Debo34
Saturday, October 31, 2009 - Debo34
I say that because at the moment I’m writing this it is 28 degrees outside my front door. Fall is turning to winter in a hurry around here. We have already had snow twice this year. We got 8 inches in a day while I was away in Aruba. Last year the snowfall came 5 or 6 weeks late and it really hurt the economy in my area. The central Oregon area is dependent on tourism because of the local ski resort. When there isn’t good snow, all the local businesses suffer, especially the hotels and restaurants. So although it seems very cold at the moment, it’s actually a very good sign. I can’t wait for there to be enough to get my snowmobile out again.
So what’s in store for me in the late fall/ early winter? The ducks have 3 more home games. This week is a big one. The 5th ranked USC Trojans are in town the face off with the 10th ranked Oregon Ducks. It should be crazy game since it is a night game on Halloween. Besides that I plan on getting back into playing a ton of poker. The winter months have always treated me well playing online. I think It’s because I totally engross myself in it, and have the least amount of distractions during this part of the year. I know something that has been hurting my game as of late is not maintaining a schedule. I plan on getting back on a set schedule and sticking to it. I am going to try to get to 1 more live event before the year is up and I am leaning towards the circuit events in Tahoe.
Other than that not much is going on with me. I am fully recovered from the wonderful Aruba trip and glad to be back home. Bring on the snow!
Debo
Tags: Aruba, halloween, Poker Poker Poker
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Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - Debo34
A few days ago this were my thoughts… three days from now I will be on a plane heading to Aruba. This year it really snuck up on me. I can’t believe that this will be my 7th time going there for the APC. We are taking the red eye 10:30 pm flight out of Portland on Wednesday with 1 stop at JFK in the wee hours of the morning on Jet Blue. I’m sure we will be a bit tired when we get in but will fight the temptation of taking a nap as soon as we run into all the old faces. I see an Aruba Ariba and a crazy 1/2 NL game in my future. So how about them Ducks. Saturday I went up to Eugene to watch Oregon absolutely stomp #6 ranked Cal 42-3. This was the first time in almost 2 years that Oregon was a home underdog. They were a 6 point underdog and won by 39! All I can say is welcome to Autzen Stadium. What was amazing is that they held Cal’s stud running back Jahvid Best to 55 yards on 16 carries. Despite losing, Jahvid was a pretty good sport, and gave us a little attention and took a picture. Congrats to Joe Sebok on recently signing with UB. I don’t know Joe all that well yet, but he has always been a good guy at the tables and a terrific player. He will be a great fit for the team, and I am looking forward to getting to know him better in Aruba. Time for me to get packing for Aruba, and of course watch The Amazing Race that I tivo’d last night. Can’t wait to see team UB’s own Tiffany Michelle kick some butt. Goooooo Tiffany!! Hope to see you in Aruba Debo
Tags: Aruba, Aruba Poker Classic, The Amazing Race, Tiffany "Tiffany M" Michelle, ub
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Saturday, September 19, 2009 - Debo34
and football season is upon us. Of course for me this means Oregon ducks home games. Last Saturday was the home opener in Eugene. The Ducks first game was on the road against Boise State in which not only did Oregon play terrible, but managed to embarrass themselves as well. If you follow football in the slightest then I’m sure you saw what happened after the Ducks 19-8 loss when starting running back Legarrette Blount punched a Boise player after the game and got kicked off the team. Not a great start for the team. So last Saturday was game #2, their home opener in Eugene against Purdue.
Luckily for me the game was a 7:15 start since I had a commitment to do a charity walk in my hometown at noon. The walk was a benefit for ALS also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Twice in a 2 year span I have had a good friend lose their father to this horrible disease, so supporting this cause and raising money for the fight was a no brainer. The turnout was great, the weather was beautiful and a lot of money was raised. There were many teams walking in memory of someone, and I was on “Chucks Crew” walking in the memory of Chuck Bergelin. Here is a photo of myself , my wife Erin, and my good friend Steve, son in law of Chuck Begelin.
After the walk a group of us headed up to see how our beloved Ducks would respond against Purdue. It was an entertaining game with lots of scoring, in which Oregon came out on top 38-36. As in years past the Ducks defense was the same, giving up huge chunks of yardage and big plays. They also did what they normally do in making big plays and scored 2 defensive touchdowns. This is no secret and was expected. What was surprising is how bad the offense looked at times. The offensive line really seemed unable to run block or protect the quarterback which is a huge problem. They seemed out of sync for most of the game besides a few plays. I hope they can turn this around before the next 2 weeks in which they host #18 ranked Utah and # 8 Cal. I can’t wait for these games. Here are a few photos from last week’s game. As you can see were are very close to the action, and from time to time get the visiting players to react, which is always fun. The one to give us the most attention was #5 linebacker Antwon Higgs. We had a good time talking trash back and forth, but of course we kept it clean 
.
Debo
Tags: Debo, Football
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Monday, August 31, 2009 - Debo34
Oh Canada ! I have a lot of friends from the great country of Canada. And like always when we are together there is plenty of needling and poking fun back and forth. We will have our U.S.A vs. Canada debates which usually are childish and silly. I will usually say ” thanks for bacon”, or ” the best thing Canada ever did was Bryan Adams” . So after Friday night I have found an all new #1 reason why Canada is all right–Nickelback.
If you read my blogs you know I go to a ton of concerts. I have seen hundreds of bands over the years, some good, some bad and some Nickelback. I am still in awe days later at the show I saw last Friday night. I wouldn’t consider myself a huge fan and they have always seemed a little mainstream for me, but I was really blown away. These guys just get it, and know how to entertain. The music was spot on, the set list was great and the energy was sky high. If you are a music fan and get a chance to see these guys I would highly recommend it. Thank you Canada!
You can go here… http://www.nickelback.com/ and check out a video from one of their shows. This is exactly what it was like Friday night.
Aruba moment #5 - Scuba diving.
It was Aruba 2006 and with a little free time on our hands My wife Erin, son Jarod and I took a resort dive class in Aruba. None of us had ever been diving or really knew anything about it. We decided one morning to wander down to the dive shop located just down the beach from the Radisson to see what it was all about. About 2 hours later we were scuba diving in the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean. It was really quite simple and something I would recommend to people who are in Aruba. The cost was about $80 a person and it took about 4 hours total. The 4 hours consisted of a 30 minute class where the instructors basically just went over everything. This was followed by an hour or so in the pool getting acquainted with your scuba gear and passing a few basic drills so they knew you were ready for the ocean. Once you were done with the pool tests you were ready for the ocean. We boarded a catamaran and headed out to the dive spot. We dove for close to an hour, checking out all the sea life and an old sunken barge. It was truly amazing for a first timer. We didn’t dive very deep, maybe 25 feet, but that was enough for me. There is plenty to see at that depth. This was just one of the many amazing things to do in Aruba, and is one of my fondest Aruba memories.
Debo
Tags: Aruba, Bryan Adams, Canada, music, Nickelback, Scuba diving
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Sunday, August 23, 2009 - Debo34
Well Aruba is just a little over 5 weeks away, and I can’t wait. This week my son turned 15. My wife and I took him and some friends on Friday to a water park about an hour away. Next year he will be driving on his own ( if he gets his grades up). The only other news of the week is that my Oregon ducks season tickets arrived!! I am really excited about the upcoming season. The Ducks have an insane home schedule this year which includes playing 3 straight bowl teams from last year in Purdue, #2 ranked Utah, and Cal in 3 consecutive weeks. They also have home games against 2 other ranked teams in USC and Oregon St. Should be an amazing season.
Aruba moment # 4. My first Aruba main event.
I remember the day well. It was October 16 2003. The reason I can remember the exact date is because October 16th is my birthday.
As I mentioned in a previous blog I was pretty green when I won my first Aruba package. I came in a little nervous and tight, but the structure was good enough for that style of play. I didn’t recognize anyone at my table, which I felt was a good thing. I pretty much played ABC poker for the first half of day 1 and picked up some decent hands. I was surviving but not really going anywhere. I was hanging right around 20-25 big blinds late in day 1 when the following hand came up with 4 minutes left in the day. The action was folded to me and I picked up AQ suited on the button and made a standard raise. The small blind folded and the big blind instantly moved all in. I really wasn’t sure what to do at that particular moment. I really felt like there was a good chance I was ahead, but I also really wanted to make it to day 2 on my first big event. As the clock expired ending day 1, the guy looked at me and said, ” just fold, and we can go get a drink”. I asked him if he wanted me to call and he told me ” not really”. I decided to go with my gut and finally called. He flipped over KQ. Yessssssss, I made the right call! Well as we know in poker sometimes that’s not enough. I was clear on the flop, but the turn brought a king and I had lost the hand. The dealer counted the chips out and I was still alive. 2850 chips is what I had remaining. I made day 2 with almost 3 big blinds..lol. The very first hand I picked up on Day 2 I moved my 3 blinds in with AQ and ran into AA and QQ. That was the end of my first APC.
An interesting side note to this story. That starting table I had, where I didn’t recognize anyone. Well 3 of those guys from that starting table made the final table that year. Daniel Larson, Anthony Fagan, and eventual champion Erick Lindgren were all at my starting table.
See you in Aruba
Debo
Tags: Anthony Fagan, Aruba, Daniel Larson, Debo34, Eric Lindgren, Oregon Ducks, Poker Poker Poker
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Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - Debo34
I can’t believe it…my son Jarod turns 15 this week! For those of you who have met him before he is a little taller than he was 3 years ago when I brought him to Aruba. WTF he is over 6′1″ tall now. He has been reading the learners permit book and is ready to go in and get that done. Now I know why my parents were the way they were. This next weekend I have plans to go up to Portland and meet up with the Wisconsin boys, H0, Wisco, Jon Green, and of course Phil to hang and do some golfing. Should be a fun time.
If you have read my last 2 blogs you know that they have been 2 of my ” favorite Aruba moments”. They are in no particular order, just fun memories I have of my 6 straight years going to Aruba. Aruba moment #3 – The Debo. This moment was pure circumstance, I believe it was Aruba 2006. This was the first year that Phil’s Penthouse party was partially planned. In previous years it was a small, impromptu get-together. Soon after word spread about the fun that was had at these parties and UB stepped in and gave it a little structure. So that day wisco, H0 and I were hanging with Phil watching college football before the party started. The people from the Radisson started coming in and bringing some food and drink to cater the party. The selection was fairly small for drinks, consisting of Champagne, Grey Goose vodka and for some reason they had a couple of bottles of watermelon pucker. Just before any of Phil’s guests arrived Wisco, his friend James (Madtownmell) Mell and myself headed to get a drink at the bar. Wisco asked what I thought we should drink and I told the bartender to give us 3 Vodka with Sprite and a splash of pucker. We made a toast and started drinking. After a couple rounds of these, Wisco and James decided this name needed a drink and decided this drink was forever to be called “the Debo”. As the night went on people would ask what we were drinking, and of course we would just simply say “the Debo”. By the end of the night I would estimate that 50+ people had a Debo in their hands at one time. When all was said and done 44 bottles of Grey Goose Vodka were empty.
The next night something funny happened. We were at the awards party at the Radisson pool and we walked by the bar, and the bartender who we still swear to this day was not at Phil’s party, yells out “Hey, you guys ready for a Debo”? We of course got a big kick out of this. The Debo is still a drink of choice for a few people on the island and has since spread to the drink menu at Players Sports bar in Madison, Wisconsin. I know from time to time The Debo is mentioned in the writings of UB blog master Gene Bromberg. He took a liking to the Debo on that first night and was cussing me the next day. Gene and I talked about ordering them at this year’s WSOP party but decided that the Debo should be reserved for Aruba. If you are one of the fortunate people who get to experience Aruba this year, come find me and your first Debo will be on me.
Debo
Tags: Aruba, Debo34, drinking, Gene Bromberg, Golf, Jon Green, P0ker H0, Phil Hellmuth, Radisson, ub, Wisco, WSOP
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Sunday, August 16, 2009 - Debo34
Those who have been to Aruba have undoubtedly seen the late night drunken cash games in the Radisson poker room. My second year in Aruba was the first year the event was held at the Radisson. The first night that year was a fun and crazy night in the poker room. This night basically set the tone for all first nights in Aruba that would follow.
The night started out like you would expect it to in Aruba, drinking Aruba Aribas as fast as they can bring them to you, and playing reckless 1/2 no limit holdem with a group of friends. So the table was a fun table, mostly filled with a group of players that had met in Aruba the previous year, with a few first timers. A few names you might recognize at the table were P0ker h0, Shawn Rice, YngmanN4quiki, and Fatcats. P0ker h0 had brought a friend this year named Bill who played with the UB name H0ldempr0.
So the hand that will be forever talked about ( at least by a few guys who were at the table) came down in a drunken stooper. I was in first position and put in a live straddle of $4. My buddy Mike (YngmanN4quiki) was first to act and raised to $20. A few people called including Bill on the button. I had last action as the straddler and looked down at 82 off suit. Of course in my drunkenness I decided to put in a raise to $100. Mike immediately goes Hollywood on me with ” Debo man I have a big hand here etc. Mike thinks for a good minute and makes it $240 to go. The action folds to Bill on the button and he goes for the Oscar right on night 1. He goes on and on about how there is no way he can fold his hand and if we weren’t all friends he would just move in for the $1200 in front of him, and then decides to call. For some reason ( might have been the Aruba Aribas) , I thought my best play sitting here with 82 off suit was to instantly just move all in for $1400. When mike didn’t immediately call I knew I was getting a fold from him… or was I? Mike had Bill and I covered, and again started yapping about how he can’t fold, his hand it too big, blah blah. Now by this time everyone at the table and the 20 or so people watching were side betting who they thought had the best hand. I figured with all my money in the middle, and knowing that if I can get them to fold I will make $500 and I should hedge my bet with the 82. I offer up bets to 2 people at the table for $100 each that I have the best hand pre flop, trying to act strong knowing I would surely lose the $200 but win the pot and more importantly not lose my $1400 that I shoved in the middle like a drunken side show clown. A good 5 minutes went by with the 3 of us yapping at each other trying to convince each other that we had the best hand. Mike and Bill both told me they were going to call me and suggested I make some sort of deal with them if they wanted them to fold. At this point I had no idea what to do, nor any idea of how strong each guys hand was. None of what happened next makes any sense still to this day. We all 3 agreed to the following drunken plan. I would take back my all in bet, and would get a half off discount on calling the $240 raise Mike made. So I would put $120 in the middle, the betting would be done and we would just flip up all 5 and see who won. Now this seemed reasonable to me, rather than risk $1400 I would just gamble for $120 and get out of this situation. Right before we were all about to agree to this deal, someone suggested that we all put $100 each into a side pot going to whomever had the best starting hand. Now of course I knew I couldn’t win this bet, but the both of them said I was getting called in 2 spots if I didn’t want to do the side bet. I said fine, and threw $100 in the middle I knew I would never see again. I just wanted to cut my losses and be done with this hand. So the fun part came when the hands were turned face up. Bill turned up 53 off suit and the place went nuts. Mike looked at me and said ” I have Bill crushed” and turns up 64 suited. I slammed my 82 on the table and yelled “I knew I had the best hand”!! WTF I won the side pot with 8 high and am free rolling for the pot. The dealer put the flop on the table, it was AK7 rainbow. Everyone was yelling for what they wanted to come up. The turn was a Jack and the river a 9, and my mighty 8 kicker played for a dominant AKJ98 winner. I had won both the pot and the side bet with 8 high.
Now this obviously isn’t something you see in your typical card room. If we hadn’t been all friends at the table and in Aruba this surely wouldn’t be allowed. I still to this day have no idea why we all just decided to go nuts on each other with bad hands. I guess we were just looking for some fun and to get 1 over on the others. At any rate it is one of my personal Aruba favorite memories, and one that we still talk about whenever we get together.
Good luck
Debo
Tags: Aruba, Fatcats, P0ker H0, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, Radisson, ShawnRice
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Thursday, August 6, 2009 - Debo34
With Aruba less than 2 months away I figured I would write once a week about my favorite Aruba moments. I should be able to get 8 or so of them in before Aruba sneaks up on us. So here goes… These will be in no particular order.
Aruba moment # 1 - It was February 2003 and I had been playing on Ultimate Bet for the better part of 6 weeks so of course I thought I was a pro. I logged in to play on a Saturday morning and decided to try a satellite for entry into the $109 Aruba tournament that was taking place later that afternoon. I ended up getting into the $109 Aruba and what happened after I believe changed my life forever. 52 people signed up that day for what was a winner take all trip to Aruba to play in the Aruba poker classic. The crazy thing about this tournament was that I never really had any chips until the end. When we hit the final table I was 9th out of 10 in chips. When we were 5 handed I was 5th in chips. There was a player controlling all the action, his screen name was Stoner. What I later found out was that stoner, was David Plastic, a well established poker pro. David continued knocking everyone else out until he ended up heads up with me. He had around a 88k to 12k chip advantage on me. I remember being pretty nervous that I was so close to winning this, yet 2nd place was 0. In the middle of David running me over like he did everyone else that day, something crazy happened, I started making hands.
I started to get back into it, when I turned a flush against top pair top kicker and doubled up. I now had the chip lead!! I still remember to this day the butterflies I had. I had never played in a poker tournament higher that 20$ and now I’m heads up with a chance to go to Aruba and play in a 5k event. I believe it was 2 hands later that I found myself flopping bottom 2 pair vs. a flush draw. I remember when the chips went in telling my wife that if my hand holds we go to Aruba. David had a flush draw and when the river was dealt I opened my eyes to see the pot going to me. I couldn’t believe it.
I really believe that had I not won that trip and tasted success I may not be writing this today. It’s funny how certain moments can change big parts of our lives.
In kind of a funny side note to this story. During the opening party I was standing there when a guy came up to me and looked at my nametag and said.. ” oh you’re debo34. I’m Stoner and you’re the reason I am buying into this tournament.” He then told me how lucky I had gotten in which I couldn’t disagree at all. Everything that had to go right for me to win, went right on that day. David and I are good friends now and still joke about that moment.
I really hope to see you all in Aruba
Good Luck,
Debo
Tags: Aruba, Debo34, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, ub
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Monday, July 27, 2009 - Debo34
Aruba is just 9 weeks away. This will be my 7th straight year that I fly to Aruba for the best poker tournament on the planet. In my opinion, no poker venue that I have ever been to can compare to Aruba. Matt Savage and crew do an amazing job with all the tournaments and side games and there is never a shortage of action if you are looking for it.
Aruba was the first trip package that I ever won online, and for that will always be special. I had only played poker online for about 2 months when I won my first trip to Aruba. I remember on the flight down there all I could think about was poker, poker, poker. That changed shortly after my plane touched down in Aruba. It didn’t take long to form friendships with players that I had been playing with online, and find other fun stuff to do on the island besides play poker all day. People I consider close friends almost 8 years later like fellow team UB members Mark Kroon and Shawn Rice. Guys like Tracy Scala, Robbie Cunningham and Mike Foley are all guys I met in Aruba my first year, and call friends today.
So over the past 7 years poker has been just a piece of the excitement in Aruba. Parties, poker, scuba diving, golfing, and of course the great nightlife are all reasons why Aruba is such a great poker venue.
This year I will be looking to improve on my best Aruba finish that I had last year. Last year I finished 22nd and walked away scratching my head. I wasn’t happy with the way I played my last few hands, and made some mistakes down the stretch that cost me. I felt like I really had a chance to win the tournament last year. With the great structure of this tournament I feel like I am going to make a deep run this year as well.
Hope to see you on the island
Debo
Tags: Aruba, mark kroon, Matt Savage, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournament, ShawnRice, ub
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - Debo34
The WSOP is past the halfway point, and at this point nothing too exciting has happened for me in Vegas. I have been working hard spreading my action all around Las Vegas hunting for values and tournaments I feel fit my game. So far I have only 2 cashes in 9 tournaments played. Both were small cashes in smaller buy in tournaments. I have spent a fair amount of time on side action as well. All in all I feel like I’m playing pretty well, and I am definitely working hard at it. Between live and online I have been playing about 80 hours a week in the 2 weeks I have been in Vegas.
I am heading home tomorrow to spend a week with the family and take them camping next weekend. This will be a much needed break from the current grind I have been on. Sometimes in poker and in life it seems like you are running uphill constantly. That has been my past several months in a nutshell. A ton of hours with very little positive results. This is one of those things that poker players deal with from time to time. I try to stay positive about things, and if needed take a step back from it like I will be doing this week. I will be heading back down to Vegas in a week to play a couple of more tournaments, go to the UB party and then gear up for the main event.
I am really excited about the main event as usual. I’ve talked about it in the past about how the main event fits my style perfectly. It has the greatest structure on the planet, and it got even better this year. In past years players started with 20k in chips and 2 hour levels. This year it’s 30k in chips and 2 hour levels. I have been able to make day 3 of the main event 3 out of the past 4 years simply by using patience and not putting many chips into a pot unless I’m certain I have the best hand. I know it sounds funny and boring but every year I see someone go broke on level 1 with one pair when he’s sitting 600 big blinds deep. There is really no reason for that in a tournament with this structure.
I hope to see some old faces and meet some new ones as well on June 29th. That is the night of the UB WSOP party. It will be at 9pm that night at studio 54 at the MGM. I’m sure it will be a blast as usual. Hope you can make it.
Good luck
Debo
Tags: MGM, Poker Poker Poker, Studio 54, ub, UB Party, Vegas, WSOP
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