WSOP 2010 --- 6/24 to 6/29 2010.

Stayed at the Flamingo. Got 5 nights for $120.

Played in the $1000 buy in (Event 47). Mr. Robinson bought $500 so I was only in for $500.

Played the best I ever played in the WSOP but missed cashing.

Notable hands are as follows.

Early in the tournament I picked up AJ offsuit in the small blind. seat 6 made a 3 times raise and I called it. An ace flopped. I checked it, seat 6 made a pot sized bet. I raised it with a 3x raise. He called my raise. A blank hit the turn. I bet half the pot and seat 6 went all in. I had top pair with Jack kicker. After a lot of thinking I laid it down. I didn't want to go broke with top pair Jack kicker. Half my stack was gone.

After that I saw a couple of interesting hands. the seat to my left raised and got called by a player from the hijack position. The flop was K J 10 all clubs. the guy to my left bet and the other guy went all in. He was insta called. the guy to my left had flopped a royal flush in clubs. The other guy had a broadway straight and was dead.

Another player filled that seat. Two hands later, the flop was call clubs again. The same seat that had busted out before went all in with an ace high flush.  ¶ 7:34 AM

  6/27/09 to 7/2/09 Las Vegas -- WSOP.

I played the $1500 buy in for the WSOP at the Rio. I stayed at the Paris. I really enjoyed the crepes and gelatos. Went to see Bally's Jubilee, to the top of the Eiffel Tower, won a lot of money playing blackjack from the dealertainers at the Imperial Palace, hit a jackpot for $275 on an elvis quarter machine. Had a lot of fun but was awful at poker.

I lost at every session of poker i played.

First, in the WSOP i did enjoy being at the table with Men the Master Nguyen. The table was very tight and very aggressive. We had 10 at the table and started with 4500 in chips.

Notable hands for me were as follows:

Early on picked up KK. made a small raise, got a call, and flopped top set. I checked the flop and so did the other guy. I made a small bet on the turn and he folded.

I also had a hand where I had ace 9 of spades. I limped and the flop came with two sevens and a flush draw. I bet on the flop about200. A conservative player raised me about 1000 and I called that. I made the nut flush on the turn and checked it. The conservative player checked behind. He checked the river and I moved all in. He folded.

After those two hands I was up to about 6000 at the first break and doing well.

I went card dead after that. I picked up a few small pairs and limped with them, but never caught a flop.

A big hand arrived when I had ace king suited in the small blind. The table folded to me and I made a substantial raise. I got reraised from the conservative guy in the big blind and put him on a pocket pair. I called the raise. I missed the flop and checked. He put in a big bet and I folded. I showed him my suited ace king and he showed me pocket kings. I was happy to dodge elimination on that hand.

After that I was card dead for a long time and was gradually getting blinded off. My M got down to 4. I picked up Ace 4 in early position and moved in with it because I felt it was an inflection point. there was about 600 in the pot and I had about 2600 left.

I got called by a Russian Pro. He turned over AceKing. I was calling for a 4, but ended up surviving by making a straightw ith the 4. Men the Master laughed and said I was calling for the wrong card.

That gave me a little lift but I was still very short. I limped and missed a few other flops with suited aces and small pairs and my stack dwindled down again.

I had a M of six and I I picked up ace king suited utg. I moved in with that and the russian called me with pocket 9's. I did not improve and got eliminated. I lasted about 7 hours.

My overall observation was that everyone in the WSOP is a good player, so its basically a luck contest.

I lost a thousand dollar pot at the Planet Hollywood in a side game. I got sucked in a three way pot with a pocket pair and nut flush draw. I was forced all in on the turn and did not improve. Before that I had been winning. Lost to 2 pair. I had 14 outs so I made the mathematically correct play and lost.

I lost at the Hard Rock, I lost at Bally's.

Overall poker was bad me. The day I got home, I lost $340 in Jim's home game. Luck had turned hard against me.

I found a nice place to get a reasonably priced massage. I enjoyed the pool at the Paris. I saw Miss USA at the Serendipity in front of Caesar's Palace.

Las Vegas is a nice escape from reality!  ¶ 8:39 AM

  11/26/2008 to 11/30/2008 -- Tunica, MS

Drove to Tunica at Thanksgiving and stayed at the Horseshoe.

on 11/27 played a 1/3 NL cash game and did badly. Kept hitting a decent 2nd best hand and lost $150. In the evening played a rebuy tournment but was card dead. WEnt broke with a pair of 9s on a j88 flop. got called down by a lady with QJ. rebought and doubled up with AQ v. AK when I spiked a queen on the turn. Only other good hands were AK suited, w hich missed flop. I paid off a fh for a small bet on the river after checking flop.turn. Picked up Aq and missed flop. Made a continuation bet, got rr and folded.

Lasted until late in tourney and picked up 99 with a 6000 stack with blinds of 1/2k and antes of 200 per hand. went all in from middle with 99 and got called by small blind with AA and went broke.

The following day I played some 4/8 limit and won about $40 bucks in 2 hours or so.

Had fun playing some penny slots, including wizard of oz game, monopoly game, and a few others. Hit a binny binion on slot machine to win 160 dollars and won back some of my losses.

Went to Graceland, Rendezvous Ribs, Beale Street and had fun in Memphis.

On the way home, stopped off at the birthplace of Elvis and had a weird experience in the Elvis church which had been moved, redone, and had screens to create a simulated church service.

Fun trip but not much poker success this time. collected chips for my collection from the horseshoe and goldstrike.  ¶ 5:46 PM

  World Series of Poker - 2008.

I went to Vegas and stayed at the Luxor for the 2008 World Series. I played in event 9, the six handed event. I was at Table 4.

The event was June 5th to June 7th.

I saw Chris "Jesus Ferguson", Barry Greenstein, Hevad Khan, and lots of other well known players.

Notable hands for me were:

I picked up kk in position 3. An aggressive young player in front of me opened with a raise and I smooth called him to try and trap. everyone folded behind us. the flop came 8 44. he led out with a pot sized bet and i smooth called again. The turn came with a 7. He checked and I bet 600 to build the pot, with the intention of going all in on the river. The river came with an 8 and he moved all in on me. I looked at him a long time and thought about it a long time and decided the only thinkg I could beat was a bluff. I couldn'ted beat a hand with a 4 or an 8. AFter a long period i layed down my kings and showed them. The table was shocked. The dealer said he thought i made a good lay down. AFter i got knocked out later the kid told me he had 78, which was plausible.

AFter having to fold my kings i was short chipped. I moved all in from the cutoff with k8 off and picked up some blinds. Shortly after that I picked up QQ and moved all in from middle position. I got called from the small blind who had 44. My queens held up and that got me back to about 1500 chips. I was still short chipped for the blinds

My doomsday came when the punk raised from 1st position. I had ace king of spades and moved all in on him. He called with pocket jacks. The flop came j of spades, 10 of spades, 8 of diamonds. He made another 10 on the turn for a jacks full of 10s. I had a draw at the queen of spades for a royal flush on the river. I hit the queen of diamonds for a losing straight to the full house.

After I went broke, I ate at the Carnival buffet at the Rio. Then I took the shuttle bus to Caesars. I was agitated. I couldn't get a game at Caesars so I walked across the street and played some 1-5 spread limit at a Table at O'sheas by the street. I played every garbage hand preflop and I hit a lot of flops. The table got annoyed at me for winning a hundred bucks. One lady made a royal flush of spades against me and took a picture of it.

I won a lot of money playing 1/2 no limit at the excalibur the next day. My big hand was a 9s full of 8s full house against a guy who had made the top possible straight and called my all in. I won about 800.

The following day i lost a hundred at the luxor when I made an ace high flush against a russian with a queen high straight flush. That was a pretty bad beat.

In vegas, I had fun. I got a massage at the Luxor spa and enjoyed the pool. I went to see O at the Bellagio. I played a lot of penny slots and won a progressive jackpot for 8 bucks on the sopramos game and some nice hits on the wizard of oz penny slot game.

All in all, it looks like i lose most of my money when i get extremely unlucky with the best hand. Poker is an unkind game.  ¶ 12:19 PM

  Las Vegas - World Series of Poker 6/8/07.

I played in Event 15 of the 2007 World Series of Poker, which was a $1500 buy in. I stayed at the TI.

I was extremely unlucky in this event.

I was at table 169, which was full of a lot of tough poker players. At the table just behind me was Mike Sexton and Freddy Deeb.

Anyway, I played tight. I lost a pretty good pot early on with AQ against AK. An Ace hit the river and cost me about 600 of my 3000 chips.

I rebuilt my stack when I picked up AA. I limped in from middle position. I got raised by the big blind and decided to use Harrington's rope a dope. I just called the raise. The flop came with 3 small cards. I checked it. The big blind bet at me. I raised him. He re-raised all in and I called. He rolled over queens and I doubled up with my aces against him when they held up.

I played tight after that, but was lucky enough to pick up aces again in late position. Nobody had entered the pot so I did a 3 times the small blind raise in late position. I got re-raised from the big blind, the same guy as before. I re-raised him. He then pushed all in and I called. He turned over pocket kings, and I rolled over pocket aces. He gasped.

Needless to say, I lost. He hit a runner runner 10 9 for a king high straight on the turn and river. I lost most of my stack.

As we headed toward the first break, I picked up A4 in the small blind. I was short stacked. A late position limper entered the pot, and got a call from the cut off and button. Sensing weakness and being short stacked, I moved all in for what I had left. The first two guys called me but an older Asian man called me. He turned over KJ.

He flopped a Jack and I was yelling for an ace which magically appeared on the river. AFter that pot, I was back up over 2000 in chips.

In any event, I continued to play solid. my downfall came when i was in the big blind with 7 3 off. I was still short stacked. there were 4 or 5 limpers into the pot and I checked into it. The flop came 10/3/3. I had flopped a set. I wanted to get a caller so i bet 1/3 of the pot. I got raised from the utg player. I put him on a 10 and called for about 90% of my remaining chips. The turn card made me sick because it was a 10. It looked like I was beat by a 2 outer. I put in my remaining 200 chips on hope he might have an overpair. He turned over ace 10 and I was out with 10s full of 3s against 3s full of 10s. So, I lost my tournament when my aces got cracked by Kings and my set was outrun by a 2 outer. I felt like I deserved to win both those hands and I was very unlucky not to have a big stack.

In any event, I comforted myself by going to see Zumanity at the New York, New York. The next day I bought into a no limit tournament at the TI and lost by bluffing off all my chips and playing way too loose. After the world series it was hard to take a 65 buy in tournament seriously.

The next day I went to the Wynn and I bought into a 30/60 limit hold em game and quickly won a few hundred with strong hands that held up. I moved over to a 10/20 no limit game and bought in for 1000 dollars. I immediately got extremely lucky.

I first picked up a pair of tens and raised to 60. A guy in the sb raised me to 300. I called him. The flop came with all rags 9 high. The sb bet 300 into me and I raised him to 600. The turn bought another rag. He checked to me and I moved all in for 250 more. He folded. Thus I won about a thousand ont he first hand.

2 hands later I picked up AK. Again I raised to 60 and I got re-raised to 300. I re-raised again to 600. The flop brought an ace and the guy bet into me for 300. I raised to 1000 and he folded. Within 5 hands, I had won a couple of thousand bucks. The pit boss came to move me to a new table. Looking at the gigantic pile of chips, I chose to cash out. I rang the register for 2300 in profit.

I left the Wynn and went to see Trent Carlini as Elvis down at the Sahara. I also got a hot stone massage at the spa.

The next day I returned to the Wynn and play 8/16 limit hold em. I didn't want to risk my big profits from the day before. I had a really hot run where I won a large amount of pots in a row. I got up about 7 to 800 dollars. I cooled off and after being cool for a while, I cashed out for a profit for 435.

Other memorable experiences: I got a spin on the wheel of fortune slot and hit it for 400 quarters. I got 4 of a kind twice on a video poker machine. I got a chip from the New Frontier since it was scheduled for destruction. I also went to see the Legends show at the Imperial Palace: Ricky Martin, Bruce Springsteen, Blues Brothers, Whitney, and Elvis. I had a couple of hot runs at the legends pit when Tina Turner and Elvis were dealing and won 300. I did bad when Toby Keith was dealing.

Went to Fremont Street and lost a couple of hundred at blackjack in Binions.

I did the oxygen bar at the TI.

Phil Helmuth won the event I had entered. Morgan Machina got 4th. He was the guy at my table in the 2005 main event.

I saw a bunch of famous poker players. I saw Chris Ferguson, Umberto Brenes, Freedy Deeb, Mike Sexton, Eric Seidel, and a few others.

I ate a creme brulee filled eclair at the bellagio.

Overall, it was a totally wonderful trip and I returned home safely.  ¶ 12:14 PM

  11/26/06 -- Beau Rivage. Biloxi.

I drove down to Biloxi for the weekend to play some poker. I played in a $120 buy in at the Beau Rivage. Here's how I went out in 10 minutes.

I watied patiently and folded some crummy hands before i got dealt the small blind which was a 5-7 of diamonds. 2 or 3 limpers came in. I called and the big blind behind me checked. The flop came J 7 7 with the Jack of diamonds. I had flopped 3 of a kind, so I checked. The big blind checked and it went around to a lady in the cut off who bet 150. I raised to 400. The big blind then re-raised me to 1400. The cut off lady folded and the action was back to me.

I had a hard time deciding what to do. If the guy had the lone remaining 7, my kicker was probaby no good. However, if he had an over pair, Ace Jack, or maybe a nut flush draw, then I needed to just go ahead and move in. After a long hesitation, i went all in over the top. The big blind called and showed 78 off.

The next card off was a 9 of diamonds, giving me a flush draw, but giving the big blind a gutshot straight draw. Unfortunatley a 10 of clubs came and the big blind made a backdoor straight to knock me out.

I'm trying to decide if I did the right thing. I think this was a judgment call that did not work out well, but was not necessarily a bad gamble. The tournament had blinds that went up quickly and i wanted to grab a chance to double up early. I don't feel too bad about it.

I did well in 4/8 limit hold em. The only key to that game is waiting for a decent starting hand to enter.

I hit a few numbers on a roulette wheel to my great amusement.

I visited the Palace, the Isle of Capril, and the Imperial Palace as well. THE IP was preparing for some WPT satellites.

I should also add that I destroyed a couple of neighborhood home games, largely by remaining sober while my friendly neighbors got a bit tipsy. I won about a hundred a game in those.

Anyway, that brings us up to date Hopefully we will soon have a win to report!  ¶ 11:41 AM

  The 2005 World Series of Poker.

I won a trip to the 2005 World Series of Poker on Pokerstars. I won a $3 super satellite to play in a $30 rebuy. I beat 247 players in the $30 rebuy with a total investment of $66. It was amazing to win that tournament. I beat a guy name Dan Dean from Lawrenceville in the heads up match. We tried to chop the prize, but the tournament director would not allow it. So, I won, and got to go to go to Las Vegas and stay at the Mirage for 9 days. My winning hand in the satellite was pocket 6s. On the final hand, the other guy moved in with pocket 9s and I called with pocket 6s and hit a 6 on the flop. So it was lady luck that sent me to Vegas.

I took Airtran Flight 777 on Wednesday July 6, 2005 from Atlanta to Las Vegas. On the way out, a kid from New England was sitting next to me reading Dan Harrington's Poker book. I found out he also qualified for the World Series on Poker Stars. He was a young professional player. When we arrived in Vegas, we split a cab. He was staying at Treasure Island, and they dropped me off at the Mirage first.

Upon arrival, I checked into my room at the very end of a long long hall on the 9th floor. I had a view looking out over the Mirage Pool and Caesar's Palace. I could see Bally's and the Imperial Palace from my window. It was very hot in Las Vegas.

After checking into my room, I unpacked and rested. Then I took a cab over to the Rio to check in with Poker Stars. They told me a goody bag would be left at my room. I then went down to the registration area and got my seat assignment for the main event. I learned I did not play until Saturday.

I saw Matthew Hilger and chatted with him about his poker website and his hopes for the World Series as well.

After that, I returned to the Mirage and ate dinner at the Mirage buffet.

I played a little poker that day to start warming up.

The next day, I went over to the Rio to watch some of the action at the World Series. There were 5600 players, and they were starting about 200 tables a day. I have never heard so many poker chips riffling. It sounded like the chirping of insects in a jungle. There was a problem with a bathroom shortage at the Rio also.

I took the time to look around at the Rio. It was a nice facility, but inconveniently located.

After that, I went back to the Mirage and checked out the pool, which was fabulous. It was an enormous pool. One side looked towards the Mirage and the other side toward Caesars Palace. I floated and swam. I also enjoyed the hot tub. It was a very hot day.

I played a good bit of poker at the Mirage Poker room, mostly losing.

I also went over to Caesar's palace and played some blackjack. I won a few dollars.

After that, I read my poker books and generally relaxed.

On Thursday, I just hung out at the pool, read poker books, and played some cheap poker.

On Friday, I went to the spa and got the "tandem massage" from two women. This was a truly wonderful and relaxing experience. I studied my poker books, went over and looked at the World Series, and generally tried to relax. I bought a giant pair of sunglasses to wear.

On Saturday, I got up early, got dressed and showered, and caught the shuttle bus from the Mirage to the Rio. It was filled with my fellow poker hopefuls.

It was extremely exciting when they let us go to our seats. I think I was at table 162, seat 7.

At around 11, the widow of Stu Ungar announced "Shuffle up and deal." My heart was racing.

My first hand was pocket 10's. The blinds were 10/20. I put in a 300 raise and everyone folded to me. The dealer announced, "we have our chip leader." I felt proud to have one my very first hand in the World Series.

At my table were seated 10 excellent poker tables. About 4 were from Poker Stars, like me. One was from party poker, and I think the others were professional players.

In the first 2 hours, I had quite the run of cards. I picked up AA under the gun, and limped in, hoping to get re-raised. I was annoyed when I got 3 callers and no raisers. I was thrilled when an ace hit the flop. The flop was Ace Jack and a rag with two clubs and one diamond. I checked the flop, and the two players behind me both checked. A diamond came on the turn. I decided to go ahead and bet 1000 with my 3 aces. I was surprised to get two callers. There were two clubs and two diamonds, so i thought i might be against flush draws. A final diamond hit the river, and i checked it. The guy behind me checked, then the third guy made a 2k bet. I figured with pocket Aces I'd call it. The guy behind me agonized and then called as well. It turned out my aces were good. The other guy had pocket jacks and the one behind me had pocket 6s. So I won my best pot.

I picked up a few other pocket pairs. I got Aces again and raised 300. The pro behind me, Mike "the machine" Machina re-raised to 800. I responded to that by going all in. He agonized for a while before folding.

I got other good cards, but got little action. At the first break, I was at around $14,000 in chips and feeling happy.

The next hands did not go well for me as my cards dried up. I played very few hands and my chips began to dwindle.

My table was a collection of very tight and very aggressive players, so you had to tread warily.

Late in the day, I was down to 4000 chips with pocket 8s. I called and Mike Machina called behind me. The flop came with a Jack, 7, 3. I checked the flop and Mike bet 1500. I looked at my dwindling chips and considered the amount in the pot. I moved all in. Machina got very agitated and called me with an Ace 3. My 8s held up and I doubled back up to 8000.


I stayed alive until about 10 p.m. My stack was at 8000 still, but a lot of the players at my table had busted out. The guys replacing them were sitting down with stacks of 30 thousand to 50 thousand in chips. I knew if I didn't get my stack doubled up soon, i would not be competitive.

I picked up an Ace King offsuit in middle position. The guy in front of me with a giant stack raised to 1000. I re-raised all in. The table folded and the original guy called me. He turned over pocket Aces and my tournament was history.

I left the World Series at about 11 p.m. feeling sad at the end of the day. On the plus side, I outlasted most of the players at my table. Mike Machina was still surviving. I heard he got 101st overall.

I learned that Matthew Hilger had knocked out Doyle Brunson.

Minnesota Jim Meehan was at the next table and we heard his crazy chatter as something entertaining.

I took a cab back to the Mirage and hit the sack.

My trip to Las Vegas then turned into a much needed vacation. I floated in the pool at the Mirage, I went to see the Fab Four show and the "X" show at the Aladdin, I went dancing at the Aladdin show room and at the Mandelay Bay, I walked the entire four miles of the strip, I got another massage, I played the "Star Wars" slot machine and enjoyed that. I went and looked at the new Wynn resort and the art collection there. I played blackjack at the Legends pit at the Imperial Palace and won $100 off Shania Twain in five minutes. I finished 8th in a poker tournament at the Imperial Palace. On Thursday, I went down to Binion's and played poker downstairs while they were having the finals of the World Series upstairs. I enjoyed that. I got knocked out of the tournament with AK against AQ. The guy hit a queen on the river to beat me. I had my picture made with a Showgirl. I learned to play "Blackjack Switch" at the Casino Royale.

After coming back, I played in a charity poker tournament for Angels of Atlanta that had about 50 players. I got 1st place and a $500 gift certificate after just hanging around with low chips for most of the game. I won the final hand with pocket kings.

All in all I had a nice vacation and sharpened my poker skills. I got to spend a lot of time seeing Las Vegas. It was a bit lonely without a companion, but it gave me a chance to get away from the grind and rest. I was ready to go home on Friday, July 15th.








  ¶ 10:01 AM