Yeah, I’m approaching the $50K HORSE event from the wrong end, but as long as I don’t step in a big pile, who really cares?

Hold on – scratch that – what I meant to say is that this is the tourney that all the big names pros really want to win. Sure, the Main Event provides the big-ass payday that everybody wants, but the HORSE event is the bidness. 148 pros ponied up $50K each for a shot at what has become the game’s most prestigious title and, in the end, some really big names played their way to the Sweet 16, including Brunson, Bloch (15^th place), Negreanu, and Ivey (12^th place).

The final table was even more impressive, boasting names like Greenstein, Seed (7^th place), Lindgren (3^rd place) and Scotty “It’s All Over Baby” Nguyen. Lindgren, who started the final table with the chip lead, busted third and added more than $781K to his roll. Nice money to be sure. Oh, if you’re curious, second place pays more than $1.2 million while the winner grabs almost $2M.

Wow, what a shitty headline. I should apologize for that. Really, I should, but nah….

For those of you who don’t know to whom I’m referring, please meet Martin “I really need a nickname” Kläser, winner of WSOP Event 43. Why is Martin worth your time and effort? Simple – he’s a 21-year old kid with game.

Martin became a pro last October after winning our Million Euro Challenge Freeroll tournament and then beating both Chris Ferguson and Gus Hansen heads up to collect €350K. Not a bad way to start a career, if I do say so myself. Then, he followed that up by heading to Vegas last week, buying into his first ever WSOP event, and winning the whole damn thing. That’s more than another $200K in the coffers and one of those shiny bracelet things for his wrist.

!@#$% 21-year old ^%#$!# whipper-snapper punk kids. Uh, I mean, well done Martin, well done.

Now, if you’d all excuse me, I’m off to check my bankroll and cry in my beer.

After Nenad Medic’s victory in Event ,#1 David Singer made it two out of three for FTP pros by taking down Event #3, the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold ‘em. Hot on the heels of his win in the $25,000 Heads-Up World Championship, Singer was the last one standing out of 713 players, taking down Jacobo Fernandez heads-up to win $214,131 and his first bracelet. Singer obviously runs good at life – his very pregnant fiancée was there to drag his ass away at any moment support him with their baby due the next day.

Erick Lindgren finally got the monkey off his back by finally winning his first WSOP bracelet in Event #4, the $5,000 Mixed Hold ‘em (No-Limit/Limit). Lindgren overcame a pro-heavy field of 332 players and a stacked final table which also included Howard Lederer (6^th, $74,199) and Roland De Wolfe (4^th, $117,030) to collect the $374,505 first place prize and shiny (something shiny? Where? Oh sorry got distracted) new bracelet.

It’s not that we’re prone to conspiracy theories, but this little doozy popped up – David Singer and Erick Lindgren both just won their first-ever WSOP bracelet and they both did it in the exact same way. Oooooh spooky! On David’s final hand the chips were all-in on the turn with the board reading 3d-5s-7d-6c. Jacobo Fernandez turned over 7c-3h for two-pair, but Singer rolled over Qs-4s for a turned straight, which held up.

In Lindgren’s case, the chips were all-in on the river with the board reading Tc-5c-3d-4h-8h. Justin Bonomo showed 5s-4s for two pair while Erick had Ah-2d for the turned straight. Both losers had two pair and both winners hit their gutshots on the turn – feel the chills down your spine? Lol live-riggaments.

Chris “Jesus” Ferguson obviously didn’t get the memo that said a Full Tilt Poker pro must win every event, spoiling a clean sweep of the first four events by coming in third in Event #2 for $388,287. Greg “FBT” Mueller also narrowly missed a win and his first bracelet – taking second in Event #11, a $5,000 No-Limit Hold ‘em Shootout for $298,638. All in all, the pros have cashed for over $3.6 million so far – and we’re not even a quarter of the way through the Series.

Apparently, there are a few hardy souls out there who are looking to write their way to Vegas for the Big Dance. The entries that we’ve received thus far have been entertaining and it’s clear that folks have put a lot of effort into their work. In fact, check them out for yourself:

katiemother - Post 1 and 2

TuscaloosaJohn - Post 1 and 2

lightning36 - Post 1 and 2

Looking at this list, it’s definitely worth noting that katiemother, TuscaloosaJohn, and lightning36 scored big-style in Battle of the Bloggers tournaments. Each of them took home a $2K WSOP prize package – well done and congratulations.

If you’ve not entered yet, you’ve still got a few days to take a shot at being our “Blogger on the Rail.” Check out the Write Your Way to the WSOP page for full details.

Winning isn’t everything, but losing is for losers.

Here’s to all nine of our FTOPS winners so far – congratulations on a job well done. May you use your newfound pocket change to buy a little piece of happiness for yourselves, or at least avoid donking off all your winnings to Phil Ivey on the high-stakes tables. In no particular order, here are the winners and their winnings from events one through nine:

Event #1: the guru 11 - $158,852.23

Event #2: whothedonk - $48,150

Event #3: BOP B 3AKOHE 1 - $76,545

Event #4: EMSBas - $48,420

Event #5: voguepergola - $27,735

Event #6: mmmadd - $68,477.50

Event #7: jornx - $102,249.50

Event #8: GoToChurch - $51,200

Event #9: _FlaXmar Z_ - $263,438.04

Is a shootout really a shootout if there are no guns involved?

The arrival of FTOPS VIII has surprisingly coincided with the launch of our new shootout tournament feature. We’ve had two FTOPS shootout tourneys so far – Event #3 was a 3X full table shootout that maxed out at 729 players. That meant that the winner had to take down three full tables in a row to win the top prize.

Event #8 was a heads-up shootout with 512 players in the running, meaning the winner had to take down nine heads-up matches to capture the crown. If you want to get in on all the excitement that shootout tourney action has to offer, we still have one more FTOPS shootout on the schedule – look for Event #17 on Thursday, May 15^th at 14:00 ET. And please people; leave your guns at home. Remember that guns don’t kill people, coolers do…

A screen name can say a lot about what kind of player you are. With that in mind, I’d like to take the time to point out a couple of the winning screen names so far. I mean, is anybody surprised that a player named whothedonk took down Event #2, a PLO KO tourney? PLO is the game of donk champions, and when you add the knockout factor into that mix you better watch out. That’s what we call suck out city, baby! (Pardon me; I seem to have channelled Dick Vitale momentarily.)

In other surprising news, Event #9 (a HU shootout tourney) was won by a player named GoToChurch. That one seems spot on, as you’d have to do a lot of praying to win nine straight heads-up matches. I’m not a religious person, but I might have to sign up at the Church of Jerry Yang if it means that I might someday win myself a donkament of such prolific proportions.

To all the Full Tilt Pros out there, keep up the good work. Being highlighted in red makes you a target to every donk near and far, especially with that extra bounty placed upon your cartoon avatar heads. But it should come as no surprise that the pros are making a strong showing at this FTOPS. We have yet to have a repeat of the feat Erick Lindgren pulled off in FTOPS VII when he won his own event, but we’ve got plenty of events to go.

Speaking of E-Dog, he’s having another strong run this FTOPS, as he’s had the highest pro finish in two of the nine events thus far. But the title of pro MVP so far has got to be Scott Fischman. The Fish Tank has had three top pro finishes so far and is ranked 10^th on the FTOPS VIII Leaderboard. Hey, maybe he’ll win a custom avatar. Oh wait, he already has one. That sucks for him.

We’ve only had one pro make a final table so far, as Berry Johnston took fourth in Event #4, a Stud Hi/Lo tourney. They say that Stud is an old man’s game, and I guess they’re right (whoever the hell they may be). I’m not saying that Johnston is old, but rumor has it he was playing cards with Doc Holliday back in the day. I joke, I joke, I kid, I kid. Johnston is one of the classier players remaining in the game today, a throwback to the old school when playing cards was done properly. Congrats on a great run, Berry.

Congratulations, you’ve won a free entry into the Bouncebackability Freeroll!

To all the bubble boys out there – ouch, I’m sorry man. There’s no way to take the sting out of just missing the money in a major tourney such as the ones we provide during FTOPS. On the bright side, you do get to play in the Bouncebackability Freeroll for a shot at winning a seat to this year’s WSOP Main Event. So you’ve got that going for you. Here’s the list of all the awe inspiring bubble boys, we feel your pain:

Event #1: CrazyMonkey13 (no relation to One Angry Monkey, thank god)

Event #2: skjervoy

Event #3: todaywewin (then again, there’s always tomorrow)

Event #4: Fluke_2001

Event #5: KCBlitzz

Event #6: 1sneaky (but not sneaky enough)

Event #7: Stuart Patterson (a pro as bubble boy, inconceivable!)

Event # 8: 2mints

Event #9: CHARLES OAKLEY (my all time favorite Knick, a man with elbows so sharp they could poke your eyes out)

One final note as I do my corporate duty for the day. We’ve put together some pretty cool video highlights from each FTOPS final table with commentary by Poker After Dark’s Ali Nejad. Check them out if you want to see all the action for yourself.

That’s it for now, I’ll be back on Thursday with some more FTOPS related madness, so be sure to check back then. As for me, I’m back to daydreaming about having enough money to buy-in to tonight’s $1K NLH tourney, but let’s get real – that ain’t never gonna happen. I’ll now be crying myself to sleep on my extra large pillow…

As we examined several agreed-upon “sports,” we actually identified a couple of them that could be both. One of these happened to be golf. I’m of the firm opinion that golf is an activity that can go either way. Poker, on the other hand, is clearly a game. Yes, my friends, I’d be glad to elaborate on this.

If you’re at the top of any “activity” and demonstrate skill and athleticism well beyond that of the average participant, you’re a professional and recognized accordingly. The obvious golf example is Tiger Woods. The man is at the top of the game – when he plays golf, it’s a sport. When Erick Lindgren went out went out in 100+ degree heat, carried his own clubs, and shot under 100 for four consecutive rounds on a tough course, that was golf as an extreme sport.

That said, if you cruise around in a cart, slugging beers, and whacking the dimpled spherical tormentor about the greens, it’s an activity. Don’t get me wrong (like almost anything with beer) it’s a fun activity – but it’s not really a sport at that level. To go one step further, if you’re Big Donkey lying on the couch in your briefs watching golf on TV…well, I’ll let that one go.

Poker is another animal altogether. To be at the top of the game, you’ve got to demonstrate mastery of a lot of concepts and be able to employ everything correctly in a matter of seconds. And you’ve got to be able to do that consistently for hours – if not days – on end to be at the high end of the game. This clearly requires mental and emotional stamina. However, it doesn’t require a level of physical athleticism comparable to that of a professional athlete.

That’s not to say that poker pros aren’t athletic. Guys like Scott Clements clearly work out – hell, he probably has to exercise just to maintain his skull-piercing stare. In any case, a lot of the pros are fit, and that’s obviously good for their game – but it’s not imperative for successful play. I asked Chris Ferguson about this, and he assured me that was the case: “Yeah, I train – I lie on the couch and watch TV.” There you have it. What other proof do you need? 

While my esteemed colleagues aren’t sure what to make of it*, I’ve got some thoughts on making poker a sport – an extreme sport at that. I’m of the firm opinion that there should be new multi-disciplined mixed games added to the bigger tournaments. Specifically, I’d love to see H.U.H.M.M.A.: alternating rounds of heads-up Hold ‘em and Mixed Martial Arts.

How cool would that be? Picture it: ten minutes at the table followed by ten minutes in the Octagon. If you lose your stack, you’re done. If you get knocked out, you’re done. I clearly see heads-up matches already, like Mike “Quick” Swick versus Michael Craig. This could be absolutely epic: Craig hits his gut-shot on the river and cripples Swick at the table. In round two, Swick lands a gut-shot Muay Thai style and just cripples Craig. If you followed that up with Clonie vs. Beth, it would be a ticket that would draw coverage like no other event. This, my friends, would unquestionably propel poker into the realm of true sport.

The Ultimate H.U.H.M.M.A. Series: I’m going to add this to my list of suggested promos for Full Tilt Poker. Hold your breath my friends, it might happen. Then again, you’re more likely to suffocate. Either way, who wouldn’t love The Ultimate H.U.H.M.M.A.?

*To be fair, this is a perfectly standard reaction to most of my ideas. More often than not, my colleagues’ responses are usually that of mild amusement, shock, and abject horror.

So that’s that. Lindgren takes down Brecher by a score of 7.5 to 1.5. Man, E-Dog just treated Brec like a common fire hydrant (number eight, thank god it’s over). Have a great day and please, remember to spay and neuter your pets, lest we someday live in a world that’s controlled by dogs and cats. Until next week…

Recently, and after only moderate haranguing, Aaron was good enough to actually chat with us and share his thoughts on poker as well as what he’s up to in general. Here’s what he had to say:

What’s an “average” day consist of for you?

When I’m not involved in a tournament, I get up in the morning pretty much whenever the mood strikes. I usually go through my morning routine, turn on the computer and check emails, and log onto Full Tilt Poker. I’ll play some tournaments or cash games for a couple of hours while I’m catching up on all of my TiVo shows from the night before. By then one or two of my roommates  are up and we’ll usually play some more poker and video games – we play Halo just about every day. Later on we might go to a bar or a casino and chill out. It’s a very laid back routine.

This all changes when I’m getting ready for a tournament. Since I have such a sporadic sleep schedule, I’ve got to adjust it about a week in advance. For the WSOP, I’ll start this as much as a couple of weeks in ahead so that I’ve got a routine down before it starts. If I’m on a regular schedule, I’ll be able to play comfortably and avoid making mistakes. With a big online tournament like an FTOPS event, I’ll make sure that there isn’t anything else lined up while it’s going on and that there’s food in the house so that I can settle down and do what I have to do. I’m completely focused on that and nothing else for the duration.

As a pro, what are your thoughts on the “poker lifestyle?”

You know, it’s pretty much like being at the “cool kids’” lunch table in a prep school. In that small community, you’re the man. But if you zoom out a bit – you’re still just a prep school kid. If you go to the Bellagio with a bunch of professional poker players, it really gives you a sense of self-worth. But when you go anywhere else, it’s like “who the hell are you?” It’s a very humbling experience when you step outside the poker life, which is why some of the bigger names never seem to get away from it. They’re always in the casino and totally into that type of “degenerate” lifestyle.

Where do you fit into this? Do you still enjoy it?

Don’t get me wrong, it’s better than doing almost anything else that I can think of. I just don’t get so wrapped up in it that it consumes 24 hours of my day when I’m not playing. I used to, but it goes back to the prep school example – there’s more to it than that. If I didn’t get a sense of enjoyment out of it, then what I’m doing would be no different than if I’d finished a degree and got a “real job.” Every time I play, I still get a sense of enjoyment out of it.

It’s all just a matter of keeping things balanced. I spend a lot of time hanging out with friends, whether we go to a movie or to the local bar for a few beers and some Golden Tee or trivia. Like I said before, it’s all very low-key – jeans and a t-shirt, just relaxing and talking with people.

Looking at other professional poker players, are there any in particular that you admire or think of as a “true professionals?”

As far as other professional poker players are concerned, I have great respect for Erick Lindgren and Allen Cunningham. They’re probably two of the best tournament players in the world today. In fact, I’ve always thought that Alan is the best player ever – it doesn’t surprise me that he’s won the bracelets he has and taken down millions every year. They’re both awesome people as well as poker pros – they’ve both influenced me professionally.

Another person who’s really influenced me – especially from a work ethic standpoint – is Jon “PearlJammed” Turner. We’re the same age, both from Raleigh, and we moved out to Vegas at the same time. His work ethic is inspiring – he’s able to work 4 to 8 tables at a time for 10 hours a day every day. He never tilts, he never blows up at people in chat, and he never loses his cool. He’s a solid player that puts in his time every day and wins his share of tournaments. I think that Jon’s one of the best online tournament players today, in terms of consistent solid play as well as lifestyle. And he’s really tall, too.

How do I know? Well, I play a lot of live poker. More than most people, probably, as I’m often in my card room at least two nights a week. There, I walk away from the tables with more money that I started with more often than not. Sure, I lose occasionally, but nowhere near as often as I do online.

So what’s the difference? I’m not completely sure, but I’ve been developing a couple of theories. First, I think I’m simply better at reading my opponents live than I am online. I don’t really look for physical tells or anything along those lines. For me, it’s more of a feel thing. If someone bet differently or took more or less time to make a decision, I can sometimes pick up on that.

For some reason, I also find it easier to follow the story when I’m playing live than I do online. It’s just easier for me to tell if someone’s bet makes sense when I’m playing live than it is online.

Another possible difference between my live and online results has to do with fear. Not fear of losing a pot – I’ve done that often enough that I’m more than comfortable with that result. Unfortunately. No, the fear I’m talking about is when an online opponent makes a big bet or raise in the middle of a hand.

There are many times when I’m sure I’m good, but there’s a little nagging thought somewhere in the back of my mind telling me that yeah, he really could be playing 4-5 on a board of 3-6-7 and that my two pair really is no good. Or that my opponent is sitting on a house when I’ve made my nut flush. I just know the impossible cards are out there waiting to kick me in the junk when I put my money in the pot. That’s my fear.

I don’t experience this same kind of dread playing live. Sure, it’s just as possible that my opponent is sitting on the nuts and that I’m betting into his made hand, but for some reason, I can deal with that possibility much more easily at a live table than I can online. Again, maybe it has something to do with being able to look my opponent in the eye and pick up on something that I can’t really even describe. I don’t really know.

While I’m trying to figure out why my results are so different between live and online play, I guess I also have to think about the fact that in live play, the money in front of me is much more tangible than the money I’m playing with online. Sure, I know those numbers represent real cash, but there are no chips stacks in front of me that I can watch increase or decrease depending on my play. There’s a certain reassurance I get in a live game when I see that pile of red or black checks continue to grow throughout the night. It’s comforting in the way that watching a number on a screen just isn’t.

So, what do I do to change my results? Good question. And my answer is… I don’t know. Maybe I have to change my online strategy and start playing differently than I do in a live game. Maybe I should play more pots with a bigger variety of hands, sort of like Erick Lindgren advises. If I miss, I can get away. If I hit, I’m likely to confuse the hell out of my opponents when they don’t see my trip 8s coming on a an A-Q-8 flop.

Like most everyone else, I’m looking for answers. If you’ve got suggestions, throw them at me. If you think I’m just a big donkey, well, tell me that too. I’ve heard it before. All I know is that I’ll keep logging on until I figure this damn game out. And as long as I’m financing my online losses with my live winnings, then I’m happy enough at the moment.

If we’ve learned anything from this FTOPS so far it’s that the majority of people prefer NL Hold ’em over HORSE, and that many of you seem to share our disdain for guarantees, seeing as almost all of them have been well and truly smashed. (Of course, there’s the small possibility that we lowered the guarantee bar just so we can high-five each other around the water cooler, and there’s not much we can say to that except we really love a good high five.)

The appropriately-named cashmaker81 outlasted 5,319 players to claim $183,526 in Event #1, which reached a prize pool of $1,063,800 – well over the 750k guarantee. It was a similar story in Event #2, the PLO Knockout tourney where prize pool reached $236K (vs. a $100K guarantee) and winner urbestm8 earned $52,052. A smaller (and we’d like to claim more refined) field of 623 players just squeezed past the $300k guarantee for Event #3 $500+$35 HORSE where WCJOKER won $72,236.

Prokurist won $53,460 playing Pot-Limit Hold ‘em in Event #4 where a field of 1,215 Europeans (because no-one else plays Pot-Limit) took the prize pool to $243,000, trampling the 100K guarantee. Then, 1,203 sadomasochists (uh, we mean, players) turned out for our first Limit Hold ’em event of the Series where Bedard took down $49,202 out of a $240,600 prize pool ($150K guaranteed).

The Europeans came out in force again for Event #6, the PLO 6-max tourney, where 774 players generated a prize pool of $387,000 ($250k guaranteed), and gaffel5 topped the field with an $83,205 payday. Special mention goes to third-place finisher buttsauce33, just because it takes a brave man to play under the moniker buttsauce33. It was back to NL Hold ’em for Event #7 where a field of 2,254 players sent the prize pool up to $663,500 (once again smashing the $400k guarantee, yawn), and Merovingian scored a six-figure payday by winning $121,719.

Sunday brought about the biggest FTOPS fields so far, with Event #8 becoming the first FTOPS event to lock out at 6,000 players. The $600,000 prize pool quadrupled the guarantee, and Sleepy_Hippo (who we believe to be the brother of Hungry Hungry Hippo) collected $114,612 in addition to the numerous knockout bounties he amassed along the way.

Our red pros have turned out in force throughout FTOPS VII, with many of them making respectable runs into the money throughout the series. In the first eight events, Scott Fischman posted a 12^th-place finish in Event #2, while Sigi Stockinger finished the same tournament in fifth. Later that day, Jens Voertmann also reached the final table, taking sixth in Event #3.

Not bad, if we do say so ourselves.

Then, Event #9 rolled around and Erick Lindgren, being the genial host he is, showed the new kids how you close out an FTOPS tourney by winning the biggest event we’ve had so far. Sure, it wasn’t as much as he made with his ridiculous golf prop bet last summer, but we don’t think Erick will scoff at the $291,748 he added to his bankroll.

There are still 11 FTOPS events to go, including the $2,500 Two-Day NL Event and the $2M Guaranteed Main Event. We’ll be watching all the action from the rail because, well, that’s what we do - especially since they don’t pay enough to play in these events ourselves. Hey Erick… about that loan…

Someone told us that they’ve started this new thing where people leave their homes and travel to casinos to play live poker tournaments. We not sure we see the appeal here, but some of our pros certainly do.

Over the past week, Lee Watkinson has kept his hot-streak alive, taking seventh at the WSOPC tourney at the Rincon in San Diego. Fellow Tilter and prolific prop-bettor Gavin Smith took sixth in the same tourney. Meanwhile, up the road in Commerce (LA, for those of you not familiar with the geography of Southern California), Max Pescatori ung with the stars and won the $1K Limit Hold ‘em tourney at the LA Poker Classic.