Matt Glantz’s Blog

Well, I had my first losing WSOP and coincidentally it was not too much fun.  A ton of frustration and a bunch of missed opportunities.  I feel as though I consistently played my best but the cards were not in my favor this summer.  There were 3 10k events where I was in to the last 50 players ultimately not to cash.  My only somewhat highlight was a 5th place finish in the 10k Horse for 135k.  I cashed a total of 4 times out of 30 tournaments.  On avg in a WSOP event 10% of the field cashes, so I was right on par there.  But par is not what I am shooting for obviously.  I am on my way back to the Jersey Shore for the remainder of the summer which is always a relaxing and fun time for the family.

To all my supporters:

Thank you, and may the cards favor you!

Final Numbers:

Tournaments: $-52,262
Cash Games: $-55,000

I need to do something big in the main event or I am going to have my first losing trip to the WSOP. I lost 45k in the 1 mixed game I played this week at Bellagio. And after the week of four cashes in the tournaments I failed to cash in the last few.

Today in the main event we started with 30k in chips. I was down to 20k in the first 30 mins. I had some big starting hands that I either played poorly or got unlucky. Inside level 2, I got down to 10k and it seemed like this was going to be a short tournament. I was actually on my phone in the middle of level two searching for flights home that left this evening. I hovered around 10k for a few hours and then the last two levels I just rallied straight from 10k to 44k without showing down a hand. Wow, that felt good. The tables were fairly easy so its no big thing. It is just a good feeling after starting out so bad.

Day 2 is on Friday. I will be looking to play some cash at bellagio in the mean time.

Tournaments: $-42,262
Cash Games: $-74,000

Busy week and things were certainly improving as I played 5 tournaments this week and cashed in 4.

Razz $2,500 cashed $4,550
Horse $10,000 cashed $135,040
NL $1,000 cashed $1,886
8 Game Mix $2,500 dnc
PLO $5,000 cashed $10,262

I played a 300-600 mixed game at Bellagio during the week also and dumped $25k.

Today is the $25k NL 6 max event. Should be a super tough field and quite the challenge.

Tournaments: $-3,762
Cash Games: $-29,000

In previous WSOP final tables I have placed 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th.  So I hit the gutshot yesterday and placed 5th in the $10k Horse. Cashed $135,040.

I was an early massive chipleader in Day 1and finished the day 5th in chips out of about 140.  Then day 2 I had a slow day and finished 15 of 23.  So from that point of view 5th place isn’t so bad.  But down to the final 8 I was chipleader with about 23% of the chips in play.  So obviously disappointing from there even though the final table was stacked with great poker players.  After reviewing all my hands from the final table I am pretty sure I could not improve on any of them by playing differently.  So I won’t be too hard on myself considering my inputs into the pool of poker tournament randomness were as beneficial as I can manage.

Here is a link to an interesting hand.

http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2010-wsop/event-43/post.154567.htm

I can’t really go into it without giving away too much, especially considering 7 card stud is still so sacred.  It is very widely known that there are only a handful of top pros that can play this particular game at any high level.  7 card stud is a forgotten art.  Anyway, check out that report.  You don’t see this line too often with a board so benign.  The set up: Opponent acts first on all streets.  Raise 5th.  Call 6th (very strong lead by Marco after being raised on 5), Bet 7th on bluff (when opponent is always checking to call)

So down to 5 players we were at the 60k-120k level with a total of 7.2m chips in play.  60 big bets total between 5 players.  I had 10 of them when I found the AhKd in limit holdem.  So I raised it up. the big blind Ian 3bet, I called.  flop Th8s7d.  He leads, I raise, he calls.  Turn 6s.  He checks, I bet (for value and other reason I can’t get into), he calls.  river 9s.  He leads, I cry call, and he produces the AsQs.   Pretty ugly for me.   That cripples me and a few hands later I find AK again with two bets left I get it in vs Ashby’s QQ.  End of me.

Oh and by the way, before the 10k Horse event I cashed in the Razz event.  So I am 2 for my last 2.

Tournaments:   -$7,410

Cash Games:  -$5,500

More events.  More no cashes.  This is by far my longest streak without cashing in a tournament.  Very frustrating.   Got down to the final 50 in three 10k events and haven’t made it to the money yet.

Deb and the kids are here.  I am taking the day off and we are going to Pole Position Raceway in Summerlin.  It should be a lot of fun for us and a good change of pace for me.

WSOP 2010 Totals:

Tournaments:  -$119,000

Cash Games:   -$4,000

Disappointing.  11 events and no cashes so far.

Actually I had a min cash locked up yesterday in the 2k Limit Holdem event.  Two away from the money I had 4 bets left and could have easily folded to the money but the min cash is certainly not my goal.  I am trying to play each hand to maximize my equity towards winning the highest prize.  So in the big blind with 4 bets left I got it in with the AK and found myself against the 77 which obv held.

One fun hand to report from day 2 in the Limit tournament.  Early raiser, I 3 bet from small blind with 66, she 4 bets, I call.   flop 962 rainbow. Gin!  I check raise flop.  I lead turn when a 3 rolls off.  She calls.  River 5.  Assuming she has the big overpair based on her 4 bet preflop, I think easy check raise on river.  So I check raise and she calls and then turns over the 44 for a straight.   ???????  Is it possible that I get just called here and not win this pot?  Funny!

I spent 2 days this week at the Bellagio playing the 500-1000 mixed game.  The mix was 3 games: 500-1000 Stud and Stud 8 or better and 100-100 NL holdem.  The first day I ran well and picked up 31k.  The second day I did not fare as well and lost 35k.  So pretty much a wash for the two days.

WSOP 2010 Totals:

Tournaments:  -$90,000

Cash Games:   -$4,000

Uneventful start for me this year.  8 events and not one cash.  I got relatively close in the 50k 8-game and the 10k stud, but the smaller buyin events have been mostly short stays for me.  I have played a WSOP event every day since I have been here now and as of yet have not played over at Bellagio.  Anyway since I suck at these tournaments all of the sudden, I figure I would come up with a new one for next year.

WSOP Variable Buyin NL Holdem Event:

Entrants may buyin any amount from $1,000 up to $50,000 in increments of $1,000.

Triple starting chips corresponding to buyin amount.

I believe we can replace one of the weekend $1k events with this event next year and still get a 2000-3000 entrant field.  Obviously the players buying in for 50k will have a big advantage towards winning that bracelet than the rest, but they will be paying significantly in equity for that advantage.

Simple example to illustrate:   Say a guy named ‘Phil’ has a bunch of bracelet bets so he decides at almost any cost it would be worth it to buy in for the max in any structure of any tournament.  Phil buys in for 50k and 100 other players named Allen buyin for 1k.   So we have a total of 101 entrants and the prizepool is 150k.   Even though Phil has a tremendous advantage to win 1st place and the bracelet, the 1st place prize will be less than $50k.  This would also translate to tremendous value for the field and all of the Allens would be very happy.

I think we would wind up with a significant majority of value guys at 1k.  We would get a few hundred 2k-5k.  A bunch of poker scientists from 5k-20k.  The bracelet bet guys and a few others for 50k.

I will post this on Two Plus Two and see what we come up with.

After busting around 35th in the 50k, I played a few NL events and a Triple draw event.  Fortunately other than the 50k they were all small buyin events because I haven’t cashed in any.  Pretty much have not even come close other than the first one.

Finally we get some 10k’s starting on the schedule.  Today is the 10k Stud Championship where I am always regarded as one of the favorites.  I finished 14th last year.   Hope to improve on that this time around.

Haven’t taken a day off from tournaments so no cash games yet.  First week is over.  Long way to go.

WSOP 2010 Totals

Tournaments:  -$60,500

116 players entered

150k starting stack

Mix of 8 games (Triple Draw, Limit Holdem, Omaha 8, Stud, Stud 8, Razz, NL Holdem, & Pot Limit Omaha)

Thoughts: Whoever came up with the idea of a 50k tournament as the first event is a pure genius in my mind. 100 high limit players will start out 50k in the hole at the beginning of the WSOP. Pretty certain that is a positive for high limit cash games.

Much of day 1 is a blur right now as we just completed a long 12 hour session on day 2. Day 1 was pretty uneventful for me as I ended with a 134k stack, slightly below avg of 160k. Table was certainly tougher than average for this tournament, but I have had worse.

Views: Entering day 2 I was hoping for a softer table draw, but that was not to be. I was joined by (in seat order) Dan Kelly, Isaac Haxton, Matt Glantz, Scott Clements, Michael Binger, Phil Hellmuth, Eric Seidel, and David Oppenheim. Also halfway through the day we added Alexander Kostritsyn. This table was going to be quite a challenge, but hey; that is the reason I am here. And I pride myself on days like these to study great players in their respective specialty games and be able to incorporate the best parts of their game in my own. Example: Isaac Haxton to my right. Watching him in NL was a pleasure as he plowed through the table in almost every NL round. Every hand was 50/50 Ike vs the 7 of us. In reality it might have been 60/40 to Ike’s favor. If there was anyone at the table that didn’t learn something about NL today from him, they really missed out.

I was on cruise control most of the day. Did not get too creative and slowly chipped up ending at my high for the day at 368k, avg is 322k. 52 players remain.

I had one real interesting hand with Scott Clements that started a lot of discussion after showdown.

PLO blinds 600 1200 effective stacks 125k.

Oppy limps early for 1200, I pot the cutoff to 5400 with the AAJ3, Scott calls button, Oppy calls.

Flop A94 rainbow: Oppy checks, I bet 7700, Scott calls. Oppy folds.

Turn 3 which brings second spade. Possible straight on board. I have J high flush draw to add to my set of Aces now: I bet 10,500, Scott calls.

River offsuit Q: 53k in the pot. I check, Scott bets 17,500, I checkraise to 47,700. Scott calls with set of nines.

Hellmuth immediately jumps on the situations and bellows out something to the tune of, “Matt, how do you checkraise the river in plo without the nuts? Do you even think out the hand or just raise there without even thinking about it.” But when I offered to make a small wager with him that if he polled the other 6 players at the table and just one of them said they didn’t like the way I played the hand Phil would win the bet, he declined. I certainly wouldn’t be willing to be the opinions of any 6 players but these 6 were all high level thinkers so I was in good shape.

Anyway, why checkraise and not bet pot. Betting pot and checkraising the amount I did would be the same net chips entering the pot so why take the risk of having him checkraise? Other option was to bet about 60% of the pot but I thought that was the worst option based on my read. I don’t want to give too much away for obvious reasons and also it wouldn’t be fair to Scott. But I will say that when I am playing Scott it is rather easy for me to narrow down his range in so many situations for one reason. I think that he is the one player in the field that plays so identical to me in almost all the games that when I am in a hand with him, I don’t necessarily have to read him, but more I just have to ask myself what are the hands I would be holding in his situation. And I can be very confident he is holding the same. Weird dynamic.

All the information in the hand had me convinced he had a set of nines. I have to be at least 80% confident he has this one particular hand to check the river. Obviously he is forced to bet the river behind with the set. If I think he can have a big ace and make Aces and Queens on the river than checking the river would be bad against him, If I think he is likely to have the straight, then again checking would be bad. I thought with all the info I had, he was 0% to have a straight, but in reality he was probably 5% to have a straight there.

You might be wondering why not bet pot if you know he flopped 2^nd set. He has to pay off. But then you don’t know Scott. He is too strong in PLO and will make that laydown a huge majority of the time to me. I think betting the pot would be a fine play in that spot as a bluff, but not for value against specifically him.

He had another 45k behind, so if he 3 bets the river all in it sucks for me. Glad I didn’t have to consider that decision as I am not sure I would have made the right one.

Please feel free to leave comments on the blog about this hand. I am very curious to hear other’s views of this hand.

Realization #1: The 50k Horse field was a joke just two short years ago. It was about as soft as a tournament will get in the high buyin arena. Last year it was somewhat tougher. And this year the gap between the avg player in the field and the best in the field is significantly diminished.

Realization #2: Justin Bonomo. This kid came from nowhere in the mixed games. We played together a few years ago in the 50k Horse and he was clearly consistently making bad decisions at the table. All to the aggro side. Fast forward to yesterday. Clearly the best player at the table the entire day. Was totally focused. Valued his hands optimally in every game. I was so impressed with his decision making in all the games that it forced me to always take the less confrontational route when playing a hand against him. In my mind, the value was lost. I don’t know where he is in chips but I would not be the least surprised to see him at the final table.

I will be arriving in Vegas just in time for the WSOP 50k Players Championship next week.  It will be a mix of 8 games.  Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, Seven Card Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball.  Opening day is Friday, May 28th.  It will be an all star lineup.  I expect between 140-180 players.  First place probably around $2.5m.

After that I will be playing all the 10k or above events and some of the smaller buy in events when time is available.  No Chinese Poker for me this year.  Those that read the blog last summer know how much I got buried in that game.  I don’t need any distractions this time around.  I will be playing limited cash games and concentrating primarily on the WSOP as there is only one goal this summer.  Win a Bracelet!

I have a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th in previous WSOPs.  Final tables are not good enough anymore.  It’s a must win situation.

I am looking forward to this summer in the concrete jungle and will be twittering updates throughout the series.  I will also be blogging every couple days or so.  If there is anything in particular you would like me to blog, just leave it in the comments on the bottom.

Finally!   The previous 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th place finishes in big WSOP tournaments were so frustrating.  This win was more of a relief than anything.  I have placed 1st before, but only in smaller events that were not on par with this tournament being on the big stage.  This will always be a special memory for me.

Tourny Recap:

Day 1:

Play poorly at the start.  Spew away a bunch of chips.  Go from 50k down to 18k in the first level.  Play very strong the rest of the day and chip up to end the day at 185k, putting me 6th in chips out of 31 remaining.

Day 2:

Play super strong all day.  Have to fight back from one real cold deck hand vs Dario (JTh vs K2h on the AhKs9H flop), and a sick beat from Dennis(KK vs QQ all in pre).  Both of them played their hands well.  Just truly disgusting situations for me.   I pick my spots optimally all day though and finish strong with 650k, which places me 2nd in chips going to final table.

Day 3:

Final Table.  Played ultraconservative for the first many hours.  Trying to pick my spots sparingly.  Basically just waiting to see what was going to develop.  It was clear early on that both Eugene and Erik were going to battle to try to accumulate all the chips as aggressively as play would allow.  So while I did not and never do have a strategy going in, it became apparent to me that by not challenging the two of them I would be giving them both the green light (since I was to their left), to turn up the aggression even more and thus let them take all the risk while busting out players as I try to move up spots.  I was to the direct left of both of them and I would guess that it took me 5 hours before the first time I 3 bet Eugene.  Certainly if I ever had a premium holding I would have gladly 3 bet them earlier, but usually I would have been 3 betting them or at least flatting them with a huge part of my range in response to their opening frequency.   But anyway, in what seemed like forever getting down from 8 players to 3, my chips stack hardly deviated.  Even though the avg stack was only 20bbs,  my stack was between 400k and 700k the whole time.  So without much risk, I landed with about 16% of the chips with 3 of us left.  One double up from avg stack.  All according to what I thought was the optimal plan.

I am the short stack to no surprise.  But that is fine, now I am guaranteed 3rd place money.  And just some good run of cards away from winning.  The way the structure is set up, there is no real edge for anyone at this point.  Avg stack is 25bb.  The decisions are all fairly simple.  Basically, one of us will get luckier than the other two and that will be our winner.  Obviously I need to get luckier than them because my stack is shorter.

Opinions on my two opponents:  Erik is a very accomplished top tournament player who is super tricky and plays many games well.  He is a feel player who is not limited by conventional style.  His one weakness in NL is his betsizing which can be exploited somewhat, but overall just a tough tough player.   Eugene is a very accomplished top NL Holdem tournament player who is fundamentally as strong as anyone.  He is top 5 in the world in NL.  He just doesnt make mistakes.  I am unable to spot any weakness in Eugene’s game.  That is scary.  In the spirit of great competition, I do love the challenge against two ultra strong opponents.  With an overwhelming mutual respect among the three of us and each one’s desire to win, this is what tournament poker is all about.

Chips:  Euguene 1.9m, Erik 1.2, Matt 600k.  First confrontation.  Erik folds button.  Eugene completes from sb at 25k 50k blinds.  I shove 12 bbs with K9c.  Eugene takes a long while to call which surprised me when he turns over A5 off.  I flop a 9 and double up.  First lucky hand.  Now we are all virtually even in chips with 24bbs each.

Eugene wins a couple small pots from Erik and now has me covered.  Eugene raises the button, I reraise from SB with 88,  he shoves with AK.   My pair holds and now second time I get lucky takes me to the chip lead and leaves Eugene short.

Eugene doubles through Erik with two random hands.  Eugene was short so just standard stuff.  Then I raise 2.5x on button with QJ and Eugene ships it for I think 9 or 10 bbs.  So I make an unhappy call.   Flop AAT,  turn K.  Sick.  Eugene could not run worse 3 handed and I could not run better.   So he is out 3rd.

Heads up with Erik. I have 2-1 chip lead with 40bbs to 20bbs.  I 4 bet shove with A8 and he turns up AQ.   So now he has 2-1 chip lead and we are forced to take a dinner break.

I goto dinner with my wife and Eugene.  He gives me some subtle strategy advice.  Shows a lot of character in Eugene.  I mean he just busted from a huge tournament and I am the one that busted him.  How many friends in poker will do that and by the way he sweated me through the rest of the event.  I am not sure if the advice changed anything in my play after dinner but just to hear thoughts from a fantastic player is always going to be an addition to the arsenal.

So now I have 20bbs to his 40bbs.  I limp button with A2 with intention of limp shoving.  He makes a raise I havent seen before.  He raises 4.2x from bb.  Wow.  Not what I expected.  But again Erik is very tricky.  Calling is not an option.  Can I really fold an ace heads up?  I don’t think I can.  But his range with this raise in my mind is so defined.  I am 90% sure he has AK AQ AJ most of the time.  So I struggle but yet force myself to fold an Ace.  He must of saw that I had a big hand and made a tough fold so he shows me his AQ.  And I am so happy I get the dealer to pull my hand out of the much to show him the ace.  I think I am supposed to go broke there and I feel like I am freerolling now.

Now the hand where I get luckiest.  He had just raised or reraised me last 4 pots, and showed me an ace all 4 times.  Uggh.   He raises 2.5x.  I call with J8c.  flop AA3 two clubs.  I check shove for 20bbs.  He instacalls with his A7.  Not a good spot for me, but pretty standard nonetheless.  I river the 5c and I see the pain in his face.  This hand was not lucky.  This hand was really lucky.  Erik looked totally defeated after this bad beat as I took a more than 2-1 chip lead.

It didn’t matter what his mental state was though as a few hands later we got it in totally standard.  I raised the button with A3 and he shoved for about 17 bbs with QJ.  He flopped a Q but I turned an ace.  It was over.

So the first two days I played really well and did not get lucky.  But the final table I was a luck box.  Play was pretty much all standard as the structure was fast, but its nice to finally get lucky in the right spots at the end.

Overall London was an experience.  Winning the tournament was quite an experience.  The support from family and friends was unreal.  But I cant wait to get home and see my kids.  The traveling is taking its toll on me.

I was just informed that the Bellagio added its first ever $10k Horse tournament.  OMG.  Why would the do this to me?  I was so looking to a month off.  I instabooked a flight obviously and now I will only be home a short 9 days before leaving for Vegas.

Flying home in the morning.

I have been here 6 days now and have only played in two poker tournaments and have played no cash games.  London is way more interesting to me than I would have expected.   I must have walked a total of 25 miles around the city since I have been here.  This is quite askew from all the previous poker trips I have ventured on.

The first tournament was the WSOP Europe Main Event.  The short of it:  I was chipleader at the end of the first level after flopping two sets and I was bust before dinner break.  So I didn’t waste too much energy at the Casino of the Empire in Leicester Square.  (evidently pronounced “Lester Square”)

So after 3 days of walking around London, I am more than ready to play poker but the only thing that is of interest is the European Poker Tour (EPT) High Rollers Event.  The entry fee is 20k pounds, or about 34k dollars.  So the field will be small and the competition will be the toughest.  I had no intention of playing this when I was planning my trip but as a poker player I do feel the urge to play.  No way I am putting up 34k though for a spot where my I think my expectation is somewhere between break even and slightly positive.  So I send out a text to the guys from the Borgata mixed game to ask if anyone wants a piece.  I figure if they have faith, I will play.  Well, I get 6 responses with minutes.  I am offered a total of 130% in pieces.  They want anywhere for 10% to 50% each and a couple of them just say I will take “whatever”.   This was the push I was looking for, so playing the tournament seemed like an easy decision now.  I have to cut everyone back but they all got pieces now.  And to my one friend Bruce who texted me back his response 6 hours later, “I will talk to David and let you know what piece we want”.  Sorry Bruce, I am oversold and its a little too late.  His text back to me, “Don’t ever offer me a piece again then!”   Sick guy.

So Day One starts with 50k in chips.  I manage to end the first level with 18k.  Yes, that is hard to do at 50-100 blinds.  Early on I raise it up with AQ, get called by a few players, flop AJ7.  And I am up against 77 so lose about 6k.  Then I raise with the KQ, get flatted by the non English speaking Japanese kid to my left.  Flop QT4 with two hearts.  I have no hearts.  I bet, he raises small.  I call.  Turn is a black 6.  I check, he bets 3/4 pot, I call.  River pairs the 4.  I check again, he bets 15k which is about the size of the pot and I obviously hate my hand.  But here is the problem.  I have never seen this guy before.  He looks like his name is something like Yokashana Tikohaka and he looks like he just drove here all the way from Japan in one of those geared up Toyotas from the set of ‘The Fast and the Furious”.   And as I am watching him for any tells I can pick up, I just keep having this image of him wearing a leather racing jacket doing drift turns in this Toyota with neon lights on the underside of the car.  So I convince myself that with this drawy of a board he has to have flopped a set or missed a draw.  All or nothing kind of thing.  And with his appearance and nothing else to go on I find a call.  He proudly shows AQ and yep I feel like a donk.  To make it worse over the next two levels of play it is quite obvious he is the tightest player at the table.  So down to 18k by the end of level one is somewhat less than what I was hopeful for, but things did turn around after that.

I think by level 3 I was up to 100k with avg stack around 55k.  And I finished the day with 185k with avg around 117k.  There were 31 players remaining from a start of 75 High Rollers.

Day 2 started very similar to the first day.  I have my table covered, the second biggest stack is 90k.  Dario Mineri raises from the 3 hole and I call from the bb with JT hearts.  Flop AK9 with two hearts.  I try to bet size so that I can 3 bet shove and get him to fold a weak ace.  I mess up the sizing and he gets to shove but it doesnt really matter as he turns over the K2 of hearts.  So pretty much the only hand I am drawing so slim against.  Such a cold deck to have the K2 find the only guy in the tournament who would not instamuck that hand from the 3 hole.  And then to have that flop.  Gross.  So he double through me and I am under 100k.  I lose some more and get down to 70k with avg up to 135k.

The hardest thing for me in tournaments has always been to just stay focused and not get disinterested in the face of adversity.  I give myself a pep talk and hunker down.  I find it easier in these big buyin events knowing there are only 27 players left to go through vs 500-1000 players at this point is some of the other tournaments.  So that gives me some solace.

I manage to go from 70k to 200k without playing a big pot and overcome avg stack.  Confidence is back.   I continue to run and over the next 4 hours make it to 500k with avg around 300k.  11 players left.  I pick up KK on the button, get reraised by Dennis Phillips from the sb, I shove and he reluctantly calls with the QQ.   Pot has about 455k in it.   Queen on the flop and boom they smack me right back down to 260k.    Here we go again.  I am now fighting the usual demons.  ‘why do I always lose these in big situations, why does this have to happen again, why cant i have the QQ beat the KK one time, dadadadada’.  So now with slightly less than avg stack and only the top 8 players getting paid with 11 left, this was crunch time.  $70k bubble.  At this time I need to decide do I want to be a professional or do I want to dwell on how unlucky I am.  The choice seems obvious but trust me when you are in these situations emotions are hard to overcome and many times get the best of great players.

With my wife sitting 5 feet behind me I look at her and know what I have to do.  260k stack.  avg is 320k.  11 left.   6 handed table at this point.  Boom, raise it up, take the blinds. 275k.  Boom, call from the bb with AJ vs Dennis and on the KJ5 board keep the pot small but get value.  315k.  Boom, pick up the AK and 3 bet take it down.  350k.  Take the blinds. Take the blinds.  Take the blinds.  Smoothly up to 400k.  Boom, short stack all in utg for 100k.  I call with AT, he turns over 66.  Ten on the turn.  Back in business!

We move to the final table with 9 players.  9th place gets a whopping 0 pounds, which interestingly enough converts to zero dollars.  8th place is $70k.  The pace slows down to a crawl and we go about 3 hours before we lose a player but in that time I was able to chip up with no showdowns to about 647k.  Avg is 413k.  Final table set for tomorrow.

The 10k WPT event started for me the day after we arrived.  I finished the 1st day with a bunch of chips and was in good position to have a decent tournament.  But, on day 2 I could get nothing going right as I got my aces cracked early in the day and then received a standard cold deck situation when I raised with AQ on the button and got reraised by the big blind.  I elected to see a flop and then went bust on the Q97 flop.  The big blind had KK.  So with 55 players or so my tournament was ended.

I played some 25-50 plo in the Merit Poker Room, but I quickly saw how dead the game was as I felt that I was the only one in the game willing to put a chip in a pot without the stone nuts.  I won a peanut.  $1k.

The next day I found a nice Chinese game with Bryan Colin, Mike Matusow, Daniel Aleie, and a guy named Shlomo from Israel.  I was able to win about 35k in the game before it ended.

They also had a 300-600 mixed game which I joined.  That game was live with opportunity, but I was unable to capitalize and ended a loser for 10k.

A short 5 day excersion in Cyprus and I am now on my way home.  I cant wait to sleep in my own bed.  One thing I will remember about Cyprus is how much I loved the fruit and the Humus.  The watermelon was exceptional.  It won’t be the same eating fruit back home.

My sister had a baby today and I am excited to get to see her new baby boy.

Tournament     -$10,300

Cash Games    -$9,250

Chinese           +$38,500

Total for trip:   +$19k

My first trip ever over Europe would start out smooth. We had a scheduled 11 hour direct flight to Athens and then a 1 hour layover before flying an 80 mins to Cyprus. My flight to Athens was spent watching movies and playing Chinese poker with Bryan Colin. After being down as much as $2k and up as much as $20k, we ended with me being ahead $4k for the flight. (Don’t feel bad for Bryan. When I left the poker room here in Cyprus last night, he was beating up on Eli Elezra and Jeff Lisandro for about $75k.)

I took an Ambien half way through the flight which did not have the desired effect. It did not get me tired and thus never fell asleep. It did not mix well with my body as I became somewhat delirious when we got to Athens. I was told I was spewing nonsense but I don’t have any recollection of the events. Bryan has some good stories about me for the rest of the day. They are quite scary. Maybe he can post them in the response for the blog here.

We landed in Larnaca, South Cyprus on time and everything seemed set. We have now traveled 99% of our 5,000 mile trip. All we have to do is take a taxi for 50 miles from South Cyprus (normal European free country) to North Cyprus (somewhat lawless Muslim run country; of which we had no idea). We get to the middle of Cyprus and cross the armed border patrol. It is 95 degrees out and sun bearing down. We are in a Mercedes taxi with a middle eastern driver who is not the best with the 6 speed manual transmission. Apparently he thinks its normal to blast the air conditioning while driving with all four windows wide open in the blistering heat. The air conditioning was useless in this environment. About 5 miles through the border with the car rocking back and forth and the driver shifting up and down, and the Ambien still in my bloodstream, I was feeling more than a little queasy. I quickly knock Bryan’s arm and try to motion to him to get the driver to pull over because I am about to hurl chunks of everything that was inside my stomach.

I will skip the next few minutes as it was a disgustingly violent episode and the details are too gross.

So we were now pulled over on the side of a dirt road in what might as well been Afghanistan. This was not a safe place. With the sun beating down on us, there was puke quickly drying all over the outside of the car and enough inside the car that I felt bad for the driver. Bryan claims that I got some on his shoulder when I was trying to get him to make the driver pull over. Fortunately the driver was very understanding about it and had some bottled water in the car to give me. So we get back in the car to continue our journey.

Back on our way I give the driver a $100 tip since he handled the situation so well and figuring he needs to get the whole car washed now. This seemed to make him very happy. So I am feeling a bit better and we get about another 10 minutes closer to our Hotel and its Round 2. The same scenario happens again.

I get cleaned up again and we are now only about 15 mins from the hotel. Finally we get to our destination. Bryan takes care of everything with checking in and getting me in a room as quick as possible. It was clear to him that I was not functioning at a high enough level to do anything for myself at that point. Good thing for me Bryan was travelling with me. He proved to be a reliable friend! So I get to my room and I all I want to do is shower and pass out. Round 3, bam! At least this time I was near a sink and a toilet.

I think I lost 10 pounds in 14 hours of travel. Things can only get better from here. The resort is decent but the surrounding landscape is amazing. We are on the beach in a cove off the Mediterranean Sea and there are mountains all around us. Eventually I figure to make it outside.

I never got anything going in the main event.  I busted in the third level after hovering around starting stack for the first 4 hours.  I did manage to crush the Chinese games during the breaks but lost a bit back when I went over to the Bellagio to play the mixed games for the last night before heading home.

Overall my trip was a failure.  I lost money overall and that is the ultimate measure for a poker trip.  It was a big chunk of time and commitment out of my life to be in Vegas for 5 weeks and I dont know if I will be doing this whole thing again.  I feel as though the 5-7 day trips I have made in the past are more condusive to me winning.

I would like to let everyone know how much I appreciate the support I got in the form of emails, texts, and blog comments.  It really was a help having so many friends and family behind me the whole way.

I am flying back to the east coast today and very much looking forward to finally starting my summer.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

-$10,000

Net total for Tournaments +$9,000

Recent Results for Cash Games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker

-$55,000  in cash games

$0 in prop bets

+$89,000 in Chinese

Net total for Cash games     +$152,000

Net total for Prop Bets          -$165,900

Net total for Chinese Poker  -$213,500

WSOP 2009 Trip Total          -$208,400

I have been in Vegas too long.  I am tired and rundown which is leading me to make bad decisions and I have been playing less than optimal for the last week.  I am not able to play my best right now which has turned into two losing sessions in a row at the Bellagio the last two days.  Last night I lost another 85k.  That is enough losing for me so my plan is as follows.  I am going to play the 10k WSOP main event on Friday.  If I bust out on Day 1 then I will fly home on Saturday and spend the rest of the summer down the shore.  If I make it through Day 1 then I will have to stay in Vegas until at least Tuesday to play Day 2.  Either way no more poker for before the main event.

On a better note I did manage to pick up $68k in Chinese Poker the last two days.  Since I only made one final table I will lose my 10k prop bet to Bryan Colin.  But I did win my team bet player of the year points against Daniel and Erick to win 20k.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

$0

Net total for Tournaments +$19,000

Recent Results for Cash Games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker

-$85,000  in cash games

+$10,000 in prop bets

+$68,000 in Chinese

Net total for Cash games     +$207,000

Net total for Prop Bets          -$165,900

Net total for Chinese Poker  -$302,500

WSOP 2009 Trip Total          -$242,400

I got smoked.  Simple way to put it.  Gus Hansen cashes in 9th.  Erik Sagstrom cashes in 3rd.  John Hanson is now heads up for the title so he will either finish 1st or 2nd.  I either crossbooked or bet against all three of them.   For me to get absolutely smoked as I did, two of the 3 had to finish in the top three spots.  I did have a 10% piece of Chau who finished 7th, but overall this tournament cost me $149k in prop bets.

So after 6 straight days of winning in Chinese Poker it all turned sour for me.  In 5 sessions over the last two days I had results of -80k, -65k, -6k, +17k, and -40k.  So I am buried for the trip now and to top it off I lost another 89k in the 1500-3000 mixed game at the Bellagio last night.  Things not ending well for me here in Vegas.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

+$15,900

Net total for Tournaments +$19,000

Recent Results for Cash Games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker

-$89,000  in cash games

-$137,300  in prop bets

-$174,000 in Chinese

Net total for Cash games     +$292,000

Net total for Prop Bets          -$175,900

Net total for Chinese Poker  -$370,500

WSOP 2009 Trip Total          -$245,400

I was busted from the 50k Horse in the last level of Day 3.  I was the short stack from about 45 players all the way down to 24.  I did my best to hang in but when it got down to 3 tables it was my time to go.  So I lost my 20k last longer with John Hanson and had a few other prop bets that were mostly a push.  Now I have to sweat due to my crossbook with John.  If he cashes I will owe him more money.  Also if Erik123 and or Gus Hansen cash I will also lose some.   I have 10% of Chau so really hoping he wins this tournament.

During the tournament breaks I was able to pick up about 50k in Chinese Poker so as bad as I was running in the beginning of the trip I have been running well the last week now.

Tomorrow I will be playing my last event before the main event which starts Friday.  Tomorrow is the 2-7 Triple Draw which will be fun.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

-$50,000

Net total for Tournaments +$3,100

Recent Results for Cash Games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker

$0  in cash games

-$25,000 in prop bets

+$49,500 in Chinese

Net total for Cash games     +$381,000

Net total for Prop Bets          -$38,600

Net total for Chinese Poker  -$186,500

WSOP 2009 Trip Total          +$160,000

The 50K HORSE has begun and I am in 3rd coming around the first turn.  Hassan leads the field with 380k and I am in a solid third position with 300k in chips.  Average stack is around 160k.  I was last coming out of the gate though as I was down to almost 100k in the first two levels from the 150k starting stack.  My table and seat position was this:  I had Phil Ivey two to my left, Gus Hansen three to my right, Bill Chen directly across the table, and Erick Lindgren directly to my right.  There were also two very solid tight internet players seated on my side of the table and a overly tricky tough player seated next to Bill.  So all around not the table I would hope for.  But in the games I play in regularly now I am used to challenges so this is nothing new.   One thing that is tougher in this tournament is that everyone is trying so hard to win.  That is not always the case in the 2k-4k mixed game, or at least it doesn’t appear that way some of the time.

Anyway, so we had a group of 8-10 players in the Chinese during the breaks today.  Big group all from the Horse tournament.  I was able to win about 30k.  So after what felt like 12 straight days of losing in Chinese, I think I won 6 straight days now.  So Streaky!

On Thursday, the day before the Horse, I played in the 3k-6k mixed game at Bellagio and was up big but only finished up 50k for the day.  But a win is a win.  And its nice to have a win going into a big tournament.  Confidence is such a huge factor in a mixed limit event.  You need other players to fold hands to you.  They have to sense your confidence.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

$0

Net total for Tournaments +$53,100

Recent Results for Cash Games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker

+$50,000 in cash games

$0 in prop bets

+$29,500 in Chinese

Net total for Cash games     +$381,000

Net total for Prop Bets          -$13,600

Net total for Chinese Poker  -$236,000

WSOP 2009 Trip Total          +$185,500

As usual the 2500 Omaha HL, another small buyin tournament was a nonevent  for me.  I got deep into day 2 again but failed to cash.  I did squeak out a win in the Chinese though playing mostly with Roland DeWolfe and Sorel Mizzi.  I was 8.5k on the plus side when I escaped.

I headed over to the Bellagio where there was a good 2k-4k mixed game. The lineup was: Jon Hansen, Abe, Jennifer, Gus, Chau, Hennigan, Ray D, and Doyle.   Mix was  Omaha8, Stud, Stud 8, Holdem, 2-7 Triple Draw, NL Holdem, Pot Limit Omaha, Stud HiLo Regular, and Razz.  This is more the lineup that I enjoy when playing in Bobby’s Room.  Unfortunately the game broke up only about an hour after I got in.  It was a short stop for me but I was able to win 103k for the hour.  One big Stud 8 or better pot was the main cause of my result.  I raised with a 7 up. Gus reraised with a Q.  Doyle called the 4k with an 8 and Jen cold called with a 4.  So I called with 467.  Turn I pair my 6, Gus hits a Ten, Doyle hits a 3, and Jen hits an 8.   I lead with a 67 board. And gus pops it, Doyle repops and Jen calls again.  So we got this pot jammed up now.  On 5th I catch an Ace and everyone bricks.  So I lead again and Gus pops again (sick guy but he happened to be right) and Jen releases her hand.  When he pops it here Gus should have trip tens or queens but Gus is very creative so you never really know.  When Jen folds I am the only one left in the pot shooting for low.  On 6th I catch open sevens so my board reads 76A7 and I have the 46 in the hole for two pair and a low draw.  I check on 6th with what looks like Aces up to them and they both check behind.  So now Gus is probably holding queens and tens and who knows what Doyle has, probably Kings in the hole.  I river the magic 6 and bet the nuts.  When I get called I let them know “I got it boys” and show down the full house.

So my beautiful wife is flying in tonight.  While I have been all work and no play for the entire month that will change now.  I am also looking forward to the next week because tomorrow is my favorite event.  Its truly the Players’ Main event.  The 50k Horse Tournament.  It should only attract about 100 players but it will be the who’s who of high stakes poker.  Not the TV show but real high stakes poker.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

-$2,500

Net total for Tournaments +$53,100

Recent Results for Cash Games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker

+$103,000 in cash games

$0 in prop bets

+$8,500 in Chinese

Net total for Cash games     +$331,000

Net total for Prop Bets          -$13,600

Net total for Chinese Poker  -$265,500

WSOP 2009 Trip Total          +$106,000

I played the $2500 Razz tournament and made it deep into day 2 but failed to cash.  That tournament is certainly one of the most boring and takes the most discipline.  So I entered to $2500 Omaha H/L today and at the end of the night I have about a 35k stack with average stack being about 17k.  I am probably top 5 or 10 in chips with 200 players left.  This will be my last tournament before the 50k Horse on Friday.

Fortunately I was able to win about $42k in Chinese Poker the last two days.  It had to happen eventually.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

-$2,500

Net total for Tournaments +$55,600

Recent Results for Cash Games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker

$0 in cash games

$0 in prop bets

+$42,000 in Chinese

Net total for Cash games     +$228,000

Net total for Prop Bets          -$13,600

Net total for Chinese Poker  -$274,000

WSOP 2009 Trip Total          -$3,000

The 5k NL Shootout and the $2500 mixed event were both on the schedule for yesterday.  The shootout started at noon.  This event is different from all the other in the fact that you play your starting table down to a winner and then once you win your table you are in the money and you come back to day 2 for the next table.  I got down to 3 handed at my table with two tough internet players and that was the best I could manage as I busted in 3rd at my table.  I went over to the mixed event but as has been the usual in the small buyin events I never won a pot and busted in maybe the 5th level.  I had some big crossbooks with Doyle Brunson and Eli Elezra.  But they both busted around the same time so it was a wash.  I broke even in the Chinese poker for the day.

I went over to the Bellagio and played in the 3k-6k mixed game again.  The lineup was the same as the night before minus two or three players.  It was my longest session so far as I played about 8 hours.  I was hovering between stuck 100k and even most of the night but had a small rush at the end and left ahead about 64k.

Today is the $2500 Razz Tournament.  This one might be torture but I have a big crossbook with Jon Hansen which could get interesting if one of us makes it deep.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

-$7,500

Net total for Tournaments +$58,100

Recent Results for Cash Games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker

+$64,000 in cash games

$0 in prop bets

$0 in Chinese

Net total for Cash games     +$228,000

Net total for Prop Bets          -$13,600

Net total for Chinese Poker  -$315,500

WSOP 2009 Trip Total          -$39,000

After winning 20k from Jon for the last longer bet in the Stud 8 tournament I lost a total of 40k to Abe in the same event since he got a 20k bonus for cashing and a 20k bonus for the final table.  He wound up in 6th place in that event.  1st for him would have cost me another 20k.  The 10k PLO tournament was the next day in which I had no prop bets going on which was fortunate considering this was my first quick exit from an event.  I lasted less than an hour.

During the last two days I was actually winning in Chinese Poker for a while but that didnt last as I went on a big slide right before the game broke and came out $49k loser.

Last night I played the 3k-6k mixed game at Bellagio.  Lineup was: Oppenheim, Benyamine, Patrick, Gus, Jen Harman, Ivey, Rafi Amit.   Mix was  Omaha8, Stud, Stud 8, Holdem, 2-7 Triple Draw, A-5 Triple Draw, Stud HiLo Regular, Razz.   The games was active and played really well but I was unable to drag any significant pots and lost 200k.  My first loss in the game at Bellagio this trip, but a bigger result than any one of my wins.

Today I will be multitasking.  Playing the $5k NL Shootout at noon and the $2500 8 Game Mix tournament at 5pm.

So after this huge downswing I am now negative 100k for the trip.  Still focused on the goal and will be trying hard to bounce back.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

-$10,000

Net total for Tournaments +$65,600

Recent Results for Cash Games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker

-$200,000 in cash games

-$40,000 in prop bets

-$49,500 in Chinese

Net total for Cash games     +$164,000

Net total for Prop Bets          -$13,600

Net total for Chinese Poker  -$315,500

WSOP 2009 Trip Total          -$95,500

With twenty minutes til the end of the night I went bust in the Stud 8 tournament.  I can not recall the last time I was out in the first day of a big event.  Fortunately I won the 20k last longer with Jon Hansen, but still at risk for losing 20k to Abe if he cashes in the event and more if he reaches the final table.  Today will be a day of rest finally.  There is no game going on at the Bellagio for me and tomorrow is the big 10k PLO tournament that I will be entering.  I am going to do an interview today with ESPN and then most likely see the Pelham movie.  Oh, and I managed to lose another 14k for the day in Chinese throughout the breaks.  Chinese is really dragging on my results.

So after the tournament was done for the night I went to the lounge with David Benyamine to sweat him playing Gus heads up Omaha 8 on Full Tilt.  For those of you who don’t know David is a former tennis pro from France who plays in the biggest games all the time live and online.  David has a deep French accent and he is my favorite player in all of high stakes poker to play with.  He laughs at all my jokes and always laughs at all his own jokes too.  Gotta love the guy.  So he played for a few hours and probably of the 4000 decisions he made in the heads up battle, he would ask me what I thought of his play on about 600 of them.  So almost every hand there was some decision where he would ask me my thoughts.  Let me be clear that he always made the play first and then asked me what I thought.

There were these 4 constant conversations heard over and over again:

“Dju also raise dere?”, “Prob not David.”, “Wow, I cant believe dju, How can dju win at poker?”

“Dju like my limp?”,  “David, I would never consider playing that hand. the J955 double suited”, “But zat would be a bad fold, you just really don’t understand poker.  I would fold if he raized after I limped anyway”, “Umm David, he just raised and then you called anyway.”  “Matt, zu are an idiot!”

“David, How can you not lead that river?”, “Oh, really. Dju think Gus would not call me with a pair of trees on zat board?  Oh zreally. Zu zreally do not know Gus.  Zu are so stupid.”

“Zwould zu call?”,  “No, I would three bet there against Gus”,  “Oh, zreally.  Zu are so bad at poker.  Zwhat are you talking about?  I zreally do not understand zu.  How can zu win at poker?  Do you zink I play bad?”,  “No David, I think there are different ways to win at poker”, “Oh, zreally.  Well….. Maybe zu are right.”

I wish I had video.  It would be priceless.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

-$10,000

Net total for Tournaments +$75,600

Recent Results for Cash Games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker

+$19,500 in prop bets

-$14,000 in Chinese

Net total for Cash games     +$364,000

Net total for Prop Bets          +$25,900

Net total for Chinese Poker  -$256,500

WSOP 2009 Trip Total          +$208,000

Yep, 6th it is.  Happy to get to the final table.  Unhappy with the result.  Thanks for everyone’s support while I was at the final table.  It was very helpful to the psyche when so many people were pulling for me.   Anyway, so the final table was stacked with a ridiculous amount of talent and skill.  Of the final ten, eight were great limit holdem players, and all ten were great poker players with proven track records.  My friend Matt Hawrilenko was one of those who is widely considered the best limit holdem player in the world.  Six of the ten at the final table are friends of mine, so it made for a very easygoing enjoyable experience.  Even though I did not win, I could not be happier for my good friend Greg who won the event.  He finished 2nd a few times before and I know he was just dying to win a bracelet.  Good things happen to good people!  Greg deserves the glory.  Oh yeah, and the 450k that goes along with it.

Greg is on my team in the prop bet against Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren for WSOP player of the year points.  So this combined effort in the limit holdem today pulls us ahead to a nice comfortable lead.  Making the final table today was a clincher for a prop bet with Matusow so that will be 10k from him.  Half goes to Bryan Colin who took half that bet of mine.  Just gotta love Mike.

Good news.  I only lost 1k today in Chinese Poker.

After I busted out from the tournament I went over to the Bellagio to play the 2k-4k mixed game again.  Some new faces to the lineup last night.  We were honored with the presence of the Great Dane (Gus Hansen) and the Great Baldini (Jon Hansen).  No relation between the two.   Needless to say the game is becoming more fun as we get midway through the WSOP.  The mix today was Omaha 8, Stud 8, 2-7 Triple Draw.  I netted a dissapointing 12k in the game today after being up over 100k early.

Tomorrow we got the Stud 8 or better World Championship 10k Event.  Certainly one of the top 3 events in terms of value.  Barry assures me this will be a super soft field.  I will have a bunch  side action on this tournament.  I have a 20% crossbook with Jon Hansen,  20k bonus for making the final table, and a 20k last longer with him.   I also have a 20k bonus for cashing, 20k bonus for final table, and 20k bonus for winning it, all with Abe.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

+$70,342

Net total for Tournaments +$85,600

Recent Results for Cash Games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker

+12000 in mixed game

+5000 in prop bets

-1k in Chinese

Net total for Cash games     +$364,000

Net total for Prop Bets          +$6,400

Net total for Chinese Poker  -$242,500

WSOP 2009 Trip Total          +$213,500