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.