WHOTW #3

I promise this is for real money, as in (80) = $80 and (2120) = $2120.

Dealt to GnightMoon [ Kd, Ad ]
slothr0p folds.
Surfin_Dude folds.
caspis folds.
GnightMoon calls (20)
shyamr7 folds.
fslexcduck raises (80) to 80
SexyMoFoDude calls (70)
likaden folds.
GnightMoon calls (60)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 5d, 3s, As ]
SexyMoFoDude checks.
GnightMoon checks.
fslexcduck checks.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 4d ]
SexyMoFoDude bets (125)
GnightMoon calls (125)
fslexcduck raises (2120) to 2120
fslexcduck is all-In.
SexyMoFoDude folds.
GnightMoon calls (1995)
** Dealing River ** : [ 8d ]
Creating Main Pot with $4622 with fslexcduck
** Summary **Main Pot: $4622 Rake: $3Board: [ 5d 3s As 4d 8d
SexyMoFoDude balance $2004, lost $205 (folded)
likaden balance $380, lost $20 (folded)
slothr0p balance $2000, didn't bet (folded)
Surfin_Dude balance $2302, didn't bet (folded)
caspis balance $557, didn't bet (folded)
yru477 balance $400, sits out
SitNSideways balance $3883, sits out
GnightMoon balance $4673, bet $2200, collected $4622, net +$2422 [ Kd Ad ] [ a flush, ace high -- Ad,Kd,8d,5d,4d ]
shyamr7 balance $1012, didn't bet (folded)
fslexcduck balance $0, lost $2200 [ Jd Th ] [ high card ace -- As,Jd,Th,8d,5d ]

Letter to WPT and Mike Sexton

To Whom It May Concern:

Several days ago I sent the following email to Mike Sexton. I am now sending it to this address, and hope it reaches someone with some say in the matter. If there is someone else I should contact, please let me know.

I am following the final table action of the WPT Doyle Brunson Championship Event at Bellagio, and am dismayed to see that once again, hundreds of thousands of dollars will change hands in a crapshoot, and a champion will be crowned not because he was the best player during the tournament, but rather the luckiest player at the final table.

I am a young professional poker player having just graduated from Macalester College in the spring, and a WPT addict. I have watched every episode that has ever aired and own the Season I and II DVD packages. I have played in two WPT events thus far, Legends of Poker and Borgata (both in 2005).

When I think back to my favorite WPT episodes, all have one thing in common: low blinds compared to the players' chip counts, allowing for more sophisticated play and more postflop action. Borgata Season Three, Legends of Poker Season Three, and the WPT Championship of Season One all come to mind. My least favorite episodes are the ones decided by (usually unavoidable) preflop showdowns.

I believe it is shameful that these WPT events often reach the point where if any player wants to play a pot, he must commit all his chips before the flop. I feel that fantastic tournaments have been ruined by the WPT's ridiculous final table structure which decreases time, skill, and viewing entertainment and increases luck. One blatant example of this was the WPT Championship from Season Three, which should have been the most entertaining WPT episode of all time considering the caliber of players at the final table and the money and prestige they were playing for. Unfortunately every hand was all-in before the flop because the blinds were so high. What could have been a fascinating battle of styles between Le, Maxfield, and Habib at the end was effectively an all-in crapshoot. Another example was the recent Borgata championship which featured an incredible structure and tons of play until the rising blinds at the final table destroyed any hope of seeing a flop without a player all-in.

I spoke to John D'Agostino during the US Poker Championships and he was furious about the WPT final table structure that he felt had compromised his chances of winning the event. We both agreed that the USPC was a more inviting event to play because the final table would not turn into a crapshoot.

I don't believe it is fair for the WPT to implement their own structures at final tables, especially if their structures speed up the tournament and decrease the skill factor. Also, I don't see how rising the blinds so fast helps the WPT. I understand that production costs are lower if the taping takes less time, but I'm sure most viewers would agree that higher blinds leads to less entertaining viewing.

There are some rumblings in the poker community that players will start boycotting the WPT if something is not done to make the final table structures more reasonable.

Gavin Smith and Minh Ly, two of the finest no limit hold 'em players in the world, just played the biggest pot of the tournament, all in before the flop, with ace-seven suited against king-eight offsuit. Does this seem right to you? Is this entertaining to watch? Is this fair to them, having played their hearts out for four days? Is it in the spirit of the game to have hundreds of thousands of dollars decided by ace-seven against king-eight? And is there anything either could have done to avoid this confrontation?

It is a shame that yet another WPT final table loaded with top players is being decided by ace-seven against king-eight. A better final-table structure is necessary to salvage the respectability of the WPT.

Thank you for listening.

Thomas Fuller

Fall Awards

Some superlatives from a fast-paced month and change spent in Atlantic City, New York, Philadelphia, and the Twin Cities:

Best Poker Tournament:
The WPT Borgata Championship, which was the greatest tournament I have ever played in. A fantastic structure, wonderful players, and a great venue. Of course the WPT had to ruin it with ridiculous rising of blinds at the final table.

Best Card Club:
Canterbury Park in Shakopee, MN. Still the best-run card club I’ve been to.

Worst Card Club:
The Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, which was unprepared for the US Poker Championships. They offered a nice structure and ESPN, but the floor staff was totally inadequate for this level.

Best Apartment/House:
I saw many, and Kevin and Jeremy’s was easily the best.

Best New Album Purchased:
There were several deserving choices: Death Cab’s “Plans” (solid), BRMC’s “Howl” (okay), The Rolling Stones’ “A Bigger Bang” (surprisingly good), Nada Surf’s “The Weight is a Gift” (good but not great), and Bloc Party’s “Silent Alarm” (the jury is still out). But the best disc I listened to on this trip was Embrace’s “Out of Nothing”, which sounds exactly like a cross between Coldplay and Oasis.
*It should be noted that I haven’t yet listened to the new Franz Ferdinand or Neil Young albums. It should also be noted that I will never listen to the new Nickelback or Sheryl Crow albums. Finally, it should be noted that there were two Sheryl Crow songs on the recently compiled list of my 100 favorite songs.

Most Shameful Bandwagon Jump:
Yankees fan Ian McCulley, who hopped on board the Bronx Boat just in time to hit the iceberg.

Best Movie:
“The Constant Gardener”, a solid 8/10.

Best Blog Comment:
Second place goes to RumbleJbJ who said:
Note who is in last place in the points standings: John "Checkraise" Hayes. Looks like Mr. "Checkraise" ran into a few too many "re-raises" this tournament.
First place goes to thegravewolf for his "Cheers, Julian" take on the spammers. Read all the comments from “This One Hurts” on October 4th to fully appreciate the Wolf’s entry.

Best Pre-Tournament Text Message:
"dominate dominate" from Nate Abbott right before the USPC main event.

Most Mediocre City:
Philadelphia, which seems to revel in its own mediocrity with fatalistic glee. Milwaukee may have been a strong contender in this category if I was there for more than seven hours.

Best All-Around Player, Fall Poker Classic: Yep, that would be me.

Most Pretentious Movie:
“Elizabethtown.” Not disappointing because it’s bad (it’s not), but because it’s the second straight near miss from Cameron Crowe. “Almost Famous” was an unpretentious movie about unpretentious characters trying to be pretentious, before ultimately realizing they could just be themselves. “Elizabethtown” is a pretentious movie about pretentious characters trying to be unpretentious, and ultimately failing. This wouldn’t be too bad, except a) Crowe tries to convince us they succeeded; and b) Orlando Bloom is the main character.

Most Necessary Visit:
First place again goes to the Wolf who needed to make a showing after the WSOP “months of hype” airball. Second place goes to Kwickfish who also threw up a zero at the WSOP but never claimed he would make an appearance. Third place goes to PunkyPickett who did not have to redeem herself but made the trip anyways.

Best Colorado Sports Team:
The Denver Broncos, although I think the Buffs have a better chance to win their conference this year. And the Nuggets’ season hasn’t started yet. Keep sipping that Kool-Aid, Mr. McCulley.

Second Biggest Redneck in the History of Survivor:
Too close to call. This has been a very competitive category, with three contenders battling hard. So far Bobby Jon is holding on by a thread over Brandon and Jaime (making a late charge). No one has a shot at passing the incomparable Big Tom for first place on the all-time list.

Best Televised Poker Play:
Phil Hellmuth’s check/fold with AK on a board of A44Q in the WSOP this week. The preflop reraiser showed him AA after the laydown. 90% of players are going broke with AK heads up when it comes A44, and Hellmuth lost nothing. Granted, the hand was horribly played by his opponent (but not as bad as these):

Worst Televised Poker Play:
Third place: A donk puts in his whole decent sized stack with AQo after getting reraised by Marcel Luske who had AK.
Second place: A donk puts in his whole short stack with QJs after Daniel Negreanu raised limpers with AQ.
First place: A donk puts in his whole decent-sized stack with KJs after getting reraised by Hellmuth who had AK. Of course he hit the miracle suckout sparking the inevitable, always entertaining Hellmuth temper-tantrum.

Best Music Video:
James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful.”

Worst Music Video:
Rob Thomas’s “This is How a Heart Breaks.”
*However, this also won “Best Unintentional Comedy.”

Worst Use of Mario Lopez:
The only nominee in this category is also the winner: ESPN Hollywood. This show is so dreadful that I don’t know how truly awful it really is, because I never get through more than two minutes without reassessing my commitment to a cable sports package at the new house.

Most Obvious Bill Simmons Ripoff:
This blog entry.

Best Moment:
Walking on the Atlantic City beach listening to music and watching the sunset.

______________

It was a very exciting month and I'm already excited about getting back on the road. I'll be playing the championship events at Foxwoods on Nov 13, WSOP Circuit Paris Las Vegas on Nov 19, and Bellagio on Dec 12.

Mission Accomplished

I got down to Canterbury about 5 PM yesterday, just in time to see Harry Cohn bust out in 20th place. Mr. Cohn was the last player left who could overtake me for the points lead, so his bustout sealed the deal. I returned four hours later at the conclusion of the final table to have a couple photos taken with the trophy and pick up the $2500 prize money.

This is the #1 accomplishment of my poker career so far, although the money is relatively insignificant (I know that comment will make a lot of people sick). The truth is that if you want to make serious money playing poker, playing $200 and $300 tournaments is not the way to go about it. The way to do it is to play high-stakes cash games, and maybe some big buy-in (5k or more) championship tournaments. My guess is that the best player in the world would have a hard time banking more than 200k a year travelling around playing small tourneys.

For me, the importance of this award is confidence. For the first time in my life I am a poker champion, although I still have never won a tournament of more than 20 players. I conquered the card club of my nightmares, a place that had repeatedly beaten me down over the years. Before this year, I had been to Canterbury about ten times and had never walked away a winner. Yesterday I walked out as just that.

I may never play again at Canterbury, but I will always remember it for the milestones reached there. The first time I ever played poker at a casino was at Canterbury early in my junior year, and it was a devastating debacle of a night that left me short on funds but hungry for redemption. A year later I would return and play my first live tournaments there, without success. I went back several times last year, usually to play tournaments. One time I got all in with AA against KK with two tables left in a tournament and lost. Another time I had KK lose to AK for a monster pot. It's fitting that my tournament breakthrough took place at the site of so many frustrations.

Next up: Foxwoods in mid-November, followed by the inevitable return to another site of failure and frustration: Vegas.

FPC Championship Event

We arrived about ten minutes late to the 1k Championship at Canterbury today because of road work leading to horrific traffic on 169.

I wish we had been fifteen minutes late.

WHOTW (Worst Hand of the Week) Volume II:

The fourth hand after I sat down a player I had already identified as a loose cannon limped under the gun for 15. I raised to 75 in mid-late position with TT and he quickly called. The flop came T84 rainbow. He checked and I checked behind him because I didn't want to lose him (I thought he had a KQ type hand). The turn was a seven and he once again checked. I bet 150 and just a second or two later he launched his entire stack into the pot! I stood up, looked at him, looked at the board, and called after about fifteen seconds. He turned over two queens. Considering that
a) he was only going to get called by a better hand
b) he had no idea where he was at
c) he was risking 1800 chips and his entire tournament to win 300 chips
d) this was the very first level of the tournament and
e) he was messing with the FPC Best All-Around Player Points Leader
f) he ended up getting called and had less than a 5% chance of winning the pot
this was the obvious choice for WHOTW. A sickening queen hit the river and I was crippled, down to 150 from the 2000 starting chips (luckily this dumbass had already siphoned 150 chips so I did not go broke).

A bit later I doubled up with ATs against AKs. I then folded about 30 hands in a row. Then with only 200 chips and the 50 BB headed my way I doubled up with KQ against 88. Then I got moved to a different table and more than doubled up with 66 against AQs. Then a thief tried to steal my big blind where I had pocket kings and reraised him all-in. He called for pot odds with 74o and I doubled up again. Then I won a small pot after I limped in. Then I won the blinds twice with a preflop raise. Then I made the play of the day:

25-50 blinds. A loose player I had already nicknamed "The Siphoner" in my mind limped in early position. A tough player limped behind him and so did the SB. I had 5c2c aka "The Aviar" in the big blind and I checked. The flop came Qc7c2 and everyone checked. The turn was an offsuit jack and the SB checked. I checked and The Siphoner bet 300 of his remaining 1050. The tough guy thought forever and folded what he later said was the Ac4c. The SB folded and I immediately pushed in. The Siphoner thought for a minute before showing a jack and folding.

Two hands later the Siphoner pushed in under the gun with ATo and a miniscule stack called all-in with AQo. I called with AKs on the button and busted em both, and I was up to 3400!

I took a walk and called the Wolf excited as hell about coming all the way back from just about the most desperate situation imaginable. I really thought I was going to keep building all the way to the final table and win the Championship but in the 100-200 levels my cards got very cold and I didn't win another pot. The last hand was tragic:

I moved in for about 1000 with J9 offsuit in midearly position. Everyone folded to a kid in late position who stuck in 800 chips without looking at me. I immediately knew that he was trying to steal the blinds and had not seen me go all-in before him. I also knew his chips were going to be required to stay in the pot and I was about to get called. Everyone else folded and it was ruled that he had to leave 800 in the pot (he wanted to fold) so he obviously called the other 200 with his KTs and busted me with about 130 out of 340 remaining when it came KTxJx.

I don't regret any hand I played today; it just wasn't meant to be this time. When I left the Card Club there were still three players left who can pass me in the All-Around points race with a final table finish tomorrow. Three Putts, Tam Le, and Mike Carlson were all out before me.

Kwickfish did not bring his A game today and met a quick demise. At night we briefly played on one $2k table on PP. We made one very spectacular play:

Dealt to GnightMoon [ 2c, 2s ]
Crittercage raises (50) to 50
Deductions folds.
GnightMoon calls (50)
ThanhKhiet folds.
prizman folds.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Tc, Ts, 5h ]
Crittercage bets (100)
GnightMoon calls (100)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Ks ]
Crittercage bets (100)
GnightMoon raises (252) to 252
Crittercage calls (152)
** Dealing River ** : [ 5s ]
Crittercage bets (500)
GnightMoon raises (1733) to 1733
GnightMoon is all-In.
Crittercage folds.

Unfortunately Crittercage got us back after as we made a couple weak calls when he had us beat and we ended the session down $500. I then got my ass kicked in foosball.

Tomorrow Kwick goes home, I find out if I accomplished my pre-tournament goal, and CHEEBA holds the Chili Cookoff.

Cooler at the $500 NLHE

I was off to a nice start with 10-15 blinds after winning a decent-sized pot with JJ when I called an early position raise of 50 behind another caller with pocket fours. The flop came down T84 rainbow and the raiser bet just 50. The caller, a belligerent-looking kid wearing a Party Poker ski cap, raised the minimum to 100. I just called because I knew if I raised it would be obvious that I had a monster. The preflop raiser called the mini-raise as well and a Qh hit the turn (the second heart). The preflop raiser checked and the kid angrily bet 150. I raised to 400 and the preflop raiser moved in for 915 total after thinking for twenty seconds. The kid folded and I went into the tank. I didn't like the situation but ultimately I didn't have enough information to make an absurd laydown and I called. As I suspected he had pocket tens for a higher set and I was crippled. A few hands later I tried AJ and this time my opponent merely had quads. Kwickfish's demise came with AsKs against a berzerko player who pushed in on a AcTcxc all club flop with pocket tens.

3 Putts, Joshua Turner, and Mike Carlson were all still in with about 50 left when we left the casino. A win from Carlson, a top three finish from Turner, or a final table from 3 Putts would give them the lead in the all-around race. There are several players with a chance to overtake me with a strong result in the Championship. I believe I am going to need to make the Championship final table, and that quest begins tomorrow.

Play of the day: Paul in control of the foosball with his front line, Reid defending. Paul passes from the far side guy to the middle guy, fakes a shot, passes back to the far side guy, then back to the middle guy, and pounds one into the corner of the goal. This all happened in about one second.

Monday

I had a wild go of it in today's $300 NLHE at the FPC. I should have known when I arrived at my table to see a guy bet 300 into a pot of 60 and get two flatcallers. There were several horrible players at my table, the worst players I have played with since Westminster in the summer. But I couldn't get any hands and my stack steadily dropped down to about 400 with 25-50 blinds. Then I hit two pair with the Beast T8s and doubled up against a flush draw/gutshot with the money going in on the turn. The victim claimed he had "19 outs" before being informed by the Fall Poker Classic Best All-Around Player Award Points Leader that he was in fact wrong. Then I won the blinds a couple times. Then I went all-in with TT over the top of a raise and a call and won uncontested. Then I called a raise with AJs and won the pot after an A high flop (won nothing more). Then the play of the day:

Blinds at 100-200 with a 25 ante. A loose, weak player raised my big blind the minimum and too tight/weakies called. When it got to me I immediately pushed all in for over 2000 with J2 offsuit, and no one even thought about calling. I picked up 1750 chips with this play when the average stack was only about 2000! Moves like this are what separate the top players from the rest of the pack. I'm not a top player yet, but I am at Canterbury.

Unfortunately I then lost most of my chips when I moved to a new table and decided to call Norm Ketchum's cutoff 600 raise with JT of spades on the button. The flop came QJ8 with two clubs and a spade and he immediately moved all in for about 1600. I beat him into the pot. When I called the raise, I was expecting him to move in no matter what the flop was, and had pretty much decided I was going to call if I liked the flop. I should really think harder about decisions like this that are for a lot of chips (this is one thing that I have gotten much better at since Borgata). I think I would have probably called here anyways, but I should have at least thought it over. Anyways, he had QJ of hearts and I was in bad shape. The turn was a spade but the river bricked and I was knocked down below average. Not long after that I was forced to move in with 77 in middle position and the small blind had aces.

I played some ultimate frisbee with the team before I got the dreaded call from Kwickfish, telling me he was out. He had cold cards all day long but hung in there before finally crapping out with around 50 left. At night we played some high-level foosball and watched the Cardinals' impossible comeback.

Tomorrow is the $500 NLHE which should attract only the Cream of Canterbury. It is the last event before the championship.

Sunday

A much-needed day off from the FPC as this was the Ladies' event. The previous night I had gone to the Nada Surf concert with Kevin, Jeremy, and the Taskmaster. It was a quality show; they played everything I like and they played em well, but it felt like something was missing. After that we watched the White Sox ALCS game Jeremy had on tape before a very late bedtime. So I woke up late, ate a delicious Kevin Kalla breakfast, then rolled back to Lincoln to watch the Broncos demolish the Pats before things got scary at the end, then watched the White Sox cruise into the World Series.

Play of the Day: Jacksonville cornerback Rashean Mathis intercepts Steelers' QB Tommy Maddox's 87th horrible pass of the day, this one in overtime, and skates into the endzone untouched to end the game.

Saturday

This was the $500 Limit Hold 'Em. I won pots with AA, QQ, and JJ but couldn't get anything going when the blinds got high and went out around 40th out of 100. Kwickfish's KK lost to 3 Putts' KQ for a monster pot knocking him out but luckily for me 3 Putts was out soon after so he didn't pick up any All-Around Player points.

Play of the day: Minnesota is winning by 4 points at home with just 30 seconds left against Wisconsin. They are set to punt from around their own 20 yard line. The punter fumbles the snap, picks it up, rolls to his right to try to avoid the rush and kicks it. It is blocked and the ball starts bouncing and rolling towards the MN end zone. It eventually rolls into the end zone and several Wisconsin players fall on it in the back of the end zone, giving them the lead with 15 seconds left, and they go on to win it.

Friday

Friday was the $300 NLHE which I briefly mentioned in the last post. I played my A game all day, making moves, hitting hands, and having them hold up for monster pots. I was chip leader or close to it from about 40 players on down to the last two tables, where I went a little bit card dead before expiring in 5th place.

Play of the Day: Blinds at 300-600. A player who was fairly new to the table and arrived with a monster stack raised the minimum in middle position and I elected to call in the SB with the Wildebeest, K2 of spades. This was a loose call but I felt like I had a really good read on the player and I was looking to gamble and maybe outplay my opponent. The big blind folded, the flop came JdTd2, and I checked ready to give it up. The preflop raiser checked behind me. The turn was the 6d and I checked. He quickly bet 1600 and I beat him into the pot with a call. My reasoning was that he would have to have bet a legitimate hand on the flop, worried about giving me a free card on such a draw-heavy flop. The river was a blank, we both checked, I confidently tabled my hand, and he mucked. A couple of guys looked at me in awe and it was clear that I was not the player to mess with today.

Another Final Table

I got 5th place yesterday in the $300 NLHE and then I accidentally deleted the 5 paragraph blog entry about it. More tomorrow or Sunday. Must sleep now.

Seven Card Stud

Seven card stud is a lot of fun. I wish I knew how to play better, because the game has some of the same qualities that have made Texas Hold 'Em so popular: bluffing, semi-bluffing, value betting, restealing, drawing, etc. There's also a ton of psychology, maybe even more than hold em. I think it's more similar to hold 'em than most people think. I felt comfortable from the beginning even though I have very little experience playing. I got off to a good start before I lost a huge pot by pretending to have a flush, then making two pair, then getting sucked out on, then making an ill-advised value bet. Every hand of seven card stud can be an adventure like that.

I then doubled up with the Jh(9h8h) against a bare ace, then doubled up with 4(KK) against J(JT). My key hand was very complicated but it basically went like this: I started with three to a flush and my opponent started with an ace in the hole and two low cards. On fifth street my flush draw had turned into two pair and he paired his ace. On the river he made three aces and I called his bet with three pair. Seems like three pair should beat three of a kind, right?

I was gone the hand after but Wolf and Kwickfish were both making big runs towards the money. Wolf went from a very short stack to a huge stack in two hours, then lost three huge pots and went out 30th. The Fish never had many chips but he kept winning his all-in coinflips before taking a couple beats and busting a disappointing 20th with 16 getting paid.

Play of the day:
The Fish brings it in with a 3 showing. Folds to a late position fellow who raises with a Q showing. The two players left to act were showing a T and a 6. The Fish makes a physical read that this guy is trying to steal the pot, and sees that he has a three in the hole so he can beat a bluff. He raises and the raiser calls. Fourth street doesn't appear to help either player. The Fish bets and the other fellow immediately raises. The Fish still refuses to believe this guy has any sort of a hand and three bets it with a measly pair of threes. The other guy calls, and the last of Fish's chips go in on fifth street. He gets called by a complete nothing, something like QT742 with no flush draw, and somehow the pair of threes holds up and the Fish drags a huge pot to double up with about 32 players left.

Tomorrow is the $300 no limit hold em.

Rainy Day Wednesday

Today had a very mundane feel. Omaha Hi/Lo is a very slow game, as the dealers have to take about a minute at the end of every hand to split the pot into halves, quarters, and sometimes sixths, and everyone stares at the hands and board trying to figure out who has just what. There is a lot to think about during the hand, but the decisions do not carry the same intensity they might in say, no limit hold em. Rarely will a fold or call make or break a player.

The event had about 210 entrants for $200 apiece, so it was the smallest prize pool so far at the FPC. The field was older and more veteran than in the hold em events, not the type to stare someone down behind dark sunglasses for a minute before making a decision. There was a slight drizzle outside and it felt like it was about 9 AM the whole day. It was not an electric atmosphere, but it was fun to play cards because most players knew what they were doing (me being one of the few exceptions).

This was actually the first time I've played Omaha in a casino. It's a lot of fun to play, but doesn't carry the same intensity as hold 'em. I don't think I made any big mistakes, but didn't get lucky enough to get anywhere in the tournament. The hand that hurt me the most was when I limped with AQJs9 under the gun, then called the raise and reraise of two short stacks who got all in. I asked a more experienced player if I should have played the hand, and he replied it was a "personal preference." I was up against AA2x and A24x and I made trip queens. Unfortunately they both flopped the wheel so I won nothing. A round later with only 275 left I raised to 200 under the gun with AQ72 doublesuited under the gun, got two callers, and wound up with only a pair of twos and no low.

Kwickfish arrives tonight and will likely play the Stud tournament tomorrow along with me and the Wolf.

I Am a Limit Hold 'em Tournament God

Ho hum. Another limit hold 'em event, another final table. I had chips almost the entire way through this $200, 270 player event until the final table before I lost a few pots and expired in 5th place. This finish gives me a commanding lead in the race for the Best All-Around Player Award through four events with seven left (not including the ladies event).

So what is the secret to my stunning success in these limit events? It's simple. All you have to do is beat AJ with QT, beat 99 with AQ, beat A7 and AQ with AT, hit a flush draw in a do or die pot with 10 players left, never have your steals run into serious hands, fold A9s because you have a bad feeling and watch players behind you pick up AK and AA, and just keep pounding away at players who are folding too many hands.

What I am trying to say is that I have been getting extremely LUCKY. I'm very happy with how I've played in all four events, but there's absolutely no question that luck has been the main reason why I've made two final tables in a game which I rarely play. The next couple days are the Omaha Hi/Lo and the 7 Card Stud Tournaments. I will play even more aggressively and just hope to keep getting lucky. Another final table will basically wrap up the All-Around.

I busted out just in time to go to Death Cab tonight and it was a great show. I've always been pretty lukewarm on them but tonight pretty much sold me. "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" is the early leader for Song of the Month.

FPC Event #3

Today was the $200 NL at Canterbury and over 600 players entered. Wolf didn't have much go his way before he finally picked up a legitimate hand, 5-2 of spades. Naturally all his chips went into the pot and he lost to ace-queen of spades. Pickett got some chips early but was victimized by the rising blinds and lost a race with 55 against AK.

I got down to 400 early before making a move and picking up two hands to get me back to 1200. I didn't have anything playable when the blinds went to 100-200 before I picked up QQ in 2nd position and shoved for 750. Third position made a very weak call with KJo and hit the king.

I played flawlessly today but the quality of play is not nearly as important as the cards in these crapshoot events.

Play of the day: Blinds at 10-25. Early position solid player raises and I pop it with KK in the BB. He doesn't hesitate to call and I quickly put him on a big ace. Flop comes AA6, I check, he bets, and I fold. I asked him later and he said he had an ace.

Tomorrow is the $200 limit and the Death Cab concert in the evening.

Emphatically Ending the Streak

Yesterday I placed 2nd in the first event of the Fall Poker Classic at Canterbury Park, the $300 Limit Hold 'em, for $12,964, and most importantly, 270 Cardplayer of the Year points.

The irony here is pretty thick. The game was limit hold 'em, a game which I have lost money at over the years. Further, I can't remember ever playing a limit tournament before (I may have played one or two small ones online). I showed up to play wearing the same clothes I had been wearing for the last 30 hours, and I hadn't showered or shaved in days. I only slept about four hours the night before, plus about half an hour in the rental car in the parking lot right before the tournament.

Since I wasn't totally comfortable playing limit, my strategy was just to let it fly and play very aggressively. I wouldn't try to play with much finesse; instead I would just bet and raise and hope for the best.

Fairly early on I got short stacked but was lucky to pick up pocket kings and double up when my stack was getting critically low. Shortly after that I won a huge pot with AK against 77 after it came AA7 and I rivered a king. I won another pot or two and had gone from a short stack to a big one in fifteen minutes.

From there I was able to steadily build my stack by winning three nice pots against a loose, aggressive player and hammering away at the tighter players with brute force. I was very lucky throughout because it seemed like whenever I would raise with a weakish hand no one would have anything to come back at me and I'd take the pot preflop or on the flop. What I lacked in limit hold em skill I made up for in tournament strategy and dumb luck. I made some bad turn and river calls in an effort to siphon my stack but I kept building it back up by hitting hands and betting them. Before I knew it we were down to 27 and in the money, and the Streak was over. I had an average stack heading into the dinner break.

At dinner I chatted with a local player named Mike Tornes who had also made the money, then took a walk outside listening to music. I came back five minutes late; I had missed several hands, including my blinds, and already 7 people had been knocked out. Play slowed down with two tables left. When we finally reached the final table I arrived with a below-average stack.

We took another break and I thought about my chances. I was very excited to be at the final table, of course, but the situation looked somewhat bleak. Several of the casino's top high-limit players had reached the final table, and most had a lot of chips. I was particularly concerned about a young, top-notch local named Mike Carlson, the defending champ in this event and loaded with chips.

The fact is I hit a huge rush of cards at the final table. I won a huge pot with AA when one of the high-limit guys tried to bluff me while drawing dead, busting himself in the process. I then won another big pot against Carlson after turning a set of eights and checkraising him. One by one they all vanished and it was down to me, the guy to my left Brandon, and a very weak-tight older gentleman.

Three-handed I bullied the crap out of the old man and picked my spots against Brandon. It was clear to me that the older fellow had no chance and it was just a matter of how many chips I would have when I got heads up with Brandon. We played for quite a while until the older fellow went broke. When we got heads up we were fairly close in chips.

We played heads up for two incredible hours. I outplayed him, I'm sure of it. I had him all in with my QQ against his AT, my A7 against his QJ, my bare flush draw against his top pair, and virtually all in with my A8 against his T8 and a board of K98x. He won them all. It just kept going back and forth. Every time I got short I would pick up a hand and get back in it. Finally he finished me off with K6 against my A3 in a pot that I had 3 bet preflop when it came KK88 and I called the last of my chips, praying he was making a move.

Play of the day: From my first table. A weak, passive player limps in early position and the professional kid behind him raises. Another pro flatcalls as does the limper and they see a very ragged flop. Everyone checks. On the turn (another rag) the kid bets, the other pro raises, the limper folds, and the kid immediately three-bets. The other guy thinks for a bit and calls. The kid bets the river and the other guy folds. The kid shows QJo and tells the other guy not to try to outplay him anymore.

Today Wolf, Pickett, and I all played the $300 NLHE at Canterbury. It was a pretty crazy scene as more than 500 hopefuls made it out there with no Vikings game on tap. Pickett built up some chips before getting AA cracked and then the ultimate nightmare KK vs AA to end her tournament. Wolf’s overpair was no good against a maniac and neither was his button steal. I tripled up with 53 against KsQc and Ah2c in an unraised pot in the big blind after it came Qh5h3h and they both called my all-in checkraise. I then got moved to a new table and made the play of the day:

50-100 blinds. Folds to me in the cutoff and I raise to 275 with Ah3h. The big stack in the BB calls. This is the first hand I had played at this table. The flop comes A74 rainbow. He checks and I check. The turn is a 5. He checks, I bet 325, he quickly makes it 700. I ponder my options. Folding did not cross my mind. I can call and decide what to do on the river if I miss my straight. Or I can go all in for 1300 more and put him to the test hoping he will fold a medium ace. That’s exactly what I do. He thinks for over a minute and folds.

Unfortunately right after this I picked up TT against JJ and he didn’t have enough chips for me to fold. Right after that I moved in with 99 over the top of a late position raise. The big blind went all-in and the original raiser immediately folded QQ faceup. How beautiful would this be if the BB has AK? I get a chance to triple up with the best hand after a hand that had me dominated folds! But the big blind did not have AK, he had AA, and I was a goner.

Tomorrow is the $200 NL and they are expecting a very large field for another Crapshoot at Canterbury.

Now the first edition of the eagerly anticipated Worst Hand of the Week. As I’m sure there will always be there were plenty of horrible plays but this one took the prize:

StackHead folds.
milipa folds.
gsg2005 folds.
Kwickfish calls [$10].
d2442222 calls [$10].
thewisdom calls [$10].
kasstex raises [$65].
NoxirE folds.
AAAAHawk folds.
Kwickfish calls [$55].
d2442222 calls [$55].
thewisdom folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9s, 6d, 5c ]
Kwickfish checks.
d2442222 bets [$125].
kasstex calls [$125].
Kwickfish folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Tc ]
d2442222 bets [$150].
kasstex calls [$150].
** Dealing River ** [ 9c ]
d2442222 is all-In [$104.25]
kasstex calls [$104.25].
d2442222 shows [ Jc, Kc ] a flush, king high.
kasstex shows [ Kh, As ] a pair of nines.

d2442222: well as you know, you play by the book on these pokersites, and your gonna get burnt

Marooned in Milwaukee

My Midwest Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Milwaukee was delayed two hours, enough to miss the connector to the Twin Cities. So I'm stranded here for a night in a Clarion Hotel instead of partying like it's 2004 at Reid's house. My flight leaves tomorrow at 8 AM.

I spent a quality 28 hours in humid Philadelphia, staying at Cassidy's nice apartment. This afternoon I saw the Constant Gardener which was superb. I also caught most of the demise of the Red Sox, including the last few outs in a pro-White Sox Philly Airport Bar. I'm excited for Jeremy, whose unbelievable loyalty to the White Sox is finally paying dividends. I hope this run doesn't end as tragically as it did for his Illini last spring.

Already two hideous aspects of the Upper Midwest have come to my attention: the sharp, biting sting of the cold fall air on my skin; and the sharp, biting sting of the Upper Midwest accent on my ears. Still I am really excited to be heading back to the Twin Cities tomorrow and looking forward to the next month immensely.

The Streak

I woke up this afternoon in a foul mood. It occurred to me that I have never cashed in an event worth Cardplayer of the Year points and I started brooding over it. I felt like I let a good opportunity get away yesterday because the structure of the tournament was quite good and I have been playing real well.

I am now 0 for 20 in these tournaments. This adds up to a net loss of $63,100. Obviously neither of these figures is at all acceptable, but I do know that I can reverse things in a single tournament. Based on these figures I would say something is wrong with my game. While I certainly have room for improvement, I do think I have been very unlucky not to cash at least once in these events. Also, I am always playing for first place where the big money is and not looking for a minor money finish. And I'm definitely playing better now than I have throughout this streak (most of which took place during the World Series).

Am I a bad tournament player? I don't think so. I'm almost exactly even now for my tournament career thanks to the two big online scores. As I've said before, I am confident it will not be long before I make a huge breakthrough in a monster tournament.

I have a few strategical things I need to work on, especially getting more aggressive. There is a huge difference between tournaments and cash games, and a huge difference between playing live and online. Right now I am one of the best online no limit cash game players in the world, but that has little to do with playing live tournaments. But for me they do have an important connection: as long as I continue to dominate the online cash games, I will be able to feed my live tournament addiction without putting myself under financial duress.

The streak is especially annoying when I realize that Kwickfish is 1/2 in these events and Bag is 1/1. I can't have my friends showing me up like this.

The Fall Poker Classic at Canterbury starts Saturday. The events should count for Player of the Year and I will be playing every day looking for that elusive cash. Correction - I will be looking for that elusive victory. I have just one goal for Canterbury, and it is to win the Best All-Around Player Award.

This One Hurts

I arrived at the casino cool, calm, and confident. I slept well last night which is unusual for me the night before a big tournament. The atmosphere was very exciting with around 230 players but many big names like Ivey, Forrest, etc and ESPN production everywhere.

I got a hideous draw. I was sandwiched between John D'Agostino (who plays super high stakes cash games as well as most big tournaments; just got 3rd in the WPT Borgata) and another guy who plays super high stakes but few tournaments named Cong Do. About five minutes into the event I reraised a late position D'agostino raise with KK (he called and we checked the flop; I won it with a bet on the turn). After that my cards went to shit and I sat back and watched the table go bananas over and over and over.

Even though we started with 400 big blinds players were repeatedly finding ways to get their whole stacks into the pot. Whenever I had anything playable I missed the flop badly and was down to about 16k from the 20k start before I made a huge wild bluff that may have been the most exciting hand of my life.

With the blinds at 50-100 UTG and 2nd pos both limped and an old guy in late position raised to 300. D'Agostino called and I reraised to 1550 with K2s on the button. My reasoning was that the old guy did not have a big hand because he had been raising harder with big hands, D'Agostino did not have a big hand because he just called, and the early position guys did not have much because they were both the type to raise it up in any position with anything decent. Also I had been playing quite tight because the crappy nature of my cards and I had not made a reraise since the very first hand I mentioned. I knew everyone would put me on AA or KK. Everyone quickly folded to D'Agostino who called. I was not upset at all about this call; I assumed he thought I had KK or AA and that he could break me if he hit his hand, which I thought was probably a pocket pair. The flop came J43 rainbow and he checked. I bet 2500; he studied for a while and called. I was deeply concerned he flopped a set here because like I said, I thought he thought I had aces or kings. The turn was the 4d giving me a flush draw which I thought was probably useless anyways now that the board paired. I quickly checked after he checked. The river was an offsuit six and he checked again. Now I knew he did not have a set as he would certainly have bet it. I now started to think he probably had 65 suited (openender on flop) which now beat me. With so much lying in the pot I decided to bet 4000 feigning a value bet with KK or AA. In retrospect I probably should have bet more like 6000 because of the pot odds I offered him that I could be making a bluff with a hand like AK. He immediately said "dammit" and then thought for about three minutes before flinging in a crying call, ready to muck his hand. I turned over the K2 and no one at the table could believe it. D'Agostino had pocket nines.

This left me with only 8k but I am still proud of the play. Just about every player at the table told me they put me on AA or KK and everyone was impressed. A couple hours later Cong Do told me he respected the play quite a bit and it showed him that I was a player. The hand got quite a bit of discussion throughout the day as everytime I entered a pot someone would ask if I had K2 again.

I got all the way down to 5k before gambling with 67s and more than doubling up against a maniac after the flop came 642. A bit later I had KK in the BB but everyone folded to D'Agostino in the SB who just called. I made a solid raise and, not surprisingly, he called. The flop came QJx and he check-folded. A short time later I had AA on the button and decided to smooth call when UTG raised. The flop came KQx and he check-folded.

After a missed flop or two I was at around 10k when early position raised my 200 BB to 700 and got two callers including D'Agostino in the SB. I called as well. The flop came T94 and everyone checked. The turn was a 4 and D'Agostino bet 1500. I had about 8k more at this point and went deep into thought about my options. I wanted to raise to get rid of the potential draws out there but I had a short enough stack that raising would cripple me if D'Agostino or someone else had a 4 which I was very concerned about because it was a four-man pot. Finally I decided to smooth-call the bet and was relieved when the others folded. The river was a 7 and D'Agostino quickly checked. I was now almost certain I had the best hand and needed to make a value bet. It dawned on me that going all-in would look like a bluff and D'Agostino had already revealed himself to be a Sheriff having called me with his 99 on the earlier crucial hand and another guy with K high another time. I pushed in.

D'Agostino immediately declared that he knew I was going to do that. He went into the tank, talking it through to himself and the rest of the table while I sat motionless staring at the felt. I was dying for a call so I tried to send off false tells. I stiffened my body, blinked a lot and kept trying to convince myself that I was going to be out of the tournament if he called. D'Agostino kept talking about what a sick call it would be "just like the one I made at Borgata." He also said "that would be sick if you had 87" and "this just reeks of queen-jack." Finally after about four minutes he threw in the call with either ace or king high and I turned over the AT. D'Agostino mucked, said "nice hand" and then immediately put his headphones on and cranked up the volume.

OWNAGE. Boom! Just like that I was back to 19k and feeling great about the tournament. With only 3o minutes to go, confidence swelling, and a new table draw coming at the end of the day I was feeling fantastic.

About five minutes later I picked up AK and raised two limpers to 1500. Cong Do then made it 3500 behind me and the others folded to me. Now I heard two voices arguing in my head.

Voice #1: He obviously has aces or kings. You have not gotten out of line today and he knows that. If he was making a move or he had queens he would raise bigger. He is raising small because he wants to sucker you in. Fold this and move on to the next hand.

Voice #2: You have AK! That's a big big hand! How can you possibly fold for only 2000 more! Call and try to hit that ace or king!

I eventually called and the flop came KJx. Really I did not want to see that king. I wanted the ace because that would almost certainly give me the best hand. When I saw that king I heard another voice screaming that I was about to lose the rest of my chips. Unfortunately that voice was muffled by the top-pair top-kicker staring me in the face and I checkraised all-in. He had aces and that was it. I am so pissed off right now for playing great all day and then blowing it all by not listening to my gut when it mattered. Cong Do is actually the chip leader of the whole tournament at the end of day 1 with 99,975. He got AA and KK twice, KK against QQ, and AA against my AK and busted the other guy all 4 times.

I saw a couple "WHOTW" nominees at the table today. WHOTW aka Worst Hand of the Week is going to be a weekly blog feature starting this weekend. I may also start a "Play of the Day" feature. Play of the Day for today was my AT double up against D'Agostino (one of the proudest moments of my poker career).

Of all the crazy things that happened today the weirdest of all was that pokerwire.com was reporting my chip count throughout the day. I have no idea why they did this. I am an unknown player having never cashed in a major tournament. I don't even know how they knew my name. My best guess is it was easy to report my count since I was sitting next to D'Agostino who had a camera in his face all day long and got my name from the casino's seating chart. Still I am befuddled and amused to see this on a website that gets pretty heavy traffic:

54 Mike Matusow $15,300
55 Phil Ivey $15,300
56 Kenna James $14,500
57 Thomas Koral $14,000
58 Richard Cohen $12,500
59 Michael Saltzburg $11,300
60 Tom Fuller $11,000
61 Alexandra Vuong $10,000
62 Steve Zolotow $9,200
63 Layne Flack $8,500
64 Barry Greenstein $8,000
65 Cyndy Violette $4,800
66 David 'The Dragon' Pham $4,025

Despite the bad result this may have been the most fun I have ever had playing poker in a casino and I cannot wait for the next 10k event. The banter was hilarious at times (especially Bobby "I AM PROFESSIONAL" Chung) and the discussion of play was stimulating. Unfortunately I will probably not play another 10k event until Foxwoods in November unless I sneak off to Vegas in a couple weeks (very unlikely because it is during Canterbury) or Indiana for the WSOP Circuit (an intriguing possibility that I could add on to the Minnesota trip). My game is improving by leaps and bounds and I get better with every one of these I play.

Disappointment - Confidence - Hunger

I played very well in both tournaments I played this weekend at the Taj.

The $500 NL: I had 20k which was the most at the table. The big blind had 19k which was the second most. I had queens. He had kings. I was out soon after.

The second: I had patiently worked my way to 10k before getting it all in with 99 against A8 on an 844 flop and I lost to a runner-runner flush. Just like the GraveWolf, the suckout artist who knocked me out went on to win the whole thing.

I am playing great right now and expect to make a serious run in the main event which starts tomorrow. Anything short of the final table will be a disappointment.