Debo34
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 - Debo34
This past weekend was Superbowl weekend, and I spent that time doing the same thing I have done every year since 1996. I met up with a group of close friends in Reno for a weekend of nonstop partying and gambling. This trip started 13 years ago with 4 people and has turned into a much bigger party than that over the years. This year we had 24 people make it to Reno traveling from all over the states. The majority of the group still lives in Oregon, but we had a few fly in from Detroit, St. Louis, and Virginia, and Florida.
This year was not any different from years past. Like always it was a group of close friends hanging out, catching up, and apparently trying to break multiple drinking records. Friday night we all met up in out hotel room for cocktail hour (or two) before heading downtown. We spent a few hours gambling at a casino before we ended up at a karaoke bar until about 3am watching multiple members of our group making fools of themselves singing.
Saturday we usually find a group activity to do during the day. One year we rented a paintball course and had a blast. This year we decided on some bowling and go cart racing. We had 5 teams of four per team in the bowling competition. Of course Some money changed hands during the day and there was a lot of trash talk as well.
Saturday night 8 of us peeled off from the group and decided to go to a concert. The 80’s group Tesla was in town so we decided to go check it out. I’m always ready for a good old 80’s hair band or as my buddy Kurt calls it… 80’s butt rock. Surprisingly Tesla still had a little game left and put on a pretty decent show. I’m not going to go as far as saying it was great, but it was certainly worth the price for a ticket.
Sunday it was time for the big game. We all meet up for breakfast and to put in a sports wager or 2 on the game. For the past 4 years we have rented out the back half of a local bar for our group. They do a good job of bringing in food and serving us as many cocktails as humanly possible. The game was great despite my dislike for the Steelers (sorry Gene). It’s kind of like the quote in that movie Anchorman when Vince Vaughn’s character says, I hate your guts Ron Burgandy, but boy do I respect you. I feel the same way about the Steelers. I can’t help but to respect a class organization like them, but I certainly wasn’t rooting for them. My big bet for the day was a 2 team parlay having the Steelers -6.5 and the under 47. The bet looked very promising the majority of the game then the wheels fell off. I ended up losing both ways on that bet. I however won money for the game thanks to Gary Russell. He was 25 to 1 to score the first TD and I put a little coin on him and he came through.
It was great catching up with old friends, now its time to catch up on some sleep. I am guessing I will get more sleep tonight than the past 3 days combined.
Debo
Tags: karaoke, paintball, Reno, Steelers, Superbowl, Tesla, Vince Vaughn
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Sunday, January 25, 2009 - Debo34
The thing I value most in my life is my family. Spending time away from home many times throughout the year can be tough, but that’s the life of a poker player. I’ve been home for about 2 months straight, and have loved every minute of it. I always enjoy being home for the holidays. It’s at this point every year that I start to get the itch to get out and play some live tournaments. The time that I try to layout most of my years schedule and start booking flights and hotel rooms. The past 2 years I have been in Los Angeles for the LAPC in February. I decided to skip that event this year and spend a few extra weeks at home.
The first trip I plan on making is to Reno. Reno is always an easy trip for me only being a 6 hour drive from my home. I have always had good success in Reno and have enjoyed the tournaments there. It’s always a place where tons of my friends go, and we can usually get away and do a few fun things away from the tables. This trip is planned for late February through early March.
Something that caught my eye this week, which I had no idea even existed was the poker in the Alps satellites on UB. I have never been anywhere in Europe before and this looks very appealing to me. I am going to take a few cracks at the satellites on the site and see if I can win one of the 8k packages. This looks like it could really be a cool place to go play some cards. You can see the all the details of the event here.
http://www.ultimatebet.com/poker-promotion/poker-news-cup
After these events I am undecided as to what will be next for me, but I am leaning towards the WSOP circuit event at Caesars Las Vegas. I love the poker room at Caesars, and the event schedule looks very good as well. About that time it will be time to start making my WSOP plans for the summer.
I have a few weeks home before I head out for some live events and I plan on enjoying it. Tomorrow I am heading up into the mountains to a place called Diamond Lake. 10 of us have rented two cabins for the weekend to do some snowmobiling and play some cards. This trip is guys only weekend so I also planned a trip Valentines Day weekend for my family. I will be taking them to a similar trip to a different location called Elk Lake. Both should be a blast, and I am really looking forward to them.
Hope everyone’s New Year is off to a great start.
Good luck,
Debo
Tags: Austria, Debo34, family, LAPC, Reno, WSOP
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Sunday, January 18, 2009 - Debo34
UBOC is nearing the end of the road. Nine of the twelve events are in the books and so far it’s been a little frustrating to say the least. Of the nine events I’ve played thus far I have only two cashes. The first was event 1 pot limit Omaha, and the second was event nine, the pot limit holdem event. The frustrating part is that I am getting fairly deep in every event. Of the nine tournaments I have made the second break (2 hours in) eight times. I feel like I have been playing well and will continue to play my style. I have played enough tournaments in my life to know the amount of variance in these things, and that navigating your way through these big fields isn’t always easy. I plan on just keeping myself in the game and in a position to win and sooner or later I will win that big race when it counts.
The only positive thing that has come out of me making it semi deep in almost every event is that my partner and I in the ubpokerleagues are still in the hunt. Despite having 0 final tables combined, my partner has two 11th place finishes and I had a 15th.We have kept close enough to currently be in 6th place but only 50 points out of 3rd which is a cash spot. It’s still not out of the realm of possibility for us to win this thing either. With the 1k UBOC championship still remaining anything is possible. We have both been pretty solid, but seem to be snakebit when the big pot is on the line. Hopefully this will turn around for us in the 1k event.
All a player can do is stay positive and stick to what he knows. That’s all I ever do is keep fighting and things usually work out in the longrun. I expect big things for me and my partner in the final 3 events.
Good luck
Debo
Tags: Debo 34, poker tournaments, pot-limit omaha, UBOC, ubpokerleagues
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Sunday, January 18, 2009 - Debo34
I got off to a solid start Friday in the UBOC series. The first event was a pot limit Omaha with re buys. I got off to a solid start in both the mini and the main finishing 17th and 15th respectively. It was nice to have a double cash to start off the series, but it was really bittersweet. I really thought I had a chance to win the main with two tables to go. Like we see so often in poker, your fate can be determined by one hand, or even one card, which was the case for me Friday. I was sitting with a solid 60k+ stack the following hand came up which sent me to the rail. I was in the big blind when the action folded to the small blind who limped in and I checked my option holding the As 6s Kc 2d. The flop came Ad Jc 2s. I had flopped top and bottom pair with the nut flush draw. My opponent led out with a pot sized bet, I raised the pot, and then he moved me all in. I called to see I was up against AJ for top 2 pair. Before I could blink the 7 of spades peeled off on the turn, and just as I was about to celebrate the river was an ace giving my opponent aces full, sending me to the rail. Omaha is different than holdem for me, in the fact that there is so much to see that you don’t always catch everything, every hand. I am still learning a lot of the odds and percentages. I always like to go back to see if I made the right decision based on the odds. In this particular hand, I don’t think either one of us was getting away from our hand, and this hand would play out the same most of the time. My odds on the flop were an exact 50/50 coin flip. After I made my flush on the turn I was a 92% favorite to win. Does this mean I played the hand correctly? I’m not exactly sure to be honest. What if I flat call his flop bet and the spade peels off on the turn? Maybe at that point he checks to me and I bet and he’s able to fold his hand. Perhaps I make my flush and get cute and check behind him on the turn. I then would be able to get away from my hand on the river when the board pairs, leaving myself the majority of my stack.
There are so many variables in poker and in a hand like the one I talked about here. I think it is what keeps me interested in poker, and in continually trying to learn and better my game.
I am really looking forward to the next UBOC Omaha event.
Debo
Tags: Debo 34, omaha, UBOC
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Saturday, January 10, 2009 - Debo34
If you haven’t heard, it is the start of UBOC. For 10 days UB will be hosting a series of tournaments. Along with the UBOC there will also be the same tournament with a smaller buy in called mini UBOC at the same time. This is the first time for the mini, and I think it was an awesome idea and should be a lot of fun that can involve the small to mid level player.
This year I am really ready for this. I was able to win the satellite package for both UBOC and mini UBOC called the kitchen sink package. This put me in every event for both. I was lucky enough to win the UBOC package on my first try for $165. The mini took me a couple of tries, but all in all it cost me less that $200 to get into every event for both UBOC and mini UBOC. I am really excited for a chance at a lot of money for very little investment.
For the past week or so I have limited my multi table tournament schedule knowing that I will have 10 straight days of it starting tomorrow. I wanted to come in fresh and ready to sit and focus for 12 hours a day. With as much poker as I play I feel like I have to prepare myself for a long series and not get burned out too early. Boy how I wish they had online poker when I was 22 years old.
One other thing I am really looking forward to is a league competition I am entered into for both regular and min UBOC. You can find out all the information on this at ubpokerleagues.com. This site is really cool, and I think once everyone catches on will be a huge success. This isn’t just for UBOC; they have weekly leagues for all level of players. For the UBOC league I was able to partner up with a great player, C00lhandnuke. Shawn was on the Best damn Poker show 2 which airs next week on FSN. He is a great all around player who I am looking at to carry me, especially in the limit events which he plays so good. My partner in the mini UBOC league has been beating up the tournaments on Ultimatebet forever. Mike “V00d00chile” Foley will probably win this league for us all by himself. Looking at the list, I see many good players and teams, most of whom I call my friends. I am looking forward to competing against all these guys and hopefully in the end having the bragging rights.
See you at the tables
Happy New Year.
Debo
Tags: Best Damn Poker Show, Debo34, kitchen sink package, mini UBOC, multi table tournament, UBOC
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Sunday, December 21, 2008 - Debo34
2008 seemed to go by so fast. I guess that what happens when you are busy. The year started off just like every year for me, with lots of online play after the holidays ended. January has always been one of my best months for online winning. I’m not sure if it’s because I take a lot of December off to spend the holidays with the family and I come into January refreshed and energized, but January was another solid month for me.
The late winter, early spring months brought lots of travel my way. I had trips to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Reno, and Toronto. In Toronto I was part of the Cross Canada Tour doing seminars with the rest of the UB gang. I really enjoy getting to be a part of these things as they give me a chance to share some of what I’ve learned over the years, plus learn tons listening to the other pros speak.
In the early summer I decided to take on a project that would consume most of my time. Starting in May my friend Kurt and I decided to each build a house on adjoining lots. Poker took a bit of a back seat for a few months as we did a lot of the work on both homes. I am so happy that we decided to do this. Both houses turned out great, and there is something about it that made me feel so good when they were complete. I did manage to spend about 24 days in Vegas at different times to get a few WSOP tournaments including the main event, which saw me bust late on day 2.
After getting moved into the new home I had one thing on my mind, Aruba. I hammered away playing the online qualifiers and managed to win 5 seats. I used these seats to bring a bunch of friends with me for the first time. I really like to share my good times with the people that are close to me. I had my best Aruba finish in 6 years lasting til day 4 and finishing in 22nd place. I really felt like I had a good shot at winning this tournament, but in the end a few hands didn’t go my way.
The fall and winter months saw me traveling to Reno, Vancouver B.C, and Mexico for poker tournaments. Vancouver and Mexico were frustrating for me. Traveling that far to play in one tournament can be tough when you don’t cash. I busted on day one in both of them and left a little frustrated. The only good thing is that I won the packages online, and the trips didn’t cost me anything but time.
So it’s the end of a year that had me playing poker in 4 different countries, and building a house, but it wasn’t all work. I managed to get in some fun as well. I was able to get out for about 10 rock concerts and 6 football games. I got to attend some of the best parties, and hang with all my good friends. In the end poker left me scratching my head, wondering if I will ever break through for the huge cash. I just did what I have always done, play small ball and grind out a living, which is all I’ve ever wanted. To do what I love and get by.
Maybe 2009 will be the year?
Happy Holidays,
Debo
Tags: Debo34, End of Year Review
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Sunday, December 14, 2008 - Debo34
My iPod is an important tool for me during live poker tournaments. Whether I’m listening to it at the table or not, one thing is for sure – I always have it with me. Music has always been a passion of mine, and since I never learned to play an instrument, I listen. My iPod saves me from annoying table chatter, constant chip shuffling and that one guy at every table who likes to give free lessons after every hand.
I almost always listen to music in the early stages of the tournament. Early tournament play can be slow and the iPod seems to keep me from being bored and playing too many hands. Whenever I’m in a hand I turn it off so I can hear what’s going on. I learned this the hard way a time or two. During the middle and late stages of a tournament, I usually don’t listen to it as much unless I really need some sanctuary from the noise.
So what’s on my play list for tournament poker? I have a wide range of music from James Taylor to Megadeth. Depending on my mood and energy level at that particular time, my music taste can change dramatically. I like to keep a fresh play list as well as some good classic rock. If I feel like I’m dragging at the table I might put on some upbeat, heavier music. Some of my favorites in that category are, Chevelle, Seether, Hinder, Godsmack, Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, Stone Temple Pilots, and Pantera.
Sometimes I feel like I am a little too amped up at the table and need a little “toning down” music to chill me out. Some of my favorites for this are Van Morrison, James Taylor, Bob Marley, Coldplay, and Three Dog Night.
Of course like most poker players, I tend to be a bit superstitious with my music selection as well. For instance I can remember what I was listening to during some of my bust out hands. I usually give those bands a second chance before they get the permanent ban from my iPod. A few bands on the banned list are, Pearl Jam, Counting Crows, and the Police. These are obviously unlucky bands.
Sometimes you just need to stick with what works and makes you happy. When I was in B.C last month I couldn’t seem to win a pot. I decided to use the “When in Rome” philosophy (or “When in Canada” in this instance). I decided to try out some local music that I had on my list. For 5 consecutive hours I listened to only Canadian bands. That’s a whole lot of Three Days Grace and Nickelback, but it worked!
Debo
Tags: Debo34, Ipods, Music and Poker
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Sunday, December 7, 2008 - Debo34
I believe one of the most overlooked, underrated factors in poker is preparation.
I’m sure the majority of players have fell victim to this more than once in their poker life. After all some of the places we play are exciting, fun and full of distractions. Take for example the Aruba Poker Classic, or the current tournament I am at in Nuevo Vallarta Mexico. The night before a main event, I always plan on getting a full nights sleep.
Doing this for several years now, I have developed a bit of a routine that helps me to be prepared to take on the multi day tournaments that lie ahead. First off I always try to arrive at the venue at least 2 days before the main event starts. I like to have some fun, check out the sites and hopefully have a full day to do nothing before the tournament starts. I have arrived to several tournaments the day of, or the night before and find I don’t seem to play well. I have been prey to the “night before parties” and ended up feeling bad the next day wishing I were still in bed. These are hard to resist, but I recommend attending with the idea of not staying out too late and keeping the drinking down as much as possible.
Rest is obviously the biggest factor in preparation, but what are some others? I’m sure it’s different for each player, but here are some of my routines.
• Make sure the ipod is fully charged.
• Get my seat assignment the night before.
• Research the players at my table if possible. Usually you can only do this before day 2.
• Have a good meal a few hours before I sit
• Go for a long walk an hour or so before I play.
I know a lot of people that like to play poker the night before a big event. I am not one of those people. Mostly because I feel I am a lot fresher the next day if I don’t. Many of the tournaments hold a super satellite the night before the main event. Many times I have played these for lack of something better to do. There is nothing worse than grinding in one of these until late in the night only to come up a few spots short. It makes coming out focused the next day tough for me. I normally try to avoid any kind of poker the night before.
Of course a lot of poker players are superstitious by nature and do a lot of the same things in preparation. I would say I fall somewhere in the middle of that group. If I find I’m doing well I usually try to keep the same routine. For instance I ate the exact same breakfast in the same restaurant 4 days in a row this year in Aruba. I don’t think this thrilled my wife too much, but she understands to a degree and humors me.
I would recommend doing anything that makes you relax and feel good about putting in a battle that could and hopefully will last several days.
Debo
Tags: Aruba Poker Classic, Debo34, Poker Strategy
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