Poker Game Journal

July 2005

July 27
I enjoy working at the Bicycle Casino, but on days like this, I absolutely LOVE working at The Bike!

The Legends of Poker series begins tomorrow and The Bike wanted to make the event extra special. They decided to expand our high limit section and add 18 more tables. They only had two weeks to get the job done and it looks fantastic.

They officially opened the new section tonight and Joe Hachem, the World Series of Poker Champion, did the honorary ribbon cutting. After the ribbon cutting, there was a party for Joe celebrating his win.

I was doing the commentating for the Live at the Bike show and halfway through it, we took a short break for the usual table talk time. This is a time when the commentators stop talking and let the audience listen to the players on the table. I walked outside and saw a limousine pull up. I was certain that it was the new World Champ, but I was wrong. Approximately ten people got out of the car and I recognized them as some of Joe's family. Two minutes later, the second limo pulled up and Joe got out along with ten more people.

We did the ribbon cutting and before heading off to the party, I directed Joe into the Live at the Bike booth. He sat with Bart for about ten minutes talking about his recent win. I didn't get a chance to talk to him one on one, but I at least got to hear a few stories that he told. I also grabbed a few pictures.

At the party, I was introduced to a woman named, Kelli. It took me a minute, but I finally realized that she is Kelli Gates from the KLOS radio show. She talked about my website and told me she enjoyed reading it. She mentioned that she checks my journal every morning and one of the men on the table said, "And I listen to you every morning." She said, "You listen to me while I am reading her site." I was flattered. We talked for awhile longer and then Barry Greenstein approached our table. I introduced the two of them and they talked about Barry's skit on the Party Poker Cruise.

I stayed and talked with Barry. He asked if I had read his book yet and I told him that I hadn't. I said that I was trying to catch up on some work, but should be able to get to it in a couple days. I asked him if Mimi Tran was finally invited to the WPT Ladies event and he told me "no". We talked about how the World Poker Tour has overlooked some of the women who have been successful players for many years. He mentioned Barbara Enright, Marsha Wagonner and Mimi and I agreed. While we were on the subject of the Ladies event, we talked about Clonie Gowen. Clonie has had some recent success and said that it was because she read Barry's new book, Ace on the River. I made a mental note to read the book before the Legend's events are over.

After talking with Barry, I saw Kenna James. He is always one of my favorite people to talk with. I talked with him for a total of one minute before being summoned back to the Live at the Bike show. Kenna has done some guest commentating on the show and he is a favorite of the viewers. I dragged him along and he took my spot in the booth. I stood and watched him for the last half hour of the show and I was hysterical by the time I left. He is so damn funny and is the most insightful commentator I have ever heard. I actually learned a few things in the short time I was in the booth. One of my favorite things he said was "You are your biggest opponent."

The show finished about the same time the party did. I went and said my goodbyes and watched Joseph Hachem getting into the limo. I am sure he is going to be a great ambassador for the game.

July 25
I played in three online tournaments yesterday and made the final table on two of them.

The first tournament was a $60 multi-table No Limit event on Paradise Poker. There were 153 players and I finished in 4th place. When we were down to six players, I had 32% of the chips and I liked my chances. The players were playing tight and I was stealing a lot of blinds. One player finally decided to take a stand against me when we were four handed and I couldn't get my momentum back. The blinds were $3,000/6,000 and I raised to $20,000. All of the players folded to the big blind and he moved in for an additional $40,000. I had him covered, but only by a hair. My first instinct said to call, but I decided against it. I could only dominate a smaller pair and I didn't think he would risk his chips with a hand like that. After he folded, he showed pocket fours and I would have kicked myself if I could have.

I signed up for the $200 No Limit $500.000 guarantee event on PokerStars, but didn't fair well in that one. The last tournament of the day was the Omaha HiLo event that I won last Sunday. I finished in sixth place. I played well in the event, but struggled like never before when we were down to 27 players. When there were 20 players (2 away from the money), the short stacks really tightened up and I kept playing my usual game. I figured they thought I was out of my mind because I kept risking my chips when there were a few stacks shorter than mine. I have said it before, I play to win! My style of play helped me make the final table on this particular day. The short stacks got knocked out on or around the bubble.

I have been running so dry in Omaha and I am really excited that I have made two consecutive final tables. I am hoping that my streak continues in the Legends of Poker tournament series at the Bicycle Casino. The series starts this week.

July 18
I knew that after forking over thousands of dollars at the World Series of Poker and not placing in any event, I was going to come home and win a tournament. I did exactly that.

Last night, I played in the $200 Omaha High Low tournament on Pokerstars and beat out 123 players for a first place finish of $7440.

I started the tournament out winning a couple pots, but not really building my chip stack to a commanding lead. I made sure I stayed focused and before I knew it, we were down to 27 players. I honestly had no idea how close we were to the money because I was just paying attention to what was going on at my table. A new player sat down at the table and he had a huge stack and I wondered how he had so many chips. I took a look at the lobby and saw how many players were left.

I was amazed at how poorly some of the players played the game. I had an idiot to my left, a moron to my right, and a loose cannon three seats to my right. I was sitting at the perfect table for me to build my average stack into a mountain of chips. I got a some good hands, kept the pressure on my opponents, and even made a couple of moves. Before long, I was one of the chip leaders.

The final table was pretty fast. Four players got knocked out right away and the final five players played down even quicker. The five of us played only about 25 hands before I was declared the winner. I ended up getting heads up with the player I was hoping for. I saw him unnecessarily risk his chips earlier and I knew I just needed one good hand to take him down. I got most of his chips when I made the nut Broadway straight but didn't raise him. Finally when it came a blank on the river I raised, and he went four bets with the third nut hand. The last hand I was dealt A34K and I raised, he reraised, and I capped it (I had him about 8 to 1 in chips before the hand started). The flop was 982, he bet and I called. The turn was a king. After he bet the turn, I raised to make him put the last of his chips in. In a heads up situation, a pair of kings and the second low draw is a pretty strong hand. Our cards were turned up and I saw that he had A368 for the nut low draw and a pair of eights. I needed a high card for the game to be over I caught the jack on the river.

Naturally, I still wish I would have won a bracelet at the WSOP, but I will take any win that I can get!

July 14
It feels great to be home. I have resumed my semi-normal life and finally feel like myself after the tiring month and a half of the WSOP.

Work went well and I managed to make a little money on both days I played. Honestly, the win is small in comparison to just one buy-in I made at the World Series, but I will take what I can get at the moment. One of the nicest things about being back at the casino is seeing the friendly faces (even the railbirds). I also enjoyed being able to commentate for the Live at the Bike show. The regular commentators have been in Vegas with me, so the show was kept alive by the "B-team" (that term was from 2+2 not from me). We got a lot of positive feedback for last nights show and I was happy that the listening audience was glad to have us back.

As of now, there are 13 players left in the main event of the WSOP. I am a little disappointed with some of the recent eliminations starting with John Juanda. I played a tournament on FullTilt Poker about a month and a half ago where I won 1% of John's action in the main event along with my $7500 prize money. John ended up finishing in 31st place for $274,090 which means I am $2740 richer. Greg Raymer was another person I was sad to see leave the tournament. If he managed to win another main event, especially considering the fields, it would go great things for poker. I am certain that his 25th place finish is enough for some people to finally give him the respect he deserves. Lastly, and definitely not least is Phil Ivey. Anybody that has read my site knows how much I admire Phil. He is a wonderful person and the most talented player around. I was doing the commentary tonight when I got the phone call that he was knocked out. I stepped back out of the booth and when I walked back in, the others were just looking at me (they just found out themselves via 2+2). One of them asked, "Was that phone call about Phil?" and I said, "Yes, I just want to cry." I am not a sentimental person and I would not really cry about it, but I was so bummed.

July 10
I am home from the World Series of Poker and I have to admit I am happy to be here. I played in a total of nine events and didn't place in any of them. It has been a whirlwind of a month. I am happy with the way I played even though I didn't finish in the money, but more importantly, I learned so much and met some great people in the business.

I got knocked out of the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship on day one (click the link for my trip report) and spent the next day just recovering from poker. I am glad the whole thing is over, including the parties, but am willing to do it all over again next year.

I am scheduled to go back to work this week, but I think I am going to take one extra day off. I have so much to write about and I am certain that it is going to take me a few days to start making a dent in my "to do" list. I am excited about going back to work and playing some live action and I can't wait to get back into the booth for the Live at the Bike show.

July 3
I am leaving in a few minutes, but I wanted to mention a charity auction that is going on at Ebay. The World Poker Tour online charity auction is raising money for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatrics AIDS foundation. The auction runs until July 7th. The final table players from the WPT Championship autographed cards, chips and table felt for the auction. Daniel Negreanu, Mike Sexton, Vince Van Patten, and Shana Hiatt did the same.

July 2
I am back from the World Series of Poker. I gave my best effort in the $5000 Omaha tournament, but fell short once again. You can read all about it in my trip report.

I decided to go up to Vegas a little earlier than planned on my next trip. Originally, I was just going to go back to play in the main event, but I want to play in the $1000 No Limit event with rebuys. When I play online, I have my strongest showings in rebuy tournaments and I think with the way I have been playing, I have a legitimate shot at this one, even though there will probably be two thousand players. (It's not getting any easier to win these things!)

I am leaving tomorrow to play in the event on Monday and then I am going to stick around for the main event on Thursday. I will be playing on day one. If I make it through the day, I will have two days off before day two begins.

One great thing about my trips to the World Series is some of the people I have met. One of the nicest people I have had the pleasure of meeting is Pauly. He runs the website Tao of Poker. If you haven't had a chance to check out his blog, try to find some time to do so. He is a great writer and he always checks up on me during the tournaments to see how I am doing. If you are wondering about my progress in the future events, you can probably read about it on his site.

Also today the Associated Press came out with a story on women and the World Series of Poker main event. There is one quote from me in the article if you want to check it out.