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, October 19, 2009 - Joe Sebok
Man, how time does fly. Seems like just yesterday I was in LA and then today I’m in…well, LA. That’s after hitting New York City, London, and Aruba, of course. Love my job! I’m a lucky dude, for sure. I was a little bummed about the Aruba trip though…
I managed to last almost to the first break, so that’s something I suppose. Haha. I picked up KK after a Layne Flack under-the-gun raise, and an Eric ‘basebaldy’ Baldwin reraise. Now, I know Eric’s got a hand in the first level there, but y’know, I’ve got two Kings! I four-bet it and Layne decides to get out of the way at that point. Eric flat-calls and I really didn’t like it at all. To make matters worse the flop comes down, Q108(two clubs), which basically means I am in serious trouble against every single hand he would have called with except two Jacks. Ugh, no good. I actually caught a break here though as he decided to bet out, thus allowing me to keep the pot small by not raising. I just called and we saw a turn of the 4 of clubs, which I thoughts was a great card as I had the King of clubs in my hand. Eric checked over and I didn’t see much point in betting here. If he had me beat, let’s keep it small. If I’ve got him, I’m not giving too many outs by checking, so I did so. Then a great thing happened, or so I thought, the 9 of clubs hit the river, giving me the second nuts. That’s the funny thing about the second nuts though, someone can have the actual NUTS! Aya…
Eric bet out and I made a crying call. “Aces with Ace of clubs?”, I asked him. He nodded and showed them to me. Ouch. In actuality though I was pretty lucky that I only lost about half of my stack on this hand. Sadly for me though, I managed to pick up two Kings again (!) about 15 hands later. I ended up losing the rest of my stack on that hand when my opponent made quads on me. Bingo bango bongo. Out.
I was pretty bummed for a little while. First big UB event after joining the team and I managed the make the least amount of noise possible, which sucks. The truth is though that busting in Aruba just isn’t as bad as busting anywhere else. There’s way too much to do to stay down for long, and that was the case as I hit the beach pretty quickly.
The rest of the week was a blast, as it always is in Aruba. Beach, cocktails, sun, partying, and some poker made the week excellent. Life ain’t too bad…it really ain’t. One night we actually engaged in the old standby from my radio show days: cocktails and $1-$2 no limit. This game is always unbelievably sick and always brings a ridiculous cast of characters. In this game we had myself, Joe Stapleton, Amanda Leatherman, Gavin Smith, Shawn Rice, Alex Schoenberg, and a few other assorted characters. We all have a penchant for just shoving it in the middle during those games, and this one was no exception. I was the lucky one that night though, as my hands were continually better (which was strange) and they always held up (which was even stranger), so I made out of the night with…wait for it… a $4,000 win (!!!). That’s just an absurd win at that level of stakes, so I was pretty stoked. Sorry, big Gavin! He shipped quite a bit over to me throughout the night.
Lots of work to do now that I’m back home in LA, but no rest for the wicked as we head to Vegas for the Bellagio WPT event next week. Send me some positive vibeage and let’s make something good happen, ya’ll…talk soon!
peace,
J
Tags: Alex Schoenberg, Amanda Leatherman, Aruba, Bellagio, Gavin Smith, Joe Stapleton, London, New York, Poker Poker Poker, ShawnRice, ub, Veghas, WPT
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Sunday, October 18, 2009 - Michaelbinger
Well it has been quite a few weeks. After a frustrating week or two of poker in London I flew from Amsterdam to Aruba on the 3rd. I knew immediately that I was in for a great week. I managed to convince my brother Nick to come out to Aruba for the first time so I had a partner in crime. Plus alot of good friends were going to be there. I really do have more and more fun every year in Aruba.
Day 1 Sun Oct 4: Nick and I rented a Catamaran sailboat (a Hobicat) and managed to capsize it only twice. It’s a bit of a pain to get them right side up in the middle of the ocean but well worth it for the fun and adventure. It was really a blast… we went sailing another 3 times during the week. We hung a few hours on the beach with some friends then headed back to the room to get ready for the opening party. Little did I know what an EPIC night we had in store. Things started off a bit tame (by which I mean a normal fun party), but about an hour or two into it people started getting rather drunk, and well… a massive epidemic of people getting thrown into the pool ensued. I must admit that myself, my brother Nick, and some other team UB pros were the main culprits behind this. We would spot someone in the crowd who we thought should be in the pool, and like savage hunters track them down and throw them in kicking and screaming (FYI they were fake screams… interesting fact: people love being thrown in pools! ). We were good though… we always gave our victim the opportunity to empty the pockets of cell phones and other stuff and give them to a friend before getting thrown in. Before long, it seemed like the entire party was in the pool. The award for toughest fighter goes to the newest UB team pro Joe Sebok… that kid is scrappy and strong… I think it took 4 of us to get him in the pool! But once he was in the pool, he came to see the wisdom of it all!
Day 2 Mon Oct 5: This was day 1A of the main event and we had the day off. A fun mostly lazy day on the beach interrupted only by going tubing. Four of us could go at a time on our own separate tubes and boat driver was on a mission to sling us around and knock us off. Quite exhilarating and fun. Dinner out in town at an awesome restaurant Madame Janette.
Day 3 Tues Oct 6: Time to play poker! We started with 15k in chips and as usual with tournaments run by Matt Savage the blind structure was very good. I finished the day with 41k I think, a bit above average. Off to bed early.
Day 4 Wed Oct 7: Nick and I woke up early to go for a swim in the ocean and then sailing before the noon day 2 restart. The winds were fairly strong and the skies ominous. We got pretty far from shore and decided that a fun way to practice sailing would be for one of us to jump out of the boat and have the other tack back to “rescue”. I was the first overboard and my brother decided to sail past me a few times just for fun before picking me up. Next it was Nick’s turn: he jumps overboard, and almost immediately the winds pick up. I am doing my best to control the small boat, which is going faster than ever. Before I even know what’s going on the front of the boat is plowing into the water and I am at 45 degrees… very close to flipping but I managed to lean back and counterbalance. I turn around and tack back towards Nick just as it starts pouring rain and lightning and thundering. It is getting a bit scary, but as an experienced seaman (this is my 2nd time sailing) I wasn’t fazed 
. I pick up Nick and we decide to head in… the only problem being that it is raining so hard we cannot see the shore. But a good sailor has an internal compass so we made it back safe and sound, in time to play some poker. Sadly the day didn’t go well for either of us. I built up to over 80k early on and was in strong position, but everything just fell apart and I busted in the evening… so I was stuck on a tropical island with tons of fun leisure/adventure activities and a bunch of cool people. Sigh.
Day 5 Thurs Oct 8: Horseback riding! Went with Nick, UB pro Liv Boeree, and Allie Prescott who sadly had to bail at the last minute do to illness. It was a blast, we got to gallup along the beach and mosey through the Aruban countryside. Great big group dinner.
Hung out in the pool for a while around midnight with a bunch of friends and UB pros. Went out to some clubs late night with Joe Reitman and ran into a bunch of great people. Walked home at 5am.
Day 6 Fri Oct 9: Another day of beach bumming and sailing. Good times. Then in the evening to Phil Hellmuth’s party in the penthouse suite. As usual, a great party. Lots of free flowing Dom Perignon, plus a performance by The Dan Band, who were awesome and funny. Oh yes and there was a rapping competition between Jeff Madsen and the Poker Rapper.
Day 7 Sat Oct 10: Lazy day shopping, getting lunch, then went out on the Waverunners. Had a blast once I figured out how to do 360’s. More beach bummery with the crew. Throwing around the nerf football and such. The closing party was that night, featuring another performance by The Dan Band, and another episode of debaucherous pool throwing and frolicking (see day 1).
Day 8 Sun Oct 11: Time to leave 
Until next year Aruba!
So now I’m back home in Vegas, playing some poker at the Bellagio and just catching up on life. Played the 10k HORSE event 2 days ago, which got only 19 players. Busted on day 2 yesterday. Probably playing the 10k PLO tomorrow… check me out on twitter for updates!
Best of Luck,
Michael Binger
Tags: Amsterdam, Aruba, Bellagio, Joe Reitman, Joe Sebok, Liv Boeree, London, Matt Savage, Michael Binger, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, Team UB, The Dan Band, Twitter, ub pros, Vegas
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Friday, August 28, 2009 - Bryan Devonshire
Oh man my back is killing me. I never, like, ever get back massages at the table, mostly because if I’m getting a massage it’s to relax and I don’t want to be sitting at a poker table trying to do that. But, my back was still super knotted from the last month of nonsense that for the first time this year I decided to go for my first back massage at the table. Plus, here in LA they’re cheaper than anywhere else. Most places rip you off at $2/minute (another reason I never get them), Bellagio is $15/25 mins, but in LA is $1/min. It turns out that most poker players choose their masseuses for the wrong reasons (’I bet that twenty-three year old blonde with fake boobs who is enough of a slut to be in Vegas with fake boobs but too conservative to be a stripper gives great massages’). Here in Los Angeles many of them have sideburns and/or moustaches, so they only get away with charging $1 per minute.
With the biggest pile of chips I’ve ever had in front of me growing with every orbit deep in day 3 of the Legends WPT main I ordered me up an Asian sideburn lady massage. Turns out they’re way stronger than the experts in Vegas, and by the end of the night, which turned out to be very depressing, my back was sore, like a hurt muscle sore.
All that to say that a full day and another night of sleep has passed since then, and I can barely move. You know when you have that cramp in your neck that keeps you from turning it in one direction, so every time you have to look that way you have to turn your whole body but you usually forget and try to just turn your neck and it hurts? Well my entire left side feels like that. It sucks.
Anyways, for 2.5 days I ran as good as I have ever run in a WPT main. I was chip leader in level one, I was chip leader in level 4, I ended day 1 21st/190 or so. Day two was great, had one hiccup where I doubled Daniel going into break but busted Kenna James first hand back to regain my pile. I then ran AA into KK for the 2nd biggest pile in the tournament, went into day 3 5th in chips, 73 remaining. First hand I open AQ, get shoved on by the BB who I snap and lose to AK. He then says, “I was going to shove no matter what I had.”
It didn’t take long though as several hands later I opened UTG with 22 (I mean, it’s hard to make a pair), get called by the BB, flop Q92 two clubs, he donks, I raise, he re-raises, I re-raise, he shoves, I decide to make a loose call, he has A8cc and we hold. Mike Karman in the 9 seat laughs, says, “How the f*** do you get them to put in so much money with a flush draw? It’s like you just melt their minds bro?!” The dealer says, “FLOOR!” Calls out Mike for using the f-bomb. Apparently that’s not cool here in LA, and he’s given a one hand penalty. They gave Steven Begleiter a one hand penalty for agreeing to check it down vs. another player who offered and got no penalty. They can alter the play schedule, play beyond the money on day three, but they can’t choose to not enforce a stupid rule that they admittedly will be removing after the tournament. Anyways, from then I just coolered the hell out of em every chance I could get. I busted Negreanu with 55 on a 775 flop. Checked to him on the button, I raised, he called with 33 cause he didn’t believe me then hit a third trey on the turn. I got it in vs. Kenny Ng with two red aces vs. his two red fives. Mike Karman folded the black fives. Pretty far ahead there lol.
Everything went great until we made the money. I was still chip leader. The first fifteen minutes went just fine, I chipped back up to 700k no problem, and then the wheels on the bus fell off. I open KQo to 13k at 3k-6k/500, get called by David Demanski, flop J73r I bet he calls, turn a 3 check, check, river a Q I bet 47,500 he makes it 100k. He’s never bluffing there ever so I fold. Sigh. Next hand kid to my right with 170k opens, I re-raise AQo, he tanks, makes it obvious that he doesn’t have me crushed, finally elects to shove, and I lose to jacks. I lost all five races I got in this tourney. Then, about an orbit later I open T8dd, get called by the button and Todd Terry in the big blind. I was down to about 420k at this point. Flop Q96ddd, check, I bet 27,500, button folds, Todd makes it 100k, I shove, he snaps with A7dd, and I had the chip lead at 27 players only to bust 26th. Sigh.
The final table starts in 45 minutes, Jon Little and I are going to be there to root on Todd and Sam, good luck kids.
Last night though was a blast. Tony Gurgano and I were looking to cause some trouble, went over to the Bike to find Kim or anybody else who wanted to come out and play, found Jon Little, and we decided that we needed to either start a game of Pan or Mexican Poker. Pan was far too complex and the villains far too old, so we said, “Odelay, vato,” and played some $2-4 Mexican poker. Turns out I’m a Mexican poker fish as I lost $174, but I had a hell of a time. The game is like five card stud, spread limit betting. 2nd street is one down, one up, high card brings it in for either $2 or $4 (which doesn’t make sense since that card is usually the best hand). This should deter action, but according to the self proclaimed best, “Yoo guys, yoo fold mang. Mesikan players tho don’t fold mang.” “So you’re saying Mexican players are bad at Mexican poker?” asks Jon Little. “Si.” Jon tried to become this guy’s backer. He claimed to win 20 tournaments over the last two years, and they only have one a week.
So.. two down, one up, high card brings it in for $2 or $4. The deck is 41 cards. No tens, nines, or eights, one joker (YO-ker). If the yoker comes up, it’s like a Pai-Gow joker, plays for straights, flushes, and as an ace. Flushes beat full houses. If the yoker comes face down, it’s wild, even if you decide to turn it up. Because on third street, you have a choice. You can roll your hole card revealing what you have and get a new down card, or you can choose to keep your hole card concealed and get a 3rd card face up. Tony did this once and got the joker up and they all spoke in Spanish about what a fish he was. Hilarious. You get the same choice on 4th and 5th street, and truly made the game fun as hell.
Due to the absence of the eights, nines, and tens, Mexican broadway is A, K, Q, J, 7. Lol. In one hand Tony found himself on 4th street with A, K, Q, 7, vs. 3, 3, yoker, brick. I’m like, he’s drawing dead. “No, no, no, no, mang, he has un straight draw.” Ding, jack for Mexican broadway, “Aye yai yai!” He made that hand twice and won like a rack. Amazing.
On top of the card shuffler it said, “English only.” We made fun of it in Spanish, especially when the Asian dealer said “Ocho!” after I re-raised on 2nd street.
Peace and good luck,
Devo
Tags: Bellagio, Legends WPT, Los Angeles, Massage, Mexican Poker, Poker Poker Poker, Vegas
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009 - HollywoodDave
Well my peeps, another week, another FT, baybee! I went down to the Hard Rock here in Vegas (haven’t really left since the WSOP ended lol) the other day to play in the first event of their new Megastack series. Its the first time they’ve put on an official series of events (as opposed to running just dailies etc) so I figured it would be off the radar a bit and ripe with donkalicious rockers ready to be taken down by yours truly. And it did not disappoint!
The field had a couple scattered semi-pros but for the most part these guys loved to drink & wear their tells on their sleeve. There were only about 100 people total playing this inaugural event, and before i knew it i was super deep and approaching the money bubble. What was really awesome as well was the structure of this tourney was really well thought out — usually in the deepstack events at the Venetian or Caesars or whatever, despite how many chips you start with, two or 3 hours in the structure starts skipping crucial levels that make the majority of the field suddenly shortstacked, no matter how many chips in front of them. Not so here at the Hard Rock — even though it took more than 12 hours to go from 100 to the money, i never felt as if the structure skimped on any necessary levels, which made for a lot of great play.
I ran pretty good, picking up big hands often enough — and more importantly, getting paid off on them as well — til inevitably I got my JJ cracked by 77 about 5 people from the money. I still made it to the FT ok but never could recover… it was one of those pots that woulda made me the mega chip leader or crippled, and of course it all came down to the fucking 7 on the river. It was a shame, because I really felt like I was the best player in the field at that point, at even shortstacked at the final table had a lot of confidence that i could still win by picking the right spots and getting the money in good.
Alas it wasn’t to be, and 7th is all I could pull. I ran into too many bigger hands when I had decent ones, and was too short to capitalize on my monsters. All in all, it was good to be back in live action, since one of the last live events I played was one of the Bellagio Cup event last month where I also final tabled (6th in that one). A good vote of confidence if nothing else!
Other than that, just been playing a lot online at UB and looking forward to Aruba. I’ve got that sick suite hooked up at the Occidental next door to the Radisson, and am planning to stay for a full week AFTER the poker party leaves the island… can’t wait! Also my pilot is now officially done & we are shopping international networks til October, then pitching domestically all fall after that. So HD will be back on air soon, bitches!
Alright, rock on, I’m out –
-hd.
Tags: Aruba, Bellagio, Caesars, Hard Rock, Hollywood Dave, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, ub, Vegas, Venetian, WSOP
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Saturday, July 25, 2009 - Phil Hellmuth
Many years ago my license plate in California was 7poker7 and Phil Ivey had just won his third World Series of Poker (WSOP) poker tourney. My hats off to Phil, he always plays great poker and takes advantage of some really good luck. He is after all at the final table of the 2009 WSOP. Layne “Back to back” Flack was having a great tourney as well, he has won the first two no limit hold’em events that year (back to back!). Johnny Chan took the all-time money lead at the WSOP from me and TJ, and Johnny were having a great years as well. TJ was having a great year, and if his As-Ks would have beat Layne’s 9-9 (they were all-in before the flop for about $350,000 apiece), then he would have the all-time money list lead instead of Johnny (Johnny finished second to Layne, and TJ third in the last no limit event).
In 1993, I won the first two no limit hold’em events, and three WSOP titles that year. Then I went on and took the all-time money lead at the WSOP. Ah, the past…unfortunately the past isn’t all that it is cracked up to be in today’s “what have you done for me lately” society. The WSOP is a tough tournament to digest when you’re a little bit off of your game or the cards refuse to let you win (personally, I’ve been a little bit off of my game for the most part, and a little bad luck at the wrong time has cost me some final tables as well). Five weeks of WSOP futility is enough to drive you stark raving mad! Wait a minute though, I thought to myself, I still have a full week left at the WSOP, and the “Big One” to play in before my year is blown (not to mention the Bellagio’s $10,000 buy-in event). Believe me, I’m ready to turn things around soon I thought.
How do I make seven top fifteens back then in 24 events, and then only one top fifteen in the first twenty two events the next year? How does Chris Ferguson do roughly the same thing (six one year followed by 2 the next year)? How does Men “the Master” Nguyen fan (without even cashing once!) 80 tournaments in a row, and then explode at the Taj Mahal and finish first, second and first in three consecutive days (and make seven final tables)? I believe that there is some bio-rhythm like element in poker that is often over looked by us poker players. Some days I can sit down in a tourney after not playing poker for a month, and just play so well that I am shocked. When this happens, then I know that I will play great poker for the next 40 days or so (experience has shown me that this is the case for me). Other times, I can’t seem to execute my game plan very well. In both cases – stellar play and sub-par play – I keep roughly the same routine as far as exercise, sleep, diet etc…
If my theory is right (and I’m pretty sure it is based on the “streaks” that most great tournament players fall into), then I can only hope that this period of sub-par play is about to end I thought. I had been playing sub-par from April 9th till May 12th that year, isn’t one month enough to suffer from “bad bio-rhythms’?” All I wanted to read was “Phil Hellmuth is the 2002 WSOP match play Champion” and “Phil Hellmuth is the 2002 World Champion of Poker”. My California license plate 7poker7 (the “7” represents seven WSOP wins) at the time but I was hoping to change it to 9poker9 or 8poker8 real soon. I just hoped that my bio-rhythms changed soon enough for me to get the California license plate 9poker9 in 2002! Well now that the WSOP is over for another year, I’m hoping that in 2010 my license will read 12poker12!
Tags: Bellagio, Chris Ferguson, johnny chan, Layne Flack, phil ivey, Taj Mahal, WSOP
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Thursday, July 23, 2009 - HollywoodDave
When I was a kid growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, my favorite place to go was our annual summer trip to Cedar Point. Its the world’s coolest amusement park, known for having the best rollercoasters on the planet, and its only 2 hours or so outside Cleveland. So every summer I would eagerly look forward to a weekend full of twisting, turning, high-speed awesomeness!
Years later, I gotta be honest. The rollercoaster rides haven’t stopped, only this time they’re not at the amusement park, they’re on the felt! We all experience the highs and lows of poker (and in my case, professional blackjack as well), but this year for me has been particularly erratic. I’ve had some great highs — winning a WSOP Circuit ring, final tabling a Bellagio Cup event, having some killer sessions online playing poker (and live playing blackjack, hallelujah), but unfortunately for every 2 steps forward it seems as if I’ve also taken 3 steps back.
This is usually the point in my pro blog here on UB that I’d offer some sort of ‘lesson learned’ platitudes, but not so today. Today I’m just frustrated. Frustrated at the negative sessions I’ve had over the past few months practically negating all the successes. And its a frustration I’m sure a lot of you can understand — getting excited about winning a ton one day, only to lose it all back & then some a day later. And its a rollercoaster ride that for once, instead of getting excited over, is starting to make me feel a little sick!
I guess if there is something to be gleaned from these experiences, its that poker, at the end of the day, is a game of swings. Its rarely a straight path upwards, but rather a jagged journey full of plenty of peaks, dips and valleys. And sometimes the best we can do is hold on, focusing on playing well & having the trust that proper money management can see us through the low points until the variance evens out & the wins overtake the losses once again.
What’s difficult for me right now as a professional player is feeling as if I’m playing some of my best poker ever, and having it not ultimately matter at the end of the day. It makes me question and second-guess everything that I rely on in my arsenal of the critical thinking, analytical skills I bring to the tables. There’s only so many times you can get rivered for a monster pot before you start thinking to yourself that maybe there’s something else that you coulda done to avoid the situation. Constant questioning can ultimately be good to improve your game, but at what cost to your in-game confidence along the way?
So, this is where I am this week. Confronting the big questions about my game that hopefully will continue to make me a better player. I know I am on the right track, and I know I have a talent for this game that many others in it don’t share. So I owe it to myself to continue to grow and develop my skills to become the best player I can be. And along the way, maybe I can start to love the crazy rollercoaster ride once again.
-hd.
Tags: Bellagio, Hollywood Dave, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, ub, WSOP
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Sunday, July 12, 2009 - HollywoodDave
Weeeeeellllll…..that’s it for me, peeps. 2 long months of grinding in the desert and here’s looking at some unavoidable final stats:
Played about 8 bracelet events, no cashes! Although on the positive side, i went sooooper deep in almost every event I played, bubblling several (including going out 94th when 90 paid the world’s largest 900+ person Omaha 8 or better event) so I am gonna take this as a sign that I am playing well. I never felt like I ‘accidentally’ went deep or had to suck out to make it…in fact, the story of almost every event for me was that I was practically a chip leader early, went cards dead for hours, managed to pick spots and leverage some hands to make it deep, then got horribly sucked out on in a key hand or 2 to cripple or eliminate me. So I actually get to walk away from the WSOP feeling good despite the less than stellar results!
As far as other events — made 13th in a Golden Nugget Stud 8 event…unfortunately the tourney was sooooo top heavy I only walked with $100 more than my buy in! I made up for it last week, however, going deep in a 400-person field at the Bellagio Cup to take 6th and $7k. And believe it or not I actually played a little blackjack this summer around town, picking up a few grand for my troubles along the way. Amazing — i’ve been playing so much poker, I almost forgot I still have a big edge in blackjack lol
One of the most exciting parts of my summer is my TV show ‘Grifting’ that I shot the pilot for, and as we speak am packing to go back to LA to finish shooting some pickups & do the voiceover for. The shoot went great — we put together a lot of footage of me playing a ton of different games (since the show is about me trying to beat a different game each episode). So for the pilot I ended up playing German skat at a real German community center, English draughts (basically checkers) in an authentic English pub, Magic: the Gathering at a comic book shop against some hardened little dudes (read: my brothers!), backgammon against a master of the game, & mah jongg and Go against some serious Asian grinders in a secret Koreatown club. Totally awesome!
I also got to have some fun this summer, especially last week at a few of the WSOP parties. Of course Ultimatebet threw an awesome event at the MGM’s Studio 54, complete with Hellmuth descending from a lier. I also went to Annie Duke’s private dinner at Lavo over at the Palazzo and got to spend some time with some good poker peeps. And along the way we worked in a pool party BBQ at my sis Erica Schoenberg’s place out in Henderson. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon!
The other nite my hottie girlfriend MB and I went over to the Orleans to see Bill Maher perform, only to find Gus Hansen sitting right next to us. We had a good chat about backgammon before the show started…and it rocked. I’ve seen Bill perform before but he is definitely only getting better with time.
And with that, I gotta get back to the Left Coast for the weekend… rock on & good luck to my friends who are still fighting the good fight in the Main Event, I will be back to sweat you Day 6! Unfortunately SOME of us got locked out of Day 1D as they decided to shut down registration an hour before the event started for the day & then not allow any alternates. I’ve heard the arguments from Harrah’s perspective, but at the end of the day, the one rule should be this: no one should EVER be turned away from the Main Event. EVER. I understand several other bracelet events fill to capacity; that shouldn’t be an issue at the ME. I understand having so many more people on the last day creates an imbalance in the Day 2’s and creates challenges to playing down in 7 days; that still shouldn’t be an issue for the ME. If on Day 5 or 6 you realize you haven’t built in enough time, oh well. Adjust. Add a level to a day of play. Lord knows we’ve seen plenty of final tables go until the next morning after ridiculous heads-up matches this year (50k HORSE went until 10 am or so!). Let the people play. Make adjustments. NO ONE should ever be turned away from the ME. Period.
Alrighty then, rockstars, I’m out!
-hd.
Tags: Annie Duke, Bellagio, Bill Maher, Golden Nugget, Grifting, harrah's, Hollywood Dave, MGM, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, Studio 54, tv, ub, WSOP
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - Miss C
Hey All,
Boy doesn’t time fly here in Vegas? It has been a good week, a quiet week! (I don’t think I saw the sun come up this week:)) This is going to be quite somber compared to the last couple but nevertheless it is all still happening. The WSOP has seen 30+ tournaments been played and I hate to count how many others there are throughout Vegas.
The weather here in Vegas has been really bearable and not that over the top heat it normally has. It has been very overcast, but still warm. I think we are all waiting for the sky high temperatures to happen and like everything else in Vegas I expect it to happen over night. Since my home is Bellagio and I refuse to drive here (well I can’t drive here , but that is another story for another blog) I have been getting taxis everywhere. They have upped the price of cab fares and now a minimum fair would be $10. They are also doing road work all over the place. I have never seen as much construction in this town as I have seen on this trip. The county have a lot to answer for when they do road work on Flamingo and Tropicana at the same time, it makes no sense at all. Okay that is my vent for this week.
On the poker side though, Annie Duke did really well in Event 18 – Omaha HiLo 8 or Better 10K. Annie finished 8th out of 179 players and picked up $58049 for the trouble. UB’s latest addition – Liv Boeree made the money of Event 28 – No Limit Holdem and came 57th out of 2638, for her efforts she picked up $7237. Liv is coming to us off a great run at the Bellagio and WPT tournament here in Vegas in April. We welcome her to the team!
The party hype in Vegas is starting to show its head. The week leading up to the Main Event is generally the week when companies in the business throw a party. This is the time I need a social coordinator so I know where to go each night. It is not unusual to have to go to 3-4 parties in the same night. Agh the joys. Remember to put Monday, June 29th in your calendar as it is UB’s party at Studio 54 at the MGM. The party will start at 9pm and Phil will be giving away an Aruba Poker Classic package inclusive of a ticket for 2, to his VIP party to be held in the penthouse at the Radisson Aruba.
Okay till next week, hope the cards work for you.
Cheers,
Miss C
Tags: Annie Duke, Aruba Poker Classic, Bellagio, Liv Boeree, Main Event, MGM, Phil Hellmuth, Radisson Aruba, Studio 54, ub, Vegas, WPT, WSOP
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Tuesday, June 2, 2009 - Miss C
Hey Guys,
Survived! The 1st week at the WSOP has been great. I totally feel at home (a friend called the other night and asked where I was, my reply was “Home” and then I started laughing and said “Bellagio” which I guess really is home for the WSOP) and I am looking forward to a Week 2. The 1st social event on the calendar was Annie’s “Sucking out on the Rivers” Charity Poker Tournament. It was a great night with some fantastic Joan Rivers impersonators and also some really scary Joan Rivers impersonators. As with life you have to take the good with the bad:)
Everything I wanted to do in Vegas got achieved in the 1st week. This is definitely an omen and the following weeks can and will only get better. The sales have started here and I have had a chance to visit a few shops and make a few purchases (3 pairs of shoes [2 x CL & 1 x Havaianas], 4 tops and 2 pairs of pants Thought I would get it in before it got absolutely hectic and I start struggling to get out of bed. On the topic of beds, I think I have found a piece of heaven…the beds at Bellagio rock, it is like sleeping on a cloud.
So far the numbers at the Series have been good. The 40K (Event 2) got 201 runners, fairly impressive for the 1st big one on the season. The “stimulus package” tournament (Event 4 NLHE 1K) blew itself out of the water (it was predicted to do so anyway). If this trend continues the payouts are going to be great and the lead up events definitely worth playing. When playing you should be wearing the UB swag, all the gear is really cool and the hats are the best I have ever seen. To get your swag, come to Bellagio, find a house phone and ask to be put through to Phil Hellmuth. We will come down and get you.
Off the topic of poker, Vegas had a special visitor….President Barack Obama. I felt quite privileged to be in the same town and even closer the hotel next door to the President. He came into town for a charity event that was held at Caesars Palace. I can say that I saw Air force 1 taxiing at McCarran airport from my hotel room! Vegas and the Strip weren’t as chaotic as I thought a man with this kind of stature would cause. I did speak to a taxi driver the day Obama left and he mentioned that the freeway was shut for his ride to the airport. Out of sight out of mind!
Good Luck! Bring on Week 2.
Cheers,
Miss C
Tags: Annie Duke, Barrack Obama, Bellagio, Christian Louboutin, Havaianas, Joan Rivers, las vegas, Obama, Phil Hellmuth, President, ub, Vegas, WSOP
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