WPT
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 - Tiffany M
Man, I am WIPED OUT! I’m writing this while sitting on a six hour flight (yuck) from Atlantic City back home to LA from a two week whirlwind poker trip – I had only intended (and PACKED FOR) a five day trip to Biloxi for the WPT Southern Poker Champs.
My plan for January was to stay in Los Angeles to play all the preliminary LAPC events but a few friends were headed to Mississippi for the WPT event and convinced me to come join the fun since it would be a soft field with PCA and Aussie Millions happening simultaneously. ‘Soft field’ for me on Day 1 of the WPT Southern Poker Champs Main Event meant Erick Lindgren, Brandon Cantu and Hoyt Corkins all directly on my right (thank god for that).
During my run in the WSOP Main Event I didn’t actually run into many recognizable pros with that kind of star power at my tables so I have to admit it was a new experience for me to sit at such a stacked one. Knowing these player’s reputations I was a bit nervous when I sat down to play. My brain had a short circuit for a second, wondering what I was supposed to do and how I was supposed to play. Then I just reminded myself that these guys are just poker players like any others. None of them had super powers like being able to see my cards. Yes they have a few tricks in their bag and would probably be more observant and aggressive, preying on weakness and their reads but there was nothing I could do to change my table draw so I made a mental note to stay alert but not to shy away from game. I think that’s a really good mental tip for those of you who might be newer players but making the transition to playing live in pro heavy fields. If you find yourself at a “pro’s” table *Don’t freak yourself out – *Don’t be stupid, but Don’t shy away – *And Don’t lose confidence in your game. This little pep talk I gave myself helped restore my confidence and play a solid tournament.
I made it through Day 1 but I was steaming towards the end of the day when Brandon Cantu got dirty on the button with a garbage hand at the same time I woke up with KJ suited in the big blind… of course as the luckiest player in THE WORLD he hit a miracle flop (while I hit my flush draw and had overs) that left me with 20 big blinds.
Here’s another tip that I’m noticing more at the tables. Coming into Day 2 I was frustrated by the beat Brandon put on me the day before. I was not optimistic about my 20 big blinds but if I’ve learned anything from my Main Event run it’s that IT’S NEVER OVER. Most of you know on Day 2 of the Main Event I was UNDER TEN BIG BLINDS and somehow I managed to survive five more days and take 17th. I see so many players get tilted when they lose a huge pot and most of their chips. A lot of players end their tournament all on their own accord and can’t blame anyone but themself. They get chip envy, they throw a pity party about having a short stack and mentally give up on the game and somehow get all in with a poor hand in poor position when they could actually regroup and with a double up or two be right back in the game. I call it “commiting poker suicide.” JUST DON’T DO IT!
I was dejecting doing into Day 2 as the short stack but I knew a comeback was more than possible so I decided to play patient and grind it out. Grinding it out with a short stack is definitely no fun but I did exactly that. I went between a stack with ten big blinds to 30 big blinds… THE ENTIRE DAY. I’d picked my spots and mentally decided not to give up. The encouragement I always give my poker friends when they take a big hit and are unhappy with their chip count, “Push the rest button and pretend like you JUST sat down at the table for the first time and this was the amount of chips you were given!” There’s no going back once the chips are gone, right? You can only start where you’re at.
At my first table on Day 2 I sat with Bill Edler (directly to my left) and once again Brandon Cantu appeared at my table, I jokingly said that God was giving me the chance to get my chips back. Later on in the day when I worked my stack up to a healthy amount I was moved to a table with Greg Mueller, Anna Wroblewski and Jordan Morgan. After my roller coaster day and finally collecting some chips it took just TWO back-to-back hands to eliminate me. I shipped a majority of my chips when I made a big lay down to Jordan (who is a very solid player) and then the very next hand he delivered the final blow picking up Aces to my 8’s shove.
I thought the poker trip was over when I was kidnapped for a relaxing little weekend in Tennessee (where I got to see a fresh snowfall). But just a few days later I was convinced to jump over to Atlantic City for the Borgata Winter Open since I was still on the Eastern side of the country. The main event was a $3k buy-in and 2mill guarantee, which I couldn’t pass up. While hanging out with Maria Ho, Lacey and Etay we joked about how it was almost impossible to bust out on Day 1 of the event since you start with 50k chips (blinds starting at 25/50)! I guess Maria and I like doing the impossible… we both busted out Day 1 with the same hand scenario; Queens verses Kings! However Maria’s beat was worse than mine, flopping set verses set.
After two weeks on the road, between three different states (from what was supposed to be a five day, one city trip) I walked out of the Borgata Poker room upon getting knocked out, literally threw my clothes into a suitcase, hopped in a limo to the airport and took a flight out of Philly 2.5 hours later. My own bed has never sounded so good.
Oh yeah, besides watching the snowfall in Tennessee the other highlight of my trip was in Biloxi during one of the main event satellites where I flopped QUAD ACES (two in hand, two on board) and got paid off! THAT was fun… thanks Rock 
Tags: Brandon Cantu, Erick Lindgren, Hoyt Corkins, LAPC, Poker Poker Poker, Poker Strategy, Poker Tips, poker tournaments, world series of poker, WPT, WSOP
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Monday, January 26, 2009 - Roothlus
Hey guys. It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog. Well, no worries. I’m back! Recently I’ve been taking it easy at home in Orlando, Florida. I went to the Poker Stars Caribbean Adventure and the Bellagio Five Diamond Classic WPT. I didn’t do well in either tourney but I at least had a lot of fun while I was out there.
So far this year I’ve been doing moderately well online although what I am realizing is it’s tough to come out far ahead in online tournaments nowadays. Basically what I’m saying is, you need to run well in the right tourneys. Like today for instance, I sucked out at least 4 times to acquire a pretty big stack in the $50 125k guaranteed on Poker Stars. I mean yea, it pays something like $27k for first but why can’t I be sucking out in the bigger more important tourneys like the Stars Million or the UB $200k. I hope to do well in the upcoming FTOPS on Full Tilt to really get my year off to a great start. I came really close yesterday to a very nice score. I got 19th in the UB $200k. Unfortunately the way I went out was super dirty. Aces vs A10ss on 10ss board after he coldcalled my 3bet out of the small blind and rivered the spade on me for a $300k pot at $3k/$6k. My tournament was a crazy one. I grinded for a bit early on then won a pretty crucial flip at 150 300 25 ante for 15k. I then got up to 25k at around 400/800 after holding 1010 vs 88. With about 120 left (99 pay) I got 3outed for a 40k pot at 600 1200 and found myself in danger of bubbling. I then got 2 outed with AA vs 88 on the river against a shorter stack to put me at around 4k. I then got it all in with K9o vs JJ and the board ran out with me turning my 9high flush with his Jack of diamonds and holding. Woops. Then AA vs JJ to get to 24k on the bubble. I grind for a little bit, we make the money and I ship the button with QQ and get called by KQo to get to 40k at 800/1600. After that there were a bunch of ups and downs which ultimately ended with that AA vs A10ss hand. It was to say the least a rollercoaster of a tourney.
On a much more positive note, I’m planning on moving to Las Vegas in the middle of February until after the WSOP. What I figured out was I’m going to be spending so much time on the west coast over the next 6 months or so I should really just get my lazy ass over there. After that I plan on moving to LA but nothing is set in stone just yet. I always say this as a tournament player: “Yeah, I’ll most likely be doing this or that, but you never know because a huge win could be right around the corner”. Who knows, maybe I’ll win this year’s main event and have to fly around the world for the next year promoting myself. As much as you can try to plan your life as a tournament player, there’s always a possibility of a wrench being thrown in the middle of it all. Of course, I would totally welcome this ‘wrench’ anytime (poker gods please be listening)
Once I move out to Las Vegas I will be on the move non-stop. As of now, I’m playing the LAPC main, the WPT Celebrity Invitational, the Bay 101, the Wynn Classic, the WPT Championship. Did I miss anything? Oh yeah, I’m flying over to Europe for the EPT Final in Monte Carlo. After that I come home, chill for a matter of weeks, and then the WSOP starts up. Oh and in between these events I have to find time to play online for the different online poker series that run from time to time. Well, I guess that’s all for now. I just wanted to check in and say what’s up. Wish me luck at the tables!
Tags: Bellagio Five Diamond, EPT Monte Carlo, Full Tilt, Poker Stars, world series of poker, WPT, WPT Celebrity Invitational, WSOP
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Tuesday, December 16, 2008 - Tiffany M
With family coming into town for the holidays, a magazine cover to shoot and
a COMPLETELY thrashed voice (from a combination of being sick, smokey Vegas
casino air and staying out way to late/early… as you do in Vegas) I had to
cut my Vegas trip short and come home to LA a little earlier than expected.
Which means that I didn’t have the chance to play the WPT Five Diamond Main
Event although for a second there it looked like I might…
The night before Day 1b of the Main (also the day I planned to leave) I
decided to play the 10pm, $1500 Super Satellite. I figured if I won my $15k
seat it would be worth it to adjust a thing or two back here in LA and
postpone my return. We started with $4500 chips and 40min levels which
isn’t bad but not the greatest structure since the blinds almost double
every level. I was a little bit tired but had a REALLY good feeling about
this tournament. I find that sometimes when I’m very chill and not too
eager to play… I play my best. I play a much more patient, paced and
thoughtful game. I’m more focused on the hands and players and less likely
to get reckless.
Six hours into the event I was down to the last three and a half tables (11
players got seats, the 12th got their money back). The confidence I had
started to diminish as I kept glancing at the clock realizing that the
blinds were creeping up on us. When you don’t have a great structure the
last few levels in a tournament just become a ‘shove fest’ and I felt uneasy
knowing this would most likely be the case since even the chip average was
now TWENTY big blinds at this point. It was a roller coaster at the end. I
lost AQ v. KQ when the button (who was getting short) pushed on my big
blind, hit his king and took about a third of my chips. Then I lost AK v.
44 – even though I hit my four to a flush the 4’s, OF COURSE rivered a boat.
This knocked me down to 1900 when the blinds were 800/1600. If anybody can
be optimistic about a big comeback it’s ME! I’ve seen it happen. In fact,
on Day 2 of the WSOP Main event was down to 6k when the blinds were
400/800… and we all know how that turned out.
It was kind of comical when I somehow managed to turn the 1900 into 15,000
(still less than ten bigs). Next thing you know we’re seating the final two
tables and are down to 18 players. I couldn’t help but laugh at the poker
gods taunting me as we were just SEVEN players away from a $15k seat.
Blinds bumped up to 1k/2k as I sat on an 11k stack. I look down at K-10 in
the big blind and am fairly certain this will be my hand. As everyone
folded around I planned on pushing to a small blind call. The player in the
SB looks at his hand and says something like, “Alright, lets go.” I tease
him by moving my entire stack close to the line but he hadn’t yet put his
chips in the pot to call the BB. He looks at me and then changes his mind
about the call and says he’s “all in”. It was a weird sequence of events
but I strongly got the feeling that he was just trying to scare me
especially since a minute prior his hand was only good enough to call. I
follow my read and call, putting myself all in. He show Q7 of clubs and
announced that he felt lucky and felt a suck out coming… GREAT! He flops,
turns and rivers his clubs… OF COURSE. Ahhh the torture of tournaments
and getting so close. But I can’t complain, I felt great about how I played
and am well aware that that is just the nature of this brutal game of poker
we play. It does remind me and give me hope however that when your good
hands DO hold up… those are the days you’ll cash, go deep and win
tournaments.
Happiest Holidays to all of you! I’ll leave you with some pictures from the
Jingle at the Hard Rock Charity Tournament I played on this trip which
raised money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It was a beautiful event
where the Christmas spirit was very present and life of Mindy Trinidad (a
poker fanatic who recently lost her battle to the disease) was remembered.
Tags: Tiffany "Tiffany M" Michelle, WPT
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Monday, December 15, 2008 - Roothlus
I’ve been in Las Vegas for the past week playing the Five Diamond Classic preliminary events before the big show starts tomorrow, the $15k WPT. I was able to cash my first tournament (the $3k) but have since bricked out the three $5ks. The fields are way better than in October when Festa Lago was going on. I think with the combination of it being in October, it being right after the economy went into serious recession, and it going on during other events, the fields were so bad. The three $5ks this time got 141, 170, and 240 respectively which is a stark contrast from the bleak fields of Festa. I think all 3 $5ks combined barely had more than the last Five Diamond $5k. This is healthy for poker. I’m thinking the main event will get upwards of 450.
The $3k event was my best shot to make some real cheese but I found myself extremely carddead very late in the tournament. This is where you ask how card dead was I. I was so card dead that I needed a defibrillator to revive the deck. Heyyyooo. I know I know, bad joke. But who cares, it’s my blog. Anyways, I got in all in with AQo on the bb with 28k at 2k 4k against Amit Makitja’s Kjo. He hit a K, then a Jack, then a K and I was out. That’s a full house for all you poker n00bs out there. Still not bad to cash my first tournament.
The first $5k wasn’t too much fun. I maybe should not have played the $5k because it was right after the $3k and I had stayed up until 4AM the night before grinding that tourney into 17th place. I was playing fine but I soon found out that I was easily tiltable that day. David Pham was on my left, not a problem. Right off the bat he tried to 3-bet me when I raised to assert his dominance as the best tournament player on the planet. Well, he’s pretty close to, if not the best so I guess he has a right to try to show the person on his right who’s boss. But I wasn’t having it so I 4-bet him with A9o. He deliberated and called. Flop came KK4r. I bet 1800, he folded claiming he had Jacks. At the table I was acknowledging his statement but in my head I was like “yea right bud, I’d give you Q10s at best”. I doubled up early on when I hit trips on a 774dd board against J8dd and held. I was chilling at 30k at 50/100. Played some pots here and there while David Pham busted to Elky and they moved in Chad “Lilholdem954” Batista to my table. Bust one sicko, bring in another. Needless to say it was not an easy table. Anyways, after David busted they moved in this guy who was playing every pot and reraising a ton. He was really frustrating because I had no idea who he was and couldn’t tell if he was really good or really bad or a bad player doing good things. Eventually I 4-bet him with 77 to his 3-bet and he called with Jacks. Even sicker, I turned my 7 and he rivered the Jack. So that stung a bit. Shorty thereafter, I was raising 56dd with 14k at 100/200 UTG to 600 and he reraised me in UTG+1 to 2k. I called because I was a tiltbox that day and the flop came 847. LOLOL Really??? The flop went check check and the turn came a King where we got it in and he had AK. Fast forward 2 hours later I found myself with 35k at 300 600 and I flat a tight guy’s raise with AQo. This guy to my left squeezes and I call. He has AK and I double him up. The very next hand I get AQo again and he 3 bets me and I shove. He calls with 55. I brick out and I just went from 35k to out in 2 hands. Well, that was fun.
The 2nd 5k I got 40th in. I got up to 40k and was straight crusing when I got into a 50k flip at 200 400 and lost it on the river. Booooo. Grinded back by battling hard but the blinds started escalating and I found myself at 24k at 800/1600. Button raised to 5k and I shipped with Qjss and he had AKo. Flop even came 367ss and I bricked out. Booooo once again.
Thursday was the 3rd 5k and I played pretty well in this one as well although I was playing kind of bad early on but calmed myself down and after the first break I was fine. I built up to about 20k then won a flip against a AQo with JJ and found myself at 40k. Then I called with top pair against a bare flush draw and held to get up to a very nice stack of 60k at 300 600. That was my highest point and it was pretty much all downhill from there. I gave Elky 10k on a flip, then raise/folded a few times and found myself at 36k going into 600/1200. At 600/1200 I shoved KJdd into AKo after being carddead and having to raise/fold a few more times. It gets frustrating when you have to raise/fold knowing this specific person either has the hand or is not capable of shoving or reraising me light. Oh well, that’s how things go. Needless to say, I’m happy with my performance. Obviously I could’ve used a little more luck late in these tourneys but that’s the way it goes.
Tags: Adam "Roothlus" Levy, WPT
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Sunday, December 14, 2008 - Annie Duke
I’m getting set to play in the Bellagio 5 Diamond $15K buy-in WPT event. This is going to make some people fall over in their chairs because I have not played a WPT tournament in nearly three years. Annie Duke actually playing a poker tournament outside of the WSOP? It can’t be! Poppycock! Bullocks!
As many people know, I was involved in a lawsuit with the WPT over the image release players sign when they enter one of their tournaments. Me and some other players (Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Chris Ferguson, and Phil Gordon) felt that the release was unfair and we filed a lawsuit over it. Well last spring the lawsuit was settled, the release is now to our satisfaction, and I was ready to play me some WPT.
Well, that is when my life got in the way.
I was going to play the $25K buy-in championship in April when Joe’s hip replacement surgery ended up being scheduled right during the event so I couldn’t justify playing a poker tournament when my boyfriend was going in for major surgery. So I passed on that one.
Then I was going to play the Bicycle Club Legends of Poker event in late August. I was already to go when the Best Damn Poker Show taping got moved to right during that tournament. So that one was out.
Then I was all set to play the Fiesta del Lago Bellagio event in mid October. But I got trapped in NYC doing this other show. So that one went down the tubes.
(In the meantime, I also missed the Aruba Poker Classic because I had to be in NY and I missed two tapings of Poker After Dark for the same reason).
So, assuming some hurricane doesn’t rip through Vegas, which at this point wouldn’t surprise me since it feels like I am destined to miss every major poker tournament this year, I will be at the Bellagio today with bells on and hopefully my tournament poker game won’t be too rusty. So good luck me.
Tags: Annie Duke, WPT
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