Poker Blog

August 2006

August 30
I had a great time last night at the Paul Hannum Charity tournament. There were 117 players including Mike Sexton, Vince Van Patten, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Courtney Friel.

The first table I drew was packed full of women. I had Jennicide, Courtney, and the fiancé of one of the WPT boot camp instructors. The action moved fairly slow at our table, but I could hear the players getting rowdy across the way. Gavin Smith bought a bottle of Goldschlager and the table was getting toasted. The only excitement we had was Jenn scolding the dealer for making her exchange her chips. Supposedly he did it to "help her out" so she would have change for the blinds. Our table was one of the first ones to break and I got moved to Steve Lipscomb and Lou Diamond Phillip's table.

Steve had a $500 bounty on his head and it looked like the players before me were really gunning for him because he had a lot of chips. I knew I needed to start getting in there and mixing it up if I wanted a shot at the bounty prize. Fortunately I was dealt aces and doubled up right away. I doubled through again when my AK held up against a player's weak holdings and I won a little more a short time later which gave me enough to take Steve out if the opportunity arose. Nobody at our table won the bounty because our table broke up and Steve and the gang moved to new tables.

I was moved to the party table and they were good and toasted by the time I arrived. As soon as I sat down, I saw Gavin move in on a board of TTT. He had a decent amount of chips and so did his opponent. His opponent called and Gavin said, "your pocket pair is good for now. The guy turned over QJ and Gavin said, "you are still good." He showed a jack never did show what the other card was.

We took a break and were finally moved to the table in the foyer. I was really surprised that we were in the tournament room at all considering they had a 10k event going on and they were down to the final three tables. 1.5 million for first prize and they let the big charity party play in the same room. I would imagine that some of the players were a bit annoyed.

The top five prizes were great and I really wanted to win one of them. First prize (won by Jennifer Tilly) was a 25k WPT Championship seat at Bellagio, second was a 10k WPT of your choice, third was a PokerStars Caribbean Adventure package, fourth was a Paradise Conquest package, and fifth was a seat at the Invitational at the Commerce. There were 20 players who ended up getting prizes and I was one of those players. Instead of going home with a seat to one of those great tournaments, I went home with a WPT backpack filled with goodies (DVD, Jacket, and Book) for my 18th place finish.

August 24
I went and played in an invitational event at the Bike today. The media and past Legends of Poker Champions were invited to play in free tournament where the last legend standing would receive a free seat into the WPT event this weekend. The last media person standing received $2,500 cash and $2,500 for the favorite charity.

It looked like there were about 200 players in the event (they never posted the official numbers) and I made it down to three tables. I played really good for the whole tournament and then made a donkey move on the final hand. I made a read of the situation and ignored that read. I was pretty bent out of shape at myself, but then realized that if I was going to make a stupid move it was better to do it at this free event than a big buy-in one. Even if I won the seat, I am not sure if I would have enough energy to play in a five day event.

After the WPT event this weekend, there is a charity event (August 29th at 7:00pm) at the Bike to help raise money for Paul Hannum's fiancee and unborn child. If you have ever played in a WPT event, then you would know Paul. He was the man behind the camera and the one that could put a smile on anybody's face.

August 20
I went to the Bicycle yesterday to participate in the Ladies Event. I haven't been so keen on the idea of Ladies only tournaments lately, but this time I couldn't resist. Robyn Moder, one of the executives of the WPT and her staff made it their personal mission to raise as much money as possible to help fund the fight for the cure for breast cancer. All money that was raised was donated to the Susan G. Komen foundation.

I was asked almost a week ago if I wanted to participate (and do an interview) and I struggled with it at first. I know that I don't look my best. I am really tired and don't want to go into a poker room and see a bunch of players that I know. I don't want the questions. I don't want the sympathy. I just want to get finished with this whole damn thing and start leading a normal life again. But I have this sense of obligation. I believe that things happen for a reason. I don't exactly know what that reason is, but in my journey of figuring it out, I think I should help anybody out that I possibly can.

I arrived at the Bike early and decided to jump into an Omaha game while I passed the time. It actually felt good to be sitting there again. I have spent endless hours online playing Omaha over the past six months, but haven't spent any in a b&m casino playing ring games. I was more in my element than I have been in a long time and I cleaned up in the short time at the table.

I made my way to the interview area and was hooked up to the microphone. The guy conducting the interview made me feel at ease and if we were just having a normal conversation, it would have been a good one. The problem is that it wasn't just a normal conversation and I didn't do what I had set out to do when I made my trip to the Bike. I didn't mention that I was fortunate in my battle because I found out about my breast cancer early. I didn't say that women should get their annual mammograms and do their monthly self exams. To make matters worse, when the tournament started, the film crew came by the tables and asked if we were playing in honor of someone. I raised my hand and said, "I am playing for myself because cancer sucks!" I am such a dork! I had a second chance to say something clever for the camera and that is what I came up with.

The tournament was a typical women's tournament. Not many of the women could actually play poker and I never felt like I had enough chips to actually "Play" myself. We started with $1,500 with blinds of $25-25 and after playing two hands (pocket jacks and tens), half my chips were gone. I was forced to move in every time I had a decent hand. I did it about 15 times and wasn't called on any of them until the last hand. I wish I had been called on a few of them because I really need to double up. The way it was working, I was moving in enough to keep my stack at the same size relative to the blinds, but never really moved up. The final hand, I pushed in from the cutoff with KJ and was called by the small blind with pocket jacks.

A side note about the event was that I ran into Jennicide. I haven't seen her for awhile and after catching up with her, she introduced me to Vanessa Rousso. I have chatted with her a little online, but have never met her face to face. She is a totally cool chick (a ball of energy for sure) and she promised to do the article for my site that she had promised to do a couple months ago. She said that she will have it finished within three days, so let's see if that ball of energy actually finishes it when promised.

After the tournament, I decided to go out and play some more Omaha. Once again, I was totally in my element and I felt great sitting there with the players. I know I am a sick individual when I enjoy sitting at the table with a bunch of grumpy old Omaha players. Amidst the grumpy men, there was an older woman who was sitting directly to my left. She was very funny. She played a hand with the guy sitting directly to my right and she ended up losing it. She asked if he was my boyfriend or husband and I told her, "my boyfriend or husband would know how to wipe his mouth." It took her a second to realize that the guy had food on his mouth and I said "he has had that on there for a few minutes". She told me to stop looking at it. So I sat there, with my hand covering the right side of my face because I didn't want to watch this guy eat. And the woman sat there staring at the guy like when a person drives by a car accident. She just couldn't keep her eyes off him. She told me, "It's getting worse now. Much, much worse." And I laughed and told her "stop looking at it". I totally miss the casino days!

I played online today and was surprised when a guy asked if it was "really me". After I told him yes, he said something to the effect of it being an honor to play with me and that he hopes that I am feeling well. Since that player was so kind, I wanted to give him a "shout out". Hello Seabass74!

August 18
I played in the short-handed No Limit tournament on Full Tilt Poker today. The tournament started 19 minutes ago and I am already on the rail.

Sometimes a perfect opportunity arises and this happened today. I made a standard raise with pocket fives and was reraised by the guy on the button. I decided to call to see if I could hit a set and double up. The flop was Q54. I checked, he bet, I raised and he called. The turn was a ten and I moved all-in for more than a pot size bet and he called with AK. Obviously a jack came on the river!

I had originally planned on playing a lot of online tournaments this weekend, but I was invited to the Bicycle Casino for tomorrow's Ladies Event. I think Ladies events are a good way to get new women involved in the game, but I had kind of given up playing in them. But, considering the WPT and the Bike are teaming up to raise money for breast cancer, I decided to make the trip and hopefully be a voice for the cause.

August 15
I am going to playing a lot of tournaments online over the next two months. Right now Full Tilt Poker is running the FTOPS and I played in the Omaha event today. There were over 550 players and I finished in 64th place (they paid 54).

It looked like today might be my day. I actually held some cards, hit some flops, and even scooped a fair share of pots. I started out as one of the chip leaders, but lost a couple pots and was a little above average. I managed to accumulate some more chips and I was in approximately 25th place with 80 people left when the following hand occurred. One player raised in mid position and it was folded around to me. I reraised with A25J. I wanted to take my hand heads up against the original raiser because earlier in the tournament he beat me with 234K. I will take A25J against a player that raises with 234K any day of the week. The flop was J82 giving me two pair and an A5 low. He checked, I bet, and he called. The turn was a four. Again, he checked, I bet, and he called. The river was an ace and he led out and I called as I was calling him every name in the book (so glad that they can't hear me). Sure enough, he showed 3458. He took 11k of my chips on that hand and then the following hand another guy took a big chunk. At least the other guy had a decent hand and draw. I was so bummed that I got knocked out without making any money.

I am not sure if I am going to play the Pot Limit event tomorrow because I haven't played that game enough. I will probably play the Horse event on Thursday and the No Limit 6 max tourney on Friday. Of course, I am going to try and play the main event on Sunday, but it depends on my plans and how I am feeling.

So speaking of "how I am feeling". I am pleased to say that I finished my 7th of 8 treatments today. One more to go and then I will be done with this crap (and hopefully done with it forever). I have kept a positive attitude about it for the most part, but sometimes it is tiring and I just want to feel like my old self. I want my mind to be clear and my body to feel strong. I am making a commitment to working my ass off when all this is said and done. Right now, I have cut myself some slack. So after my next treatment (and of course after a few weeks recuperation time), I will be making more journal entries and working on the site a little more. I will also be hitting the gym again and hopefully will be a kick ass chick once again.

August 14
I went to the Bike today to defend my Legends of Poker title. As soon as I took my seat, one player said "The champion is here. You can't hide behind those sunglasses." I was really shocked that he actually remembered that I won the event last year, but when I went on break, I realized that he knew I was champion because my picture from last year was posted in front of the tournament room.

I started the tournament off strong and made one call that Steve would be proud of. Before the river was dealt, one guy said "no low". The river was a high blank and he led out. The next two players folded and I was last to act. There were three flush cards out there and I missed my low, but I did have two pair. Because the player said "no low", I thought he actually needed a low card to make his hand. I called and he said "good call." I saw at least one person do a double take at the situation.

I wish the rest of the tournament was as easy I wasn't getting very many playable hands and couldn't get any momentum going. I only lasted through 1/4 of the field and I was out. Definitely not the way I wanted to defend my title.

August 7
I went to the Bicycle Casino and played in the $300 Legends of Poker Omaha Hi/Low event today. I was feeling better than I have in a long time and actually enjoyed playing even though I never had more chips than the $2,000 we started with. During the first two rounds, I didn't win a hand. I didn't even win 1/4 of a pot. My hands went something like this: I raised with A236 and got called by three players. The flop was QJ9 and I was done with my hand. I had only $600 after those two rounds (that was pretty good considering) and managed to stick around for another few hours.

Overall, the coverage for the WSOP still bites, but thankfully we have Pauly. He doesn't have the "all-access" media badge, but he is able to get close enough to tell it like it is. Here is a small excerpt of his entry for today:

"Some pros like Humberto Brenes or Allen Cunningham and random newbies are playing the best poker of their lives. But you won't hear about it. That's where you see the results of checkbook journalism. Sure the suits want you to come and cover the WSOP, but not too close so that you actually report what's going on. The Europeans players are wicked pissed. They are being ignored by the official media. The middle tiered pros are overlooked. And Asian poker players are ignored unless you happen to have tits."

I did manage to find a few other players to root for besides Allen Cunningham. Jamie Gold is an LA-based player who has played a lot of tournaments at the Bicycle Casino. Eric "Rizen" Lynch is an online tournament player that I have run into on several occasions. His online record is amazing and it looks like it is carrying over into the B&M world. There is also a player named David Einhorn who plans to donate all his winnings to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. There are so many players that claim, "It's not about the money, it's all about the bracelet." This guy is making a real statement.

August 5
Finally I can somewhat keep track of who is left in the main event. Seriously, the coverage this year really bites. One of the sites is driving me absolutely crazy with their excessive use of the words "takes a hit". Phil takes a hit. Daniel takes a hit. Marcel takes a hit. It really makes me think that the writers have been taking too many hits of their own.

A lot of the big names have been eliminated, but it looks like sweet Allen Cunningham is still hanging in there. I was disappointed to see a couple of the players go today especially David Chiu. David is such a nice guy and the bummer part about him being eliminated is that the guy can actually play! I remember Steve telling me about the few guys (maybe five) whose Omaha game he respects and David was one of them. For Steve to say that a person can play the game of Omaha well is really saying something.

And we have women still left in the tournament. It's pretty sad that the women only equated to about 3% of the field this year, but it's nice to see that there are some still hanging tough. My main girl, Isabelle, is out. She told me that she guaranteed that a woman was going to make it to the final table this year. I am certain that she had high hopes that it was going to be her, but it wasn't in the cards.

I've been playing a lot of Omaha this week on PokerStars. I had a nice change of pace this week and booked a win every day. I am hoping that streak continues for tomorrow night's Omaha tournament.

August 1
After four days of day one, the World Series of Poker is now doing the first day of day two. I also am looking forward to day three later this week when the tournament will at least get down to everybody playing on the same day.