Poker Journal

May 2007

May 31
In my last entry I said that I might be getting my new dream car within a couple of days. It took me longer than a couple of days, but it's officially mine! It is absolutely gorgeous and the thing that makes it even more pretty is that it is sitting in my driveway.

A few people tried to convince me to get a Mercedes or a BMW, but I was insistent on the M45. It's a perfect combination of luxury and sporty and it hauls ass! The World Series of Poker is only a few days away and I can't think of a better way to break my car in than to drive it on the open road.

I am really excited about playing this year and I am feeling really focused. The first event for me will be the $1500 Omaha Hi Low event. I will be taking my laptop and will post regular updates on my progress.

May 23
I have been to the casino several times over the past couple of months to play tournaments. Sometimes I get there early and play a little Omaha before the event starts, but that is extent of my live action play over the past year.

Today, I decided to venture out into the world of live action poker. As soon as I got to the Bike, I asked what the biggest limit of Omaha they were spreading. They told me they only had a $6-12 game, so I decided to try out No Limit. They still had their usual games, so I opted for the $300-500 buy-in game with $5 and $5 blinds.

I sat there for about 2 1/2 hours and there wasn't much excitement going on. Almost all the players had no idea who I was since I haven't been there in so long. It was actually kind of nice to sit there and play my game without them knowing what to expect. Of course that meant that I had no clue how they played either, but they played more hands than I did, so I had a slight advantage.

The whole night came down to about three hands for me. The first hand, I had A8 suited in a limped family pot. The flop was AA3 and it was checked to me. I bet the pot, one player called, and the original limper raised me. I thought about it for a moment and was able to kind of pinpoint his hand. I was certain that he would have raised from first position with AT or higher. I put him on a lower ace than me which meant he could have had A3, but odds were that he had one of the other aces. If he did happen to have A3, I had outs. I didn't have a ton of chips. If I made the call on the flop, I was committed to call off my remaining chips on the turn, so I moved in and he called. The turn was an eight and the river was a queen. I showed my hand and he mucked. One of the players asked to see his hand (grrr) and the dealer turned the hand up - A3. He sat there for about five hands and I could see that he couldn't shake his "bad beat". He got up and went to play Stud Hi/Low instead.

One of the other hands I got involved with is when two players limped and I raised on the button with Q8 of clubs and got three callers. The flop was J64. All of the players checked, including me. The turn was a nine. The player in first position bet $40. The other players folded to me and I decided I was going to make a move for this pot. The guy who bet out had made the same bet on the turn on two other occasions. I had made a mental note on the guy because it seemed like he was picking up the pots nobody else wanted. So when he made a move for the pot, I was gung-ho on letting him know that he couldn't pick up all the pots so easily. I raised him an additional $100 and he thought for a moment and called. "Shit, that didn't work out like I hoped", I thought to myself. The river was a king and when the player checked to me, I cried "uncle" and checked behind him. He showed 64 for two pair and I mucked without anybody seeing my garbage.

The last big hand I was involved with was when a player raised to $15 and got one caller before it was my turn. I had 54 and I almost mucked it, but decided to play because the price was right and the original raiser liked to play for all of his chips. The flop was Q44. The first guy made a big bet of $75. The other player folded and I sat there for a second. I counted out my $75 and paused for a moment. I knew I wasn't going to move in because I wanted him to believe I didn't have the four. I pushed my $75 toward the dealer and sure enough when the turn was a blank, the guy moved all-in. I instantly called and he turned over pocket aces. I escaped an ace on the river and ended up winning a very nice pot. I stayed for awhile longer, but got up when the game started getting short. It was really nice sitting there playing again and I am certain that my next trip won't be far off.

I might be getting my new dream car within the next couple of days. A few of you might remember that when I was the announcer on Live at the Bike, I mentioned that I was going to get a new car and that if I had my choice I was going to get an Infiniti M45. It was only a month later, that I was thrown into total chaos. Now that the craziness has died down, it's time I treat myself to that new car. I will post a picture of it as soon as I get it. It's a beauty.

May 18
At this point in my life (after cancer), I have been doing a little reflecting. Some on poker, some on my website, and of course some on family, friends and life. Here are some thought regarding my site.

In the nearly four years I've been working on this site I've seen the poker universe expand greatly, including the number of websites offering poker content (both good content and lame content). Way back in 2003, I had the idea to create profiles of prominent poker players because the only information online about players was their stats. Back then, I was the only site offering in-depth player profiles. Now there are thousands. There are even hundreds of sites with sections called "Poker Babes".

I admit I'm pleased to have one of the top 25 poker information sites (by traffic) on the Internet today, and the only female-focused one at that. It's satisfying to know people like the site, and often keep coming back for more.

After a year of cancer and chemo treatments its nice to finally being close to being myself again. I've gotten some emails from readers worried that my new Poker Vibe site might keep me from writing and adding content here, but of course I intend for the new site to be on top of what I do here on Poker Babes. So don't worry... Poker Babes is here to stay. :)

May 15
I have been going through an "Omaha" stage because I have been getting frustrated with NL tournaments. I know that it is important to get into race situations in order to win a No Limit tournament, but occasionally when I get involved in them, I think to myself, "This game is so stupid. You just throw your chips in the middle and hope for the best." Logically, I know there is more to the game than that, but right now I am a little ticked at my inability to win my share of races.

So, the 15-30 Omaha game has been going well for me. There is one player in particular who I will follow around. A lot of the time he buys in for a ridiculous amount of money and the thought of all that money going into my bankroll is too good to pass up. Overall, I have done well in the game, but have only broke about even with my "friend."

I am getting very excited about going to the World Series of Poker. Of course, I wish I had my long blonde hair back already, but I figure that winning a bracelet could be just as sexy. For the most part, I will be playing the non-Holdem games, but I am playing a few NL Texas Holdem events, so I have to get ready for it. I am going to review some of my favorite poker books, including Harrington on Holdem and Theory of Poker by David Sklansky.

My first trip will be nine days and two of my girlfriends are sharing the double suite (two adjoining rooms with a living room in between) I have booked. I am very fortunate that I have a great hook up in Vegas. I am really looking forward to seeing some of my poker buddies that I haven't seen in awhile. I know most of my friends are making the trip out there for at least a few days. I am a little disappointed that I might not run into David Huber. We missed each other during last years WSOP also. With a little luck, he will be able to work out his obligations so we can finally meet this year.

May 10
I played in the $55 +1 +1 NL event on PokerStars tonight and managed to make it into the money. I was doing really well for most of the tournament, but once we got down to three tables, I went completely card dead. I couldn't even find situations to steal the blinds which caused my chip stack to dwindle. They paid 18 players and I ended up finishing in 15th which is pretty good considering my last thirty minutes of play.

It's less than a month before the World Series starts and I am getting excited about attending. I plan on heading out on June 4th. I haven't quite decided whether I am going to come home between events so I only booked my room until the 13th. I am going to kind of leave things in the air including all of the events I am going to play. As of now, I am looking to play in ten including the three Omaha Hi/ Low events, two of the HORSE events, the Razz tournament, 3 NL events including the shootout, rebuy and six handed variations and I might even play in the Ladies tournament. All of this is tentative because of the way their schedule is. I will try and keep my schedule posted.

May 8
I have been playing some tournaments over the past couple of days and I haven't done so hot.

Tonight's $55 +1+1 tournament on PokerStars was like riding a big wave. I went from chip leader to broke in no time flat.

I had a bigger than average chip stack when I called a raise with 98 of diamonds. The raiser had a little more chips than I did and I hoped that I would be able to get all of his chips under the right circumstances. I did exactly that when I made a straight on the turn when he picked up a pair and a flush draw. After the hand, I was the chip leader.

I got moved a few hands later. I played a couple hands on the new table and then got moved again. The newest table had one guy that I had played with before the break. He was an aggressive player who liked to play for all of his chips. I played about one round on the table when I picked up QQ on the button. I raised to $600 on the button (blinds were $100-200 with antes) and the aggressive guy pushed in for about $8,000 in chips. I instantly called and to my surprise he turned over AK. Even though he liked to play for all of his chips, I was very shocked that he had as big of a hand as he did. He flopped the ace and I was left with hardly any chips. I was out a few hands later.

I considered jumping in another tournament or sit n go, but decided to call it a night instead. Tomorrow is another day.

May 2
I played in the $300 with Rebuy No Limit event at the Bike on Saturday. I did not do as well as I did the night prior. As a matter of fact, I only made it through a little more than half the field.

During the rebuy period, I didn't get many hands. My big hand during the first two hours was when I had AQ and flopped an ace. My opponent who only called preflop had AK. He ended up getting all of my chips (we started with only $1,000 in chips) by the time the turn rolled around.

While I was sitting there getting no hands and making my fair share of rebuys, the guy across the table turned over AA once, KK twice, QQ twice, and Jacks one other time. This was all in a matter of an hour and a half. He won all the hands except one and had a huge amount of chips compared to rest of us on the table.

Eventually, I switched tables and started doing a little better for a few hands and then ended up being shortstacked again just a short time later. One of the players across the table got knocked out and the new player that filled his seat was actor, Vince Vaughn. I guess you could say that was the highlight of the day. Was it worth the money I invested in the tournament? Probably not, but it was cool nonetheless.

I have played a couple online tournaments this week, but have not played in the Omaha event for awhile since they switched the times. I am a little bitter about that, but at least they still have my new favorite, the $55 w/ 1 + 1. I really feel like I have been playing poker like I used to play pre-chemo brain. As a matter of fact, I placed in The Nightly Hundred Grand a couple of nights ago. It was a pretty good week overall considering I haven't spent very much time playing.

I have still been working on my new website, Poker Vibe. I have mainly been doing the behind the scenes kind of stuff like making sure the links are in the appropriate place, etc. I will be working on some strategy articles in the near future and would really appreciate any submissions by anybody interested in having their work published. For now, you can see the list of the strategy articles and book reviews I have to date on the Poker Vibe Website directory page. My newest article is one that is meant for people with good senses of humor. If you don't have one, then don't bother reading The Ten Commandments of Low Limit Holdem.