Saturday, December 27, 2008

A Team7Deuce Trip to the Bike

Last Friday, we made a decision as a group to play at the Bike the day after Christmas, because so many of us had the day off. And lets face it, in Los Angeles, the best tournament for our tastes is one without Add-on’s or Re-buy’s (which just have a tendency to make play stupid), and a relatively lower buy in. Considering the fact that we’re all really amateurs at Pablosplace, we don’t want to drop the entire bank roll on an entry fee. The Bike offers a daily noon’er at their location in Bell Gardens, and for only $40, offers the opportunity to play real poker.

You begin with $2000 starting chips, and a blind structure that increases every 20 minutes, starting at 25/25. It’s a nice tournament with decent turnouts of about 150 per tourney. Yesterdays was a really good tournament as 264 entries saw their way to the felt.

We brought 6 Team7Deuce members to the tables at the Bike as Amber and Chris were the first to arrive. Jordan, Tim, and I drove down together, and with about 15 minutes to spare, Robert made his entry into the tournament. Better late than never I guess.

Tim and I were actually seated at the same table for the majority of the tournament, and were later joined at the table by Robert prior to the first break. I went on a ridiculously sick cold run of cards to begin the tourney, with my best starting hand prior to the break being Q-9. It was that good. Regardless, I still made it through the break, but with a short stack of only $1150. Chris was the first of our group to hit the rail, followed shortly by Amber, and then by Jordan. All were prior to the first break. Tim had chipped up to about $4900 or so, and Robert was pretty healthy with around $3500. I only had one opportunity to raise with 7-2, but it was suited. Thankfully, I got no callers, and I showed my glorious hands, much to the amusement of everyone at the table.

After the break, it was more of the same cold play for me. I just couldn’t catch anything paired, suited, or connected. It was ugly. Tim and Robert lost a few pots, and subsequently, a large part of both of their stacks. Finally, Robert succumbed and it was just Tim and I left.

My chip stack had dwindled to a measly $325 chips, and I finally got it all in with the Blinds at $100/$200 and a $25 ante. Seemed as good of a time as any to throw out a Hail Mary. So, with a pre-flop raise to $700, I made my stab with 6-4os, and nobody called. Heads up, my opponent turned K-J, and I at least had two live cards. The flop helped neither of us, but the turn produced a 6, and the river blanked, giving me some life. A few hands later, I’d get it all in again pre-flop with K-J of spades. I had action from 2 players this time, and it created a small side pot. Only one spade fell on the flop, and a bet out lost one of my opponents. I tabled my KJ, and my opponent tabled pocket 9’s. The turn and river produced running spades and my flush took another pot, tripling my stack, and for the first time, producing a positive chip stack. Our table broke shortly there after, and Tim went to another table to bad results. He had said that he got it in with a flush draw with K-10 suited, but ended up losing to pocket Q’s.

My run lasted quite a while as I started playing some pretty good poker. Tight, but good. I eventually ended up chipping up to about 11k, where I hovered until my exit. With 29 players left, we went to hand for hand action, as the intent was to pay 27 players. When Mr. Bubble boy left, a proposition to pay 28 places was agreed upon by all players, and play resumed.

On the second hand, I found myself with pocket Q’s from the small blind. As action found its way to me via everyone folding, I made it 4,000 to go with only the big blind to act (blinds were at 600/1200 with 200 ante). The big blind thought for a long while, and finally made the call. The flop produced A-K-3, and I wasted no time moving all in for my last 6400. The big blind thought for a long time. Stacked out his chips to make the call, and realized that he’d only have only 1500 behind him if he made the call. He placed his chips back down and picked up his cards. Then someone called the clock on him. He finally picked his chips back up and made the call with K-Qos. I was pretty much toast, and the turn and river were meaningless, ending my day in 28th place.

A somewhat disappointing cash for me if that’s possible. But at least it was a cash nonetheless. I made $15 for my play of 4 hours, but at least it was the right direction.

For right now, I think that we should be good to go for Friday night again. Great job by everyone who came. It’s always a blast to get out and play with you guys. Until next time. Cheers, P

Sunday, December 21, 2008

The White Elephant Game

The second edition of the Pablosplace White Elephant Game was a ton of fun. And while Andrew finished the game with all of the chips, and Chris played himself into a runner up finish, that story, and all the poker stories really paled in comparison to the gifts that were exchanged.

In winning, Andrew ended up stealing from me (a present that I had stolen from Jordan) a deck of Star Wars playing cards.

In second, Chris ended up with a glass cup that lights up on the bottom. Perfect for drinking beer, and signaling planes on dark, cloudy nights.

In third, Tim ended up with a DVD, though I don’t remember what movie it was. I ended up with Top Ramen, Robert ended up with a hodge-podge of items from different venues that Andrew has been at in his various exploits with work. The www.girlgamer.com crew has been to some really cool places, but I think that the best value was the mini Vodka bottles inside.

Jordan ended up with a miniature wagon, perfect for placing dolls in (as my kids would discover the day after). Amber ended up with a toy gun that shoots foam darts. And Jay ended up with my second favorite gift, a plastic Viking hat with horns coming out of either side. Tre Chic!

But the best gift of the night really came on the first bust out. First timer Amy came to play and learned for the most part on the fly, and ended up unwrapping a larger gift. It was almost immediately recognized by Robert, and then Jordan, Andrew and I caught on from last year. Fighting through our tears of laughter for about 15 minutes (probably not an exaggeration) we watch Amy unwrap the White Fur Coat that Tim had won at last years White Elephant game. If you’d have been here, you too would be in stitches.

Thanks to everyone who came and played. I’m happy to report that we now have our first Team7Deuce pictures taken with us as a group and with our shirts. I’ll see about how I can get them onto the site. Many thanks to Jay for bringing his camera and shooting so many great pictures.

For next week, we talked about playing at a Casino on the day after Christmas. The $40 nooner at the Bike is always a great tourney. We’ll make a decision on that one a little later in the week though.

Until next time, cheers, P

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Just another Friday Night

Friday night at pablosplace saw 5 regulars to the felt, and action was jovial as always at the home game. Andrew, Tim, Amber, Chris and I all enjoyed a festive game, which started a little later than usual as I had a work function to attend, and couldn’t make it home till 9.

Play started out pretty good for me as I took a few decent pots, and chipped up to about 180. And then, I just went card dead for about 2 hours. It was sick how bad my cards were. But not as bad as the unfortunate cards for Andrew, who was the first bust of the night. But a quick re-buy, and he was back in business.

Amber would be the next exit, followed by Chris, and we went three handed with me being the shortest stack. Things kind of turned the corner a little bit as I got an extremely lucky suck out against Tim.

We took a flop of Ah-Kh-6s, and I got it all in after Tim made an initial bet. He thought about it a while and made the call with As-7h. I tabled K-Q with no flush draw at all. A 9h fell on the turn leaving me with even fewer outs, but I got lucky with the Qc on the river to bail me out, and double me to about 160 again.

Tim and I again went at it heads up, but this time, I had the chip advantage, which proved to be bad for Tim. He moved with K-10 when a K hit the flop, but I had him when I called with K-Q. The turn and river were no help, and Tim was eliminated in 3rd.

Andrew and I went heads up for about 20 hands before the swing hand took place. After I made a pre-flop raise, Andrew got it all in, and I made the call. Andrew tabled pocket 6’s, and I tabled a better pair with pocket 9’s. The nine’s held and I crippled Andrew down to only 40. The very next hand, he moved it all in with pocket 2’s, and I made the call with A-Q. When the Q hit the flop, that pretty much sealed the deal. And Ace fell on the turn giving me two pair, and the river was irrelevant.

It was some really good action and some really friendly banter. I can’t wait till next Friday for the annual Pablosplace White Elephant game. Make sure that you’re here. You don’t want to miss it.

We stink up the joint

Because Tim had the day off, we decided to hit the nooner down at the Bicycle casino in Bell Gardens. The Bike is the unofficial/likely destination of Seven Deuce Day, and their nooner is a favorite of all of us. It sports a $40 buy in, with no add-ons and no re-buys. Classic, sit down and play poker with $2000 starting tournament chips, and 20 minute levels. Blinds start at 25/25, and then work their way up from there.

On the way in, it was Tim, Jordan, and I from Team7Deuce, and Phat joined in the fun as well meeting us there. Our standard $5 last longer bet went into play for the three of us, and we all sat at different tables. In the end, there were 156 entries into the tournament.

There were 4 hands worth talking about for me. The first one that I was involved in was just a good laydown. From 2nd position, a player makes a raise to 175 with blinds still at 25/25. Sitting directly to the players left, I look down at pocket J’s, and make a call. That call was also made by both the small and big blinds. The four of us took a flop of 6-6-7, and action checked back to me. I made it 300, and got a quick thought, and then a check raise from the small blind to 900. The big blind called, and the guy to my right went into the tank before letting go of what he said later was Aces. I thought for a little bit but decided that I was too far behind someone, and also let it go. Little did I know that I actually had the worst hand of the four. The Aces had me, and an all-in and call on the turn card of 3, showed the small blind with pocket Q’s, and the big blind tabled pocket 7’s for the made full house. I felt fortunate that this hand only cost me 25% of my stack. It could’ve been much worse.

I then had to make another lay down at 50/100 action, as three players (including me) took a flop after a pre-flop raise (again from the player to my immediate right) to 300. The board came out 10-J-Q, and the pre-flop raiser made it another 900 to go. I laid down pocket 9’s wisely, as the other player committed his last 400 chips, only to see that his pair of J’s was way behind pocket K’s. Another good get away.

I was definitely short stacked as action went to 75/150, and made a 400 bet into the pot, and got two callers. I got it all in on a board of Ac-10h-8h holding Kh-Jh. I got one caller who tabled A-Jos, and no hearts, so my flush draw gave me life. The turn of 9h gave me the made flush, and I nearly tippled up to almost 4k. But it would only last another 2 hands.

From under the gun, I looked down at A-Kos, and made it 400 to go. I got a re-raise to 900 from three seats over, and action folded back to me. We saw a flop of K-4-4. Out of position, I checked to see if he’d bet it, but he checked as well. A harmless 7 fell on the turn, and I led out with 1200. The guy thought a bit (an Oscar nominated performance) and then raise all-in. I made the call and showed how far behind I was when the other guy table pocket K’s, and had me drawing dead. I exited in about 110th place, a very crumby performance.

But the news wasn’t all bleak for me, as both Jordan and Tim had gotten it all in prior to my exit with unsuccessful results as well, so I ended up winning the last longer bet, and pablosplace poker action for Friday night for free.

Can’t wait for the next Team7Deuce event.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The Annual Pablosplace White Elephant Game

So clear your calendar for Friday night, December 19th, when we'll convene for the annual gift exchange - poker style.

Last years was a tremendous success with about a dozen players bringing gifts. The idea is, you bring a wrapped present with a maximum of a $5 value on the present. The present represents your buy-in to the home game. The first player who busts, opens one of the wrapped presents. Once a present has been opened, play continues. The second player to bust has the option of either 1) Stealing a previously opened present, or 2) opening a new unwrapped present. And so play goes forward until all the presents have been opened.

A few rules;

1: No direct steal back. (ex. busted player 2 steals busted player 1's present. Player 1 cannot immediately take back the present.)
2: An item may not be stolen more than 3 times in an evening (with one exception - see rule 3)
3: The winner of the night (the last player remaining) has the option of opening a present, and then stealing any present that they wish, regardless of the number of prior steals of that present.

Again, the fun commences at Pablosplace on Friday Night, December 19th at 8:00 PM. I hope to see you all here. Cheers, P

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Twitter Poker Tour - Tourney #3

A special thanks to all the guys from the Twitter Poker Tour. It's fun watching something grow.

I played in the third edition of the TPT tonight, and busted just moments ago. 24 players entered the No Limit Hold Em' tournament hosted on http://www.pokerstars.com/, with a $5.00+.50 buy in.

It was a rough start for me with my first decent hand being dealt pocket K's, and making a pre-flop raise. I got one caller and took a flop of A-brick-brick. Action was checked to me, and I bet about 60% of the pot, and got a call. The turn and river both bricked, and we both checked it down, my opponent with A-Q (a hand that I would later hate more).

I was able to take down a few more small pots and work my way from about $600 chips to slightly over $1000, but it all came undone to A-Qos again. The money went all in pre-flop, and I held pocket 5's. But, the flop produced a Q, and I couldn't catch up, busted in 16th out of 24 players.

For a full recap, and to find the winner of the tournament, you can go to http://www.twitterpokertour.com/, or you can click on the gadget on the right under my twitter column. I'm looking forward to TPT4, and donating another $5 to the pot.

Cheers, P

Saturday, November 29, 2008

I love the Turkey Day Game

It's one of my favorites every year. And this year didn't disappoint.

We had 12 people show for the grub, and everyone stayed for the big game. The food was awesome as we had the Turkey, Ham, Mashed Potato's, Stuffing, and cranberry's. It was delicious.

The game got going at around 7 or so with Myself, Traci, Tim, Tay, Jordan, Jamie, Jeff, Amber, Chris, Becky, Jasen, and a miraculous arrival by Andrew. It had been so long since he'd attended a game at pablosplace, that we let him have it. And in turn, he showed us that he's still got game.

12 players meant that we had two table action, and re-introduced the poker timer to get the action rolling. We played 20 minute levels to move the action along, and we weren't 20 minutes in before our first elimination.

Tim and Tay were heads up after taking a flop of 4-8-5. Small betting went to the turn, where Tim announced blind that he was checking the turn, and an Ace proceeded to fall. Tim checked, and Tay checked behind. The river fell another 5, and Tim led out about the size of the pot. Tay insta-raised the bet All in, and Tim insta-called turning over A-5 for the made full house. But Tay, clapped and giggled as she turned pocket rockets (AA) for the better full house. That left Tim crippled with only 19 chips remaining. He would exit a few hands later getting them all in with K-9, and had two callers (myself and Jamie). I bet the flop when a Q hit, and Jamie made the laydown. I turned my KQ, and Tim was drawing almost dead. The turn and river were no help, and Tim was the first exit of the night.

Jordan got involved in a couple of really tough pots as well, and was crippled when Jamie made a flush and hung around till the end. He finally got the last of his chips in the middle and was called by Jeff, ending his night just after the blinds had gone to 2-4.

Jasen then joined our table to balance the tables, and play continued until the 4-8 level, and then people began to fall out. I didn't pay too close of attention to the other table, other than to see a few people with very low stacks, and Andrew with one very large one.

I had two swing hands which took my night in opposite directions. Thankfully, the wrong one happened first. First to act was Tay, who called the big blind of 8. Jasen folded, and I popped it to 24 with A-Kos. Jeff got out of the way from the small blind, and Jamie and Tay made the calls. On a flop of 6h-6c-5c, Jamie and Tay checked, and I led out with 24. Jamie made the call, and Tay got out of the way. The turn was the Qc, and Jamie led out with 12, and I came along. The river was the 7c, and we both checked. Jamie turned over the Kc-3c for the turned flush, and I was hurting as I was down to about 50 or so chips.

But I'd rebound by doubling through Jamie later as I flopped two pair from the big blind just as action was ready to consolidate to one table. Holding 10-8os from the big blind, I checked to see a flop of 10-8-7. I led out for 24, and Jamie followed. The turn was another 8, and I moved all in for my last 29, and Jamie made the call with a 8-3, and drawing dead to the river. That one gave me some life.

We moved to a final table with 8 people, and Andrew holding a significant chip advantage. I picked up the first hand making a pre-flop raise and collecting only one caller, Jasen, from the big blind. We took a flop that didn't help either of us, but I bet another 13 to move him all in, and he made the call with a weak Ace. I turned over my suited K-Q, and was behind. The turned didn't help either of us, but the river was a K, and gave me a good sized pot.

The next hand was something of a historic hand as we saw 3 people eliminated, and another go to a single chip remaining. It was a giant pot, maybe the biggest at pablosplace if you don't count heads up action. After Andrew min-raised to 16, everyone (all 7 remaining players) took a flop of Js-6s-5h. Surprisingly, the flop caught a little bit of all of us. Traci was the first to act and checked, and I did the same. Jamie led the fray by betting 8, Tay called it, and so did Jeff. Andrew used some of his chip power and popped it to 24. Becky moved all in for the rest of her chips (she was covered by the 24), and Traci followed suit (she was also covered by the 24). Action aback on me as I held 8s-7s. With both an up and down straight draw, and a flush draw, I moved over the top All in. Jamie made the call, Tay got out of the way, and then Jeff (who had me covered by 1 chip as it turned out) also made the call. Andrew folded, and the cards were flipped over. Jamie was ahead with top pair, but only a 4 kicker. She went ahead all the more when the 3h hit the turn, and still had the lead. But the river was the 3s, giving me a flush, and scooping the pot. I had enough to cover the All In's by Traci, Becky, and Jamie, and the three ladies went out at the same time. After counting up Jeff's chips, he had 162 remaining, and I had 161.

This gave me the chip lead, and took us down to 4 players. Jeff would go out on the next hand putting his last chip in, and Tay would take the pot.

The chip lead swung back into Andrew's favor after several hands during three handed play. Pre-flop, all the money went in after Andrew raised, and I called, Tay moved, and was insta-called by Andrew. I got out of the way (laying down Qs-Js) figuring that I was beat, and I was right. Andrew tabled J-J, and Tay flipped K-10. The board didn't help Tay any, and Andrew busted Tay in 3rd place.

Andrew and I played heads up for only a short time (maybe a dozen hands) and the one that did me in was a doozy. After a bet of 40 was called by both of us, we took a flop of K-Q-2. I flopped two pair with Q-2. And I bet 40, Andrew called. The turn was an Ace, and Andrew led for 40 more, and I moved all in. He thought about it for a while and made the call with A-9. But a K on the river made it a better 2 pair for Andrew, and he scooped the pot and the remainder of my chips for the win.

I am so very thankful for everyone that came, and for the opportunity to call you all my family of friends.

Next Friday it's the home game as usual at pablosplace. Thanks again for everyone who came to enjoy the dinner and the poker. It was a blast. Until next Friday, cheers!

Monday, November 17, 2008

The Pablosplace Third Annual Thanksgiving Friday/Bring Your Leftovers Game

An no, you don't have to bring food.

For those that have been a part of the home game at pablosplace for some time, you know that this is one of my favorite events.

Three years ago, we used the day after Thanksgiving as a way to share Thanksgiving with friends. We had everyone bring their leftovers to my place on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and we had a great meal, followed by an awesome poker game. It was awesome grub, and the fellowship was second to none.

And from there on out, it has become a standing tradition that the day after Thanksgiving is celebrated at pablosplace with grub and poker.

We have plenty of food, so you need only show up to get your grub on. But if you have any leftovers that you'd like to contribute, we'd love to have you.

We'll start a little earlier than usual, probably around 5:30 or so for eating, and the game will be shortly after dinner. But if you're in the valley and looking for some awesome Turkey and Ham grubbage, we'd love to have you.

Feel free to get in contact with me through pablosplace or via e-mail (fleapid@yahoo.com) if you have any additional questions. I hope to see another big group here the day after Thanksgiving. Gobble Gobble!!!

A long overdue win

Having been unable to claim a victory since early July, it was time to win one for Pablo. We went into play 6 handed, and action got heavy quick.

On the first hand of the night, Tim limped from under the gun, got a call from Traci, and then I made it 6 with pocket J’s. Tay made the call, Amber followed suit, and Chris folded from the big blind. Next to act was Tim again who raised it up to 18. Traci quickly folded the action to me, where I wasted no time in calling all in. Tay thought for a little before giving her hand up, and then Amber did the same. Tim, however, made a quick call and we flipped over our cards on the first hand of the night, me with my J’s, and Tim, A-Kos. The board didn’t improve Tim, and he re-bought after the first hand.

It wasn’t Tim’s night, as a little later, he fell into Amber’s trap. After limping to see 3 players take a flop of 8-7-5, Amber led with a bet of 4. Tim pushed for his last 30 or so, and Traci folded. Amber made a quick call turning over pocket K’s, and Tim’s night was done as he showed J-8.

Tay then busted, but her re-buy was a good one as she was able to increase her chip stack steadily. Soon, Traci busted, and then re-bought and then busted again.

With the action 4 handed, I was holding about half of the chips with Amber, Tay, and Chris all holding about similar stacks. But Tay took a big pot from Chris, and a good sized advantage, and Amber’s stack whittled before she busted as well. 3 handed, I eliminated Chris when I got pocket Q’s, and got him to shove his last 30 or so chips after pairing the board.

Heads up, I held a slight advantage to Tay, but she went card dead. We played several hands, but eventually, she just ran out of chips after not being able to catch anything.

I checked the pablosplace archives and it looks like July 12th was the last time that I won a pot here. I didn’t think that it’d been that long, but I’ve been playing poorly enough that even the home game hasn’t gone well. Hopefully, tonight will set me back in the right direction.

Next week looks good to go. Until next Friday, cheers, P

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

New WSOP Champion....Finally

After waiting some 4 months to complete the final table of the 2008 Main Event, the World Series of Poker has crowned a new champion. Peter Eastgate, a Dutch Poker Pro at the ripe ole' age of 22, has become the youngest WSOP champ in the history of the event. My hats off to him. Below is the heads-up recap posted from www.wsop.com.

World Series of Poker management billed the heads-up portion of the Main Event final table as a heavyweight fight between two pugilists. But 22-year-old Danish poker pro Peter Eastgate had other ideas; he turned the duel into a somewhat one-sided affair and had his Russian counterpart Ivan Demidov on the ropes for the entire night.

The final hand was typical of the win for Eastgate. A seemingly harmless 4c fell on the turn that gave Demidov two pair, fours and twos, but completed Eastgate’s wheel draw. All the money went in on the river and Eastgate’s final knockout punch made him World Champion.
“It kind of summed up the heads up. I had him crippled to below 20 million and I was lucky that he hit two pair where I hit the wheel,” said Eastgate immediately following the win. “It was kind of inevitable for those two hands to get it all in.”

When the night began Eastgate was ahead of Demidov by just over 21 million chips. The early action saw Demidov hit some hands and win enough pots to take over the chip lead. His lead though was temporary as the deck went cold for the Moscowvite.

“I really had no idea how he was going to play heads-up and he has way more experience than me. So maybe I was playing a bit passive and sometimes I made the bad calls when I should have just folded,” said Demidov. “I still called way too much and it cost me a lot of chips. I also made a few big bluffs at the wrong time.”

After re-capturing the chip lead on the 22nd hand of the night Eastgate kicked into high gear and never looked back on his way to the win, the $9 million first place prize and the Main Event champion’s bracelet. At 22 he also broke the record held by Phil Hellmuth for youngest Main Event champion ever, though he admitted to not thinking about anything but the game at hand.
“I wasn’t thinking about the records or anything like that. I just was thinking about playing my game,” said Eastgate. “I spoke to (Hellmuth) yesterday. He wished me luck and gave me a handshake.”

The final table action will be aired on ESPN on Tuesday night beginning with a preview show at 8 pm ET with the two-hour episode covering the November Nine beginning at 9 pm ET.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Once upon a time....

in a land far, far away (or in Chatsworth), there lived a home in which poker was played. And within that home, lived a man that would blog about such events. And the people were happy.

But time went by, and motivation was lacking. Games, well, they were infrequent. And the people, well..........not so much happy.

But the games resumed. And people were happy.

Last Friday made two consecutive weeks in a row (hence the consecutive) that we played poker here at pablosplace. The first of week saw newcomer Dave take down a decent pot with Robert finishing second, in a long hard fought heads up battle. Amber was busted in 3rd place after playing with the boys for quite some time, and trying desperately to remove herself from the game from sheer exhaustion. But alas, the power of ATC ("any two cards"). In the end, it was a great showdown and Dave came out on top.

This past Friday saw more regulars return as we went 5 handed again. And with similar results, Tim's return spelled victory for Tim.

This coming Friday will be a no-go as we'll be out trick-or-treating with the little ones, enjoying the sugar rush for sure. Until the next time, cheers from Casaba.

And make sure to find our group on www.Facebook.com and www.Myspace.com. Both have been added, and will be taking over the universe. Maybe....

Sunday, September 28, 2008

The 700 Club

I have to begin this post with many thanks to Phat and his buddies for bringing to our attention today's tournament at the Bike. We were able to get 3 Team7Deuce members out to the Bicycle Casino to play the $50+10 Buy in tourney with a $5 optional re-buy. In addition to the 5 players from Phat's home game, we took the Bicycle by storm. Well sort of.

Of the tourney's that we've played in thus far, I think that I enjoyed this one the most. It had a great format as a Main Event like atmosphere. We found out shortly after the first break that 700 players entered into the tournament. The Bike filled their main ballroom, as well as the foyer, and several tables in the main poker room. It was insanity.

Starting chip stack gave each player $5000 starting chips, and the $5 add on gave an additional $6000. The blinds began at $25/50, so it really allowed the opportunity to play some real poker. It was a blast.

Our 8 folks were spread out amongst the tables throughout the casino. The first bust out that I was made aware of was Jordan. He had Pocket Q's busted by a guy who called his pre-flop raise with K-Q, and flopped a K. After the break, we had a few other guys that we met up with who had also hit the rail.

Tim, Steve, Phat and I were still in it, and holding our own. I really controlled the table that I was at, amassing a chip stack of roughly 30 k. Tim was at around 30k as well, and Steve around mid-20's. Phat was short stacked, and eventually would lose after flopping two pair, and the other guy top pair. All the money went in on the flop. But, the other guy got lucky when he turned a K. It still left Phat with some outs as he now had a flush draw, but the river bricked out and Phat left with about 170 players left.

After the break, things went cold for me as I couldn't make anything stick. I was moved to another table and got my hand caught in the cookie jar chasing a flush that never emerged. I donk'ed off about 9k on that hand. Then, after a move to what would be my last table, I made a good lay down after my pre-flop raise was re-raised. But I was left with only around 9k in chips. I got them all in a little bit later with AK os, and was called by one other player who turned over K-5. That hand ended up being my undoing as a 5 spiked the river, and I was toast with about 180 or so players left.

Tim lasted quite a bit longer, playing through the second break. He reached the break with 44k. He lost a bunch when someone sucked out on him. And then lost the rest getting it all with Kc-Jc. Pocket 10's were better, but he had them covered. But he didn't have the K-Q covered that also called, and Q kicker played. Tim ended up somewhere around 115 players or so remaining.

Steve was the big winner of the group, as he nursed a short stack through the first two breaks, and eventually played his way down into the money. He eventually cashed in 43rd, and brought home $120 big ones, doubling his entry fee. An excellent performance for a first time tournament player. Congrats Steve.

It was an awesome tourney, and I'm proud of the way that we all played. More on the next event soon.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Still Alive...

and still playing poker on Friday nights. I just haven't felt the urge to blog about it lately.

I've missed 3 weeks of blogging about Friday nights since Morongo, and the reality is, we saw some really great play here.

3 weeks ago, it was a flush-fest which benefited the ladies a great deal. In her return to the table at pablosplace, Team7Deuce absentee Tay returned in glorious fashion to dominate the felt, taking down a rich pot. Amber came down in second place place, which is her first cash in quite sometime. For all of her time away from the game, she came back a stronger player. I'm looking forward to taking our game out of pablosplace and putting Team7Deuce in a casino again. Soon. We're playing that well.

The last two weeks had Tim controlling action when all was said and done. Last week's heads up action was one for the ages.

Tim had eliminated me (twice by the way with a catch on the River), and left he and Andrew heads up at around 11PM. And at 2:30, they finally woke me off the couch, having just finished. A 3:30 heads up match was longer than us playing the 7 handed action that we played. It was pretty incredible.

I'll get a little more regular updates from here on out, starting with tonight's game (which is on). I'm looking forward to seeing you all here.

Also, I found out from Phat that the Bike is running a tourney on Sunday that looks apetizing. $60 gives you the buy in plus a one time add-on. I think that the pot is guaranteed to be at least 15k. Don't know exactly how many entrants that they have, but we'll discuss possible participants tonight. Gator, P

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Team7Deuce Rocks the Morongo Casino!!!!!

And boy, did we ever. Sunday gave the crew a chance to get our poker playing skills into the casino again, in a way to celebrate my turning the big Three-Oh. So, we made a two hour trek down to the Pechanga Casino to play in their daily morning tournament. A $25 buy in tourney with no re-buys, was what the doctor had in store budget wise for the group.

All decked in our Team7Deuce garb, we arrived at the Poker room ready to rumble, when the news from the gal at the counter devastated us. “Pechanga canceled the daily tournament today, and instead is offering their main event tournament at 2pm.” Trouble is, the tournament main event was a $500+20 buy in. While the $150,000.00 guarantee was certainly appetizing, the $520 buy in was too steep for any of us. And so, we began to scramble for another tournament elsewhere.

Friends of pablosplace, Phat and his crew were intending to meet us there, but they turned around given the news and ended up playing in Lake Elsinore. According to Phat, two members of their group cashed en route to a final table appearance.

Tim, who was planning a trip to San Diego after the tourney, almost bailed on the extravaganza to head south, as the new destination of Morongo gave what we thought was the next best option. The buy in was only $8, with multiple re-buys and an add-on until the first break. But ultimately, he decided to hang with the group and join us for the 1 hour jaunt to the desert, a decision that will go down in pablosplace lore and infamy.

We were 6 total players down to Morongo now (A special “we missed you terribly to Tay and to Amber who couldn’t make the journey), and arrived at their Poker room at roughly 10:30AM for the 11:00 AM tourney. Traci, Tim, Andrew, and I immediately bought our seats into the tournament, and Jordan had to make a quick ATM run. Robert showed up at the time Jordan had just returned, and by the time they got through the line, the tourney was full, and they had to be placed on the alternate list. Luckily, even though they were 8th (Jordan) and 9th (Robert) on the list, the were able to make it into the fray, and participate in the greatest tournament that Team7Deuce has performed in to date.

I joined the same table with Traci (which proved to be catastrophic later), and after a few bust outs, Jordan later joined our little table as well. At the break, we were all still alive as they had consolidated the 8 table tourney (full to 10 players at each) down to 6 within 10 minutes of the break.

Jordan was the first of the group to go. Having been short stacked upon entering the tournament, he couldn’t draw action on the two decent hands that he did get (A-A, and 9-9), and was eliminated just as the tables broke down to 5. Robert, had chipped up however from his short stack and was sitting pretty. I had chipped up from the 1k to around 11k by the break, and was definitely holding my own. Traci had about 8k in her stack, and Tim and Drew were holding steady as well (Tim, doing so by way of making a Royal Flush).

I was the next victim of the group to fall. After losing a good sized stack as made a call from the big blind with 10-3 suited, the flop had come J-10-6. Action was checked to me and I bet enough (6000) to put the guy behind me close to all in. He thought for a few seconds and then made the call with a J, and I couldn’t catch up. Down to about my last 10k, Traci had moved all in. I moved all in behind her, and action around the table folded. Traci turned over As-Qh, and I apologized to her (“sorry babe”) as I tabled Ad-K-h). The flop looked good for me as it caught neither of us, but did produce two spades. The turn made me start to sweat as a 3rd spade hit the board. And the river made my gasp for air as the 4th spade hit the board. Traci doubled her stack to about 18k, and I was left with only 3k. I made my final move just before the blinds with a Q-3, and was called by Q-10. The flop of K-10-brick gave me almost no outs, and I was out just before the broke the action to two tables in 19th place.

Traci and Andrew went out right after another, as Seven Deuce reared her head in the wrong direction for our team. Having just lost most of her stack having Aces cracked (as the guy called with Q-6, and made a straight with the 6), Traci committed her last 1000 with 7-2 offsuit. However, the board ended up with all high cards, and someone paired their K to walk of with the pot and eliminate Traci in 16th.

Then, a few seconds after that, Andrew’s table let out a giant yell as someone called his all-in bet with, yep, you guessed it – Seven-Two offsuit. That wasn’t the big yell though. The yell came as the board flopped 7-7-2, giving the guy a full house, and Andrew was drawing virtually dead with two over cards. The turn and river bricked out, and Andrew busted in 15th.

Robert was the next member to get dropped from the tourney, as all the chips went in with Robert holding K-J. However, the board was very friendly to his opponent who had paired their Q, and caught another case Q on the river, eliminating Robert in 14th place.

That left our sole representation down to Tim, who was sitting with a comfortable chip stack of around 60k. He had quietly been playing dominant poker, raking in really big pots when he was in, and chipping up nicely. When action went to 12 handed, he was strong. After the next player was bumped out, hand-for-hand play began as the final 10 places were to be paid. Eventually, with the blinds at 4000-8000, the eleventh place finisher busted, and a final table was composed, with Tim holding a good sized stack.

A chop was presented to the table, in a manner where each player would receive at least $240, but not all players agreed, and play resumed. It was a good thing for Tim that it did, as someone from middle position moved all in with pocket 9’s, and Tim made the call with pocket J’s. Action was folded around and the J’s held up.

9 Handed, Tim dealt out another blow as he eliminated his second player in 3 hands, calling an all in bet with a set of 7’s. The other guy had flop an Ace, but was in terrible shape. The turn and river didn’t bail him out, and Tim chipped up to around 90k. Things were that way for Tim for a while, as he tightened up and lost a few blinds after a few orbits around the table. A few eliminations later, we were 5 handed, and Tim stuck again. Tim limped in from the small blind, and a check brought a flop of Qd-4d-8s. Tim checked, and a very aggressive player bet out 16k, to which Tim called. The turn produced the 9d, and Tim again checked. The guy then fired out again with a bet of 32k, at which Tim thought for a minute, before moving all in. The guy almost instantly called and tabled only a pair of 8’s. Tim turned over Ad-5d for the made nut flush, and had the guy drawing dead. That knockout increased Tim’s stack to approximately 200k with just 4 players remaining, and gave him a tremendous chip advantage. The shortest stack at the table moved all in two hands later with A-Q, and got his hand caught in the cookie jar as Tim called, and flipped over bullets. Tim’s Aces held up, and again he raked in more chips. Then action got bad for Tim, as the Guy in seat 1 took a few good sized pots from him, and a few blinds later, Tim had lost his chip lead.

But it didn’t take long for him to get it back. Tim limped in from the small blind, and both players took a flop of A-J-10, and Tim checked. Seat 1 guy moved immediately all in, and Tim insta-called, tabling K-Q for the made straight. The turn made things interesting with a K, but the river was an 8, and Tim crippled Seat 1 guy. The blinds got him on the next hand to Tim’s other opponent, and we were heads up.

Heads up was crazy action with the chips going back and forth. We saw several all ins, and the chip advantage changed hands several times. Finally, with a tremendous chip lead, and the blinds increasing to 64k-128k, the two finalists agreed to chip the pot, and a win was given to Tim for taking the Morongo Casino Tourney.

It was an incredible, amazing, unbelievable, awe-inspiring performance by Tim, who dominated the final table action. While the rest of us on Team7Deuce wore our shirts with pride, and played like champions, there was only one champion to be had today. Tim took down a great pot of $535 and an entry to a tournament that he wasn’t able to play in, so he sold for another $100. All in all, it was an amazing day. This was maybe the single most memorable tourney for Team7Deuce as we saw 5 shirts to 3 table action, and 4 shirts to 2 table action, and an eventual championship for Tim.
Congrats to Jordan, Traci, Andrew, Robert, for such a marvelous run of poker. Overcoming the disappointment of not having the tournament at Pechanga, and having the resolve to really bring it to the casino today was commendable.

But a special congrats to Tim for taking our coveted first casino title. Hopefully, this will be the first of many to come.

GO TEAM7DEUCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Robert Rocks - Twice

The last two pablosplace games were dominated by Robert, both times. His play has been exceptional as of late, and heading into the Sunday B-Day Tournament, he's been looking real strong.

This past week got me flustered as I had Tim catch up with flushes twice when I had better cards. Once, he made it with 10-4 of spades, and the other (bumping me out mind you) with 7s-3s.

Spades just haven't been my friend of late. In the end, Robert and Jordan went toe to toe in a colossal heads up match that saw the chip stack sway back and forth repeatedly for about 45 minutes. And given the number of re-buys, there were over 1200 chips in play for heads up action.

This coming Friday is a no-go for Traci and I, as we have tickets for the Hollywood Bowl. But any gamers that still want to play at pablosplace are more than welcome.

Cheers, P

Monday, August 18, 2008

Next Team7Deuce Event

In celebration of my upcoming 30th Birthday, the Team7Deuce gang is playing poker at Pechanga this Sunday, August 23rd.

The Buy-In is $25 with no re-buys, and the tournament starts at 10AM. All players are welcome. Team7Deuce Member's, bring your gear.

Feel free to contact me if you'd like to play this Sunday. Cheers, P

Monday, August 11, 2008

A Normandie Run

Since Friday night ended up a no-go, Jordan and I decided to spend Sunday night down at the Normandie for their 8:15 PM No Limit Game. Buy-In was $20+10, with multiple re-buys, and add-ons at the break.

The tournament starts you with 700 tournament chips. 58 total players bought in, with 287 total re-buys, and 123 total add-ons, for a pot of about $5200, of which $2000 went to the winner. The top 9 places were paid. You can follow the play-by-play by clicking the "follow me on twitter" link on www.pablosplace.com. After I went out, and at each break, I did a pretty good job of keeping the information posted during real time. But now, here's the re-cap.

Jordan and I began seated at the same table, the first time that’s happened since we began playing tournament poker. Jordan started out well early with pocket Aces. He was able to take a good sized pot early from the guy directly to his right. After that, he went through a cold run of cards. I was being whittled down as well, and made a call of 100 with 400 total remaining, holding 7d-6d. Three players took the flop of 8d-4d-2, and Jordan was first to act. He bet 200, and the next guy called. I raised all in for my last 300, and Jordan came over the top with a raise, causing the other guy to fold his hand. Jordan turned over K-8, and was ahead. But the Kd came on the turn giving me a flush. Jordan’s two pair didn’t get better on the river and I tripled up.

I then tripled my stack again when I got my money in on a flop of J-8-6 with pocket 7’s. I called an all-in bet who had me covered, and he said “you got me” and flipped pocket 5’s. The turn of 7 made me a set, and the river bricked out for a nice triple again.

Then the mighty Seven Deuce roared triumphant for me. I made a pre-flop raise with 7-2 os, and got two callers. When the board hit A-9-2, action was checked to me by the small blind, and I moved all in immediately. The button folded, and the small blind called, turning A-9 for top two pair. I was in trouble when the turn bricked, but there is always the river, which produced the miracle two out 2, and gave me a winning set. Seven Deuce baby!!

I then caught a sick run of cards with K’s twice, A-Q twice, and Q’s once, and was able to get my stack to around 17k at the break.

Jordan, on the other hand got real healthy playing tight for a long time, but making I think the best play of anyone. Three players took a flop of J-8-6, and all three checked. First to act, Jordan bet 1000 when the 4 hit the turn. It was called by the next player, and the third guy raised. Jordan re-raised all in, and it was called by both guy. The first guy flipped Q-J for top pair, and the last guy flipped pocket 4’s for a made set. But Jordan tossed over pocket 8’s for his top set, and was dominating. Only a four would lose the pot for him, and the J fell on the river, giving his boat better then the trips or the other boat, and Jordan moved up to around 14k.

After the break, I took a couple more pots, as action broke to 5 tables. I made a min-raise to 800 and got two callers with A-10. The flop came 10-4-4. The small blind checked to me, and I led out with 1500. The button folded and the small blind called. The turn was a 9, and the small blind checked. I instantly moved all in, and the small button thought a few seconds before calling and flipping A-4. I was near dead. The river didn’t matter and I had to count out a little more than 13k more, and was left with about 1500. I as able to double once and get to a little over 3500, and got all my chips in with pocket K’s. But I got 4 other callers, and they didn’t hold up when an Ace spiked the turn. A-8 ended up taking the pot, and I went out in 34th.

Jordan made a very deep run, eliminating a lot of the shorter stacks at his tables. Finally, with action down to 15 players, and Jordan sitting on a stack of about 40k, things turned ugly. After a pre-flop raise by Jordan, the guy (a real loose player) moved all in for his last 30k, and Jordan called him. The guy had A-7 of clubs, and Jordan had K-7 of hearts. He was way behind until the flop came and put him ahead with K-Q-Q. The turn was a J, giving the other guy some more outs, but the river did him in with an Ace on the river. Jordan was crippled. Shortly after, he got it all in again with Qs-Js, and got two callers. One had A-J, and the other pocket 10’s. With only 3 outs, he was hurting, and the pocket 10’s ended up holding up. Jordan went out in 15th, a brilliant run.

It was a lot of fun, and I was proud of my run, despite the fact that I got killed by A-4. I’m hoping that everyone can come this Friday. I’m looking forward to playing. Cheers, P

Saturday, August 2, 2008

C-H-A-T-L-E-Y spells - Domination

I’ve got a couple of blogs to get up here of updates from last night’s game, last weeks game, and two tournaments that I’ve played in over the last couple of weeks. It’s been a lot of work in between all the poker.

Lets start with last night which saw the action start 7 handed, and found us with a newcomer that arrived late. After Amber left the table, Jack arrived and bought in for $100 chips. His stay was a good one as he went out in 4th on his first visit. There were a couple of really interesting hands last night.

First was a hand that I could not have initiated more emotion out of Andrew with. After a pre-flop raise of 12, 4 players took a flop of Ac-Jc-4h. Jordan checked the action to Tim who moved all in for his last 24. Andrew thought for a little while before making the call. I moved over the top all in, and Jordan folded. Andrew thought for a moment an folded his cards, and Tim showed a K high flush draw. I turned over A-8 os, and was ahead. Andrew erupted with frustration as he showed he’d folded A-9. The turn brought another J, and the river a case Q with no clubs and I took the big pot with two pair.

The second interesting hand came with Andrew moving all his chips in to call Jordan’s pre-flop raise. Jordan flipped pocket 4’s and Drew Jd-10d for a coin flip. The flop however made Jordan a giant favorite but gave Andrew some outs as it hit A-K-4, to give Jordan the leading set. The turn gave the board a 10, giving Andrew 4 outs, and wouldn’t you know, the Q spiked on the river to double Drew and put Jordan on the short stack. A lot of emotion on that hand.

Andrew left us shortly after that though having his chips whittled away after a few tough hands. He was out in 7th place. 6th and 5th place finishes went to the next big hand of the night where all the money went in pre-flop. Jordan pushed short stacked, and Tim moved over the top all in, and Robert made the call having both Tim and Jordan covered. When the cards were turned over Jordan held Ad-4d, Tim A-Q os, and Robert A-J os. The three of them took a flop of J-6-6, giving the best hand to Robert. The turn and River bricked out and Robert took a dominating chip lead of nearly 700 chips of the 1050 in play. (with all the re-buys that happened).

Jack then went out in 4th place, eliminated by Robert as well, leaving the action 3 handed with myself at around 200 chips, and Traci short stacked at around 40. Traci got all her chips in after about the 10th hand of 3 handed action holding A-K, and was called by Robert with A-10 pre flop. But despite being an underdog again, Robert flopped Broadway when the flop came out K-Q-J. Traci was way behind but got some more outs when another J with the turn. But the 6 on the river proved to be the undoing as Robert’s straight held up.

Heads up lasted a long while as Robert maintained about a 4 to 1 chip advantage. After about 20 hands, I was steadily increasing my chip stack so that Roberts advantage was whittled to almost even. With 515 chips to Roberts 535, I made a terrible bluff with Q-6 putting Robert on absolutely nothing. I couldn’t have been more wrong. He called with his top pair (Aces) and I was drawing dead after the turn. And that was it. It was a good pot because of the re-buys, and a really fun night of poker.

The week before was equally fun (so I here) as I had to skip out early. I was leaving for Las Vegas with my sister for her Birthday. It was a fun trip, and I’ll tell about that tournament after the pablosplace game. I know very little since I wasn’t here, but we were 7 handed with Tim, Amber, Robert, Traci, long time absentees Jen and Chris, and a newcomer Mark. I know that the action ended up with Traci heads up with Tim, and Tim taking the pot having hit quad 7’s playing the might Seven Deuce. He’s my hero.

In Las Vegas, I played on Saturday morning at the Excalibur Hotel at their daily tournament. It had a $35 entry fee, with no add-ons and no re-buys. It was a lousy tournament structure as everyone started with only $300 tournament chips. Add to that an extremely fast paced blind structure, and it was a shove fest, not a poker tournament. The first level was blinds of 5-10 and lasted 15 minutes. The second level saw blinds increase to 10-20, and also lasted 15 minutes. After the first two levels, the $5 chips were colored off, and the blinds jumped to $25-$50. The tourney started with 36 players, and was consolidated to two tables after the second level. I ended up out in 16th. I played only 3 hands, and won one of them. I made a small raise on the second level to $50 with pocket 7’s and the board came out Qd-7d-4d. I moved the rest of my chips in and got an immediate call by the one player who’d called my pre-flop raise. He turned over Ad-Qc and had me covered. The turn and river delivered no diamonds however, and I doubled to almost $600. That was short lived as I called a pre-flop all in with A-K to find myself in a race with Pocket 10’s. I didn’t improve and lost most of my stack. I finally went out with A-2 coming up on the big blind and lost to J-6. Harsh, but I was glad to be away from that tourney.

Finally, on Wednesday, I played at the no-limit Hold Em’ tourney at Hollywood Park. It’s a really cool tournament with a $30 buy in, and multiple re-buys and add-ons for the first hour. The re-buys structure allows a single re-buy of $500 chips for $10 if you have less than $1000 chips, a double re-buy for $1000 chips if you have fewer than $500 chips, and a triple re-buy for $30 if you’re down to the felt. You begin with $500 starting chips and have an option for an add on (up to $30) after the first break.

I lasted quite a long time with 126 entries at 12 tables. I lasted well past the first break and down to the 4 table consolidation going out in 36th place. I had an unfortunate run in the last few minutes losing my first pot calling an All-In bet with pocket Q’s. The other turned over the call with K-10 os. A King hit the turn and I didn’t catch up. I then lost a real tough one moving all in on board of 5-6-9 with pocket J’s. I got one caller after 6 players saw the flop, so it was good pot. The caller moaned as he turned over pocket 10’s to my J’s. But he got very excited as the board produced an 8 on the turn, and a 7 on the river. There was now a straight on the board, but his pocket 10’s gave him a better straight than the board and took most of my chips. I got my last 1800 in with A-9 pre-flop and got called by Aces. The board gave me some hope as it hit 10-J-Q giving me an open ended straight draw. But the turn and river bricked out and it was 36th for me.

That wraps up (in a novel) the most recent poker stuff. Next week looks to be good to go, and we should be at least 6 handed. Hopefully we can get a few more additions and make it a larger game.

On a side note, Jordan and I are flirting with the idea of playing a tournament tomorrow (Sunday), but I’m not sure where yet. I’ll have to check around to see what’s going on. In addition, we’re still contemplating the Wine Tasting and the Poker Tournament for my fast approaching 30th birthday. More on that later. Until next time, cheers, P

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Main Event

Official November Nine Chip Counts and Seat Assignments
On November 9th, 2008, the following nine players will return to the felt with 21 minutes and 50 seconds left in level 33:

Dennis Phillips - 26,295,000
Craig Marquis - 10,210,000
Ylon Schwartz - 12,525,000
Scott Montgomery - 19,690,000
Darus Suharto - 12,520,000
David 'Chino' Rheem - 10,230,000
Ivan Demidov - 24,400,000
Kelly Kim - 2,620,000
Peter Eastgate - 18,375,000

This is a new thing where the WSOP is playing their final table in November (an almost 4 month intermission) to build up hype, and broadcast the event much closer to the release date of their television coverage, in an attempt to build up viewership.

For the record, blinds for level 33 are $120-000/$240,000 with a $30,000 chip ante. My guess Kelly Kim (the very short stack) should be the first to go, but really, this championship is anyone's to take.

Monday, July 14, 2008

A SIX on the river…..Are you kidding me!!!!!!

Sunday night brought us a Team7Deuce birthday as Robert decided to add another year to his life, allowing us the opportunity for some fellowship. It began in the way of a yummy dinner down at the Macaroni Grill in Northridge, and culminated in an odd event for us, Poker. OK, so maybe not so odd, but the fact that it happened on Sunday was rare.

It was one of the most interesting games that we’ve had at pablosplace in memory, as we had 9 players (an actual full table), and some newcomers (Derrick and Amanda). But it was the play that was bizarre. It took just over an hour to make the first orbit around, as the pots were really insane, including one bust out, then a re-buy.

Things began to settle down shortly after, and one by one the table whittled down. Derrick was the first to go out, followed by Robert. Amber was the next to go, followed by Jordan about an hour later. 5 handed, Tim controlled a massive stack playing a great run of cards to virtual perfection. Tay held a very healthy stack as well. I was a little short stacked in comparison, but not as low on chips as was Amanda and Traci. Amanda busted, then re-bought, and then went out again.

4 handed, saw Traci with the short stack, and she made her move raising the big blind (of 6-12) to 24, and I smooth called. Tay folded the action to Tim, who moved over the top for another 24. Traci re-raised all in with her final 31, and I moved all in after that for my final 73 (above Tim’s raise), and Tim made the call. When the cards were flipped, I had a huge advantage, tabling A-A, Traci 8-8, and Tim A-10. The board ran out pairing Tim’s 10 on the turn, but no 8 fell, and I scooped the pot eliminating Traci in 4th.

3 handed action lasted for about 35 minutes, as Tay was the most active member of our action. She was raising like crazy, and I finally made a bad call holding K-9. Tay had moved all in after I made the min-raise, and Tim stepped out of the way. I was in the tank for a while but decided to put most of my chips at risk, putting her on something small. I wasn’t completely off as she tabled Q-4. She had two live cards, but didn’t catch up on the board, as the river produced a case 9.

Heads up with Tim lasted just one hand. I had roughly 400 to Tim’s roughly 600, and Tim called the big blind (10-20). I raised to 60, and Tim re-raised to 120. I made the call. The flop came out Q-10-6. First to act, I checked over to Tim, who led out with 60. I knew I had him as I had flopped two pair (Q’s and 10’s). I check raised Tim to 100 more, and Tim moved all in. I insta-called, and Tim tossed over Aces. I was WAY ahead. Tim had but 5 outs, until the turn brought a 7, giving him a total of 8 outs (any 6, 7, or Ace would make him a better two pair or a set). The chance of him hitting a better hand at this point was about 18%, and wouldn’t you know, Tim hit it. A 4 to 1 shot paid off as he hits the 8 outer, catching a 6 on the river, giving him Aces and 6’s to my Q’s and 10’s, and it was over. Tim raked the pot.

In truth, Tim played brilliantly up to that point, amassing a great chip stack with over 1000 chips in play. It was a lot of fun last night with some really great action. A lot crazier than most nights, but fun none-the-less.

Remember, this coming Saturday, we’re a no-go, but things look ok as of right now for the following Friday. Thanks for everyone who came (Robert, Tay, Tim, Jordan, Amber, Derrick, Amanda, and Traci) for such a fun night. And a special thanks for Tay for coming down from Big Bear on her one off day to play (and Kudos for the great play), and for Robert, as we wish him great success this year on his birthday. Cheers, P

WSOP Update

Official Day 7 Seat Assignments Announced

It's Day 7 of the 2008 WSOP Main Event, and the 27 surviving players will return today at noon to play down to the final nine. WSOP officials conducted a redraw at the end of Day 6 play, and have now released the Day 7 seat assignments. Personally, I'm disappointed in the eliminations of Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow (in 30th place). I'll probably now be pulling for any American, but specifically, I'd like to see Tiffany "Hot Chips" Michelle, the lone female, make a deep run. Here is how the remaining 27 players will line up:

(Table 1)
Joe Bishop (Cincinnati, Ohio) - 4,855,000
Peter Eastgate (Odense, Denmark) - 9,325,000
Gert Andersen (Herning, Denmark) - 6,740,000
Kelly Kim (Whittier, California) - 8,840,000
Brandon Cantu (Las Vegas, Nevada) - 4,740,000
Dean Hamrick (East Lansing, Michigan) - 2,375,000
Ivan Demidov (Moscow, Russia) - 4,965,000
Niklas Flisberg (Stockholm, Sweden) - 1,330,000
Michael Carroll (Carson, California) - 1,015,000

(Table 2)
Scott Montgomery (Perth, Ontario, Canada) - 4,320,000
Tim Loecke (Highland Park, Illinois) - 2,280,000
Anthony Scherer (Truckee, California) - 2,385,000
Owen Crowe (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) - 3,800,000
Craig Marquis (Arlington, Texas) - 11,460,000
Ylon Schwartz (Brooklyn, New York) - 3,655,000
Paul Snead (Kings Park, New York) - 6,600,000
Tiffany 'Hot Chips' Michelle (Los Angeles, California) - 9,755,000
Phi Nguyen (Hawaiian Gardens, California) - 1,020,000

(Table 3)
Jason Riesenberg (Halbur, Iowa) - 3,405,000
Darus Suharto (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - 4,510,000
Chris Klodnicki (Voorhees, New Jersey) - 6,245,000
Toni Judet (Bucharest, Romania) - 5,000,000
Nicholas Sliwinski (Las Vegas, Nevada) - 4,925,000
David 'Chino' Rheem (Los Angeles, California) - 8,280,000
Dennis Phillips (St. Louis, Missouri) - 11,910,000
Albert Kim (Staten Island, New York) - 3,675,000
Aaron Gordon (Brighton, England) - 1,790,000

Sunday, July 13, 2008

WSOP Day 5

After Day 5 saw the likes of Allen Cunningham, Gus Hansen, Hoyt Corkins, and Mark Vos (on the last hand of the night by the way) hit the rail, we beging Day 6 of the WSOP Main Event at noon today. The chip average is over $1.7 million, and "the Brat" and "the Mouth" are still alive, though Phil Hellmuth is clinging to a smaller chip stack (around $700k). Here are the table assignments for the final 79 players as they begin today:

Table 1)
Bob Whalen - 1,382,000
Paul Snead - 1,572,000
Christopher Zapf - 297,000
Brian Tatum - 780,000
Aaron Gordon - 3,369,000
Jason Glass - 629,000
David Rheem - 2,586,000
Thomas Keller - 245,000
Garrett Beckman - 1,860,000

(Table 2)
Chris Klodnicki - 2,496,000
Kido Pham - 1,600,000
Aaron Keay - 990,000
Anthony Scherer - 2,245,000
Alfredo Fernandez - 3,053,000
Peter Eastgate - 2,629,000
Judet Christian - 3,031,000
Scott Montgomery - 1,669,000
Mauro Lupo - 2,261,000

(Table 3)
Greg Byard - 1,189,000
Jonathan Plens - 1,870,000
Nhan Le - 2,190,000
Justin Sadauskas -2,000,000
Keith Hawkins - 636,000
Eric Bamer - 479,000
Cristian Dragomir - 2,372,000
Dean Hamrick - 1,905,000
Joe Bishop - 1,570,000

(Table 4)
Geert Jans - 1,633,000
Justin Scott - 1,971,000
Alan Gould - 1,838,000
Daniel Buzgon - 876,000
Alex Outhred - 699,000
Albert Kim - 3,734,000
David Saab - 1,705,000
Nikolay Losev - 4,058,000
Matt Matros - 766,000

(Table 5)
Jeremy Joseph - 3,100,000
Mark Ketteringham - 5,800,000
Gert Andersen - 1,447,000
Brandon Cantu - 2,288,000
David Benefield - 2,490,000
Dennis Phillips - 3,436,000
Sean Davis - 861,000
Michael Carroll - 957,000
Mark Owens - 595,000

(Table 6)
Rafael Caiaffa - 1,338,000
Steve Lade - 3,225,000
Ivan Demidov - 2,185,000
Phi Nguyen - 1,540,000
Adam Levy - 767,000
Nicholas Sliwinski - 2,236,000
Suresh Prabhu - 1,175,000
Ylon Schwartz - 816,000
Victor Ramdin - 795,000

(Table 7)
James McManus - 2,434,000
Tim Loecke - 996,000
Phil Hellmuth - 721,000
Allen Kennedy - 1,153,000
Kelly Kim - 2,425,000
Larry Wright - 1,502,000
Jason Riesenberg - 2,217,000
Andrew Rosskamm - 1,593,000
Clint Schafer - 1,123,000

(Table 8)
Chris Crilly - 1,183,000
Craig Marquis - 1,748,000
Felix Osterland - 786,000
Jamal Sawaqdeh - 888,000
Jamal Kunbuz - 3,327,000
Mike Matusow - 1,169,000
Tiffany Michelle - 3,438,000
Jeremy Gaubert - 578,000

(Table 9)
Craig Stein - 440,000
Niklas Flisberg - 1,264,000
Mark Wilds - 485,000
Andrew Brokos - 4,080,000
Lisa Parsons - 581,000
Peter Neff - 1,275,000
Darus Suharto - 1,057,000
Owen Crowe - 1,050,000

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Main Event Update

Just thought I'd throw it out there for anyone that's interested. The main event begins Day 5 in about 15 minutes. There are currently 189 of the 6844 entrants remaining. I've got a rooting interest in the following players (with their current chip totals):

Mike Matusow - 458,000
Allen Cunningham - 1,141,000
Jeff Madsen - 690,300
Phil Hellmuth - 581,000
Mark Vos - 1,373,000
Shawn "Sheiky" Sheikhan - 1,516,000
Victor Ramdin - 1,322,000
Gus Hansen - 1,367,000
Hoyt Corkins - 305,000

The tournament average is about 750,00 chips right now, so Hoyt Corkins is severely short stacked, but everyone else is doing ok. They're all seated at separate tables, but wouldn't this make for an awesome final table? Impossible, I know, but cool. Good luck to everyone else in it. I'll be there one day..........

"A" Game

Last night, we had 5 players at pablosplace, and I brought the A-game. From the opening, I was making perfect reads, even though it was resulting in a damaged chip stack.

After dropping to about 50 or so chips in the first 30 minutes, I was content that I didn't loose more. On a board of Qh-5h-9h-10d-Jd, Tim lead out for another 18, after I called bets of 10 on the flop, and 12 on the turn. Holding K-Q, I thought back to the play, and put Tim on A-Q. I said it aloud, folding it as I tabled my cards, and Tim flipped it A-Q. My first good read of the night.

A little later, I folded after a pre-flop raise and put Amber on a K when she made a boat, and later I put her on J-10 and was able to away from that hand as well.

Robert was the first to go, as the flop came out Q-6-7, he led out with a raise, and I called, then Traci called. 3 handed, a 9 fell on the turn and Robert led out all-in. I snap called, and Traci folded. I tabled 6-7 for two pair, and Robert flipped 8-9 for middle pair and a straight draw. However, the J on the turn was no help and Robert was eliminated in 5th place.

Traci would go out in 4th place. After nursing a very short stack for some time. She took the biggest hit on her stack with a board of J-5-6-8-8, and Tim led out for 24. Traci went into the Tank for quite some time, and finally laid down Q-J. Tim turned over his semi-bluff of J-7, and raked a good pot, sending Traci down to about 15 chips or so. She was able to triple her stack at one point, moving all in with Q-J, and found calls by both me and Tim. On the board of 10-7-4, I led out for 12, and Tim called. With the J on the turn, I fired 12 more, and Tim let it go. I took the side pot, and tabled K-10, and Traci's J held up. Finally, she made her stand with K-J, and I made the call with Jh-9h. The board played out 6-7-8-5-10, giving me a straight on the river, and sending Traci out in 4th place.

Things had really picked up for me just a few hands before that, as I was dealt Qd-Jd, and raised the pot to 12 pre-flop. Only Tim made the call, and I checked the board of Ad-10d-Ks. Tim checked behind me. The 10h came on the turn, and I fired out 12 more, and Tim made the call. The river was the best possible card for me, the Kd, making a Royal Flush for me, and I led out with 24. Tim went into the tank, and was wondering if I was just playing the board. After about 4 minutes, he gave up his hand, and I tabled the nuts. From there, it was a steady ascension up the ladder.

I bluffed a hand a little later, and got Tim to make a big lay down, and eventually was able to bust Tim, calling his all-in. He'd made a couple of moves for his last 30 or so, but found no action, and just picked up the blinds. I can't remember the bust out hand for the life of me at the moment, because I keep recalling some of the other great hands of the night. There was one that doubled Tim, where on a board of 10-9-7, I made an all-in move with A-Q, and Tim went into the tank. He finally made the call with A-K, and the turn and River bricked out giving Tim the hand. The other was a couple of laydowns that he made, folding to my Pocket J's which was an over pair on the board, and also laying down a hand pre-flop after debating an all-in. I tabled pocket 7's, and the board ran out with me dominating having flopped a set.

Amber and I were heads up for about 15 hands, and she started out short stacked. She made a great play on the second hand when I raised to 40 on a board of 4-5-J-Q, and she made the call. When the 3 fell on the river she moved all in, and I got away from K-10. That moved her to almost even in chips on that hand. I was controlling the heads up match for the most part, and ended it on a board of 6-7-J. I led out with 20. Amber made the call, and the turn came out 5. I made a move all-in, and Amber quick called, with a A-4. I tabled 8-9 for the straight, and had her drawing dead, and raked the pot.

I was able to make some really amazing reads last night, and was right on just about all of them. Add that to the third Royal Flush in pablosplace history, and it was a really great night.

Next week looks like a no-go, as everyone seems to have something else going on. We discussed the possiblity for a pablosplace Mountain game, as Tay has the possibility of a cabin in Big Bear. And we've also discussed the possibility for pablosplace coastal, for a game at a beach house in Mexico for my birthday, or another Team7Deuce event, including a wine tasting trip in either Napa or Solvang, followed by a tournament at the Chumash Casino. More details on those events to come.

Thanks to everyone who played last night, and I'll see you all next time. Cheers, P

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Friday Night Lights

Just wanted to get something up to let everyone know that we are good to go for this Friday.

Also wanted to get a shameless plug in for the main event (2008 WSOP Event #54, $10,000 Buy In No Limit Hold Em' World Championship - Main Event). I've been following the action religiously through the blogs on http://www.wsop.com/, and there has been some amazing action. The remaining 666 players are in the money as of just a couple of minutes ago. The chip leader is over $1 million chips (Some guy named Jeremiah Smith) and there are several notable players still in the field:

Former Champs, Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan are very healthy and sitting well over 300k. They are the only former winners of this event that are still alive.

Other notable players still alive and in the money include, Allen Cunningham, Mike Matusow, and Men "The Master" Nguyen. Hevan "Rainkahn" Kahn, Gus Hansen, and Jeff Madsen are also still rolling. It's been an amazing main event so far, and it looms only bigger and better in the coming days.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Seven Deuce Day Recap

Seven Deuce Day

I’ve been waiting for this day since Tim texted me last year out of sheer jest “Happy Seven Deuce Day,” last July 2nd. Since then, the countdown was on.

I’m happy to report the sheer joy and happiness experienced by every member of Team7Deuce, as we played quite successfully (maybe not by monetary standards, but by other immeasurable standards) at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens.
Nervousness began the day on the part of several of our team. It looked like the 7 confirmed members might be 5, when Tim had car issues, and was bringing Traci along with him. At the last second, we were able to reach Andrew as he was leaving, to pick the two of them up, and we were back to 7. In all, Traci, Tay, Robert, Amber, Tim, Andrew, and I, all donned our Team7Deuce shirts, and stormed the Bicycle Casino in style. The shirts were a huge splash, and the talk of the tournament. Every table was commenting about them, and we got rave reviews.

For the record, and between me, and the ba-jillion readers here at pablosplace, I’d have liked to see how Tim performed without this fiasco. I think that the way that he’s been playing recently, we would have seen him go much deeper in the tournament.

As it was, the whole group arrived at about 12:45, or with 15 minutes till go time. By the time that everyone had received their cards and registered (and Traci had received her sandwich for lunch), we were sitting at our respective tables and playing cards.

There were 162 at 16 tables (a few late entries came in to fill the 10 handed action at each table) final entries to the tournament, and each of us began with 2000 chips. I can’t speak for absolutely everyone, as I didn’t get the chance to see everyone’s play, but I was very happy with mine.

After about 25 minutes, I’d increased my chip stack to around $5000. I was really controlling the action, and just about every pot went through me. But I suffered a few unfortunate losses, and they happened within 3 hands of one another. The first was where I raised with the blinds at 100-200 to 225 holding Ac-Kc. The blinds folded, and I got one caller. With 750 in the pot, and a board of 2s-6s-9c, I was first to act and bet out 400. The guy behind me re-raised all in for about 2500. I went into the tank for a little bit, and made the announcement “I think that I’m behind, but I can catch up. I call.” He flipped over As-5s for a simple flush draw, and I had him for the moment. But when the turn dealt a red 5, and the river bricked, I was left with about half of my stack.

I picked up the blinds on the next two hands with Min-raises. Then got into trouble again. From the button, I made another raise to $225, and the guy behind pushed all in from the small blind. It pushed away three other limpers, and put the action back on me. He had under 2k remaining, and had been playing really tight the entire session. I read him as having two over cards, and decided to gamble announcing “I’ll race you” and made the call with pocket 9’s. He turned over A-K, and I was looking good after the flop. But, the turn dropped an Ace, and I didn’t catch my 9 on the river. This took my stack down to about $450 chips.

At that point, the break was the next hand, and I was on life support after having controlled the table and having eliminated 3 other players. But I came to find out that after the break, everyone was still in. Robert was also short-stacked with about $500 chips remaining, but everyone else was relatively healthy. Amber had a little under $2k, and Tay, Tim, and Traci all had a little over 2k, and Andrew was very healthy at near 6k.

After the break, things came unglued for our team quickly. I think that Tay was first to go, just a couple hands after the break, and then Robert followed her to the rail quickly after. Shortly after Amber then Tim was eliminated.

My story of the day came shortly after that though. I was all in three times, two scooping the blinds, and the third chopping a pot as both of us turned over K-Q. But the 4th all in was the all in of the tournament in my opinion. Down to $950 remaining, someone made it $600 to go, and I looked down and saw “Seven Deuce, off-suit”. I thought for about 2.5 seconds, and moved all in. The blinds folded and the bring in bet called. He turned over Ad-Kd. I stood up and said “I made this move for one reason,” and another guy said “He’s got 7-2!!!!” I flipped the cards over adamantly and said loudly “Seven Deuce ALL IN!!!” I got some attention from the surrounding tables and the flop came out 3-6-9 rainbow. I shouted, “I’m still alive”, and then one of the guys at my table said “it’s coming on this card. Sure enough, the turn was a 7, and I was ahead. I went ballistic as did my table. Laughs abounded as we heard one person say “Happy Seven Deuce Day.” The river was a 6, and I doubled up. I was apologetic towards the guy I laid the bad beat on. He later went to Tim’s table short stacked, and still ranting about the bad beat I laid on him.

Moments later, another shout rose up on Traci and Andrew’s table, as Traci hit quad Q’s. This gave her a much healthier stack as well.

But that’s where the main action ended for the most of us. Tables were reduced to 6 tables, and that’s when I basically went card dead. My final hand, I moved for my last 1k with pocket 2’s, and got called by pocket 8’s. The board ended up K-K-7-7-Q, giving him a better two pair, and I was out in the 50’s. Traci would follow me to the rail after the reduction to 5 tables, having mostly been blinded out. She moved all in, and was called by 3 people. Andrew ended scooping the pot making a K high flush.

Andrew was our last team member in, and he played really well. Sitting most of the tournament to the right of the Chip leader, he had to play conservatively, and still amassed an impressive chip stack, though I don’t think he was ever at 10k. Maybe right around there though. We saw them reduce the tables from 5, to 4, and then to 3, and announce that they were going to pay the 19th place finisher $45. Turns out, that’s where Andrew ended up, as our only casher.

I couldn’t be more proud of the play of our group, and am so happy to see all of the laughs and the smiles of everyone who played. It was an outstanding event. Thanks again for everyone on Team7Deuce for making it so enjoyable, and thanks to the Bike for hosting our Pablosplace Inaugural Seven Deuce Day Tournament, even if they didn’t know that’s what they doing. It was beyond words fun, and it was something that we will be repeating, time and again.

Just a reminder, that pablosplace will be dark this Friday night for 4th of July. Go watch fireworks somewhere. But we’ll resume next Friday.

Congrats again to Andrew for his cash, and assuming the lead on the POY leaderboard. I’m going to keep track of points for Team7Deuce, and I think that this was the perfect opportunity to do so. Soon to be released will be www.team7deuce.com where player profiles and bio’s will be made available, as well as a leader board with the player of the year to be announced. More on that in the near future. Cheers, P

Monday, June 30, 2008

Seven Deuce Day

Since it's around the corner, I figured that I'd get all the info up on the site.

On Wednesday, July 2nd, the Inaugural pablosplace Seven Deuce Day Tournament is being hosted by the lovely people at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, CA. Here is the tournament info:

The Bicycle Casino
7301 Eastern Avenue
Bell Gardens, CA 90201
Phn (562) 806-4646
Game - No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $30 + $10 = $40 total, No Add-Ons, No Re-Buys.
Start with $2000 tournament chips.
Number of players averages around 150 to 200
Total Prize Pool: Should be in the range of $4,500 to $6,000
Starts - 2008/07/02 - 1:00 PM (PST), but late entry accepted for the first 45 minutes.

Right now, we have 6 of the 8 Team7Deuce Players committed to playing, and the other 2 are very hopeful. I've also got some interest from some players that are not regulars at pablosplace that are interested in playing as well. For me, the more, the merrier when it comes to poker. I just love this game.

I think that we're pretty much planning on just meeting there, because there's just too many agenda's going on before and after. But I'll be there until the last of our crew goes out. Hopefully, we can get a few t-shirts at the final table.

E-mail me if you have any other questions, or need more info.

GO TEAM7DEUCE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Catch Up

Seven Deuce Day is approaching, and I think that everyone here the last two weeks is really excited about playing at the Bicycle Casino.

I've got two weeks to catch up on, and I'll start with the farthest away. Robert was long overdue for a victory, and after hitting quads, he never looked back. Using big stack poker, he controlled most of the table and ended after 2 AM as the first place finisher. Drew, after a couple of re-buys, got his money back in second place.

Last night, we were 5 handed, and those here had their Team7Deuce shirts delivered. Jordan nursed some crappy cards most of the night, and 4 handed opened up with two big wins, both at Tim's expense. Tim first had J's cracked by Jordan, and then Jordan eliminated him with J's vs. A-Q. Heads up began with Jordan holding a 4 to 1 advantage over me, and I came back to almost even, until the last hand.

All the money went in pre-flop, and Jordan flipped K-9 and I A-7. The river paired Jordan's K, and he walked away with the pot.

I don't think we'll be playing on 4th of July, but I'm open to the idea. Maybe we can play a fireworks game or something? Cheers, P

Friday, June 27, 2008

New Team7Deuce Shirts....

Have been completed. I'll pick them up this afternoon. GAME ON!!!!!!!!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

My biggest online win..

See the e-mail from pokerstars below.....SEVEN DEUCE DAY IS APPROACHING!!!!


PokerStars Tournament #92086427,
No Limit Hold'emSuper Satellite
Buy-In: $2.00
83 players
Total Prize Pool: $544.00
Target Tournament #92085567 Buy-In: $33.00 5 tickets to the target tournament
Tournament started - 2008/06/21 - 21:06:00 (ET)

Dear fleapid,You finished the tournament in 1st place. You qualified to play in Tournament #92085567 and are automatically registered for it. See Tournament #92085567 Lobby for further details. If you choose to unregister from this tournament your account will be creditedwith 33.00 W$. W$ can be used to buy into any qualifying special PokerStars event.Visit our web site at http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/ for more details.

In addition a $60.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account. Congratulations!Thank you for participating.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

A new system...

A similar result.

Applying the small ball strategy worked for a long while tonight, until I couldn’t catch cards anymore. Using the new stuff I learned on www.pokervt.com, I built a large chip lead, more than doubling my chip stack in about the first 15 hands.

Then, things really unraveled. First, Amber doubled off of me. I flopped two pair, and bet the flop. Amber called. The river came with an Ace, and I moved Amber all in. Amber called and I had her as she had AQ. But the river paired the board giving Amber a better two pair.

Tim got some big chips off of Robert, who eventually went out to me when I out kicked him with K high.

Then, I lost another giant pot when Traci doubled off of me, hitting quad 5’s on the river. From there, I spiraled down and eventually out. I made my move calling Tim’s raise to three times the big blind with 8-7os. The flop came Q-8-5, and I moved all in. Tim made a quick call with Q-J. I didn’t improve and was done in 4th.

3 handed, Tim had a giant chip stack and used it well. He navigated the large stack for a long while, until Traci finally went out. And then he eliminated Amber after a long fought heads up battle, that included several double ups by Amber.

Amber actually made a Royal Flush on the river of one hand, and brought herself to around 160. But Tim maintained a sizeable chip lead throughout play. In the end, Tim flopped a set of fours, and Amber made an All in move on a the board of 4-4-7-8. She flipped K-7, and Tim K-4. The river was a case four giving Tim Quads and the pot.

It was a long fought heads up with some outstanding play at the end. The three handed action to the eventual heads up victory by Tim lasted just over 2 hours. Eventually the blinds had to be raised to 10-20 just to get enough action back and forth.

For next week, we look good, and with any luck, the Team 7 Deuce Shirts may be ready by Friday. I’ll let you know. Cheers, P

Friday, June 13, 2008

Congrats to Daniel

As a big Daniel Negreanu fan, I find great happiness in his 4th WSOP bracelet. I'm a member of Daniel's poker training site http://www.pokervt.com/, where Daniel teaches small ball. I'm still working on the training. The following is a recap from http://www.wsop.com/ Congrats again Daniel on number 4!!!

The final table of Event #20 ($2,000 Limit Hold 'em) at the 2008 World Series of Poker began with all eyes on one man: Daniel Negreanu. The 33-year-old Canadian is one of the most recognized and liked personalities in the game and Event #20 was his shot to win a fourth WSOP bracelet and join an elite group of four time bracelet winners that includes Bobby Baldwin, Amarillo Slim, Tom McEvoy, Huck Seed, David Chiu, Scotty Nguyen and the late Puggy Pearson. Negreanu also had to contend with the added pressure of having won this event in 2004.
Standing in Negreanu's way, however, were eight men all looking for their first bracelet, including one young online pro in Richard Li, one experienced live tournament player in David Baker, and Fu Wong, who finished 2nd just days ago in Event #14 ($10,000 Seven-card Stud World Championship).
The final table began with a pair of quick eliminations and Negreanu, who began the day in the middle of the pack, moving his way up to the top of the leader board. With play five-handed Negreanu took a few big hits, the biggest of which was having his pocket Kings cracked by Baker's pocket eights. Baker soon took over the lead and after a couple of eliminations and many ups and downs; Negreanu was tied with Turkish-born Ugur Marangoz at 400,000 while Baker was sitting strong with over 1 million.
When three handed play got underway Baker began to free fall, taking several hits from Marangoz and even having his river bluff picked off by Negreanu with Ace-high. A few hands later Negreanu rivered a gutshot straight against Baker, sending him to the rail with $78,624 for his third place showing.
Heads-up play began with Negreanu taking a monster pot off Marangoz when he flopped a flush and got Marangoz to four-bet the turn and call another bet on the river. The pot all but devastated Marangoz's stack and a few hands later Negreanu raised him all-in on a board of 5-K-5-Q-3. Marangoz threw in his few remaining chips and Negreanu showed 9-5 for three-of-a-kind. Marangoz couldn't beat it and the Las Vegas poker room manager was eliminated in 2nd place ($126,671).
Negreanu shook his opponents' hand then went straight over to kiss his mother, who was sitting in the front row of the Milwaukee’s Best Light No Limit Lounge. Negreanu then thanked the fans for staying to watch, saying that having "home team advantage" helped him stay positive when he was short stacked during the middle stages of the day.
Daniel Negreanu added a fourth WSOP bracelet and $204,874 to his already stellar WSOP record.
"It's so difficult to even get to the final table, so to win is just an amazing feeling," Negreanu said.
For a full list of payouts from Event #20, see the WSOP results page.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Ladies Night???

Just about.

I've got two updates to get in here. Last week, we had five players as Robert, Tay, and Tim were here, and a fortunate return by Traci.

As far as I was concerned, my play stunk worse than....well....something not very good. I couldn't catch cards, and when I did, I went up against someone else who had a monster. I was ousted quickly, and retreated to the living room to sulk.

After a while, I came back to see Traci and Tay, heads up. It was around 1:30 AM that they decided to call it quits, and chop the pot. Because Tay had a chip advantage, she took the extra $5.

Last night, my play was more of the same. We went 6 handed to start, and then Andrew joined us after the Aimee Mann concert at around 11:00. Amber made another appearance and played phenomenally. She ended up runner up to Tim.

On the first hand of the night, Amber flopped Quad 7'. Shortly after, she doubled Tim, and Tim stayed in that direction all night, collecting all of our chips until the end.

A short but sweet wrap up for the last couple of weeks. We should be good to go this coming Friday. Cheers, P

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Tim's Round.....Again

So, we went 6 handed on Friday night, as Robert and Traci couldn't make it. But we had a new addition to the group, Jose. He played great, eventually knocking me out as the first departure of the night.

I played stupid. Maybe beneath that. But it was very much bad. After two rebuys, I moved with a board of Q-Q-4 holding K-J. I was called by Jose almost immediately with A-Q. I was dead. Jordan went out second and Coli made a light night appearance. We went out to the garage and threw darts for about an hour.

After Jordan left, I came back in and Jose had been bumped out. Tay went out in third place, getting her money back. And Andrew nursed the short stack for seemingly forever, making a game out of it three handed, but eventually going out to Tim in second.

That makes 3 out of the last four nights to Tim who's just been unconscious lately. Hopefully, that will carry over to Seven Deuce Day, which approaches quickly.

Many kudos to all that played and kicked my buttocks on Friday. And a big shout out to pablosplace.com, as it has moved up in the world, gathering linking status as a "Non-Hobo" blogger site on Andrewseely.com. I have never been more proud. Well maybe......

Next Friday looks good to go, and on a short week, I'm hoping to actually play decent this time. See you all then.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Quads Abundant

Because of the Girl Scout Camp out, we didn't play on Friday, but a Sunday return offered the perfect opportunity to squeeze in a game at pablosplace.

We only had four players however, as Traci was exhausted and Jordan and Jason could only stay for the darts earlier. But the 4 handed game lasted almost 4 hours.

We each started with 125, and blinds were at 2/4 to start. I was crippled early, and down to 13 chips with Andrew being blinded out running late from work. He'd lost maybe 6 blinds by the time that he'd got here, and I doubled a couple of times right as he'd arrived for a healthy stack.

Tim was the first player of the night to hit quads, as he was holding a J, and three more J's appeared on the board. With light betting, the quad J appeared on the river and he took a good sized pot off of Tay. Tay rebounded nicely by doubling through me with Quad Queens. She moved all in from the button, and I called her with As-Js. She flipped over pocket Q's, and flopped a Q, and rivered another.

Then it was my turn, with pocket 10's. The flop came out 10-10-4, and Andrew bet out 20. I raised my last 40, and everyone folded around. I had to turn over my quads as it was the third of the night.

Shortly after Tay was eliminated in 4th place at around 11:45. As she departed, Andrew flopped himself a set of 8's, and rivered Quad 8's against Tim. I don't think that there has ever been a game in which so many Quads have hit.

In the end, Tim went out in 3rd, and I eliminated Andrew after a long heads up. We were 3 handed for a while as well.

We look good for this Friday, so plan on bringing as many people as you can. Another 2 table game would be awesome. See you Friday. P

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Sometimes, good read's doesn't make winning poker....

But it helps get to heads up. In the end, good cards trumps good reads.

We had 7 players on Friday night, and Tim was the best of us all again. It was a lot of fun. After the heads up, Tim and I commented on how I'd made some sick reads.

We also had a first time guest (Amber), whose company was greatly appreciated by all. I hope she can become a regular.

The two reads that I made were wise lay downs, and put Tim on an Ace on the first hand, and Tay on a K on the second. But calling out so close to the kicker was the real hoot.

Sorry for the lack of substance in this post, but I wanted to get it up. I need a pillow now.

This Friday is a no-go as I am camping with the girl scouts. We leave for camp Lakota on Friday and get back on Sunday. But the Friday after should be good-to-go.......P

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Best Friday Night.....Ever

I don't know that bring a friend night could really have been much better. I don't think that there was really an area of improvement.

We had almost 20 people for the Barbecue, and 13 players for the poker game. The Q' was grub. We had Burgers, Dogs, Ribs, Watermelon, and a bunch of other goodies, including Birthday cake to celebrate Traci's 31st. We had karaoke (American Idol version) and lots of fellowship before hand. It was a blast. Now, to the poker......

With 13 players, we implemented the poker timer. I hadn't brought it out since it flopped at the Granada Hills house, but with 13 people and 2 tables, we needed a consistent way to keep the blinds and action moving. It worked very well.

Order of Finish, down to the final table was:

13 - Tay
12 - Jen
11 - Jason
10 - Amir
9 - Me

Then we had a final table. For the record, I busted moving for my last 32 with A-10, and got called by Tim with pocket K's. When he flopped a K, I was done.

The final table was really good action. Becky was eliminated in 8th place, playing exceptionally well. With 7 players remaining, the chip leaders with about equal stacks were Tim, Sherman, and Jordan.

Short stacked, Robert moved all in twice and won both times. The third time was his undoing, and he busted in 7th place going out to Sherman.

Michelle played great. She was moved to my table just before the split, and was able to keep her stack alive until she went out in 6th. Tim flopped an Ace, and Michelle couldn't catch up.

With 5 players remaining, the short stacks belonged to Traci and Andrew, who were both sitting at around 100 chips. That changed on one big pot where Andrew moved against Sherman, who eventually made a big lay down. Andrew improved his stack to around 250, and Sherman took a hit.

Then, Jordan made his move, and got caught by Tim. On the river, Jordan moved with two pair AQ, and was called by Tim who hung around to make a flush on the river. That crippled Jordan to almost elimination, leaving him with only 20 chips. But he wasn't done. He first doubled his stack through Sherman, and then later quadrupled his stack when his Ace high was good enough.

Traci was dwindling and finally moved with suited 9-6. Tim made the call and then eliminated Traci in 5th place. Traci failed to improve and Tim's King was good enough.

Shortly after, Jordan made a mis-step moving all in on the flop, and Andrew made a quick call after flopping the straight. Jordan left in 4th place.

3 handed, Tim and Andrew were roughly now similar stacked, and Sherman had the least chips. They played 3 handed for around 30 minutes, when Tim caught Sherman with the Nut flush. This gave Tim a size able advantage heads up with Andrew.

Two hands in, it was done in pre-flop as Andrew moved with A-Q, and Tim called with A-K. Andrew actually flopped a Q, but the turn was a K and it was all done.

Tim played really well on Friday, as really did everyone here. I'm glad that we got the turnout that we did. It made for a really great game.

This Friday still looks ok to go. I'll be coming from a conference in San Diego, but I should be able to make it back in time for poker. We'll plan on the usual time of 8pm. Thanks to everyone who attended and everyone who played. As always, there's an open invitation to pablosplace, anytime. See you all again on Friday. Cheers, P