P0ker H0
Sunday, November 1, 2009 - P0ker H0
Getting back to the grind after Aruba sure isn’t EZ . The parties were non-stop and the best! The Dan Band was so much fun! The poker was non-stop, and Matt Savage and his staff /dealers ran the best tourneys I have ever played in. All the UB staff need a really BIG thank you for all they did…Melissa, Jo, Gustavo, and Ernesto just to name a few. You and all the other hard working UB employees that came from Costa Rica and all over the world make Aruba the #1 destination in poker.
The best way I know to get rid of the Aruba hang-over is VEGAS BABY !! I leave for Vegas next Thursday to teach at the WSOP Academy, http://www.wsopacademy.com, Nov. 6-8 with Phil ,Greg Raymer, Shawn Rice and a lot of other great pros. Attending one of these camps will surely help take your game to the next level . If you would like to attend our cash academy, coming up Dec. 5-6th, for FREE and get $1000.00 for travel, listen to my radio show every Sunday night at 9pm EST, “The Ultimate Poker Show,” on http://www.roundersradio.com. I will be giving out the passwords for the Sunday night $5.00 and free roll tourneys that can get you eligible for Vegas.
UB is also running steps for a 12k package for Foxwoods and a 17.5k for the Bellagio. I love playing these steps while I’m playing MTTs. The main reason is that when you play steps remember “tight is right”. I find if I am playing these with other MTTs it helps me play a little tighter, and anybody that has played with me knows that I need that. J A couple of nights ago I bought into 3 step 7s for 97.15 each. I lost one and built the other two up to a step 9 and 10. Last night I played the step 10 and chopped the Foxwoods seat with a very good player, “maximilian71”. I was ahead in chips so I got 8,500 he got 7k . My 291.45 investment in the step 7s paid off nicely, plus I still have my 750.00 step 9.
Hope to cya all in the steps soon or better yet loose your hang-over and join me in Vegas Baby…
H0
Tags: Aruba, Bellagio, Costa Rica, greg raymer, Matt Savage, P0ker H0, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, rounders radio, ShawnRice, The Dan Band, The Ultimate Poker Show, ub, Vegas, WSOP Academy
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Monday, September 28, 2009 - P0ker H0
Six days and counting. Every day we get closer, I get more and more excited. A few nights ago UltimateBet gave away a free Aruba package to one of my Rounders Radio listeners. Congrats to ” _MARTY_”, you’re coming to Aruba. On top of that, you’re coming to Aruba for FREE BABY. Marty won his seat through a free-roll promotion. He listened to the Ultimate Poker Show 9pm Sunday nights on http://roundersradio.com/ And now is on his way to Aruba to hang out with Phil, Annie and the rest of us for what I guarantee will be the best week of his life. Not only will Marty get his 3k for travel and a $5500 main event seat to the Aruba Poker Classic, but also a weeks worth of parties, beaches, great food, non-stop poker/drinking…and the best part of all, the people he will meet. Friends for life…now that’s priceless 
Congrats again Marty cya there.
Last weekend I was in Vegas teaching at the http://www.wsopacademy.com/ with Mark Seif, Paul Wasicka and Joe Navarro. I love to teach along side of these instructors. I get to learn so much at each Academy and it’s so good for my game. Don’t tell these guys but I would do it for free. We are going to be running a new free-roll promotion on Rounders where one of our listeners will win a free trip to attend one of these camps. Do yourself and your game a favor and win this trip. It is the best way to take your game to the next level
A few days later we had our annual poker bash at my bar here in Madison. It was a blast. Susie Q and Scott brought up their crew from Chicago and Evil Crusher came up from Atlanta, along with 50 more from the area .I want to thank all who came and my bar manager Wendy for making it a great weekend. And congrats to “Momma H0″ for winning the tourney, good job mom!
Tags: Annie Duke, Aruba, Aruba Poker Classic, Joe Navarro, Mark Seif, P0ker H0, Paul Wasicka, Phil Hellmuth, rounders radio, ultimate poker show, ultimatebet, Vegas, WSOP Academy
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - P0ker H0
It’s great to be home after a long 5-day weekend getaway with the “boys”. It started last Thursday when John Orr, Jon Green, Wisco, and I flew from Madison, WI, out to Portland, OR, to meet up with Phil Hellmuth and a couple of other buddies, for a golf extravaganza. We got to golf at some of the nicest courses in the United States…..Pumpkin Ridge and Riverside. Two beautiful courses in Portland and some of the most unbelievable scenery there is! Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and the Columbia River were some of the sites we saw. There were many excellent restaurants, too. The food was unforgettable! Now I understand why Debo has been trying to get me out there for all these past years. Lots to see and do.
After arriving Thursday evening and a 4-hour poker session, we called it a night so we’d be in good shape for golfing in the morning. We headed out for Pumpkin Ridge on Friday, and wow, what a place! They treated us like kings (Not sure if that was because we were with Phil or not! ). I teamed up with Wisco and John Orr against Phil, Jon Green, and Jon’s brother-in-law Steve (an obvious ringer!). We sure took a thumping! Between Steve’s 300 yard drives, Jon’s irons, and Phil’s one-handed putting, we lost too much $$$$ to say in a blog. My wife might read this! That night I tried to get even by playing poker. I lost too much $$$$ to say in a blog. My wife might read this!
Saturday, same teams at Riverside this time. The course was a lot tougher and Phil wasn’t making his one-handed putts, so we broke about even for the day! So, I really felt more like a winner! We went to one of the nicest restaurants in Portland, El Gauchos, for dinner. After running up a bill of about $2400 between seven of us, Phil rented their cigar and wine room for a night of poker. The game was really wild. We played five-handed in a 5-10 game. Near the end of the night, I got into a big hand with Phil. Phil opened the pot for 25 and everybody called, as did I in the big blind with 5-8. The flop came 4-6-7 with two diamonds. The fact that I had the nuts made me feel good until Phil led out for 200. I reraised him 500 more, and he called. Phil was playing really loose all night, so I put him on either a diamond draw, a set, or who the heck knows with him! The next card off was the ten of diamonds. Now I’m in a tough spot. I have about $2700 in front of me, as does Phil. There is about $1500 in the pot. I don’t want to check raise here because knowing Phil he could have just about anything or just a diamond which I don’t want to let him see for free, or a free card for his set, two pair, or whatever. So I shove the $2700, like an idiot! Phil snap calls with the nuts and rakes about a 7K pot. GG me!
Sunday, Steve and Wisco were done playing golf. So, the new teams were John Orr paired up with Phil, and Jon Green with me. Jon and I golfed out of our minds and had Phil crying like a little baby, especially at the end when I won almost every dime back that I had lost the previous two days! (I called my wife. We took the house off the market!
Weekends like this I’ll remember the rest of my life. But the one week I guarantee you’ll always remember is coming up in October….Aruba, Baby! See you on the beach! H0
Tags: Aruba, Debo34, Golf, John Orr, Jon Green, P0ker H0, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, Wisco
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Sunday, August 16, 2009 - P0ker H0
I don’t like to dwell on the negative, so I’m putting the last few months behind me and looking forward to the next couple of months. First there was a disappointing month at the WSOP and just before my Main Event day, my older brother, Alan (”BigAls”), passed away. That took a lot out of me. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of him. It’s been hard getting back to a normal life and my daily grind, but I know my brother would be kicking me in the…. So now I want to focus on what’s coming up and the positive things.
These last few weeks I’ve been doing really well online. Winning the Wednesday Night 80K was a nice start to get the ball rolling! Plus going deep in the UB 200 last Sunday didn’t hurt either. Now this Saturday I’m getting excited, or nervous (not sure which) about going skydiving! Yes, I said skydiving! It’s something I’ve always wanted to do for a long time, and now that I have the opportunity, I can’t pass it up. Wish me luck and watch for upcoming pictures and blog about my experience.
The following weekend, I have a trip planned to Portland, Oregon. Well, not just me. I’m flying out there with some good buddies, the great Wiscomurray, Mr. Jon Green, and Jon Orr, who owns all the McDonald’s in South Central Wisconsin and the private jet we’re flying in! :):):):) The cherry on this Portland sundae is that it’s not a poker trip! It’s all golf, Baby! We’re meeting up with my good friends Gary “Debo34″ DeBernardi and 11-time bracelet winner and hometown boy, Phil Hellmuth, for a fun-packed weekend of golfing on three world-class golf courses. I really enjoy golfing with Phil. Betting with Phil on the golf course is a lot more profitable than betting with him on the poker tables. There’s always a lot of action, but little golf skills! Wish me luck and watch for upcoming pictures and blog about my experience.
Then after that, I’m off to Vegas, Baby! I’m teaching at the WSOP Academy again at Caesar’s Palace. I look forward to this because I get to teach alongside some amazing players and get so much out of it myself. If you get an opportunity to attend one of these academies, do yourself a favor. It is the best investment a poker player can make for his career. A few weeks after Vegas, it’s the cherry on my poker year sundae! ARUBA, Baby!!! This is a must attend! Anyone reading this has got to get yourself to Aruba. It’s not as hard as you think. UB has a ton of tournaments and promotions. There’s no excuse not to be there! For those of you who don’t come to Aruba….wish me luck and watch for upcoming pictures and blogs about my experience! :):):):)
Good luck at the tables. See you on the beach………H0
Tags: Aruba, Caesars Palace, Gary DeBernardi, Golf, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, ub, Vegas, WSOP
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009 - P0ker H0
I really love to play online poker, but one of the things I really have a hard time with is how some players handle bad beats. When a lot of players lose with what they think is the best hand, their first reaction is to berate the other player…. call him a donkey, a fish, even an idiot from northern Europe. Here are a couple reasons why I have a problem with this. One is if a player is playing bad, why do you feel it is your responsibility to tell him that his play is bad? Wouldn’t you want that player to continue to play bad? You should know that he’ll eventually lose all his chips if he continues down that path. That’s more chips for your stack! Second, just because you think what he did was wrong, might not necessarily be wrong! Poker has a lot of gray areas. For instance, if you flop top set and the Donkey flops a flush draw, when you bet and he shoves and then gets there, you want to break your laptop! However, in a lot of situations his shove was not a bad play. You have to take into account chip stacks, type of tournament you’re playing,etc. I was talking about this last Sunday with Annie Duke on the “Ultimatebet Poker Show” on RoundersRadio. She made another really good point. Annie said that when you see a player playing “bad”, try to see what he is doing well, because he must be doing something really well to compensate for what you think is bad play. After all, he’s still in the game! If you focus on the positive in what that player is doing well and forget about what he is doing bad, it will help your game. There’s a ton of information to be had. It’s always important to remember that you can even learn things from a “bad” player. It’s never too late to learn! Be a sponge, and try and soak up all that you can. This will help you take your game to the next level. See you at the tables……H0
Tags: Annie Duke, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, rounders radio, ub, Ultimatebet Poker Show
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Wednesday, August 5, 2009 - P0ker H0
I got to tell ya I really love these new Seven Deuce cash tables on UB .I have been playing them for a couple days now and i cant believe the action I am seeing at the tables. They are perfect for players like me who need to play a lot of hands . A few years back I was playing in Phil Hellmuth’s annual Christmas home game ,when he brought up the idea that we play 7-2 . It was the first time i ever played it and I have loved it ever since. I remember the very first time it ever came into to play..Phil was in a hand with a very loose player named “Spa Man” we were only playing 5-10 but the game played huge ,probably 150k on the table. Phil bet pot ,pre flop, post flop ,the turn , then the river for about 3700.00 on a KJ7-10-4 board, Spa Man thought about it for 5 min before he folds his AK face up.. thats when the table went wild because Phil flips over his 7-2 and collected 50.00 from each player. Phil won 450.00 but he risked 3700.00 to do it. It is so funny how some people will play just for a little bragging rights.If you want to learn more about these new fun tables go to http://www.ultimatebet.com/poker-promotion/seven-deuce My advice to the new Seven Deuce player is to start at lower levels and build your way up. It is a little different than a normal cash game . Hope to see you all at the tables good luck H0
Tags: christmas, P0ker H0, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, Seven Deuce, ub
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009 - P0ker H0
From my first days of playing poker, I loved the game! My love for poker was so intense it was the first thing I thought about in the morning and the last thing on my mind before falling asleep. I even dreamed of winning big tournaments! In my early days of poker, I got really lucky and won my very first live tournament I ever played at the Four Queens in Las Vegas for about 20K, and the flame has been burning ever since. Then about ten years ago, when the online boom hit, it really gave me the chance to take my game to the next level and play full time. It wasn’t easy, though. I remember stealing the quarters out of my pinball machines and pool tables at my bar to get money to make deposits to my account just so I could keep playing.
As my luck turned into skill and I became a lot better, I started winning satellites to go play in WPT and WSOP events. I’ve had many opportunities to experience playing in live events in such places as France, the Bahamas, Canada, Mexico, South and Central America, all across the United States, and of course the best of them all, Aruba!
I started living the dream of playing poker and it took me a while, but I realized my love of playing poker wasn’t as strong as my love of being a poker player. I found myself caught up in all the glamour and excitement of being a professional poker player…… the parties, meeting celebrities, visiting exotic locations, the money and notoriety of it all.
I think it’s very important for all poker players to stay focused on the game and not the stuff that comes with it. The game is hard enough as it is without all the distractions. Stay focused and never stop loving the game. That’s my goal from here on out……Good luck at the tables!
H0
Tags: Aruba, Four Queens, las vegas, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, WPT, WSOP
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Monday, July 20, 2009 - P0ker H0
Coming home and getting back to the grind after spending five weeks in Las Vegas isn’t as easy as it sounds. With the Ante Up for Africa and the UB parties, poker every day, and the whole Las Vegas experience, coming back to little hometown Madison, Wisconsin, is like getting back to Earth after walking on the moon for the first time!
I started the grind last Wednesday night and found that the Wednesday schedule is the best by far. The UB 1K, the UB 200/80K guarantee, the $100 Aruba Rebuy, and the 20K Deepstack all start within a couple of hours of each other. And UB runs satellites into all of them, all day long. I made the final table of the 20K guarantee, taking 4th for around $1900. In the 80K, I got heads up and used the UB deal maker feature, which I really like, and the other player and I chopped for about $17K each. It was a really great way to get back to the grind.
What I’m really excited about now is Aruba! Aruba! Aruba! Every poker player should be looking forward to it, too! It’s the one poker trip that is on my mind year-round. This year will be #8 or 9, too many to remember. But what I do remember is all the people that I’ve met there. All the UB pros, all the online people I play with on a daily basis, and the wonderful people from behind the scenes at UltimateBet that grind it out every day from the UB offices down in Costa Rica and up in Canada that make it possible for us to play, work, and live the dream of online poker. Besides the friends I have made, there are the great times in Aruba too, such as golfing with Phil, the deep-sea fishing, the UB welcome and closing parties, helping PokerJo find her shoes, the endless beaches and romantic sunsets (Okay, I threw that in there for my wife!), the booze cruises, the infamous party at Phil’s rooftop suite, and the fact that I’ve choked 2 final tables…. all bring back great memories.
UltimateBet is giving us lots of opportunities to play to win a seat at the 2009 Aruba Classic. My favorite way is the Steps. These are like eating potato chips. I play them by the handful! You can catch me playing Steps 1-10 at any time of the day. Playing tight and right is very important in these. The $100 Rebuy on Wednesdays is another great way to win. I love the $500 Sunday night tournament because that usually pays between 4-6 seats. I like a tournament that you don’t have to win to get the seat. Believe me, I’ve won a few of them this way! Now, let me give you the cherry on the Aruba tourney sundae! Come to Aruba for free or as little as $5. Listen to my radio show Sunday nights, 9PM EST, “The Ultimate Poker Show”, on Roundersradio.com. We are running two tournaments every Sunday night: a free roll with $50 added by UB and the winner gets to advance to a tournament where we are giving away a free Aruba package, and a $5 tournament with a $100 added and all nine players that make the final table will also be added into the Aruba package giveaway at the end of 10 weeks. If you can’t listen Sunday nights, and you want more “Poker H0″, you can listen to me and Wiscomurray on our local radio talk show, “Man Up with Mark and Mike”, where you can get the passwords for these tournaments and listen to us talk trash and poker every Saturday afternoon at 3 PM EST, http://manupwithmarkandmike.com/ .
Good luck at the tables! Hope to see you in Aruba…..H0
Tags: Ante Up For Africa, Aruba, aruba classic, Canada, Costa Rica, las vegas, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, PokerJo, The Ultimate Poker Show, ub
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - P0ker H0
As I reported in my last blog, round 1 of the WSOP was a great one, even though I didnt play 1 event. I was busy winning bracelets in BlackJack rather than Poker:) This time, would be different. Poker wise it was somewhat of a let down, as I went 0-3 in the 1500’s and 500 venetian, but the rest of the trip was Vegas as Vegas should be.
The first night I found myself really intoxicated in the SNG room, and bought into a 550 single table. Normally this wouldn’t be anything to talk about, but as the table filled up, I noticed a couple of faces that stood out. Grammy Winning Recording Artist Nelly was in 1 of the seats, while the owner of the Lakers, Jerry Buss was in another. Well as you know, when I’m drinking it’s my job to make sure people know who I am. Even Nelly and Jerry Buss. After singing and dancing to “It’s Hot in Her”, Nelly definitely knew who I was. And how bout Jerry Buss. Here the Lakers are playing game 4 of the NBA Finals, and he’s sitting with me playing a 550 single table satellite.
The Next day I would play the 1500 NL WSOP Event. Thing went great all day. I was up to 12k never seeing a river. About 5 hours in I would see a flop of 10 6 5, and have my opponent shove his entire 12k stack into a 900 chip pot. I held 1010 so I obviously called, and my opponent tabled 7 8 for an open ender. GG me. This kind of put me on tilt for a couple days and I really wasn’t into to much poker for the rest of the trip.
One thing I miss doing that I did this time, was going out to nice restraunts in Vegas. There are so many great places to eat that you can’t eat anywhere else. I tried NOVE which is an Italian restaraunt at the Palms. I highly recommend that. Also Cafe Mortarano in the RIO has the best Pasta Carbonara if you are into that.
I came home for a couple days once again, but I will be heading out again soon, and staying for the remainder of the summer. The UB Party is on the 29th at Studio54 and it will be a blast just like every other year. Best of luck to everyone this Series and see you out there.
P0ker H0
Tags: Jerry Buss, Lakers, NBA, Nelly, Poker Poker Poker, Rio, Studio 54, ub, UB Party, Vegas, WSOP
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Sunday, June 7, 2009 - P0ker H0
It’s finally arrived. The 2009 WSOP, and what a great start I’ve had to it. I haven’t even played an event yet either ! Last Friday, I flew out to Vegas with my good friend Wiscomurray. We got in late Friday, and checked into our room. It wasn’t going to be that big of a night, because the rest of the week was busy. I was gonna be teaching at the WSOP Academy, while Wisco was going to play the 1k WSOP Stimulus event. All Saturday, I was busy teaching the Academy, and It never gets old. Each time I get to teach along side someone who has an extremely intelligent poker mind. This time it was Mark Seif. We taught a cash game academy, and being that I focus mainly on tournaments, it was a great thing for not only the campers, but me too. I added some of the innuendos of online poker that aren’t apparent in the live game.
After we were done with the camp on Saturday, I headed back to my room, and when I got there, Wisco was playing online. I was really hungry so I went to go grab a bite to eat, and when I came back 2 hours later, and 10 cocktails deeper, Wisco was out. I was feeling really good at this time, so I looked at him and asked him if he wanted to be a part of history. With a confused look he said, “Sure”. “Give me $400″ was my reply, and to make a long story short, we went down stairs and turned our $800 into $12,000 playing blackjack. Did I forget to mention it was my birthday? Well, if you can, imagine the 2 of us in Vegas, on my birthday, both 4.0 BAC, betting 800 a hand, 11 hands in a row, and winning every one! I want to personally thank Hollywood Dave for turning me into the blackjack phenom that I am today! Crab Cakes and Blackjack. It’s what we do.
For the rest of the trip, all I did was teach at the academy, and relax. It was kind of nice. I did play a few Single Table Satellites for Lamers. Lamers are chips you can use to register for any WSOP event you wish. I highly recommend playing these, as most of the time, deals are made, and its easy to grind a profit. I will be back out there this Wednesday on the 10th, and I will be staying for the rest of the series. Best of Luck to everyone, and hope to see you all at the ‘09 WSOP! Don’t forget the grrrreat UltimateBet WSOP party at the MGM Studio 54, June 29th. Be there or be square!
P0ker H0
Tags: Hollywood Dave, Mark Seif, MGM, Poker H0, Poker Poker Poker, Satellites, ub, Vegas, WSOP, WSOP Academy
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