Matt Glantz’s Blog

…..So we fly back from Philly on Monday in time for us to play the 10k Limit Holdem Championship Event.  I struggle all of Day 1 just to hover around the starting stack of 30k and finish up the day with 38k at my peak.  During the breaks I lose a couple thousand in Chinese Poker.  Anyway after the tournament ended for the night at 3am, I pretty much beg Benyamine and Jon Hansen to come with me to the Rio Poker Room to play some Chinese at $1,000 a point.  Obviously very big game but I am feeling that its time to raise the stakes as my Chinese has been improving drastically over the last few weeks.  We played for about 4 hours and I think i net won about 5 hands in that time.  We probably played about 80 hands and I just was a road bump for my friends as the two of them just kept running me over and then backing the truck up and running me over again.  This experience cost me 128k.

Day 2 for the Limit Holdem Tournament was today and on the first 20 minute break from the tournament we went to the Aces Club Lounge and played some more Chinese.  This time we had Doyle to make it a foursome.  In the 20 minutes we dealt out 5 hands and I managed to lose 51k during the short break.  That is a very hard thing to accomplish in such a short period.  But I was able to do it.  Chinese Poker is not my friend!

So in the 10k Limit Holdem Tournament we finished up the night down to 12 players.  I have a stack of 483k with avg stack being about 460k.  I am very much in the hunt in this one.  We play til we have a winner tomorrow.  Of the remaining 12 players. 8 or 9 of them are superb limit holdem players.  This will be challenging.  It would be nice to get the the final table of 9 players since that will clinch one prop bet for me and get me closer in the others.  First place pays about $450k.

This is my 8th tournament of the WSOP thus far and I have now cashed in 4 of them.  No final tables yet but tomorrow should change that.  I only have 75% of myself in this tournament because I gave my friend Dan a 25% freeroll as a much deserved Thank You for flying me up and back to see my family.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

0

Net total for Tournaments +$15,300

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

0 in mixed game

0 in prop bets

-181k in Chinese

Net total for Cash games     +$352,000

Net total for Prop Bets          +$1,400

Net total for Chinese Poker  -$241,500

WSOP 2009 Trip Total          +$137,200

No tournaments today for me since I am flying out in the morning.  So I played the 2k-4k mixed game at Bellagio.  Lineup was: Oppenheim, Ralph, Chris Smith, Hennigan, Abe, Johny Chan, Rafi Amit.   Mix was  Omaha8, Stud, Stud 8, Holdem, 2-7 Triple Draw, Razz.  I was off to a great start in the first few hours.  Up as much as 160k.   Mostly hovered around there for most of the day, but then my good friend Ben Lin came over to sit behind me and sweat me.  Knowing how bad he runs, I should have never let him be in the room, let alone sweat my hands.   So not surprisingly in 20 mins of him behind me I lost 7 straight pots and lost 100k straight.  So I quit.  Finished up 56k for the day.  Just glad to book a win before I go home.  I have a recent history of having bad losses on the night before I get on a flight.

Played some Chinese Poker during the day and lost another 21k today there.   I have not fared well in the Chinese so far but will be sticking with it for now.  Down about 60k total for the trip in Chinese.

Recap of the WSOP so far:   I played 7 tournaments.  I cashed in 3 of them which is good, but no final tables.  And of course no bracelet.  I am disappointed with the tournament results, but the live game results have been superb.   So overall, the first two weeks have been very good.

I am incredibly homesick and cant wait to get home and see Deb and the kids tomorrow.  I will be blogging again when I get back.  And I wanted to say thx for those who made comments on the blog.  It is the only way I know people are reading it and I try my best to improve the blog based on the feedback I get.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

0

Net total for Tournaments +$15,300

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

+54k in mixed game

0 in prop bets

-21k in Chinese

Net total for Cash games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker +$293,400

WSOP 2009 Trip Total +$308,700

So on Tuesday the plan was to just play cash games at the Bellagio and take the tournaments off for a day.  We started a 2k-4k mixed game - same lineup and mix of games as previous with a couple other players thrown in.   Game was not that special again.  The lineup has been tough every day the game has run so far.  As we were playing Phil Ivey was trying to talk some of us into playing the 3k HORSE  tourny that was starting over at the WSOP.  Most of us were planning on skipping that one to rest for the 10k 2-7 NL on Wednesday.  But he made me an offer I felt I couldn’t refuse.  He layed me 60k to make the final table of the 3k HORSE vs me laying him 50k to make the same final table.  With a field of 450 players, most of the time neither of us will have to pay, but that was enough incentive for me to leave the Bellagio and jump in the HORSE tourny.   I also crossbooked 20% with both Abe and Benyamine for the tournament.  I was up 74k in a bad mixed game at the time so it was easy to leave and it would be more opportunity now in the tournament.

So I ended day 1 of the HORSE with an average stack, but Ivey, Benyamine, and Abe were all busted out of the tournament.  So total freeroll for me for day 2.  It would turn out I would cash in 36th place.  Another deep run but ultimately dissapointed.  36th would pay $5,838.  So I get an additional $1,160 from the crossbooks and me and Ivey are a wash.  I won about 7k in the Chinese Poker during the breaks.

So during the tournament I am randomly seated next Dan, a friend of mine from back home.  We are catching up a bit on what is going on his life and when he asks me how I have been doing out here, I tell him everything is going great but I am desperately homesick.  Miss my wife and kids.   So he says he has the cure for that.  He is taking his jet home on Friday back to Philly and coming back to Vegas on Monday.  He tells me there is room for me.  Wow, best news I heard all trip.  This came out of nowhere and when I thought about it, I could not pass on this offer.

So I am planning on playing at the Bellagio today and then taking a weekend back home.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

+2800

Net total for Tournaments +$15,300

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

+74k in mixed game

+12400 in prop bets

+7k in Chinese

Net total for Cash games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker +$260,400

WSOP 2009 Trip Total +$275,700

The 10k Omaha H/L tournament was a great event with probably the toughest field of any event.  I had a bunch of bets going on during the play.  I had a 1k last longer with Gavin Smith and also with Rafael Zimmerman.  I won both of those on Day 1.  I also crossbooked 20% with Erick Lindgren, David Benyamine, and Abe.  All 3 of them were out early on Day 2.  So I had a real nice freeroll with a 60% bonus on anything I cash in the event.  At dinner break on Day 2, I was top 5 in chips with 65 players left.  Within an hour after we got back I lost 3 big pots and was down to about half the avg stack.  I survived for a couple more hours but was busted around 40th place for no money.

I spent the next hour playing Chinese poker with Barry Greenstein and Mike Matusow.  They tortured me hand after hand and I lost 35k very quick.  I gave up and quit them to head over to the Bellagio for the 2k-4k mixed game.  Lineup was: Ralph Perry, Benyamine, Jennifer, David Singer, Abe, Chau, Tim Phan, Rafi Amit.   Mix was  Omaha8, Stud, Stud 8, Stud H/L regular, Holdem, 2-7 Triple Draw, A-5 Triple Draw. Again, not the greatest lineup.  High stakes poker at the Bellagio is not very good at the moment.  Hopefully that will change as the WSOP goes on.  Anyway, I spent about 4 hours in the game and won about 24k.  Not too much volatility for me during the session.

I am taking the day off from tournaments today.  We are hoping to get a decent mixed game going early today.  Tomorrow I will be playing the 10k NL 2-7 Single Draw Tournament.  That will be a very small field with mostly known players.  That event is always fun.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

-10k

Net total for Tournaments +$12,500

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

+24k in mixed game

+2k in prop bets

-35k in Chinese

Net total for Cash games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker +$167,000

WSOP 2009 Trip Total +$179,500

The Limit Holdem Tournament was frustrating.  I was chipleader with 70 players remaining and I was out in 40th without a cash.  So far I have entered 5 events and cashed in 2.  The next one is today. 10k Omaha H/L.

After the bustout I landed at the Bellagio where there was a 2k-4k Mixed game going on in Bobby’s Room (Bobby’s Room is the high limit section of the Bellagio Poker Room.  I had to clarify that because I got some emails recently with people asking me who’s Bobby and why were you playing up in his hotel room.)  Fortunately for me there was a seat open.  Lineup was: Oppenheim, Benyamine, Jennifer, Hennigan, Abe, Tim Phan, Rafi Amit.   Mix was  Omaha8, Stud, Stud 8, Holdem, 2-7 Triple Draw, A-5 Triple Draw.  I believe I lost the first few hands I played, but then for the next 3 hours mostly every time I entered a pot, I won it.  I was up about 125k and the game wasn’t playing all that well.  The lineup sucked and there wasn’t too much gambling going on.  So when Rafi the goofball knocked over my chips for the 3rd time in the span of an hour, I just quit.  Rafi is like a little kid playing in Bobby’s Room.  He is a big winning player who can’t control his impulses to do stupid things in the game to try to be funny.  Anyway, I like Rafi prob as much as anyone does.  I think he is funny most of the time and I get his humor.  But after ignoring the fact that the first two times I beat him in a hand and he knocked down my chips to be funny, I had just restacked all the beautiful 5k, 1k, and 500 dollar chips.  He did it again.  Meanwhile he had to reach across Abe and his chips to do it to me.  So I was a little worried also that one of these times the chips would intermingle with Abe or Benyamine’s stack next to mine and then we would have issues.  All I said was, “Ok Rafi, It’s time for me to quit.”  And as I am racking up, as if right on queue, my man Oppenheim gave Rafi a good tongue lashing.  It was sweet.

Anyway, while this is not a normal occurrence in Bobby’s Room, stupid things go on all the time in there just like it was a 1-2 dollar home game.

So I went back to the Rio to see what was going on.  I played a few hands of Chinese Poker with Matusow and Hellmuth.  They beat me for 12.5k in a span of 20 mins.  Then the 3 of us with the addition of 4 other poker players went for a late night dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.  I felt bad for the table behind us as Mikey was his usual over the top loud self.  It felt like the dinner was scripted for a movie as Mikey was continually ranting at the top of his lungs about nonsensical stuff and Phil interjecting every couple of minutes about his poker accomplishments, his bracelets, or his 18 businesses he owns.  The rest of us really enjoyed the show.  Bryan Colin’s text to me this morning: “Thanks for the invite, that dinner was classic!”  I have realized in the past week that I am by far the most normal person in poker.

Recent Result for Tournaments:

-2500

Net total for Tournaments +$22,500

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

+125k in mixed game

-20k in Chinese

Net total for Cash games, Prop Bets, and Chinese Poker +$176,000

WSOP 2009 Trip Total +$198,500

Well, I busted early on day 2 of the 10k Mixed.  Disappointing for me since I really like all the games involved and it has been a while since I failed to cash in a big buyin event.   Also I made some prop bets during this event that cost me a bunch.  I lost some last longer bets on myself and David Benyamine vs Jon Hansen.  I also cross-booked with Abe but neither of us cashed so it was a wash.

I busted early enough to have some time before the Limit Holdem event started to play some Chinese poker with Jen Harman, Eli Elezra, Jeff Lisandro and Doyle.  It felt like I lost every hand and they punished me for about 33k.  That was fun.

At 5pm, the $2500 Limit Holdem (6 max) event began.  6 max means 6 players per table.  There is more randomness in this event than most other events, but I ran well as usual, and wound up chip leader through most of the night.  It looks like I ended up 3rd in chips according to this report:   http://www.pokernews.com/wsop/2009/event-14/

Amusing playing with all the Limit Holdem Scientists.  They have a ton of gamble and a lot of heart.

During the breaks of this tournament Barry Greenstein and I battled heads up in Chinese and I tortured him for about 14k.  He is probably the best Chinese poker player of the group, so I felt ptetty lucky to win that matchup.  Especially since I just learned the game in the last month.

I got a couple more prop bets that are for the series.

$10k   getting 2.25 - 1 on making two final tables

$10k   getting even money from today on to make one final table -  i have half that bet - Matusow has other side

$20k on Player of the Year Points starting at the 10k Stud Event on the best 2 out of 3 of me, Greg Mueller, and Shawn Buchanan vs  Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren

Result for Tournaments:

-10000

Net total for Tournaments +$24,910

Results for Cash Games

-20k in Chinese

-19k in last longers for the 10k mixed

Net total for Cash games +$71,000

WSOP 2009 Trip Total +$97,000

Freddie Ellis won the 7 card Stud tournament tonight.  He is a regular in our Borgata poker game.  A bunch of us were there to root him on and he represented us well.  He is now the 3rd player from the Borgata game to take home a Stud bracelet in the last few years.  He joins Ben and Dr Mike for the Atlantic City pride.

We had a 300-600 mixed game at the Bellagio today which I played in for an hour.  Won about 3k.  Then Mike Matusow and I went over to Bryan Colin’s ‘9000 sq ft’, as Mikey likes to call it, over by the mountains.  I have never been this far from the strip in Las Vegas before.  We were there to play Chinese Poker and for dinner.  I lost 2k during this excursion, but that is a very minimal amount for the stakes we were playing.

On the way back I got a call saying a 2k-4k mixed game was starting at the Bellagio so I got dropped off there and jumped right in.  I played for maybe 45 mins and came to the realization that this game pretty much sucked.  I was playing with Benyamine, Ivey, Oppenheim, Kenny Tran, and Will.  I did give it a good 45 mins though on the hope someone else would enter that game.  That never happened and off I went.  Picked up another 32k in that game.  Still running good.  Made for a pretty nice day.

Prop Bets:  I won 1k in a last longer bet with someone in the stud tournament.  Tomorrow for the 10k mixed event I have a 10k last longer bet (must cash) with Benyamine.  I also have a 10k bet getting 2.25 -1 that I will make 2 final tables this summer.  That is with Bryan Colin.  Frustrating that I came close to winning that bet already with two 2nd final table finishes in the first two big events.

Result for Tournaments:

Net total for Tournaments +$34,910

Recent Results for Cash Games

+31000

Net total for Cash games +$110,000

WSOP 2009 Trip Total +$144,910

This one hurt!  Finished in 14th place in the 10k Stud Event.  Cashed for $24,480.  This result was a big disappointment for me.  I rate to do better in this specific event and it is was one of the better opportunities for me to pick up a bracelet.

During the breaks I played a bunch of Chinese Poker and while losing big to Johnny Chan heads up, I pretty much beat everyone else and was able to pick up 14k.

The next event for me will be the 10k Mixed (8-game) Event on Thursday.  This is the one I finished 3rd last year.  Hoping to improve on that finish.

Result for Tournaments:

+14480

Net total for Tournaments +$34,910

Results for Cash Games

+14000

Net total for Cash games +$79,000

WSOP 2009 Trip Total +$113,910

I went into the 1k NL tournament with the mindset that I had to get a ton of chips early to make it worth missing out on the game at the Bellagio.  I did increase my stack from 3k to 7.5k by the first break which was certainly one of the top 5% chip counts, but I figured I needed to get to about a 20k stack by the next break to make my tournament equity equal to the to the alternative.

During the break, Eli beat me for 2k in Chinese.  I went back to the tourny and got involved in a hand with the tightest guy in the table.  He led all the streets after the flop and I raised him bluffing all 3 streets.  Needless to say it was a very high risk play and not the smartest.  After he deliberated each street, he called each time.  And I was back to avg stack and then out of the tourny soon after.

I ran over to Bellagio, but unfortunately missed the last open seat in the ‘East Coast’ game.  I was able to gather a few to start a 1k 2k mixed game in Bobby’s Room but the game didn’t last long.  Maybe an hour.  Luckily I got a seat in the 600-1200 ‘East Coast’ game.  The mix was Stud, Stud 8 or better, and NL Holdem.  7 of the 8 seats were filled with Borgata players.  It was our standard Borgata game transported west.

A hand from the game:  100-200 NL Holdem (12k cap),   a guy limps in early position, I raise the cutoff to 800 with KK, the sb calls,  limper calls.  Both guys you all know, but I wont embarrass them with their names (sickos).  Flop comes 457 two hearts.  I got two black kings.   limper checks, I bet 1300  half pot,  sb raises to 3500, limper ponders for a minute then folds.  I cap it to 12k and obv get called.  I am up against the somewhat surprising 39H.  Why not!  Anyway we run it twice.  We each win one time and chop the pot.  The other player informs me he limped and called my raise with 96off.  That was what he was thinking about on the flop.  So basically I raised with KK and was up against the 96off and the 39H.   Normal.

I played til about 1am.  Picked up about 42k between the two games.  Today is the 10k Stud Championship at 5pm.

Result for Tournaments:

-1k

Net total for Tournaments +$20,430

Results for Cash Games

+42k

-2k in Chinese

Net total for Cash games +$65,200

WSOP 2009 Trip Total +$86,630

I finished in 18th place in the 40k for a cash of $96.171.  It was an uneventful final 2 hours for me in the tournament today.  Stole a few blinds, got blinded away, and it was ended in a standard blind vs blind situation when I was 13bb deep.  Blinds 15k 30k with 4k ante.   All fold to the small blind who was Lex.  He has 2.5m.  He makes it 80k.  I have 385k.  I look down to see Q9s.  Folding is not an option.  I consider whether to jam or just call.  I come to the conclusion that I have close to zero fold equity so I elect to just call.  It turns out it didnt matter.  Flop Q22.  He leads for 100k and I jam.  He instacalls with AQ.  And I am out the door.

Feels good to be one of only two guys to cash in the 25k WPT Championship last month and the WSOP 40k NL this month.  To surpass both of those bubbles is a big relief as those are the two biggest NL bubbles of the year in the US.  Also, I was informed that I am the only one to cash in the 3 biggest buyin events in the US for the last year.  That includes the 50k Horse.  Those bubbles were 32k, 72k, and 124k.   Cashing for those numbers rather than being stuck 25k, 40k, and 50k is a huge swing not only for the bankroll but for the psyche.

So before and after the tournament today I played Doyle and then Eli heads up Chinese poker.  I punished Doyle and broke even with Eli.  After the bout with Eli I went over to the Bellagio to play some 600-1200 mixed games with all my boys from the East Coast.  6 of the 8 seats were filled with players from the Borgata.  We played 600 1200 Stud, Stud 8 or better, and 100 200 NL holdem.  I was stuck about 25k at one point but wound up small on the plus side by the time dinner rolled around.

Today is the 1k NL ’stimulus’ tournament with close to 6k players.  I will be playing ultrafast to build up a stack or get bust and be at the Bellagio playing some poker.

Result for Tournaments:

40k buyin, cashed 96k,   (sold half my action in this tournament only due to the huge buyin and extremely tough field;  will have 100% in the rest of the tournaments)

+28k for this tourny

Net total for Tournaments +$21,430

Results for Cash Games

+1200 in  6 12 game

+14k in Chinese

Net total for Cash games +$20,200

WSOP 2009 Trip Total +$41,630

Well, at this point I can safely say I am having a good start to WSOP 2009.  Guaranteed cash of $72k vs the alternative of being stuck $40k after the first event certainly has its advantages for the psyche.  And after cashing last month in the $25k WPT Championship, it feels like a sense of relief cashing in both of the two biggest buyin NL tournaments for the year.  It would feel great to final table this one, but at least the sense of relief has already been achieved from overcoming the two largest NL bubbles for the year.

So I started day 2 with slightly less than avg chips around 240k.  I was able to chip up to about 400k in the first hour or two without any showdowns and then this silly hand came up.  3000-6000 500.  Scott Seiver and I get involved in a hand.  He is one of the growing list of internet superstars and clearly has a handle on NL on par with the best of the best.  Very personable kid with a super table presence which will no doubtably serve him well as he continues his journey through poker.  The table presence factor is way lost on so many of the young superstars.  There are so many great young NL players in the fields today but the ones that will seperate from the pack in the future will be those that can produce a likeable and at the same time respected table presence.  So Scott open limps for 6k in the cutoff.  SB folds, I check with A7.  Flop A74  with two clubs,  I have the ace clubs.  Scott has me covered as I have 392k to start the hand.  I lead for maybe 15k.  Scott quickly raises to about 38k.  I reraise to about 115k.  He pretty quickly shoves.  I insta call for my stack of 385.5k.  Fortunately for me he didnt have the 44, he had the A4.  And I was able to double up to almost 800k with avg stack around 360k.  Those cold deck gifts are so rare that I just feel so lucky when I am on the right side of one of them.  It really was a miserable spot for Scott.  Once he open limps, I think he played the hand optimally post flop.  Just one of those things - who is luckier at this moment?

So soon after I was up to about 1.1m with no showdowns and no resistance.  Now in top 4 in chips with about 50 players left.  I proceeded to fold my way down to about 650k the rest of the night from 50 players down to 23.  I dont remember ever folding a higher percentage of hands for a longer period.  I believe I opened 2 hands in that stretch.  Not due to any ‘master plan’.  Strictly because in each hand the situation seemed best served by folding.  Very frustrating.  But I look back now and can feel confident I made the most of every situation which is really the key to winning in poker.  Even when that optimal choice is to continue to fold.

Day 3 today:  I enter 14th in chips out of 23.  I have 670k. avg is 1.05m.  I am about a 2-1 dog to make it through today and reach the final table.  But one thing is for sure.  It will be fun trying.

Results for Tournaments:

I played a $1,570 satellite for the 40k and did not win a seat.  I had a $5k piece of Bryan Colin in the 40k.

-$6570

Results for Cash Games:

Have not played any as of yet.  Also including prop bets in this section.  Had 5k on the under 250 entrants for the 40k with Eli.

+$5,000

The World Series of Poker has begun.  We had our first big buyin event yesterday.  The 40k NL Holdem event.  The Rio was able to get 201 of the most recognizable poker players to shell out the 40k for this star studded event.

My starting table included  Daniel Negreanu, Dario Minieri. Jeff Lisandro, Phil Galfond, and Dale Pinchot.  Each player started with a stack of 120k.  I was able to pick up chips in a few small and medium size pots right off the bat and I was pretty close to chip lead in the tournament all the way through the dinner break.  By dinner, I had 400k which was fairly close to the chip lead while avg stack was about 160k.

After dinner I was able to chip up to about 475k when the most interesting hand of the day came down.  Blinds: 1200-2400  300 ante.  Mike DeMichelle raised utg+1 to 6700.  I called from the cutoff with 44.  Heads up to the flop.   Mike had about 500k also.  We were both near the chip lead in the tournament as avg stack was about 190k.  Flop 466  2 hearts.  GIN FLOP!  He leads out for 15600.  I quickly raise to 40k.  He thinks it over for quite a while and reraises smallish to 95k.  At this point do give him credit for aces or kings.  Mike and I have played quite a bunch of poker together before and I have noticed he doesnt play nearly as aggressive against me as he does other players.  He is also not the type to fold a big pair here so I figure if I min raise back here to 150k, with our stack sizes, he might just push the remaining 325k and then one of us will be a huge chipleader with close to a million in chips.  So I do the min raise to 150k.  Mike goes into the tank and comes out after about 3 mins and just calls.   Turn card is the devil.  Turn is a 6.  Mike checks.  Now I figure I can either just give up here and lose the pot or turn this into a bluff and just hope he finds a way to fold thinking at this point if I bet again with our stacks that I must have the flatted him with the 56s or the 67s.  I would have played those hands the same way with our stacks.  So I fire out 125k on a last ditch attempt to win it.  Mike check raises the balance.  I light my two fours on fire and am left with 200k.  Uggh!   I end day one with 238k.  Avg is 271k.  89 players remain.

The VIP Players Lounge:

Each 2 hours in the tournament today we had either a 20 min or 30 min break.  Plus dinner break which was 90 mins.  So each break a group of 5 of us would rush to the lounge to play Chinese Poker.   This was a real good way to break up the monotony of the tournament.  The contingent included Doyle, Eli, Hellmuth, and Matusow.  This will most likely be the normal routine for all the big tournaments this summer.  The lounge is extremely comfortable with butler service, computers, tvs, food and drinks.  It is very secluded as you need an invitation to enter but at the same time right outside the lounge is the complete zoo atmosphere of the WSOP.  Its like half bat cave, half country club.

I will be arriving in Vegas on May 27th and from that point on I will be providing frequent blog entries to update my friends and followers with the details of my trip.  So the big request from so many is for me to update the profit and losses of my trip.  Everyone wants the hard numbers.  So to satisfy that curiosity, I will be putting out a P&L statement at the bottom of each blog.  It will include tournaments and cash games.  Be prepared for some serious volatility.

I sold 50% of myself for the 40k NL tournament to a couple friends.  This will be the only tournament where I sell any piece.  I only did this because the field will be particularly tough and this is the very first tournament for me when I arrive.  I didn’t want to start out stuck 40k.

This will be my first extended trip to the WSOP ever.  I will possibly enter more tournaments in this WSOP than the total number of WSOP tournaments I have entered in all previous WSOPs. In previous WSOPs I have a 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place.  So I am hoping to fill in that missing hole and finally grab a win.

Goals for WSOP 2009

3 Final Tables
1 Bracelet
+$400k between tournaments and cash games

I will be putting out consistent chip count updates for tournaments on twitter at http://twitter.com/mattglantz     :link on the bottom of the page

Feel free to comment if there are any suggestions about what I should include in the blog and if there are any specific questions I will do my best to answer in the following blog.