Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Biloxi Trip Over and I'm Home

I'm back home. I cut the trip a little short and returned early yesterday. I played the 500+50 on Sunday and a 175+25 Sunday evening. Saturday evening after getting checked in to the hotel I played some 1/2 nl for about 4 hours and won 400 bucks. I won 100 playing blackjack and 100 playing video poker so I was up 600 bucks the first night. Peyton and Eli Manning were there at the casino celebrating Eli's upcoming wedding with a little bachelor party. (that's what i heard from several people there at least)
I sat at a table next to Clonie Gowen's table. I think she was playing 25/50 no limit or something like that. She and Kristy Gazes were there helping put on a WPT boot camp. I saw Clonie quite a bit while I was there. She seemed very personable and was hanging out with everyone having a great time.

The 500+50 on Sunday had a lot less players than I expected it to. There were only 92 or 93 entrants and the top 9 made the money. ( Saturday's 500+50 had about 250 or so ) I played fairly tight in the early going watching some crazy hands take place. I finally picked up a pair of nines about 40 minutes in and called a small raise of about 150 with the blinds still at 25/50 from a very aggressive player to see a 4-way flop. The flop was 3 8 J only putting one over on the board. He bet it out like usual for 300 and the other two got out of the way so it was heads up if I call. I made the call and a 10 hit the board giving me an open ended straight draw along with my nines. He bet out for another 300 and again I call. The river is a queen giving me the low side of the straight. He slows down and checks. I bet 1,000 and he calls and shows AA. This puts me up a couple thousand early on.
I stayed tight for another hour or so and don't see anything playable. At the first break I'm sitting around 5k, about an average stack.
I get several hands to see a flop with and I keep missing with pairs and connectors. The play is very aggressive post-flop and I have to throw away a lot of missed flops.
I get down to about 3k and pick up AQ. A desperate short stack across the table pushes with about 1,400. I reraise all in to isolate and everyone else folds. He flips up AK and it holds to double him up and now I'm the desperate one.
I pick up AQ 3 times in a row. I shove all 3 times and only get called once and they hold up. I'm back up to about 4k and we're about 3 and half hours in. The average is 8k and we are down to about 40 players. I get AQ once again and I'm in late position. It folds around to me and I raise it up big. The big blind calls. The flop is Q J rag and he bets out. I shove all in and he calls me. He flips over A 10 and a king hits the river to give him a straight and I'm out in about 38th.

The second tourney was at 6 pm. Several of the guys I play with in Atlanta were in it. Brian (BrianMc), Mike G (main event Mike), Mike H, and Chris D. We started with 3k in chips and the blind levels were a little faster at 30 minutes. I catch hand after hand early on but can't get anyone to stay with me. I chip up to about 4,500 without going to a showdown. Then the deck goes cold and I blind down for about an hour. I finally pick up 55 and raise it up. The big blind reraises enough to put me almost all in and I think he believes I will fold. I almost do but finally make the call and he shows 10 10. This is my worst played hand of the whole trip I think. It cripples me and I'm out an orbit later.

Monday morning I was over at the Hard Rock Casino and was standing near the restroom at the top of the escalators waiting on a friend when I saw a man with a walker getting on the escalator down below. As his walker began it's climb he flipped over backwards and was coming up the escalator practically upside down. I looked around and realized nobody else was doing anything so I ran over to the top of the escalator and met him there as he reached the top. There was one older gentleman that had gone back down a few steps but wasn't strong enough to lift him. He had managed to get him to an almost sitting position so I reached down and grabbed him and stood him up. He was a little shaken up but said he was OK. I stayed with him for a minute until some people he was there with arrived.

It's good to be home.

Best of luck at the tables this week everyone!!!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Biloxi Today

Usually when my alarm clock goes off I like to hit the snooze once or twice. Today I sprang from the bed and got ready early. I'm working for a few hours this morning. I picked up my friend Travis at his house at 5:45 am. He's going with me to Biloxi. He brought his new Nintendo DS with him to keep him entertained while I log in a few hours of work.
It's about a 6 hour drive to the Beau Rivage. I can't wait to get there. We are meeting up with some of the guys from BrainMc's neighborhood game this evening at the casino.
My first tournament is Sunday at noon. It's a 500+50 buy in. I'm guessing there will be about 300-400 players. The second tourney is Monday at noon. They are both 2-day events with the final table being played the 2nd day so if I final table Sunday I won't be playing the 2nd event.
TripJax is coming down to Biloxi the following weekend which is also the same time the 2,000 buck main event is running. I'm considering going back down to play if I can either cash in one of these two events or if I can satellite in to it while I'm there this weekend.
Travis has not been to a casino very much so I'm looking forward to showing him around and teaching him how to play some of the casino games.
Hopefully I'll have some great news to blog about when I get home.

Have a great weekend and good luck at the tables this week everyone!!!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

BBT3 And The Beau

I'll be taking a few more shots at winning a seat in to the TOC this week with The Mookie and The RiverChaser. I have a meeting after work today so I probably won't make it to the Skills game but there is a slim chance I can make it.
I'm really looking forward to the tournaments this weekend in Biloxi. The structure looks pretty good and I'm ready to go. First should pay somewhere in the neighborhood of 100k or so.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

The Walk



Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Busy Week

I'm having a super busy work week.
I'm out of the Mookie about 15 minutes in with AQ on a flopped Q high board against BrainMc. He has a set of tens and I'm out.... TPTK no goot.
I'm off to a decent start in the 28K. I'll report back in a bit if I can get anything going.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Big Game and Biloxi

I ran very well for about 2 1/2 hours last night staying in the top 5 in chips for about the last hour i was in. I got in a blind on blind battle with Scott Fischman and lost with AQ to his 88. If anyone is unfamiliar, 88 was the hand Scott won one of his bracelets with so I seriously doubt he's laying that hand down regardless. No help for me and I double him up to a huge stack and got a decent night's sleep.
I booked my room for Biloxi today. I arrive Saturday March 22nd late and play tournaments on Sunday and Monday. This will be my first two shots at completing goals 1 and 4. I should also be able to put a dent in to goal 2.

2008 Goals in Review:
1. Cash for over 5 grand in a live tournament
2. Log in 100 hours of live play at the 1/2 and 1/3 no limit tables
3. Hang out with all my friends and have a great time at Okie Vegas Scheduled for July
4. Win a tournament with over $200 buy-in
5. Win my 6th Mookie title 6th and 7th titles accomplished

Sunday, March 02, 2008

BBT3 Begins

I won a $75 token for my entry to The Big Game tonight as the BBT3 kicks off. I'm looking forward to the next 3 month's tournies and would like to say a big thank you to Al and all the hosts of each tournament. Thank you for all the work you will be doing over the next 3 months to pull this thing together.

If you aren't aware of it, PokerEnthusiast lost his father this week. Please take a moment to stop by his blog and wish he and his family well in their time of mourning.

I got an offer from a sponser this week to back 50% in any tourney I want him to back me in. It's a nice gesture. There may come a time when I take him up on it. I was thinking it would be in cases where I was going to play a 1k event but i decide to play two of them or a 2k instead. We'll see.

Best of luck at the tables this week everyone!