My stack: ~100K, BB: ~45,000, blinds 1,200/2,400 with 300 ante. I hold 3d-4d on the CO.

Pre-flop: Folds to me on the CO, I raise to 6,200, button folds, SB folds, BB calls. The BB is one of the only unknown faces on the table, a middle aged guy who thus far hasn’t been very active.

Before I can consider what I want to do with that card, the BB fires out 20,000, leaving me zero fold equity and nowhere near the odds to call for my draw, so I toss my hand in the muck.

I fold for another round while the table trades chips back and forth, then get involved a few hands later:

My stack: ~90,000, Ike: ~430K, Todd Brunson: ~400K, blinds 1,200/2,400 with 300 ante. I hold As-Kh in the SB.

Pre-flop: Folds to Ike on the HJ, Ike raises to 7,200, CO folds, Brunson calls on the button, I re-raise to 25,200, BB folds, Ike thinks briefly then makes it 60,000, Brunson folds, I shove, Ike calls and tables A-Qo.

I tap the table and walk around the table to shake Ike’s hand and wish him good luck. If I’m going to bust, I’m glad it’s to a guy as skilled and nice as Ike and, with his stack, he’s got a real shot at making a deep run.

I find Sirwatts and tell him I’ve been knocked out. It looks like he has about half a million in front of him, making him one of the leaders of the whole tournament.

I catch a cab back to the house and spend the rest of my day on the computer clicking refresh on the chip updates on the WPT website. I get on AIM and tell Timex that Watts is going to win for sure, if only because his winning will probably allow me to buy a house.

My poker in Las Vegas is over now. I won’t be playing again until the Macau Cup in Macau on the 25^th of July. Hopefully I’ll spend my time over the next couple of days sweating Sirwatts. After that, I’ll be traveling to Fresno for a few days to visit the casino of my friend Kyle, who runs www.tworags.com. After that, I’ll be going back to Melbourne to play in the Victorian poker championships and, when that’s over, I’ll finally have some time to rest and play online poker. That is, until I go back to Macau for the APT and APPT events. It never ends…

At the Bellagio, I find my way over to my seat and have a look around. I have one of the largest stacks on the table, but I do not have a soft draw. There are a number of good online players, including CrazyMarco and Jason Mercier, who is sitting on my direct left. On the first hand, I peek down at A-A in the SB and it folds around to me. I raise and Jason calls. The flop comes ragged and when I bet he quickly folds. I show the A-A and tell everyone “Well that’s enough excitement for me today. I’m out of here.”

“Too bad my King-Ten didn’t hit” says Jason “I have a flight to catch and woulda got it in with you.” Jesus, doesn’t anyone factor in the tournament before booking their flights?

Yet again, things are very quiet early. Just about every time I open a pot everyone folds or, if someone calls, they quickly fold on the flop. During the second break, I make a note on my paper which reads “2 levels in: 0 hands past the flop”.

When we come back from the break we’re on to the 600/1,200 with 200 ante level, meaning it’s very advantageous to play quite aggressive pre-flop with the massive antes. I open my raising conditions a bit, but most of the table also seems aware that the high antes means they should loosen up. About half an hour into the level, I finally get involved in a larger pot:

My stack: ~79,000, SB: ~30,000, blinds 600/1,200 with 200 ante. I hold A-To in the BB.

Pre-flop: Folds around to the SB, SB raises to 4,500, I shove, SB snap calls and tables K-K. I table my ATo and feel strangely confident.

Flop: A-6-3 rainbow

Turn: 9

River: 9

I tap the table and meekly apologize for the beat as the SB walks off. It appears my Summer of run good has not quite ended yet.

Not long after the hand, my table is broken and I’m moved to a table with online players Apestyles and Fatalerror, as well as a few recognizable live pros. I go on a small rush and find some hands to accumulate chips, then get involved in a larger pot with Harry Demetriou:

My stack: ~110K, Harry: ~65,000, blinds 600/1,200 with 200 ante. I hold As-Qh in the BB.

Pre-flop: Folds to Harry on the CO, Harry raises to 3,000, folds to me in the BB, I call.

Flop: 6s-6h-4c

I check, Harry checks.

Turn: Ah

I check, Harry bets 6,000, I raise to 17,000, intending to snap call if Harry shoves. Harry goes into the tank, looks me over, then folds.

Yet again, things remain quiet for quite some time. Even though I have a couple of aggressive players on my left, every time I open, they opt not to get involved and I barely see a flop while retaining the size of my stack. I get moved to a new table which doesn’t last long before I’m moved again, this time to a table with Sirwatts who is stacking the remains of a massive pot.

“What the fuck happened to you Watts?”

“I stacked the crazy Russian.”

“Which one?” (Have you played with a tight Russian? I haven’t.)

As the day draws to a close, Jack McClelland has Bob Stupak draw a card to see how many hands we’ll play to close out the day. He draws a five and with 130,000 in chips but basically zero interesting hands, it looks like I’m going to close out one of the easiest days of poker in memory. However, the first hand into our final five I get involved:

My stack: ~130K, SB: 23,300, blinds 1,000/2,000 with 300 ante. I hold A-Ko on the button.

Pre-flop: Folds to me, I raise to 5,500, SB shoves for 23,300, BB folds, I call. SB tables T-8o and the dealer instantly burns and turns.

Flop: T-7-4

Turn: 6

River: T

I count out the necessary amount and slide it over to the SB.

“I can’t believe I have to come back tomorrow” says the SB. Why even play a tournament when you can just wait until the end of the day and everyone will try and throw their tournament away?

I fold out the last few hands and end the day with 103,000. After we finish bagging our chips, Watts and I go over to the Rio to meet Tom, Grafyx, Celina and Tufat to have a dinner at Buzio’s and use up all the $10 vouchers we’ve accumulated throughout the series. I have 17 of them, so I order the three-pound lobster.

Going into tomorrow we’ll have 125 players left with 100 paying. For some strange reason, the Bellagio has 100 players being paid with 446 entrants, meaning nearly a quarter of the field makes the money. Meanwhile, the final table pay outs are extremely top heavy, and after the $19,000 difference between finishing 101 and 100, there’s not a pay jump as large as that until the jump between sixth and fifth. Sick variance.

By the end of the day, I’ve made one final table, a $75 buy-in $17,500 guarantee tournament that due to it being Sunday, has a nearly $12,000 first prize. I come into the final table second in chips and pretty much coast into six-handed in second, a little behind the chip leader. I haven’t been very aggressive or out of line when the largest hand of the day comes up:

My stack: ~557K, Button: ~570K, blinds 8,000/16,000 with 2,000 ante. I hold Ac-Kh in the SB.

Pre-flop: Folds to the button, button raises to 36,363, I re-raise to 118,000, BB folds, button instantly crams, I instantly call. The button tables 2-2 (for some reason online, people four bet/shove on me very wide quite often and I’m not sure what I’ve done to earn this LAG-tarded image.)

Flop: 9c-8c-4c

Turn: 4d

River: Jc

I explode out of my chair yelling “BOO YAH!!” and high five Tom. I now have over 1.1 million with the next biggest stack holding 301,000.

Going into heads up I have 1.88 million to my opponents 269,000, but he doubles up by sucking out with A-3 against my A-5. I chip him down a little before we get involved in a major pot:

My stack: ~1.63 million, SB: ~514K, blinds 12,000/24,000 with 3,000 ante. I hold Qs-3s in the BB. The SB has been playing pretty aggressive and spewy, and seems very bluff capable. He’s also been open raising a ton.

Preflop: SB completes, I check.

Flop: 3c-6h-Ad

I check, SB bets 24,000, I call.

Turn: Ts

I check, SB checks.

River: Kh

I check, SB fires out 96,000, nearly full pot. I go into the tank and try to add up the hand. The way this guy is playing, there is almost no chance he limps an A pre. I also really don’t think he limps K-Q. Additionally, most of his bets with good hands have been sized to get calls, making his close to pot bet totally off for the big hand he’s trying to represent. I call and he tables Js-8s and is crippled.

It’s not long before I get a chance to finish the tournament. Going into the hand, he has been instantly cramming over all my completes all through the heads-up match, so I decide to try and trap:

My stack: ~1.82 million, BB: ~325,000, blinds 12,000/24,000 with 3,000 ante. I hold Ah-Tc in the SB.

Pre-flop: I complete, BB shoves, I instantly call. BB shows Qh-Jd and I need to hold.

Flop: 5h-6d-4h

Turn: 2h

River: 4s

In the entire 90 days I’ve been traveling, I have found my way online for only five of them. I have won a tournament on four of those. I hope I run this good forever. Especially, tomorrow.

“Hey Watts, wanna swap 5%?”

“Yea sure.”

“Sucker, I already know you’re gonna win. You just threw away 5%.”

“Whatever Bond.”

“I’m telling you Watts, dueness and all. DUENESS!”

We arrive at the Bellagio a bit early and Watts goes to grab some breakfast. I go to the poker room and scope out the field. As predicted, the room is full of familiar young faces. I find my seat to the left of one of the coolest people in poker, Apestyles, meaning I’ll have someone to bother for conversation all day. Outside him, the table has Michael Binger, Daniel Alai, and John Gale. Play starts us with 45,000 in chips with 50/100 blinds, 90 minute levels and a structure that includes just about every major level and some extra ones (though, strangely, omits 150/300.) The majority of my table is semi-familiar online pros, live pros, and only a couple of unknown faces.

The first two levels of my tournament are very quiet. I find quite a few decent starting hands, but very few large pots develop. I have Daniel Alai two seats on my left and he is playing very loose against me. Almost every time I open raise he flat calls, but he stays in line post flop for the most part, folding the majority of flops I fold. The table is playing a bit looser than I expected, but there’s certainly no open limping going on. At the second break I make a note on my paper that says “3 hours in not one interesting hand.” At least I haven’t lost any chips.

Coming back from the break, online player TheStein has been moved to our table. Stein starts playing a very loose aggressive style, open limping and open raising a ton, even from early position (if not especially so.) About half an hour into his stay into the table, we get involved:

My stack: ~45,000, Stein: ~48,000, blinds 100/200 with 25 ante. I hold Ks-Js on the HJ at an 8-handed table.

Pre-flop: Stein raises to 500, folds to me on the HJ, I call, folds to the BB, BB calls.

Flop: 2c-Kc-2h

BB checks, Stein bets 750, I call, BB folds.

Turn: 4d

Stein checks, I check (I think my hand is more a two street value hand against Stein and I have a better chance getting it on the river than the turn.)

River: Qh

Stein bets 525, I call. Stein says “You got it” and tables 9c-7c. Fuck me for not betting the turn.

I continue to find quite a few hands to open. Alai on my left stays very involved with me, and with the antes now in play, he’s started leaning toward three betting over calling. It’s not long until we’re involved in a large hand:

My stack: ~46,000, Alai: ~45,000, blinds 100/200 with 25 ante. I hold 3s-3c UTG+2.

Pre-flop: Folds to me, I raise to 600, MP1 folds, Alai raises to 1,700, folds back to me, I call.

Flop: As-3h-6d

As Grafyx would say “Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!”. I consider my options for getting value, then decide to just go with the most straight forward one. I check, Alai bets 2,300 and I check-raise to 6,500. Alai stares at me suspiciously, then calls.

Turn: Td

I sit motionless for a while thinking about my bet size, then fire out 9,000. Alai goes into the tank for a little while and gives me a brief stare down. After a decent amount of thought, Alai calls.

River: 7h

Again I sit motionless, then count out a bet of 16,500 and fire it into the pot. Alai thinks briefly then folds. I wonder if that line was the best against him.

Less than an orbit later, I get involved with Alai again:

My stack: ~60,000, Alai: ~30,000, blinds 100/200 with 25 ante. I hold Qs-Jc on the button.

Pre-flop: Folds to me on the button, I raise to 600, SB folds, Alai calls in the BB. Alai seems to defend his BB very loose, especially against me (I wonder if he thinks I’m some spewy donk).

Flop: Ah-6h-As

Alai checks. I check behind, pretty confident my hand is good and willing to call a bet on a ton of turns.

Turn: Jd

Or I could just get there. Alai checks, I think it over and bet 1,000. Alai fairly quickly check-raises to 3,000. What the hell? Did Alai check an Ace twice? Is he check-raising a Jack for value? Does he take my flop check for weakness? I certainly can’t fold here, but I’m not quite sure what to do on most rivers, though I’m pretty sure I’ll be calling a bet.

River: 4c

Alai checks and I check behind very confident I have the best hand. Alai tables A-2o and I tap the table and muck my hand. I’m pretty surprised he checked it twice, though I guess if he thinks I’ll interpret his line as bluffy and that I’ll fire on the turn a ton, it makes some sense.

For the rest of 100/200 I stay very quiet, and continue to do so well into 200/400. It’s not until near the end of the 200/400 level that I get involved again, having a very tight image:

My stack: ~60,000, HJ: ~45,000, blinds 200/400 with 50 ante. I hold 5h-5s on the CO.

Pre-flop: Folds to MP2, MP2 raises to 1,100, HJ calls, I call, everyone else folds. MP2 is a straight forward player who is clearly recreational. HJ is a bit of a mystery. He is approximately 30, European (French I think, but I’m not sure) and dressed very elegantly with a French cuff shirt and Bvulgari watch and ring. Despite his rich looks, he has been playing quite well and TAG, and seems entirely capable of thinking through a hand.

Flop: Kc-9s-3s

MP2 checks, HJ thinks it over and bets 2,200. It’s something I very rarely do, but I decide to use my tight image and the fact that I think the HJ is pretty tight to run a bluff. I raise to 6,500, MP2 folds and the HJ calls.

Turn: 2s

The HJ quickly checks. I’m pretty sure if the HJ couldn’t get away on the flop from a good top pair he definitely will when the flush scare card hits the turn. I fire out 9,500 and the HJ quickly check-raises to 30,000. Oh wow, did I guess way the fuck wrong here. I put on a brief show like I have something to think about, then muck my hand.

After running the bluff, I stay quiet again. Luckily, the incredible structure of the tournament allows you to have a hand like that go very wrong, but still have a ton of chips to play with. We’re only playing five levels today, so 300/600 will be our last level and Day Two will start at 400/800. That means even if you basically spend all day folding and lose say, 5,000 chips, you’ll still go into Day Two with 50 BBs. That’s pretty damn sick. When the blinds go up to 300/600 I start finding a few hands to get involved with. With a somewhat more active image, I get involved with TheStein again:

My stack: ~40,000, Stein: ~30,000, blinds 300/600 with 75 ante. I hold Ad-Ah UTG+2.

Pre-flop: Folds to me, I raise to 1,600, MP1 folds, MP2 calls, folds to Stein in the BB, Stein re-raises to 3,300. I think over my raise size, then make it 10,300 total. MP2 folds and Stein stares me down for quite a while. He goes toward his stack and seems to consider his options, then settles on calling.

Flop: 2c-4h-Th

Stein checks. I think things over, then move all-in. Stein goes into the tank and it’s about this time I realize Stein started the hand with more chips than I thought. As he counts down his stack I realize he had about 40,000 to start the hand, making me think perhaps firing 13,000 on this flop may be better than just a shove. Then again, perhaps he’ll interpret the shove as scared, and even with him starting with 40,000, my shove is for a bit over pot. Stein stares me down for a while then says “This might be a terrible fold” and mucks his hand. I take out my paper and start writing.

“Ace-King of hearts?” he asks.

“You’re putting it in the blog?”

“Yea, it’ll all be in there. So I guess you can always find out.”

“Do you ever lie about your hand in it?” asks someone from across the table.

“Nah, then what would be the point in having it?” God I want to lie about some of the hands I play though.

Just an orbit later I’m involved with Stein yet again:

My stack: ~50,000, Binger: ~40,000, Stein: ~30,000, blinds 300/600 with a 75 ante. I hold Kc-Qd in the BB.

Pre-flop: Folds to Binger in MP2, Binger raises to 1,600, Stein calls on the HJ, folds to me in the BB, I call.

Flop: 5c-Ks-4s

I check, Binger bets 3,000, Stein calls. Okay, well I guess Binger could be continuation betting quite wide on that board texture, and Stein is a bit of a station, so I guess I should call since I’m not really thrilled to get it in with these stack sizes against either. I call.

Turn: 7d

I check, Binger checks, Stein bets 5,700. This is a pretty annoying spot. I’m not quite sure how the 7 changes things, though it could definitely hit Stein, or simply give him more outs. His bet really looks like he’s trying to get value though, and I’d be surprised if he tried to bluff both of us, especially since he has to think I must have something decent to overcall on the flop. I also have to consider that Binger could come alive and check-raise, and even his calling makes things weird for me. I decide to fold, and after a bit of thought, Binger folds as well.

The day begins to wind down and Jack McClelland gets on the microphone and tells us we’ll only be playing six more hands. The French guy on my right says out loud (though not necessarily announcing to the table) “I’ve got a flight to catch. I want to come back tomorrow with a big stack or not at all. I’m going to go all-in.”

“ATC?” I ask him.

“Huh? Oh yea, any two cards.”

I’m not quite sure how much of the table really heard him or if anyone believes him. The next hand it folds to him, he shoves, and everyone folds. The table starts talking about it and he tells them he had a pair.

The hand after that, Alai open raises UTG and it folds to the French guy who again shoves. I have A-9o behind and know I’m way ahead of the French guy, but I think Alai is probably paying enough attention that he’s raising here with the intention of snap calling the shove. I fold and it folds back to Alai who quickly folds. Shit!

The next hand it folds to the French guy on the HJ and I watch him very close to make sure he doesn’t touch his cards. He lets them sit in front of his stack and never so much as reaches for them. When it folds to him he shoves his 40,000 in and I instantly re-cram my A-3o for 42,000. The three players behind me all fold and the table goes ballistic when I proudly table my A-3o.

“I have not looked yet” says the French guy.

“I’ll turn them over one at a time.”

He tables the first card, the Qh. He squeezes the second a little then slams it down, the Kh. I know KQ is the nuts, but the way I’m running, I can’t help but feel a little invincible. Apestyles is looking at me like I’m totally insane.

Flop: 3h-Td-Jc

Well that makes it interesting. I stay poised comfortably in my seat, displaying a delusional level of confidence in the security of my hand.

Turn: 4d

River: 4h

The Frenchman shakes hands with me and tells me nice hand. I drag a monster pot and immediately turn to Apestyles

“Gotta be plus EV right? You ship there yea?”

“Uhh, I’m not so sure dude. I don’t know about that one.”

“Aw come on, push those small edges son!”

“There’s three guys behind you man.”

“Gamble gamble!”

It’s not long before every 2+2’er in the tournament has heard about the hand and comes over to fuck with me about it. I spend the last few hands folding and arguing about my A-3 with various people, ending the day with a bit over 83,000.

After we bag up and finish, I stand outside in a large group getting berated by almost every online player present.

“Man, fuck all you people, I’m going home and doing some math. And by going home and doing some math, I mean going home and asking MikeJ or Luckychewy to do my math because I’m way too stupid for this. I bet its plus EV though.”

Apestyles and Thayer have made reservations over at Fix down the hall in the Bellagio. We go over and the host doesn’t have enough room for us, so he asks us to stand by the bar and wait. About 15 minutes into our wait, a waiter comes over trying to get through.

“Excuse me” he says and I do my best to slide out of his way. As he walks by his shoulder rams hard into mine and he keeps walking.

“What the fuck? I could swear that waiter just intentionally slammed into me.”

“What? Why would he do that?” asks JP.

“I don’t know, he said excuse me then just rammed me. I don’t know maybe he was just low on space or I’m imagining things or something.”

As the waiter walks back from dropping the drinks he was delivering he walks past us again but this time throws his shoulder into JP then keeps walking by.

“Holy shit dude, what the fuck is his problem? You should go destroy him JP.”

“What the hell man? You were right, he clearly he just shoved me. That host dude told us to stand here.”

“Man I told you guys this place was full of douchebags. Sucks that I blend in so well.”

Today is pretty uneventful. I spend most of my time doing catch up writing, then going out to eat and playing Nintendo Wii with housemates. Watts comes home early, having busted before making the money, leaving our entire house out. He tells me he’s definitely going to play the Bellagio $15,000 and the house discusses which day we should play.

While browsing 2+2, I find out Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke has made the final table of the Bellagio $5,000 preliminary event, which has a first prize over $440,000, well enough to get him out of make up. I follow his progress all day until he winds up the winner, having made no deal because he held on to a commanding chip lead for the majority of the final table. I call him up to congratulate him and invite him over to the house to hang out.

Around midnight, Gobbo and some of his housemates roll over and we hang out while playing Chinese and Wii. We decide we should all go out for a big dinner tomorrow at the Bellagio, then buy into the main. Gobbo tells me last he talked to Timex and Steve, they were sure they are getting out of the backing business and that we should start looking for new backers. I had discussed this with both of them during the series, and both said they wanted to see how the series goes before they make any decisions. They’ve certainly had an awesome series, having Gobbo hit for about $450,000, myself for $300,000, and Vanessa for nearly $400,000 (not accounting for buy ins.)

When I get up the next day, I get on AIM and talk to Timex about his backing plans. He says it’s possible that our entire team will be sold/transferred to another backing team, but right now it’s not certain. Gobboboy has already been arranged for under a new backer, and with Vanessa returning to law school and way out of make up, they’ve simply parted ways amicably. As for me, Timex says he’ll talk to other backers and vouch for me, but is also considering keeping me as his lone horse. I’d be happy to continue working under him or for new backers as long as they don’t insist on trying to take my online action. If the only backing deal available/offered was one that involved taking all my online action, I would simply stay un-backed and spend a ton of time grinding online and occasionally playing the live tournaments in the region, which have smaller buys in the area of $3,000-5,000.

At 7:30PM, a large group of us meets up at Prime at the Bellagio for our planned balla ass dinner. It’s one of the first times during the trip I’ve been able to go out and have a nice meal without having the time constraint of returning to the tournament. We get started on the wine and beer, and by the end of the meal, I’m starting to feel it. The bill comes to over $2,500, which the eight of us decide to credit card roulette for. When it’s all said and done LearnedfromTV (Tom) gets stuck with the bill and I eat free again. Jesus, I’m running so good at CC roulette this summer.

We go to the cage and buy into tomorrows $15,000. I run into Tim Vance who is playing the first day of the Bellagio tournament.

“Hey Tony, I read your blog entry, you made me sound like a gangster!”

“Oh shit, sorry dude. Well I did call you one of the most awesome people in poker. You want me to take that out.”

“Nah it’s alright. I’m the one who told you that story afterall.”

“Alright, well I’ll make sure everyone knows your not some insane gangster.”

So for the record, Tim Vance is in no way an insane gangster. He is simply a guy who got shot because he was hanging around the wrong dude’s girlfriend and said wrong dude got a bunch of sand up his vagina and decided going nuts with one of his phallic objects would make up for what the other was failing at.

Tomorrow will clearly be the worst day to play since on Sunday all of the online players will be glued to their computers. My plan is to play Saturday at the Bellagio, but if I happen to bust out, go and play the Venetian $5,000 event, since most of the online pros will be at home and most of the live pros will be still in the Bellagio, making for a very soft field.

After buying in, we head over to the Rio to close out our deposit boxes. The Amazon room is so quiet and barren, with only one table of cash games running outside of the action still going in the Main Event. I find Dr. Pauly and discuss what’s happening in the Main Event. He shows me a list of the players still in, and Brandon Cantu, Mark Vos, Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow are the largest names still in.

“Jesus Pauly, it’s like a who’s who of poker douchebags!”

“You don’t like Mark?”

“No, I like Mark quite a lot and consider him a friend. He’s still a douchebag though.”

After we finish closing out the boxes, we find our way to the Bonus Texas Hold ‘em pit and start getting degenerate. Tom announces he’s going to take $1,000 and try to win back the CC roulette he lost. I buy in for $500 because I’m a massive house games nit, and even that amount feels too big. Bonus Texas Hold ‘em is a pretty deceptive game where I can see how people would be tricked into thinking they have an edge, but according to Grafyx, if you run the numbers, the house edge is pretty substantial. I ask the pit boss for a cigar comp and start downing Heinekens like the douchebag I know am, then start blowing smoke all over the pit and yelling like a jackass every time I win a hand. When it’s all said and done, I’m up $10 and Tom has won back the majority of his dinner loss. I’m a bit more drunk than I’d hoped to be and when we arrive home, I start downing water, making sure I don’t have a hangover for tomorrow’s event.

In the morning, nearly the entire house sets out towards the Rio. Nath, Grafyx, LearnedfromTV, and me are all playing our Day Twos today, so I don’t have to worry about ordering a taxi. I checked my Day Two table draw last night and found two recognizable names; Howard Lederer and Jon Robert Bellande. I’ve played with Bellande a bit before during a $5,000 mixed event in 2007 where he massively donked his stack to me, but have never played with Lederer before.

At the Rio I make my way through the massive crowd to my seat in the Amazon room. I rip open my bag, stack up my chips, then survey the table. Outside Bellande and Lederer, all the players are unknown and the majority of them look more inexperienced, though there are a couple of young guys who seem to have a pretty good idea of things. Play restarts at the 250/500 level, and my 35,000 chip stack gives me almost 60 BBs. Almost immediately, I’m involved:

My stack: ~35,000, SB: ~25,000, blinds 250/500 with 50 ante. I hold Td-7d in the BB.

Pre-flop: Folds to MP2, MP2 raises to 1,400, folds to the SB, SB calls, I call (meh, but against unskilled opponents, probably fine.)

Flop: Kc-8c-2h

Everyone checks.

SB checks, I bet 2,700, MP2 folds, SB thinks it over, looks at his cards (meaning he’s checking for a club) and calls. I tell myself if the river doesn’t hit a club, I’m always firing unless I pick up showdown value.

River: 8h

SB checks, I bet 5,600, SB quickly folds.

The early play is pretty tight weak, outside Bellande who plays a ton of hands with zero regard to his position. He’s opening somewhere in the area of 30% of hands and most people on the table are happy to let him get away with it. Because he’s two seats on my left, I’m unfortunately not in a position to manipulate him. I am quite aggressive in late position, which results in his almost never folding out of the blinds. It’s not long until we’re involved in a larger pot with this dynamic:

My stack: ~42,000, Bellande: ~60,000, blinds 250/500 with 50 ante. I hold Kc-6c on the button.

Pre-flop: Folds to me, I raise to 1,300, folds to Bellande in the BB, Bellande calls.

Flop: 8c-Td-Qh

Bellande checks, and given that he’s a bit of a station and that’s the worst ever board to continuation bet on, I just check behind.

Turn: 3c

Bellande checks, I fire 1,800, Bellande check-raises to 4,200, I call.

River: 2c

Bellande fires 8,000. I think over my raise size, then make it 22,000 total (yes I think it’s better than shoving in live poker.) Bellande goes into the tank, then folds.

Things are going quite well in the early goings and I spend most of my time between hands talking about current issues in poker with Lederer and Bellande. When Lederer is on TV he seems very quiet and contemplative, but on the table he actually seems quite social and talkative. We mostly spend time discussing the UB scandal and why something like that is impossible on Full Tilt (according to Lederer, who has a technical explanation I am not computer savvy enough to make sense of.) The blinds have gone up by the time I’m involved in my next interesting hand:

My stack: ~50,000, CO: ~18,000, blinds 300/600 with 75 ante. I hold K-To in the BB. The CO is an inexperienced, somewhat aggressive player who called a check-raise all-in with second pair and sucked out earlier.

Pre-flop: Folds to the CO, CO raises to 2,000, folds to me in the BB, I call.

Flop: Kd-8c-4c

I check, CO fires 5,000. I look over at his stack and see he has about 10,500 behind. I slide my stack of oranges in to put him all-in. He looks over at them, shrugs, then says “Well I guess I have to call” and puts his stack in the middle. I table my top pair and he turns over his Ac-Qs. What the hell?

Turn: Ad

Instantly, the dealer whips over the turn and I don’t so much as blink. My win at the Bellagio has completely destroyed my ability to feel frustrated by a suck out.

River: 5h

I count out the chips and slide them over to him, then take out my pen and paper and begin writing the details.

“What are you going to call him in there?” someone asks.

“Ah nothing, it’s just for taking down the details of the hand for my blog is all” I respond. Then I look down at my paper, pretend to write and shout “FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!”, which the CO finds quite funny.

I fold around for an orbit without doing much. On my SB, the guy on my right opens and everyone folds. Then he opens the next hand and everyone folds. Then he opens again and I decide to three bet him to 5,200 with J-To in position. It folds back to him and he calls. The flop comes Q-2-5 rainbow and he checks. I fire out 6,500 and he instantly crams. I slide my cards toward the muck and suddenly I’m one of the shorter stacks on the table with about 20,000.

I try to stay somewhat active, but Bellande never folds anything in the blinds and I have fairly terrible cards, so stealing becomes difficult. When the blinds go up to 400/800 my ability to get creative is pretty reduced and I’m stuck playing a somewhat tight style. It’s not long before Bellande and I are involved again:

My stack: ~20,000, Bellande: ~80,000, blinds 400/800 with 100 ante. I hold Qs-Qc on the CO.

Pre-flop: Folds to me on the CO, I raise to 2,000, button folds, Bellande calls in the SB, BB folds.

Flop: 9h-5h-2h

Bellande checks, I fire 3,300 with the intention of snap calling a shove. Bellande calls quite quickly.

Turn: As

That’s a... weird card here. Bellande checks and I check behind (meh, bet may be better here.)

River: 3h

Fuck! Bellande thinks briefly, then fires 2,000. This is a very strange spot where all three options of calling, shoving, and folding are available. We can call because Bellande has real LAGtarded moments and just might make some silly bluff here. We can fold because his bet looks like a blocking/value bet. We can shove because if he’s blocking, it means he probably doesn’t have a hand he wants to call with, unless we think he’ll bet small with huge hands trying to get value. I’m really not sure which he’s after, so I go with the easiest (and probably worst) option and call. Bellande tables Ac-8c and I muck. He starts chuckling about how sick his value bet is, and I start chuckling internally about how hilariously awful his pre-flop and flop calls are. I guess two wrongs do make a right.

I’m now quite short stacked and everything I try seems to go horribly wrong. When I raise something in late position and continuation bet a board I missed, but is good for bluffing, they call me down or raise and I’m forced to give up. I keep folding as we approach the dinner break, then start open shoving to accumulate a few chips and keep my head above water. Nobody ever calls and we go to dinner break with my having a little over 10,000.

As always, I made sure to call the Indian place in the Rio at the start of the day and make a reservation, since the place is packed today and it’ll be hard to get a table at any restaurant you don’t call ahead to. Everyone at the table is sitting a hell of a lot better than I am, but when we come back to the 500/1,000 blinds, I’ll still have a stack that can create a lot of fold equity with open shoves.

I get back to my table after dinner a few minutes before play begins. I have 10,500 left in my stack in late position, so I’m going to have to make some moves pretty quick. I get involved on the first hand:

My stack: 10,400 (after paying ante), MP2: ~60,000, blinds 500/1,000 with 100 ante. I hold 7s-7d on the HJ.

Pre-flop: Folds to MP2, MP2 raises to 3,000, I shove, folds back to MP2. MP2 asks for a count, then tosses in the chips. I table my 7-7 and he blurts “You got me crushed” and tables 4d-4c. Sweet.

Flop: Ks-8s-4s

Turn: 2d

River: 2s

“Nice hand, good luck.”

“Huh, what? Flush! You’ve got a flush.”

“You’ve got a boat dude.”

“Oh, right! I was just looking at the spades.”

“No worries at all, good luck man.” I shake his hand and tap the table.

So ends my WSOP Main. I know many poker players who claim ‘the day you go out of the Main is the worst day of the year, but I think that’s bullshit. The Main is just another tournament, even if it is full of donks with an incredible structure. There’s plenty more chances outside this, and after having already run incredibly good this summer, I’m in no spot to complain about anything.

I don’t feel bad about busting in the slightest. At least I have some time to relax tonight and get to sleep in tomorrow. I don’t feel I did anything overly stupid (the Q-Q call vs. Bellande is pretty meh, but maybe not, weird spot) and I mostly got my money in while in front. There’s always next year. Besides, there’s still the Bellagio $15,000 in just a few days.

By the time I get my money out and get bought in, I’m taken to a new table and the tournament is 10 minutes in. My decision to sleep an extra 20 minutes and risk showing up late turns out to be a terrible one when I face a table line up of Rekrul, ELKY, and lil’hold’em.

I met Lil for the first time the other day at the Bellagio. I wasn’t quite sure how he’d react to me after having read the “MTT fight night” I wrote earlier in this trip and put on pocketfives and 2+2. He never brought it up and we chatted for a while about various live pros and how hilariously awful their stack size leaks are. Overall, he seemed like a pretty chill guy who likely just gets overly excited and agitated while playing online.

Today, Lil is sitting just a few seats to my right and I joke around with him about what a moron I am for showing up late. The majority of the other tables are packed with older guys and clearly recreational players, while ours and the one next to us are crammed with good and thinking online players. It’s not long before action gets underway. The tournament starts us with 15,000 in chips at the 50/100 level with hour levels. It’s an excellent structure that ensures those remaining at the later levels will have a pretty long night.

In the first level, I end up establishing a very aggressive image as a result of having a ton of good starting hands, but never really play a large pot post flop or gain any serious chips. It’s not until the 100/200 with 25 ante that I get involved in my first interesting spot:

My stack: ~16,000, Lil: ~25,000, HJ: ~18,000, blinds 100/200 with 25 ante. I hold Kd-Kc on the button.

Pre-flop: Folds to Lil in MP2, Lil calls, MP3 calls, HJ calls, CO folds, I raise to 1,300, folds back to Lil. Lil asks me to move my hands so he can see my stack then calls, MP3 folds, HJ calls.

Lil checks, HJ checks, I bet 2,500 (accidentally too small, but its fine), Lil calls, HJ calls. At this point I’m pretty sure I’m in trouble since there is very little out there both of them can be calling with, though I can’t be sure. Either way, it’s my intention to pot control a ton of turns.

Lil leads out 5,600, HJ folds, I go into the tank. I think the hand over and try to put the pieces together. Lil was concerned with my stack size pre, making me think he was considering his implied odds, which kind of makes me think he has a pair and is set mining. He called the flop in a spot where he can’t have a draw, and on a river that got scary, fired into two players. I’m almost positive he has a set here and even if he check-called the flop with a hand like 9-Ts, he got there. The only thing I’m realistically possibly beating here is 4-5s, and it’s pretty questionable whether he calls that pre. After thinking it over for a while (and apologizing to the table for taking so long) I fold and Lil tables 9-9. I tell him my hand and we spend the next 10 minutes discussing the best way for him to get my money in the hand. He’s surprisingly thoughtful in person.

I play some small pots and try to grind my stack back up a little bit, but for the most part nobody on the table is giving up any chips. The tournament has gotten a surprisingly large field of 235 players, making first place over $400,000 thanks to the extremely top heavy Bellagio payout structure. A few orbits later, I get involved with the quiet and tight/weak player on my left:

My stack: ~12,000, UTG+1: ~21,000, blinds 100/200 with a 25 ante. I hold Ad-Kd UTG.

I think over my bet, then bet 2,000, UTG+1 calls fairly quickly.

Pretty bad card for me to get value. I think I need to bet small to have a real chance of getting him to call. I think things over for about 10 seconds, then fire 3,000. UTG+1 quickly calls and I table my top two pair for what is always the best hand here, at least always until UTG+1 tables 4-4 for flopped middle set. Every pair of eyes on the table go wide as the pot is slid to him and I quietly tap the table.

Wow, I guess that K-K fold got in his head in a very weird way.

Not long after the A-K hand our table is broken up and I’m moved to a much softer looking table devoid of known players, outside online player PBdrunks who is sitting on my immediate right. We go on break shortly after my arrival and when we come back, the blinds have increased to 200/400 with a 25 ante. I’m one of the shortest stacks on the table and after paying the blinds, I get involved:

My stack: 5,200, BB: ~6,000, blinds 200/400 with 25 ante. I hold Ad-Td on the button.

Pre-flop: Folds to me on the button, I raise to 1,100, SB folds, BB moves all-in, I call. BB tables Kc-Jc and I need to hold to stay in.

At least I’ve got some time to enjoy the rest of my day while the sun is still out. I get the feeling it’s going to be a very, very long time before I get annoyed or frustrated after having busted a tournament. Winning a live tournament has a way of calming the built up resentment and anger you have toward poker, plus you lose your right to complain for a long ass time without sounding like some insane, variance misunderstanding bitch.

I find my seat in the Amazon room and take my seat at a table full of unfamiliar faces; looks like I’m running good already. There are a few young players at the table, but how capable they are has yet to be determined. The tournament starts us with 20,000 in chips at 50/100 blinds with two hour levels and every imaginable level increment.

The play on the table in the early rounds is pretty tight weak. There’s surprisingly not much limping going on, but there’s also not a ton of aggressive play post flop. Nobody on the table seems especially spewy or entirely novice, and I think with people normally having the option of keeping the $10,000 instead of playing in the WSOP, this year’s (and future years’) tournament will be a little tougher, though it should still be the softest $10,000 tournament in the world.

Surprisingly for the first several hours, I really don’t get involved. I make the normal efforts to flop a set or play suited connectors and gappers with deep stacks in order to hit a big hand, but I miss continually and either give up or just win a small pot nobody seems interested in post flop. The table is quite social and chatty, and I’m joking around with a young dude named Nate who’s sitting two seats on my right. During one of the breaks he comes up and tells me he’s actually a 2+2’er, then promptly starts smoking weed in a piece that’s designed to look like a cigarette. My roommate Nath comes over and joins us, though I decline the weed since I prefer playing with a clear head.

Coming back from the break I get involved in my first large hand:

My stack: ~20000, CO: ~30000, blinds 100/200 with 25 ante. I hold 6s-7s in the BB.

Pre-flop: Folds to the CO, CO raises to 600, folds to me in the BB, I call (I don’t call here online normally, but live I sometimes do.)

I bet 2,300, the CO goes into the tank and calls. I table my hand and he mucks.

It’s not until the 150/300 level that I’m involved in another interesting hand. The MP1 player is a young South African guy who I hit the straight on in the previous hand:

My stack: ~23,500, MP1: ~28,000, blinds 150/300 with 25 ante. I hold Kc-Qc on the CO.

Pre-flop: Folds to MP1, MP1 raises to 800, folds to me on the CO, I call, button folds, both blinds fold.

MP1 checks, I think over my bet, then fire 2,700. MP1 thinks briefly, then check-raises to 8,700. I stall for a few seconds, then stack up my chips, announce all-in, and slide them into the middle.

“Aaaaaaaaagh” moans the MP1 as he puts his hands on his head. I put my hands over my mouth and do my best to become a statue while holding the nuts. MP1 goes into the tank for a very long time, then tries to start talking to me. He asks me a number of questions, but I sit staring straight ahead and not moving or saying a word. After about three or four minutes of though MP1 says “Alright, I’m gonna turn over my hand, but I’m not folding yet” and flips over his hand to reveal A-A. I do my best not to react in the slightest while he stares at me trying to get a read, though I am curious as to whether this is even legal and whether his hand should be declared dead or not (I’m pretty sure it should be.) He keeps thinking for another couple minutes then announces “Okay, this might be the worst fold ever” and turns his hand over and throws them into the muck. I slide my cards towards the muck quietly while he bombards me with questions trying to figure out whether his fold was correct.

Play continues at a steady pace and I slowly increase my stack without much conflict. There’s a young guy on my left who has three bet a number of times and each time I’ve folded. At 200/400 with a 50 ante I open K-K in early position and he three bets again. It folds back to me and I debate between four betting and calling, and with our history, I elect to make the four bet. He thinks it over for a while, then folds.

Yet again for several hours of play I end up staying out of major pots and chip up slowly with pre-flop raises and continuation bets. My continuation bet success rate today has to be well over 90%; whether I flop well or completely miss, people are just snap folding when I fire the bet.

It’s not until the last 15 minutes of the day that I’m involved in another large pot. The CO is the same aggressive South African who I expect to be continuation betting a huge percent of flops, and the SB is a straight forward older guy who I think will fold a huge range to avoid busting near the end of the day:

My stack: ~46,000, SB: ~20,000, CO: ~35,000, blinds 200/400 with a 50 ante. I hold Qs-Ts in the BB.

Pre-flop: Folds to the CO, CO raises to 1,100, folds to the SB, SB calls, I call.

SB checks, I check, CO bets 2,200, SB calls, I raise to 7,000. The CO looks at me suspiciously, then folds. When it’s up to him, the SB almost instantly crams and I make a small “I’m actually thinking about this” performance, then fold. The SB proudly tables J-J, but I’m fairly confident near the end of the day that check-raise bluff is profitable.

My stack: ~38,000, UTG+2: ~32,000, blinds 200/400 with 50 ante. I hold A-Ko in the SB.

Pre-flop: UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 calls, folds to the HJ, the HJ calls, folds to me in the SB, I raise to 2,000 (that should be bigger) the BB folds, UTG+2 calls, HJ folds.

That’s about as bad a card in the deck as there is for me. I check, UTG+2 bets 6,000, I fold. UTG+2 tables T-8o and I politely tap the table while feeling annoyance toward his pre-flop call.

After that, things quiet down and I fold out most of the rest of the day, outside stealing a few small pots. For the most part, it was a very uneventful day with one big pot where the opponent made a pretty sick fold, making me suspicious about who told him I’m such a nit.

Overall, it was a pretty stress free day at the WSOP and I end things with 35,300 and a few days off to relax. No, that’s a total lie; I’m going to the Bellagio to play the $5,000. No way I’d just relax during my off days.

I grabbed a copy of Bluff magazine at the Rio the other day. I was glancing through the rankings of the tournament player of the year and, at this point, those things make me entirely disgusted in live poker as a whole. The problem with live poker in general is that the whole community is results oriented and nobody gives a shit about the actual quality of a player, and even worse, his quality as a person. In first place in the rankings is Men “The Master” (and I cannot emphasize “The Master” with enough irony simply in text) Nguyen, who not only is an entirely average tournament poker player, but is a well known scum bag and fairly well established cheat. The fact that this man is celebrated as an excellent player demonstrates everything that is wrong with live poker.

In the world of online poker, everyone is informed enough to understand who is excellent and who is sane and not a complete fuckwit. Just about everyone seriously involved in the tournament scene accepts that Isaac “WestmenloAA” Baron is the best player out there, despite his recent results. In the world of online poker, anyone who cheats, schemes or lies is so quickly outed and publicly shamed that his reputation is ruined for quite some time and his ability to gain respect and sponsorship is ruined for a considerable amount of time (outside Sorel Mizzi.) Meanwhile, pieces of shit like Men are given accolades and the general poker public thinks that he and those like him are legitimate poker champions. Fuck him and everyone of his caliber.

Unfortunately, this is not an industry that rewards integrity and excellent play. This is an industry that rewards results and marketability, though that doesn’t mean the sponsors are wrong for endorsing those players. Just because Phil Hellmuth is hilariously awful at poker over 30 big blinds (and under 10) and a jabbering asshole who spews nothing but self promotion doesn’t mean UB shouldn’t be having him as their face and ambassador. Just because UltimateBet has lied to every single one of its customers in one of the greatest scandals in our industry doesn’t mean there’s anyone there to hold them accountable. Just because Men is a notorious dealer abuser and scum bag who hotel security found had tournament chips in his hotel room doesn’t mean he stops getting camera time.

Please, don’t read this entry and infer that I think I am the one deserving of the attention and accolades these people get having just one fairly small live tournament win. I have not accomplished anywhere near enough in the poker industry to do so, and I continued to play on UB even after the super-user scandal was unearthed. My play is nowhere near as good as so many of my online MTT contemporaries, plus who knows how many online cash players. Don’t think I am so naïve as to think whether a person get’s attention, sponsorship, and congratulations should entirely have to do with excellent play and major tournament wins. Fuck if I don’t want to see some consequences for those who spit on the industry though.

So who is deserving of appreciation in my opinion? Guys like Dan “Ansky” Stern, who besides being a phenomenal player goes out of his way to speak out on cheating and get people talking on the issue. Guys like Jeff “ActionJeff” Garza who, on top of being one of the best tournament players in the world, share valuable information in their videos and make an effort to notify the sites when they stake anyone and enter the same tournament, yet still inform the sites when they are privy to information about cheats. Guys like Adam “Ajunglen” Junglen who have overcome every possible obstacle in life on the way to becoming one of the sickest players out there, even if he doesn’t put in the volume to gain recognition. These are the guys I want to see getting congratulations, getting sponsorship money, getting their faces in magazines. I’m sick of old school scum bags who give poker it’s somewhat deserved shady reputation amongst the public. I want some new poker idols, even if they are all younger than me.

I’m too drunk for this shit.

Tom gives Celina and me a ride to the Bellagio. A number of people have come out to watch the final table, not to mention several more who are playing today’s $5,000 No-Limit tournament. I’ve gotten lucky with the seating arrangements, having Keith with the other large stack on my immediate right, and pretty tight players on my left. They have the final table on a raised area, but nowhere for spectators to sit, so unfortunately, the good people who came out to support have to stand for the whole thing. Play gets underway with about 20 minutes of the 2,000/4,000 level left on the clock.

For the first 20 minutes I stay mostly uninvolved and the blinds go up to 3,000/6,000 without me playing a major pot. Keith is playing quite aggressively on my right, with mixed results so far. It’s not long before we’re involved:

My stack: ~330K, Keith: ~315K, blinds 3,000/6,000 with 500 ante. I hold K-Jo in the SB.

Pre-flop: Folds to Keith on the button, Keith raises to 16,000, I call (K-J being the worst hand I would call from the SB with here) and the BB calls as well.

Flop: 2h-Ks-Jc

I check (leading might be better here), BB checks, Keith checks.

Turn: 9s

I bet 35,000, BB folds, Keith thinks it over and calls.

River: 5h

I think over my bet size, then fire out 65,000. Keith goes into the tank and elects to fold.

Not long after, a similar hand plays out where I flat Kc-Jc in the SB against Keith’s button raise and flop top pair heads up. I check-call his flop bet and he checks behind on the turn. I lead out the river and he folds again.

A few of the more short stacked players bust out while Keith and I continue to tangle:

My stack: ~460K, Keith: ~320K, blinds 4,000/8,000 with 1,000 ante. I hold Kd-Td in the BB. I had raised his last two SB completes and he’d folded. I decided there was a decent risk he might re-pop here and I could also consider calling down with K high on the right boards, so I elect check.

Flop: 5-2-5 rainbow

Keith bets 9,000 and I call.

Turn: 4

Keith thinks it over and bets 24,000. I still think he might fire a second barrel pretty often here, so I call again.

River: 4

Keith checks and I check behind.

“J high” he says. I table my Kd-Td and he mucks.

“Got me on the river there, Jack Deuce.”

“Yea, I’m a pretty massive station.”

I also find a couple spots to blast Keith pre-flop, both times holding A-K, because I’m a massive nit. I keep finding good hands over and over pre-flop, and am able to re-raise people or open raise and not be screwed with. The table drops to six players, with Keith and Livb still in, though both are sitting with an average stack. During six-handed play, it folds to me on the button with 9c-Tc and I raise to 22,000. Will “The Thrill” shoves in the SB for 67,000 and the BB folds. I call and his A-J flops A-A-4, and has me drawing dead by the turn. Not long after, we drop another player and are down to a pretty aggressive five-handed game.

Not long after, I’m involved yet again:

My stack: ~470K, button : ~180K, blinds 4,000/8,000 with 1,000 ante. I hold Ks-Kc in the BB.

Pre-flop: Folds to the button, button raises to 25,000, SB folds, I call.

Flop: Q-9-3 rainbow

I check, button checks behind.

Turn: 6

I bet 35,000, button thinks it over and calls.

River: 2c

I think over my bet size, then bet out 66,000. The button thinks for quite some time, then folds.

Just a couple of hands later, I’m involved yet again:

My stack: ~540K, Will: ~140K, blinds 4,000/8,000 with 1,000 ante. I hold Qh-Qs on the CO.

Pre-flop: Folds to me, I raise to 22,000, button folds, Will goes all-in from the SB, BB folds, I call. Will shows A-Ko and starts begging for his six outs.

Flop: J-4-5 rainbow

Turn: 7

River: 2

I shake hands with Will and we’re down to four players, with both Livb and Keith still in. I have about 40% of the chips in play, and each of them have roughly 20%. The blinds go up to 6,000/12,000 before I get involved again:

My stack: ~640K, SB: ~330K, blinds 6,000/12,000 with 2,000 ante. I hold Jc-Tc on the CO.

Pre-flop: I raise to 30,000, button folds, SB calls, BB folds.

Flop: 7c-Qd-9h

The SB thinks over his move and leads out 60,000.He’s only got 240,000 behind, so I make the obvious move and announce all-in. He goes into the tank for quite some time and stares at me for a while. He stands up out of his chair, but doesn’t really move or say anything. When he gets up I know that means he’s going to call, but he decides to think things over for a while first. Finally, he mumbles call and I table Jc-Tc and watch his face. He noticeably winces, then starts shaking his head. Could he really have 8-T and I’m way in front?

“Is it eight ten?!” someone in the crowd yells.

The SB tables his 8h-Th and I’m in the best possible shape.

Turn: 6c

The SB looks elated but I don’t react. I look over at the dealer and tell him

“I really wouldn’t mind a club here.”

River: Kc

The tournament area lets out a huge cheer and even I erupt with a “Yes!” After I shake hands with the SB, we’re down to the three-handed I pretty much expected, myself, Livb and Keith. I’ve got about 900,000 of the 1.5 million in play going into three-handed, and the two of them are roughly equal, with Keith having a bit of a lead.

Only a couple orbits into the three-handed, the two of them get it all-in pre in a coin flip, which Keith wins. We enter heads-up play with my having almost a million to his somewhat over 500,000. We discuss the potential of a deal, and I tell him if he gets even in chips or within 100,000 or something, we can talk about it. However, while I have a lead so substantial, I’m not interested in it at the moment. The difference between first and second is $93,000, and hopefully I’ll get to keep it for myself. Whatever happens though, I’m sure as shit out of make up now.

At first we take turns sharing small pots. I chip him down slightly and I keep finding good hands to raise in the BB when he completes in the small. The fourth time it happens, we get involved in a larger pot:

My stack: ~1.1 million, Keith: ~450K, blinds 6,000/12,000 with 2,000 ante. I hold Kc-Qh in the BB.

Pre-flop: Keith completes, I raise 25,000 more, Keith makes it 100,000, I shove, Keith calls and tables As-Qc

Flop: 8h-Th-Ah

I manage to flop massive and now have 12 outs twice, making me almost a coin flip for the tournament.

Turn: 6d

Come on, make this easy for me, damn it.

River: 6c

Fuck. Keith suddenly takes over the chip lead and our positions are almost reversed, with his ~900,000 to my ~600,000.

We go back to playing smaller pots and I manage to make some progress. During play Keith and I are very silent, but we chat some between hands. The play is quite aggressive and, overall, the final table has been a very short one. It’s not too long before we get involved in a larger pot again:

My stack: ~680,000, Keith: ~820,000, blinds 6,000/12,000 with 2000 ante. I hold 6d-8d on the button.

Pre-flop: I raise to 30,000, Keith calls.

Flop: 8c-6s-3c

Keith checks, I bet 45,000. Keith quickly grabs some chips and raises to 105,000. Weird, this is his first strange-sized small raise. I really don’t think he’s drawing with a raise like that, but I guess he could be since he knows I probably haven’t connected often, and he doesn’t need to raise much to take it. I decide to call and try to get it in on the turn, since if he’s bluffing, I want to give him one more street to do so.

Turn: Jh

Now Keith checks, which is pretty odd. I reach for chips and slide out a bet of 150,000. Keith quickly announces all-in and I call instantly. Keith’s face betrays the strength of his hand and I table my two pair. He shows A-4o for a total bluff, no pair, no draw, just a hand that is drawing completely dead.

River: 7

Keith is now very short stacked with 140,000. When I’m on the button, I start open shoving a very wide range and he folds both times I do it. He also shoves a couple of times on the button and I find nothing to call him with. On his third small blind, we get involved:

My stack: ~1.4 million, Keith: ~140,000, blinds 6,000/12,000 with 2,000 ante. I hold 6-5o in the BB.

Pre-flop: Keith completes, I check.

Flop: Q-5-Q rainbow

I bet 16,000, Keith shoves, I call. Keith shows Q-7o and I’m basically dead.

Turn: 6

River: A

Keith doubles and starts getting back in the game. I keep missing flops and every time I try to continuation bet or fire a limped pot, he calls down or raises. I occasionally mix in check-raises on good bluffing boards like K-7-6 to keep him off balance, but for the most part, they don’t work. His stack ascends to nearly 600,000 at his high point. Again, we’ve had a pattern where I raise out of the BB a ton, having a good hand about every time. A period goes where I keep checking the big, and after a while of his limps going unstopped, I decide to raise light. We get involved as a result:

My stack: ~900,000, Keith: ~600,000, blinds 6,000/12,000 with 2,000 ante. I hold 6h-5d.

Pre-flop: Keith completes, I raise to 37,000, Keith calls.

Flop: Kh-Jd-Jh

I bet 45,000, Keith calls.

Turn: 7h

After every single continuation bet thus far without a hand, I have given up. I decide with the paired board he might call the flop wide, plus firing again looks super strong here since the flush card hit and I’ve never done it. I fire out 105,000 and Keith folds.

Again, I continue to lose small pots and Keith rebuilds his stack back to about 600,000 before we get involved again:

My stack: ~900K, Keith: ~600K, blinds 6,000/12,000 with 2,000 ante. I hold 6-7o on the button.

Pre-flop: I raise to 30,000, Keith calls.

Flop: 3-4-4 rainbow

Keith checks, I bet 45,000, Keith calls.

Turn: 6

Keith checks, I check.

River: 3

Keith checks, I bet 115,000, Keith quickly calls. I table my two pair and he mucks.

Not long after that hand, the blinds increase to 8,000/16,000 and reduce Keith to about 30 BBs. Not very long into the level, we get involved:

My stack: ~1.1 million, Keith: ~450K, blinds 8,000/16,000 with 2,000 ante. I hold Kd-8h in the BB.

Pre-flop: Keith completes, I check.

Flop: Kh-Td-6s

I check, Keith bets 21,000, I check-raise to 65,000. Keith quickly shoves and I snap call. Keith tables Ac-Jc and I just need to dodge seven outs. Everyone creeps up toward the stage and people start yelling and calling for certain cards. There’s 93 fucking thousand on these two cards.

Turn: 5s

Just one more, hold for one more card. Let me get my one time.

River: 9

“Yes! Oooooooh man, that is sick.” I shake hands with Keith then turn to the guys who have come out to watch the heads up, Greg and Matt, and shake their hands in a daze of elation. I find Celina and give her a kiss, then start getting the various onlookers congratulations and hand shakes.

They hand me over the bracelet and ask if we can do a photo. I tell the tournament director John I’d rather not wear the bracelet in the photo, that we’ll just put it on top of the chips instead. John takes a glance around the tournament area and realizes the photographer isn’t here, so we’ll do it some other time. When I take a good look at the bracelet, I’m surprised it’s a bit nicer than expected.

John and Jack McClelland take me into the pay-out room and hand me the appropriate tax paper work. Then John walks me over to the cage in order to get paid. The counterman pulls out a stack of shiny white $5,000 Bellagio chips and counts out $190,000. He shakes my hand, tells me congratulations, and walks back toward the room. I ask them for a box and they inform me they’re out.

“Uh well, I sure as hell don’t wanna walk out of here with this. Is there somewhere you guys can just... put it?”

“Well, we could have it on deposit.”

“Right, perfect. Let’s do that.”

He goes to get the paper work and I stand there in a daze, drinking a beer Mlagoo and NHfunkii have brought me to celebrate. I have him put the entire amount in the deposit and go back to the poker room. John gives me a comp to the Bellagio buffet for our group of four and we go over, but find a truly massive line. We decide to go over to the Korean BBQ instead, and that winds up being an excellent decision.

We head back to the house and invite anyone and everyone over to party, then hit a beer house over at Town Center Las Vegas. Adanthar demands I wear the bracelet for the remainder of the evening, and despite my pleading, he insists and wears me down. We down several beers and some kind of massive ice cream sundae at the bar, and I’m starting to get pretty damn drunk, though nobody gets particularly crazy. As we head home, I demand we go to the grocery store so I can get stuff to munch on and grill. We spend the rest of the night outside grilling, smoking, and eating.

After a year of frustration and failure, I’ve finally managed to run good and get my one time. Massive thanks to everyone who helped me get there with their help on my poker game, including just about everyone who hangs out in the multi-table tournament forums at 2+2. Big thanks to everyone who sent words of support as well, especially after the more spectacular failures and, of course, Steve and Timex for making the investment. I no longer hate you all.