Wednesday, October 28, 2009 - Jim
Aruba was a tremendous success and we all feel proud about it. You played, you had joy, some tears when you were busted, you had insuperable parties, you shared with not only excellent co-workers, but also great people that went out there to be your Hosts. I guess Aruba madness is somehow still inside all of you. Well, let´s take a break from Aruba.
As probably many of you remember, in the past weeks we ran some satellites for the Poker Hispano Tour – Costa Rica, which was played from October 17th through the 25th. I´m pretty sure I mentioned it on my previous blog.
I truly feel this is a very interesting approach to expand Poker in Latin America where a considerable amount of players are thirsty to take their shot at live events. It consisted in a week full of exciting tournaments.
I was expecting to watch the Final Table of the PHT Main Event on Saturday, as well as play the closing event on Sunday 25th. Unfortunately my 95 yr old grandpa had to get into the hospital on Saturday, so I spent that night and most of Sunday and Monday taking care of him. The good, is that he is very healthy now, and even though I wasn´t able to watch nor play at the PHT, I found out something very interesting.
Lately, I haven’t been playing a lot of poker, I´m into Poker whenever I come to work but schoolwork has used up my days off. While I was taking care of my old man, I had plenty of time to read at the moments that he was taking a nap.
Obviously I brought with me a couple of poker books (in my undisciplined attempt to improve my game) however it was a very short paragraph I read that reminded me a key of being successful at poker.
Use a GOOD Bankroll Strategy! Sometimes I speak with players complaining about bad beats, terrible luck… you know what I´m talking about… then I take a look at their accounts and I find out that they are investing 50% or even 100% of their BR in a single game. No matter how tight you play, sooner or later the Bad Beats will show up, at least once in a session, the capricious Poker Gods, will send you a disgusting river card.
It´s up to you to combine your style of playing, with a protected Bankroll management strategy. You can find plenty of BR management strategies by browsing the web, the most important part is definitely how disciplined you are to keep yourself within the stakes you should play.
Anyway, I´m sure you guys know about this better than me, for those of you who hadn´t been taking it into consideration lately, I hope it refreshes your mind! J
Take care everyone!
Tags: Aruba, Costa Rica, Hispano, luck, madness, Strategy, success
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009 - smokin_aces
So far almost 1400 of you have solved the puzzle to get the password. Do you think we can hit 2000 players in tomorrow night’s Amazing Race Freeroll? I think it will be close.
All you have to do to enter is follow the clues listed here in the original post. Some people found it easy, some found it too hard. It depends on what type of thinker you are and not necessarily what level of poker knowledge you have. Of course, I can almost guarantee you’ll learn something along the way.
So, to get your shot at $1000 in cash and tournament buy-ins, try to solve the puzzle to get the password.
Let me know how you make out!
GL
Aces
Tags: Bloggers Tournament, Smokin Aces
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009 - Bryan Devonshire
Man it’s been a long time since I’ve written. My bad. Things have been insane since I brought the snow to Colorado. Since I couldn’t cross the rockies, due to rain, snow, and highs around 35, I had to turn around and head south back into New Mexico. I left on a Wednesday under mostly cloudy skies and was getting rained on within 5 miles. It didn’t stop until I hit New Mexico and was so gnarly that I had to stop and buy the “warmest gloves you have for sale”.
It rained off and on all the way to my destination of Tesuque Village just north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. I stopped there because that’s where the only person I knew between Colorado and Vegas along the 40 lived. My friend Katy who I’ve known since I moved to Vegas and has made an appearance in this blog moved to this little town, a “magical vortex”, a while back and loves it. She’s managing the Tesuque Village Market, this little hippie store that is a small market, bakery, restaurant, and bar. The night I got there is when this Welsh vintner with vineyards in Colorado was having some function thing. I posted up at the bar, drank organic margaritas, eventually tasted some wine, and had a great time. Very neat special unique corner of the world.
The next day I hauled ass across the Southwest and made it back to Vegas in one piece. Trip complete! Over 10,500 miles, two sets of tires, three oil changes, one roll of duct tape, and three sets of gloves. It was the most amazing journey of my life, and I strongly recommend anybody to take a trip somewhere by yourself. You don’t have to be by yourself the whole time, but the solo traveling really gives you opportunity to clear your head and think about things.
Gladly home, I reluctantly started the process of moving out of the house. I got screwed by roomies in the last few months, and moving out was a super pain. We didn’t even come close to cleaning the place.
Over the weekend Jared and I drove down to LA for our 10 year high school reunion, and that was an interesting experience. We realized quickly that if we buy drinks and stand by the bar we’ll eventually talk to everybody we’re interested in seeing 
. About five years ago one of my best friends, Anthony Casturita, died in a car accident. He went to Iraq, came back, and died on the freeway. On the way to the reunion Jared and I drove by his old apartment and gave like a “rip homie.” We got there, and he showed up. Jared grabs me and drags me in front of Anthony. He’s put on about 50 pounds, I read the nametag, and am like, what? “I thought you were dead?” He laughs and says, “You’re like the 8th person that’s said that already. WTF?” Turns out his cousin, Eric Casturita, is who the victim was, and somehow it circulated through our class that it was Anthony. He was disconnected enough, living in San Pedro, married, etc, that nobody ever talked to him and we all thought he was toast. Pretty awesome news having one of your best friends effectively come back to life.
So back to Vegas, move all week, ugh.. and then head off to Aruba. Shelley and I flew out of Vegas at 6:30am trying to keep our schedules somewhat normal which is a difficult thing to do when flying to the Caribbean from the West coast. About an hour into the flight some dude passed out. The flight attendants get on the intercom and ask if there is a doctor on board. Turns out the dude that passed out was the doctor on board. LOL. Partied all night in Vegas then got on the plane. Fortunately we didn’t have to land in Flagstaff and we made it all the way to Miami. With a 5 hour layover. Not sure how I planned that one but whooops. We took a cab to South Beach, and it was way overrated imo. Maybe we weren’t in the right spot but the strip right on the beach was meh, every place felt the same. The beach and water was sweet though. Shelley packed sand in her shorts all the way back to Aruba. That trip went like this:
Night one: Get there, have a few drinks at the circle bar, which is actually a square, and we re-name it the square bar.
Night two: Welcome party. Vinny Favorito made fun of my Hawaiian shirt. A few of us jumped in the pool. Then we threw the rest of the pros in the pool. Then Phil Helmuth says, “I have $500 each for the first two women that jump in the pool naked.” . . Splash! There was less than 2 seconds from end of his speech to splash. I have no clue how she did it. Then we threw some more people into the pool, Nick and Mike Binger threw everybody else into the pool, and the rest of the night is a blur.
Day three: hung on the beach all day. Got to sleep early.
Day four: Played day 1 of the main event. Couldn’t get anything going really. My table was Spanish only while the hand is not in play. I told them that I speak Spanish somewhere around 15 minutes left in the day. Shelley went out with the Jolly Pirates.
Day five: Day 2. I busted in less than 30 mins. Nothing I could do. I lost some chips to Nick Binger, and he lost them all by the end of the first level. Atta kid. A bunch of us went to lunch, the drinking began, and then five of us took a cab to downtown Oranjestad. We wandered around a bit, Nick, Shelley, and I wanted to drink, Court and Melissa wanted to shop, so we split when we found the bar neighborhood. We started bar hopping, had two beers (they’re 8oz there because they get warm so fast) at the first bar, one at the second, and then at the third, Iguana Joe’s or something like that, I asked the bartender to make us three of what he’s best at. He comes up with these green things in carafes that are delicious. Awesome. Lets have another one.
It’s dark already? Man those things are big. Ok. Working on 2nd. This cigar keeps going out. Why am I talking politics with this dude? What are Nick and Shelley talking about? It seems serious. Yeah let’s go home. Honey let’s go to sleep. … ugh. What time is it? 1:30am. I’m hungry. “I want pizza.” Honey they only have hot dogs here. I’m going to go find food. Want me to bring you something back or you wanna come. “I want pizza. I’ll come.” Where’s my other sandal? There’s only one sandal in this room. “I think you walked back barefoot.” Shocker not the first time. I lost my sandals in St. Maarten. Was barefoot for 24 hours or so. So we walk from the Occidental to the Raddison, I’m barefoot, and we find my other sandal on the concrete by the pool at the Occidental. *shrug*. Sweet! Back to the room, put sandals on, go find hot dogs, she never did find pizza, sleep.
Day 6: Hungover. I’m not so bad, but Shelley’s a wreck. Hang on the beach all day. She eventually comes out around 5pm. VIP booze cruise that night, Cantu’s “most miserable experience.” Stuck on a boat in Aruba with free booze.
Day 7: Business. I meet with all the UB Pros and a bunch of the product design staff for a round table discussion. I really like where things look like they’re going. Meet with Katie my agent/manager/heroine, she goes over the details of the offer I’ve been offered, I renegotiate, go to dinner with Paul Legget and a bunch of other UB peeps, then back for party. That night was the Phil Helmuth penthouse party, and it was insane. I can’t post many of the pics, but here are a few to give you a jist of the flavor:
Day 8: Hungover, final table, beach, rum and coke, Justin Young, beach, closing party award ceremony. Throw people into the pool. Shelley was given warning to change or be thrown in. She got thrown in dress and all. The Dan Band played and were fun. Somebody shot a pic of me walking through the pool with a tray of beer. I put them on the stage for ez access.
Day 9: return. Traveling was just fine. American Airlines gets A+ Awesome. And now Shelley, Ruth, Bobo, and myself are pulling into Laughlin. So I’m going to stop writing. But not post this yet cause I gotta get pics in this thing. Peace!
Peace and good luck,
Devo
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Monday, October 26, 2009 - Cardroom
Here’s your weekly roundup and Congratulations go out to ILOVECLONIEG, NEVERTILT22, KOEY, ODI420, JR2BROWN, RDCRSN, UPAYFORMYNUGS, PETERHAMMER, PETERHAMMER, BOBBYBEAU73, JASON138, JOEROGIN1991, GREGOIR, JAYGEE84, BIGFLOPPER01 and CRAZYSIXES66 for taking down the big guarantees and to our Deal Makers AJKHOOSIER1 and MUCH_BETTER!
Tags: guarantee, roundup, tournament
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Monday, October 26, 2009 - Annie Duke
So I have officially processed my untimely demise in the Aruba Classic. Let me give you a little back story though. In the 7 years that I have played that event, I have made the money ONCE. That is right. One time. Now there is a really good reason for that. I generally go down to Aruba with my kids and the thought of staying inside playing poker for the whole trip when my kids are having a blast horseback riding and tubing and whatnot without me doesn’t really work for me. So I play some pretty bad poker when I am in Aruba generally because I am secretly, well not so secretly, trying to get myself knocked out of the event.
But not this year. This year I resolved that I was actually going to try really hard. Last year I had to leave before the event even started because Celebrity Apprentice conflicted with the main event down there. So I headed down to Aruba for exactly three days and then left in a shroud of mystery. I had signed a confidentiality agreement so I couldn’t tell anyone why I was leaving which made for some pretty interesting rumors. I did have to assure a few people that nothing was wrong with my family and there was no emergency while still being coy about why I left. Anyway, we all know how Celebrity Apprentice turned out. I am still trying to decide if it was worth it to leave paradise abruptly for 5 weeks of being called worse than Hitler by Joan Rivers.
Anyway, after having to leave last year I realized that I really missed the opportunity to play and so this year came in with great resolve to play my heart out. I showed up relatively on time and proceeded to get dealt the best cards of my life. In the first two levels I got AA 7 times, KK twice and QQ twice. I am not kidding. I really got dealt those starting hands. So of course I ended the two levels with 4K of the 15K starting chips. As expected really. I was either going to have all the chips on the planet or 4K. When I came back for level three I managed to flop top two with AJ suited vs 99 on an AJ9 board. Oops. That sent me to the rail.
So I managed to hit the parlay: I wasted another year of the Aruba Classic getting knocked out on Day 1 when I was actually really trying (proof of the trying part: I managed to still have 4K in chips after getting all those hands cracked) and I wasted the best run of cards I will ever have. Sheesh.
Now, once I got knocked out I decided to make the best of it and took the opportunity to go tubing with Joe. We got on one of those two man tubes and were having a complete blast because we had a driver who was really trying to create huge wakes to buck us off the tube. Anyone who has gotten thrown off a tube knows that it usually the best part of tubing. Joe and I were really hanging on, though, so the driver was creating bigger and bigger wakes to drag us over until finally he made a wake so big that there was no holding on the tube to stay on because the tube itself was flipping over.
So Joe is on my right and the tube is flipping right so Joe kind of turned over and was heading face down into the ocean below me as I was flipping over him when his heel snapped up on the way into the water and caught me right in the neck. That snapped my head back pretty bad and smashed my lower jaw into my upper jaw in a way that really sent shockwaves up the left side of my face. That was aside from the pain I was experiencing from having just been kicked really hard in the neck. So now I land in the ocean and I am just sobbing in there and Joe isn’t sure right away whether or not I am laughing or crying so he is laughing at first. Then he realizes I am actually in hysterics and helps drag me back onto the tube so the driver can take us in really slowly back to the dock. I say really slowly because every bit of turbulence we hit sent waves of pain through my skull. By that night the inside of my throat had really swelled up which took about two days to go down before it was comfortable to swallow again.
So I got kicked in the head by the cards in the tournament then kicked in the head by Joe in a freak tubing accident. Come to think of it, getting called worse than Hitler for 5 weeks doesn’t sound so bad after all.
Tags: aruba classic, Celebrity Apprentice, Joan Rivers, Poker Poker Poker
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Sunday, October 25, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
The final table of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event is just two weeks away, and as always there’s been quite a bit of discussion about who would be the “best” champion for poker. Which player among the November Nine would do the most to boost poker’s popularity, push the game further into the mainstream, maybe even help trigger a second poker boom. I think that expecting so much from the new World Champion is more than a bit unrealistic–when Jerry Yang won the title in 2007 he gave a poignant and heartfelt speech about his escape fro Laos and his faith that gave me goosebumps. “This is going to play so well with people who don’t follow poker,” I thought at the time. I thought that Yang had the chance to be a transformational figure, a deeply religious family man who loved poker and was going to donate a big chunk of his winnings to charity. You can’t make up a story like that.
The problem was ESPN only showed about five seconds of so of Yang’s speech. His story really didn’t get out into the mainstream, and Yang didn’t play all that many events and so faded from the scene, though he was always a gracious champion and a friendly and accommodating person. Expecting Yang, or Peter Eastgate, or really any person that Lady Luck picks at random and anoints as the Main Event champion to take up poker’s cause and lead us all to the promised land is, as I said, unrealistic.
This year, however, might be a bit different.
Because there is a player among the November Nine with the stature to put poker on his shoulders and carry it with him into the limelight. That player, of course, is Phil Ivey. Already considered by most the best poker player in the world and already having won two bracelets this year, Ivey marched through the Main Event field and made the final table, to the delight of just about everyone involved with poker. My colleagues in the poker media thought that having a famous pro like Ivey at the final table would boost the TV ratings through the roof (and so far ESPN’s numbers for their Main Event coverage have been very good) and would attract the attention of the big media outlets. That also has happened, as this week Ivey appeared on the cover of ESPN the Magazine and was the subject of a long feature story by Chad Millman.
Whether any media companies outside the ESPN umbrella will join in hyping the November Nine and Phil Ivey remains to be seen. Ivey has typically shunned the spotlight, rarely giving interviews and not opening up much to those he does speak to. But that’s changed in the last few months, as he’s done a number of lengthy interviews with various sites and let Millman follow him around during a whirlwind gambling trip. In a chat he did with ESPN readers Millman was asked about Ivey coming out of his shell with the media this is how he replied:
(Ivey’s) answer was that he feels like he’s getting older and has a sense of history for the game and realizes the relevance of him making the final table. So if this is a chance to spread the word about poker, he’s going to take it.
You couldn’t ask for a better attitude from a future World Champion, and hardly a better story that Ivey’s. He started playing in Atlantic City before he could legally enter a casino, using a fake ID that gave his name as “Jerome”. He played so much, was at the tables for so many marathon sessions, that the dealers nicknamed him “No Home Jerome”. Ivey has talked about playing 18 hours a day, going broke, raising a stake to get back into the game, and learning. Now he’s considered the best in the world and lives a life more akin to a rock star than a poker player. It’s a story that you’d think would appeal to a mass audience.
And of course to the poker audience Ivey is a god, already a member of the pantheon with a chance in November to capture the only prize that has so far eluded him–the title of World Champion. Should he win the Main Event Ivey’s resume would truly be staggering. It would be his eighth WSOP bracelet–and his first in Hold-Em. He would become the all-time tournament money leader (which he’ll still become should he finish sixth or better). He’s made 8 WPT final tables and won one WPT title. And all this from a player who’s best known as a cash player. Ivey’s exploits in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio are the stuff of legend (both urban and real) and, oh yeah, he’s also one of the biggest winners in the super-nosebleed online cash games. And then there’s the exploit that cements his status as an immortal, his heads-up battle with billionaire Andy Beal. Beal played a group of high-stakes pros in the biggest cash game of all time (the subject of Michael Craig’s outstanding book The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King) and when he returned to Vegas for a second shot he won $10 million off the pros who formed a consortium called The Corporation. Ten million is a huge sum, even for those deep-pocketed pros, and they brought in Ivey to try to turn the tide. Playing heads-up limit Hold-Em, Ivey won a mind-boggling $16 million from Beal and moved the billionaire to give up the game once again.
I honestly don’t know if Phil Ivey winning the Main Event will do much to push poker into the mainstream, I don’t know if Nike will come calling and make him their next signature personality. Ivey is sometimes called “The Tiger Woods of Poker”, though in the past the comparison was a lazy one raised more because they’re both African-American. But if Ivey wins the Main Event he could, like Tiger, become bigger than the game itself. And this is where I think Ivey winning the Main Event could indeed have a lasting effect on the game. Poker players often posssess sizable egos and they aren’t shy about telling people (including themselves) how great they are. There’s a huge crop of young hotshots out there and more come onto the scene every year. For those whose ambition matches their talent and ego, for those who truly want to become the greatest player in the world, they’ll have to try to eclipse Phil Ivey. And that, needless to say, is a daunting task.
In poker there are lots of players who look down on tournaments (or donkaments, as they call them), but it’s harder to do so when the biggest tournament money-winner is Ivey. He’s won bracelets in a variety of games, so mixed-game expertise is a must. And you have to be an absolute monster in both live and online cash games. There aren’t many players who would consciously set themselves up for that sort of challenge, but those who do aspire to that sort of greatness could be the personalities who drive the game forward for decades. Ivey himself is only 33 years old–the scary thing is that he’s likely to get better over time. Phil Hellmuth still has decades left in his career and he often talks about how he’s trying to make history with every tournament he plays. Of course it’s intimidating for a 21-year-old to contemplate winning eleven bracelets with the huge fields we see today, but poker is a game for the long haul, and a player with the proper perspective and the desire to be one of the greats has a path to follow.
I don’t know that I’ll be rooting for Phil Ivey come November. For one thing Ivey represents another online poker site that I’m professionally obligated to do battle with. For another, hasn’t Ivey won enough? There are other players who could use the money more, who might never otherwise enjoy the supernova of attention that will be lavished on the Main Event champion. But if Ivey does win I’ll be very interested to see how it all plays out, how the world at large looks upon this enigmatic superstar. I’d also be interested to know if Ivey wonders about these questions. If he does, maybe he’s human after all.
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Sunday, October 25, 2009 - Liv Boeree
So last week I finished off on me busting out of the Main Event. This left me with a whole five days of Aruban freedom to get more sun, sand and sea than you can shake a stick at. The sea part of this started early the wednesday morning when I met with Brandon Cantu, his girlfriend Leslie and Allie Prescott for breakfast, and I proposed the idea of renting a small catamaran which according to the intrepid Binger brothers, was the best and most relaxing watersport on offer. Now I’ve been sailing a few times as a kid, and even have the holder of the world record for the longest sailing circumnavigation of the globe in my family, and this gave me an over-inflated impression that I knew how to sail. I apparently exuded this confidence to the rest of the “crew” and also to the boat rental woman, who when she asked if we knew how to sail we very proudly said yes.
So after telling us we had strictly one hour, she set us in the water and handed me the rudder and sail rope(?!). Before you could say shark, the wind grabbed us and sent us on our merry way, very much alone. Things actually started well, with Brandon going “wow, you actually can sail”, everyone relaxed as we sped along the coast at one with nature’s forces. That was until we had to turn and try and go the other way. We’d been instructed to ONLY turn into the wind, as turning away from it could be dangerous and lead to capsizing. However, turning into the wind resulted in the sail going limp and all momentum lost. Therefore we opted for the latter, and the boat nearly turned over Leslie and Brandon got whacked in the head by the sail flipping to the otherside.
Stupidly, I then let the boys take over and before we knew it we had only twenty minutes left and were about two miles out to sea. Despite this we somehow floundered back at the slowest pace anyone’s ever moved back to shore and got back just thirty minutes late. Ahem.
So you’d think that’d be the last time we ever went sailing alone. Oh no. we went again and this time managed to flip the boat over twice, the first time completely by a combination of ignorance and a huge gust of wind, and the second time because the first time was so funny that we wanted to do it again.
Moving on… so the other things I did for the rest of the trip included a horse ride through the Aruban landscape (complete with galloping on the beach) and a very bumpy ATV ride to some beautiful coastal features. In the nighttime were fantastic parties, including the legendary party in Phil Hellmuth’s rooftop suite, which had a private performance by the Dan band and more bottles of champagne than you can imagine. Oh and naked girls in the hot tub, can’t forget them! The Ultimatebet closing party was stunning as well, with the Dan band performing on a stage over the pool, more naked people and bodypainted gladiator models roaming around giving you cocktails. What a perfect end to the perfect trip!
Tags: Aruba, Brandon Cantu, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, The Dan Band, Ultimate Bet
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Saturday, October 24, 2009 - UB Marketing
One of Ayn Rand’s most iconic characters is Atlas Shrugged’s John Galt. He represents the idealistic counterpoint to the social structures. He was a true developer and a man motivated only by his own passion… He was a fearless slave of his own beliefs.
When it comes to our team, we like to think of ourselves as the modern John Galts of poker: we don’t provide a poker experience to have clients, we have clients so we can provide a poker experience. That’s our mantra. We’re unafraid of scaring the hell out of everyone with our ideas as long as they bloom from our souls’ depths. Poker is the blood in our veins; therefore, all of our actions are benefic for poker.
A brand management position is definitely not for the bleachers. Our marketing team is packed with people full of zeal. We’re the kind that zig when all the rest zag. It’s not always easy –that’s a fact– it’s simple to get dragged into the abyss of routine. When that happens, it’s not hard to see the light again. All we need to do is look inside ourselves and we’re back on track. We just remember how infatuated we are with the poker lifestyle and, suddenly, a new radiance bathes the usual, making it unusual.
We work very hard to break the mold. We live in difficult times where planet Earth turns faster every day. People run in circles, attend their daily chores, close deals, walk by and… forget to dream. We don’t. We dream all day long and that’s what sets us apart. Every single thing in life starts as a dream. Think about it! An engineer dreamed the computer you’re using. The building you’re in was the idea of an architect. Your clothes were sketched by some fashionista. It all starts as a dream driven by something way bigger than money.
So, feel happy to be part of a community that isn’t assembled around the idea of milking your cash out. You can be proud of being part of UltimateBet, a brand that cares for poker. Our absolute goal isn’t to please you. We’re at the service of poker. If poker runs through your system, then –ultimately– we’re also serving you.
Tags: atlas shrugged, ayn rand, brand, Marketing, poker passion, ultimatebet
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Friday, October 23, 2009 - ProductMan
The UltimateBet Online Championship is in the pipeline and you can expect it to be massive. You’ll love playing in a championship poker event from your easy chair, or wherever you like to play. We’re making some major changes this year and we’d love to get your feedback on how to improve our tournaments. Let us know how you feel about our structure, schedule, or anything else tourney-related. Do you think our tournaments would be better suited to some other time during the day? How do you feel about the blind levels?
We’ll also be launching tons of new tournament features, so stay tuned. While we’re talking about tourneys, did you know that we’re running a tournament that will award one lucky player 2 tickets to UFC 106 in Las Vegas. The ultimate prize package includes cash for travel and accommodations. Witness Lesnar defend his title against Carwin in November courtesy of UB.
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Friday, October 23, 2009 - Shawn Rice
This past Trip to Aruba was my 7th straight year, For those of you that have not been and enjoy playing poker this is true paradise. I always look forward to seeing all the many friends, and people I work with and many of the people that I play online with. I decided that this year I really want to play more of the preliminary events this year as I rarely ever play those because I am in paradise and would rather do other non poker related stuff. I know my girlfriend was flying out later in the week for the final few days and the closing partys, So I wanted to play a little more live this year than previous years. I flew in about 10pm met up with a few friends and really wanted to take it easy that night, went and paid my way into the $540 for the following day so I knew I could not get wasted that night. I did play a little sit & go with Ho, Debo, Debo’s wife Erin, Mamma Ho and Susie Q, I think I chopped 2 of them and lost the last one and ended up in a cash game. Ho was ordering drinks and before I knew it I was double fisted drinking double crown and cokes and then Debo is ordering shots, so much for taking it easy in Aruba.
After the sit & go’s Ho jumped into a cash game and let me tell you he can liven up a cash game, ever pot was raised and reraised before the flop, I think I got lucky with AJ and beat AK for about a $900 pot, I was no way folding top pair in that game and I got lucky and hit. I won a little playing the cash game, I think Ho started out losing a few thousand and ended up killing them. He played his image so well and is a master in talking other players into do what he wants them to do.
I get to bed around 6am which is ok because my tourney does not start until 2pm. When I got to my table I could not have asked for a better table, everyone was limping and at early levels I don’t like to punish the limpers til the blinds get higher or the antes kick in, I like to let them know I am totally ok with them limping. within the first 2 rounds I had already doubled my 3k starting stack with no real risk. The players at my table were calling my raises with really wide ranges. I then look up and find that Ho, Jon Green , Debo and Mike “WiscoMurray” are all out in the 1st level. I must say I was really shocked to see that. I was a little pissed at myself because I forgot to ask Ho for the usual $500 last longer bet. I am about a 20 to one favorite when I make this bet, I think I have lost it once or twice in the many years we have made this bet, I always remind him of that time he beat me and he is always ready to try his luck again. I got out of the gate pretty quick and had some chips early but as it got down to the final table I was near last in chips, Only the final table got paid there was 95 players who started, I did make one move with 7s8s when I reraised the botton when I had about 14 times the big blind and he called my reraise all in with A 10 I out flopped him and doubled up to over 30x with a shot to win this thing.
It got down to 3 players, the final 3 deserved to be the final 3 in my opinion as my other two opponents were very skilled players, One of which being Frank “gator93″. Gator has won like well over 400k online in recent months and I know he wanted the win more than the 15k first prize, Frank raised 5x on the button 3 handed, small blind folded and I look down at my all time favorite hand, 2 black aces, I know if I reraise him here I will most likely get a fold on many hands in his range, so I decided like I had a little bit of a tough decision and just called, knowing he was going to continuation bet the flop, the flop come King high and 2 rags and to my shock he check it, the turn was another club making a possible flush draw, I bet into the flop and as I was putting chips in Frank yelled he was all In, I called he had raised with KcQc and had top pair and a flush draw to my to black aces, He bricked the river and I had a monster chip lead heads up, I had close to 200k in chips and my opponent had a little over 100K and we agreed to a chip chop and ended the night. The 13k was a great start for my drinking tab in Aruba. I took the next day off as I know I would play day 1b the following day. I spent lots of the next morning doing photo shoots and video interviews for UB and would be in the UB Icon suite checking up on my friends whom played day 1a, Later that night I went out to eat at a wonderful steak house in Aruba called El Gauchos with Frank. I took it very easy that night as I take a day before a major tourney very serious.
Day 1b seemed to be very stacked with lots of pros. I hated my table I had 2 world class players at my table , Gavin Smith along with Robert Mizrachi (”The Grinders” brother) and I knew if I made any mistake I would be punished. I didn’t forget to make my $500 last longer with Ho this time and that’s always sweet. He lasted til the beginning of the 2nd level. Ho did very well in Aruba last year making the final few tables before he blew up and gave Matt Brady a monster stack which Matt used to win the million dollar first prize.
I have played alot with Gavin over the last 5 or 6 years and not much with Robert, But I can tell you this , he is no prize to have at your table, He plays super and I totally respect his game. I got lucky in the 2nd level beating Tony from The Best Damn Poker Show season 2 with my AA on and A63 board and Tony holding 66, Those are just sick and Tong is a world class guy and hating to see him have to go out that way. Level 2 I was catching lots of cards and chipping up really well and had about 35k at one point from my 15k starting stack, I did get down below 8k at one point and finished the day around 13k. Day 2 was a bit of a grind as well and I had Eric Baldwin whom is from Madison WI, Who now lives in Las Vegas on my table, but luckily he was 2 seats to my right and he was sure torcher to may of the players he got involved with. I also got the chance to play with Tiffany Michelle who is now starting in this seasons Amazing Race on CBS, I used to work with Tiffany when I did lots of Radio for Bluff radio during the WSOP a couple of years back, It’s so good to see she is doing well in the poker and entertainment world, She is really a sweet lady. I ended day 3 with about 24k in chips and knew I would need to get a good start on day 3 to have a shot at this tourney that had 475 entrys.
On Day 3 I could not of got a worse table draw or seat position, two seats to my left of Robert Mizrachi and two seats to his left was Eric Baldwin, I did chip up to over 60k at one point for every bit of about 2 hands then I was on the button with 88 and Robert ended up with 99 and I was back down to around 30k, I was later in the big blind with about 13 or 14 times the big blind and it was raised from mid position from a guy who the day before called my UTG raise with Qh8h from the big blind when I flopped top set and he flopped a gutter and a flush draw we played a big pot and I doubled when he bricked out. So I am thinking he could have a big range but I know if I push and play for a 60k pot I am at best 50%, So I took in the value of just calling and seeing if I hit the flop and if I do I will give him some rope but checking and let him try and hang himslef. The flop come ace high , I checked it, he bet, I reraised him he called with AQ and GG me.
The following day I played a 1k buyin tourney and never really got ahould of any chips, I lasted til about 8 pm then when I busted I went and played the charity event UB put on for a local business that helps kids and familys in need. While playing the 1k tourney this lady on my left raised UTG with TT and gets called by 99 in late position and the button reraised with JT she and the other guy both call, the flop comes T high, she the the guy with JT get it all in and the board comes running JJ for her to lose her chips and double him up. Now a few minutes go by and she is still steaming and she reraised the guy whom had JT earlier and he calls half off his stack the flop comes JJ9 and she bets the flop and he calls making him all in and she flips over AA and he flips over Jc9c she screams out “God, I wanna kill a baby” I was in total shock hear a lady say this , right then and there I knew I wanted to bet she has never had a child, don’t worry river comes an ace and she busted him. I have heard many times over the years when you need to get lucky players will hollar “Just one time” but never had I heard that, But if it does work, I think poker players will say anything to make themselfs a little luckier.
The following day 10 of us had a shot at a $62,000 Mercedes, I was the second player knocked out when my TT ran into Ryan “papaGEORGIO’s JJ, Poker Ho was still playing and got heads up and ending up doing really well because they agreed to a chop and I had a small % of Ho which added to my drinking fund.
My girlfriend Amy fly in around 10pm that night, I went with my driver for the past 7 years named Henry and we picked her up and headed off to Phil Hellmuths private party ontop of the raddison in his suite. We just missed the Dan Band play, but the party was killer, check out many of the videos on youtube.com
The next night was the closing party and both Eric and Robert make the final table , Eric finishing 4th and ended up leading the Card Player of the Year points leader and Robert ended up in 2nd place , winning this year was Brandon Hall from Pa winning a little over three quarters of a million for his efferts., Thats a nice way to enjoy a trip in paradise.
The Dan Band was awesome as there were in Vegas when they played for our WSOP party a couple of years back, Many people got into the pool and it was really a ton of fun. The opening part rocked as well with tons of people in the pool and lets just say some where wearing less than others thanks to Phil’s bribes. and NO I was not offended in any way.
I hope you are all planning on next years Aruba trip, they just seem to get better and better, I missed seeing a few of you and hope this next year can be the best ever!
I am off to go help teach the November Nine Final Table Academy in Las vegas on Nov 6th, 7th and 8th Featuring poker instructors Phil Hellmuth, Greg Raymer, Bernard Lee, Mark Seif, Mark Kroon, Erica Schoenberg. Special Presentation by WSOP Commissioner, Jeffrey Pollack. Hope to see you there as well.
Proud UB Team Member
Shawn Rice
Tags: Aruba, Bernard Lee, best damn poker show 2, Bluff Radio, Debo, Eric Baldwin, Erica Schoenberg, Gavin Smith, greg raymer, jeffrey pollack, Jon Green, mark kroon, Mark Seif, matt brady, Mercedes, P0ker H0, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, Robert Mizrachi, ShawnRice, The Amazing Race, The Dan Band, Tiffany "Tiffany M" Michelle, ub, UB Team, Vegas, wiscomurray, WSOP
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