No time to go broke.

WSOP 2009 - Here already, Wow, that was fast.

2009-05-28T16:44:52Z

I have not had a New Year's resolution for as long as I can remember. I am just too lazy to bother putting into words what I need to do to make myself better, live longer or be less evil. I know that I suck at a lot of things and I know that I can be a little better with some effort at many things.

The truth is I usually have a few WSOP resolution that I always break.

1) Don't play cash games when playing tournaments.

2) Don't play the main event unless I win a satellite.

3) Play as many tournaments as possible before the WSOP to get in shape.

4) Blog updates.

Let's see how many I can break this year.

WSOP bells-a-ringing.

2008-06-05T03:45:36Z

Where did the year go? What have I been up to since the last WSOP. Well, let's see, I took some time off to play live poker in Latin America and three months morphed into six.

Tournament poker has taken Melina and I to Punta Cana and Santo Domingo (twice) in the Dominican Republic; Caracas, Venezuela (twice); Medellin, Colombia; Jaco Beach, Costa Rica (OK, we only drove there but still...) and Rio, Brazil (working with the LAPT). My Spanish has improved to the point where players feel comfortable enough to tell me bad beats in their native tongue and I can grunt the appropriate response.

Its been an interesting journey and we have met many people, some who have become good friends and others who will just remain part of the wacky folklore of poker. Gangsters and drug lords, drunks and drug addicts, convicts and beggars, moms and pops; all dreamers, scratching that two card lottery and dreaming of another hand, another day, when they will be called champ.

I have played live poker in probably 75 different rooms in 10 countries and the best games are by far the ones that I have played in Latin America. I can only imagine that it was what the old road gamblers felt like in Vegas when they first started to spread poker there or something like Party Poker was in 2003. You don't even need any skill, ABC poker will get you the money most of the time. You do need a little personality and a bit of tough skin to weather the constant teasing and occasional rudeness.

What will this year's WSOP bring...

Another Year, Another WSOP

2007-06-18T20:01:50Z

Yeah, it's that time again. How many satellites have I played. You guessed it, none. I will be playing at least one when I get to Vegas in July. The super on July 5th.

Failing that, I guess it's time to piece myself out again at 4% for $500. So, if you are interested, it's first come first serve to a maximum of 40%. You know how to reach me.

There will be updates if a certain individual demands it.

I never post...so what.

2007-03-13T16:46:40Z

Sometimes, you walk around knowing exactly how things are and then, BOOM! You just didn't see it coming.

Another year in the can and the WSOP is about to roll around again. Online qualifying is practically nonexistent for me this year. Not like I played more than 3 satellites last year. I just don't have a solid WSOP plan, not like I ever really do but this year just feels different.

I have also been thinking about the WPT Championship and maybe giving that a shot. Live satellites are $2500 a pop, so a few shots could end up costing a seat to another main event just trying to qualify. I am sure there are satellites to the satellites, but all that parlaying is just too much.

Arghh.

WSOP dream ends.

2006-08-06T19:46:12Z

I am out and I don't feel like posting. I will say I hate AQ suited.

Thanks to everyone for the support and well wishes.

WSOP 2006 ME - Day 2B

2006-08-03T21:46:51Z

Starting from the end. I have very little chips ending the night with 34,200. I need to double up to be average.

I got myself into trouble early and hovered around the 10K mark for most of the first 2 rounds. Humberto came by to sweat me for a bit and this gave my raises a lot more credibility.

I got a table change and was able to build myself up to about 30K by stealing and re-stealing with some aggressive preflop play. Then I was shot down when I had to laydown postflop with QQ to J87 board. I was down to 8K and picked up KK in the small blind. There was an standard UTG to 3500 and a re-raise to 9K and one caller before it got to me. I was not sure my hand was even good but I called all-in. The flop was gin, AAK. I was now back to 25K or so. My table was about to break but I played one more hand. I moved in on an EP raiser with JJ and was showed QQ, rivered a J to put me at 50K for the first time. The same player then got QQ all-in against AA. He will never play QQ again.

My final table had both Josh Ariah and Paul Wolfe to my right. I was unable to get anything going as every hand was raised preflop and I was card dead and other players were playing the re-steal game. I got blinded down to my 34,200 stack to start day 3.

WSOP 2006 ME

2006-08-01T19:03:39Z

This post is for you David.

I had a good table draw, are there bad ones in a field this size. I was down to about 6500 after the first level when I flopped a straight flush draw that did not get there and tried to push a player off a pot when I whiffed with AK.

Level 2 started badly and I was down to about 5500 when I kept missing when calling small preflop bets with medium pairs. Then I had an instant replay of the 5K event where I flopped a set with 77 in the small blind. I was able once again to get all my money in and fade a 4 high flush draw and bottom pair. I was over 10K for the first time.

I hovered between 12K and 15K for the rest of the event until the last round. I was then able to put the stealing game into play and I was determined to steal 2 rounds of blinds every round to add 1100 to my stack per round. I stole 3 pots in a row one round and the player to my left was determined to stop me even if he had to call me blind. But he folded on steal #4. No, I did not have a hand but everyone was sure I did as there was no way I would steal again without one. I love the reverse psychology of the game.

I have never seen AA, KK and QQ so many times at one table. We had a rule that if you had AA you had to show it. In the 12 hours of play, we saw them over 35 times. It was sick, sick but I only saw them once and they got cracked. Oddly enough, they never went up against KK, which we saw about 20 times.

All in all, my game was very sharp, except for one crying call I made when I knew I was beat. I just could not lay down trip aces and expect a good night's sleep. I missed my lofty goal of 50K for the end of day one but I did reach 19850 to stay alive with more than a fighting chance. I saw my new table draw and it looks pretty damn sweet.

MPT Panama - Day 2.

2006-05-28T17:12:04Z

We played very little today with the blinds starting at 1/2K and average stacks at about T30K. We got down from 55 players to 17 paid spots in about 3 hours.

I am second in chips with T202K and first place has T249K while third has T149K. The blinds will be 3.5/7K today.

Real trip report to come, maybe.

Majestic Poker Tour - Panama

2006-05-27T09:41:32Z

Total players about 97 with about 55 players left on day 2. Four and half hours to be played tomorrow (today).

I have been up for almost 24 hour so I am not going to post too much right now. There were about 15 Ticos and 40 Venezuelan here in Panama City, Panama for the 4th event of a five city tour by Majestic Casino of Latin America. I drew a table with 3 locals and the top point getter on the tour so far (he final tabled all the events and won the one in the Dominican Republic). A bit of a boring table but I was able to build my chips from the T17,500 I started with to T50,300. The bad news is tomorrow's blinds start at 1K/2K.

The big game here was 50/100 No Limit Omaha High (yes, no limit) and is now 100/200 as I write. I have yet to play since I am pretty tired but will scout the game tomorrow. There has also been some NLHE thrown in for good measure. There is also a smaller 10/25 NLO game as well.

A better report tomorrow if I can manage it.

Not posting...Is it really better.

2006-05-06T04:49:31Z

I have to post my update to my WSOP quest. No satellites played and no wins. Go figure.

It's that time of the year again.

2006-04-23T20:01:23Z

Yes, that's right, WSOP satellite time. I will begin my quest some time this week and it should be over by next week. Paradise, UB and Party are where I will be making it happen. Stay tune.

Poker Industry Tournament - Day 1.

2005-12-05T18:46:32Z

Badbeat story to order. Please stop reading if you expect a dollar.

The event was pretty well attended all things considered. Only 2 or 3 "celebrities", Mike Caro, Warren Karp and local favourite Alex Brenes. 46 players ponied up $1500 (two $250 rebuys for 5K in chips were available) for 15K in chips with 100/200 blinds and first 3 rounds of 40 minutes then 1 hour rounds. 9 places paid with a first of $24K, which sounds like a lot of juice to me.

I basically played 2 hands.

1) 13K in chips. Blinds 200/400, I raised from MP to 1600 with A7s and was called by Youssef on the button. Flop A76 rainbow, I bet 2000 and Youssef raised to 5000. I move in and am called. Bad read. No ace. Camisa.

2) 8K in chips. Blinds 400/800. All fold to the SB who raises to 2400. I find JhJc in the BB and re-raise all-in. He insta-calls me with JdJs, flops 2 diamonds and goes runner runner diamonds. IGHN.

Poker Industry Tournament.

2005-12-03T16:25:17Z

So, it's that time again. Another large local (re)buy-in live tournament. According to the website:

http://www.pokerindustryexpo.com/tournament.php

Poker Tournament Rules
Buy In Chips
USD $1500 15,000

Re-buy Chips

Option 1: USD $250
(Maximum 3X) 3,000

Option 2: USD $750
(Maximum 1X) 12,000

I love the guarantee: "‡ - The $100,000 Prize Pool is Guaranteed provided the minimum of 75 players are met. Regardless, a USD $50,000 guarantee is in place for 40 players or less. In the event of the total number of players being 74 or less, the pay out will be based on the total pot accumulated minus tournament fees."

After work, I will swing by and try another single table satellite. I have no idea what the structure will be but rumours are that it will start with 100/200 blinds with half hour rounds. I am hoping for 1 hour rounds. They will play to a final table or 4 AM, whichever comes first.

If I play, you can read my badbeat story in the next few days.

WSOP Championship.

2005-06-03T19:21:20Z

Well, it looks like I am returning for another shot at the WSOP title. I won my entry via Paradise. I am twice as prepared this time and if I get as lucky as I did last year on the first day, there is just no telling.

CRSC - Saturday, May 20 - Main event - Final Table

2005-05-26T00:55:23Z

The final table chip counts I gave in my last post were estimated by me and may be off a little but they are pretty close. I had already picked the weak spot as Aimee and she did not disappoint. I think it was the first hand, when UTG+2, OGG raises to 6K with 1K/2K blinds and 400 antes. Aimee called from MP and Brad in the BB made it 20K to go. The OGG folded and Aimee called to see a flop of 987 and no suits. Brad moved all-in and after about 5 minutes, she called with AKo. No help and Brad had about 200K in chips, there goes my easy chips.

I am not sure what the exact payouts were but first was about 66K, second was 30K and third was 18K. I could tell a few players were thinking about moving up and I certainly looked that way with the cards I was getting and the folding clinic I was putting on. The internet guy was next to go but I don't remember who knocked him out or how.

With blinds at 1500/3000, Ming raised in MP and the OGG called in the SB. The flop came down 66x and the OGG moved all-in, Ming called instantly and was shown quads and mucked. I guess he had AK. A few hands later, the OGG limped UTG and Ming moved all-in in the SB with J4s and the OGG had AA. Ming is a very respected and strong competitor whom I was glad to see gone.

I bled away my chips till the 2K/4K with 500 ante round. I found AQs and limped in the sb against the OGG in the bb. The flop of Q96 looked good to me so I bet 4K. Something in the way he called felt very strange to me so when a rag came on the turn, I only bet 4K and he min-raised me to 8K. All I could hear was "be careful of the min-raise." I called and the river was another 9. I checked and he bet 11K which I knew was a value bet but I couldn't lay it down. He showed me 96o and I lost the least amount possible.

I was down to about 60K in the 3K/6K with 500 ante when I found 98o in bb and the sb limped. The flop was Q86 and I called a 6K bet. The turn was a 9 and the sb checked. I decided to move-in, not sure why, I guess it was a mistake as the sb called with 75o. I could hardly believe it was all over. I never had any hands at the final table but I think I messed this one up. A raise on the flop was most likely the right move.

Woody was first and Blair was second. Local Yossef was third and he took a pretty bad beat with AK versus A9 and a King high flop to lose to a runner runner flush.

All in all I had some luck and played well but it all dried up at the final table. 6th was all I could muster up but next time, I take it down.

CRSC - Saturday, May 20 - Main event - Day 2

2005-05-24T02:34:13Z

I went to the casino a little early to relax and play a little 1/2 NLHE before the event, now a tradition. The nicest thing about the event was all the support from the locals who keep saying "first". I had a pretty good feeling that I was a good shot for the final table but was aiming for first.

My table draw was good which allowed me to control the table with my chips. Blinds were 1000/2000 with 400 antes and with 47,300 and one hour rounds, I stole a lot of blinds playing 7 handed. No big hands came up and we were down to the final two tables and redrawing for seats again.

I was at the TV table. This appears to be the same final table that UB uses for WPT Aruba with the lipstick cameras and high ledge. I had Ming Nyugen to my immediate right and Arturo and Fernando (who has had a final table appearance in the WSOP Championship in the 90's) to my left. The others were online qualifiers and an older Greek man who busted Humberto limping with AA. He was putting on this show about not knowing how to play and folding out of turn and not posting, however, it took me much to long to figure this out. He was moved to the other table when they lost two players.

A hand worth noting from the other table. A young Swedish player moved in to steal the blinds and the same girl from my fist table said "I'll see that" instead of "I see that" and was forced to call with Q4o and went on to flop 2 pairs and bust him. Man, the calls that TD have to make sometimes.

I had built my stack up to about 60K without much danger when Arturo posted all-in for 900 of the 800/1500 round. Fernando open raised for 4K and it was folded around to me and I called with 88. The flop came down 987 with no suits. Fernando checked and I bet 6K which he quickly called. The turn was a rag and he checked and I bet 15K about half of what Fernando had left. He folded TT face up and Arturo was out with 44.

Sometimes stealing with 92o pays off. I raised from middle position to 4500 and was called by the bb. The flop was J52, he checked and I bet 5K, he called. The turn was another 2, he checked and I bet 9K but he folded. He was not the type of player was going to bet but he loved to call. I guess he had nothing that time.

I was able to keep building my stack with timely steals and re-raises. I saw a lot of flops and picked them up with little bets. I got to the final table with about 100K in chips with the average at about 66K.

Seat 1: 80K - Amie, girl from my first table
Seat 2: 50K - Woody, pro from Vegas
Seat 3: 90K - Ming Nyugen, LA pro
Seat 4: 40K - Internet qualifier
Seat 5: 40K - Yossef (local player)
Seat 6: 120K - Brad (UB player)
Seat 7: 100K - me
Seat 8: 100K - Old Greek guy
Seat 9: 40K - Blair Rodman, another pro

CRSC - Event #3 - Thursday May 19/05 - $500.

2005-05-20T19:55:49Z

99 players for a $17K first which went to local hero Humberto Brenes. Man, can he play. He has the uncanny ability to make you play back at him at the wrong times.

I think all tables had plenty of weak players, however, I had TheBeat (TB) to my immediate right and KrazyKanuck (KK) to his right. I ended up chatting with them more than I wanted to and this may have had an effect on my game. Maybe not, never picked up many cards but plenty of play with 3000 chips and 5/5 blinds to start. KrazyKanuck was getting run over by the deck. Early hand, the button limps and KK calls and TB checks in bb. The flops comes down Q high, no flush and no straight draw and KK bets the pot and TB calls, the blind raises the pot and KK goes into the tank for about a minute and then goes all-in (smell anything), TB shows me aces and mucks, the button calls with KQ and is drawing dead to runner runner. A few hands later, another player can't get away from top pair top kicker on a Q-high flop when KK has bottom two and gives him all her chips. He now has over 9K in the first hour. Glad he was to my right.

My demise. I pick up 99 in MP and make it 250 with blinds at 50/100. The sb is an 18 year old from Toronto who has been playing mostly online and is somewhat predictable. I have about 4500 and he has about 2500 in chips. He doubles my bet and I call. The flop comes down T22 and he bet 400 and I raise it to 800 which he calls. The turn is a perfect T and he checks. I see he has about 1200 in chips, so I bet 1000 and he goes into the tank, he is literally shaking and says "I have never been this scared but I am all-in" , it was funny. I called and he showed AA.

My last hand, I am in the bb blind with 7 limpers holding 95o and see a flop of 942 two diamonds. We all check and the kid makes it 300 in MP and all fold to TB who calls, so I move all-in, 900 more into 1600 pot. The kid folds and TB starts talking himself into calling and I know I am done. He has J9 and it's over.

Tonight is the $2500 main event and I will see you all at the final table.

CRSC - Event #1 - Tuesday May 17/05 - $10 rebuy.

2005-05-19T14:43:47Z

Instead of heading home and relaxing before going to play the tournament, I figured I might as well check out the side and satellite action. For those of you who remember a little 4 or 5 table room, the place is looking great with about 15 tables. At 5 PM, there were 3 satellites, 2 1/2 NLHE, 1 100c/200c NLHE and 1 4/8 Omaha/8 game. This is Tuesday at the Europa!

We had about 120 players and a first place prize of almost 8K. This is a $10 rebuy event that had a lot of play compared to the usual events here. It ran till 4:30 AM and Bwana (Good job!) was able to take down third, while I busted one before the bubble with bottom two against a flush draw to the eventual winner. I never really held cards but you actually had enough chips and time to be patient.

Recognizable players in attendance, included, Scotty (and he did say "What's up, baby?"), Russ Hamilton, Dewey Tomko, KrazyKanuck and Paul Wolf. Of course, local players, Jamie Ligator, Humberto Brenes, and Brian Green fired up a 10/25 PLO/PLHE game that lasted well past 7 AM. As per my last post, I passed on this live game to get some much needed sleep.

Tonight, I play a $500 NLHE event and will try a few satellites if things don't go my way. Then, it's time to gear up for the main event.

Costa Rica Summer Classic. (CRSC)

2005-05-17T15:19:12Z

Alright, so we finally have another tournament at the Casino Europa here in Costa Rica. It's been a long wait since the last WPT event here in October of 2002 which I missed by a few days. We did have one $2000 event last year at a different casino that was thrown together and co-sponsored by another site.

I played two satellites online to try and a win seat in the main event but came up empty handed. Here is a list of the events:

Tuesday, May 17 - $10 NLHE with unlimited rebuys and 15 add-ons after the first hour.
Wednesday, May 18 - $50 NLHE with 6 $50 rebuys and one $100 add-on.
Thursday, May 19 - $500 NLHE
Friday, May 20 - $1500 NLHE with $1000 add-on. (main event)
Saturday, May 21 - Final table of main event.
Sunday, May 22 - $500 NLHE

I will be using it as a WSOP warm-up. My plan is to play all the events although I work mornings and final tables in these events will most likely run well pass 1 AM if they get the attendance they expect. I am contemplating passing on the sidegames as well, however, they are usually a good way to fund the tournaments.

The nice thing about these tournaments is there will actually be some play with the amount of chips and the blind levels. The weekly tournaments here turn into all-in fest pretty quickly.

Hopefully, I will blog some of these events but everyone knows how lazy I am.

On a side note, 5 of the better local players are playing the World Cup of Poker (http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/) heads-up matches in London. They are currently tied 2-2 with Scotland after taking a 2-0 lead. Alex told me that he was flying back and playing the main event here.

Now you know what to expect....not much.

2005-04-24T22:27:12Z

I have been on a streak lately. I can only finish 3rd in MTT live tournaments. I am pretty sure that the Casino Europa is rigged. I just don't know how or who to complain to. I am not going to go into all the hands and turn this into a bad beat story and pay the 3 people who read this $1 each.

OK...just one. We are down to three (of course) and I have eliminated every other player so far at the final table. Going from 3 black chips to about 8K in about 30 minutes. I am playing like a maniac; raising blind and playing one card, all the stuff you would love to do but are not suppose to in the late stages of a tournament. The blinds are getting crazy so in the sb I ask the bb if he wants to play it blind as he is a good friend of mine. I tuck my cards under my stack and wait for the button to fold. I move in. "Did you really not look? I can't do it." Friend looks at his cards and reluctantly calls with A9o. He claims that he thought he saw me look at my cards.

I am not sure if I was more upset at the fact that he thought I looked at the cards or that I busted out when I could have tried harder to win this.

LESSON: Always play your best even if it is blind.

How soon is now? When will I ever learn.

2005-03-24T23:02:50Z

I have seen some pretty horrible plays in tournaments and even more so in satellites. Adapting to this is something that I have been trying to learn for a long time. Last night, I played a satellite on Paradise for a seat to their Paradise Masters 2. I struggled most of the tournament till I found AK and was doubled up by the big stack at my table then with AA I was called by 99 (all-in). I guess my moving all-in for the last five hands in a role helped my image.

Blinds were 200/400 with a 50 ante. Down to 23 players, I had about 5% of total chips in play (a stat on Paradise that I really appreciate), putting me near par.I watched a player with about the same amount of chips as me limp with Q2, flop a Q and move all-in against 2 other opponents, one of the chip leader. He's called by QT and is out. It makes me wonder what the player was thinking.

A few hands later, down to 21 players and having taken more than my share of blinds, I look down to AcTc in the cut-off and raise to 2000. The small blind calls and bets 1500 on a ragged 8 high flop with 2 clubs. For some reason, before I can think about it, I move all-in. I make one of those horrible satellites moves where calling was clearly the better play. I don't draw out and bust out a few hands later after doubling up to about 3K.

Meanwhile, in my MTT, I am dealt AA in second position and just smooth call the UTG doubling of the blinds. I am cursing myself by the time we see the 994 flop 5 handed. I make an 80% pot size feeler bet and get raised by the button for half my stack. Not really thinking it over, I move in and get busted by 98 suited. I think the preflop call is not that bad, but my main problem is not listening to my feeler defensive bet responses. This same problem caused me to miss the money in two WSOP events last year.

My two lessons for today are:

1) CONCENTRATE and take the time to rerun the hand in your head.

and

2) CONCENTRATE and listen.