Back Home

Well I was expecting the weekend to be somewhat eventful with a wedding planned and time being fleeting. Instead we changed my wife's ticket back home so that she could leave Monday morning rather than Sunday evening; the wedding was postponed; and we were just treated like royalty and had a really enjoyable weekend hanging out with family in beautiful Santa Barbara. Another bonus was that I only had to be dragged to one open-house (my wife and mother-in-law like going to open houses even when we aren't anywhere close to looking for a house anytime soon).

The drive back was uneventful and I had my dog chula as a companion which is always nice. Today I slept in and have just been super lazy. The rest of this week my plan is to get the house back in order; pay back my WSOP backers; and then I have to do some tax stuff because the IRS somehow thinks the $14k I made in a live tourney back in 2008 wasn't reported to them even though it was part of my total profit that year which I reported to them when I filed as a "poker player."

No more WSOP 2010 for me

An abysmal day was my ending to my 2010 WSOP. I just never got anything going. To be honest, I am not really devastated. Vegas wears me down and I am at my wearing down point. I think I managed much better this year than last year but after over 3 weeks here, 18 tourneys played, and not seeing my wife or dog for that whole time, I am ready to go home.

My father-in-law is getting remarried this weekend so I am heading to Santa Barbara tomorrow and will be back in Sac-town early next week.

All in all I am very happy with how this series went. I made another final table. Hung out with some cool people and thought I played very well. GL to all of those that are still playing and are staying for the main event.

One more to go....

Today was just meh - gross finish. I chipped up nicely with no showdowns and had doubled my starting stack by the end of 4 levels of play.

I had 9500 at 100/200 at the end of level 4 and just got moved to a new table. I open to 525 with JQs from EP and get one caller - guy who was on tilt raises to just 1375. I didn't get the feeling that he had a monster, but I also wasn't willing to 4-bet and get it in in a stupid situation so I call the 850 more leaving me with just over 8k.

Flop come 72T with two of my suit. I check, other guy checks, original raiser bets 2500ish. I ldo shove and he wakes up with A9s. So my 15 outs quickly diminished to just 6 and I didn't get there.

Tomorrow is the 2500 mixed holdem. It will be my last event no matter what but I am looking forward to it as there will likely be few entries and I am expecting some pretty bad play in both portions.

Not a lot to add

I've just been grinding and busting out around dinner time of tourneys the past 4 days. Playing very well still just not running as well. I am playing 1 or 2 more WSOP events (depending how I do tomorrow) and then I am packing it up and heading home. All in all it has been a good series. I have maintained a good emotional state, I am playing very well, I am working out everyday, but I am also ready to go home.

1 week in Vegas is fun. 2 weeks gets draining. 3 weeks and home starts seeming better and better everyday.

Happy Father's Day

It wasn't such a happy day for me as I busted the $1k after just 4 levels of play but still feel like I am playing very well. So I hope all the dads out there fared better than I did.

I have decided that Thursday's WSOP event (a mixed NL/Limit tourney) will be my last one this year. If I bust early, I will head to Santa Barbara for a wedding, but in any case it will be my last hurrah this year.

I had a blast this weekend with guys from FTR but it will feel good to just relax tonight, get some good sleep and then tomorrow get back into the workout, play poker, routine.

The plan this week is to play the Venetian tourneys tomorrow and Tuesday and then the WSOP events on Wednesday and Thursday. I am due for a cash so hopefully I can get one more big score before I go.

Time for some time off

I played the $2110 Venetian yesterday and in the best structure tourney that I was going to play this entire month I lost my entire stack on the first hand I played. But still think I played it fine.

Starting with 20k in chips I raised Ah5h to 300 from the CO and got flatted by the button. Pot has 750.

Flop is Kh2d4s I bet 425 and button calls. Pot is now 1600.

Turn is the 3d. I figured button has a mid pair or the K so I check since after floating there he is going to fire so often. He bets 750, I c/r to 2200. He takes some time and 3-bets me to 6200. So now it is decision time for me. If I call then the pot will have like 14k and I will have like 13 k behind so I'd be committing myself to the pot with the 2nd nuts. If I fold it means I am putting him on 56 and 56 only. I thought his range included hands like a set, AdKd, another A5 and the occassional bluff as well as 56 so I pushed because I was OOP and I wanted to get it in good against any of the hands that I am beating and I don't see him folding getting 2:1 at this point. He had 5s6s. GG me.

I also played the $350 Limit tourney which started an hour later and played fine but ran bad (AA<55, QQ
There are a whole bunch of people coming into town this weekend so I am definitely taking today and tomorrow off. I might play the $1 k WSOP on Sunday depending on how I feel after this weekend. There are also now distinct possibilities that next week will be last week of the series as I might very well be heading to a wedding in Santa Barbara.

Just Grinding

I have been playing every day and busting out early in fairly standard coolerish spots. A whole gang from the FTR crew come in on Friday so I am trying to get my live volume in as I will likely be taking this weekend off for some drunken debauchery.

I am playing the $1500 NL Event tomorrow and then will play things by ear. There is a $2100 event at the Venetian on Thursday which I may play, but if lots of the FTR guys are around I will probably just hang out with them.

Ridiculously Swingy Day

I start the day with the kid who busted me last year at my Final Table directly on my left. Our table gets broken up quickly and I say a little thanks since he is a tough player and I didn't really want him on my left. Of course he shows up at my new table and is once again seated directly on my left. Within 30 minutes both Phil Gordon (a known live pro) and another kid who made the final table with me last year are also seated to my left.

I lose a big pot to Phil when he turns a flush and I had Top pair with a good kicker and I am down to just 650 chips at 25/50 blinds. I proceed to suck out when my AJ beats AQ and am back to 1400.

I then get moved to another table and now I have Shawn Buchanan, who was done really well in WPT events, two to my left. I am fortunate to get AA versus another guy's KK and double up to like 3500. I again suck out with AJ when I turned both TP and a flush draw against a strangely played AK and binked a river flush to move me back up to like 7k. I chip up to around 9k by playing some pots with Shawn who was playing lots and lots of pots and just c-betting everytime. I then make a bluff against a weekend warrior and show it and chip up to over 11k at the end of level 4.

When we get back from that break blinds are now 100/200 so I am sitting pretty with over 50 BBs. My friend Matt who plays in my home game in Sacramento is here in town dealing for the Series and he sits down to deal at my table. Shawn opens, a young internet kid calls and I look down and see JJ. I 3 bet, Shawn folds and the kid reshoves. I think for a bit - range him on AA, TT-, AQ-, and occassionally just a bluff. I really didn't think he would have QQ, KK or AK because I think he would have 3-bet those hands pre. So I called, and unfortunately he had AA. Swing time back down to 3500.

It folds to me in the CO, I have KJo. I shove my 17 BBs, Shawn calls with 99 and I lose the race and am down to less than 1 BB with just 150 chips. I quadruple up to 600 when AK holds. Very next hand I get JJ again and shove and get called by both blinds so I have a shot to get back to around 2k. Unfortunately the BB had JQ and he flopped a Q. So out I went.

It was just a weird day. I actually had a lot of fun. My tables were talkative. I never like to lose, but I am fine with how I played. Tomorrow I am playing the $2500 6 max tourney. Tonight I will just watch the game and relax.

Long Day Today - Back at it Tomorrow

I played the $350 Venetian tourney and after 12 hours of play I mincashed it for like $322 profit. I really like how I played, still feel very good about my game. Tomorrow I am playing the $1k WSOP event.

Back to the Grind

Yesterday's tourney was similar to my last one. I started off well and then just nosedived. I made one mistake where I misplayed AQ postflop, but other than that I just ran poorly, and you need to run well in Limit.

I am planning on playing my first Venetian event today since I would rather play the $1k WSOP on Sunday when all the internet kids stay at home and grind online.

Quick WSOP Update

I planned on playing a full online schedule yesterday but had some connectivity issues so I quickly unregged for the remainder of my tourneys and only played in 3. So I went over to the Shady Akers house and watched the Lakers game and then went out to dinner at Naked Fish with a couple of the guys.

Today my plan is to watch some World Cup, get in a workout, and then head over to the RIO and play the $2500 Limit 6 max tourney which begins at 5 pm.

Gross Day

I had an unusually tough table from the get go at my Limit tourney today. The one fish at the table got picked off pretty early and was unfortunately replaced with Matt Matros (who won the tourney I final tabled last week). After that everyone at the table was good. There was no limping pre, no coldcalling raises or 3-bets, people actually folded their BB with trash... which meant that I basically had to hope for a good run of cards and hold up by the river - I didn't.

My plan is to play online tomorrow because I want to play the $2500 6 max limit tourney on Friday.

Just relaxing

Vegas always seems to throw my sleep schedule way out of whack. I have had no problem falling asleep this year but I keep waking up every morning between like 7-8 after going to bed anywhere between 2-3 am. Since I am used to 8+ hours of sleep a night, I have been pretty tired so it feels good to just sit around and not do much of anything but surf the internet and watch some tv.

I have been working out everyday and feel like I am starting to get my wind back. I am using the elliptical at the little fitness room they have at my rental condo and have been playing basketball every Monday and Wednesday at a rec center in Henderson with some other poker players. So I am not being a total couch potato.

Yesterday I went to party with a bunch of PTPers and had a good time just shooting the shit, watching the huge gas grill almost burn the house down, and hanging out by the pool. Not planning on doing much today other than get in another workout, watching the Laker game and then going to bed. Tomorrow I am back to the grind in the 2k Limit Event. I will post updates on Twitter.

Twitter

I synched up my phone with twitter so I now will update how I am doing in each event by tweeting if you want to follow me. My screen name is pretty obvious - chardrian.

Final Table Thoughts

I finished 5th in Event # 12 which was a Limit (one bet at a time) event for $43k. Pokernews is not doing a stellar job of reporting and they now have a monopoly on live updates as the WSOP is only letting the other poker reporting outlets (PTP, Bluff, etc.) post one hand an hour, so if you were trying to follow me and couldn't - well that's why.

Anyhoo I made one big bluff and binked a fullhouse prior to the final table to get me to the final table with a decent stack. I then basically chipped up a bit/maintained my stack until my final 2 hands.

Hand 1 - I have QQ in mid/late position (I don't remember if I was the hijack or CO). Terrence Chan who was the chipleader opens, and Matt Matros who had been on a rush and chipped back up 3-bet. Matt had recently been 3-betting a lot against both Terrence and Georgios who were on his right since they were the two most active players and he was trying to isolate them and get his hands heads-up with position postflop. So I had been waiting for a spot to cold 4-bet since I had position on him. I look down and see the QQ and realize this was a value 4-bet spot so I do just that. Both Terrence and Matt call.

Flop comes 79T with two spades which is a pretty horrendous flop for me. They both check, I obv fire, Terrence raises, and Matt 3-bets. And I now curse my luck and internally say wtf is going on? Terrence easily has a flushdraw, 88, JJ, AJ, or even JQ or QK here, so his c/r did not bother me that much. But when Matt 3-bet the only hand I could put him on that I was beating was JJ. So when the only hands I MIGHT be beating are 2 big draws and it is very likely that Matt has hit a set I fold my QQs. The turn was a J which Terrence c/raised. The river was a K (which would have given me a straight if I had played like a tard and stayed in the hand) and they flipped over JJ and 99.

So I played the hand perfect but I still lost chips, and late in a tourney like this you basically really need to win every pot you enter so it was frustrating to lose with the huge favorite hand preflop.

Hand 2 - my next big hand came pretty quickly after the dinner break. Georgios was a Greek player who I had tangled with in a couple of big pots with previously. He liked to raise my turn bets, but I always had the goods and 3-bet him so he was in my mind looking for a spot to get even with me. He opened very wide from the button. I look down to AA in the BB after he raised the button yet again. I decide to just smooth call, with the plan of trying to get value on the turn by check/raising since that is when the big bets happen in Limit. Flop comes Td9h2h. I check, he bets, I call and the trap is still on. The turn is another 9. I check, he bets, I raise, and he tank calls. At this point I am thinking that I am way ahead. The river is a J and it does not complete any flushes. It is sort of a gross card, because it does complete a straight (either 78 or QK were possible holdings) but he so likely has an underpair or a hand like TJ-AT that I have to fire the river for value. He raises my river bet and now I tank and have to decide whether to just call and leave myself with a measly 70k (blinds were at 10/20k) or if I am ahead and want to try and get more value by 3-betting. In the end I decide that his river raise is just too strong and call and he shows 99 for a turned quads.

I went out in 5th shortly thereafter but did make one last good fold which blinded me all the way down to 40k but allowed me to make $10k more in actual money because the other short stack at the table who actually had more chips then I did went out before me.

I was and still am very disappointed/frustrated at my finish in a strictly results oriented/bad beat way of thinking. I am, however, very happy in my play at the final table.

I am taking today, and probably tomorrow off and will get back to playing in another Limit event on Wednesday.

Day 3

I have made it to day 3 of Event # 12. We are down to the last 13. A little run good and a bracelet is possible.

First Day 2

I busted the $1500 NL right at the beginning of level 5 (A6 < QT all-in pre for like 15 BBs) which also happened to be right when the $1500 Limit tourney was starting.

So I entered that one too and have made it to Day 2 with like a 10 Big Bet stack (which isn't as bad as it would be in NL). So I need some run good today and maybe I can get my first cash of this series...

A little deeper but still no dice.

Another up and down day - I actually didn't play many hands at all. Basically maintained a 15-25 BB stack all day. I made it to one level past the dinner break this time and then just had a string of really gross spots where I ended up making the correct folds but dwindled my stack down to like 15 BBs and committed myself against Eric Froehlich who was opening a ****ton w/55 in the CO and unfortunately the button woke up with QQ. GG me.

I did end up playing with a lot of "known" pros today: Michael Binger, Eric Froehlich, Dewey Tomko. Still feel really solid about my game.

$1500 NL tomorrow.

Safe and Sound in Vegas - Busto from 1st Event

It was a long drive yesterday but I made it with no problem. The condo is nice, I finally got the internet working, I played some basketball this morning and then headed over for my first event. It started off up and down. I started off hot and then got AA cracked by TT in one of the earlier levels, and was then forced into playing pretty nitty but I was able to maintain a 20-30 BB stack up until the dinner break.

I came back from dinner with just over an 11k stack and got moved to a pretty gross table - Eric Basebaldy Baldwin was directly on my left, Nick Binger, some other tourney grinder who I recognized, and 2 other guys I didn't recognize but they knew everyone else; blinds 200/400 with a 50 ante. Within the first orbit a guy with 6k jammed from the button, I woke up with AA in the SB, hollywooded a little to try and get Eric to call too and the buttons 85o cracked my AA. An orbit or so later and I was down to 4k which was just 10 BBs when a very loose CO opened and the guy who cracked me then 3-bet. I woke up with AJs in the SB and knew I was ahead of the CO, thought I might be ahead of the 3-bettor and with 2k in dead money in the pot, I only needed like 35-40% equity for the shove to be good. So I figured he had air enough that a gamble was ok in that spot and unfortunately ran into his AA.

GG me.

Even though I never like to lose, I actually feel really good though. I was able to chip up without showdowns basically all night; the showdowns I did get in I was a huge favorite and got bad beat; so I feel like my patience, timing, range reading, determining fold equity are all really sharp. The fact that I had AA twice all-in preflop in a tourney as an 80% favorite; lost them both; AND still had a shot to keep myself in the tourney is just a really good sign I think. If I get a decent streak of run good it could be a scary series.

I will be playing the $1500 PL tourney tomorrow. White Table 44 Seat 9 if anyone wants to say hey.