TK's Blog

Weekend Vegas Musings

TK — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:38:00 GMT

This past weekend, I got to tag along with a bunch of work people for a Vegas trip. The trip was originally planned for our funding department but since my wife works in that department, I managed to finagle a reason to tag along. Why would I NOT find a reason to go to Vegas right? Destination: Green Valley Ranch Casino.

Upon arriving at the SLC airport, my first agenda was Cinnabon. The only time I can eat one of these delicious rolls is when I travel since its the closest location that I know of. It was the saddest day of my life when they closed the Fashion Place location. I have to satisfy my sugar craving.

I knew none of my traveling companions were really gamblers or poker players so it probably wouldn't be a good idea to just leave the group and go on about my business right away. I figured I would have to spend some time doing the social, mingling stuff with the suits but there was no way I wouldn't find the felt. I want to keep my 9 - 5 to support my habits and spread my funds in the SLCPMG.

After getting the important stuff out of the way, we arrived at the casino noon local time. As soon as I entered the lobby, the place had an mid/upper scale feel to it (Venetian-isk). Surprisingly, my lungs weren't filled with the sudden rush of secondhand smoke. I've been so used to staying at places like Imperial Palace, Binion's, etc that a little "upgrade" was nice. Our showers actually had water pressure, room comes with free wifi, and it didn't smell like fecal matter either. Side note: DO NOT remove things from the mini bar in the room. My wife and I started playing with all the items like little kids and apparently they are pressure sensitive. I think we managed to get the total well over $200 before realizing it and having to get it credited all back. Whoops. We got unpacked and decided to meet up with everybody. Leaving the room, my wife says "I should come to Vegas with you more often." "Sorry, but I don't roll like this when I come to Vegas. Plus, I don't think you'd fit in between Bruce and I."

We met everyone at the lobby and the next order of business was lunch. They agreed on the Elephant Bar at The District, across the street from the casino. The menu had a huge selection and the food, drinks, company, everything was great! I highly recommend. We probably stayed there for 2 hours, talking work crap amongst other things. The things people say when you get a little Jagermeister in their system... After lunch the party moved over to the Drop Bar inside the casino. Come to find out, they don't like to gamble much but they sure do like their liquor!

During this time, I managed to sneak away and walked over to the poker room. They had 2/4 4/8 LHE and 1/2 2/5 NLHE. The list was pretty long and I didn't think I'd be able to put more than 2 hours with our plans for the night so I decided not to sit. However, I found out there would be a $40 tournament at 10am Sat morning so I put that on the "to do" list. I walked over to the pit and played blackjack for a while. I managed to luckbox my way into winning $200 before it was time to go eat dinner with everybody. In the back of my mind, I wanted to call Rich, Eric L, Jason O, or someone and ask "What do you think, Gary thinks, I'm down right now?"

We wound up at a seafood place called Kings for dinner. Of course, we ate and drank like royalty. I had blackened swordfish that was to die for. I tried to limit my alcohol consumption because I wanted to be somewhat functional on Saturday. Apparently, I was the only one with that plan.

After dinner, everybody went their separate ways to do whatever. We were going to meet back up in a couple hours to go to the Steel Panther show. Steel Panther performs at Green Valley on Fridays and they are a cover band/disgusting, ridiculous, funny song band. Some of their songs were just off the wall. Just my kind of thing! On top of that, theres no cover charge! We wound up having a great time. One of my coworkers didn't get to see the show because of intoxication. Weird. I called it a night around 2am because I wanted to play the poker tourney Saturday morning but everybody else stayed up and partied the night away!

Saturday
I woke up around 8:30, refreshed and ready to go. I had a hunch that that the rest of group wouldn't wake up feeling the same way and I probably wouldn't see them anytime soon. I got ready, then headed downstairs to get the breakfast of champions, large caramel frappuccino and an apple fritter. Headed to the poker room and signed up for their NLHE tournament. $40 entry, with a $40 re-entry first hour, 3500 starting stack, 30 min levels. They wound up with about 40 entrants. I sat down with your typical assortment of players and was able to identify them accordingly. I had little action early. I took down blinds a few times and some small pots but no big confrontation. There was a guy that couldn't miss in the first hour. He tripled up and took the table hostage. I could tell they were getting frustrated but continued to feed this guy chips. They would call his raise and then fold to his c-bet. I took a stand, played back at him, and also made him show down a hand when he had air. The table started calling him down which started to frustrate him. He slowly bled his stack back, which also made no sense to me. I went to the first break with about 4500, meh. After the break, I went DEAD. Best hand I saw, JJ. I open raise in late position, old dude in the small blind reraises (probably hand #3 he's elected to play in 2 hrs) BB shoves (with 99...wtf), I say FML and fold, old Bruce, I mean dude, instacalls and obviously has AA. I stay alive for a few orbits and get it all in with KJs vs Q10. Flop comes 10 high but I have a flush draw, turn and river brick out. GG TK.

Its early afternoon now and there's no cash game going yet. What poker player gets up this early? I truck over to the food court to get some lunch and meet up with the wifey. She wanted to go play the shopping game so I gave her a "buy in" and sent her on her way. After chowing down, I wandered back over to the pit and sat at the blackjack table. After about an hour, my session can be summed up in one hand sequence. $50 hand I am dealt 77 against a dealer's 6. Auto split. First card is a 4. Double down. Next card; 7. Split again. I pull a 10 on one (stay) and 7 on the other. Split again and capped. Pull an 8 (stay). Last card; 3. Double down. So, in summary, I have an 11, doubled, 17, 15, and 10, doubled. Dealer flips over a deuce and proceeds to make some 5 or 6 card 21 to sweep my ass. FML... Sat in shock for a moment before I stood up to remove the broomstick crammed up my backside and wandered back to the poker room.

They had a 2/4 LHE going and a 1/2 NLHE so I put my name on the 1/2 list, which they called shortly. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and wound up in the geriatrics ward because these dudes make Bob look like a F'ing teenager. There couldn't have been anybody younger than 60 at this table. Hell, I turned 55 just for sitting down. Imagine playing online with 9 other players who play 2% of hands and everybody is on a dial up connection. PLEASE someone just stab me in the balls now... Thankfully, the table slowly diversified and I was at a regular poker game soon enough.

I was able to establish a tight image early on and being card dead helped facilitate that. The only hands I shown down were AA, KK, and a nut straight. This was great because I was able to open up my game as the session went on and take down pots fairly uncontested. The original players at the table perceived me as tight and the new players would call me down light. I built my stack to a little over $900 from $300. In fact, there were 4 of us who had stacks in the 800 - 1500 range towards the tail end of my session. Over the course of time, the table dynamics changed drastically at this table. We went from a standard raise of $8 - $12 to $25 - $30. The new players that sat down would just have a baffled look on their face. They either went broke or requested a table change. A funny thing happened when a guy got moved from the 2/4 limit game into our game. He has a rack of $1 and buys an additional $100. He's sat under the gun and says "lets get the party started" and throws out a straddle. UTG+1 pumps it to $25 and a player behind makes it $100. It gets back to him and he has that WTF did I walk into look on his face. I said to him "Dude, you don't need to straddle, trust me." He went busto fairly early when he shoved all in with duckies and surprisingly they didn't hold.

I stayed out of the big stack's parties for the most part. I didn't get involved in marginal situations and picked my spots carefully. I didn't plan it that way but it just kinda happened. Well, that is until this hand. Big stack #1 raises to $25, big stack #2 calls, and I call on the button with 66. Flop comes Ks 10s 6h. #1 leads out for $40, #2 raises to $175. Obviously, I feel I have the best hand here. #2 already wants to play a big pot so I shove for $800ish. #1 folds and #2 calls. He says theres no way he can fold here and tables QsJs for the open ended royal draw. So now I have to dodge a trunk full of land mines and managed to do so on the turn. But the river was a spade and I had to ship him my entire stack...Suck me sideways! I got up and paced the casino just to calm down a bit. There was really nothing I could have done because the money was going in regardless as played. Only if that pot went my way...

I spend the rest of the trip hanging out with the wifey and the work folks that I won't bore you with. Sorry to disappoint but I have no luckbox story of millions this time but hopefully in the future. Its back to grinding the Meetup Group for Taco Bell money!

TK

2009 Year End Review

TK — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:04:00 GMT

I feel 2009 was a very successful year pokerwise. I netted ~$4100 for 400 hrs of play. Definitely better than 2008's profits. I played a 1K WSOP event in 2009 and a whole bunch of other $300/$500 events. I still haven't made a big score in the bigger buy in events but I think its just around the corner. I made a fairly deep run in one of Binion's $150 last year (bubbling final table) but not good enough. I want a 50K+ score and and I'm hoping I can have that this year. Guess we'll have to wait to see what the summer brings us!

I also felt like it was a successful year because my knowledge of all the other poker games besides holdem has drastically increased. The mix league I participated helped a lot. I feel that by expanding my knowledge of every game possible, you just get a better understanding of poker. You then can apply that knowledge across whatever game you play. I feel I was able to improve the leaks/holes in my game and the results definitely showed.

My biggest goal this year is to have a deep run in a big event, where I can win 50K+. I'm also going to make an effort to satellite into the WSOP main event. Every poker player's dream is to play in that event and I've never really given it a run. I'm hoping I can try in a few satellites. Anything can happen right? Other than that, I just want to continue to be profitable. I haven't had a losing year yet (fingers crossed!).

See you at the felt!

TK

Weekend Wendover Trip

TK — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:34:00 GMT

This past weekend, a bunch of us from the meetup group decided to take a Wendover trip and play in their spectrum tournament. For the most part, the field in Wendover is pretty weak and if you can avoid the land mines, it is definitely a +EV tournament. However, I think the structure sucks out there because they are super fast but you just have to adjust your game accordingly.

I decided to play the Saturday event, which was $100 w/ $100 rebuys. 25/25 starting levels, 2K in chips, 30 min rounds. I was able to chip up early with little confrontation. I was able to pick off a bluff with KK on a 3 flush, 4 straight board. Other than that, no one really got in my way. Where I ran into a little trouble was after the break. blinds 100/200 and the highest I was able to get to was about 9K. I went card dead but was able to steal a few pots here and there to stay afloat. 500/1K level, I get moved to a new table with 7K. 2nd hand at the table I get dealt QQ. EP opens to 3K, I shove 7K, player to my left reshoves for 40K and obv tables KK. Lucky for me the flops comes 9 10 J and I make my straight. VERY NEXT HAND I get QQ again! Same player opens for 3K, I shove again (this time for 20kish and he snap calls me. Of course I think I'm in trouble with the snap call but he tables A7o. He still had about 35K behind so I didn't understand the call but whatev. BB says "I FOLDED A7!" Uh oh...Board runs out with an Ace and GG me. Finished about 30ish out of 120. Oh well, what can you do.

Cash game didn't go according to plan either. My table was so weak and I just couldn't capitalize. First big pot I played I ran top 2 pair into a set. Bought in again and ran KK into AA. Awesome. That happened in about an 1 1/2 hrs. So I decided to not play anymore poker on Saturday. Sunday, I sat and played for a few hours but couldn't win any big pots. I was so card dead early that I built this super tight image and when I finally started getting hands, I didn't get much action. By then, everybody wanted to leave.

In all, the trip was very unsuccessful. Took a little hit to the bankroll but nothing major. I'll get it back.

Thanks for reading!

TK

BCS Playoff System

TK — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:52:00 GMT

Heres a link to an article of a playoff system that I like in college football. It basically sums up my thoughts on the entire subject and solution. Being a fan and alumni of a "mid-major", I've always wanted a system that gives us little guys a shot at a national title. Under the current system, its IMPOSSIBLE to win a national title unless you are a member of the 6 major conferences. Let the men settle it on the field.

Wetzel’s playoff plan

Texas – not TCU, nor Cincinnati or Boise State – is playing Alabama in the BCS championship game because, well, its name is Texas.

The system is designed to reward the big brands of the sport. Just as important as what you did this week, or this month, is what you did a decade ago. Perception is everything. The BCS sells this as fair.

Maybe Texas is the best team, maybe it isn’t. To the naked eye there’s no easy answer.

It is why, according to a Sports Illustrated poll, 90 percent of fans don’t approve of the BCS. We want to find out on the field.

In response to the system’s crushing unpopularity, the BCS has hired a Washington public relations firm, Ari Fleischer Sports Communications, to “defend” its image. The results have been comical. The firm is used for political fights, not sports ones. It’s hard-wired to operate with typical Beltway gumption, which is why it’s failing miserably.

Fleischer arrived with a dismissive attitude that all the rubes in fly-over country know nothing and have some nerve to demand change from the entrenched powers profiteering off of them. So he launched a social media campaign full of Washington ruling class arrogance.

“With a playoff, the more you move down the rankings, the more teams have identical records and arguments about why they should be in,” the BCS wrote (if this even counts as English) on Twitter.

Really, choosing among three 9-3 teams for a playoff bid is somehow more difficult than five unbeaten ones? The BCS powers actually think someone would believe this?

On one of its propaganda websites, the BCS asks whether a playoff would really satisfy everyone?

“NO!!!” it boldly declares.

Who knew Ari Fleischer wrote like a sixth-grade girl on an iPhone?

Give the campaign credit for this: It’s hardly bothering to explain why the BCS is any good.

Instead, it launched a clown-show website (playoffproblem.com) that claims there can’t be a playoff because college football is incapable of figuring out how one might work.

Sure, every other sports entity on the planet can do it, but we somehow can’t decide how many teams would be in it or where they’d play and so on? So stop asking.

This is a ploy designed to create gridlock. It’s based on the idea fans lack basic mental competency. (After all, how smart could you be? When was the last time you attended a Georgetown cocktail party?).

Because Ari Fleischer, BCS director Bill Hancock and the rest of the suits are confounded by the mysteries of a playoff, I’ll gladly explain it for them. Below is a simple 16-team playoff that will make them more money, offer more excitement and create a more equitable competition.

I’ve pitched this for a few years but it’s hardly groundbreaking – the NCAA uses essentially the same system to run playoffs in all other divisions of football; and variations are all over the Internet.

Two other writers at Yahoo! Sports and I are currently finishing an investigative book on the BCS that will come out next season. That book will, in clear detail, lay the system bare – the finances, mathematics, biases, waste, contracts, scams, etc.

In the meantime, this is your primer to finding college football salvation while you wait for the Fiesta Bowl matchup of Plessy v. Ferguson.

A seeded 16-team field

Just like the wildly popular and profitable NCAA men’s basketball tournament, champions of all 11 conferences earn an automatic bid to the playoff.

Yes, all 11, even the lousy conferences. While no one would argue that the Sun Belt champ is one of the top 16 teams in the country, its presence is paramount to maintaining the integrity and relevancy of the regular season. While the idea that the season is a four-month playoff is both inaccurate and absurd – best proven this year – college football’s roller-coaster regular season needs to be protected.

That’s accomplished by two things. The first is playing on the home field of the higher-seeded team until the title game (more on this later).

The second is by giving the chance for an easier first-round opponent – in this case No. 1 seed Alabama would play No. 16 Troy. Earning a top two or three seed most years would present a school a de facto bye into the second round. Why not leave the Sun Belt out and offer a real bye? The extra home game would create tens of millions of dollars in revenue (a carrot to the school presidents).

The season still matters this way. By winning the SEC championship game Saturday, Alabama gets Troy and enjoys home-field advantage in Tuscaloosa until the title game. By losing it, Florida gets Penn State and has to hit the road if it can beat the Nittany Lions.

On the flip side, it brings true Cinderella into the college football mix for the first time. Is it likely that East Carolina could beat Texas? Of course not, but as the men’s basketball tournament has proven the mere possibility (or even a close game) draws in casual fans by the millions.

Perhaps the most memorable college football game of the last few years was Boise State-Oklahoma, in part because Boise was the unbeaten underdog that wasn’t supposed to win. When the Broncos did, in dramatic fashion, they became the talk of the country. There would’ve been historic interest in seeing if they could do it again the following week.

Why wouldn’t college football want that?

For even lower-rated conferences – the Sun Belts, C-USA – allowing annual access to the tournament would not only set off celebrations on small campuses it would actually increase interest for everyone. It would not simply make the regular season matter more it would make more regular seasons matter.

Right now, last Friday’s MAC championship game between Central Michigan and Ohio was virtually meaningless. It wouldn’t be if a berth to the playoffs was riding on it. There’d be a reason to watch.

Who’s against more must-see games?

With the bigger conferences, a championship would take on greater value. Does anyone without direct rooting interest really care that Georgia Tech won the ACC title game Saturday?

They would now. The final week Big East and Pac-10 games (Cincy-Pitt, Oregon State-Oregon) would’ve had greater meaning because if the Panthers and/or Beavers won, it would’ve caused at-large bids to get gobbled up by UC and Oregon.

The interest in every game would increase exponentially – dare I say, every game would actually matter.

At-large bids

In addition to the 11 automatic bids, there would be five at-large selections made by a basketball-like selection committee (a group of highly engaged people using common criteria to pick and set the field).

This is where independents, such as Notre Dame, would have access to the tournament. Most years, all five bids would come from the power conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC).

While the selection process would still draw complaints from the teams left out, those schools often would have two or three losses or significant flaws. In this year’s case, 9-3 LSU would edge out 10-2 BYU in a debate between flawed teams.

There’s no need to dignify the BCS ridiculous assertion that such an argument would be more heated than five unbeatens vying for two title game spots.

Never again would an unbeaten team be denied a chance to pursue a title. And we’d do away with bizarre seasons such as 2003, when everyone thought USC was the best team but the computers locked the Trojans out.

Ignore outdated bowls

BCS bowl games are the single worst business arrangement in American sports. College football’s continued willingness to be fleeced by outside businessmen, who gleefully cut themselves in on millions in profits, makes even conference commissioners blush when confronted with the raw facts.

What other business outsources its most profitable and easily sold product – in this case postseason football?

The bowls were needed back in the 1950s. These days they are nothing but leeches on the system. I happen to like watching bowl games – or any games, but outside of nostalgia they offer no value to a playoff system.

It’ll never make sense to allow businesses outside college football to determine how college football does its business.

College football could stage the 15 playoff games itself, cut out the middle men, and pockets hundreds of millions of extra revenue.

The bowl lobby is a powerful one though, which is why just about every idea you’ll hear or read will use these bowls for the quarterfinals and these for the semifinals and so on. Or they float out the “Plus One” system, which while an improvement to the current BCS, is essentially a desperate Stockholm syndrome compromise. The bowls’ sole concern is keeping their grip on the system when reform inevitably comes.

A neutral site, bowl-based playoff would create ridiculous travel demands on teams and fans. Moreover, going neutral site makes the seeds almost meaningless and, indeed, devalues the regular season.

A playoff that includes bowls is a poor idea. It’s why the BCS clings to it and holds it up as the deal breaker for any and all playoff discussion.

The solution, however, is simple – ignore the bowls.

This isn’t the same as eliminating them. The 34 bowl games can continue to operate outside of the playoff, just like any non-affiliated business. All the non-playoff teams can compete in them. With the BCS, only one game matters any way. It’s not like the Sun Bowl is going to be all that different. If the people of El Paso want to continue staging the game, then they should.

Any claim that such a playoff would kill off all the bowl games is alarmist, dishonest and not based in fact. Any simple analysis of bowl finances show these things are cash cows (why do you think they keep adding bowl games?).

The bowl games will survive as long as two things continue. First, people keep watching football on TV. Since “Bowl Week” is ESPN’s highest rated of the year, don’t count on that changing.

Second, colleges continue to subsidize the bowl system by paying all team expenses and guaranteeing (often at a loss) ticket and marketing revenue. Since the sport will be awash in cash to spend with a playoff, bowls may wind up healthier than ever.

In an effort to help the bowls, first- and second-round losers in a playoff could even return to the bowl pool and take a slot in a late December bowl game if they so choose. That means as few as four teams are pulled out.

As long as they don’t block the playoff, the bowls can go on fine. This is great; the more football the better.

Higher seeds get home games early

The playoff would stage the first three rounds at the home field of the higher-seeded team before shifting to a neutral site, a la the Super Bowl. As a nod to history, it could be a rotation of famed stadiums such as the Rose Bowl. Or the Rose Bowl every year. This doesn’t matter to me.

This allows the playoff to capitalize on perhaps college football’s greatest asset – the pageantry, excitement and history of its legendary campus stadiums. There is nothing like a college game day and it doesn’t matter whether you’re in Tuscaloosa or Ann Arbor or Lincoln or Los Angeles. Each one is thrilling and adds tremendous value to the product.

So why does college football stage its postseason in antiseptic pro and municipal stadiums?

Hosting games would be a boon to the schools. Instead of sharing up to 40 percent of game revenue (and all travel costs) with third-party bowl committees – run by an executive director making up to $800,000 a year – college and universities could keep all money in-house.

Why they’d ever choose otherwise is beyond comprehension.

Home games would pump up local economies too. It’s not the people in Ohio’s job to drop their disposable income in Pasadena; they might consider doing it right at home. The entire “economic impact” theory for bowl games makes no sense on a national scale (which this is) because it’s just displaced spending. Just a guess, but I’m sure the guy running the Columbus Applebee’s would enjoy a crowd as much as the guy running the one in Tempe.

Most importantly it would also reward the higher seeds (again placing value on the regular season) by providing the distinct advantage of playing at home. (The visiting team would get the same small ticket allotment it currently gets). To be a top-two seed, and host through the championships game, would be a considerable advantage.

This would also placate complaints from northern teams who are seemingly always playing bowl games near the campus of their opponent. The Big Ten’s been getting slaughtered of late in bowl games. Well, let’s see Florida or LSU slide around in the snow of Happy Valley some time.

The BCS has all but killed intrasectional games (there’s no reward to playing a tough schedule), but the idea of them returning each December and January, famous jerseys in famous faraway stadiums (USC in the Swamp; Texas in Camp Randall; Oklahoma on the blue turf) can warm any college fan’s heart.

The schedule

While the former Division I-AA plays all four rounds in four consecutive weeks – and stages the title game before Christmas – football’s top division might be better served playing the first one or two rounds in December, breaking for final exams and staging the semifinals just after Christmas and the title game in early January.

While final exams are worth noting, college football players miss very little class time during the regular season (especially compared to other sports). And under the current system, they’re required to have three weeks of practice right in the middle of finals anyway. It’s not like they have time off.

College athletics has never allowed academics to stand in its way before. Even Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany has admitted the academic debate is a complete canard.

One of the apologists’ greatest whines is that a playoff would make the season too long. It’s conceivable that some teams would play 17 games. The guys in the other divisions of college football manage to do it though and as Texas Tech coach Mike Leach points out, the Texas high school season can go 16 games long and the best players are often on both offense and defense. The NFL plays a much longer season with just 53-man rosters.

The length of the season is just another smoke screen.

The presidents

There’s nothing easier than blaming it on the faceless “Presidents.” They don’t want a playoff everyone says and that’s that.

The truth is they’ve never been presented a real playoff plan. If you read their comments about the BCS, it’s obvious few have any idea how college football actually works. It doesn’t help that the same powers that are employing Washington PR firms to muddy the debate waters are the ones briefing them.

One day the campus leaders are going to figure out the facts and things will change. Presidents are obsessed with revenue. If they follow the money, they’ll see they are getting swindled and opinions could change rapidly.

We’re talking billions of dollars in television, game day and marketing revenue that is just lying on the table. Once they realize it’s there, will they really let it sit forever?

“It’s not a question of if there is going to be a playoff, it’s going to be a question of when,” Florida State president T.K. Wetherell said. “It’s going to be driven by money.”

Money we’ve got. Fairness we’ve got. Excitement we’ve got. A playoff plan that would solve all problems and create a four-week event that would rival the NFL playoffs in popularity, we even have that.

See, college football fans aren’t as dumb as the BCS thinks.

Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist. Follow him on Twitter. Send Dan a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Recent News

TK — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:38:00 GMT

Mix league schedule/results. All games are played limit besides 2.

Week 1: 7 Card Stud hi/lo – Final table

Week 2: 2-7 Triple Draw – Final Table

Week 3: Pot Limit Omaha – Early out

Week 4: 7 Card Stud – Early out

Week 5: Badugi – First out

Week 6: Limit Hold em – Final Table

Week 7: Razz – Made money

Week 8: Pot Limit 2-7 Single Draw – 1^st Place

Week 9: Omaha hi/lo – Final table

Finished 2^nd overall in regular season points (3 pts behind 1^st place) and 1^st in the main event where we played a rotation of all the games.

I had a great time playing in the league. The competition was tough but I learned a lot. Because of the field, I’m proud of myself for taking 1^st in this league. To be able to place 2^nd in points and 1^st in the main was a hard task but I felt like I earned it. I was only able to take down one first place in the regular season. It was in 2-7 single draw which I felt like is my best game of the bunch. I spend a lot of time playing it on Stars and I felt I should have an advantage in it. It was also in this game that the last hand of the main event was played in. I went to the final table with nearly 40% of the chips and never felt threatened to lose my stack. I felt I played exceptionally well, picking my spots the entire tournament.

The mix league is pretty much the only poker I’ve played recently. I probably won’t be playing much in the next couple of months, for no particular reason. I just don’t seem to play much around this time and then pick it up strong around Jan/Feb, building up my bankroll for the summer run. There is a poker tournament out at the Rainbow in Wendover mid Dec that I may go play in. I seem to run pretty well in those donkaments.

With that win, I surpassed a milestone I set for myself since I started tracking my results and that is the 10K mark. Mind you, its mainly low stakes, but its taken me almost 3 years to finally surpass 10K in total profits. I have my sight on 50K next. Lets hope I get there sooner rather than later! Just need a break in those big multitables in Vegas.

Until then, see you at the felt!

Mix League Game 1

TK — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:31:00 GMT

The first game of our mix league was 7 card stud hi/lo. Definitely not one of my strong games but I think I played pretty well overall. I was able to build my stack early and make the final table. I lost two key pots that cost me a bunch of chips and was eventually eliminated in 7th place. Game #2 will be 2-7 triple draw.

I jumped right into the cash game after getting eliminated where they were playing HOE (NL Holdem, PL Omaha, PL O/8). I was able to profit $130 in the cash game in about 2 hrs which I basically made my buy in back and then some. Good times!

I had another average capping weekend. I think I wound up 1 game over .500, barely a profit. I'm still showing a little in the red YTD but I fully expect to have an awesome weekend where I make a huge leap into the black. Its a marathon and not a sprint. I would like to say congrats to Bean for hitting his parlay for a nice little payday! Awesome job.

I keep getting people telling me how sports betting is easy when they find out I do it. I'm really upfront on teams I bet etc. Hell, its all documented on twitter. I get the "why would you bet that team" blah blah and I woulda went 6-0 if I bet this weekend blah blah blah. If you woulda, THEN DO IT! Don't talk about it, be about it! I WANT people to make money! I need more people in my research circle. I love sharing information. You should see the reaction I get when I say my goal is to hit 55% - 60% of my plays and they say that would be easy. If it was easy, don't you think every single sports fan would do that rather than work? Hard way to make an easy living.

Best of luck this week!

TK

Few Updates

TK — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Lets start off my saying I'm glad to have football back! It seriously takes up all my time Saturday and Sunday because thats all I do. Whether its watching it on TV or checking updates via the phone, whatever. It basically consumes my life and its been like that as long as I know. Gotta love it! I haven't started out as strong as I would like in CFB but it'll come around. I had a HUGE bounceback weekend in the NFL which has put me in the + overall. I figure its easier to just tweet my plays so I won't be posting them here in my blog.

I went to the USA world cup qualifier against El Salvador and that was a blast! Surprised by the amount of El Salvador fans but it was a very fun atmosphere. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Poker
I've only played twice since the big tournament in the group. Played a cash session, wound up losing $14. I found myself playing way too many hands and found myself in situations that I shouldn't have been. I was dissappointed because with the lineup that was there, I should have easily doubled my buyin minimum. This past Sunday I played a 11 man single table tournament where I wound up chopping heads up for $200. All in all, it hasn't been too bad and my game has stayed pretty sharp. This Friday will be game 1 of our mix league where we will be playing 9 different games each week, starting with stud hi/lo. The lineup is super tough but I fully expect to do well.

That about sums it up!

TK

First Multi Location Tournament

TK — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:39:00 GMT

Yesterday, the group hosted the first ever multi-site tournament. It was a 44 man tournament, with the field split up between two houses. I wasn't all for the 11 handed tables but it is what it is. Once we got down to 22, we would have a dinner break where we would combine at a single location. The whole event went rather smoothly.

We did have an incident where I was playing. At the first break, the cops showed up. I don't know if the neighbors called in a complaint or something but they came in, checked everything out, and went about their business. We didn't lie about playing poker for money or anything. It was a rather odd encounter really.

I really liked my table draw to start the tournament. There was only 2 - 3 new faces at my table but I figured them out pretty quick. With 22,500 starting stack and blinds 25/25, I felt I had plenty of time to be patience and selective. The first time I raised, I had JJ and flopped a set on a diamond board (ace of diamonds on board also). I was check raised on the flop but elected to just call to keep the pot small. Turn put the 4th diamond on the board and he checked to me. The check was a little odd I thought. At this point, I assumed it was because he didn't have the nut flush. But after check raising the flop I expected to have to make a big decision on the turn. Again, for a little pot control, I checked behind. River paird the ace. Perfect. Again, he checked to me. Honestly, I don't know what hand could possibly pay me off here. Trip aces would have to have a decent diamond and why wouldn't he bet it, especially on the turn? I know my opponent will pay off light too though, especially early. I went ahead and made a big size and was called and of course I was good.

The next big pot I played, I raised in LP with AK and called in 4 spots. Flop A K Q with 2 spades. EP leads out, everybody calls and I make a pretty big raise to define my hand. Everybody folds but one. Turn rag and he leads into me. The ONLY hand i'm worried about right now is J10. Any other hand that beats me would have raised preflop and doesn't just flat call the flop bets. I could see J10 playing it that way though. At the same time, I wasn't convinced thats what he had so I called. River 10, non spade and he bets into me again. Talk about a scary card. Even if he was on a spade draw but had had QJ spades, etc, he got there. I still think the one hand he could have that beats me is J10. I don't see him holding AJ or any other weird J combination. I called and he had Qrag of spades... I won another big pot when I flopped 2 pair with 72o out of the BB against a guy who decided to slow play KK but couldn't let it go. I guess people think I like to play 15K/20K pots when the blinds are 25/50 with just one pair. By the end of the first break, I had around 55K in chips and was a force at my table.

In the 2nd segment, there wasn't much happening for me. I flopped 2 pair a few times but the board would flush out by the river. I kept losses to a minimum though. It NEVER makes any sense to me why people check their made draws on the river. I'm betting in that spot like 0% of the time and the only way you're going to make money off of me is to BET your made hand and put me to a decision. But whatev.

I picked it back up in the 3rd segment. I made a sick play with J8o out of the BB just for the sake of making it. (Mainly cause this lady kept on blabbing about how she would fold winners with Q2o, 94o, etc when the board was in her favor after folding..meh. She also kept showing these meaningless bluffs when everyone checks to her and she would bet and then show air) 1 limper and folds the lady on the button who makes a pretty big raise. Honestly, I was about ready to fold until the SB says "why so much" and she whispers because I hate playing this hand after the flop. Theres only a couple of hands she could mean and I said F it and I'm going to see if I can outplay her. I call as does the original limper. Flop comes A rag rag with 2 clubs. In my mind I'm thinking this is a perfect spot to pull it off. I check to see what the limper would do and it gets check around. Turn brings the 3rd club and I lead into the pot. Limper folds and she starts thinking. I put her on KK, QQ, and possibly JJ also with one of them being a club. After rechecking her cards, she calls. River is an irrelevant rag. I bet about 75% of the pot. I wanted it to look like I wanted a call, but at the same time it was a good portion of her stack. She's talking to herself and so forth and then lays her hand down faceup. I couldn't help myself and turned over my cards. She goes on about how she KNEW I was bluffing and shoulda called blah blah blah. Table went crazy! I said "If you knew then be about it and don't talk about it". LOL

When we combined locations, I had 90K and was chip leader at my location. A guy at the other place had about 95K. Average stack was 44K so I was in great shape. By the time we got down to the final table, I had 200K and was 2nd in chips with blinds 6K/12K. But final table poker is a lot different because losing 1 pot could change everything. I battled, but couldn't win some races in a few key spots. When it got down to 3 handed, blinds 7K/14K, button pushes AI for 80K. I call with AK and he flips over 63o. Board brings a 3 and I'm left with about 24K after this. Of course I push the next hand and was eliminated.

I was happy with a 3rd place finish since I was out of commission for 2 months. But I'm always dissappointed unless its a 1st place finish. I picked right up where I left off. I made good decisions throughout the entire tournament and I didn't have to put my entire stack in the middle until that last hand. If a few of the coin flips go my way, I think I finish first. I guess its like riding your bike, you never really forget.

Until next time!

TK

No Poker = No Blogging

TK — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:41:00 GMT

The last time I blogged, I was reviewing my Vegas trip and then I slacked off and never finished it. Of course now, I don't remember the full specifics of each day. The short version of it; the trip was successful, made a little bit of money, great times with friends, but its always so draining on me. I think thats why over the past few years after I get back from Vegas, I take a hiatus from poker. Playing constantly for 10-14 hrs for week or longer just drags. I wasn't running bad or anything like that. As a matter of fact, I was running pretty well. I haven't touched a deck of cards since Vegas and with that, I haven't blogged anything because there really isn't anything to talk about poker related.

However, with an event coming up this Saturday in the group and football season right around the corner, I figure I'm going to start getting "active" again. This event on Saturday is a first of its kind. One of the regular hosts is moving away and because of that, we are doing a multi venue event. 40 total players split between two houses and combining when there is 2 tables left. Going to be a geat turnout and a pretty good prizepool. Mind you, I haven't played for 2 months but who forgets how to walk right? I'm going in with my game face and should be extremely sharp. I can't wait!

Last year, I took an absence from fantasy football to focus strictly on handicapping like I used to do and it paid off. I made more doing that than I would have with any of the fantasy leagues I would have joined. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed fantasy football and such but it just took away from capping. I know it sounds crazy but it just did. Again, this year, no fantasy teams and I fully expect to do well come December. I usually don't finalize all my picks until right before kickoff but I'm going to try and post them. Lets make some money!

I haven't done it yet, but I'm going to do status updates while I'm in a poker tournament via twitter. www.twitter.com/thongkhouang. When I was in Vegas, they don't allow you to talk at the tables but if you're not in a hand, they allow you to text. So I figure thats the best way to do it.

Stay in touch! See you at the felt!

TK

Round 2: Vegas, Here I Come!

TK — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:51:00 GMT

For whatever reason, I haven't been nearly as excited to go to Vegas this time as I have been in the past. I have no explaination for it really. Maybe my mind has finally started to consider what it is...work. I usually take my poker sessions pretty seriously but a part of me still considers it vacation. Since I've already been to Vegas recently, this trip seemed more business like than vacation this time around.

We rolled into Vegas around 5:30pm local time. We checked in at Binions and met everyone there who were all playing the Binion's event. By the time we settled in, everybody had been knocked out of the tournament. We decided to head over to the Sahara and play their 7pm tournament. I didn't fare too well. I didn't pick up a hand the entire tournament and decided to finally push with AJ on the button and the bb woke up with QQ. What can you do. I didn't play any more poker that night. I spent the rest of the evening playing blackjack waiting for everybody else to finish. One of the guys we were with wound up chopping it. Pretty tired, I called it a night after that. Lets hope for bigger and better things to come.

TK

Vegas Report

TK — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:49:00 GMT

Here are the blog entries from my Vegas trip over this past weekend. Oldest on bottom. (http://slcpmgwsop2009.blogspot.com/). I'll do a recap report in a few days. here.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Heading home

Just passed Mesquite driving home and I'm bored and Jason won't let me sleep so I'm blogging. Yesterday, the entire group played the morning Sahara tournament. Its funny because at a point a table had Jason, Rich, Scott, Eric L, and Gary. Might as well have been Bob's basement. I was able to control my table early as I had two sweet ladies sitting to my left that didn't mind sharing their blinds. I chipped up early with little confrontation. After the first break I was table chip leader/captain and was fortunate enough to run AA into KK against 2nd chips. I avoided danger for the most part. As final table bubble was nearing, I was ave stack. At this point there is a lot of push poker going on. With 11 left, I had to make a hero call on a 2 8 J board holding 8 9 when I was check raised on the flop. It was for my tourney life. I put him on complete air called to knock him
out and made final table. Jason was the only other person to make final table out of the group. He finished 9th basically winning his money back. I went on and chopped it 4 ways.

I didn't play any poker after that. We went to the Steve Wyrick magic show at Planet Hollywood and ate at cheeseburger paradise. We spent the rest of the time gambling and drinking. I don't think we got to bed until 5am after we dropped off Rich at the airport. Side noted: Rich is a CAP paigow poker player. I think the only still in Vegas is John A who was entering another WSOP event. Hope you are doing well buddy!

Overall it was a great time. If anyone wants to join me ill be doing this again in 3 weeks. Only disappoint was I didn't make it to the Rhino. I had to settle for the PCD lounge at Caesars. Katie, next time you have no choice . If somehow Jason's uncle reads this, I wanted to say thanks again for your generosity and hospitality. You and Janet are awesome! Until the next adventures of TK, may all your stacks be mine and see you on the felt!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Our last day

Jason wound up finishing 13th in his caesars run. It was a good run but always disappointed when you don't finish first. He wanted to make it rain at the spearmint rhino! Rich was able to make it past dinner break but not much further than that. The three of us didn't play much poker after that. I hung out in the pit solo for a while until jason and rich met up with me later that night. The 3 of us proceeded to go downtown. As we walked through binions, there wasn't a single cash table going. Kinda odd. We played the pit over at las vegas club and was shortly joined by bob who was knocked out of harrahs nightly. The 4 of us had a great time gambling and drinking. It baffles me that crazy "all in" bob is the most conservative blackjack player EVER.

Anyhow, were going to hit the Saharas morning tourney at 11am. None of us have any plans of hitting an all day tourney. Jasons uncle got tickets to a magic show tonight so we'll be doing that.

Thanks for reading!

Monday, June 1, 2009

"i shouldn't call"

So I played in the last chance tourney at caesars last night and found myself all in on the bubble with AK and the big stack announces 'I shouldn't call" and calls me with AJ and that was the end of that tourney as soon as he flopped a jack. I woke up today with a cold so I have stayed in the room most of the day. From what I hear bob and gary hit the ho tourney at binnions with not much luck and now everyone has migrated to harrahs. I haven't heard how jason finish at caesers but I'm sure it was good. I will update when I hear more

And we're broke

Stayed patient and finally pick up kings only to run into aces! Suck me sideways...

Second break

QQ lost to set of sixes. Down to 12k but continue to battle. Rich has about 13k.

Update

Decided to play caesars deep stack. 157 entries 18k starting sitting with 33k first break. Had to be a hero and pick off a bluff. Rich is also playing has 13k but no danger this early.

Updates

Stimulus Event
From the meetup group, I want to say only Nate D is left. I didn't hear any news on his wife but everybody else is out. I was bounced in level 8. When I look back on it, I don't even know how I lasted that long since my stack was never above 7K. Coming back from dinner break, blinds started at 150/300 25 ante and I had 1800. I kept floating around 2K - 5K for the next 1 1/2 hrs but just couldn't get it jumpstarted. Dissappointed? Sure, always sucks to get knocked out. But I had fun and I played well. Never had to "get lucky." I did have to dodge some bullets here and there. If you can believe this, I had Bruce's reputation at the table .

Caesar's Deep Stack
With the stimulus sold out, Jason O decided to play at Caesars. However, as it turned out, the event wasn't actually sold out as they were looking for more players 10 minutes into day 1B but thats a whole different story. As it turns out, it was a good move for Jason anyway. Theres currently 16 people left out of 300+ and he sitting with an average stack. He's already in the money and returns today at 2pm to make a run at it! Go get em!

When we left the group last night after Jason's tourney, Eric L was making a money bubble run in their 2nd chance tournament. I'm sure he'll update once they wake up.

Today's plan
I've been considering entering Venetians or Caesars $500 event today. I'm just not sure I have the energy commitment for it. Its either that or I'll play cash all day. Rich wants to do Binions PLO/PL holdem. I haven't touched base with the other fellas to see what they are up to. Side note: Crazy Bob Kellie poker player is the most conservative blackjack player EVER! I also LOVE the pussycat lounge pit at Caesars. Time to go shit, shower, and shave!

See you at the felt!

TK

Sunday, May 31, 2009

dinner break

Was a little preoccupied with the toc game going on so I haven't paid much attention to the other action. At the dinner break we had a bunch of action. Scott went bust with a set when the rivet made the flush. Gary went bust with set over set. Tk was knocked hard with his last hand and took gim down to 1800. After the break tk has made a small climb and is at 6k or so.

Dinner break

Took a big hit on the last hand. JJ vs 44 vs AA. Still in but only have 6 bb. Been completely card dead since last break.

Second break

6100. Grindin away. Hands are finally holdin up. Just need to stay patient. Good feel for the table.

round 3

Gary doubled up, had aroun 6k. Bob is staying around 3k. Tk has doubled to around 7k and scott looks the same at 6k

woops

I guess I should have paid closer attention to the books when it said stay away from the calling station aq vs 72 off (ya shua we all know its the nuts). Anyway that's my series live down the toilet. On a positive note, scott knocked out michael mizrachi (the grinder) with a set of aces. Everyone else is doing well

First break

2500. Finally hit a set but lost to a flush. Took an early hit.

Almost time

Getting ready to eat some grub before the big event. I will be at amazon blue table 25 seat 4. Congrats to John for his run/cash at the venetian and to nate for making day 2.

I had an uneventful Sat. Rolled some craps at Casino Royale with Rich and Jason and lost. We then strolled to Harrahs and sat 1/2 NL. I bought in for 300 and this is how bad I play. I call a raise on the button with Ad6d. Four to the flop of A A 5 rainbow. Everybody checks. Turn Q. Original raiser bets 10, mp raises to 30, and I elect to just call. Raiser goes AI for 90 more and mp reluctantly folds. I say "so its going to cost me $90 for you to show me a boat." "I call" and he tables QQ. Weird. Somehow I won the miracle hand when the river came a 6. Don't worry the poker gods proceeded to punish me the rest of the night as I missed every draw, including an open ended straight flush draw (35 outs or so according to Rich). Ended that game down about 100 before heading to dinner. We were gonna go rail John again but then I got the text he was knocked out. Still an AWESOME
run!

After dinner we cruised to the Rio. I entered a sng and finished 4th. Jason wound up chopping one. That pretty much sums up my night. Good luck everyone today!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Congrats John!

After 1 and a half days on the felt John finished in 7th place. His final hand was aj diamond preflop vs aq spades. Flop was 9 8 2 turn 10 and the river is a jack to pair up John but gave his opponent the straight. He left the table with the respect from everyone on the table and from all of us rooting him on. Hope to see much more finishes like this one on this trip.

final table

John just made fin table a few minutes after we showed up. Average stack 750,000 john has 370k but we know he can play short

day 1

Almost all of us ate starting on day 2 so there isn't a lot to brag about right now but I just dropped into the Rio, finalized my registration and checked in on the action. The film crews are packed around the feature table and so are the crowds. I got as close as I could and the only face I could see was Greg Raymer. I didn't stick around long enough to check stacks and such as we are on our way to cheer on John A. who has a 1 in 14 chance at first in the venitian deepstack. Way to go john!

I will blog much much more tomorrow.

Officially on the road!

I'm sitting in the car as we speak, on our way! The worst part is always the drive there. I haven't heard much from the others except John A is making a deep run at the Venetian. 700 entrants 34 left and they resume at 4 today. We should make it in time to give him some support. Go get em buddy!

I'm not sure what our plan is tonight. Probably catch some dinner with everybody and play cash somewhere. I don't want to be up too late so I can be sharp tomorrow. I know Nate D is running today so good luck to ya!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Days Goes By...

First, I wanted to wish everyone playing in the event the best of luck and good fortunes on anything else while you're down in Vegas! I hope you win tons of money!

I am sitting here in my office at work, bored, and I just want to hit the road and go to Las Vegas. Anxious? Yes! Nervous? No. I'll admit, I was nervous last year, playing in my first ever WSOP event. I can't even say I shook those nerves since I lasted less than an hour, played maybe 4 hands TOTAL before getting eliminated when KK ran into AK. For whatever reason, that compounded my week long trip into probably the worst run I EVER had. By the end of the trip, my confidence was shaken and pretty much expected to lose. (Yup, I sound like Bruce.) I'm not one to whine about bad beats but it got pretty ridiculous. However, the positive I took from it was that I made pretty deep runs in some of the tourneys I played and made the right decisions when it came down to it. Maybe it wasn't my time yet...

Fast forward to today and the main "theme" is redemption. Honestly, it can't be any worse than last year. I do my best when there is doubt so I've embedded into my brain that its impossible. What's impossible you may ask? I have no clue. I don't have any goals or expectations. It sounds cliche but take it one step at a time, can't win the tournament in the first hour or the first day. Bottom line, its just poker. Just like any other day at Bob's. I'm ready. Is the world ready for me?

Again, good luck to everybody in all your endeavors. See you at the Rhino Saturday night!

TK

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Here we go!

I have to be honest when I closed the car door I had a big grin on my face. I've been anticipating this trip for a while now. So in response to the thread on the message board I thought I would give a little pregame warm up. I have been running hands through my head for the last 2 weeks. From AA preflop to the double gut shot 5 to 1 call but who knows what will happen until game day.

we are on our way to vegas now and from the conversation in the car we are all optimistic. Gary has promised dinner at some 5 star joint if he makes the final and scott is talking about sky diving (go figure the hyper-agressive guy wants to jump out of a plane).

The word around the campfire is Caesars tourney tonight and possibly the venetian deep stack tomorrow. Let the prop bets begin!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Welcome

I have had some interest from friends that want me to send updates from the series. I set this page up so that everyone in the group can follow the excitement and everyone going will have a place to post game updates, picture, celebrity encounters, bad beat stories and so on. If you are going and want to be an author on this page send me an email and I will set you up. Also, I will respect everyone's privacy and only post on my play unless otherwise asked.

Good luck to everyone going!

How Sick is this!

TK — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:37:00 GMT

Link to Article

Craps player sets record at NJ casino

May 24th, 2009 @ 2:08pm

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - Saturday was a record-setting night for a novice craps player at an Atlantic City casino.

Patricia Demauro set a new record for the longest craps roll, hanging on for four hours and 18 minutes at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.

Borgata officials say she beat the previous record by one hour and 12 minutes. They say Stanley Fujitake of Honolulu, set that record nearly 20 years ago in Las Vegas.

"This was only my second time playing craps, so this was very exciting for me to be a part of history," says Demauro, who lives in Denville in northern New Jersey.

Demauro bought into a game for $100 and quickly amassed a cheering crowd. When she finally lost around 12:31 a.m., after 154 rolls of the dice, she was greeted by Borgata with a champagne toast.

The casino wouldn't say how much Demauro won.

Month of Relaxation and can't wait for next week!

TK — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:27:00 GMT

For the last couple of weeks, I've put poker on the back burner. Its not that I don't want to play but I just don't want to get burned out like I did last year. I went on such a terrible run before the WSOP last year and it compounded at the WSOP. So this year, I'm taking a different approach and see what happens. For the month of May, I've only played twice, both cash games and netted around $100. Not much but at least its positive.

I recieved my confirmation email for the stimulus event last week and I'm really excited! I will play day 1B (May 31st). I will be live blogging updates via my blackberry during the breaks which can be followed at http://www.slcpmgwsop2009.blogspot.com/. Theres a whole bunch of us that play together that are going down and will be using that same blog. I will do a recap of the day at night and post it there as well as here. Wish me luck!

That is really the only news I have. I've been trying to just relax and stress free. I'm going to be spending a lot of time playing big $ poker starting next week so I want to be ready!

See you at the felt!

TK

Officially entered and the rest of the summer schedule

TK — Mon, 04 May 2009 17:42:00 GMT

As expected, my poker has slowed down. I played a total of 5 games in April, only 1 of which was cash. I think I've only played about 1 game a week. I finished 6th in the tournament of champions, which was the money bubble, and really dissappointed. I played so well throughout the tournament and never risked all of my chips until the final table. I felt I had control of my initial table and was taking down a lot of pots uncontested. I felt I only misplayed 2 hands where I missed value bets against my opponents. Other than that, I played extremely well. I went busto making the right read but the wrong outcome. I think I could have folded into the money but I wanted to play for 1st.

I sent my money in for WSOP event #4 last week and should get my confirmation anyday now. I'm really excited to play in this event as I was so dissappointed last year. The poker gods decided to let me run bad at the wrong time last year. Hopefully, this year will be different. I fully expect to do well in this event as well as the summer events I plan on playing.

Current schedule:

Vegas 5/30 - 6/3 for stimulus event. No plans to play any other tournament.

Vegas 6/20 - 6/28: I will be splitting time between Binions, Golden Nugget, Venetian, and Caesars. Somewhere in between there I am going to try and satellite into the WSOP main event. Probably not smart but a lot of my bankroll with be at risk . Gotta score big sooner or later! Of course I will be blogging everyday there so you guys can follow along. I'll keep you posted!

TK

Getting Back to Blogging

TK — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:58:00 GMT

Honestly, I’ve been meaning to blog. I keep telling myself to find the time to do it but I keep putting it off. So today, I made a commitment to myself to do it.

In general, everything is great! Winter is almost over and spring is on its way. Leana is working again too. Peyton is walking now and being a typical one year old. She’s super active and getting into everything. She’s just so curious about everything. Becoming a dad and watching her grow up is the best thing to ever happen in life. It’s the most amazing thing.

Now to the poker summary over the last month.
League – When I last left, I mentioned I was going to change my game and approach to the league. Result, finished 4th overall (within 23 pts of 1st place and 1 pt of 2nd/3rd) and the main event champion! I finished the final 6 weeks making 5 final tables, with a 1st place and a 3rd place. I was the only one capable of catching the overall points leader( who lead the entire season) the last week of the season. With a main event final table locked up, I played like a maniac that last week to have a little fun. The main event was a tough table. When it got heads up, the other guy had a 3 to 1 chip lead on me. I made a sick bluff with K5 on a Q Q 6 8 2 board. He raised preflop and I called. Both checked the flop. 8 hits the turn and I check raise. River 2 and I pushed AI. He had JJ and if he woulda called, GAME OVER. Instead, I took that momentum all the way to a first place finish! It was something I wanted ever since I joined the league. Now there’s going to be a tournament of champions where the final tables of the Utah County League, Ogden League, and Salt Lake league come together for a battle. I need to win that one too!

I also went out to play the Spectrum tournament out in Wendover. Made an early exit after the first break when KK was cracked by the mighty 10 7. However, I did well in cash and my horse Rich chopped up the final table netting me a little over $300!

Overall, it was a very successful March. Excluding tournaments, I had 2 losing cash sessions with 4 winning ones. I also did well in the tournaments I played, running deep in 80% of them and some decent cashes. March profit: a little over 3K…

With the recent success, I have made plans to play in the WSOP “stimulus” event for 1K at the end of May. I will also be in Vegas during the middle of June to play in some Venetian/Caesar events. There’s a bunch of us going during these times. Over these next couple of months, I don’t think I will be playing as much just because I don’t want to get burned out before chasing my pipe dreams this summer. I’ve already elected to take a pass on the next season of the league. I also want to try and satellite into the WSOP Main this year whether its online or when I’m down there live.

Lets hope April/May are successful which then will lead into further success in June!

Remember, you create your own luck! See you at the felt!

TK

February Updates

TK — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:12:00 GMT

Cash game: I played a bunch of different games this month. 2-7, A-5, 5-draw, badugi, HORSE, etc. Overall, I did pretty well in them. I've been concentrating a lot of 2-7 over the last couple of weeks and I feel I can exploit a lot of players in this game. Using basic strategy, I've been pretty profitable playing it. We had a HORSED game at my house this past Saturday (D = a dealer's choice draw) but the lineup was super tough. I didn't expect to make much of a profit and whatya know, I made 16 bucks at the end of the session. The best session of the month thus far was in my Triple Draw game (2-7, A-5, and badugi) where I profited 300+. Ran crazy hot and got paid off. I don't think anybody else even cashed out +. One of those rare sessions for sure.

League game: I'm starting to make a mid season run. After terrible weeks 2-4, where I fell as low as 20 out of 27 overall, I've climbed my way back to 12th and within 13 pts of 8th place. I sorta "dumbed down" my poker if you will and just let situations play itself out. I'm avoiding playing big pots and more of a small ball approach and I think its paying off. I've made 2 out of the last 3 final tables and if it wasn't for a sick beat and terrible run of cards, I think I would be 3 for 3. Two weeks ago, at one point, I had over 70K in chips with the blinds 400/800 and no one even close to threatening my position. Then you double up a few shortstacks here and there when you have no choice but to call and you're actually in a race situation and somehow don't win. Compound that with situations where its pair over pair preflop (and I'm holding the better pair) and you somehow still don't win those either, all of a sudden you find yourself shorstacked. I finally got knocked out when I made a SICK call for all my chips with 55 on a 9 7 7 board and my opponent held AK (as I thought he did) but the river fell the dreaded A. I could have folded but then be somewhat shortacked or go with my read and get bullets to make a deep run. I'd elect the latter everytime.

Overall, its been a pretty profitable month for me, nearly netting +400, with 3 TERRIBLE sessions. If I can close out strong at the league on Friday, I'll be happy.

I also opened a FullTilt and PokerStars account and playing the micro limits in those. I can report that I am positive on both sites but not by much. Here's a story I posted on a board about my Pokerstars experience.

Just sharing how I'm such a luck box:

So after a grueling Friday night at the league, getting beat up in the tournament and cash game, I didn't get home until 5am. However, wanting to be productive for Valentines Day, I was able to crawl out of bed around 12:30pm. (Thanks Peyton for waking up daddy.) First agenda, make a PokerStars account. After checking the availability of DonkeyThong and DonkeyTong as usernames, I was disappointed as both were taken unless I wanted stupid ass numbers after them. I really wanted to honor Justin's wife Kate with such a clever alias but was unable to do so. Its the least I can do for putting up with such a Jack ass of a husband. However, I hope she will appreciate my meetup alias for now. So for PokerStars, I opted with the FullTilt username of "TeeKei". Boring I know, who cares, bite me.

Now, with the account set up you have to sit down and play right? I'm not much of a "play chips" kinda dude, so I went through my array of credit cards to no avail. F you government for blocking my gaming transactions! As in the case with Bruce, I was a little hesitant to use the E-Check method because of the SS# requirement but then I thought, who the hell is going to try to steal my identity? I have no money and my first and last name already looks made up anyway. I went with the adventurous route and made a deposit via E-Check.

Now armed with bullets, I went in search of my inaugural game. Lets go with basics and find something like $.05/$.10 NL Holdem. Bought in for table max, $10, and 3rd hand in, KK! Early position limper, villain bumps it to $.60 and I'm thinking sweet! Online poker is so cool! I RR to $1.50, folds back to villain who pushes AI for ~$12. Uh oh. Does he REALLY have AA? Well, the villain wasn't MahownyKJ or Dr.Badhead and I'm not good enough to lay down KK online so I make the call. Villian turns over QQ and you already know the rest of the story...You'd think I was at Bob's house still.

Soooo, within 2 minutes of my first deposit I'm already down a buyin. At this rate, I'm not going to have any money to buy in for Tuesday tournament. Oh well. I decided I wanted to gamble and walked over to the draw lounge. Whadya know, 1 open seat at $.50/$1.00 2-7 limit triple draw. Perfect! Bought in, grinded for an hour or so and made $10. Meh. However, funny thing happened. 30 minutes before I was about to leave, the table paused and a bunch of red letterings came up in the chat box. I'm thinking WTF is this? You are about to be dealt hand #24,947,000,000!. "Ok, so what, shuffle up and F'ing deal already." Little did I know it was a PokerStars promotion and the winner of this very hand would get a cash bonus. So I call with something ridiculous like 2 3 K J A, wound up making 2 3 4 6 6 and the eventual winner hand was K J 8 4 3. Bonus for the hand you ask? $750! Damn, that woulda been nice but I settled for the consolation prize of $250 for being on the table. Not a bad way to start your Pokerstars career I guess. I felt like Rich in Vegas there for a minute because this is the type of thing that happens to him ALL THE TIME.

There ya have it. I've been mostly playing games other than holdem online, especially 2-7 NL SD. With that bonus money, I took a few shots at $50 MTT to no avail. Oh well, I took a shot. I'm not really looking to build a longterm bankroll online.

Good luck on your poker endeavors! See you at the felt!

TK

P.S. Happy Birthday Peyton on Feb 26th! Daddy's little girl turns 1!

Poker Variance Sucks

TK — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:06:00 GMT

I follow the great comeback performance of week 1 with two stinkers the last two weeksin the league. Week 2, I kept on making 2nd best early (but was laying hands down and costing me chips) and then was knocked out in the 2nd hr when I flopped trip aces, got it all in, and was outkicked. Thats just how it goes sometimes. I went into week 3 with the intent of playing small ball and a conservative approach. 5th level, the first big pot I play, I get it all in on the turn for 80% of my chips with the 2nd nut flush, get called by a guy who had the naked ace and of course he gets there on the river. I exited the tourney shortly thereafter. I swear I never run well in the league.

Other than the league, I've done pretty well over the last couple of weeks. I didn't do so hot in A-5 triple draw but I won back my losses and then some the following week playing mix games. Last night was the monthly ultimate mix tournament which I took 1st in, making it 5 for 5 cashing in that tournament. Its really a testament of how far my mix game has come along the last year. I used to shy away from nonholdem games but now I find those games more enjoyable to play and pretty profitable within this group.

My main focus right now is improving my performance in the league. Whatever my approach is, its not working and I need to find out what it is and why. I think the majority of the players there don't understand the complexity of the game. I really think I just need to play ABC poker and I'm overthinking. We'll see how this week goes.

Wish me luck, I'll need it.

TK

Vegas Memories Revisited and First League Game

TK — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:24:00 GMT

Las Vegas 2002......

I'm sure everybody in attendance remembers this trip. If you don't, you've chosen to block that memory out of your brain (or at least tried) but you CAN'T. You remember it like it was yesterday. The event is too dramatic. You know exactly you were doing when IT happened. The smell of the casino, the racetrack game, the sportsbook. EVERYTHING... It will FOREVER bond us. Me, Hyde, Wil, Yaz, Sunshine, New Yorker, the ULCA fans. The ALMOST ripping up my ticket. The "It's only TWO POINTS!" The getting in line BEFORE the clock hits zero. The 11 men in the box. The almost break it to the house. Then on the very next play, the TO THE HOUSE. The agony... The Vegas dream straight down the toilet. Yes you know. The greatest beat as a group we've ever taken. OUR memory. Yaz's interpretation of Wil throwing clothes over the balcony of the San Remo. The "I don't know if Wil is ok" look. Classic.

There is another memory I'd like to revisit although I wasn't present so the other fellas will have better recollection of the events. Watching a tournament at Binions with Humberto, Layne, and Scottie as the 3 remaining participants. Layne gets knocked out 3rd, takes his winnings and buys into a cash game and proceeds to quadruple his stack in the next 30 mins and thanks his opponents for knocking him out since he just made more money than them. Heads up, Humberto has a dominating chip lead over Scottie. The Prince convinces Huck Seed to give him 8 to 1? odds to come back and win the tournament, which Scottie does do and wins the tournament. A bystander asks Huck (not knowing it was Huck I assume) why he keeps on heckling the players and given them crap and he says "Because my picture is on the wall." Great line.

Relevance you ask?

Yesterday was our first league game of the new season. They made a great (and much needed) change which convinced me to come back and give it a try again which was to not be 12 handed, only seating 9 per table. I started off terrible, making 2nd best hands and missing flops/draws. It threw me off my game a little because I couldn't be as aggressive as I wanted to be with my stack dwindling. On top of that, the guy to my immediate right had a huge chip stack (which I also had a last longer bet with). After the 2nd break, blinds would be 500/1000 and I had 6000 left. Rich (who I had the last longer bet with) had well over 70K and there were 20+ people left and we started with 27. I said "Give me 5 to 1 that I last longer than you." Bet accepted instantly. (Can you blame him?) Not only did I last longer than Rich, going out in 6th place, I chopped the tournament heads up for a total profit of $385! This was probably one of the best, if not THE best, challenges I accomplished in a single tournament. Once that obstacle was presented to me, I've never been more focused and driven to win. Thats the type of poker I need to play. I felt my reads and situational betting was spot on. When I get "in the zone" I feel unstoppable. Now I just need to maintain that level for the next 11 weeks.

Thanks for taken the time to read. I hope you enjoy the thoughts in my head!

See you at the felt!

TK

2008 Review

TK — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:34:00 GMT

2008 Stats
Profit: $600
Hours: 477

Well, at least it was a profitable year. From a bottom line standpoint, obviously my profits are way down from the previous year considering I netted 5K+ in 2007. However, in 2008 I took a lot more chances in bigger buy in tournaments which I was not able to cash in. I played in a 1500 WSOP event, numerous $300 and $500 events where first place is paying anywhere from 70K - 100K. Eliminate those tourneys and I'm well over 5K again. With that said, the bottom line is I need to make a DEEP run in an event, cash, and recoup those buy ins this year. Thats kinda how tournament poker goes. Keep grinding and wait for that one big score. I'm just hoping I can continue to "free roll" my way in this year.

To a prosperous 2009!

TK