Shirley Rosario Poker Journal

August 2007

August 30
Obviously I am not in the main event any longer because I would have definitely written a little something about it.

The second day of the tournament started out great with me winning two really large pots and increasing my stack from 18k to 60k.

I think lack of patience ended up getting the best of me. After I increased my stack, I went so card dead and my stack dwindled to about 40k. I played one hand on the button in a limped family pot that cost me an additional 10k.

Our table broke and I took my 30k over to a new table and ended up losing it in less than one round. I am still questioning my play on my final hand. The blinds were $800-1600 and Young Phan limped in first position. I was in middle position with AJ. I put in a standard raise and he flat called me and everybody else folded. The flop was J43. He checked, I bet, he doubled my bet, and after a little thought I moved in. I wasn't thrilled with a call in that position because I felt that if I called, I basically committed myself to the hand. Since I have played with Young on previous occasions, I should have thought a little harder. He is a pretty straight forward player and it was very likely that he had the best hand. If I put him on a range of hands, most of them would have had me beat, therefore I could have (should have) made a laydown. As soon as he insta-called me, I knew he had the best hand. He showed 33 for a set of threes and I was done.

August 25
I played in the $10,000 World Poker Tour main event at the Bike Casino yesterday and I managed to make it through to the next day. I do not have a lot of chips and I have a lot of work ahead of me to make it through day 2. Average chips are about 50k. I have 18,200.

I sat down at my first table and only recognized Captain Tom Franklin. There were two empty seats when the tournament director said "Shuffle up and deal." Our first hand took 7 full minutes to play and we didn't even see a flop. One of the players eventually called a clock on the player in the big blind. While he was being "clocked", the empty seat #2 was being filled with one of my best friends, Mark Seif. I mumbled "oh great" because he is a tough opponent. The worst part about it is that he plays harder on his friends and I knew that it could spell trouble for me. He talked to the players next to him and then looked up and saw me and said "Oh that's funny." Fortunately we didn't get into too many pots together and I was able to build my 20k stack up to 25k by the first break. Thirty minutes into the next round, our table broke and I was moved to a table away from Mark. Bart Hanson (used to be my co-commentator on Live at the Bike) was at my new table and once again I wasn't familiar with the other players. Right out of the gate I lost a chunk of my chips when I flopped a set and my opponent put a lot of pressure on me when the flush card hit the turn. I called the turn bet, but mucked on the river when the board didn't pair. I think I made a good laydown because it made sense for him to have a flush in that spot. If he happened to have the dry ace of clubs, then he made a great move, but I believe I was correct with my read. After that hand, I didn't get involved in a lot of hands and my stack took a nose dive. Toward the end of the night, I built my pitiful stack back up by winning a key all-in hand and by trying to pick up more blinds. I know that in order for me to make it through day 2, I am going to have to be a little more aggressive and showdown some winners.

There were a couple of funny things that happened during the tournament. The first one was at my first table. The dealer announced the raise incorrectly and Captain Tom said "How much?" and she repeated the incorrect amount. I spoke up and said the correct amount and she said "Oh $2400" Tom said "Okay, I thought I was blind" and she said "No, he is the small blind". Obviously English wasn't her first language and I said "That was cute" and Tom and the player to my right agreed.

Toward the end of the night, Randy Kim (one of the managers at the Bike) walked up to Dan Harrington and said "The staff is complaining that if it wasn't for you and your books, this tournament would be over already." The last thing that cracked me up during the day was when one of the players across the room obnoxiously yelled "That's what I am talking about!! Just one time! That's what I am talking about!!" and the player in seat 5 at my table (Travis Green the professional hockey player) said "If you ever hear me scream like that, kick me in the balls."

Day 2 is Monday.

August 25
I played in a the E.O. World Championship event earlier this week and unfortunately was knocked out just before the money. There were about 150 entries and they paid 16. I was eliminated in 19th place.

Sometimes it is really hard on me when I get knocked out in a tournament, but on this particular tournament, I was feeling really good about the way I played especially since I haven't been playing Stud 8 or better game very long.

There was one incident during the tournament that I am not proud of. A player moved to my table and I have had a run-in with him before. Away from the table we are very friendly, but at the table, he rubs me like no other because he tries to get under my skin. Years ago, he used the friendship card and told me "Just fold, I have you beat. I'll show you." Since I only had A high, I folded and he showed me a draw. It took me a long time to get over that and I am sure I have mentioned it several times in my journal over the years. On this day, he started in with me and I kind of flipped out and told him "just don't talk to me." He continued to ramble and I said "I told you not to talk to me." I know the other players at the table could feel the tension and I had to breathe and put on my headphones to get myself back into a focused state. Sometimes emotions are going to get the best of you, but it's important to let it go and move forward with your game. I did this, but I am not happy that other players at the table saw me acting like a child for that short period of time.

I will be playing in the main event this weekend at the Bike this weekend. The buy in is 10k and first prize is guaranteed at 1.5 million.

August 17
I played in the 1k NL tournament at the Bicycle Casino's Legends of Poker on Wednesday and ended up making it into the money. At 27 players, we broke for the night and came back on Thursday to play day 2. I ended up with 13,800 which was less than average. There were several players that had around 40k so there were a lot of us in the 10-19k range.

My table played pretty straight forward and there weren't many opportunities for me to steal especially since Super Mario was in the big blind when it was my button. He has been known to defend his blind to the death and takes it personally if you raise his blind. I played a few hands, but none were particularly interesting until the last one. The blinds were 400-800 w/ a 100 ante and the guy in second position limped. It was folded around to the guy on the button and he called the limp. I looked at my hand in the small blind and I saw AQ of hearts. I had about 8k in chips and I was pretty certain I could just pick up the pot right here if I pushed. I know the original limper fairly well and was pretty sure he didn't have aces. I moved all-in and the big blind thought for a minute and then decided to fold after they counted my chips down. The original limper folded after thinking for a few seconds and then the guy on the button thought and then said "I call." I was totally shocked when he turned up AK. I would have never expected him to call a limp on the button with AK and then I was shocked when George (the original limper) said I folded AQ. I was pretty damn sure that I was in a race situation at WORST when I moved in. Oh well, my 15th place finish returned $1,900.

August 13
I am trying to improve my Stud Eight or Better game, so I went to the Bike to play in the $500 Legends event.

We started out with 2k in chips and after the first few rounds, I had a little less than what I started with. During those few rounds, it was kind of strange how a lot of pots were being played, but it seemed like everybody had almost the same chips as we started with. When we came back from break, the levels seemed very high. The new levels were $25 ante, $50 bring-in and $150-300 limits.

I was dealt A47 of spades and ended up playing for four bets preflop because I was trapped in the middle of a raising war. I caught a good (not great) card on fourth with a red six. Once again, I was caught in the middle of a raising war. On fifth, I paired my seven, but at that point, I knew that I was the only person going for the low and winning half that pot was going to put me a little above average in chips. I caught a high card on sixth and on seventh I hit another pair with a four. I only had less than one bet left and I was certain that I was beat, but there was no way that I was going fold in that spot. I called and one of my opponents turned over kings up and the other turned up trip fives. I was correct in thinking that my low draw was good and was disappointed to be eliminated.

August 9
I played in the $545 NL tournament the other day at the Bike. While I was standing in the huge line, I took a look at the structure sheet and was not thrilled. We started with $2000 in chips with $25-25 blinds and 40 minute levels. Even though I didn't like the structures, there was going to be a huge payout because there were about 500 players in the event so I decided to stay in line and play.

My whole tournament came down to three hands. On one hand, I raised in the cutoff and got called by the player in the big blind. The flop was AA3. He checked to me and I decided to play it like I had an ace, so I checked behind. The turn was a blank. I made a pot size bet and he called. On the river, we both checked and he showed down JJ and I mucked my hand. I didn't lose many chips on the hand and was happy with the way I read the situation. A short while later with the blinds at 25-50, two players limped and I raised to $350 from the blind with AK and both players called. The flop was Q94 and I knew I was dead. I checked and the players checked behind. The turn was a blank and I checked again. The second player bet and the third player who was playing tight made a pot size raise. I mucked my hand instantly and was disappointed that he outdrew me. I am thinking he had AQ and only called because the live player called my large raise in front of him. He later told me that he had two pair, but I can't imagine him playing a hand like Q9 or worse. Regardless, I am sure he had me beat. After that hand, I felt like I was short on chips and knew that I had to play my next hand for all of my chips.

I waited about a round or two and when I had $725 left (with blinds of $50-100), I pushed in the cutoff with J8 of hearts. I managed to pick up the blinds and then on the following hand, I pushed again with pocket threes. The person in the big blind called me with AQ and outflopped me. I don't think I will be playing any more $500 events at the Legends, so I will be skipping tomorrows event. I might play the $1k NL event on Saturday though.

After I was eliminated from the tournament, I played some live action Omaha Hi-Low. I really think this is where I belong. I feel so comfortable while playing because my mind is always really clear. I manage to focus a lot more in person than when I play online too. Now that my hair is growing in a lot more, I think I will be making the trip to the casinos more. As a matter of fact, I am going to head there right now.

August 7
I played in the Omaha tournament last night at the Bike and had a great time. I got so much sleep the night prior to the event, I was feeling great about my chances. I didn't think that I would have difficulty paying attention like I normally do and that always helps out my game.

When I noticed my table line-up, I was not particularly thrilled. I had a lot of local Hi-Low players seated on my table and I knew that they weren't going to give their chips away very easily. I lucked out when the last person sat down at the table because I knew he would be live and he would throw other players off their game.

We were two hands into the tournament before he got everybody pissed off and I had to hope I would pick up some kind of hand while they were steaming. He managed to keep a lot of them on the edge of their seats throughout the tournament, but I had a hard time taking advantage of it because he usually showed me respect. We were not in a lot of hands together and I wasn't able to accumulate many chips when we were. By the time he was eliminated from the tournament, I had only doubled my original starting chips while one guy across the table had increased his stack by 5. Our table broke up shortly after that and I was moved to a table that my friend Jennifer was sitting at. I taught her a lot about the game so I knew she wasn't going to be an easy target and after a few hands it didn't look like the other players were willing to give up their chips either. I ended up going broke a few rounds later and I wasn't even close to getting paid.

Even though the tournament was uneventful, I had a great time seeing some old familiar faces and meeting some new ones along the way. I happened to meet the World Famous Kelly Steele and I also talked with Kelly Gates from the KLOS Mark & Brian show during break time. It was kind of funny because my good friend Trisha was talking with her and then introduced us and we mentioned that we had already met previously. Trisha then went on to tell her that we had a great time in Vegas and Kelly said something like, "So you are her wild friend that had her laughing on the trip." and Trisha said "Yeah. That would be me." Trisha ended up getting busted out immediately after I did, so we went and played a little Holdem before heading home. Of course, she had the whole table laughing before we called it a night.

I plan on playing in a couple more tournaments this week. The next few that I play in should be No Limit events.

August 1
The Legends of Poker is just around the corner and I am really looking forward to playing in many of the events. There are two Omaha Hi/Low events and a whole bundle of No Limit events that I plan on playing. I might even throw in the E.O. Championship tourney too.

Overall, I am very pleased with the way I played during the WSOP and am ready to do it all over again. This time around I have home court advantage. I will be sleeping in my own bed and I won't be in the evil town they call Las Vegas.

I still have not been playing very much online over the course of the week. I don't expect to be playing very much over the next few weeks either considering I will be playing at the Bicycle Casino for the Legends. I will be playing in a lot of the World Championship of Online Poker events next month, so I will get more than my fair share of online play at that time.