The Worst Ever?

** Dealing down cards **
ISTEALALL calls [$20].
Gunter84 folds.
d_Undertaker folds.
diealone folds.
BABACC is all-In [$255]
madphly folds.
ieightsand folds.
JediTrick calls [$255].
reefaaddict folds.
ice_princess folds.
ISTEALALL calls [$235].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qs, 3h, Qc ]
ISTEALALL bets [$600]
JediTrick raises [$1200]
ISTEALALL calls [$600]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7h ]
ISTEALALL checks.
JediTrick is all-In [$73.13]
ISTEALALL calls [$73.13]
** Dealing River ** [ 3d ]
JediTrick shows [ Ad, Jc ] two pairs, queens and threes.
ISTEALALL shows [ 4s, 2c ] two pairs, queens and threes.
BABACC shows [ As, Ks ] two pairs, queens and threes.

WHOTW

The Bag witnessed perhaps the worst hand I have ever heard of (and copied it down) but I was unable to reach him in time for this post. That special debacle will be posted in the near future. For now we have this:

Dealt to GnightMoon [ Kd, Ah ]
gamblegambel folds.
ikim322 folds.
CyberTheft folds.
YaleYalerson folds.
Surfin_Dude folds.
takeurcake raises (90) to 90
MATPAT calls (90)
GnightMoon raises (348) to 348
giggitty_goo folds.
BluffMag folds.
takeurcake calls (258)
MATPAT folds.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 7h, Ac, 3d ]
takeurcake bets (600)
GnightMoon raises (1642) to 1642
GnightMoon is all-In.
takeurcake calls (1042)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 7d ]
** Dealing River ** : [ As ]
Creating Main Pot with $4097 with GnightMoon
** Summary **Main Pot: $4097 Rake: $3 Board: [ 7h Ac 3d 7d As ]
takeurcake balance $10, lost $1990 [ 4d 4h ] [ two pairs, aces and sevens -- Ac,As,7h,7d,4d ]GnightMoon balance $4097, bet $1990, collected $4097, net +$2107 [ Kd Ah ] [ a full house, Aces full of sevens -- Ah,Ac,As,7h,7d ]


As hopeless as that was, it is not as astonishing as the key hand from the final table of the WSOP Circuit Paris/Bally's championship (the last event I played) a few days ago:

Hand #43:
Kido Pham has the button in seat 2, Tran raises to $18,000, Pham reraises to $50,000, Hachem reraises to $150,000, Tran folds, and Pham thinks for a minute before moving all in. Hachem asks for a count of Pham's remaining chips before saying, "It doesn't matter, I call." Hachem shows pocket kings (Kc-Kd), and Pham shows Js-10c.

Hachem has Pham outchipped, and Pham will need to improve to stay alive here.
The flop comes Jc-Jh-2s, and Pham flops trip jacks to take the lead. The air is let out of the crowd, which seems to have been pro-Hachem, and it gets pretty quiet in the tournament arena.
The turn card is the 6c, and Hachem needs to catch a king on the river to bust Pham. The river card is the Ad, and Kido Pham doubles up in a huge pot to take the lead with about $600,000 in chips.

Hachem is still alive, but he is down to about $40,000 in chips.

Hachem busted out in 5th place shortly afterwards, while Pham went on to win the tournament.

The Next Level

I spent the afternoon crushing Party Poker, getting my buy-in back from Saturday. With hands like these it was hard not to win:

Dealt to GnightMoon [ 2c, 2d ]
StuDaKid folds.
Lled65 folds.
Razor_Edge folds.
JMastaC folds.
GnightMoon calls (20)
pegas666 raises (90) to 90
pokkkkker folds.
SexyMoFoDude folds.
Phallusy folds.
GnightMoon calls (70)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Qd, 2h, Kc ]
GnightMoon checks.
pegas666 bets (85)
GnightMoon raises (325) to 325
pegas666 calls (240)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 9s ]
GnightMoon bets (714)
pegas666 calls (714)
** Dealing River ** : [ Qh ]
GnightMoon bets (851)
GnightMoon is all-In.
pegas666 calls (851)
Creating Main Pot with $3987 with GnightMoon** Summary **Main Pot: $3987 Rake: $3Board: [ Qd 2h Kc 9s Qh ]
GnightMoon balance $3987, bet $1980, collected $3987, net +$2007 [ 2c 2d ] [ a full house, Twos full of queens -- Qd,Qh,2c,2d,2h ]
pegas666 balance $1988, lost $1980 [ Tc Qc ] [ three of a kind, queens -- Kc,Qc,Qd,Qh,Tc ]

Dealt to GnightMoon [ Ks, Kd ]
StuDaKid folds.
gcnmoo folds.
ILUVTOLOSE folds.
fedya21 folds.
Phallusy raises (40) to 40
EnormusGoon folds.
willc69 raises (100) to 100
tigliger folds.
hotmark777 folds.
GnightMoon raises (547) to 567
Phallusy folds.
willc69 calls (467)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 4d, 8h, 2s ]
GnightMoon bets (789)
willc69 calls (789)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Kh ]
GnightMoon checks.
willc69 bets (1100)
GnightMoon raises (1311.50) to 1311.50
GnightMoon is all-In.
willc69 calls (211.50)
** Dealing River ** : [ 9h ]
Creating Main Pot with $5382 with GnightMoon
** Summary **Main Pot: $5382 Rake: $3Board: [ 4d 8h 2s Kh 9h ]
willc69 balance $187.50, lost $2667.50 [ 5d 6d ] [ high card king -- Kh,9h,8h,6d,5d ]
GnightMoon balance $5382, bet $2667.50, collected $5382, net +$2714.50 [ Ks Kd ] [ three of a kind, kings -- Ks,Kd,Kh,9h,8h ]

I also won what I believe was the second biggest pot of my life after calling a bet with a gutshot, hitting it, and getting it all in on the turn with a big stack who had a set and a short stack who had a lower straight.

At night I went to Bally's and played online sit n gos with Mike Odeh and Jimmy Sommerfeld. Mike is a fantastic all-around player and Jimmy said tonight he will be the top tournament director for the WSOP this summer.

According to Mike
1) he is the best tournament player in the world and no one can match his results
2) he won or chopped first place in 7 of 10 $500 tournaments of more than 150 players this summer at the WSOP
3) he taught Hasan Habib how to play
4) he had 100k at night in day 1 of the WSOP main event this year before taking a 2 out beat in a 200k pot that would have given him the chip lead of the whole tournament. He also said that if he won this pot making the final table would be "guaranteed."
5) TJ Cloutier said Mike is the only player in the world he fears
6) he lost a $500,000 pot in pot limit Omaha against Jeremy Tinsley with TT98 all in against Jeremy's AKJJ on a JT75 board

I believe Mike on the last 5 points. The first one is probably a stretch but there is no doubt he is a complete and utter beast. It seems like every tournament he plays he is able to accumulate a big stack of chips and sometimes he is able to bring it all the way home. I learned quite a bit from Mike in Minnesota and really got inside his mind tonight watching him play and talking strategy. Right now it feels like the poker part of my brain is expanding and developing very quickly. I'm so much better right now than I was ten days ago, thanks to Mike, Hasan Habib, Alex Jacob, Kido Pham, Hoyt Corkins, and John Phan. I've also been thinking a lot about how Joseph Hachem was able to grind his way to a world championship and the current chip lead at WSOP Circuit Bally's seemingly by patiently waiting for the right situation and catching breaks. There are so many ways to play the game and I think my style falls somewhere in between Mike's style of nonstop pot stealing and Hachem's waiting game.

Back on Track

I made a lot of money playing online today, finally getting lucky in some crucial hands. I hit two flush draws against sets on semibluffs for huge pots, and also hit a couple gutshots and two outers on the flop before pumping the pot. If I can have the kind of success I had today, I can play all the 10k events I want without bankroll pressure. And I am now pretty much addicted to playing the 10k events. Nothing is more fun. The next "big one" is the 15k championship at Bellagio in mid-December.

WHOTW

Dealt to GnightMoon [ Kh, Ks ]
Damus77 calls (20)
Psyche_ folds.
GnightMoon calls (20)
Cute___Girl folds.
MajBritt folds.
noplayinfool folds.
MATPAT folds.
hajuda raises (490) to 500
tigliger folds.
Damus77 folds.
GnightMoon raises (1180) to 1200
hajuda calls (700)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Ah, Td, 8c ]
hajuda checks.
GnightMoon checks.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 6s ]
hajuda checks.
GnightMoon checks.
** Dealing River ** : [ Js ]
hajuda checks.
GnightMoon checks.
** Summary **Main Pot: $2437 Rake: $3Board: [ Ah Td 8c 6s Js ]
hajuda balance $4789.50, lost $1200 [ Kc 7d ]
GnightMoon balance $3574, bet $1200, collected $2437, net +$1237 [ Kh Ks ]

Pissing Away Ten Thousand Dollars

There are a lot of ways you can blow ten thousand bucks. You could buy a used car with some unforeseen problems. You could make some poor investment choices. You could rent that new suite at the Palms that has a basketball court in it. You could do what Jonas was urging me to do at the end of the World Series, blow it all on one drug and hooker fueled limousine binge.

Or you could do what I did today - play a poker tournament and toss away your shot at fame and fortune. This event was loaded with all-stars. My first table had Men the Master and none other than the mythical Johnny Chan. The sick thing is there may have been TWO players even better than them - young hotshots JC Tran and Amnon Filippi. But I was able to get up to 13k playing at this table, mainly by making one enormous bluff against Lars Bonding. I had 99 and there were three overcards and a straight draw and I kept the heat on all three streets. That table broke, thank god, and I went to a new one. I made a flush against a tool and got to 17k.

After that things got rough. Kido Pham was at my table and he had two things I did not - position and a huge stack. He put the hurt on everyone, including me. Todd Brunson was there as well but he was clearly not on his game. After Kido got moved Hoyt Corkins, who was sitting on my right, slowly took over the table. His game is not to steal blinds or even outplay people after the flop, but reraise and pick up dead money whenever he thinks he can get away from it. This strategy, combined with a lot of big hands, was pretty devastating.

Soon enough John Phan sat down directly on my left. Sitting with a tough, aggressive player to my left is nothing new for this trip - I've already had Hasan Habib, Mark Seif, Alex Prendes, and Alex Jacob manning that post. Phan lived up to his reputation throughout the day. At one point a couple guys at the table made a sidebet on the number of hands he would play in one round, with the over/under set at 8.

After playing for several hours, I felt I got to know Phan's strategy pretty well. His game is really about finesse, not brute force. He gets himself into what seems like every pot, but what he is really trying to do is put himself in position to get lucky and outplay people. He makes a lot of bets but they are usually small bets - small raises before the flop and almost always bets of less than half the pot afterwards. He is not afraid to make hard decisions and playing with him is an exercise in patience - others must often wait for several minutes while he thinks about what to do. At the same time you must be patient with him and concede small pots without losing your mind. And when he gets shortstacked, he tightens up considerably (though that didn't stop me from doubling him up).

My stack was down to 4500 at dinner after two ill-advised confrontations against Phan and the underrated unknown recreational player John Smith. Right after the dinner break I hit a little rush and cruised up to 14k. After that things did not go so well and, down to 7k, I made a mistake. I would have been at around 4k if I had not made the mistake, in deep trouble, but still in. It was an embarassing moment, though the most embarassing moment would actually come half an hour later in the crowded Gold Coast elevator. I had left my ipod playing, and everyone could hear the Collective Soul blaring from the headphones when I took them off in the elevator.

Getting knocked out of these things is so painful, all I can think about is the next chance. Don't take my word for it - just ask this guy, whose third place finish YESTERDAY at Foxwoods didn't stop him from hopping a morning flight in time for this tournament.

Paris/Bally's $1500 6-man

I accumulated a very large stack after doubling through Alex Prendes' 99 with JJ after smoothcalling his raise in the big blind and checkraising all in on a rag flop. I also won several other pots including a flush against a straight.

I couldn't seem to hold on to the chips though. I doubled through Mark Seif and his big stack with 77 against A5 on a button raise he predictably reraised. I lost a big race with A4 against 33, then won a race with 99 against AJs, but then Glyn Beebe took me out with JJ against those same two nines.

The tournament room is crawling with good players right now. Player of the Year contenders like John Phan (left) and Max Pescatori, and a lot of regulars on the circuit like Prendes, Beebe, and Don Mullis. Mullis stuck it all in against me with 32s after I raised his SB limp with KJ in the BB, and I folded.

During one of the breaks I was talking to a young player named Chino and his mentor, Phan. I told them I had bet some friends I would be top 20 in the Player of the Year rankings in 2006. I feel like I am starting to get to the point where I can compete in these tournaments, but I'm not there yet. At an average table I'm better than most players, but usually not the best player at the table. I'm improving in a hurry though, and in 2006 Mr. Phan had better watch out.

Paris/Bally's $1500 NL

I got off to a fast start today, picking up a bunch of dead money with rockets after limp/reraising. I was at a wild, gambling table with a wide range of players - seasoned pros, noobs, tourists, old men, etc. The player to my right may have been the worst player I have ever seen. My friend Mike Odeh, who I got to know at Canterbury, was there as well.

KQ was my undoing today. I lost a huge pot with it, all in against Ah8h on a K948 board with two hearts. I lost the rest of my chips against it with 8c9c after checkraising all in on a KcTcT flop.

The tournament professionals were out in force today, and the environment felt a lot different from Foxwoods. The players here are a lot better in general, and there is more camaraderie between familiar foes.

Tonight the plan (after Survivor of course) is to meet up with Mike (assuming he's not still in the tournament) and then get some rest. The $1500 shorthanded event is tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm starting to feel good physically and my game is in even better shape.

Buckner Back in Shea

When Mike McD returns to Teddy KGB's lair near the end of Rounders, he says he feels "like Buckner walking back into Shea." That's kind of how I felt tonight as I walked past the familiar wannabe Tom Jones act playing in front of a hundred old people downstairs in the Gold Coast.
But this trip to Vegas feels different already. The air feels brisk and refreshing. I'm excited to be here. I'm playing with more confidence now than ever before. Because of this, I'm having more fun playing poker than I ever have before.

Yesterday at Foxwoods I just had a blast. I made a badass play early on, raising a checkraise with 89s on a Q75A board. I busted a player with JJ against 88 and was up to 130k. I was sitting next to Chip Jett and we were cracking jokes back and forth. Then the table broke and I got a brutal draw, with Alex Jacob harnessing an elephantitis-afflicted stack two to my left.

Jacob was playing with extreme aggression and I seemed to be his target. He showed down A5o, Q5o, 24o, and 74o. He reraised me five times and I didn't have enough to play with him once. I also doubled a guy up unnecessarily with A7 against his AJs and I found myself down to 70k. Then I won about 30k off Jacob with a straight to get back to my starting stack for the day.

I lost about that much back to Jacob later on with a bluff against a rebluff. I didn't really play any big pots until we were down around 100 players and into the money. I had been ground down to about 50k before a clutch double up with AA against QQ. After that I made a play on a guy with Q2o which failed. Finally down to 70k I made my stand against Jacob, outlined in ths morning's blog.

Jacob went out today shy of the megascore I'm sure he was after. He made a lot of plays that I wouldn't but I really respected his play. I really learned a lot from him, not just how to be aggressive but how to play against an aggressor like him. I also gained a lot from Hasan Habib - including two hundred dollars. Yesterday during a break we were talking and he told me he had 65k. I had 75k at the time. To my surprise he asked me if I wanted to swap a percentage of our action. I couldn't believe what I was hearing - the man has made about two million dollars in tournaments during the last year and a half, and he was willing to trade with me? He said I played really well and we agreed to swap 10%. Hasan went on to a 14k payday, $200 of which I will collect this weekend.

Tomorrow is the $1500 NL here at the Paris. I can't wait to get back out there.

59th Place at Foxwoods

My first cash in a major tournament was worth $12,000, a profit of $1800. In ten minutes the Wolf and I are driving to Hartford where I will board a plane for Vegas to go play at the WSOP Circuit at the Paris.

My final hand: Blinds 1500-3000 with a 500 ante. I have about 70k. I had J-2 of diamonds on the button. Alex Jacob was in the small blind and he had been playing extremely aggressively with his big stack. We had already had several confrontations and he had gotten the better of me on most. The big blind was playing a tight "raise or fold" sort of game. I decided to limp because Jacob had been reraising me consistently and the big blind had also proven suspicious of button raises. To no one's surprise Jacob raised 10k more. The big blind studied for about two minutes before finally folding and I called.

The flop came 974 with two diamonds. Jacob thought for a while (as he always did) and then made a bet of around 20k. I immediately pushed in and he immediately called with 7-4 offsuit. No diamond was in my future and that was it.

I will post more later.

Chippy in Connecticut - Foxwoods Day One

I have 93k after day one. That is a ton of chips - should be top 10 out of 800 players, most of whom are now on the rail.

My starting table was real soft and I got to 23k without much trouble. There was a key hand against Richard "Quiet Lion" "Writer of Microsoft Word" "Gazillionaire and Proud of It" Brodie in which I raised with 89s. He reraised from the blind and I decided to call in position. The flop came K8x and he made a bet and I called. I bet when checked to on the K turn and he mucked.

Then Hasan Habib showed up on my left with a mountain of chips.

I smoothcalled a UTG raise with QQ as did a few others. It came KQJ and UTG checked. I bet 3k and everyone folded to UTG who made a raise to like 9k. I moved in and he called with T9 of hearts. I was down to 6k and in desperation mode.

I doubled up with AQs against an overplayed KQs soon after which got me back in the hunt. I beat JJ with AKs for some more chips. Then I raised with J9s in early position and Habib made his usual call, another guy called, and a passive player called. The flop was the dreamy T87 with two hearts. I bet 2.2k, Habib made it 7k, the passive guy went all in for like 9k, I moved in, and Habib called. Habib had the Beast T8 of clubs and the passive guy had AK of hearts. They had a ton of outs but none hit and I won a gargantuan pot of near 50k to become a real force.

I then siphoned about 8k on questionable play before raising with 55, hitting a set and turning a boat, and winning a medium pot when my opponent folded on the turn (board was 5677 and I bet flop and turn hard). A bit later I called an early position raise with pocket jacks in the big blind. The flop came KT4 with two spades and we both checked. The turn was a K and we both checked again. The river was a T and I bet 4k. My opponent, Pat Poels, a WSOP bracelet winner in O8 this year, moved in for about 10k more. I thought about his possible hands before concluding it was likely he had either quads or a complete bluff. AK or a ten would have bet the flop or turn. I made the call and he showed pocket fives, a complete bluff. Goodnight Moon.

Soon after Chris McCormack (7th place last year in this event) raised UTG to 2k and I smoothcalled in next position with my first pocket rockets of the day. Habib made it 6k in third position and I started to think about what I wanted to do. Everyone folded to McCormack who immediately pushed in for around 20k. I reevaluated for about a minute. I thought about smoothcalling once again. If I did that Habib would surely know I had a monster but not necessarily know it was aces. The trouble with this is that Habib would likely call for pot odds and if he hit his hand I would likely go broke. For example if the flop came J92 and he had pocket jacks I would go broke. I was too scared of this happening so I decided to push in for more than 40k. Habib thought for three seconds, said "I don't want to gamble with you guys" and folded pocket kings faceup! McCormack had a hopeless AK offsuit and I busted him.

I won some more pots and the last hand of the day I made a backdoor flush with 45 of hearts against Habib and got him to call my 9k river bet.

Hasan Habib is the most impressive player I have ever seen. He was playing like a mad genius, raising half the hands and calling raises the other half. I've never seen someone play as loose or aggressive, yet with great control. The entire table was scared shitless of him, and for good reason. He broke a rock with K3o against AA after a button raise gone bad, and called a 2500 all in on his 600 BB with 62o because he was getting 2:1 pot odds. He beat the poor guy's 55. He somehow beat 33 with As8h after a Qh5h3 flop, betting the flop, check calling on the 2h turn, and somehow getting the guy to call the rest of his chips on the heart river.

Having him on my left tonight was an absolute nightmare and I am so lucky to have survived, not to mention built a huge stack.

The Wolf, caught up in the excitement of a strong but relatively insignificant first day, is making an unscheduled visit tomorrow.

Cruddy in Connecticut

I feel like crap. I'm sick. Saturday was an epic, debilitating day of travel which ended in the 6-casino hell of Foxwoods. Tomorrow I play in Heat 2 of the World Poker Finals championship event. Hopefully I'll feel better, but if not, it's poker, not wrestling. Shouldn't affect my game much.

I just booked a 4k win online so at least travel expenses have been paid for.

Congratulations Pickett!

PunkyPickett got 5th place today in a huge rebuy tournament on Party Poker, QUINTUPLING her bankroll in the process. I've never quintupled my bankroll in a day of poker, ever.

Heart

I have been playing a fair amount of online poker, always the $2000 tables on Party Poker. Things have not been going as smoothly as in the past. I think I've been playing okay, but getting extremely unlucky. Nonstop coolers. Kings vs. aces. Set under set. And a continual parade of missed flops.

Tonight I was down over 7k after losing several huge pots. Only one of these was a real mistake when I had top pair against a super aggressive player and called off my whole stack only to be shown four of a kind. Another I had KK against a maniac who had AA. And another I had 66 against KQ on a KK86 board all in for a 4.6k pot and watched an 8 hit the river.

I then decided that no matter how unlucky I got, I was going to win. I started bluffing like there was no tomorrow. I can't remember getting "lucky" once - hitting a set against an overpair, getting a flush against a lower flush, etc. I just outplayed everyone for several hours and came all the way back, finally carving out a 1.5k profit. I've never been down this much in a session, and coming back was one of my finest poker accomplishments so far.

Then I got it all in with AA against KQ on a KJ8x board for a pot of a little more than $5900. The river was a king. I played the hand so courageously and so well, and my opponent played it so horribly. There was just absolutely no justice this time. Poker can be so sickening when things like this happen.

But I came back. I sucked it up and I ran over some shorthanded tables. I've never played with that much ferocity, or determination. At the end of the night I finished with a $600 profit.

Foxwoods starts on Monday, and I will be bringing the ferocity and determination as well as the confidence gained at Canterbury. I get better and more fearless with each 10k event I play. As I've said before, a breakthrough is coming soon.

WHOTW #4

Dealt to GnightMoon [ 7d, Ks ]
caspis calls (20)
vladochka calls (20)
rprobst10 raises (50) to 50
KriyaYoga folds.
GnightMoon folds.
tenstar folds.
SonikBooooom raises (220) to 240
caspis folds.
vladochka folds.
rprobst10 calls (190)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 7c, Kh, Ah ]
SonikBooooom checks.
rprobst10 bets (100)
SonikBooooom raises (2596) to 2596
SonikBooooom is all-In.
rprobst10 calls (1848.75)
rprobst10 is all-In.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Qd ]
** Dealing River ** : [ 4s ]
Creating Main Pot with $4424.50 with rprobst10
Creating Side Pot 1 with $647.25 with SonikBooooom
** Summary **Main Pot: $4424.50 Side Pot 1: $647.25 Rake: $3
Board: [ 7c Kh Ah Qd 4s ]
SonikBooooom balance $5071.75, bet $2836, collected $5071.75, net +$2235.75 [ Kd As ] [ two pairs, aces and kings -- As,Ah,Kd,Kh,Qd ]
rprobst10 balance $0, lost $2188.75 [ Kc Qc ] [ two pairs, kings and queens --

Upcoming Plans

For the Foxwoods main event I'll be staying at an AmericInn 15 minutes from the casino from Saturday, Nov 12 thru Tuesday, Nov 15. I'll then go to Vegas for the WSOP Circuit at Paris, staying at my old favorite The Gold Coast from Wednesday, Nov 16 until flying home on Tuesday, Nov 22.

Anyone who has an interest in visiting let me know.