Sunday Results

It didn't exactly go well in the main tournaments yesterday, busting each one with the best hand, but had a few decent runs in the satellites so I was able to store up some T$ to be used in the future.

Busted out of the FTP Holiday 100K when we got it all in KK vs. AK and obviously A comes on the flop

Busted out of the Stars Million Dollar Turbo Takedown when A9 couldn't beat Q9 with the board became 4 card straight

Cashed in the Stars Guinness Book of World Record for $30 ($10 goes back towards the last longest bet) when AK is inferior to A9

I did manage to win a few satellites like I mentioned, but I just wasn't "in it" from tiredness in the past few days so I decided not to play any of the bigger tournaments.

As far as the Turbo Takedown, I have not cashed once and I've played it 4 times or so. Heck, I have not even made it to the first break in any of them I've played, and this is a tournament where at least 1/3 is supposed to make the money...I guess I'm just saving it up for a deep run soon.

Not going to be playing again until the New Year, so happy new year to all.

End of the Year Review

First and foremost - Merry Christmas to the 2 readers that actually follow this blog.

On to the other stuff

Took time off from sports betting/poker/whatever due to exams/holidays and what not...I played a $2 MTT on Stars last night while waiting for my online boxing day sales order to go through, ended up making a deep run but busted with 5 tables left. Made one wrong read and put a guy on overs and shoved into an overpair, which essentially crippled me and a few hands later I busted. Still finding my MTT game to be quite...weak. I discovered that I still need to work on chipping up, as I have found that too often, the only way my chip stack increase during the course of a MTT is through a big hand or two, otherwise I end up getting short real fast.

Looking forward to this weekend, mainly this Sunday with the various MTTs I'll be playing. So far the list consist of:
1. FTP Holiday 100K Freeroll
2. Stars Guinness World Record Attempt - $10+$1 $500K Guarantted
3. Stars Million Dollar Takedown
Going to be trying to satellite into the Sunday Million as well since they're guaranteeing $2.5 million in the prizepool, theres also the $215 HORSE, $215 Mixed Hold'em as well as Sunday 500 on Stars that I'll try to satellite into, so it should be a fun Sunday to end of the year. Not sure how I will be able to put in the hours for these satellites, so I might just end up doing those hyper-turbos before the tournaments on Sunday.

This year has been a mediocre year to be honest. I didn't put in as many hours as I wanted to, and as a result the profits from poker this year definitely didn't reach my goal. With that said, it was still a profitable year, and finally breaking through with a decent cash at a relatively big live tourney (by my standards - $235 - 600+ players at Venetian) as well as taking down a live tournament ($120 - 36 players at Binions). Still many holes in my game that I hope to fill in 2009, and definitely need to get more motivated to put in more hours as well.

I don't really make new years resolution, but I do have a list of goals that I hope to accomplish in 2009 - albeit some is definitely tougher than others.

1. Have my first 5 digit score
2. Final table one of the bigger Sunday tournaments
3. Work on my heads up game (cash)
4. Put in some serious volumn for MTTs (35~ tournaments weekly)
5. Satellite into the WSOP ME
6. Satellite into one other live tourney (EPT/Aussie Millions preferrably)
7. Work on my deepstack cash play

I know this list seems pretty long as well as some of them being relatively hard to quantify and reach, but I figure it needs to be something that will really motivate me to put in the work. With a work term from Jan-Apr, it should allow me to put in a decent amount of volumn on evenings and weekends. Furthermore, my spring term from May-Aug looks like a term where I'll just take the minimum 3 course requirement, so that should allow me to keep putting in solid hours online while hopefully getting away for a week or two at the WSOP.

Other than that, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours, may your 2009 be your best year yet.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

All bloggers can play in this exclusive online poker tournament.

Registration code: 177177

Sports Betting Dec 2

So I ended up making a couple of bets on the MNF game, simply because the line of 48 for the game seemed too good to be true, and it was until like 29 points were scored in the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter to make me sweat out a 47 total performance for both teams. Not a bad start to December...nothing really caught my eye in NHL for Dec 2, so just taking a couple of picks in basketball for today.

NBA:
Lakers -8.5 vs. Pacers 2u LOSE
Wizards +5 vs. Nets WIN
76ers vs. Bulls u194.5 LOSE

Soccer:
Man Utd. to win the EPL. 2u
Chelsea to not win the EPL. 2u

MTD: 4 - 1 - 0 +3.3u
YTD: 36 - 29 - 1 +9.8u

Sports Betting Dec 1

So much for taking it easy - but it was a very good day for me going 8 - 4 - 1 to wrap up the month. I am really going to take it easy on the Monday with only a couple of NBA and NHL games going on respectively. Depending on how things work out, I might take a couple of late picks with MNF but thats highly unlikely as I will be at school starting at 5pm for the finals of our intramurals.

NBA:
Magic vs. Celtics -9.5 WIN

NHL:
Leafs ML vs. Kings WIN
Canucks ML vs. Blue Jackets LOSE

NFL:
Titans vs. Jags u48 WIN
Titans vs. Jags u24 1H WIN

MTD: 0 - 0 - 0
YTD: 32 - 28 - 1 +6.5u

Sports Betting Nov 30

Much better last night in terms of betting...back in the black again which I'm glad. Taking it easy today with a couple of bets, might sneak a couple in for NFL but I highly doubt it. We'll see what happens.

NFL:
Giants -3.5 vs Redskins WIN
Chiefs vs. Raiders -3.5 LOSE
Falcons +4.5 vs. Chargers WIN
49ers +6 vs. Bills WIN
Bears vs. Vikings -3.5 WIN
Steelers vs. Patriots u39 LOSE
Steelers vs. Patriots u20 1H PUSH

EPL:
Manchester United PICK vs. Manchester City [3 units) WIN

NHL:
Blues ML vs. Thrashers WIN
Oilers ML vs. Stars LOSE
Ducks ML vs. Hurricanes WIN

NBA:
Rockets +3.5 vs. Denver LOSE
Nets +8.5 vs. Suns WIN

MTD: 24 - 24 - 0 +0.9u

Sports Betting Nov 29

It hasn't been going well lately, each day losing a unit or two. With that said, its no way that it is the end of the world. There are times when I feel I should just focus on a few games and go heavy on them, but at this point I think I still favour the diversification technique for the time being and see how it goes.

With that said, today's picks

NHL:
Flyers vs. Leafs ML WIN
Sabres ML vs. Canadiens LOSE
Red Wings ML vs. Bruins LOSE
Devils vs. Penguins -1.5 WIN
Wild ML vs. Predators WIN
Wild vs. Predators o5.5 WIN

NBA:
Hawks PICK vs. Wizards WIN
Nuggets -4.5 vs. T-Wolves WIN
Cavaliers -8 vs. Bucks LOSE
Pacers +7.5 vs. Magic WIN
Spurs +3.5 vs. Rockets LOSE
Heat -2.5 vs. Clippers LOSE

MTD: 17 - 19 - 0 -2.2u
YTD: 17 - 19 - 0 -2.2u

NFL:
Giants -3.5 vs Redskins
Chiefs vs. Raiders -3.5
Falcons +4.5 vs. Chargers
49ers +6 vs. Bills

EPL:
Manchester United PICK vs. Manchester City [3 units)

Sports Betting Nov 28

Wow...I got absolutely killed in NFL yesterday. I guess hopefully the weekend can reverse that trend. Calgary win over Vancouver, as well as the Hornets win basically salvaged my day into an almost breakeven day

NFL:
Giants -3.5 vs Redskins
Chiefs vs. Raiders -3.5
Falcons +4.5 vs. Chargers
49ers +6 vs. Bills

EPL:
Manchester United PICK vs. Manchester City [3 units)

NBA:
Warriors vs. Cavaliers -12 WIN
Timberwolves -2 vs. Thunder LOSE
Raptors vs. Hawks u100.5 2H WIN
Bucks +8.5 vs. Pistons LOSE

NHL:
Islanders ML vs. Bruins LOSE
Blackhawks ML vs. Ducks LOSE
Penguins vs. Sabres o5.5 WIN
Penguins ML vs. Sabres LOSE
Rangers ML vs. Panthers [2 unit] WIN
Predators ML vs. Thrashers WIN
Sharks vs. Stars u5.5 LOSE

Current Month 12 - 13 - 0 +0.4u
Current Year 12 - 13 - 0 +0.4u

Sports Betting Nov 27

NHL:
Flames PICK vs. Canucks [2 units] WIN

NBA:
Wizards +3 vs. Magic LOSE
Hornets +1.5 vs. Nuggets WIN

NFL:
Cardinals +3 vs. Eagles LOSE
Seahawks +12.5 vs. Cowboys LOSE
Titans vs. Lions u44.5 LOSE
Titans -11 vs. Lions WIN
Giants -3.5 vs Redskins
Chiefs vs. Raiders -3.5
Falcons +4.5 vs. Chargers
49ers +6 vs. Bills

EPL:
Manchester United PICK vs. Manchester City [3 units)

Current Month 9 - 9 - 0 +1.4u
Current Year 9 - 9 -0 +1.4u

Sports Betting Nov 26

Night started off really well but has gone downhill drastically. Hopefully the Lakers can salvage the night for me to make it a profitable one (need a pretty big second half for it to happen). In hindsight, I really should've taken the Leafs/Thrashers in the over knowing CuJo was starting in net...I had a bad feeling as soon as I put the bet in. Nothing I could do about the other games though IMO...didn't see the Flames offence going nuts the way they did, and also thought the Suns would've put in a better effort.

On to tomorrow...

NHL:
Flyers PICK vs. Hurricanes WIN
Bruins vs. Sabres o5.5 LOSE
Canadiens PICK vs. Red Wings WIN
Rangers -1.5 vs. Lightning LOSE
Stars PICK vs. Wild WIN
Blackhawks PICK vs. Sharks LOSE

NBA:
Warriors vs. Celtics -11.5 LOSE
Bulls +7.5 vs. Spurs LOSE
Thunder +15.5 vs. Cavaliers LOSE
Magic +1.5 vs. 76ers WIN

NFL:
Cardinals +3 vs. Eagles
Giants -3.5 vs Redskins
Chiefs vs. Raiders -3.5
Falcons +4.5 vs. Chargers
49ers +6 vs. Bills
Seahawks +12.5 vs. Cowboys
Titans vs. Lions u44.5 (carried over)

EPL:
Manchester United PICK vs. Manchester City [3 units)

Current Month 5 - 3 - 0 +2.7u
Current Year 5 - 3 -0 +2.7u

Sports Betting Nov 25

I'm going to chronicle my sports bets here...I've been betting on games on and off but nothing regular, but I haven't really kept very careful notes of it and what not except I know I've been winning at a rate of around 65% due to hockey/basketball. In any case, I'll post some bets here and see where it goes.

All bets are for 1 unit unless otherwise stated.

NHL
Blues vs. Predators u5.5 WIN
Blues PICK vs. Predators WIN
Thrashers vs. Leafs u6 LOSE
Kings vs. Flames u5.5 LOSE

NBA
Warriors vs. Wizards +2 WIN
Cavaliers -8 vs. Knicks WIN
Suns -10 vs. Thunder LOSE
Lakers -13.5 vs. Nets WIN

NFL
Titans vs. Lions u44.5 PENDING

Vegas Round Up

Nothing really too interesting to report on, but will probably do a condense version of a trip report later on anyways.

Pretty much a break even trip, up enough to cover hotel/airfare/food expenses but not up a huge amount. Chopped a tournament and I was eventually declared the winner after all the logistics, so nice to say I won a live tournament in Vegas - albeit a $100~ donkament with 36 players.

Had a run where I had AA/KK 5 times within an orbit and managed to lose $300 (150x BB)..must be a record.

Other than that, back to the schooling and not much poker for awhile.

Vegas

I am officially booked.

Tue Nov 11 2265 Depart BUFFALO NY (BUF) at 7:50 AM
Arrive in LAS VEGAS NV (LAS) at 10:00 AM
Mon Nov 17 3944 Depart LAS VEGAS NV (LAS) at 5:05 PM
Arrive in BUFFALO NY (BUF) at 12:15 AM

Total? $166 USD..SICK!

Poker Sunday

Played a bunch of poker yesterday this weekend, and I think its safe to say that I ran pretty good. Originally had to referee a few basketball games in the evening, so didn't load up/try to satellite into any of the big Sunday tournaments. It turns out the games were canceled as the motor for the basketball net wasn't working (or something). So instead, I grinded out the double-or-nothing turbo Sit and Gos on Stars, and was up about 15http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif BI by the end of the night. Could've been up a bit more but can't really complain. Other than that, also grinded out a few steps tournaments and I have a few step 3s and 4s tickets in my bank, so hopefully I'll be able to grind out a PCA tournament seat or something soon.

Nothing really new other than that - won't get to play much the next week or two as midterms/papers are really starting to swarm in...and hopefully will confirm and book my flight out to Vegas for a few days in mid-November. Still debating whether or not to head out to BC to play the British Columbia Poker Championship..probably not but we'll see.

Last Friday - went to the Sabres vs. Canucks game in Buffalo with Adam Schwartz (2p2 Pokercast) and Terrence "Not Johnny" Chan. Being with 2 huge Canucks fans, obviously I had to join in - not that I'm not a hater, Canucks is actually one of my favourite-non-favourite teams. Adam had an extra Canucks retro jersey which I proudly worn, although it probably set of the alarms of all the fashion police in the area. Obviously credit card roulette is on the menu when you're out with a bunch of poker players, and with 2 asians and a white dude, the white guy was losing the roulette with 100% certainty. Betting of the game must take place, and obviously being the most non-baller guy on the 3, $300 was placed for the over of 5.5. Adam and Terrence both won a dime from the game while I got chump change of $320~. While the Canucks lost the game 5 - 2 (can't really blame them - they just played Detroit the night before and won in OT..oh..AND Luongo wasn't playing), the 3 of us were probably the happiest Canucks fan in the arena when the 6th goal was scored. A funny note occured when we were crossing the US border - the border guard decided to ask whether the 3 of us were family. Let see, a 40 y/o white dude, a 28 y/o asian dude, and a 21 y/o dude as a family...

Another Frustrating Session

Just returned from Brantford, and it was basically another frustrating session. So if you are keeping track, this is my second straight losing session at Brantford after going 20+ straight winning sessions over the past 2 years - so I really have no right to complain. Tonight was a different type of frustration compared to last session - tonight was more of the "how hard can you get screwed by the deck except not by bad beats"...illustration:

1. On my BB with A2, we have a blind raiser/straddler UTG. 5 callers including myself, and flops A2x - obviously the blind raiser has AA.

2. I cold-call a raise OTB with 98hh after a EP raiser and 3 callers. Flop A98 - got 2 bets in on the flop, 2 on turn, and 1 on river from 2 other players. Obviously they had A9 and A8

My last name of the night at 10/20 - LAGtard who has probably dropped close to $1K who just won a pot with 92dd on a AdK10d 10 8d board decides to wake up with KK when I have QQ....

And then there are other hands where it was essentially the deck not hitting in my favour.

1. 3 bet a LP raiser with AQ, lead flop, turn, check river and loses to 88.

2. Capped pre-flop with AK, and doesn't win race with QQ

3. Missing OESD/flush draws, OESD straight + flush draws

Just wasn't my night. Here is me hoping that I'm saving my good karma/cards/luck for Vegas - speaking of which I should get around to book my flight.

Next poker games - probably just grinding out FPPs on Stars, and trying to satellite into the PCA. Just got a reload bonus of FTP, so will probably play some PLO there as well.

Probably heading down to Buffalo on Friday with a couple of 2p2 guys for a hockey game, so will probably squeeze in a bit of poker/craps at Fallsview before the game.

BCC Trip

Was at Brantford Charity Casino last night, and to say it was a blood bath was probably an understatement. [note of brag] I don't proclaim to be a limit expert/shark like Moose, but its probably been two years, about 20 or so straight sessions at BCC where I have left in the black. [/end of brag] So anyways, went to play some 5/10 yesterday, partly due to lack of liquidity, partly due to the fact that I was there with some friends so I wanted to play at the same table and what not...and the whole night I probably won maybe 5 pots max.

[bad beat stories] Normally I hate telling them, and I don't plan to, but this is more of reporting of hands and how badly I ran.

1. 1010 loses to 56 when it was capped preflop, and on the flop of 9 5 4 when 6 comes on the river

2. 2 pair goes down to rivered straight

3. 2 pair goes down to a guy who calls with top pair when board 4 flushed with clubs thinking he only had a pair when he had the 2 of clubs in his hand

4. AA loses to 22 when 22 flops a set

[/bad beat stories]

The table was the juiciest table I've seen, and if I had more money I don't think I would've left, but with that table the variance would've been huge, and unfortunately I was just on the bad side of variance. Things happen and I'll be back...In all honesty though, I definitely didn't play my best poker. There were things Moose pointed out playing on my right that definitely has got me thinking about limit and playing certain players a certain way. Also played some hands just more out of frustration where I could've probably saved a few big bets here and there, lessons learned and hopefully will get back there after the Thanksgiving weekend.

As for now, I SWEAR I'll have the tourney report from the one I cased in up soon...its all typed up on my Blackberry but I just keep forgetting to transfer it on to my PC when I'm in Toronto, and when I'm in Waterloo I don't have the data cable.

I was going to try to grind out some NAPC satellitse this week, but with school and assignments and midterms, I don't think I can really grind those out. MIGHT take one day and just go and see if I can get a couple in, but other than that I'm going to be focusing on grinding out for a seat in the PCA. Going back to Vegas in Nov, just need to book a flight now...should be a blast with Venetian Deepstacks running again.

Long Time No Post

Yeah..its almost a month since my last post. Honestly, I haven't really played too much since my last update. Pretty much got 2500 FPP within the first week of August multi-tabling 6max 0.50/1 PLO, and the occasional turbo SnG, but other than that I have barely opened my Stars/Tilt/Cake client. Played a couple of APPT steps here and there and made one last push for a Macau seat, which failed miserably as I couldn't advance past step 5. Good thing is I have 2 step 5 tickets sitting around, bad thing is none of the other tournaments really interest me. The Seoul one is around midterms time, Manila is while I'm going to be in Vegas, and Australia is happening right around finals, so the only other one I can try for is New Zealand which is a month away. If only those can be converted to EPT Tickets...

Played me third (or maybe fourth) turbo takedown, and I have yet to last 1 hour in the tournament. This time I busted out in spectacular fashion with JJ vs. KK where I flopped a set and he turned the straight. Not trying to tell a bad beat story, just more reporting a hand. I've found it to be quite hard to report a hand where you got a bad beat, and make it not sound like a bad beat story. In any case, I really haven't played much, but with WCOOP coming around, I'll probably play a few. Already won a seat in the $215 HORSE, and a couple of other satellites so I have some W$ saved up, so will probably end up buying into a couple of the $215. I'm definitely taking a shot here, and I will definitely need to get lucky, but I figured why not =D

I promise I'll get the July 7th day report up..soon. With school coming around next week, it'll likely be done while I'm procrastinating or something. Right now, planning a trip to Vegas again in November with a few guys from the Pokerforum, should be fun and probably will play in a couple of the Venetian Deepstack tournaments again.

PLO

Jeez I'm behind on writing up my trip report. I still have 1 more full day tournament report to write on July 7th, and a couple of short cash sessions on July 8 and July 9. I can't really make an excuse for my lateness as its been almost a month now, but there are times when I could be writing at home, I just choose to play poker or video games over writing. I'll definitely get the July 7th one up soon as I already have some of the hands typed up.

As far as poker post Vegas goes, I've ventured out into playing mostly PLO cash game with some donkament and HE cash game mixed in there. I thought about starting at PLO full ring, but after observing it for awhile, it seems like 6 max is much more profitable. Not everyone is sitting just waiting for the nuts, and it is much easier to find and exploit the players who over-value hands like TP, bottom 2p, or an overpair. There has been more than one instances where players got their hands in drawing to 2 outs with an overpair and no redraw but getting there, but I'm getting money in good so whatever. I'm still learning to play the game for the most part, especially playing post-flop with pot control and what not. While I'm hardly a good player at hold'em, I figured I would jump on board the PLO ship while the money is there and continue learning hold'em on the side.

FTOPS is coming up soon, I'm not really sure how many events I'll end up playing with a regular 9-5 work schedule, and softball 2-3 nights a week + weekends. Looking ahead to WCOOP and obv going to be trying to satellite into APPT Macau still. After that I'll probably aim for EPT London and probably won't be anything until either Aussie Millions or PCA. Obviously these live tourney will be all talk no result as I am so far 0/4 on these big live tourney satellites.

Vegas Trip - Day 6

Woke up on Sunday morning and actyper informed me that he already booked a flight flying out that evening as he just didn't feel well, leading to him lacking the concentration required to play decent poker which meant he made the decision to go home early. As my plan was to stay until July 10th, I had to find a few places to crash for a few nights. Considered going back to Watt's place, but decided to quick around for rates before contacting him. Quicked Expedia.ca and found Harrah's for about $50 a night, and actyper mentioned that by staying at a Harrah's property, he has received coupons for free nights once in awhile, so I decided to booked Harrah's for 3 nights as the cab ride to/from Watts' house would be in that price range anyways - except now I'll be dead centre by the strip, and with my plans to play at the Venetian/Caesar's Palace for the last 2 days, both properties were walking distance which allows me to save on cab fare as well.

I spent the late morning/early afternoon wandering around the south end of the strip (Mandalay Bay, Excalibur, Luxor, MGM Grand and New York New York), and proceeded to take the Monorail for the first time up to the north end of the strip (Stratosphere, Sahara, Circus Circus) just to say I've been there as there is really nothing there. Eventually made my way back to the room at Mandalay Bay to pack up my stuff to check-in at Harrah's.

During my check-in, I plannned to attempt the $20 trick* which failed as the front desk attendent was a new hire as she had a supervisor assisting her through the check-in process. Despite my plan being foiled, I left the $20 as a tip as my request for a complimentary upgrade was granted - despite the fact the upgrade was merely from a standard room with no view to a strip view standard room. I passed out on my bed for a couple of hours and was woken up by my growling stomach as I haven't ate anything all day. I decided to walk over to the Bellagio buffet, but to my dismay, the line was beyond long and I settled with going to the buffet at the Rio's (which was also excellent by the way) to use the $10 coupon actyper left for me. On my way out of the Bellagio, it was quite a scenery with lots of eye candy at the theatre entrance to the Cirque du Soleil show "O" - I will have to watch that show on my return trip in the not-too-distant future.

After filling my stomach at the Rio buffet, I headed over to the Venetian to play some poker - try to satellite into the $330 tournament tomorrow and to play some cash game. Sat down at the first available $80 satellite which pays 2 seats into tomorrow's tournament and played exactly 0 hands until my bust out hand.

Down to 5 players and my stack dwindled down to t1200~ with blinds at 75-150.

Preflop: Villain in the CO raised to 450, and I looked down at AJss. With the blinds about to go up to 100-200, I decided to make a stand right here and moved all in for 1200~. I figured I am at worst racing against this villain (unless I get unlucky and he wakes up with a hand) as he has been pretty active since the table got short-handed. He counts out his chips and commented "You haven't played a hand all tournament, but I'm getting too good of a price to call, I hope I'm at least racing" while throwing his chips into the pot and turns over 99.

Flop comes Ks Qx 8s - pretty good flop for my hand now with 2 overcards + flush draw + straight draw

Turn is a Qx which gives me even more outs if the board double pairs.

River was a 9c which gave villain a bit of a scare, but I lose the race and decided to just go to the cash game as I wasn't planning to stay too much longer and it looked like the next satellite won't fill for another 30-45 minutes.

After my bust-out, I proceeded to buy-in to tomorrow's tournament directly, and put my name down for the 1/2NL max 300 game. My name was called shortly after as they simply put my name down as a phone-in while I played the satellite. The 1-2NL cash game table I proceeded to sit in was the most pain I've had playing poker in my life. It was the slowest, most loose passive game I've ever played in, but the players were so bad that I would've killed myself leaving the game while there were so much money on the table for my taking.

About 2 orbits in I play my first interesting hand and win my first big pot.

Hand 1:
2 limpers, and MP raises to $10, 3 callers and I call OTB with A10ss. Blinds call as well as the limpers.

Flop: 10 8 2

Checks original raiser who checks, and the player next to act (MP+1) bet $30 with about $150 behind. CO calls $30 with about $100 behind, and I raise to $200 and MP+1 thinks for a bit and calls, CO also calls unwillingly.

Turn: 8

River: 3

I turn over my hand and MP+1 shows Q10, and CO shows QJ. My stack skyrockets to $800~

Hand 2:
Some history about UTG - he likes limping, alot, even with big hands. Plays a pretty weak, tight, intimidated style. He limped behind with a hand like JJ in LP, and minraises the flop with an overpair, and checked turn and river with a Q hits the turn. With that in mind, on to the hand.

My stack: $800~ UTG's stack: $250~I am in the SB with A6o.

UTG limps, along with 2 others, I complete and BB checks.

Flop: A K 3

I lead for $10, BB folds, UTG calls, others fold

Turn: 6

I bet $25, UTG min-raises to $50, and I thought about just jamming here. But with his tendencies and playing style, I don't think he's raising here with just TP, and his range is really just AK, KK, 33, 66 IMO. My hand was too good to just fold, so I called the $25 and plan to muck if he makes a big bet on the river.

River: 2

I checked intending to fold to a big bet, but he bets $25. I couldn't fold, and pays off his AK

Nothing really happens for the next 2 hours. Players were really loose with calling down, and I simply didn't get any hands where I can extract any type of value from it. I essentially limped 60% of the pot, raised 20% of the pot (was pretty card dead during that time), and folded once in awhile. Any hand with playable value, connector, one-gapper, two-gapper, three-gapper, etc. The only hands I really folded were like J2, Q5, hands that were simply unplayable, and mostly when I was in EP.

2 players sat down to my right during those 2 hours, and they were probably the worst player I've seen live. Granted, I haven't really spent alot of time at the tables live, but most players at least had a slight clue about what they were doing. These two players on the other hand, had no idea. They must've played close to 100% of the pots (they got away with it as this table was so limp happy). A couple of hands to illustrate the point. 2 to my right was the lady (they were a couple), and she limped preflop with 33, hits a set on the flop, and calls a bet of $10 on the flop, $15 on the turn, and checked behind on the river OTB with a very dry board. The second hand involved the guy to my right. Limped preflop with JJ in the HJ, flopped top set, and called a bet of $15 on the flop. Turn was another J to give him quads, and he started breathing really hard. EP leads out for $25 and he min-raised and was called. River was a blank, and EP checked to the HJ who bets $40, EP check-raises to $80 and HJ CALLS(?!?!) with quads! EP turns over a boat and commented "I saw your heavy breathing, but I couldn't lay this down even if you shoved on me".

Sit around some more, limped more hands, missed more flops, and decided to call it at night at about 4am or so. I was sad to leave the table, but I also had to get some rest so I can wake up to play the tournament tomorrow. I was up 1.5x the max buy-in approx. at the end of the session, but it was probably the first time I sat at the table while playing thinking I just want to kill myself. Players routinely took more time than necessary to make the simpliest decision, and half the time players don't even its their turn to act! I've never felt so painful playing this game, not even when I ran bad earlier this trip in tournaments, or the times where I just could't win a hand online. Took the short walk from the Venetian to Harrah's, and almost fell asleep instantenously.

Vegas Trip Day 5 - July 5th

Woke up at around 10-11am with actyper mentioning that he isn't feeling that well. We decided to check out the Chinese restaurant inside the Mandalay Bay. Noodle House had authentic Chinese food in Vegas - but it wasn't cheap. We paid about $45 for a meal that would cost $20 in Toronto! We spent the afternoon at the Mandalay Bay Beach/Pool and it was absolutely gorgeous.



The card was scheduled to start at 5:05pm, so went left the pool area and went back upstairs to bum around until time to head down to the event centre. We ended up finding "I Bet You" with Antonio Esfandari and Phil Laak on TV, so watched a couple of episodes before going down for UFC 86.

WATTS!!!

Before I continue with my trip report...congrats to Mike "SirWatts" Watson for taking down the $15K WPT Bellagio Cup for $1.6 million.

Key Hands

Hand #149 - David Benyamine has the button, he raises to 500,000, Watson raises to 1.5 million, Benyamine moves all in, and Watson immediately calls with AK. Benyamine shows QQ, and it's the classic race, with the tournament or a huge chip lead at stake.

The flop comes 1082, and Benyamine retains the lead with his pocket queens.

The turn card is the 5, and Benyamine retains the lead. Watson's large group of friends starts shouting for an ace, and things like, "One time!"

The river card is -- the A!

Watson doubles up with a pair of aces.

Watson's friends cheer and clap on the rail, but he almost looks sheepish as he walks back to the table. Benyamine goes over to look at his stack to see what kind of damage he's gonna take.

AND the winning hand

Hand #154 - Mike Watson has the button, he moves all in, and Benyamine immediately calls all in for 2,985,000 with K9. Watson shows Q9, and he'll need to improve to win the tournament here.

The flop comes AQ6, and Watson pairs his queen to take the lead.

The turn card is the 9, and Benyamine needs a king on the river to stay alive.

The river card is the 7, and Mike Watson wins the pot -- and the tournament -- with two pair, queens and nines.

David Benyamine finishes as the runner-up in second place, earning $840,295.

Mike Watson wins the WPT Bellagio IV, earning $1,673,770, a WPT bracelet, a Bellagio bracelet, and entry into the Season VII WPT World Championship next April here at Bellagio.

Vegas Trip Day 4 - July 4th

July 4th, Independence Day - the hotel as well as the strip was packed with people. Woke up and went over to Venetian to try to satellite last minute into the $1K event. Woke up pretty early and had a quick breakfast before going to the Venetian. Got in to the last or second last satellite with a $240 buy-in and pays top 2 with seat + a bit of cash. t2000 to start with 25-50 blinds at 15 minutes blind level.

Folded for the first 30 - 45 minutes, and just started push-botting. I only knocked out 1 player with AK > AQ when we were 5 handed, but the eventual other winner was just getting smacked in the face with the deck, and he was winning races from both side, sucking out with hands like A10 > AJ, and winning 40/60. And then I am in playing the $1000 Venetian event.

Started at table 49 seat 6 (I think its 49 anyways). Not my favourite seat as it is in the middle of the table so I have to turn my head alot to observe the table. t15000 stacks to start at 25-50.

Table started pretty loose passive, and I just limped along, or cold-called a couple of raises in LP with suited connectors/PP and stack a player or two. I simply missed everything and bled down a bit but nothing of note happened until halfway into the second level.

My stack: t13000~, Villain's stack: t18000~. Blinds 50-100 I am in the BB with AKss

Preflop: 4 limpers to villain in the CO whom raises to t800, I re-raise to t2800, all the limpers fold and villain insta-calls.

Flop: K J 10

I bet 4000 with my TPTK, and villain thinks for around 30 seconds and announces all-in. I think this hand over and the only hand in his range that I beat is KQ, everything else that he could've called the reraise preflop with beats my AK. I fold and my stack is down to around t7000~. Villain later tells me had flopped a set with JJ.

After that hand I went card dead until the last orbit before the first break.

Blinds 100-200. My stack: t6500~, Button's stack: t18000~, BB's stack: t15500. Hero is UTG+2 with JJ

Preflop: I raise to 600, and is called by the button and BB.

Flop: 9 6c 3c

I bet 1300, button raises to 3500 almost instantly after my put my bet out, and BB goes in the tank. BB thinks for around a minute and announces all-in. This pretty much means my JJ is beat so I fold. Button snap-calls with 66 and BB turns over 98cc

Turn 7

River K

BB is eliminated and hero is getting short.

The blinds get by and with around 5 minutes level to the first break, I get involved again.

Blinds 100-200. My stack: t3950, BB's stack: t20000+. Hero is on the button with AQo

3 limpers to me and I was debating between shoving or raising to something like t1200 and getting it in on any flop. I decide that shoving and even gaining 1000 in chips isn't bad, better than getting a bad flop and getting the rest of my chips in bad.

So I shove for 3950, and BB calls. 3 limpers fold and I'm racing against 1010.

Flop K 9 4

Turn 3

River J

I wish everyone good luck and decided to head over to Caesar's Palace and have a late lunch.

After the buffet, I was deciding what to do for the evening, with fireworks planned at Mandalay Bay, Caesar's Palace and probably the Rio. Sent a few text messages around and it appears I'll be heading to the Sapphire Pool at Rio in the evening, so it was time to play some cash game to kill the afternoon.

Got on the list for 1-3 NL 500 max at Caesar's, and was about 10 names down the list. They were just opening a new table of 4-8 Limit so I planned to play until my name is called for the 1-3. The 4-8 game started running and it felt like I was back at Brantford again. Guys were calling 3, 4 bets preflop with hands like QJ, and each hand were 6-7 players to the flop. There were a couple of players who were involved in close to 100% of the hands preflop, and would call down if they hit any part even if its just bottom pair. The player in seat 10 ran super hot when he ran a $100 buy-in up to close to $400 within 1 hour...K7 beating KQ with he hits a 7 on the river, hitting his flush/gut shot, etc. He proceeded to lose the $400 in the next 2 hours and was busto before dinner. By some sort of miracle, I managed to get the table to agree to play with a half kill and the table loosened up even more. I was called for the 1-3 NL game but I decided that this game was probably a better game anyways so I stayed on this table. Players were playing ATC just to protect their "leg-up", and pots were easily over $150 by showdown. Unfortunately I just couldn't get any of my big hands to hold up - AA went down in flames to AK with K high flop and he went runner runner flush, set loses to flush draw, stuff like that. I'm not telling them like bad beat stories, just simply reporting the stuff that was happening. Somehow I managed to win a pretty big pot with AA vs. KK on the half kill hand to bring me back to about even for the day - first time I've left the table down playing limit for the past 15 sessions or so of BCC play.

During my table play, BlondeFish came by and told me he had an extra invite to Everest's Exclusive Party at Pure, and thus my changing my original plan from the Sapphire Pool to the party at Pure. I mean - catered-meal, open-bar, July-4th on the Pure Patio, what more can you ask for? Props for Everest for putting on this party as it was a blast. One of the bartenders introduced a drink called "Salute" to me, and it was a great drink. Pineapple juice mixed with some other alcohol - it was a perfect drink for a summer night. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find the recipe for the drink yet...and other bartenders at the other night clubs/bars have never even heard of that drink. Anyways, the Everest party was from 7-10, afterward the club was open to us to spend the night. Big thanks to BlondeFish for handing me that invite from Everest, as the line outside Pure that night was crazy.

I went to the Sports Book for a bit in between parties as I wanted to watch the ending of the crazy Colorado Rockies-Florida Marlins game which ended with the final score of 18-17. For those that have never been to Caesar's Palace, Pure nightclub is located between the Sports Book and the Pussycat Dolls lounge, right beside the Poker Room. There is quite a large waiting area that is setup for the evening, and there must've been at least 300-400 patrons waiting in line by 9pm, and the club doesn't even open until 10pm! By the time 1130 came around, the club was full of people with the exception of the VIP areas. Some tables were filled but 2/3 or so were still empty. It wasn't until 1 or so until the party picked up and most/all of the tables were filled. There were many gorgeous ladies at the party, and drinks weren't cheap. Oh wells.

I stumbled back to the hotel at around 2 that night - still early by Vegas standards but I decided to call it a night early as tomorrow is a pretty big day with the UFC Fight.

Day 3 - July 3rd Part 2

Went back to the room to grab actyper, and met up with another guy from 2+2, and made our way down to the Golden Nugget. Obv it was the first time I was downtown, and by the looks of it I will probably hang around the strip for the rest of my trip. Saw adanthar at the buffet line, and formally put some screennames to faces. The buffet was alright, but nothing to write home about. After the buffet, we proceeded downstairs to "The Grand" where they had private tables setup for us. I ended up at a table with 4_2_it (Joe - aka the guy who set this all up), and a bunch other guys. We played 2/4 drunk limit where between myself and Joe (the LAGtards at the table), for the first hour or so of Omaha8, Double-flop omaha, double flop hold'em, whatever we were playing, it would be 3 bet blind after it gets by us. Bought in for $300 and ended up cashing out for $200. With the amount of booze I drank, it was definitely cheaper than going out to a club/bar and buying alcohol.

Briefly played with David Sklansky, Dan Harrington and Ray Zee at one point or another during the night. Ray Zee called me a nit before even sitting down and Sklansky folded the eventual winning hand in double flop omaha. Montel Williams popped by the Nugget and started a $500 SnG...I would've played but didn't carry too much cash on me so I stuck with donking around the 2/4 table. Decided to leave the Nugget at around midnight, and hooked up with another 2p2er while waiting for a cab. While actyper went home, Greg and I went over to a new strip club that he recommended to check it out. Nothing special really and it was off the strip a bit, very small compared to Sapphire and it seemed pretty empty where it appeared that dancers outnumbered clients...wasn't there for long before heading back to Mandalay Bay for the night

Day 3 - July 3rd Part 1

One problem with trying to write a trip report a few days after the actual day, is that you will probably forget some things you did if it wasn't poker related. The writing of this blog post probably will span a couple of hours while I attempt to piece together that event of the day.

Actyper woke up pretty early and headed out to play Day 1 of the Main Event. I wished him luck on his way out and quickly fell back to sleep. I was supposed to play in the Caesar's Mega Stack, but I remember waking up late and was too late for late registration by the time I arrived at Caesar's Palace. I wandered around the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace for some time, and had my first of many gelatos of this trip. With my gelato in hand, I wander through the shops, and as actyper predicted, Pete Rose was again signing autographs at the sports memorabilia shop inside.

Once I got bored of wandering (I had no intentions to buy anything big this trip as I have no luggage space), I decided to head to the Rio to check out the festivities that is Day 1A of the WSOP Main Event - and at the same time to see what the Gaming Life Expo (GLE) is all about. The GLE was a disappointment IMO, with the exception of the 2p2 booth which stoodout, and at the same time was very professional without the aid of models in short shorts and tank tops. I strolled through the expo and preceeded into the Amazon room. Barry Greenstein was playing at one of the tables by the rail, and there were about 20 railbirds at various point watching him play. Scotty Nguyen was playing at the ESPN feature table, so I decided to sit in the audience for a bit. A mid-late 20s female railbird joined me in the stands and she was definitely not a physically unattractive individual by any mean either. We talked for awhile and found out she was here with a couple of friends who are playing in the ME but couldn't locate them so she decided to just sit and watch Scotty for awhile. I ended up watching for about half an hour before deciding that watching was too boring so I went back to Mandalay Bay and shot craps for awhile before the evening 2+2 gathering.

More on the 2+2 gathering in the next post.

Update

I'm done with MTTs in Vegas - went 1/5 (or 6 - something like that), so its good news bad news. Good news is that I had my first ever live MTT cash, bad news was that I missed out on cashing for a big score.

I cashed in the $330 Venetian Deep Stack tournament yesterday (July 7th), but had I won the last pot when I moved in with A6 vs. KQ for about 10BB against an aggressive LP, I would've put myself in good position for possibly the final table (or at least the final 2 tables) but it wasn't meant to be. I'm definitely not complaining about this cash after how bad I ran this week - but still no where close to some guys who are 0 for 20 or so from this year's WSOP.

I'll probably write a detailed report on the flight back or something starting from after day 2.

July 4th, Pure, Fireworks

Just a quick update. Been partying it up quite a bit lately, going to start playing a couple of tournaments after the fight tomorrow evening. Had a blast at Pure tonight with open bar + July 4th fireworks at the hottest club in Vegas. Sweated Watts for a bit and he's pretty huge so far last I was in touch with him with over 100K. Other than that I will have a more detailed TR for day 3 and 4 when I'm sober.

Vegas Trip - Day 2

Day 2 – July 2, 2008
Woke up at 9am or so, and got a message from actyper saying he has an extra bed in his room in Mandalay Bay, so I migrated to his room as a bed and some personal space beats crashing on a couch in the living room no matter how nice of a mansion the couch is in.
The Mandalay Bay buffet seems ok at first, but I will definitely have to rethink that at the conclusion of this trip. Headed out to Caesar’s Palace to play in their Mega Stack Series. Bumped into Buddy (BlondeFish) prior to the beginning of the tournament, and the tournament started pretty much on time with t7500 starting chips and 50 minutes level.
The table makeup is pretty weird, for the most part the table is very loose passive preflop, but occasionally a hand would be 3-betted.

First hand of note (hero was not involved) was also seat 8’s first hand, about 15 minutes into the level.
Effective stacks – t7500
Blinds 25/50, and Seat 7 raises to 225, and seat 8 announces raise and tosses in 2 1000 chips and 1 25 chip. Now note that the 1000 chip and the 100 chip looks somewhat similar, with another player at the table making the similar mistake earlier. Carrying on – seat 7 calls after a minute or so of thought.
Flop comes Q 10 2 rainbow
Seat 7 leads for 2000, and Seat 8 announces all-in almost instantly. Seat 7 thinks about 30 seconds, and calls. Here I was thinking there is AQ vs. KK, or AA vs. QQ, or QQ vs. 1010, but it turns out Seat 8 has a set with 1010, but seat 7 had AJ. Turn came as a 2, which filled up the boat for seat 8, and seat 7 is left with 475. Those chips went in the next hand with 93o and the BB called by K7ss, both players missed the board completely and the player is gone.

The table was super quiet, outside of the initial talk with the dealer despite my effort to start up a conversation with the guy to my right or left.

Next hand comes up with 50/100, and hero stack is t6500~ with villain’s stack t9500~
Hero is on the button with QQ. Villain limped in behind 2 other limpers and hero raises to 600 and was called by villain in MP.
Flop comes K 6 2 with 2 spades
Villain checks to hero and hero bets 900. Villain check-raises to 3000. Hero briefly thought about jamming but decided that villain’s body language doesn’t seem right as he looked very comfortable and confident and decided to fold.
Final hand of the tournament comes about a couple of orbits later towards to the end of the 50/100 level.
Hero t5500~, villain t7000~
Hero raises to 300 in MP with 1010, and player on the button calls and blinds fold. Villain in this hand has been pretty tight for the most part and hasn’t been involved much.
Flop comes Q 10 9 – not a dream flop but can’t complain flopping a set. Hero follows with a bet of 475, which villain raises to to 1500. I decided that this board is draw heavy enough and with the villain’s play so far, he is probably calling a shove so I shove for 5500 or so. Villain thinks, and calls with QJ. Turn was a 6 but river brought a K and hero is now 0/1 in tournaments in Vegas.
Barely getting any sleep the night before, I retreated to the hotel room to nap before the Bluff’s Poker Party at Sapphire while intending to go to the Rio to sweat Watts until he texted saying he was busted so I catch my with the blogging.
Stopped by the Card Runners party at the Rio before headed to Sapphire for the Bluff poker party – it was an open bar and all. Just got back from it and met a few friends and put some faces on online handles. Doyle and Todd Brunson, along with other pros whom are affiliated with Doyle’s Room were also in attendance. Hitting the sack now and will either play the Caesar’s tournament tomorrow or just hang out at the Rio until the 2+2 gathering at the Golden Nugget.

Vegas Trip - Day 1

Day 1 – July 1, 2008

My first trip to Vegas began ironically on Canada Day, and I’ve been anticipating this trip since the plane ticket was booked at the end of May. With all this excitement the last few days leading up to the trip, the first day was big let down. Not that I was expecting to fly first class, picked up by limos and sit beside Maria Sharapova on the flight, but what occurred was a true definition of running bad in life. Things started off when I woke up and left Toronto for Buffalo in the morning, things didn’t get so bad really on the trip across the border, nor did customs take overly long. I was however stuck in a bus with an annoying Chinese woman whom found every single excuse to complain under her breath once we crossed the border to the American side. She got agitated originally due to the apparent “unclear” instructions from the bus driver when someone on the bus did not go through secondary customs with their bag, which resulted in about a 15-minute delay once the mistake was discovered. 15 minutes is really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but she simply ran with the “driver error” for not giving clear instructions despite the fact that they are not allowed to give any instructions and found every chance to complain, mutter, and curse under her breath.

Upon arrival to the Buffalo International Airport, I immediately checked in to drop off one of my luggage, leaving myself with my sling bag and my laptop case. First flight consisted of a loud baby and his non-stop crying, and second flight consisted of an oversized passenger to my right of window seat with no consideration of legroom and elbowroom.

Landed in Vegas at around 10:30pm, and dropped my bags off Watt’s place and headed out immediately to the Rio to check out the action and start losing money. Here is a some poker content.

Rio $175 satellite – 10 handed.

Pretty awful structure with t1000 starting chips and 15 minutes blinds. However, the competition is so soft that it is +ev for most players who may read this who have a small idea of how to play poker and pushing/calling ranges.

First hand of interest in the satellite came at the 25/50 level.

Hero’s Stack 850, MP’s Stack 1500~, SB’s stack 1200~

MP’s been active raising and taking down pots by opening in position, and again raises to t175 and hero looks down at 88 on the button. I was contemplating between calling and shoving when SB announced all-in. Made my fold easier and it turns out SB has 99 and MP has AJ

Next hand involves the player to my immediate right whom have raised on the button/CO regularly and blinds are now 50/100.

Hero’s stack 850, villain 1200~

Villain raises to t300 and hero jams A10ss and villain thinks for a few seconds and says “I can’t fold even if I’m behind” and calls with AJ.

Flopped was A 3 5, and turn was another 5 to give me a few more chop outs. River was a 6 and I’m quickly down on the trip.

Another satellite was about to begin when I busted out so I decided to drop another $275 down on a satellite where starting stack is increased to t1500 and you get 20 minutes blinds.

Nothing really interesting happens, but 7 of the 10 players (including myself) got in a $20 last longest (started with $100, no one was interested except for one guy, dropped to $50, 4 in total and another guy “do $20 and I’m in” and we got 7 into it) but in general the table seemed like they had a bit of an idea of what they were doing, it consisted of a mix of grinders/regulars, and a couple of tourists. Table played pretty tight from the beginning and I chipped up a bit to t3000 or so when this hand came up.

Blinds 50/100, Hero’s stack 2800~, villain 2100~

Villain limps in MP, and hero raises to 400 on the cutoff with JJ, blinds fold and MP calls.

Flop Q 6 4

Hero makes a continuation bet of 600, and villain ask some questions before announcing all-in which forces hero to fold.

Blinds get to 100/200 and hero shoves QJ in the CO with 1400~, SB reshoves with 1010.

Flop was Q J 9, turn brought a 6 and river brought a K and busto again.

Went to watch the heads up match between Marty Smyth and Peter Jetten – “apathy” online. I thought the heads up match lasted like 15 hands or so, but it turns out it lasted 30 hands. Last hand was a cooler even by PLO terms when both guys flopped the nut straight but Marty had a royal flush draw and a full house draw, freerolling Jetten. Club on the river gives the bracelet to Marty.

Also railed the FT of the $1500 HORSE where Hellmuth was going for his 12^th bracelet. The rail was about 3-4 deep with guys cheering for/against Hellmuth. Nothing interesting to note since I only watched a few hands, but as soon as Hellmuth busted out the crowd thinned and there were about 15 railbirds when it got down to heads up.

Sweated Watts until the completion of play in the limit shootout and saw a hand between him and Kenna James with KK vs. AA. He finished the day with 30500. Ended the night back at his place and met the other guys (LearnedFromTV, adanthar, Bond18 etc).

Staking Update

Just a quick update for my staking situation. I have about 13% sold so far - and 5% swapped so as a whole I'm pretty happy. Thanks for everyone's support - hopefully I'll actually have a few decent showing while I'm there. Been re-doing my playing schedule, and there is a chance by total buy-in will be between $2000-$2500 rather than the earlier estimate of $2500-$3000 (as I will probably try to satellite into the $500/$1000 tournaments at Venetian instead of buying in directly - and if I fail to satellite in I'll just play a smaller buy-in tourney elsewhere like Ceasar's Palace). I just felt I am obligated to update my "investors" and if there is a problem with the new schedule and what not, send me an e-mail and we can sort it out. But if there are still people interested in investing, I'm still going to keep it at $30 per % just to be fair to everyone, and also it will give me a bit of wiggle room if I decide to play an evening tournament if I bust out of the noon tournament early.

3 more sleeps!

4 more sleeps

4 more sleeps before Vegas - saying I'm pretty excited is probably an understatement. I decided to just take this week off from poker, as I know I will probably be putting 12-16 hours a day at the tables when I get to Vegas, so I just wanted to give myself a bit of break so I don't burn out before my trip is over. I know, who am I to say that I will burn out compare to other guys who grind MTTs/SnGs all day and have been in Vegas since end of May playing donkaments daily when my volume isn't even that high? Well, nothing to say to that really. I just wanted to make sure I go to Vegas fresh and have the desire to play and sit at the table. My live experience is very limited, so almost all of it is from cash games as there are barely any tournaments in Ontario that is within my "bankroll" that is playable. The only real live tournament experience either come from home games in the KW region, or the one $500 and one $1000 tournament I played at Brantford a year or so ago. I think for the most part I just want to go and enjoy the experience - obviously trying to win, but also get some experience under the belt.

As far as other things, I've been looking around, and found some really good deals on a site called US Airways Vacation - they offer flight and hotel for as long as $400~ per person flying out of Pearson (YYZ) to Vegas with 4 nights stay. Considering normal direct flight from YYZ costs $500~, I think I'm already planning my second trip and I haven't even taken my first one yet. I think my second trip might be more of a sight-seeing then a poker trip, as this upcoming one is primarily poker with a few parties here and there. Definitely would like to see the Cirque shows next time I go down, along with the whole Grand Canyon and what not.

My plan is to try to qualify for APPT Macau after this trip - good excuse to visit HK while I'm at it, but EPT in London as well as the WSOP-Europe doesn't sound too bad. High hopes for someone who is currently 0/5 in big live tournaments satellites (0/1 in APPT Seoul, 0/3 in WSOP ME, 0/1 in APPT Macau) but I'm bound to run good sometime right? I still have 1 year left before I finish my undergrad, but I only have a few courses left to do so my schedule for the fall and winter is probably pretty flexible which will allow me to travel - now comes the hard part of actually qualifying.

I think this might be my last update until I leave for Vegas with softball taking up most of this weekend. In reference to my previous entry, I have sold/swapped about 10% of myself for this trip. I am pretty satisfied with that but I would still welcome more "investors" if there are others interested. Please let me know by Monday night (June 30th) at the latest if you are though.

Wes

Selling a few % of myself

I'll be making a trip down to Las Vegas from July 1 to July 9 - I am currently not planning to play in the WSOP Main Event, but I will should I manage to satellite into the tournament while I'm there. With that said, since I'm not planning to play the Main Event, I will be playing tournaments daily, mainly between the Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza and the Caesar's Palace Mega Stack Series. Right now, my schedule is still very much up in the air, since these tournaments end play at night and usually have final table the following day - and I plan to make at least one of these obviously. My plan will have me play about 6-7 tournaments, a daily noon tournament either at the Venetian or Caesar's Palace, and if I somehow lose by 7pm, I'll probably plat the Rio nightly tournament or the Caesar's Palace nightly tournament. With that said, the cost of all my buy-in will probably be around $2500-$3000. I am looking to sell up to 25% of myself for this trip - each % will be $30 either transferred via Poker Stars/Full Tilt Poker, or paid to me in person before I leave next week.

If you have questions about this, feel free to send me an e-mail at westside8@gmail.com

How I started playing online poker - part 1

I've had a couple (well, just 1) that asked me how I got into playing poker, more along the lines of how I got to where I am today (which isn't very far), so here is a short summary.

I was mainly playing for nickels and dimes until I turned 18 and made my first deposit on PokerStars for $100. I wasn't the brightest back then in terms of bankroll management, table selection, or anything really. I looked at some of the hands I played back then, and they were simply awful. In any case, with $100, I started playing $0.25/$0.50 6max NL. For those bankroll nits, you know that means I only had 2 buyins. I also played some 1/2 Limit 6max - I only had 50BB in this level. Saying that I played above my bankroll was probably an understatement. Somehow I got lucky, went on a heater and quicky ran that $100 up to about $1K within 2 weeks, and I thought I was just THAT good. Being a stupid 18 y/o with no sense of bankroll management, I withdrew $500 of it, and redeposited into Party Poker. Again, with no idea of what bankroll management is, I sat down at a 1/2 NL 6 max table with $500 in my account. I went on another heater, and my PartyPoker account had just over $2K by the end of the week. I felt like I was top of the world - less than a month ago I put $100 into poker, and now I'm sitting with $2500 or so. I withdrew a bunch of money from PartyPoker, and treated myself to a few new things. I continued playing the $1/$2 NL 6max, but reality (aka variance) finally struck. I lost most of what was left on PartyPoker after my withdrawal - and I was looking for answers. I came across Canada's Poker Forum (CPF www.pokerforum.ca), and I became a member. Some of the members on that site were instrumental in the early stages of my development as a poker player - learning how to properly manage my bankroll, and learning the game.

Part 2 coming up soon

Epic Failure x2

Played both the Poker Stars 200 Main Event Seat Guaranteed satellite as well as the Full Tilt Poker 150 Main Event Seat Guaranteed satellite and donked out of them both. Probably misplayed a hand on Stars when I had AJss and played it super passively on a KsQs6x board, and then just lost a flip with AK > JJ. On Full Tilt, couldn't get anything going as I was just card dead, and anytime I tried raising light, I was forced to fold after continuation betting the flop and getting played back at when I miss, or simply can't make a play at a coordinated flop with several players in. I will probably do a short review of hands again soon as I gear up for Vegas in 2 weeks.

I didn't plan to play yesterday originally (not due to Father's Day as our family tends to celebrate these days a day or two in advance to avoid the crowd), but Sunday freed up last minute due to the weather in Toronto, so I was able to lose a few hundred dollars playing donkaments. I will probably look into playing the satellites on PokerRoom as well not week as per actyper's advice regarding the softness of their satellites. At this rate, I'll go broke trying to satellite into the Main Event before I even get a chance to go to Vegas.

Speaking of actyper - congrats on winning your Main Event package this past weekend.

Nothing Much

Haven't played too many hands the past few days. With work 9-5, and softball on a couple of evenings as well as being in attendance for the NHL Awards last night, I played enough to keep the Iron Man streak going, and thats pretty much it. Going to put in some hours on Saturday and Sunday, finishing up with the Poker Stars $370 200 WSOP Main Event seat guaranteed satellite on Sunday.

First WSOP Main Event Attempt

With my trip to Vegas looming, I'm going to be trying to win a Main Event seat via Poker Stars or Full Tilt Poker. The past few Sundays have been booked, so I finally had a chance to play the Poker Stars $650 Main Event satellite this past Sunday. This tournament was an epic failure, outside of maybe winning 5 hands, I played tighter than Watts - and thats quite an accomplishment. Here are just a few hands I wanted to highlight for the time being.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740417

This was about 30-40 hands into the tournament. I have been basically folding every hand so far, except for a couple of hands where I limped behind a limper or two in late position with a pocket pair and whiffed the flop.

UTG+1 has been relatively active preflop - calling raises on a regularly basis. Hero here decides to take a flop in position to see if I can flop anything.

Flop is relatively dry, UTG's bet into 2 players is either weak, or super strong. Since I got a piece of it, I did get a piece of it, so I decided to make a raise to see where I am at. If re-raised/called, I'm behind, otherwise I'm hoping to make the players with two overcards fold. On another hand, they both can't have air, so I MOST LIKELY should've folded the flop as I'm probably never ahead. As played, I guess I should've probably made the raise on a flop a bit bigger. In any case, the call by UTG+1 obviously means hero is behind on the flop, but the turn brought a miracle 5 and there is no way UTG+1 sees hero playing a 5 in this spot. The river check might be a bit weak - but posted the hand to get comments on 2p2.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740450

Second hand of interest comes about 20 hands later. This hand's raiser has been raising quite a few hands preflop after losing with QQ, and after showing down 56hh, hero's table image obviously took a different turn. Preflop call a bit on the loose side again, but I figured with the original raiser's tendency, and the fact that I beat him with 56 against his QQ earlier, I will probably get paid off if I make a decent hand.


Not sure what the check on the flop means, but I can't give a free card with this board. Made trips again on the turn, but this completed the flush and villain makes a check-raise. This probably could've been a fold, but I am not good enough yet to make a fold with trips + second best kicker yet. I guess with villain's stack, I could've moved him in as well and if he had a flush, I still had outs. Reviewing my play, calling seemed the worse out of raise/call/fold - with raise/fold being equal and calling being the worse. The river doesn't exactly bring the best card in the deck, as a hand like QJ just got there, but the horrible turn play put me in this situation, and I was glad to see villain turning over 86 and win a decent sized pot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740467

About 30 hands later this hand comes up. Table has been pretty limp happy, and I decided to come along in late position with a relatively high implied odds hand. The flop brings hero a pair + flush draw, so a raise behind the bet was in order - his push gave hero 6 to 1 odds, and there was no way I was folding. Ran into a set but turned the flush immediately for another decent size pot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740474

Nothing happens for a good 150 hands, and I was just stealing the occasional blinds, and 3-betting once in awhile to an active LP player to stay relatively with the same stack.

UTG has raised 5 of the last 8 times UTG (did not know the exact # until I reviewed the hand histories - but I knew he has been very active UTG while I was "in the moment"). In retrospect, hero should've did a stop-and-go if I was planning to play for his stack with my hand. Nothing more than that to comment on with this hand.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740485

I push-botted a bit, and then won a race here to get back to a decent stack. I was still 1/2 of average stack at this point though.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740487

Pushed-bot for awhile again, and this happened. GG me.

This weekend Poker Stars is running a $370, 200-seat guaranteed satellite. Hopefully I come away with one this weekend or something...time is running out.

First Post

Nothing really special here - just decided to start this blog so I can move poker contents away from my regular blog and have it set up here.

Something short as an intro for the time being I guess. I'm a 20 year old poker player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is entering my final year (as of right now - that might change later on) at University of Waterloo. Been playing poker for the better of the past 5 years, and started really because a couple of friends have been playing and got me into it. The Moneymaker effect in 2004 got me more involved and playing more often - and I got my taste of online poker after turning 18. Don't really have much big poker accomplishment as of yet - have had a couple of 4 figure scores on Poker Stars, but have yet to play in any real big tournaments which will change in July as I will be in Vegas for 10 days and will be playing a few events at the Venetian Deepstack Extravagenza as well as the Caesar's Mega Stack - and the WSOP Main Event if I somehow luckbox into a seat either via Poker Stars/Full Tilt Poker/live-bingoments at the Rio.

I've been a low-limit grinder for the past 2-3 years, playing mainly $0.50/$1.00 NL 6max and $16/$27 turbo Sit-n-Go - making enough to cover my tuition and various toys here and there. I very rarely play live at a B&M casino, but on occasions I do play 2/5NL at Fallsview Casino, and 5-10/10-20 LHE at Brantford Charity Casino. These stakes are obviously slightly above my bankroll, but the games are so juicy that it is very irresistable to sit down and play - and being able to take some variance from time to time doesn't hurt either.

In terms of poker goals - I would like to continue to play poker purely for the enjoyment of it, and hopefully see parts of the world while I'm at it, which obviously mean my main goal is not to be a millionaire from it - but more along the lines of winning seats to EPT/APPT/Aussie Millions etc. and travelling (if the money comes - even better). The extra money on the side is great, but I will stop if it ever stops becoming fun. I enjoy the challenging aspect of the game, as well as the competition that comes along with it. I have also made some great friends playing this game, and thats something that can't be taken away from me.

I guess thats it for now, I will post more later as I have been playing quite a fair bit since school finished in mid-April. Still working a full time, 9-5, M-F job, but still logging in some hours at the virtual felt. Hopefully will get a few hand history in, some strategy posts and what not in the near future.

-wes