Tom Turley

On to Day 2...

2009-07-06T09:28:00.003-04:00

Man, what a day. Right out of the gate I was up to 37k. Pocket 3s and flopped a set. Had pocket Ks about 6 times. Paid off a couple times, but got stung when Tracee from Idaho turned a str. I could have gotten away from it, but the way she bet, oh well. That hand put me back under 27k. Then the roller coaster began, down to under 20k back up to the mid 20s. Our table was a blast, lots of talking by Carlos from TX in seat 5, the 'princess' P(something) in seat 2 and the bald guy from NY in seat 4. We didn't lose our first guy until just before the 4th break. Then we lost John from Falls Church in seat 1 and then the French fella in seat 3.

I finished the night just under right at 9500. We play 4 levels on Wed and the blinds will be 250/500 with a 50 ante. Short stacked I'll be looking to double or triple up early. With about 30min left in the night I was right around 15k. I looked down at AA in the BB and was looking at a raise from the 3 seat who just sat down. I reraised all in and he called with AQoff. The dealer announced all in at 13 and a call. As usual a ton of people came over from other tables, the espn crew who had been around our table all day was there as well. I just looked at the table and covered my ears. I saw a flop of Qxx and was thinking, 'please not like this'. Sure enough a Q hit on the river. I really didn't react. I laughed and said, 'that's poker.' Everyone at my table didn't really say too much, their looks said it all. I wasn't out, but only had about 3k left. Now I needed to double up and princess P doubled me up all pre flop, she had 6s and I flopped a Q with QQ. With 10 min left the tourney director drew a card, 'folks, it's a 3. There will be 3 more hands and then we'll bag out chips.' The very last hand of the night Oliver from Germany in seat 7 raised pre, I called and saw a flop of Q7x. I had A7. He bet out and I put the rest of my chips in. All the other tables were bagging their chips and Oliver thought about it. I was like 'not like this Oliver' 'I hit that flop', he ended up folding and said he laid down 9s for me. I believed him.

Well, it's on to day two. Spend the next couple days relaxing with the family and get ready for Wed. Thanks again for all the messages, know there are so many out there routing me on helps a ton!

D Day!

2009-07-05T09:37:00.002-04:00

D Day June 6 1944... I just read Eisenhower's message to the troops that were about to make the biggest sacrifice anyone could ask in a man. The message starts out:

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have
striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The 
hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you...

These words couldn’t be truer for me today. It’s been many months since I won my seat and I can’t count the number of people are behind me. All the messages, emails and calls have been great. I know you all will be there when I'm playing!

In just about five hours they'll be announcing those words, 'shuffle up and deal'.

I woke up early this am when Anna came in our room, but luckily Kathy was able to take her out and I was able to get another couple hours of sleep. I'm just looking over a couple sites that wrote/blogged/tweeted about yesterdays day 1b play (only 873 runners). Gotta love Daniels 'eye of the tiger' write-up. He talked a little how he approaches this tourney, if the table is soft, attack. Play more aggressive, see more flops and punish the weak scared players. How am I going to approach the Main Event? I think I've got that question 100 times. It's hard to say, last time I did play pretty timidly. Anyone who has played with me knows that’s not my game. If I get chips, look out. I’ll be playing a lot hands, seeing flops and punishing folks when my 78 hits a flop and cracks their AA. Who am I kidding it’s the Main Event. This isn’t any tourney. I’m sure for the first hour I’ll rein it in, identify a few soft spots and try to exploit em’. With 300 BB’s there’s going to be a lot of play so there is no reason to get stupid and try to be cute, like limping with AA and get wacked!

The goal today is just to get out of day 1. There are only 4 2hr levels and 20min breaks between them. There’s also a dinner break after the end of the second level. Hopefully I’ll be writing tonight and sitting around 80k! Today is my D Day and I'm READY!

Main Event (ME) starts Friday!

2009-06-30T06:52:00.001-04:00

The wait is almost over. In less than a week I'll be waking up, if I was able to sleep, getting ready to head to the Rio to start the ME. Almost 100 days since I won the seat! Can't say it has flown by, but it did go pretty quickly.

The goal for me is just get out of day 1, play smart and have fun. If it's not my time, that's OK. Back in 06' when I played I made a couple bad plays and it cost me. Not this year!

I've been watchin almost the entire series this year, actually been watching everthing. BluffMag.com/espn360 live feeds of final tables, pokernews.com's updates/videos, wicked chops, micons updates, rawvegas video, wsop.com's updates/videos/pics, all the poker players tweets and more. Yes, I'm a total dork.

As I mentioned I played back in 06 and played the same day, 3c. That was the same day Phil Helmuth played that year. Was funny when watcging the espn coverage later that year to see he got ko'd by the same guy who sucked out (caught runner runner flush to my turned straight) on me at my first table. That year he me he made a grand entrance. Well it sounds like this year won't be any different. Just read a tweet from him he sent last night from the UB party. An early tweet he mentioned he was rocked, so I'm sure he was try to make this a surprise but let the cat out of the bag... Here's the tweet:

From: @phil_hellmuth
Sent: Jun 30, 2009 5:43a

Sunday July 5 i show up to
WSOP as 'Caesar: with 100 models, 11 muses w body paint, a chariot w 2 horses, and a drummer dropping rose petals

sent via txt

This should be a show, how funny would it be to be at the featured table when he arrives.

Until next time...

Confirmation received...

2009-06-24T12:24:00.001-04:00

Congratulations! This is to confirm receipt of your funds in connection with pre-registration for Event # 57, World Championship No-Limit Hold’em in the 2009 World Series of Poker®. Your assigned starting date is Sunday, July 5th, Day 1C. You must complete the registration process at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in order for you to receive your table and seat assignment.

Received yesterday...

Two weeks and counting...

2009-06-18T17:13:00.002-04:00

Went to the bank this afternoon and wired the $$ over to Harrah's. Made it under the wire, the deadline was midnight tonight...

3 Weeks until the WSOP

2009-06-11T08:07:00.004-04:00

Wow, only 3 weeks until the ME (main event). Been working my butt off at the new job, started in Feb. Sucks being away from the family, drive up on Monday's and head back down the VA Beach either Thurs night or Friday afternoon. I have been playing a bit. Planning on playing the 150 seat on FT, hopefully I can get seat for Kathy. Would be cool to see both of playing in the ME.

Been following all the coverage of the events, Bluff's coverage with ESPN's 360 coverage has been great. Watched Brock Parker (Tsoprano)last night take down his second bracelet in 4 days!! That is sick! Also been keeping track of Lee via FB and Twitter. Twitter has blown up online for poker players, everyone is doing it! It's great reading the tweets real time chips counts. I'm planning on doing it when I out there as well. Hopefully I'll be in more than day!

Off to work....

21k feet and 80 miles out...

2009-04-14T23:37:00.004-04:00

I'm stil in the qualifier, 35 left and I'm 12th in chips. Crap! What happens when we land, do I lose my connection?

35,888 feet and 508mph - Technology, wow!

2009-04-14T22:08:00.003-04:00

Here on Virgin America flying from Washington Dulles direct to San Fran, just amazed at technology today. I look over to my left and the guy in the Seat next to me is watching a live baseball game, the guy next to me is watching a movie on his ipod and here I am writing this blog and playing in the Tues Main event Qualifier. I won a sat just after we took off. Played a $50 buy-in with 28 people in it, I was down to 400 very very early and ended up coming back and won a seat. 127 in this one and were down to 85, I'm in 43rd. This has to be the most roller coaster tourney I have ever been in. 60 hands in and I've been seeing too many hands, need to simmer down. Crap, in a hand and have AQ, flop a Q and A on the turn, I push... Writing while I play, the push took it down. Now in 32nd. That was a good hand.

Another tech wow was walking to the bathroom and waiting in line. I look over and see someone on FB and also chatting live via a web cam with her girlfriend. Look back again and the girl on the cam sat up and flashed her friend. Very attractive girl on the computer, but the girl who got flashed was better looking!! Must be a San Fran thing....

Hands from the Qualifer

2009-03-23T13:12:00.003-04:00

Pulled the hand histories from Qualifier last week and thought I'd share a couple:

This was the 13th hand of the tourney:

Road the 7k down to about 5k, really didn't play any hands and on hand 170 of the tourney I got Q4 in the BB:

One of the biggest hands of the tourney, hand 194. The guy with the Jacks ripped me for over 45 mins after this. He ends up finishing 12th, in the money but short of the Main Event... My thinking was if I hit a monster, which I did, I could double through him. If I bricked, I could dump it and still be around 5k

Up and Down, was down as low as 8k. Grinded back up with a couple all-ins and was sitting just under 13k when this hand came up (Hand 287). Lilttle history with this guy, he'd been pushing a lot of chips and not showing any big hands. Not the best call with AQ but went with my gut. Was one of those "I guess this is" moments...

Another HUGE hand... Dealt KK, I seem to always lose with KK. This time it held and I was up to 65K! (Hand 317)

Not a huge hand, but after this I was up over 76k, my high water mark. With the blinds and Antes, winning them was a nice, $7,300... (Hand 347)

The rest of the tourney was pretty much uneventful... There were a total of 390 hands. I pretty much stole a couple blinds after the hand above, laid down 8s when I raised in position and someone pushed and also laid down AK when two others were all in. The last hand of the tourney was on the other table, TT pushed UTG and the BB called with AJc, they were all in preflop and the flop came with two clubs. A club on the turn sealed it...

2009 WSOP....

2009-03-15T22:54:00.006-04:00

here I come. Played in a $24+2 token sat on FT last night and ended up getting a $75 token. About that time a $75 sat into the $500 Sunday Main Event Qualifier was kicking off. In that sat the top 3 got a seat into the $500 tourney and I ended up winning that one.

So this afternoon the tourney started at 4:30est. There were 253 players and the top 10 won a seat (12k, 10k for the seat and 2k for travel/hotel). Right out of the gate, 14 hands in I picked up 33 in the BB. We started with 3k in chips I was up to 3300. After a flop of 234 I checked and the small stack with 900 pushed, the next guy called and I pushed all in. It was back to the guy who called the 900 and he called my all in. The board bricked out and I KO'd both of them and was up to 7k right from the start. I went up and down and ended up winning a seat.

Now the wait, 109 days before it starts. I'll be counting the days.

2008 WSOP starts today...

2008-05-30T13:22:00.004-04:00

Been a while since I've posted and thought since the 08 WSOP starting up, might be a good time to post a quick note. So, am I going out for the series this year??? The same line I've been saying since last year this time, "Still working on it". I've been playing the steps on PokerStars and some satellites on FT. I made a couple Step 6's on Stars, that's where 9 people play and if you win the table you get a 12k package to the main event (10k seat, cash and a hotel room at the Rio). At my table was Barry Greenstein and I ended up getting 5th in that for a 1k payout. Close but no cigar. I did qualify last night for a seat into the 150 seat guarantee on Fulltilt on June 15th. It's a $500 entry tourney and I got in through a $75 sat. The top 150 people in the tourney will get FT's WSOP package, 10k seat and 2k in cash. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Has it been a year!!??

2007-08-20T12:20:00.000-04:00

Can't believe it's been a year. Our little angel is 1 today!

Been playing a bit. Really need to refocus and tried a couple things last week and went deep into a couple tourneys.

I also decided to run a marathon, well a half marathon. I'll be running the Virginia Beach Rock and Roll Marathon on Labor Day next month. I had a group of friends run it last year and remember saying, "I could do that!" Well, putting my money where my mouth is, I signed up last month. Training has been going well. This will be my first "real" run, never done a 5k, 10k, etc... Should be interesting. My goal is to finish it in 2:30, well my real goal is just to finish, but doing it in 2:30 would be great.

On to the Europe WSOP

2007-07-10T16:49:00.000-04:00

Played a Sat for a seat into the Tuesday qualifer for a seat into the European Series 2007. Get heads up and am a 4 to 1 chip dog, double up and back in the game. Was in the chip lead then lost a hand... Then the following hand came up. Saw a flop with 49, flopped a set, slow played it and he ended up pushing with a K high flush draw. Guess what, he caught up. Won a few bucks for 2nd, but wanted the $300 seat for the tourney tonight.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2907463797: Sat to ME Europe Tuesday (21669089), Table 2 - 150/300 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:38:41 ET - 2007/07/10
Seat 4: twoholetrip (13,952)
Seat 6: Turley11 (10,048)
twoholetrip antes 25
Turley11 antes 25
twoholetrip posts the small blind of 150
Turley11 posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Turley11 [4c 9h]
twoholetrip raises to 600
Turley11 calls 300
*** FLOP *** [3c 9d 9c]
Turley11 checks
twoholetrip bets 1,250
Turley11 calls 1,250
*** TURN *** [3c 9d 9c] [5c]
Turley11 checks
twoholetrip bets 12,077, and is all in
Turley11 calls 8,173, and is all in
twoholetrip shows [4s Kc]
Turley11 shows [4c 9h]
Uncalled bet of 3,904 returned to twoholetrip
*** RIVER *** [3c 9d 9c 5c] [Ac]
twoholetrip shows a flush, Ace high
Turley11 shows a flush, Ace high
twoholetrip wins the pot (20,096) with a flush, Ace high
Turley11 stands up
twoholetrip stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 20,096 | Rake 0
Board: [3c 9d 9c 5c Ac]
Seat 4: twoholetrip (small blind) showed [4s Kc] and won (20,096) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 6: Turley11 (big blind) showed [4c 9h] and lost with a flush, Ace high

Maybe Next Year...

2007-06-22T09:58:00.000-04:00

A little WSOP... Well last weekend played in the 100 seat guarantee and played pretty well. I grinded and went out about 1100th with about 3500 in it. Never really got any hands and that is that. So like a drum who loves getting beat on, I sat into a satellite for the Tuesday WSOP 300 tourney. It was a multi-table where the top 5 got a seat and with about 18 left I was low stacked in 17th place. I got a couple nice double ups when I pushed with AK and Ts. Got to the final table in 7th and ended up getting a seat. Was the first time I played in the Tues $300. There were over 300 entrants and the top 7 got seats.

In the first 7 hands I tripled my starting chips up to 9k. The 2nd hand of the tourney I got AA and flopped a set, we got it all in and he showed a smaller set, whew! Five hands later I get AJhearts in the BB. Under the gun made a 4x raise and the button called. The flop came KQT, with 2 clubs. I just flopped the nut straight and Royal Flush Draw, sweet!! I was first to act and checked, looking for the UTG to come out firing, he didn't disappoint. Remember we started with 3k in chips and I was up 6k now. The UTG came out with a 650 bet, remember this is the 7th hand of the tourney. The button called as did I. Was early and I was thinking the range of hands these guys could have... Set, 2 pair, flush draw, top pair -were the possibilities. The turn was a lovely 8c, sweet nut flush. Lets hope someone was chasing the flush and hit! I checked again as did the UTG (there's the two pair or top pair). The button came out firing, 3/4 pot, he basically pot committed himself, but still could get away from it if he had two pair. I didn't see the UTG calling and just in case he had two pair, I pushed. The UTG folded and the button called. He flipped over the 97c for his flush and was drawing dead!

I ran pretty well and up over 17k at the first break and was sitting in 2nd place with a about 220 left. I was pushing my chips around and picking up here and there. After the break it didn't go so well. I was down to 11k by the next break. Fast forward and with about 40 left I was short stacked and doubled up when someone tried to run a bluff on me. They fired 3 bullets and with my short stack I hit two pair on the river and pushed. I really didn't need the river 2nd pair, I was in the lead the entire way. He ended up calling and that shot me back up into the race, I was feeling good. We were under 30 players now and I was middle of the pack, picked up a few blinds and then my final hand. I was in the BB and a big stack was just to my right. He called the BB and I made a raise with KJ. Not to go into all the details, he turned a set on my with my flopped Js. He played it really well and was able to extract my entire stack, about 24k and I was sitting there again with no seat.

I've pretty much given up all hope for making the trip west for the series. I really think if I did win a seat I'd go out and play a few of the lower buyins, like a 2500 buyin at the WSOP and a few of the other tourney's like the Bellagio Cup or an event or two at Caesars. I have a group of friends out there now and another group that just went out last night for a bachelorette weekend. A couple of the girls are solid poker players and will be playing in a few of the side tourney and are going to swing by there on Sunday to see the start of the 50K HORSE event. Was telling them is they want to see some of the big name players, they need to be there that Sunday am, they will all be there!

Hey, there are couple more Sat's this weekend and if you're a betting man, there's a good chance I'll be playing Sunday!

Last chance....

2007-06-11T01:55:00.000-04:00

Could be.... Just picked up a seat for the 100 Main Event Guarantee on FullTilt... Let's see if I pull it out.

Tonight the night???

2007-05-27T20:43:00.000-04:00

We'll see....

This is getting old....

2007-05-24T16:02:00.000-04:00

Another Sunday qualifier this past Sunday, qualified again in a 9 person Sat Sunday morning. It was the first sat I played for the Sunday and ended up winning it. Well I learned a lesson; don't play when you've had too much to drink! Had a big party that Sunday and ended having a few too many Corona's. I played ok, but ended busting early when I made some silly mistakes. That was a good $26 lesson; at least it didn't cost me $200...

On to this week. Haven’t played at all this week and decided to play a little last night... I got into an $8 token sat (18 players put up $8 and they give the top 5 players a $26 token). I do pretty well in these and ended up picking up a token. I jumped right into a $26 token sat (18 players put up $26 or a $26 token and the top 5 players get a $75 token) and I was a bust, went out 9th. I then noticed a 9 person single table sat filling up for the Sunday WSOP tourney. I couldn't resist.

I was running well and with about 4 left my buddy Shoe sent me an IM. He was like "Hello, why you playing, were going to be at the beach all day Sunday??? You're going to be in no shape to play Sunday night!!" Ooooppps! I got heads up with the guy and at that point I had a 2 to 1 chip lead. I decided to make a deal for the seat. I asked him if he wanted the seat and he was like "Hell Ya!" I then asked what he wanted to give me for it; he said he would give my buy-in back. I said I was thinking more like $75, a fair offer. He declined and I ended busting him on the very next hand when he raised it up pre-flop with AK. I called and flopped a pair of Js. He ended up pushing, I called and that was that.

I guess I'll be taking it easy at the beach on Sunday or at least making sure I'm in better shape than last week before I start! Perhaps this could be the weekend!

Guess it's not going to happen...

2007-05-13T22:48:00.000-04:00

Playing well this evening in the Sunday qualifier. Got in via a Sat earlier this week and have been ready to go. I'm up over 4k at break and in about 40th place out of 155. Then I get the following hand... I'm dealt pocket 6s and flop a set. I turned a boat giving the other guy a set... All the money got in on the turn. He flips up TJ suited. Sweet! Nope, not when a T comes on the river giving him Quads.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2419627232: Sunday Main Event Qualifier (17684066), Table 14 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:15:04 ET - 2007/05/13
Seat 1: Turley11 (3,590)
Seat 2: jse81 (2,795)
Seat 3: SmtimesYRdaBUG (2,948)
Seat 4: jkahrl (2,480), is sitting out
Seat 5: arty842003 (5,935)
Seat 6: Gator93 (4,644)
Seat 7: smfit29 (7,085)
Seat 8: PALM COAST D (1,355)
Seat 9: jrkeene (3,690)
jkahrl posts the small blind of 40
arty842003 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Turley11 [6s 6d]
Gator93 folds
smfit29 calls 80
PALM COAST D folds
jrkeene calls 80
Turley11 raises to 440
jse81 folds
SmtimesYRdaBUG folds
jkahrl folds
arty842003 folds
smfit29 calls 360
jrkeene folds
*** FLOP *** [4h Ts 6h]
smfit29 checks
Turley11 checks
*** TURN *** [4h Ts 6h] [Td]
smfit29 bets 80
Turley11 raises to 800
smfit29 raises to 6,645, and is all in
Turley11 calls 2,350, and is all in
smfit29 shows [Jc Tc]
Turley11 shows [6s 6d]
Uncalled bet of 3,495 returned to smfit29
*** RIVER *** [4h Ts 6h Td] [Th]
smfit29 shows four of a kind, Tens
Turley11 shows a full house, Tens full of Sixes
smfit29 wins the pot (7,380) with four of a kind, Tens
Turley11: no
Turley11 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7,380 | Rake 0
Board: [4h Ts 6h Td Th]
Seat 1: Turley11 showed [6s 6d] and lost with a full house, Tens full of Sixes
Seat 2: jse81 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: SmtimesYRdaBUG (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: jkahrl (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: arty842003 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Gator93 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: smfit29 showed [Jc Tc] and won (7,380) with four of a kind, Tens
Seat 8: PALM COAST D didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: jrkeene folded before the Flop

Same song...

2007-05-07T00:01:00.000-04:00

Another Sunday, no seat... Played in the super sat Sat night and picked up a seat into the Sunday qualifier for a seat to the ME. Started of pretty slow and picked up a set of 7s, had 77 in the hole and flopped the set. Could have milked it a little, but 2 hearts of the flop, didn't want to mess around. There were 200 entrants, top 3 got seats. After the first break I was sitting in 55th spot out of 141. The next 5 levels I didn't get crap, at the 2nd break I was in 71st out of 77. Pretty much out, but I wasn't giving up.

On the 2nd hand after the break (blinds 120/240 25 ante) I woke up with AJ in the SB. Middle position, a big stack raised and it was folded around to me. I pushed and he called. He had T9 suited. The flop came AAT and he bricked out. I doubled up to 4800. The next level, 150/300 I get A2 in the SB. There was a raise to 900 and I called to see the flop. An A on the flop along with an 87 and he bet 1800 to me. I pushed my last 3200 and he called. He had 68 and I doubled up to 8885. Back in the game...

A few blinds and antes and I'm down to 6833. Blinds are now 250/500 ante 50. I'm dealt AJ and UTG I made it 2150 to go. A little bit of an over bet and a guy two off the button pushes all in for 5474 and the BB calls! I'm priced in and call. I have 1309 behind and see a flop of A95. The BB checks, I push and the BB calls. The pot is just over 17k and a side pot of 2600. I hold my breath and see the BB flip over KK and the other had 88. NICE! "Just hold, just HOLD!!" The turn is 5.... and the river, an eight! CRAP! That's not what I said...

I win that hand and I'm 9th in chips with about 20k. I won the side pot and a few hands later I picked up TJ suited, pushed my short stack and was called by AK. King on the flop all but sealed my fate. Finished 41st.

There's always Tuesday!

Another Sunday, no seat...

2007-04-30T12:02:00.000-04:00

YET! Still time... It's coming and it's coming soon! Won a sat to get into the Sunday ME qualifier last night and ended up finishing about 80th. They were giving out 25 seats. I was in the BB first hand and had the powerful 7-5o and someone raised in early position. I folded and then saw a flop of 7-7-8. Great I thought, going to be one of those nights. A few orbits later I'm in the SB and have K-3o and fold when UTG+1 doubled the BB. I then watch a flop of K-K-5. The guys got it all in and Qs held up. We started with 3k in chips and I was down to about 1800 early. I fought back and built it up to 4k and then it went south from there...

On to the next one!

Charity Tourney...

2007-04-17T10:23:00.000-04:00

Played in a Charity Tourney this past Sunday. Played OK, but didn't make it deep. I didn't get to many hands early, I did flop straight with a sooted KJ after making a raise one off the button pre-flop. The guy said he laid down A's after I check raised him all in. I'm sure he had nothing. The structure was set for a charity tourney, 30 min levels and re-buys for the first 3 hours. There were 180 people in the tourney and they had over 300 re-buys plus another 120 add-ons after the re-*buy period was over. The buy-in was $150 and the re-buys and add-ons were $100. The first prize was a seat to the ME of the WSOP.

I ended up making a table for the tourney which paid for my buy-in. The guys organizing the tourney paid for the materials and I donated my time to make the table. The table was a hit, they actually gave it at the 4th place prize and used it during the tourney. It was also used as the final table. You can see a pic of it in use during the tourney here...

Back to the tourney... Just before the add-on, the first break, I turned it up a notch. I was pretty short stack and went into hyper mode. I was trying to get a bunch of chips or get down under 500 in chips so I could re-buy and add-on at the break. There were about 5 min left and I started raising every hand. A few times I had hands, other times I didn't. I went uncontested every time. It was almost like playing on the bubble, everyone went into shut down mode. I built up my stack up until the last hand. I ended up doubling the guy to my left after I raised on the button. He called and the BB raised it up 1100 after a flop of K5x. I called and the SB pushed. The BB folded. I was sure the SB had a K. It was another 1200 to me to win a 6k pot. No option but call. I had 56 sooted and was hoping I could suck out, I didn't and was down to about 1200. I added on and was still short stacked after the break.

I won a couple hands and then got KK utg+2. Blinds were 200/400 and I made it 800 to go. Everyone folded around and I showed my KK. The very next hand I got AA, sweet! I once again said, "$800..." The guy in the BB just sat down a couple hands earlier and it was folded around to the guy in the SB a very solid player. He capped his cards with his Jade Buddha and sat back. Every time he did that he had a hand. He thought a few, looked at me and thought some more. I had a tight image at the table and really was only playing solid hands, all until the break. I showed a few hands when I bet out and was folded to me and I had the nuts. I didn't show any strength or weakness and after a few, he ended up just calling. The guy in the BB looked at us both and said, "I'll let you boys fight this one out..." He said he fold JJ after the hand was over. I also saw him a few hours later and he confirmed that again. The flop came all low cards. The SB thought a sec and said "All-in". With no hesitation I said "Call, Aces..." and he said "Shit!" He turned over 10-10 and he didn't improve. I had him covered and he was out. I've played with the guy before, I think it was WSOP circuit in AC last year. I'm sure I'll see him again...

The very next hand I F’d up... Now on the BB I get AJ. The guy in the 3 seat, another very solid player who had been getting the deck smacked up side his head (been getting great cards) raised. I said to the guy to my left, "that's not good!" I called the extra 400 and we saw a flop of A5Q. This is where I dropped it. I bet out to see where I was and he re-raised all in. I'd been on a rush and put him on a med or small pair. Well, he had a small pair, a pair of 5s. Oops and I was out the door.

All in all it was a good time. Wish I went a little deeper, but there is always next year. Congrats Rick and Derwin, both made the final table and Rick acutally took 2nd winning a trip to the Bahamas!

One from the seat...

2007-03-26T02:25:00.000-04:00

Well, it was close... We'll get one!

Done....

2007-03-07T22:20:00.000-05:00

Well, finished the table last night. Was going to wait to post until I showed Shoe the final product. He was going to stop by tonight but didn't make it. I ended up seeing him online and sent him the pics. I think he liked :) He's a huge Tenn Titans fan!

More table talk and ouch...

2007-03-05T15:18:00.000-05:00

Getting close.... The table will be done this week. Worked on it throughout the weekend. I was able to get the rail padded & vinyl on, the holes for the drop in cup holders drilled, the table cloth & it's padding on and painted the underside of it. I cut the S* out of my finger when putting on the drill bit for cutting the holes for the drop in cup holders (see pic). I didn't just do it once; I did it twice, two different days! The 2nd time wasn't too bad, but it did bleed like a B*.

The last piece is to put on the cover for the raised section of the rail. That's a story in its own. I bought a couple strips of wood from Home Depot, when I tried bending it around the table, it split. I decided to try laminate, what they use for kitchen counters. I called a place locally and they can cut it to size for about $20. I called back to see about getting an extra set, for another table I'm going to build. They said no problem and said they would do it at no extra cost. Guess I'm buying a full sheet and am just getting 6" x 10' of it (4 strips 1.5" by 10').

All I'll need to do is to put laminate, attach the legs and I’m done!

I did have an interesting conversation with Greg, a guy in MD who holds a charity tourney every year where they give a seat to the WSOP. I played it in two years ago and am planning on playing this year. I called to get more info and ended up talking about the table I'm building. I told him about a tourney I had last year where they first place person won cash as well as a custom made table. It was a big hit. I told him I would be up for making a table for one of the prizes, all they would have to do is buy the materials. Looks like it might happen, he was really jazzed about it. You can find out more of the tourney here: DISABILITYGUIDE.ORG "NO LIMIT" CHARITY POKER TOURNAMENT

2007-02-26T11:31:00.000-05:00

Ok, got a couple hours in this weekend...

I picked up two sheets of 4'x8' ply from the Home Depot and had them rip it down to 44" x 90". I then cut the corners to make the table oval. The first sheet I cut out a 2" track. The inner section of this piece will be the playing surface. The 2" track will be the bottom the rail. The second sheet I cut out a 5" track, this will be the top of the rail and the inner oval will be the underside of the table.

Normally that would be it and I would put on the foam, attach the playing surface, and glue on the rail foam then staple the vinyl onto the rail. But no, I had to try and raise the rail!!?? The foam, speed cloth and vinyl should be coming in today.

Poker Table Project...

2007-02-24T11:50:00.000-05:00

Made this poker table a couple years ago and going start on another one for Shoe this weekend.

The new table is going to have a raised rail, but no "race track". Picked up all the supplies (foam, cloth) from YAT's. Not sure how long it's going to take. I'll post pics and updates as I progress...

Here's what I got from YAT's:
Royal Blue Casino Cloth - 3 Yards @ $16.95 x 3 = $50.85
Whisper Rail Vinyl - $44.80
1/4 Closed Cell Foam - $23.85
Rail Foam 60lb - $46.95
Cup Holders - $39.50
Spray Glue - $6.00

Total Cost - $211.95
Shipping: $35.00 approx
About $250.00

Picking up the Plywood today at the local HomeDepot:
2 sheets from 3/4" plywood

Wish me luck!

Why we play...

2007-02-22T11:57:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day...

2007-02-14T13:18:00.000-05:00

Well, the FTOPs #3 event started off great. I doubled up on the 7th hand of the tourney and was in 4th. I was able to chip up over 10k by the first break and I was sitting around 125th place with over 2k left. Before the 2nd break it started going south... It all started when I flopped a set of Js with JT sooted. All the money got in on the turn and it looked great when the other guy flipped up AA. Guess what came on the river, yup an Ace... I then lost a couple races and had a big pair run into another big pair. Blahblahblah... I was out soon after that. Next time...

I'm going to try and post on regular basis here.... It's Valentines Day and thought I would share a recent pic of my little Angel, Anna. She's almost 6 months old now and just getting bigger everyday!

Extra 2 Millions Chips in the 06' WSOP

2007-02-13T11:13:00.000-05:00

...well, some of them were. The Nevada Gaming Commission released a report and this is what the found. This is all from the story on PokerNews, you can see the entire story here: Extra 2 millions chips. Looks like Kevin O'Donnell, the bar owner from AZ, received 1 million extra chips after a color up. Ok, I go on break and come back, I have an extra million chips. Do I notice that??? Not calling he guy a lier, but if I had an extra million in chips, hell ya I'm going to notice. Am I going to say anything, No.

From the card player report it looks like he has 3.45 last report before the break... The first hand he played, reported by CardPlayer after the break he gets in a big hand. He calls a raise preflop (250k) and then a check raises after the flop (1Million), and then goes all in for 2.95 million. Rough math, that's 750 extra, if you take the 30k/60k 10k antes into count, you can easly see an extra million chips in there...

Now if he had 10/12million before the break and I can see him not noticing, but 3.45 million and poof you have now 4.5... Hmmmm... I guess if he went deeper, we would really hear more about this. But what about Allen C, the one ended up with the extra million chips????

Time line, Looked back to see his counts and this is what I found on CardPlayer:

Tue Aug 08 12:39:00 PDT 2006 O'Donnell Takes Another Pot After this hand, O'Donnell now has $2,920,000.

Tue Aug 08 12:54:00 PDT 2006 O'Donnell on a Roll chip count to $3,450,000.

Tue Aug 08 13:36:00 PDT 2006 Players On Break $5,000 chips being raced off.

Next hand that is reported by card player on O'Donnell, 45 min after the color up:

Tue Aug 08 14:23:00 PDT 2006 Magill Lays It Down John Magill raises to $250,000 and Kevin O'Donnell calls in the small blind. O'Donnell checks the A109 flop and Magill bets $500,000. O'Donnell rases to $1,000,000 and Magill calls. O'Donnell moves all-in on the 5 turn for $2,950,000. Magill thinks for nearly five minutes before showing AQ and folding. O'Donnell now has $5,750,000 and Magill drops to $2,950,000.

When you do the math, there are the extra chips.

From the story on PokerNews:

Kevin O'Donnell was one of the players to receive extra chips. He was incorrectly colored-up and received 1 million extra chips. Our chip stack analysis shows good data for Kevin shortly before the color-up break and shortly after; there is a 1.05 million chip increase that is not accounted for. We spoke to Kevin, he and all the other players were away from the table during the color-up. He had no idea that he could have been one of the stacks incorrectly colored-up and was shocked that he might have been. Kevin busted out of the tournament in 21st place to Allen Cunningham less that 30 minutes after the mistake was made. We have several independent sources that agree Kevin O'Donnell was one of two players given extra chips. Every piece of evidence points to Kevin having absolutely no knowledge of the events and no idea this had even occurred.

FTOPS EVENT #3 - $750k Guarantee

2007-02-11T14:07:00.000-05:00

Sunday afternoon and decided play a little FT. Played a $22 S&G and was out first. Seems like I go out first or find a way to go deep, no middle ground. I ended up playing in another, steaming off the two bad beats I took in the first one. I ended up winning that one, up $51 on day ($99 win less the 2 $22 +$2 buy-ins). Next I noticed a satellite for the FTOPS event #3, a $300 +$22 tourney with a $750k prize pool. First prize gets a min of $138k.

The Sat started at 12:45 it started, 51 entrants at $75 each ($69 +$6, that’s $6 for the house). With all the money $69 x 51 = $3519, the top 13 got paid, the top 10 places got a seat and 11-13 got cash, $149, $89 and $59 respectively. We were about down to 19 and I was sitting with a nice stack in 6^th place. Had a couple hands in the Big Blind when a short stacked pushed and it only cost another few hundred to call. I played 3 hands like that and ended up finally winning the 3^rd one KO’ing a stack. When we got down to 14 we played hand for hand, there were two tables at this point. When 14 got KO’d, play resumed and we finally got down to the bubble. I was in good position with a below avg stack and watched a couple short stacks push at my table. The first time the short stack was able to double up, still below me in chips. At this point I was in 9^th with one more for the seat. I got a walk on my BB and two hands later the bubble busted and I was in.

On to FTOPS #3. Let’s hope I can go deep and don’t go out the first 15min! More to come…

FullTilt's Daily Double....

2007-02-09T02:20:00.000-05:00

Full Tilt's running a new promo, the Daily Double Jackpot. There are two tourney's that start at the same time and if you play in both and cash in both you get 3% of the Jackpot (shared equally) plus your tournament winnings. If your the best double finisher, you get an additional 2% of the JP. If you double final table you get 20% and if you double win, you get 75% of the JP. The progressive jackpot is up to 26k. You can see more about it here: Daily-Double

I played last night for the first time and cashed in one, won something like $35... So I decided to try again tonight and played in both. I was doing well in both early. I doubled up early in one and then won a pretty big pot when I flopped a set of 7s and the guy bet into me. I raised a fair amount and he shoved. I of course called and he was drawing pretty thin with KK. I ended up just missing cashing in the other, but I did manage to make the final table in the first and took home 5th for $410... First prize was a little over $1600, which would have been nice! There's always next time.

Running well...

2006-09-24T11:07:00.000-04:00

When it's going well, it seems to come in waves... The other night I played in the midnight $75 12k guarantee and took 2nd. I played solid and took home $3100. Some wild hands in the tourney, one in particular I’ll share. Wasn't in the hand but here's how it went down. We were down to 10 and two guys get it all in preflop. They show TT and JJ. The flop comes out 44J. The Js take a 99.8% lead. The turn comes another 4 and the river comes the case 4 for a chop… How bitter was that guy.

Then last night I played in the $100 +9 Satellite to the Aussie $1k Monday tourney (winner there will be going to Australia)... Only 15 players in the game but I was getting cards and rolling. We got down to 5 and I had a monster chip lead, I had about 36k in chips and the next closest had 6k and the other 3 were right around 1k. They were only giving one seat and paid the top 4… When we got heads up I still a sizeable chip lead but with the blinds only at 150-300 we could be here a while and we were. I ended up getting stuck and all of a sudden I found myself with only 8k in chips to his 37k. I double up a couple times and soon we were square. I almost blew it, but I ended up taking it down. Was a tough one, we were heads up for over an hour.

Let’s hope this wave continues, well at least though Tuesday...

A New Addition to the Family...

2006-08-22T12:10:00.000-04:00

She came a little early, about 2 weeks early... Anna was born this past Sunday and came in weighing in at 6lbs 13oz. She's truly an Angel!

On the poker front things have been going well. Getting some nice cashes. I satellited into the Main Event of the FTOPS, a $500 buyin. I had a nice run and ended up cashing. A little over 1k but the 160k first prize would have been nicer. The main event was Sunday, the same day Anna was born. The tourney started at 6pm and she was born at 1:35pm. I ended up playing in the hospital room, was nice that they had wireless... That has to rank up there as one of the more interesting places I've heard of anyone playing.

I still keep going deep in these tourney's but some how keep getting cold deck'd near the end. FT is running tourney's for the Aussie Millions, World Poker Tour and the U.S. Poker Championship. I'll be focusing on the latter, either a WPT event or the US Poker Champinship. We'll see how it goes....

and that was that...

2006-07-29T22:35:00.000-04:00

out judt before the dinner break, 5min from it... Made a bad call that crip'd me and then with under 1k left lost a higher flush...

Poor Don feom the beach, he lost quad 4s to quad Js.

Next time!!!

Break 1

2006-07-29T17:19:00.000-04:00

sittin with about 7k... The play here, wow. Turned a straight and bet it, guy calls with a flush draw and hit it... oh well. had q's and there was a miss deal when the guy on the buttom grabbed the wrong cards, thanks pal...

just got moved before the break.

T -30 Min...

2006-07-29T14:23:00.000-04:00

Just got to the Zoo and I'm relaxing in the Milwaukee's best light lounge... They have some nice recliners and flat screens. There are a ton people just sitting around, you can see the unrest on a lot of them. I'm really relaxed and ready. The GNR they playing in here is nice... Paradise City!

Short and sweet, will check in later...

Hanging out in Vegas and D-Day!

2006-07-29T08:58:00.001-04:00

Day before the ME was relaxing. Checked into a our place we got for the week, the Marriott Grand Chateau, great location right on the strip and an amazing roof top pool/bar. I took some nice shots, including the one here with me and Shoe with the ole Monte Carlo (MC) in the background. The MC was our hotel of choice back in the day! We did something like 7 super bowls straight there with the boys, they treated us well.

After the roof, Shoe and I played a couple low buy in tourneys across the street from the hotel. Nothing much to write about, was out early in the first and went deep in the second but no cash. I made it over to the Rio around 5:30, met up with Don in front of the FullTilt (FT) lounge. The FT “party” was, let’s say, a little disappointing after the UB bash and a few others I popped in on. There were a few pros there, Mike the mouth, Eirk Seidel, Chris Ferguson and Phil Gordon. They were all nice, got some more pics. I’ll post a link to a gallery soon.

Well, I picked up my “FT gear” (one t-shirt, a pull over, a hat and small bag for it all, woohoo!). FT is a great site, but when it comes to marketing they need to look at the big boys and what they are doing here. Before I made it into the "party", I walked through the Amazon room (the Zoo). Where ever you looked all you saw was PokerStars (PS) hats and these big butt PS Jerseys. No wonder their number one. “Ok, just stop!” (I think I justheard someone say that). One little funny story here, for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) websites like PS and FT can’t put “.Com” on anything people wear. Well, PS had “pokerstars.com” on everything. A HUGE No No. They must have had their interns running all over Vegas buying every last roll of black take, you can read the story here. Too Funny! I’m sure there’s a marketing person out there looking for a job…

After the party and the Zoo, Don and I met up with Brian from MSR and his wife. We made it over to a The Palm and had a really nice dinner. Rob, a good buddy of mine from NC met us as well for dinner. The dinner talk was all about Poker, “imagine that” (that voice again, I can hear my wife Kathy saying that right now). We did talk about some funny poker stories, Rob had some great ones. Like the time he was hanging out with a bunch of guys on the poker tour and they were bowling Oranges for 1k a roll. The object was to get your orange closest to the wall with out hitting it. What??!!?? Don’t ask… Brian left to pick up his Mom and the three of us had some more after dinner talk, poker of course… The one consistent theme was, don’t me consistent. Make sure you keep them guessing and don’t fall into a pattern of betting the same way. Over bet a pot here, value bet there. Make it look like your stealing when you got the stone cold nuts and the next time just value you bet when you got them.

I always read and hear about the big players, like Dan Harrington, talking about how they’ll go out with friends after playing and talk about the hands they played that night. Why they played a hand one way and then played the same hand another way the next time. They always talk about how they learned so much from these conversations and grew into a better player. If they were anything like the dinner and after dinner conversation, I can see why. I looked forward to many more of these conversations.

After dinner we made it down to the Caesars poker room where Shoe was playing in the 7 pm tourney. He didn’t make dinner, if I were in his shoes (that came out funny), I would have been playing too. He was doing really well. Looking around the room, he definitely one of the chip leaders. Didn’t want to Ricky/Jinx (sry Rick) him so we left. Was going to head back to the Rio with the boys, but while waiting in line for about 30 minutes for a cab I decided to make it back towards the Marriott. I told the cab that I wanted to go to the Aladdin, it’s next to the Marriott and they have a small quiet poker room. The plan was to play a little cards and then go to bed, that was the thinking. As we were driving over I kept hearing some saying, “just go back to the hotel, you need to get some rest!” I think it was Kathy again. Well, you’ll be happy to hear that on the way over I told the cabby to drop me off at the Marriott. I’m glad I did.

When I got to the room it was a little after 10 I did a little email and read the updates on Card Player. Man, some brutal hands on day one. One hand I guy flopped Quad 5s (4 5s) only to lose to a runner runner straight flush. I think I would have been sick right there. Another guy got pocket Ace’s 5 times! If I lose and go out with Quads, that will be OK, it wasn’t my time. But if I get pockets A’s 5 times, I’ll be up there…

Shoe and I were talking yesterday and he’s got me on a plan… Have a good workout and a good breakfast before the Marathon. Might even play a little Hoops before the workout (I’ll be D’ing it, as my boy Doy would say). It’s going to be a long day!

I slept great last night. I was out by 10:45. After shutting down the computer I was out in 2 sec’s. Not sure how, but I was… Woke up around 4:30, 7:30 east coast time… That would be just around the time my “human alarm clock” that is Trey wakes us up. Not going to get mushy, I’ll just say I miss him and Kathy a ton. Thank God for cell phones. 6 hours of sleep is great. As for it being a long day today, they played day 1a until 3:15 this morning. That’s over 15 hours of poker!!! They played down to 800 with starting field of 2138. The chip leader is just over 100k and the small stack is at 3k.

The plan today is to play my game, see what the table offers me and get through day one (winning Kevin O some money). Let’s hope I can stick to the plan! Out for now, may check in before I head over to the Zoo!

T minus 24 hours...

2006-07-28T09:46:00.001-04:00

Didn't get too much sleep last night, wonder why, could it be I have something on my mind that will take place in about 24 hrs... I did get a chance to play in a few tourney's last night, didn't cash but it was good to get the ole feet wet live. I actually went deep in both and seemed to get card dead in both. The late one I played in I went really deep, built up a nice stack early and pushed it a around some. Cards went completely south and the blinds were starting to catch up with me. I went out when I pushed pre flop with JJ (my nemesis) and ran into AK. A coin flip, but when the flop came out AKx and the guy next to me mentioned he folded a J, I was sent packing.

Will be nice starting out with 10k in Chips in the ME (Main Event), these others you start out with 1000 and 1500, pretty tough when the blinds move as fast as they do. Plus in the ME the blinds go up every 2 hours, which is Great! Unreal, you start off with 10k in chips and the blinds start at $25 / $25!! Lot of play there.

Hung out with a few friends at the Ultimate bet private party in the Voodoo Lounge on the roof of the Rio. All UB Pros where there, Helmuth, Deebs, Antonio... Had a drinkn with Freddy Deebs, a SUPER nice guy. He was wearing his signature Red shirt, the one Phil Ivey cracked on last year in the main event. Only took one pic while I was there and it was with Freddy... Speaking of pro's it's like a who's who of poker here. I've seen a ton of pros. There just walking around, taking pics, signing autographs, they are all really nice. If you get a chance to come to an event like this or a WPT event, you won't be disappointed...

Shoe ran into Johnny Chan smoking a stogy in the back parking lot area. They setup some trailers back there that are porta johns, a food tent (pretty good food and cheap) and a tent that is the "Milwaukee’s Best lounge" (bar/pool table/video games/couches). Outside has become the smoking pit and during the breaks there are a ton of folks out there, even not during the breaks… It’s pretty hot out here; going from a room that is pretty cold to 100+ is interesting.

Plan today is to take it easy, may play a small or two tourney around town with Shoe, then have a nice dinner at The Palm (the restaurant, not the hotel) and then *try* to get some sleep tonight!

Last thing… Met with a reporting from the paper before I left I received an email from my wife, who couldn’t make it out with me because were expecting in a month, that the article ran today in the VA Pilot, here's a link to it. There might be some people reading this from that, so if you are, welcome and enjoy the ride :)

I'll try to keep this updated as I mentioned earlier as often as I can. Out from Vegas...

8800 and counting..

2006-07-28T06:05:00.000-04:00

Just left the Rio and as of 2am there were over 8800 people registered for the main event. There was still a line of people waiting to reg. It's going to be a big one, could it hit 10k??? That would be amazing!

The Amazon Room

2006-07-27T19:55:00.000-04:00

In for a 5:30 tourney and Shoe signed up for the 8pm. The 4 was a bust, 200 to get in and you get 200 in chips and it was a rebuy! No thank you!

Here's a pic of my in the Amazon room, one word ZOO!!

We are here...

2006-07-27T17:11:00.000-04:00

The flight...

Pops were still going. Met Don McGee from da beach... We played a $20 sit and go x 3. We each won, bust. The flight attendent gave us cards and we used peanuts, pretzels and wafers for chips. I played a number of my hands blind and sucked out pretty bad a number of times.
Don won his seat on FT as well. Watch out for him, a local VA Beach boy. We talked him into playing the 4pm sat at the Rio and it should be fun... 136 miles out from Vegas and its only 99 degrees there... We're going to be there 30 MIN early, LOCK......

We're on our way...

2006-07-27T17:10:00.000-04:00

to mission of the... If you know that, you have kids too. At the airport. Shoe* and I arrived 2 hours early. Shoe is a little, how can I say, scared s-less about flying, so he needs to get a few pops in him before flying... We're about 4 pops (he about 6, he was drinking when we picked him up) in. We've already scouted out todays tourneys if we miss the super sat at 4pm. Shoe is still working on getting his seat, btw he will be playing in the big one... Thanks to card player we found some great tourneys, the 2am "Graveyard" $60 NL, that's our style... There's the 8pm super at the Rio and we'll be playing in that if we miss the 4 and/or out of it.

Still getting used to typing on this Treo, no spell check on here so if anything isn't spelled correctly , oh well....

that's it for now, will check in soon...

*Shoe- Gary

100 Seat Guarantee tournament results/debacle...

2006-07-23T19:51:00.000-04:00

Well, with just over 3000 people registered, I finished 405th. They actually gave out 128 seats. Pretty bad, I had about 20k in chips and went up against a guy I started out the tournament with. I played solid poker for over 4 hours and on just one play I was out... Oh well.

Less than a week until the Big one!

Last Chance for a second seat...

2006-07-07T10:59:00.000-04:00

This could be my last chance for second seat... Won a seat into the 100 Seat Guarantee tournament on FT last night. Got in via a $75 token I won via an 18 person $26 sit and go qualifier. There were about 30 folks the tourney last night and top 5 got seats.

I managed to make the final table with the chip lead and I was sitting with just over 19k in chips, the closest to me had about 13k. We were down to 9 and I told myself to play only premium hands. Well, I almost managed to F it up. We played 7 handed for more than an hour. I lost Ks vs a set and was low stack when I looked down at hooks (JJ). The blinds were 500/1000 with a $75 ante. I was on the button and made it 3k to go. Only the SB called, who was a large stack. I had position and when a K on the flop came, I was like CRAP! He bet out 1k and I just called. Turn was a blank and checked, I checked. Thinking this guy was trapping and I was toast. The river brought me a beautiful J. There was no flush out there and if this guy had Ks, oh well. I'm sure he would have pushed pre-flop. He checked and I pushed in my last 2k and he called with an A high. The game lasted a couple more loops and the set of Jacks was enough to get me into 5th... Whew!

Right now there are right around 1200 people signed up for the tourney, which is a $500 + $35 buyin. There's still a little over a week before the tourney and I could see that number getting close to 2000 before it starts. If they only get 2000, there would be a huge overlay, over $100,000. Nice!

Close again...

2006-07-03T11:38:00.000-04:00

Keep going deep in these but can't close the deal... Played in the Sunday $200 again last night along with 110 others, one seat up for grabs. I was top 2 in chips for most of the way when I ran into Kings with about 16 people left. Was playing pretty aggressive the entire way, but it caught up with me. I hung tough for a bit but with the blinds the way they were I need to pick my spot, I did and that was that, 12th place. I really need to start focusing on my late game play. I just started reading Harrington's Endgame, so we'll see what he has to say and see if helps. Let’s hope it does!

And they are off! The WSOP Begins!

2006-06-30T12:12:00.000-04:00

Well, the WSOP officially started this week and 2 events are in the books. It's great keeping up with all the action on CardPlayer (CP) and also on Pokerwire , but how I want to be out there. Would be great to play more than one event, but still, I can’t complain. Maybe next year…

Monday it was like Xmas morning. I couldn’t even imagine being out there for the first few days, the energy must be amazing… I have been listening to The Circuit on CP and reading their live tournament updates. Still getting use to the UI CP put together this year, a little to be desired, but it works. I was able to find a WSOP RSS feed that I've been using at work, very clean and the feeds are coming right from CP. Another down side to CP's updates is the not so subtle plugs for FullTilt, not just all the ad banners on the page, but the FT plugs within the updates themselves. Here’s an example:

Jennifer Harman Exits
Jennifer Harman finishes in 11th place and collects $51,155 in winnings.
Play exclusively with Jennifer at FullTiltPoker.Net.

I’m going to try and keep my family and friends posted while I’m out there and last night I found away via this blog. Just bought the wife a new phone, a Palm 700w (major phone envy, I must say) and was poking around last night and I was able to post a blog via the phone. It’s so geeky it’s cool. Hoping I make it while, I plan on posting chip counts and any big pots during breaks. Should be pretty cool…

The Poker front… Still trying for a second seat on FT. Played this past Sunday in the 200 and came up short again! Got to the final table with a nice stack, I was 2nd in chips. I ended up going out 7th, pushed a little too hard and also ran into Ks when I had Qs… Still trying and we’ll see if I can get one before the ME starts.

Just isn’t going to happen...

2006-06-26T08:14:00.000-04:00

Man, I just can't get that second seat... Had a couple chances this past week, but couldn’t pull it out. Last night, played the Sunday $200 on FT where they were giving two seats. 130 started and I took 7th. Was a nice run but went card dead near the end and just couldn't find anything. I also played in a local bar tourney last week where they were giving away a seat for the winner. They played a weekly tourney at their 4 locations over the last 6 months and the top 10 from each location played in the tournament of champions. There ended up being 37 in the tourney and I ended going out about 30th. Got stung early and never recovered.

There are still a couple more opportunities and I'll keep trying for that second seat...

PPT - Season II - I'm In!

2006-06-20T09:36:00.000-04:00

On the way out to work this am I stopped and grabbed the mail out of the mailbox, which I forgot to get yesterday... Well, in with all the junk mail was a letter from the PPT Professional Poker Tour. Looks like I met the qualifications for Season II of the PPT and I'm invited to play and participate in all PPT tournaments this coming seasons! I qualified I'm qualified cause my season 3 win in Foxwoods at the World Poker Finals, and I got a 1 year card.

Here's the link to the list of players that qualified, Season II Qualified Player List (Scroll down, 155...)... There are a total of 265 players that are eligible.

There are 4 tourneys and they are free rolls, nice! Here's the schedule: PPT Season II Tournament Schedule.

Borgata: Sept 11-12
Foxwoods: Nov 7-8
Bellagio: Nov 29-20
Commerce: Feb 12-13

Full Tilt is out to get me...

2006-06-07T08:30:00.000-04:00

So I was playing last night in a tourney where the top two get a seat into the WSOP 100 seat Satellite. There are 4 left and I'm 2nd with chips, about 8k, the leader has me covered by about 4k.

Here’s the hand where I went out.

The action went,
I was first to act and bet out, about 4x the BB, with KK.
Button folds, SB folds… and the BB just calls
Flop came AK6
BB checked, I bet, he check raised and I pushed….

Unreal! I won $93, less the $75 entry, +$18 for about an hour and half of work…. Grrrr….

The funny thing, the guy on the button said he had a 6! So there were 3 sets on the FLOP! You have to wonder if they are doing this to generate action...

I know, this is a tourney where the top two get the seats and I was in 2nd in chips at the time, but how can I not play this or play it any different.

I think FT is out to get me…

The Ole "Why Not....."

2006-06-04T00:19:00.000-04:00

Playing in the MSR rebuy tonight and down to 4 players... Woke up with pocket K's in the BB and the button calls. Blinds were 500/1000 and I Pushed in for the rest of my stack, almost 13k. The button thinks and says "Why not..."

He calls with 7s... Boy do I love poker!!

60 Days and counting...

2006-05-31T16:04:00.000-04:00

Less than 60 days until the big show... Been reading up some and also have been playing as much as I can. Been playing a number of small buyin large field tourneys. Been mixing up my game up and trying different things. Still going for a second seat on FullTilt, the extra 12k would be nice!!

2006-05-16T16:40:00.000-04:00

The count is on... Decided to start a Blog and keep you all updated on where I am once the WSOP starts as well as let you know what I’m doing before it starts. Well, if you found this, you’ve see my countdown page that I put last month.

So how did I get my seat to the WSOP? I was lucky! I ended up winning it on Full Tilt Poker. I played in a 9 person $24 +$2 s&g (Sit and Go) that won me an entry into the Sunday $200 WSOP qualifier, the Feb 19^th qualifier. Full Tilt guarantees one seat to the main event in this tourney will add on another seat for every 60 that play. As it turned out they gave two seats that night, there were 147 people playing that night. It actually was the first Sunday for the WSOP qualifier.

So what did I win exactly…

TOURNAMENT TOTAL PACKAGE WORTH $12,000

The winner will be provided a $10,000 entry into the World Series of Poker Main Event along with $2,000 in cash as spending money.
The Winner will enjoy a Dinner and a Seminar with Team Full Tilt members, such as poker greats like Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson. Dinner will be held before the start of the WSOP Main Event.
Full Tilt Poker will also provide the winner with the popular Full Tilt gear worn by the pros including a jacket, shirt, hat and sunglasses.
All players who earn an entry into the World Series of Poker Main Event through Full Tilt Poker will be eligible to collect $10,000,000 should they win the Main Event.

That’s about it for now… I’ll be updating this as much as I can.

Take care and see ya!