Guys, if you haven't heard about the bet between Joe Sebok and Gavin Smith, these 2 poker behemoths (well actually Joe isn't that colossal of a figure but hey, he has made quite a name for himself in the poker world recently) made a prop bet on who would perform better in the WSOP Events before the Main Event. The loser of the bet would have to come to the WSOP Main Event dressed up as a superhero. Unfortunately for my buddy Joe, he came up on the short end of the bet and would have dawn the Robin tights (and probably to the likes of many others in not seeing Gavin in a dress or tights!!)
To see Joe as "The Boy Wonder" courteousy of Card Player, click here!
Ok now, for those of you that care about me (maybe 2 of you or so I hope...), the poker gods haven't been that kind to me. Especially getting pocket rockets, I don't recall winning at all for the longest time with this hand. If reminds of the luck Antonio Esfandiari has on High Stakes Poker with this truely hand of weapons of mass destruction. Two times today, I've lost including this dandy of a hand here where I get all my money in preflop vs. Kings. I'll be thinking about this nightmare in my dreams as I try sleep now...
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Thursday, July 27, 2006
I have Conformed to MySpace...
Alright, if the facebook thing wasn't enough, the MySpace thing has been even more addictive that I thought it could have been. Hearing all these famous peeps that have MySpace, I decided to open an account. Right now, I have Phil Gordon, Clonie Gowen, and Joe Sebok on my buddy lists that I know are legit. I even have Phil Hellmuth as a buddy but I am uncertain if its him or not... Be the judge for yourself. Check my profile, and find Phil under my "Friends" area. I also have buddy accounts with some of my wrestling heroes like "Canadian Destroyer" Petey Williams, Chris "Hail" Sabin, and "Showtime" Eric Young. If you don't have an account, I suggest you give it a shot. If you have one and would like to add me as a buddy, check my profile and hit add kiddos!!
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Full-Philled!!
History in the making early this mourning as "Poker Brat" Phil Hellmuth tied legends Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan by winning his 10th bracelet. As mentioned earlier, Phil had a tremendous opportunity in the $5000 Holdem Event, but the poker gods had contradicting thoughts and wanted to see a Hellmuth blowup. Well, to the surprise of many, there was no Hellmuth erruption after he blew a huge lead HU vs. Jeff Cabanillas.
The $1000 NL Holdem Event w/Rebuys saw Hellmuth enter the final table as the chip leader. Things looked stellar as Phil maintained and developed an adequate chip lead. However, when the final remained between Hellmuth, WPT Paris Finalist Juha Helppi, and Dayrn Firicano, Phil was the shortstack. Could this be another debacle/choke?
A key hand in the tourny where Phil is getting shortstacked and pushes with pocket fives and Juha's makes the call with Ah, 6d. Presto, as a five peels off but so do 3 diamonds which gives Helppi the flush draw. The Queen of diamonds hits and now Phil is one card away from falling short of number 10 again. The board pairs Queens and now Phil is rejuvinated and the chip count is about even.
The poker gods wouldn't be able to stop the man that has been claiming to be playing the best poker of his career this time as my man Phil Hellmuth rose above the challenge and pressure and finally captured number 10!! Well, the poker gods will definitely see an erruption from Phil this time, but this time, it will be a that of a joyous celebration instead of a ranting tantrum. Congrats Phil!! Most deserved and long overdue!!
The $1000 NL Holdem Event w/Rebuys saw Hellmuth enter the final table as the chip leader. Things looked stellar as Phil maintained and developed an adequate chip lead. However, when the final remained between Hellmuth, WPT Paris Finalist Juha Helppi, and Dayrn Firicano, Phil was the shortstack. Could this be another debacle/choke?
A key hand in the tourny where Phil is getting shortstacked and pushes with pocket fives and Juha's makes the call with Ah, 6d. Presto, as a five peels off but so do 3 diamonds which gives Helppi the flush draw. The Queen of diamonds hits and now Phil is one card away from falling short of number 10 again. The board pairs Queens and now Phil is rejuvinated and the chip count is about even.
The poker gods wouldn't be able to stop the man that has been claiming to be playing the best poker of his career this time as my man Phil Hellmuth rose above the challenge and pressure and finally captured number 10!! Well, the poker gods will definitely see an erruption from Phil this time, but this time, it will be a that of a joyous celebration instead of a ranting tantrum. Congrats Phil!! Most deserved and long overdue!!
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Unfull-Philled Still... Is Tonight the Night...?!
So far, Phil Ivey has made two final tables at this year's WSOP and has finished 2nd and 3rd which is good enough for multi-thousands of dollars of pay, but no bracelet.
My man, Phil Hellmuth, also making two final tables, blew one big lead heads-up and finished 2nd along with a 6th place finish is good enough for well, basically nothing. Phil has said numerous times that he doesn't care about the money. Well, tonight, Phil Hellmuth enters the final table of $1000 + 1000 rebuy tournament in 1st place and has another sublime opportunity to make history. I'm pulling for ya Phil!
I am also pulling for ESPN to actually put this event on TV for future broadcasting. Rumor has it that when Phil Hellmuth finished 2nd in the $5000 Holdem Event, they only had one frickin camera sent to the table and decided to feature another event that day. Well, dammit, you (the chip leader) whose name is Phil Hellmuth and you got (short stack) Tong G at the same final table. "Poker Brat" vs. "The Australian Airbag" = RATINGS!! Could this get any better?! ESPN, don't muck this up!!
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My slump of winning/cashing decently in a tournament slump is finally over. I cashed for $187.5 (big to me) last Saturday but am unfullifilled because I also blew a good chips lead after being down heads up, somehow recovered, and then choked.
My man, Phil Hellmuth, also making two final tables, blew one big lead heads-up and finished 2nd along with a 6th place finish is good enough for well, basically nothing. Phil has said numerous times that he doesn't care about the money. Well, tonight, Phil Hellmuth enters the final table of $1000 + 1000 rebuy tournament in 1st place and has another sublime opportunity to make history. I'm pulling for ya Phil!
I am also pulling for ESPN to actually put this event on TV for future broadcasting. Rumor has it that when Phil Hellmuth finished 2nd in the $5000 Holdem Event, they only had one frickin camera sent to the table and decided to feature another event that day. Well, dammit, you (the chip leader) whose name is Phil Hellmuth and you got (short stack) Tong G at the same final table. "Poker Brat" vs. "The Australian Airbag" = RATINGS!! Could this get any better?! ESPN, don't muck this up!!
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My slump of winning/cashing decently in a tournament slump is finally over. I cashed for $187.5 (big to me) last Saturday but am unfullifilled because I also blew a good chips lead after being down heads up, somehow recovered, and then choked.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Hellmuth Gets a Second Chance at History
Oh boy. Legend poker brat Phil Hellmuth recently came up just shy of capturing his 10th bracelet in the $5,000 NL holdem event at this year's WSOP. Tonight, Phil gets another chance to join godfather of poker Doyle Brunson and the Oriental Express Johnny Chan to hold 10 bracelet. However, all of Hellmuth's bracelets have come from Holdem events. The event tonight will be Omaha 8/B. Currently, Phil is in 2nd in chips so it's not a long shot and it's about time Hellmuth captured a bracelet in a WSOP other than Holdem.
I meant to write about this earlier, but I somehow forgot. On a different note, the poker site PokerHost appears to be going south. When I went to Reno, they had a whole bunch of people from their brand at tables and wandering around trying to get their cards out. Well, at Vegas, there was no site of them. On another interesting note, I've noticed that all of their pros that have sponsored them have abandoned their ship. Men "The Master" Nguyen has made a move to Poker4Ever, Hoyt Corkins has moved over to Doyle Brunson's site, and Ted Forrest, who recently wore a PokerHost shirt at the NBC Headsup Championships, has switched over to join Yosh Nakano as co-captain at PokBlue. What does this mean for PokerHost? Well, I don't really give a damn as I've don't have an account there and probably won't because of all the flaky things I've heard about them, and I guess the pros have discovered the same. I thought I'd pass this along with some free time on my hand.
Hope you enjoyed.
I meant to write about this earlier, but I somehow forgot. On a different note, the poker site PokerHost appears to be going south. When I went to Reno, they had a whole bunch of people from their brand at tables and wandering around trying to get their cards out. Well, at Vegas, there was no site of them. On another interesting note, I've noticed that all of their pros that have sponsored them have abandoned their ship. Men "The Master" Nguyen has made a move to Poker4Ever, Hoyt Corkins has moved over to Doyle Brunson's site, and Ted Forrest, who recently wore a PokerHost shirt at the NBC Headsup Championships, has switched over to join Yosh Nakano as co-captain at PokBlue. What does this mean for PokerHost? Well, I don't really give a damn as I've don't have an account there and probably won't because of all the flaky things I've heard about them, and I guess the pros have discovered the same. I thought I'd pass this along with some free time on my hand.
Hope you enjoyed.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
I Got My Ass Whipped in Vegas
I thought my performance in Reno was pretty bad the first 2 hours of that tournament but if I thought that was horrific, the $1000 WSOP NL event was even worse as I didn't even make it to the 2nd hour.
A combination of bad luck and bad playing on my behalf that could be equivalent (or worse) to James Van Alstine's WPT World Championship performance would be a good analagy (or the way David Matthew shuffled his chips) to the way I played. Starting off with a meager $1000TC instead of $10,000TC limited you to make mistakes early. The fact that I was dealt pocket kings about the 10th hand of the tourny on the cutoff (sounds good) only to lose to the big blind's spectacular hand of J8 (this guy was very loose throughout my stay didn't make things worse (good thing an ace hit or I probably would have been broke there).
Twenty minutes into the tourny, "The Hitman" Ted Forrest shows up to the tourny 2 seats to my left. I had a feeling that maybe the great Phil Hellmuth had a seat next to me because of his many infamous appearances. I even joke to Ted that I thought Phil had that seat reserved but it was fine that he appeared (actually no, I wanted a table change!) Even Ted has to show his ID to the dealer before he can go on and I remark, "Even Ted has to show his ID. I see Ted and his aggressive style bluff his was to a good amount of chips with one hand with an AK to the loose-goose that cracked my kings where Ted bet out every street and won with Ace high.
Then, this doozy of a hand came up. Blinds are at 25-50. Ted smooth calls in early position and the small blind calls and check for free from the BB with 5-7. Flop comes A-7-2 with 2 clubs. I bet 100, Ted calls and the SB folds. Right now, I am putting Ted on a flush draw. Turn is another ace. I decide to check and Ted bets 200. I think and put Ted on a hand like QJ or J10 of clubs seeing his aggressive style. River is a 7 giving me 7s full of aces. I check and Ted fires 400. I stare at Ted, and he doesn't flinch like one of those London guards. I call and Ted flips over an Ace-rag for the better full house and am crippled to 125 chips and was never able to recover. At least I can say that I got my ass crippled by Ted Forrest.
Highlights
With an early bust out, I decided to check out some of the poker sites' lounges. Some highlights included an autograph from Hoyt Corkins and Doyle Brunson. When meeting Hoyt, somebody asked him, "Hey Hoyt, are you playing today?" Hoyt replies that he had already busted out which got some chuckles. Then when meeting Doyle, somebody asked, "Hey Doyle, are you gonna play in the Senior's Event?" Doyle says, "Nah, I'm probably gonna play in the HORSE Event on the same day. Besides, I'm not old enough to play in the Seniors Event yet. That got some chuckles as well. Turned out to be a wise decision as Doyle made the final table in the HORSE Event.
Other highlights included pictures below. In particular, the most popular player had to be "The Flying Dutchman" Marcel Luske. Luske wasn't wearing any poker site's swag. Dressed for success in the $5000 suit and probably limousine riding, jet slinging, son of a gun (wooo!!), he probably had 1000s of people swarm him outside taking autographs and picture. He even got "Bobby" John-Robert Bellande to bend over to use his back to sign shirts!!
Me and 2 time WPT Champ Erick Lindgren
Me and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
Me and Marcel Luske. He even let me wear his sunglasses upside-down! Picture is off-centered but thats the idiot's fault who took it.
Me and reigning 2005 WSOP Champ Joe Hachem. Very genuine and cool guy. Signed my shirt, "Pass the sugar!"
Me and eROCKtica girl! She was passin out ticket discounts to the show eROCKtica. My eyes aren't that small.. they happened to be blink-closing when the camera snapped... :-D
A combination of bad luck and bad playing on my behalf that could be equivalent (or worse) to James Van Alstine's WPT World Championship performance would be a good analagy (or the way David Matthew shuffled his chips) to the way I played. Starting off with a meager $1000TC instead of $10,000TC limited you to make mistakes early. The fact that I was dealt pocket kings about the 10th hand of the tourny on the cutoff (sounds good) only to lose to the big blind's spectacular hand of J8 (this guy was very loose throughout my stay didn't make things worse (good thing an ace hit or I probably would have been broke there).
Twenty minutes into the tourny, "The Hitman" Ted Forrest shows up to the tourny 2 seats to my left. I had a feeling that maybe the great Phil Hellmuth had a seat next to me because of his many infamous appearances. I even joke to Ted that I thought Phil had that seat reserved but it was fine that he appeared (actually no, I wanted a table change!) Even Ted has to show his ID to the dealer before he can go on and I remark, "Even Ted has to show his ID. I see Ted and his aggressive style bluff his was to a good amount of chips with one hand with an AK to the loose-goose that cracked my kings where Ted bet out every street and won with Ace high.
Then, this doozy of a hand came up. Blinds are at 25-50. Ted smooth calls in early position and the small blind calls and check for free from the BB with 5-7. Flop comes A-7-2 with 2 clubs. I bet 100, Ted calls and the SB folds. Right now, I am putting Ted on a flush draw. Turn is another ace. I decide to check and Ted bets 200. I think and put Ted on a hand like QJ or J10 of clubs seeing his aggressive style. River is a 7 giving me 7s full of aces. I check and Ted fires 400. I stare at Ted, and he doesn't flinch like one of those London guards. I call and Ted flips over an Ace-rag for the better full house and am crippled to 125 chips and was never able to recover. At least I can say that I got my ass crippled by Ted Forrest.
Highlights
With an early bust out, I decided to check out some of the poker sites' lounges. Some highlights included an autograph from Hoyt Corkins and Doyle Brunson. When meeting Hoyt, somebody asked him, "Hey Hoyt, are you playing today?" Hoyt replies that he had already busted out which got some chuckles. Then when meeting Doyle, somebody asked, "Hey Doyle, are you gonna play in the Senior's Event?" Doyle says, "Nah, I'm probably gonna play in the HORSE Event on the same day. Besides, I'm not old enough to play in the Seniors Event yet. That got some chuckles as well. Turned out to be a wise decision as Doyle made the final table in the HORSE Event.
Other highlights included pictures below. In particular, the most popular player had to be "The Flying Dutchman" Marcel Luske. Luske wasn't wearing any poker site's swag. Dressed for success in the $5000 suit and probably limousine riding, jet slinging, son of a gun (wooo!!), he probably had 1000s of people swarm him outside taking autographs and picture. He even got "Bobby" John-Robert Bellande to bend over to use his back to sign shirts!!
Me and 2 time WPT Champ Erick Lindgren
Me and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
Me and Marcel Luske. He even let me wear his sunglasses upside-down! Picture is off-centered but thats the idiot's fault who took it.
Me and reigning 2005 WSOP Champ Joe Hachem. Very genuine and cool guy. Signed my shirt, "Pass the sugar!"
Me and eROCKtica girl! She was passin out ticket discounts to the show eROCKtica. My eyes aren't that small.. they happened to be blink-closing when the camera snapped... :-D
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Phil Hellmuth Goes for History Tonight
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, "The Poker Brat" and nine-time WSOP Bracelet winner Phill Hellmuth tries to make history tonight as he has made the final table (2nd in chips) of the NL $5,000 buyin. On the line will be a possible 10th WSOP to tie the legendary Johnny Chan and godfather Doyle Brunson.
All I can say is that Phil is due. Out of the nine-winners last year, Phil obviously was the one that came up short and of course in the WSOP Main Event, some donkey named Jim Pittman put it all in with KJ vs Phil's AK to get jacked on the river by a Jack. I am pulling for you Phil. Best of luck.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Even More Reasons to Download Poker.com
If you don't have a poker.com account, this is the time to get one. Poker.com is offering its 1st time depositers a chance at a seat to the WSOP for free. Use this link now and deposit using bonus code "WSOPFREEROLL" to receive an entry to this prestigous event!! Use must hurry though!! The event is on July 15 and you must have made a deposit no later than July 14th! As of right now, there are only 75 players! Your chances to get into the WSOP Main Event with this few amount of people for free!! What could be better!! You will also receive a 100% matching bonus on up to $100!
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Three strikes at WSOP seats at Poker.com and I am out and 1 at Titan.
Well 2 hours down the drain playin for a WSOP Main Even seat at Titan. Out of about 200 peeps, yours truely finishes in 11th for no seat, no pay, and another groggy feeling in my gut. The final hand of the tourny, I get dealt AKo in the BB. I have about 7500 total with blinds being 750-1500. It is 6 seated. UTG raises to 3000. Folded to button who puts his 900 all in. I push and get called by the initial raiser who flips over 10s. No help on flop but an Ace hits on the turn only for the river to hit the miracle 10 and I'm sent to the e-rail.
BPT at poker.com coming off 2 "suspended" tournaments that had WSOP seats online. And when the third time came around, I (and 29 others) weren't there to playing leaving a private tourny for 11 players to win a seat to the big dance at the WSOP Main Event!! Good deal huh?! Luckily though, I didn't leave empty handed as the poker.com support and my favorite rep out of all the sites Kris came to the rescue and compensated my account wish some good cash. Thank you again Kris. With great support like Kris, (unlike the crap I got with Absolute), I will continue to support poker.com despite missing 2 golden opportunities at a WSOP seat.
Now, here comes strike three in the BPT. I am out early and probably played it too aggressively.I have J8 of diamonds and see a cheap flop of AK8 with 2 (AK)diamonds. The BB bets out 200 and I raise it to 700. He calls and I put him on a King for 2 weaker diamonds. Turn is a 4 and he checks and I bet a 1000. He calls and I am now convinced that he has a flush draw. I say this b/c BPT players are pretty good solid players that normally don't chase gutshots at this price. Turn is a Jack giving me 2 pair. He checks and I put my 2500 or so into a 3200 pot and he calls and flips over the A4 for a higher 2 pair.
This week has been a nightmare for me and am glad is almost over. Guys, Steve "Sharky" Hathaway and "beerman" Mike still runnin in the tourny (sn: steamrayz and imjusther4thebeer). Been playin 2 tournys all day and now its time for my break. Drop bye and say hi and gl to those LAGs!!
BPT at poker.com coming off 2 "suspended" tournaments that had WSOP seats online. And when the third time came around, I (and 29 others) weren't there to playing leaving a private tourny for 11 players to win a seat to the big dance at the WSOP Main Event!! Good deal huh?! Luckily though, I didn't leave empty handed as the poker.com support and my favorite rep out of all the sites Kris came to the rescue and compensated my account wish some good cash. Thank you again Kris. With great support like Kris, (unlike the crap I got with Absolute), I will continue to support poker.com despite missing 2 golden opportunities at a WSOP seat.
Now, here comes strike three in the BPT. I am out early and probably played it too aggressively.I have J8 of diamonds and see a cheap flop of AK8 with 2 (AK)diamonds. The BB bets out 200 and I raise it to 700. He calls and I put him on a King for 2 weaker diamonds. Turn is a 4 and he checks and I bet a 1000. He calls and I am now convinced that he has a flush draw. I say this b/c BPT players are pretty good solid players that normally don't chase gutshots at this price. Turn is a Jack giving me 2 pair. He checks and I put my 2500 or so into a 3200 pot and he calls and flips over the A4 for a higher 2 pair.
This week has been a nightmare for me and am glad is almost over. Guys, Steve "Sharky" Hathaway and "beerman" Mike still runnin in the tourny (sn: steamrayz and imjusther4thebeer). Been playin 2 tournys all day and now its time for my break. Drop bye and say hi and gl to those LAGs!!
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