. I read about some of the hands you played. But good job all the same." I said thank you and walked away. It is strange how a few words can make me feel so great. I realized that so many people don't understand the basics concepts of tournament strategy. They don't realize that when there are only three players left in the tournament, the definition of a good hand changes drastically. I know I always have more to learn when it comes to poker, but I feel so great about what I already know.

August 16
I did not come close to making it to the money in yesterday's $500 No Limit event at the Legends of Poker. In the first round I lost everything but $10 of my chips in a series of hands. I started out raising a few hands and then folding my hands to large bets when I missed the flop completely. We started out with $1,000 in chips and $200 of them were lost in pots like that. When I had $800 in chips, I raised to $60 with AJ of hearts and one opponent reraised to $200. All players folded back to me and I decided to call. The flop was T44 with two hearts. I considered all options and thought my best move was to move all-in. I knew if I check raised, my opponent would be pot committed and I thought he might lay down most hands with an all-in bet by me. If he decided to call, I figured I would have outs. He called with his pocket aces and I called out for a heart. The turn was a queen giving me the straight draw too, but the river was a blank and I was left with $30. When it was my big blind, I was ready to commit my chips (I had to put $15 of the $30 I had in the pot), but nobody raised and I was able to get off the hand when I didn't hit. I folded my small blind as well. I had $10 in chips and I waited two hands before I got a hand that worked together. Two players limped in and I liked my 98 of spades in this spot. The board was T33. One player bet and all of the other players folded. I said, "I need runner runner", but when the bettor turned up his cards, I was in a lot better shape than I had thought. He only had pocket fours. I could catch a backdoor straight or flush draw or I could catch a nine or eight. The turn was a king of spades giving me the flush draw and the river was an eight. I doubled up again a short time later and when the second level was over, I had $200 in chips.

I was eliminated on the first hand of the third level when two players limped for $50 and I moved all-in from late position with KQ. Both of the blinds folded and for some strange reason, the original limper called me with K3 of diamonds. The second limper folded. The flop was king high with no diamonds and I was sitting pretty. The only card that would knock me out of the tournament was a three and sure enough it came on the turn.

I left the tournament feeling good about the way I played and I am looking forward to the other events. I am not sure which ones I am going to play, but I think I will play in at least three more.

I didn't leave with any prize money, but I did leave the tournament area with my new Legends of Poker ring (they got it resized for me). The ring is given to all the winners of the Legends events and mine is too cool. It looks like a class ring with a blue stone in the middle. Behind the stone, you can see the letters BC (for Bicycle Casino). On one of the sides of the rings it says "first place." It doesn't take much to make me happy.

August 12
I am still trying to recover from playing the Omaha tournament. I don't know how some poker players go back and play the next day after making a final table. It is so physically and mentally exhausting and I don't see how any player can play their best game on the second day.

Even though I am still tired, I managed to write a report about my Legends of Poker win. The next tournament I probably will play in is the $500 No Limit event on Monday. If I manage to make another final table, I will be in contention for the all-around points prize. That would be a nice treat.

August 11
It is 7:15 in the morning and I just got home from playing the Omaha tournament that started 15 hours ago. I won the whole thing and am looking forward to writing about, but for now I am going to bed and here is Max Shapiro's report on the event.

August 7
I played in the Legends of Poker $300 w/ rebuy No Limit event at the Bike yesterday. I made it through about 2/3 of the field. I arrived a little early and bought in for myself and my friend, Mark Seif. He arrived after the tournament started and approached my table for his seating card. I was involved in a hand and told him, "watch this". I had played 23 of clubs for a limp and flopped bottom pair and a flush draw, the turn was a three giving me trips and I pushed all-in. I knew I was going to win the hand and I knew that he would appreciate the fact that the players might think I was out of my mind.

I didn't have to do a rebuy because I doubled my stack early on, but I did take the double add-on at the break. We started with $500 in chips w/ $500 more for each add-on. I bought a total of $1,500 in chips and at break, I had about $2,200.

I lost the first hand after the break when I flopped a set of eights and my opponent sucked out on me (with my assistance). The flop was A87 and both of us checked. The turn was a ten and I made a pot size bet. I figured that if he had a straight, I would hear about it. He hesitated for awhile and called. The river was a queen. I thought about it for a second and then decided to make a bet because if he had the J9, I would have already heard about it. I failed to recognize that the river would have given KJ a straight. After all our chips got in the pot (he only had a small amount left after my bet), I saw that the KJ made a straight. He won the pot with exactly that.

Even though I lost that pot, I still had enough to stay in the game. I picked up a lot of pots on pure bluffs and was pleased with some of the reads I was making. As soon as I got my chips up to an average stack, I lost a lot of them when I took AQ against pocket kings. After that hand, I only had about $1,500 left.

Shortly after, our table broke and the first hand at the new table, I picked up pocket kings. A player from early position raised the $200 blind to $600 and I moved all-in for a total of $1,425. All players folded and the original raiser called. He turned up AT and I had a bad feeling that he was going to beat me. The flop was Kxx all clubs. He held the ten of clubs and made a flush on the river and sent me home.

I haven't had the time to play in too many of the events at the Legends, but I am planning on playing a couple this week. The first one is the Omaha Hi Low event on Wednesday.

Speaking of Omaha Hi Low, I played in the weekly tournament on PokerStars tonight, but I didn't last long. During the first three rounds, I was one of the chip leaders, but after that I couldn't win a hand. I think I only made it to about 75 players.

August 5
The "Live at the Bike" show was pretty boring last night. I kept asking myself if I really was prepare to do the commentary job two days a week for four hours straight. Some of the programs seem like they might not even edit well for the 1 1/2 hour Poker Channel show. Talking for four hours is difficult when there is much action. We tended to say the same things over and over again..."This is really a passive game", "Limped around, five way action", etc.

August 3
The Live at the Bike show is moving on to bigger and better things. We have been picked up by the Poker Channel in the UK and tonight was the premier episode.

The show will continue to be four hours long, but they are planning on editing the show to an hour and a half. There have been a couple changes, the most significant is that we (the commentators) are shown on the screen from time to time. Talk about nerve racking.

Normally, all shows are just live action games. We regularly run the $30-60 Limit Holdem, the $200 buy-in No Limit game, the $500 minimum buy-in (with $5-10 blinds), and the $1000 minimum buy-in No Limit game ($10-20 blinds). Tonight was a little different. We held a $5,000 tournament with 17 players in it and the top three finishers got paid. First prize was $50,000, second was $25,000, and third place got $10,000. We had an all-star line up and it was pretty exciting most of the time. Some of the players in tonight's game were Jerry Buss, Gabe Kaplan, Yosh Nakano, Mo Fathipour (the host of the big No Limit Game) and Ken Berg of Koo Koo Roo chicken fame. One of my favorite players, Patrick ended up winning the event.

Patrick is the type of player who would annoy most people. He has a temper and talks a lot of trash. The reason I like him is because he has a "No-Holds barred" attitude. What you see is what you get. I always appreciate a person for telling it like it is (or at least telling it like he thinks it is). Whenever I think about people with this type of personality, I think of Charles Barkley. As much as I love Jordan, Barkley is right up there with him because of his personality. Anyway, I think I was probably the only person in the casino rooting for Patrick. Honestly, he deserved to win. His aggressive style is perfect for tournaments and he ran over the table tonight.

Before the Live at the Bike show started, Patrick saw me sitting in a $100 No Limit game and decided to sit down and join me (he usually plays bigger). On his first hand, I raised with pocket eights and he moved all-in for his $100. I called because I know how Patrick plays in the small games. The flop was AKx and I told the player next to me that normally that board would be scary, but not in this case. Sure enough, my eights held up. I am not sure what he had. On the next hand, I raised the $3 blind to $11 with AJ of hearts. Two players called behind me and Patrick moved all-in again (he had just rebought). I instantly called and the other two players folded. One of the players asked if we were playing partners and I told him, "No, I just know how he plays." When all was said and done, he won the pot with a pair of deuces. He had moved all-in with T2 and beat my AJ. I told him I had to leave the table because I had to do the commentating for the "Live" show. He obviously decided that playing in the Live at the Bike tournament was a good idea. It certainly worked out for him this time.

I am looking forward to doing more shows and the thought of 8 million viewers watching is exciting. Who knows? I could be the next Mike Sexton. HAH! At least, I could be the next Vince. :)

August 1
The Legends of Poker started a few days ago, but I have only played in one tournament in the series so far. On Friday, there was a $300 Omaha event and I almost made it to the money.

The first hand I played, I raised with A22T and somebody three bet behind me. There were four people in the pot for three bets and an Ace still flopped. I don't know why I am still amazed when this happens, but I am. Another ace came on the turn and I wondered what the hell my opponents could have when they called three bets preflop. I scooped the first pot with a full house and won a few pots immediately following. By the time the first dealer got up from the box, I had built my $800 in chips to $1400.

I couldn't win a hand with the next two dealers, but I had enough chips that I wasn't in danger of elimination. I finally started to win again and about 2 hours later, I was the chip leader.

When we got down to about 50 players, I lost some big hands. The first hand, I had A244 and made a great move that didn't work out. There were three people in the pot and the flop was K75. I checked, the player behind me checked, and the button bet. I put him on a low draw and I was going to make a move for the pot on the turn if it paired the board. The turn was a seven. I checked, the player behind me checked, and the button bet. I made my move and raised (the button was now all-in and I knew I would scoop if I got heads up with him). The next player almost mucked his hand and then looked back at his cards. After the double take, he called and I knew he found something he liked. The river paired the board again and the button won the hand with trip sevens. I didn't win that pot, but I was pleased when the all-in player showed a low draw with no pair. My move almost worked.

I lost another big pot a couple hands later. Will (a pretty tough Omaha player) raised and I three bet behind him. We were heads up and I threw a bet out on a high flop when he checked it to me. He called my bet. The turn brought a low card and he check called again. The river brought a queen of diamonds making three on board (I was holding the Ace of diamonds) with no low. Will led out and I called because he would make a move in a situation like that. He showed two pair (queens up) and I was bummed. I can't fault Will for the way he played it (although his bet on the river was horrible), but my hand was a huge favorite until the river.

I struggled along for awhile and started to make a comeback, but I couldn't get over the hump. I finished in about 25th place and only 18 people were paid. I am not sure what other events I am going to play in, but I am ready.