Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Darfur

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, etc. etc. etc. I had a great holidays even though I came down with some sort of sickness on Christmas. After sleeping it off, I pretty much feel better. I'm heading to New York for skiing for the next two days in what should be a very fun couple of days with lots of good friends. After that, I'm heading to Chicago for New Years with Anna honey, my beautiful girlfriend.


I haven't been playing all that much poker. I had some success in NL hold em cash games and that will be the focus going into the New Year in order to fund the tournament buy ins and deal with some of the variance of tournaments. I will not be playing a single hand of Pot Limit Omaha cash games probably for the rest of my life unless involved in some sort of mixed game or something. I have decided that this game is more variable than probably anything I've ever played. I believe myself to be a pretty good player here, but I just think I either kill the session or get killed in the session and never anywhere in between. Seriously, in my last 10 PLO sessions I've never won or lost more than or less than 3 buy ins. That means that if I'm playing a PL 1000 session, I'm either leaving up 3k or down 3k. It's not a healthy way to play this game as NL hold em provides me a better chance to slowly build my earnings.


My disturbing moment of the last few days regards a documentary I watched on HBO called "Sand and Sorrow." It is about the genocide in Darfur. The Sudan government is essentially sponsoring this and from what I can understand, no one in the world is showing enough backbone to stand against this. I further believe in my position of supporting Barack Obama as he is the only one that has said he commits to sending troops to Darfur to stop the genocide. I've been a full opponent of the War in Iraq since the beginning and am usually against war in general, but when one people displaces over 2 million native people and kills an estimated million of these people either forcefully or indirectly along with raping woman all along the way, something needs to be done. The strange part about this entire thing is that President Bush announced the actions in Darfur as genocide, then proceeded to do nothing except a few half-hearted diplomatic solutions. Now, there was a point in the documentary where we find out that China is the leading importer of oil from Sudan, so they rejected action at a UN meeting as well as the fact that the US intelligence officials had great relations with Sudan over intelligence regarding Osama Bin Laden (which has apparently helped a whole lot because we've caught him 3 or 4 times already.....oh wait....). Anyway, China is in the way here because their country has no moral backbone and would commit genocide in a second if it furthered their own cause. I just find it deplorable that we send 120,000 + troops into harms way in Iraq, a country that has nothing to do with a lot of the reasons most of the troops were told they were going there, yet we cannot send 10,000 troops to stabilize one of the largest genocide's in history. I'm not positive about the facts, but it is just behind the Holocaust and it may very well exceed the death toll along the way. When people talk of history and the horror of Hitler, it's like people believe it will never happen again, but it is happening right now as you read this. Another non-Arab African family is torn apart by the guns and rape of Muslim Arab factions in Darfur. One of the most shocking parts of the entire documentary was when children were given crayons and paper in Darfur by reporters. The children were not told anything but they began drawing scenes of rape, murder, bombs, their houses being burned and some unbelievable pictures of what has happened to them. Nobody cares though. Maybe not nobody, but at least not enough people to make anything significant happen. If you are a troop, do you care more about protecting America's economic interests in Iraq (oil and thus a stable economy), or protecting millions of people that have already received a death sentence in Darfur. What scares me most is what most people would say.

At home fun

It's nice being home with all my friends coming in. There really is nothing like seeing people that you know and catching up on what's going on. I wish I had a story about being a world champion, but not yet. Anyway, I've had a lot of fun going out the last couple of nights and probably partied a little too hard. I've been grinding out cash games when I play and have done very well lately. Not only is my confidence getting a boost, not playing 10 tournaments a day is really making me hungry for the big ones on Sunday and for the Browns to clinch a playoff spot by beating my least favorite team and fan base in the NFL, the Bengals. I've never seen a larger bandwagon in my life and I really enjoy it because two years of being 8-8 really excited so many fair weather fans. I will hopefully come back with a big Sunday tournament story and an excited playoff birth.

Small win city

Ever since I've been back, I've been laying pretty low online. I've had a few small wins in cash games and nothing real big in tournaments. But all these little tiny wins add up and it beats dumping 1k every day in tournaments and not doing anything. I really have been trying to clear my mind and just not play poker that much. When I have played in tournaments it's really been more of the same. Get deep and lose a big race or get sucked out on.

Congratulations to Josh Cribbs and Braylon Edwards, two Browns selected to the Pro Bowl. Considering there were probably two players more deserving on the Browns in my opinion, Joe Thomas and Kellen Winslow, I think the Browns are getting snubbed by the league for what they believe is a fluke year. Putting Joe Thomas at left tackle along with Steinbach at left guard has turned one of the worst offenses in the league into a team that can finish the game with the run and pass handily on almost anybody. This is not with Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, but Derek Anderson, an average NFL QB. On top of that, Kellen Winslow has made almost every catch when a ball is thrown to him this year. You can't count the huge plays on two hands from this guy. 3rd and 10 against the Ravens late in the game with the game on the line, Winslow grabs a ball full extension only to get nailed by two Baltimore defenders at once and still hangs on to the ball. Add that to the highlight reel, but this guy got screwed. Thomas is a rookie, so I can understand that snub more, but to tell me that Tony Gonzalez on the 4-10 KC Chiefs or Antonio Gates on the lackluster San Diego offense that was in a coma for the first half of the year deserve the pro bowl nod over Winslow is an absolute joke. Edwards and Cribbs are both very deserving.

Other than that, when I decided to play poker professionally, I remember telling some of my friends that the reason I don't want to do it is because I will be wasting probably 15 days of my life every year having to explain what I do to people. Most people can't handle the non-traditional. It is hard for people to understand how to make money "gambling." Quite frankly, it is impossible to chance an already stereotyped mind into thinking what actually is the reality. These concerns always come to the forefront when I have social interactions now, and it's very tough to deal with. Mainly because I've always been perceived as an intelligent, motivated person and those are not the characteristics associated with poker. All that matters is supposed to be my happiness, but I've always tried to be a people pleaser. Being a people pleaser is probably something I have to give up if I want to remain sane throughout this trial period in my life. When you are younger, you really think that people can change and lose their stereotypes, but I have to take a much more cynical approach every year I live. People are ignorant and not everyone, but for the most part, people don't want to change their opinions about something even if it is wrong. Keeping an open mind though is often the only way to really grow as a person.

Welcome to the Blizzard....

So my last day in Vegas was pretty fun. My good friend Adam and his girlfriend Martha better known as Party Marty got in town Thursday. We went to the Bellagio to get a buffet and see the Five Diamond Tournament. I wanted to see how some of the guys I met in Aruba were doing and if I saw anyone that I hadn't already seen during the week. One guy I met in Aruba was Jordan Rich who final tabled the Aruba event and is currently in 3rd place, so I said hi to him even though my human read tells me he had no clue who I was. He was properly celebrating in Aruba when I met him. Anyway, that event is excellent and I truly envy those who got to play. I look forward to my chances in the future. Adam, Martha and I went to Paris to play roulette because that is Martha's game of choice. I really don't gamble on anything when I'm in Vegas. I just don't see value in it after playing poker. I know I have an advantage at that game because I'm pitted against other players. Anyway, I broke completely even in roulette and Adam wanted to play hold em so we put in about a 5 hour session at Paris. It was a 1/2 NL game with basically 0 players. I sucked out in a big pot on AA vs KQ after KQ3 flop, A on turn for my biggest pot. I was up to 980 at one point from the 300 buy in, but ended at about 625 after losing a Qs9s to AsKs after 5s 3s 2d 7c Js. I raised on the river the initial bettor to 60 and a guy behind repopped to 160. I had to call 100 more into about a 400 pot, so I did because there is just as good a chance he had a lower flush as a higher one. I couldn't anticipate AK because he did not raise preflop, so I either assumed a suited connector like 67, 108 or Ax of spades. Anyway, I got back home about 3am and had a flight early so I just stayed up and played sit n gos and a few tournaments and made a couple hundred bucks. I've had some consistent really small wins which is better than going broke I suppose.

I haven't played much poker other than that. I've enjoyed the break except I've played a couple late tournaments each night with the worst internet connection ever. I think my wireless card is broken after Dell fixed my computer. What a shock. Don't ever buy a Dell. I got deep in the 100 at 11 the other night, but ended with a AQ vs KQ when I pushed 21k over the top of a 3600 raise only to get snap called by a player I identified as a little loose and spewy. I keep doing things that put me in great positions in tournaments only to get screwed. Cash games are going to become a staple in my game because the variance is way lower. No matter what anyone else thinks, tournaments are the most variable thing in the world. You can go months where you just never win the right race, never have the right hand hold up and sometimes just play bad. I can't wait for my rush because it's going to come soon. Every time I've been cold for a long time I usually have a monstrous win coming out party.

Congratulations to my brother Mark and Angel as they got married on Saturday in a nice little private ceremony at his house. I look forward to their baby due soon. They are a great couple for each other. So for the honeymoon, Mark and I went to the worst conditions in a football game I have ever seen at the Browns game. It was fine for the tailgate and then lake effect absolute blizzard. It was freezing, windy, snowing, and everyone was numb. In an 8-0 grind out game, the Browns prevailed setting up a great position for a playoff spot. This was Cleveland football today. This is what we have all been waiting for. It was pound the ball into the opponent's face and make them stop you. It was tough defense and linebackers actually showing up to play. The Browns have never been a flashy offensive team and they do have that now, but running and having lineman that punish the defense IS Cleveland football. What a game and I'm debating going to Cincy next week although I probably won't.

I've been watching Sopranos Season 1 on demand and that show is really the greatest show of our time. Watching season 1 just reaffirms that. I'm watching the OSU vs Wake Forest game right now and they are down 2-1, so it doesn't look good. There are a couple players on OSU that I used to play against, so I'm cheering for them, but they appeared to have run out of gas in the second half. Due to my spotty internet connection, I will be updating less unless I win something enormous.

Frustration and last day in Vegas

I was refreshed and ready to win the Caesar's $200 again on Wednesday, but then proceeded to play the worst tournament of my life and be out before the end of the first level. I don't even want to talk about this tournament because after really working on getting better, I did everything wrong. My plan was to try my new 2/4 NL-tournament strategy invented by my friend Mike Klima. He told me to begin my sessions with 2/4 NL tables (400 maximum buy in) and run two tables up until the point that the 7pm EST tournaments begin. Then, play the 7, 8, 9 o clocks. I'm an easy winner in no limit cash games for my life. After tracking myself meticulously through the last 5 months, it is easily my best game, and I would agree. I just enjoy tournaments more because there are so many different lines of strategy in them. There are so many more intricate things to know, and because you can win one tournament for 100k on a 200 buy in. You will never make 100k on a 200 buy in in a cash game. For the sake of trying this though, I played for about 2 hours in no limit and was stuck early but fought back to where I was only down about $200. Then I played the tournaments for the night and blanked out. It was easily the most frustrating day of poker as the two biggest tournaments on Wednesday night the 100 rebuy on Full Tilt and $300 on Pokerstars ended harshly for me. I played the 100 rebuy until I lost four buy ins and just left. QJ vs 10 10 after a 10 9 A K.......A board and 88 vs 33 all in preflop, 3 on the flop, gg mouse. I focused on Pokerstars and really liked how I played in this one. It was a relief after the worst tournament I ever played at Caesar's earlier in the day. I just hung around for a good portion of the tournament with a low stack and trying to pick good spots. I felt like for the most part, I played this tournament how I want to play every tournament. 30 players away from the money, I picked up JJ in mid position. The player before me raised to 1625 with 300/600 blinds. We both had around 15k in chips. I put in a reraise to 4200 here. He called. The call did scare me a little because I thought I knew this player to be a good player. I had played him before in a $109 freezeout on Pokerstars a year and a half ago when I beat him at a final table heads up for the win. I remembered him being a good player though. When good players flat call out of position, it is fairly scary as the trend seems to be going towards most players have extremely large hands. His range I would think is between probably 77-AA AK AQ and that's probably about it. Flop came out 6 6 6 and we were dancing with the devil. He basically pushed his entire stack leaving a spare 2k in chips. I didn't hesitate and sent the rest in. He called and showed AK, A on the turn left me out of the money and in a whirlwind of frustration. It could have been about as bad as you can play AK in this situation. If he didn't know me that's fine, but I had not been out of line at this table at all. I had never 3 bet one time, so I don't know what he could have put me on. The only hand he beats is AQ. He might make AK fold here, but that's doubtful, and every other hand I have is crushing him. This is simply how tournaments have gone lately. The 2/4 nl plan will work. I played again today and beat it for about a buy in, but now I'm heading out to hang with Broda and Party Marty as they are in Vegas. Unfortunately, I have to go back home for the brother's wedding, so I won't be able to hang with them for long. Looking forward to the wedding and seeing some of the friends at home for sure.

Also, Browns vs. Bills on Sunday. I'm going to the game for sure and want to tailgate with everyone, so call me if you are in. This is one of the top 5 biggest games since the Browns have returned to Cleveland. I can only really think of two others that are ahead, one being the Atlanta vs. Cleveland game at home in their playoff year when a goal line stand at the end of the game sent the Browns to the playoffs. This team is 10 times better than that one. The other game is of course the playoff game where the Browns blew another lead to the Steelers in horrific fashion. Nothing like football in December that matters in cold Cleveland.

Live Tournament, Cash Games,

I woke up today with miserable chest pains and can't attribute them to anything except maybe the lifting I did yesterday. I've had these same pains before, but not for a long time now. Anyway, I went to a tournament at Caesar's Palace, $200 buyin, 7500 starting chips, 40 minute levels, really a nice tournament. There were about 80 people entered and I thought it would be a great day to pick up a nice little live tournament win. Things started off slow for the first 20 hands or so, but then I picked up AhQh, blinds 50/100, raise to 300, Flop came out Ad8h2h. I bet out 700 and was raised to 2000 by a guy that was pretty active and had not shown much out of hands. He raised to 2000 and I thought for a minute before shipping my 7k in the middle. Now, in a higher buy in event, this may be a mistake. I've thought about this hand for a long time and even after the hand. I should really only be getting called by hands that are beating me, 22 88 A8 A2 are the only hands that are really in his range here that beat me. AA or AK are getting reraised preflop for sure. I was puzzled at what to do and early on, I really like to take the defensive route in these situations. I shipped it all in though and he called with AQ and I freerolled the heart for a nice 15k stack in level 2. I played a lot of pots early on as there was a lot of dead money at the table. One of those guys hit a nice draw on me on a K84Q board. I raised with AQ early on and then we both checked the flop. I bet the turn about 500 into a 800 pot and he called. River was a 10. He fired out some 2k bet and I stubbornly called when I should know better. He showed J9. I got those chips back in a pot with AcA on a Jc8c3cJ2 board when I slowed down and check called an 8 10 bluffer on the turn and river. I was slightly worried about him having a jack, but my gut told me that he would fire the river and could have a whole range of hands. The terrible hand came up and I don't even want to talk about it. One player at the table seemed solid. He had picked off another guy's bluff early on and had a nice chip stack. I raised to 550 to open the pot with 1/2 blinds 25ante. He called from the BB and he defended with a lot of hands I soon learned. Flop QJ2. Check Check. Turn 3. He checks, I bet 600, he double raised to 1200, I thought for a second and really felt he was feeling out a weak hand here. I reraised to 3400, he thought for a while and called. At this point, there are two hearts out there and the QJ making lots of straight hands. River was a J. He looked disgusted and checked. I fired 4500. He thought for a little and called and I just mucked as he showed a Q. I'm really upset with myself on this hand because I do not like to make elaborate bluffs against players in a tournament where I really feel in control of every aspect. I could have been super careful this tournament and easily protected my stack waiting for the right moments to go after the right people. I fought back however and was in for another 3 levels after that. I busted on a SB shove with my Q10 vs BB KJ. JJx on flop, bad game me. Sometimes in poker, I feel like we know it's wrong to do something, yet still do it. In tournament poker, sometimes caution is valued. Caution is often not portrayed as being valued on TV or anything else, but it's important. If there are certainly players that I have a good read on and who I know are pretty bad overall, why not just wait until I get a good spot against them? I'm going to play this tournament again tomorrow because I want redemption and my roommate's dad wants to play. He finished 20th and we split up 10%. I'll probably play that tournament and if I bust come back to play some of the good Wednesday online tournaments. I feel sad having to leave as the main event of the Five Diamond is starting. I would have probably taken some shots at the super satellites if I was able to play it, but I'm looking forward to my first sibling tying the knot finally.

A day off

I didn't play a hand of poker today and it was much needed. The big news of the day was Michael Vick going to prison for 23 months for the whole dogfighting thing. I am not quite sure how I feel about all of this. I just find it hypocritical that we put a man in jail for fighting dogs, funding dog fights, etc., but our cattle farmers kill millions of animals every day and we call it an industry. Because our society values the dog as a symbol of man's best friend and as a pet, we have a double standard. THEY EAT DOGS IN KOREA! Maybe I'm going overboard here, and I have seen dog fights and they are wrong and cruel and wrong and cruel and wrong and wrong. No animal should ever be subjected to brutality in any way, but I see a double standard. I don't really stand strong with groups like PETA because I think they are radical and way over the line in a lot of regards. Maybe they have a point though when defending all animals in the same manner. Don't people buy beta fish just to fight them? Emotions are different than ethics is probably the point that I think I can come to here.

I'm going to play a tournament at the Orleans tomorrow with my roommates dad. It's a small $80 buy in with probably anywhere between 1k-2k to the winner, but I should be a host and go along for the ride. After all, the last tournament that we both entered was in Borgata in Atlantic city where I went to the final table for a disappointing, bad beat filled 8th place.

Weekend

I have been simply immersed in poker and I need a break. Saturday, I did nothing in tournaments, but had a break even day after a couple of good cash game sessions mixed with both PL Omaha and NL Hold em. The Sunday tournaments were bad again. I didn't cash in 8 tournaments I played in and hardly made a splash in any tournament. I'm going to be taking an online break for a while from multi-table tournaments. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong in these things, but I'm determined to figure it out and improve. I plan on playing some smaller live tournaments with my roommates dad who is visiting before heading back to Cleveland on the 14th. I haven't done much at the Bellagio because the buy ins have been larger than I want to spend on one tournament, and there have been a lot of satellites to the main event lately. Since I won't be here for the main event, there is no point to play in a satellite.

I don't really know how to describe poker at the moment. I do, however, feel an urgency to perform because I made this decision to play professionally and as my primary source of income. At the same time, poker is still a high variance game, especially tournaments. When people ask me how I'm doing, if I tell the honest truth, it could look extremely bad for a period of weeks and even months. To some, it may even look like a problem, but I've been through huge upswings and huge downswings throughout my 4 years of playing poker. The downswings and upswings in terms of percentage of my total bankroll have sometimes been dramatic, but I've always long term trended up. When I move to Vegas for 1 month total, it's hard to always report good news, and while I certainly want to always be reporting good news, it's unrealistic to expect this to happen.

I won my fantasy football game by a dominating 38-25 win over my brother's soon to be wife. SEND IT!! The only problem about that is that 38 points is simply embarrassing, but a playoff win is a playoff win meaning that I am in the money in our fantasy football league and probably off to play my brother AKA Brady, Addai, NE Defense.

Go Browns! I'm hoping to go to the game next Sunday against the newly emerged Buffalo Bills, so anyone is going let me know.

A small win

I woke up today and was sore as could be from lifting and racquetball yesterday. I deciding to just go downstairs and play poker at my desk for the day. I have a 24" LCD monitor that can comfortably fit 4 full poker screens and if I minimize them, probably about 16. I decided to play any tournament $50 or more that would give me 4 tables maximum at one time. I can't handle more than 4 at once. In the Full Tilt 50 at 3:30 EST, I notched another tournament victory under my belt for a little more than 4k . These are not particularly big cashes for online tournaments, but winning a small tourney like this gives me great experience for final tables and guarantees a nice win for the day. I made a couple of bad calls AQ vs AK and A10 vs AK after an A J 3 board. I was down to about 2400 chips at one point with 1k/2k blinds, but managed to stay patient and find some good spots as well as get lucky along the way. My final table play was stellar. I won a clutch race QQ vs AdKd with 7 players left after a 10d xd x flop. From there, I just got my money in ahead against most of the players and played careful poker with my big stack. When we were 4 handed, I managed to go from 300k to 120k without going to a showdown in any hand. I was basically playing super aggressive and not finding any spots that I liked in the tournament. Finally, I went on a little run back up to 200k. Two crucial hands followed. When there were 3 players left, one player I was pretty sure was solid and the other I had a tough time getting a read on. I figured him to be a weak player from plays I had seen earlier in the tournament, but wasn't sure because at times he played hands great. I picked up AJ in the sb and he made a 4x raise on the button. Raising or calling here is really debatable, but in this spot, I felt like he had been aggressive enough that I could reraise and commit here. I bet the pot and he called leaving himself around 60k in chips. Flop came J 8 x. I checked to get him to put his money in and he did with 9 7 and he missed the 10 ball. Heads up was quick when I raised with J4 and was reraise small. I decided to call as I was in position and we were pretty deep. A nice thing about Full Tilt is that when you get to 2 or 3 handed, you usually have a deep enough stack to open up your game to include a lot of different plays. Flop came down 10 4 4 with two diamonds. He fired about 3/4 of the pot or 70k of his 270k stack. I just called here thinking that he was really strong after this bet. I thought he maybe had a huge pair or at the chance he had AK, I didn't want to bet him off the hand right now without giving him the chance to catch. It's also possible he had a pair under 10 10 and that I could at least get more chips from him later on. The turn was a blank and he fired all 200k in the middle. I quickly called and he showed K 8 of diamonds, the flush missed and I was champion. It feels great to win a tournament, but I know that my success as a poker player will not be sustainable if I don't consistently play great all the time and make and go far in big tournaments.

At my best, I feel like I can compete with anybody in the game of poker, but I do not always play at my best. The best players play great all the time and when they have edges, they take advantage of them. Sometimes, I find myself playing in a manner that is reckless and not conducive to tournament success. Patience and timely aggression is really how to win multi-table tournaments, and I'm looking to build from this tiny win.

I run bad

I can't vent in this every single day, but I have really been on the negative side of a whole lot of bad luck in the game of poker lately. For example, yesterday I was fortunate enough to satellite into the 1000 buy in on Pokerstars, which is excellent because it's only 215 to win close to 70,000. One win in this or even second or third is a huge score in online poker. I was playing fine and down to about 2k in chips when I raised with AJ under the gun to get called by the big blind. The flop came down J 10 7. He led out 400 into me, which seemed strange in the first place. I just called thinking that if I jammed in here, I would get called by very few hands that I'm beating except maybe KQ. The turn card was a harmless 6. He moved all in and had me covered. It wasn't even much of a decision because I knew I was ahead and he showed K4. K F*#&ING 4. HOW MANY KINGS ARE LEFT, 3? WHAT IS THAT PERCENTAGE 8% SPANK AND I'M OUT OF THE TOURNAMENT. This type of stuff is becoming standard and in a solid majority of the tournaments I enter I have been crippled or going out in these manners. It is really making me appreciate what I've done in this game prior to today, but enough is enough. I want to succeed and be the best and make the most of all my chances, but I have simply been on the wrong side of it too much. Multi table tournaments are truly some of the greatest swings in the entire world. As long as you can hang in there for long enough, it is bound to turn around. The hardest part is keeping confidence in your abilities and continue to keep your head up. There have been a few bad plays in there lately and one really hurt me in the money of the 50 rebuy on Stars yesterday.


I have stayed away from the Bellagio lately because I can't keep buying into big buy in events and except to stay alive for long. I will take my chances when I am comfortable, but this is how I've always done it in poker. Build slow and take my shots when necessary. I wrote an article for Pocketfives today on this topic and it should be showing up in the next few days.


Other than that, I lifted today with my new routine that my brother taught me. It is basically 12 reps at the highest weight you can do for 10-12 different exercises. I get in and out of the gym in 30 minutes and am as tired as can be. Lumpp and I also played racquetball tonight, which could be the single best one on one athletic game out there.

To continue the run bad theory, I ordered a combo meal at Roberto's Taco Shop. When I opened up my container, I saw no meat for my carne asada. GG Dinner

I won't be playing the main event in the Bellagio Five Diamond WPT event because I'm heading home for my brother's wedding. I'll be in Mentor from 14th to 30th.

1500 event at Bellagio

I went early to play satellites, but got there a little too late for the last one again. I bought into the event and this is my first recap of an event, but I figured I would do it to give a little hand insight and what not.

So we started with 3000 chips and I drew a wild first table. All in all before our table broke I think we lost around 20 players. I got off to a quick start when early in level one I picked up AA and raised with two callers, the button and big blind. Flop came J 7 7 rainbow. The BB bet out into me and with little information about him. He seemed ok and not too crazy I flat called planning to push him in on the turn barring some terrible card. The turn was a wonderful 7 making any jack this guy had very difficult to fold. He bet out and I pushed in. He turned over AJ and it held. I was up to 6000. I won a small pot off a tricky old man when I turned a set of sixes on a AK36 board. I only call him tricky because it wasn't long before he got some back and more off me when I raised in early position with 44 in level 2 to 300 with blinds 50/100. He called out of the button and was playing very loose and active. Flop came 332. I bet 400 he called. Turn was a 5 of spades putting two spades up on board. I bet 700, he called. River was a blank 9 and I checked. He quickly bet 1600. I thought about it for a while and made a very bad river call when he showed me 22 for a flopped full house. This was really the only bad play I made all tournament. It was pretty bad. One other interesting hand early was I had QQ in the BB with 25/50 blinds still. A tight player raised from early position to 200 and got 2 callers behind. I didn't want to run into a monster from the tight player and the two callers behind tended to not want to fold many pots, so I just called. I could justify a raise here in limiting the field, but I opted for a conservative and some might call it a very tight route. Flop came A97 and it was an easy fold for me. The funny part about the hand is that one guy had AK (the tight raiser) one guy had 99 and the other had 77. 99 and 77 got it all in here, but the river came a Q, so that is one spot where I win the hand, but it would have been very tough to get there unless the tight guy pushed 4 bet me preflop, which I doubt would have happened. That table became really tough during the second level when TMay 420 and All in at 420 came to my right along with 2 other successful players that I did not know by name.


Anyway, I was at some fairly tight tables after that. My second table had Devin Porter and "Big Riskky" Scott Clements and I dwindled a little bit from that point. I was happy to see that table break as I had both of these solid players directly to my left. I soon got moved to a new table to the direct left of "TheWacoKidd" Jared Hamby, a very successful player that I have played with online since I pretty much started playing poker. Devin Porter followed but was also to my right. From that point, I basically played small ball for a while picking up small pots and blinds when I needed to and making appropriate steals when necessary. I raised with 77 in mid position to 1100 and was pot committed to call a 2600 total all in. He showed 99 and I was down to around 3500. I soon got a nice double up when TheWacoKidd raised in late position and I picked up AQ and moved all in. He was pot committed to call with A10 and I doubled through to about 7500. The very next hand I looked down at AQ and made it 1100 with 200/400 blinds 25 ante. A short stack pushed for about 1700 with K 10 10 x x x x and I was back down 5800. The key hand of the day really came when I looked down at 10 10 in early position. I had around 7k in chips and raised to 1600 with blinds 300/600. I'm basically never folding to a reraise here in a tournament where blinds move up unless a super tight player comes over the top of me. The same guy that pushed with K10 a few rounds ago pushed again for around 3500. I obviously called and he flipped up A9 of hearts. I had the seat 2 view of the door card and the door card comes out the 10 of diamonds, so I was for one second really pumped at having around 12k in chips. Unfortunately the next two cards were J and Q of hearts. He made his straight with the K on the turn and flush on the river with the 2 of hearts. I was down to 3600. I picked up 99 UTG the next hand and put in my 3600 to run into QQ and that was it.

I really felt like I made all the right moves today and had a few spots where I just have to pick up chips in order to survive and I failed to beat hands that I had in pretty bad shape. I finished around 109 out of 509 with 50 paying. It is real frustrating, but all these Bellagio tournaments have been the same way for me. When I play live poker, I rarely make mistakes like I do when I play online and that continued today. I'm not sure if I will buy in to anymore of these events for the rest of the WPT Five Diamond. They are really a bankroll drain if you can't run even halfway decent.

That was my first attempt at a poker recap. I am writing an article for Pocket Fives soon, and I'll be sure to mention it when it comes out.

Really only one good thing this weekend

Congratulations to the Ohio State Buckeyes for their national championship bid. I had a lot of fun watching West Virginia choke as Pittsburgh played out of their mind on defense and West Virginia seemingly panicked in a grand way. I'm really excited for this game with OSU vs LSU. Not only after last year's embarrassing national championship game did I have to hear from all the SEC fans how bad the Big Ten was, but I also started thinking it myself. I really don't want to believe this even though the SEC as a whole conference is full of talented athletes through and through. But Big Ten teams know how to play football. They play solid defense and produce methodically on offense and that's what I expect to see from the Buckeyes in January. A rock solid defense coupled with a few outstanding offensive performances will put the LSU team in it's place. LSU is a very good football team so I'm looking forward to this game.


Other than that Mentor High School football, my alma mater lost in the national championship. Also the Cleveland Browns got robbed on Kellen Winslow's catch of the year (and with the number of big catches he has made this year that is saying a lot). I can't believe that in a league where victories can sometimes mean the difference between millions and millions of dollars for these organizations, officials can't get the calls right.

Poker this weekend was bad. I didn't cash in a single tournament I played in online and I probably played about 15 tournaments. That is a long streak without a single cash. Since Sunday is the biggest day, I cut off Saturday to try to free up my mind and relax, but to no avail. I am planning on playing the Bellagio events this week. The plan is to go in early and buy into the satellites that run before the events and hopefully reduce my buy ins to the event. Big buy ins like this are where big prizes are, but I always have to be careful and not overstretch my bankroll. Tournaments are highly variable and the best way to beat them is to continue to play within your means and build build build. I am mixed on my tournament play this weekend. IN probably half the tournaments I played well, but just ran into some unfortunate situations. The other half I made mistakes. Mistakes that I would usually not make. Sometimes in online poker when you have 4 tournaments going at once, it really takes away how much you value every decision at every point in the tournament. I am looking towards regaining that focus. I know when I'm at my best, great things will happen. I am also recovered from a little sickness that was keeping me down this week and weekend.

Hopefully I'll have a long blog tomorrow late late late into the night.