Thursday, November 19, 2009 - Liv Boeree
Well Foxwoods is over and no WPT title for me this time but it was a lot of fun. My first day I had Lee Markholt to my right along with Ted Ely, Terrance Chan who were also on my table. I lost a big pot very early on to Terrance with 88s where I bluffed one too many streets but made it back to starting stack and then won a decent pot where I turned the nut flush and had my opponent bluff of a significan amount on all three streets (I check to him each time as he had position) and he took the bait on the river with an over pot sized bet – as the board was paired I was only gonna call and it turned out he had King high – lovely! I ended up finishing day 1 with around 40k which was pretty comfortable. Day 2 looked like it was gonna be really good as I had a pretty soft table of unknowns (except for Brock Parker on my left which wasn’t fun) however I lost quite a big pot to a lady who flopped the nut straight vs my top pair top kicker (yes, she called a raise out the BB with 10-7 off) and it came J 9 8 and then I whiffed every other hand after that resulting in me getting short and reshoving over an aggressive late position raiser that didn’t work out my way… Anyway, after that a group of us WPT rejects headed on a roadtrip which has now just bought me to NYC where I am presently. On the way we stopped off in Boston and had a raucous night involving Uncle Kracker and Train (don’t ask) at the House of Blues and then a long ass bus journey to NY. I need a night off!! Coming up next week is the USPC and a deepstack tourney at the Borgata in Atlantic City which will be my first time there too, can’t wait!
Tags: Foxwoods, Poker Poker Poker, WPT
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Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - Billy Kopp
Recently while playing in a WPT event, the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods, I came across a very interesting scenario. The blinds were 100 200 with a 25 ante at a full table of 9 players. The starting stack was 30,000 chips and by this level (level 2) I had managed to increase my stack to around 69,000 chips. Early position raised to 600, (a known younger successful live and online player) and has been playing reckless early on trying to build a stack. This is a standard three times the big blind opening raise at this point. A European man to his direct left that had been playing many pots but not 3-betting often or anything too crazy just calls the raise. The action folds around to me on the button and I look down at QQ.
Typically, QQ warrants a raise a good majority of the time but early on in the tournament I elected to just call as well for multiple reasons.
1. I had not 3 bet yet and in doing so may show great strength and cause both opponents to fold.
2. The aggressive player who I know was continuation betting more than 75% of the time and I figured the same would happen here as he was out of position and I could extract more chips that way on a good flop.
3. By just calling I am completely under representing the value of my hand and can get in cheap but create a great pot post flop on great boards due to the hidden strength of my hand.
The flop comes 2 3 9 rainbow.
This is a great flop for my hand a good majority of the time. Hands like A9 suited, 45 suited, 910 suited, 1010,jj, etc. are all dogs in the hand. Surprisingly the aggressive initial raiser just checks. The European man leads for 1,000 chips into a 2,325 chip pot. I decided to raise it up to 3,000 even. The initial raiser quickly folds and the European man thinks before making it 8325….. This is the point in the hand where several things start going through my mind: 1. The European was playing lots of pots, had not shown down a monster hand and would probably re-raise a big pair pre-flop so I don’t feel that KK or AA is very likely. 2. He also knows that the aggressive player was splashing around a bit and if he called to hit a set, he may get paid off so 22 33 and 99 are all in his range for sure. 3. He could also have 1010 or JJ which he may put in another raise with, which I do beat. If I elect to call his raise here, the pot is going to be the 2325 pre-flop + 16,650 which is around 19,000 chips. He is out of position and will likely be betting anywhere from 9,000-15,000 give or take. If the turn is another blank and I call a bet the pot is now 40,000 at minimum and I would have a bit more than a pot size bet left. I believe he only started the hand with 50,000 so if he decides to not shut down, I am going to be confronted with calling off most of my 350 big blinds in a beyond marginal spot on a board that may look great originally but more than likely drawing to two outs.
In retrospect, I should have never raised QQ on the flop with the intent to fold if he came over the top. I didn’t plan in my mind what I would do in the event that the worst case scenario happened and it did. I was more worried about the initial raiser with a super wide range of hands potentially getting there on the turn and ended up raising the European to force the aggressor out. I played it slow pre-flop and should have just called the flop bet and played in position and reevaluated on other streets.
Maybe I had the best hand, who knows. It was not worth finding out with one pair for around 350 big blinds in this early marginal spot. The bottom line is that I cost myself a decent amount of chips and maybe a great pot by making a small mistake on the flop. By not thinking one step ahead and thinking about potential moves on future streets, I forced myself into having to fold a very valuable showdown hand if he has merely an unimproved 9 or the other potential hands that I have stated besides a set.
Take your time with decisions like this in tournaments and try to reason all possibilities out. Try to put your opponent on a range of hands and the best way to play yours against it in the most unpredictable way. Think strategy, and THINK AHEAD.
-Billy Kopp
Tags: Foxwoods, Poker Poker Poker, World Poker Finals, WPT
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Saturday, November 14, 2009 - Michaelbinger
Hello all,
I just got back from one of the most amazing trips of my life. My brother and I went diving with great white sharks and fishing for tuna about 200 miles off the coast of Mexico. We had to skip the WPT at Foxwoods, but wow was it worth it.
We met our fellow travelers on Wednesday morning in San Diego, boarded a bus for the port of Ensenada Mexico, and departed on a long distance fishing boat called the Searcher. There was a crew of 6 or 7 and 16 passengers. We left port around 2pm and headed out into the Pacific for our 18 hour journey to the remote Guadalupe Island. Shortly after leaving port, we were graced by dozens of dolphins and some whales.
For dinner we had an amazing gourmet meal prepared by the on-board chef Charles. Did not expect to be eating that good on a boat!
We arrive to the island the next morning and promptly get to our business. A suitable spot is found, the water is chummed, and the cages are put in the water. The cages are about 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 10 feet tall and hold up to 4 people at a time. The water is sufficiently cold to warrant full body wet suits; oxygen is supplied from the boat through a tube and regulator. My brother and I were part of the first group to go in… some 30 minutes or so passed before the first shark showed up… a 15 foot great white. Quite a beast! At this point you become more aware of the large open window in the cage… just about big enough for the shark to pop in and grab a little human snack. However, after a little while it becomes clear that no such thing will happen… these guys are cautious creatures… and anyways they don’t really like the taste of human flesh. They do however swim within arms reach of the cage regularly, prompted both by curiosity as well as the bait… there are large tuna carcasses attached to a rope on the surface near the cages. Watching them go for these is quite a sight.
Words don’t really do this justice… so check out the pics below and more on my facebook page, where you’ll also find some video.
Our second full day we pulled in the cages and did some fishing instead. First we were after yellowfin tuna, a staple for many sushi dishes. They were biting in a big way… I had my line out for all of 30 seconds when I hooked one. They are quite the fighters… it took 15-20 minutes or so to land him… a 50 pounder. I ended up catching another pretty quickly. Then I hooked a monster… this guy was fighting much harder than the others. I fought with him for almost 30 minutes before a great white was spotted circling the boat and I was warned that they often pick off tuna from the lines. I see the shark head down into the depths where my fish was, and next thing I know my fish goes bananas. I couldn’t see him but I felt it. Then all of a sudden the pressure on my line subsides… but I still have something on there… putting up a little bit of a fight. I reel in as quickly as I can and finally catch a glimpse of about 2/3’s of a huge tuna fish shimmering in the depths! Then wouldn’t you know it, Mr. Shark comes back and intercepts the remainder of his meal, putting the poor tuna out of his misery and giving me quite a fish story. I got sharked! The crew actually has a term for it… they call it paying your taxes! This is one tough tax man! Later on I hooked another tuna (and in the process my line snapped the line on a fish my brother had been fighting for a long time… sorry Nick!) and eventually got shark chomped again… however this time he left me the head to bring aboard. Check out the pic! After everyone had caught their fill of yellowfin tuna, we changed locations in pursuit of yellowtail snapper (Hamachi to sushi aficionados). I managed to catch one of about 15-20 pounds. By evening time we were getting hungry… and as luck would have one of the crew members is an experienced sushi chef. We had the most amazing fresh sushi ever.
It was a great day… and Nick and I took home about 60 pounds of fillets of sushi grade tuna and yellowtail which are currently vacuum sealed and in our freezer. I pan seared some last night… yum!
Day 3 we were back in the water in the cages diving with the sharks. Another amazing day, with perfect weather and 2 great whites showing up and hanging out with us most of the day. There were times when both were very close to the cage simultaneously.
Towards evening it was time to say goodbye to Guadalupe Island and start chugging on our 18 hour journey back to civilization. There were some serious swells and several on board got sick. The next morning we were entering Ensenada bay when a pod of 6-8 Orca whales (Killer whales) was spotted at the mouth of the bay. We diverted to check them out. While ooohing and aaahing we notice a huge group of dolphins… well over a hundred. They were booking it from the interior of the bay along the rocky abutment heading towards open water. The crew tells us that yes, orcas do eat dolphins, and that the orcas had essentially trapped the dolphins in the bay. The dolphins were trying to escape. At this point the orcas take off from frolicking near our boat and plot an intercept course. They split the dolphins into two groups; one heads out to sea and relative safety while the other heads back into the bay where they must bide their time. And at least one poor dolphin got picked off from the rest of the group… we watched in fascination and horror as the orcas chased it down, caught it, threw it in the air and then proceeded to eat it. A flock of seagulls descended to fight over the leftovers. The crew said they had never seen anything like that before. We were very fortunate to have witnessed such a raw and uncensored act of nature.
Really an amazing trip… made me realize why I played poker again… so that I can have the flexibility to have these experiences.
Last night I played a bit of poker online… including the VIP freeroll on UB which I hosted. I ended up winning it for $1200! Nice to run good.
Best of Luck,
Michael Binger
Tags: Foxwoods, Michel Binger, Online Poker, Poker Poker Poker, ub, VIP Freeroll, WPT
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Sunday, November 8, 2009 - Roothlus
Hey fellow UB-ites. I was just trying to think of a way to say people of UB. UBians? I dunno. UB-ites doesn’t sound too bad. Either way, I digress (already). So I’ve been m.i.a. the past couple of weeks. Aruba came and went, not like a midday rain shower, but more like a category 5 hurricane where you’re lucky to get out alive with your liver still in tact. After Aruba, I came home for a couple of weeks, tried to get back into a good fitness schedule and book some wins in cash and tourneys. I did pretty well with all three. Went to the gym a respectable amount, broke even in cash, which considering how seldom I play cash is also respectable, and even won 2 tourneys with a couple other solid cashes.
Then I left for Las Vegas for the Caesars Classic $5k Main Event, which was my first visit back to Vegas since I moved away 3 months ago. It’s always nice to go back to a place you once lived and enjoy all the things you loved about the city. Vegas is a great place for that. If you live there it loses a bit of it’s luster but if you visit there’s so much to do with so little time it seems like an amazing city. And it is, amazing…for tourists. I went to Naked Fish, the place where I was Poker Punk’ed, to enjoy some delightful sushi and even got to Carne Vino, which is definitely one of my favorite steakhouses. I would highly, HIGHLY, recommend it to any steakhouse lover. I still think the food in Vegas is the best part of Vegas. I was really impressed with myself. I barely drank while I was there, didn’t got to a club, and didn’t even have an itch to go to the infamous Spearmint Rhino. I did get to hang with friends and stay at four different places while I was there. I guess you could say I was a vagabond and while my back wasn’t happy with me sleeping on couches day in day out, it’s definitely a good way to do Vegas if you know a lot of people. It keeps things interesting. As far as the tournament went, I played extremely well. Made some sick plays, grinded my shortstack when I needed to, but ultimately fell short of the final table and reshoved A10o into Kathy Liebert’s AQo to bust in 12th. One thing it did do was motivate me to play more live poker after a rough 2009 on the live circuit. I’m actually typing this blog on my way to Foxwoods.
So the meat of the blog is my Halloween experience! Awesome. Just awesome., but it started off really stressful and I was on the verge of giving up on the whole night entirely. My Halloween journey started around 8ish when I went to go pick up my friends and bring them back to my place so we could all take a limo from one place. Getting a limo on Halloween in a busy city is a must. Last year we couldn’t find a cab and we had to walk a mile home. I went to go pick them up about 15 minutes from my place. It was already starting to get busy and the only parking available was next to a fire hydrant. Oh, perfect, I’m only waiting for a couple of minutes so that’s fine. So I tell my friends to come out but since they are girls, saying “I’ll be right there”, never means that. I waited patiently in the car but because we were kind of on a time crunch I called them and even got out of my car in an attempt to go up to their apartment and make them hurry up. I left my blinkers on because I wanted people to know I was going to be leaving shortly. They said they were on their way and I decided to wait outside my car while they came down. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes but when I went to turn the car on, the starter made a clicking sound, and the engine wouldn’t budge which was weird because the windows, lights, and radio all worked. Regardless, I’m screwed. We assess the situation and I get in contact with my Infiniti roadside assistance who thankfully dispatched someone right away to be there within 30 minutes.
While we were waiting for the repair vehicle, fire trucks came racing down the street and stopped on our block. At this point, I really start to lose it. My car isn’t starting and it’s parked next to a fire hydrant. I would just feel horrible if there really was a major fire and I was blocking the fire hydrant. But thankfully for my own sanity’s sake, it ended up just being a false alarm. PHEW! The repair truck came and gave me a start and we were off Ricky Bobby style. I really did some excellent driving while we jammed out to fun songs to get us pumped for the night.
Oh yea, one key thing: I still had to get into my costume! Luckily it was this Cookie Monster costume I bought online the other day at a website aptly named BuyCostumes.com. It was just a one-piece costume and within 10 minutes I was ready. Unfortunately I had to park my car in front of a garage because parking was so brutal on my street. You think I would’ve learned my lesson but nope. The limo driver needed to get through so I had to move my car regardless. Of course, as luck would have it, the car didn’t start AGAIN. Like come the f on! So I had to have Amit, my roommate a.k.a. Amak316, and the only other guy there help me move my car in neutral uphill. There’s a picture of it somewhere and it’s hilarious but we did it. We pushed it into the limo’s old spot. Somehow it all came together and all ten of us in the limo were off to our Halloween adventure!
We went to this club called Madame Royale which was throwing a Halloween party hosted by Ryan Cabrera. Inside was a blast. Apparently, chicks dig Cookie Monster. Everywhere I walked girls would be like OMG that’s Cookie Monster. I even got some props from random dudes. It definitely was a hit and if I could wear that Cookie Monster costume everywhere, all the ladies would have to watch out !
The next stop was a house party which was a nice change from the fast-paced style of any club. I ended up finding someone wearing a TinkyWinky costume and jokingly told him we should throw down and the winner of the fight would officially be crowned the best children’s show! What’s funny is later on in the night I found out I knew the guy and neither of us realized it initially. The alcohol was scarce at the house party so I got creative and used wine as my mixer for vodka. After that, it was official: I was drunk. The rest of the night was a blur. I know at one point I was chatting up with a homeless guy while trying to rap with Jeff Madsen on the side of the street while waiting for our limo who also coincidentally broke down. But that’s the best part of any drunken night, trying to piece together what happened the next morning.
I hope your Halloween was at least as crazy and fun as mine. If not, you disappoint me! Well, until next, keep killing it at the tables and living your life to the fullest off of them!
Tags: Aruba, Caesars Classic, Foxwoods, halloween, Live Poker, Poker Poker Poker, tournaments, ub, Vegas
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Thursday, November 5, 2009 - Liv Boeree
I’m here at Foxwoods (for those that don’t know, it’s a casino complex in the middle of nowhere in particular in Connecticut) and I’ve been playing three days solid trying to win my seat into the WPT. It’s not going well so far. I got pretty close by winning my way into the final act but then bombed from that so now I’ve only got a day left to get in. Argh! Anyway, gotta keep positive so fingers crossed today’s the day. One good thing that has come of the trip so far however was being invited to go over to ESPN to film an episode of the Inside Deal. Appearing on the show with me was Chad Brown, who’s one of the nicest guys I’ve met through poker. We got to see all the famous studios in ESPN and shown all around the complex, which is HUGE. I’m fairly sure I saw some famous American sports stars but being from the wrong side of the pond I couldn’t tell you who they were! Anyway, the episode is here and ready for viewing… http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4619206
Gotta love our acting! Ahem…
Tags: Chad Brown, espn, Foxwoods, Poker Poker Poker, The Inside Deal, WPT
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Tuesday, April 7, 2009 - Miss C
Hi All,
I am sitting here and it feels like the calm before the storm. Easter is fast approaching and this will be my last bit of time off before all the madness really kicks in. And the only reason it will be time off…is that where I am going there is no internet connections. Well there is dial up, but we all know how passe that is:) I am off to spend 4 days over easter on the island of San Andreas, Colombia. The email situation shouldn’t really be that bad as everyone else will be enjoying easter too.
After easter I am off to Vegas and I cannot wait. It really has been too long. I am heading over to finalize our plans for the WSOP. In addition due to good timing, I will be present for the start of the WPT 25K Championship Event at Bellagio. UB did something interesting for this event and ran satellites for the land based satellites into the big 1. That almost sounds like the most perfect excuse for a long weekend in Sin City. It will be interesting to see what the final numbers will be for this event?
I was just checking out the results for the Five Star World Poker Classic and one thing that really surprised me is that in the 5K event, there was only 27 players. This truly surprises me for Vegas. Does this mean that the “Economic Crisis” is effecting our Poker World? I see that they only cracked 100+ players in the first 2 events, this effect may also be caused by the fact that the Foxwoods Poker Classic is still running? For prizepool sakes, let’s hope the numbers pick up.
Ok, can’t wait till next week when I will be coming to you, from Las Vegas.
Have a Happy Easter and I hope you get your chocolate fix!
Cheers,
Miss C
Tags: 25K, Bellagio, Colombia, Easter, Five Star World Poker Classic, Foxwoods, Foxwoods Poker Classic, las vegas, San Andreas, Sin City, ub, Ultimate Bet, Vegas, world series of poker, WPT, WSOP
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