Thursday, August 20, 2009 - Liv Boeree
So as you may have guessed from the title, I’m in Macau. The reason why I flew 12 hours from home is because I got invited to come play the Asian Poker Tour, a $4400 or so buy in (it’s actually like a million Hong Kong Dollars which sounds way more impressive). It’s a pretty cool event, with loads of side events and some fairly crazy cash action from what I hear. On the first day I arrived was the “Celebrity” event which was a charity freeroll for various Asian actors and models which they asked me to play and it was pretty fun to play, particularly when a number of people played their hands literally face up and a couple of people had literally never played before. I somehow ended up tenth which was the trophy bubble, typical! Otherwise, I’ve been mainly wandering around Macau getting lost. The city is really cool, it’s basically a more densely built, more humid version of Las Vegas, just with a lot of Cantonese (maybe?) writing everywhere. I mean, even the hotels are the same. There’s the mini-Wynn, a Venetian, MGM Grand and it looks like they are building a more impressive 60 floor version of Caesar’s Palace. The food however, is erm, horrid. Now I’m really not one to complain about food, I am literally a walking dustbin and will eat anything and everything, however the food I’ve sampled here so far really sucks. Someone ordered the “brisket”, which was obviously a massive -EV decision as any kind of meat dish of unspecified animal in China is never wise, but damn this stuff was awful. It was literally a brown, jellified goo that I can’t imagine any animal being made up of. At best we believe it was pulped slug and tasted in that ballpark too, so that’s where my money lies.
Tags: Asian Poker Tour, Caesars, Macau, MGM, Venetian, Wynn
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Saturday, July 18, 2009 - Brandon Cantu
I attended UltimateBet.com’s 10th Anniversary Party at Studio 54 in the MGM. A group of us met up beforehand at a bar inside the MGM for a round of drinks before we rolled over to the party. As we got to 54, we ran into Annie Duke and Joe Reitman who showed up simultaneously. Before, we actually went inside, I shot PokerListings.com’s “Rail Rewind”, as I had the #4 rewind story, “The $50k H.O.R.S.E. Final Table Begins Today”.
UB’s party was a great time. Not only was I able to spend time with fellow UB pros, but I was able to meet some of the UB staff and put faces to names. Being there and reviewing my sponsorship decision, I am realizing I have found a good home in UB. I really feel like I am wanted, that everyone is working together, and that the future is bright. I do not feel like I could be shelved like other pros are with other sites.
The scene at the party: Hellmuth was lowered on a platform to open the night, naked body paint models in Roman theme, acrobatic dancers, live music performance, open bar, lots of pros, media and UB staff. Ultimate Bet put on a good show. It was a great way to kick off the start of the Main Event which began shortly after and to celebrate their milestone anniversary.
As it got later on into the night, I heard that some friends had tables at XS in the Encore. A group of us left the UB party, grabbed some cabs, and headed over for a little after-party. XS was amazing, as usual, and the good times continued.
As it got late, I decided to head out with a couple of people who were remaining. I had to be up to play in the morning and now is not the time to party until the sun comes up. I did, however, sit down for a few hands of black jack, which turned out to be quite profitable. Every once in a while it is nice to sit down and gamble a little bit, just release and forget about life for a bit.
- Brandon Cantu
Tags: Annie Duke, Encore, Joe Reitman, MGM, Studio 54, ub, XS
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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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Thursday, June 18, 2009 - Shawn Rice
I know the WSOP is well underway and I had to do a little business before heading out and I will be out there this weekend off and on til the main event. If at all possible please try and come by on June 29th , UB will be having a monster party at Studio 54 at the MGM. Let me tell you if you have not been before the UB party’s ROCK! Its great to see old friends and meet many of the players you play online with often. I just got a call from Gary “Debo34″ Debernardi and he invited me to a Stone Temple Pilots concert at the Palms on July 2nd, we seen them there last year with Scott Ian and Pearl Aday and a few other friends, It was a killer show and we all hung out at the bar after the show and tons of people wanted pics and autographs from Scott… he handles that stuff so well. I have seen my share of jerk who hate to be bothered when in public, Scott was way more than happy to take the pics and all. He is a very down to earth type of person who has a strong passion for the game we all love and has been kicking ass online. In fact he won the Sunday 200k a couple of months back. I won it in December and he had to go and show me up! I am super happy for him. If you go and read his blog he writes about being really sick that weekend and having to miss a family reunion.. It’s no fluke I know Scott well and his game is really solid. I can honestly say he is the most improved player I know over the past year or year and a half.
After the WSOP I plan on playing lots online and getting ready for Aruba. That’s always the best trip of the year, I am the type of guy who never really gets sick and when I do it’s really bad. I was really sick last year there for too many of the days there. I even missed Phil’s party in bed with the cold sweats and running a very high temperature. I can’t wait to make it all up and bring your camera as this will be filled with a lifetime full of memories. Last year Annie had to leave a lil early and head to New York to film the Celebrity Apprentice. I must admit I was addicted to the show, I loved them in years past and this last season was the best ever. I so hated the ending as it was given to one of Donald’s pals. Annie was so deserving and I am so sick about the results I know I can’t stomach to watch another season after feeling punked.
I have been pretty busy doing some private poker lessons and let me tell you. You better be on your toes with the questions I get. They are very very deep type questions. I think it’s a really smart thing to do to try and better your game. I’ve been playing lots of Pot Limit Omaha 8 or better live in Amarillo and I have learned a lot from the local guys here. Mostly from a player named Nathan Wiesner who sometimes comes over to the house to play online tourneys and lets me watch him and ask tons of questions. Last time I seen Annie I asked her a few questions that helped me tons in that game. I feel like my PLO game is very solid and has been for years as that’s the game I was first taught how to play about 20 years ago. It would seem that it’s not hard to adjust from one game to the other but on a higher level it’s played very different. I took forward to learning it as that’s where the money is at around here in the local games. West Texas has been famous for having good players over the years and let me tell you there are still many here. I just know it’s a matter of time before you will hear of them, they just need a little volume to get these great results, They are already kicking butt online and play live really well.
I have also been playing a lil golf on the par 3 course that was formally owned my Amarillo Slim with a lot of the guys I regularly play cards with. It’s great exercise and I even hit a hole in one about 6 weeks back, let me tell you it was all 100% luck. I know many good players who have never hit one including my dad who used to play 6 days a week and was close to a scratch golfer. I know better than play the bigger course as the last time I was out there I lose a lil over $10,000 to some guys from a surounding town. I played in a scramble and I was never any help to my partner. I am hoping to match up again so I have lots of incentive to better my golf game.
Come by and say hello at the WSOP and hope you can make the party in Vegas, If not win your seat to Aruba, It’s the time of your life. Hope to see many of you soon and if you have any poker questions, please write into to “Ask a pro” and we will try our best to get your game back on a winning course.
Proud UB Team Member
Shawn Rice
Tags: Annie Duke, Aruba, Celebrity Apprentice, Debo34, MGM, New York, Palms, Pearl Aday, Phil Hellmuth, Scott Ian, Stone Temple Pilots, Studio 54, ub, Vegas, WSOP
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - Debo34
The WSOP is past the halfway point, and at this point nothing too exciting has happened for me in Vegas. I have been working hard spreading my action all around Las Vegas hunting for values and tournaments I feel fit my game. So far I have only 2 cashes in 9 tournaments played. Both were small cashes in smaller buy in tournaments. I have spent a fair amount of time on side action as well. All in all I feel like I’m playing pretty well, and I am definitely working hard at it. Between live and online I have been playing about 80 hours a week in the 2 weeks I have been in Vegas.
I am heading home tomorrow to spend a week with the family and take them camping next weekend. This will be a much needed break from the current grind I have been on. Sometimes in poker and in life it seems like you are running uphill constantly. That has been my past several months in a nutshell. A ton of hours with very little positive results. This is one of those things that poker players deal with from time to time. I try to stay positive about things, and if needed take a step back from it like I will be doing this week. I will be heading back down to Vegas in a week to play a couple of more tournaments, go to the UB party and then gear up for the main event.
I am really excited about the main event as usual. I’ve talked about it in the past about how the main event fits my style perfectly. It has the greatest structure on the planet, and it got even better this year. In past years players started with 20k in chips and 2 hour levels. This year it’s 30k in chips and 2 hour levels. I have been able to make day 3 of the main event 3 out of the past 4 years simply by using patience and not putting many chips into a pot unless I’m certain I have the best hand. I know it sounds funny and boring but every year I see someone go broke on level 1 with one pair when he’s sitting 600 big blinds deep. There is really no reason for that in a tournament with this structure.
I hope to see some old faces and meet some new ones as well on June 29th. That is the night of the UB WSOP party. It will be at 9pm that night at studio 54 at the MGM. I’m sure it will be a blast as usual. Hope you can make it.
Good luck
Debo
Tags: MGM, Poker Poker Poker, Studio 54, ub, UB Party, Vegas, 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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Sunday, June 7, 2009 - P0ker H0
It’s finally arrived. The 2009 WSOP, and what a great start I’ve had to it. I haven’t even played an event yet either ! Last Friday, I flew out to Vegas with my good friend Wiscomurray. We got in late Friday, and checked into our room. It wasn’t going to be that big of a night, because the rest of the week was busy. I was gonna be teaching at the WSOP Academy, while Wisco was going to play the 1k WSOP Stimulus event. All Saturday, I was busy teaching the Academy, and It never gets old. Each time I get to teach along side someone who has an extremely intelligent poker mind. This time it was Mark Seif. We taught a cash game academy, and being that I focus mainly on tournaments, it was a great thing for not only the campers, but me too. I added some of the innuendos of online poker that aren’t apparent in the live game.
After we were done with the camp on Saturday, I headed back to my room, and when I got there, Wisco was playing online. I was really hungry so I went to go grab a bite to eat, and when I came back 2 hours later, and 10 cocktails deeper, Wisco was out. I was feeling really good at this time, so I looked at him and asked him if he wanted to be a part of history. With a confused look he said, “Sure”. “Give me $400″ was my reply, and to make a long story short, we went down stairs and turned our $800 into $12,000 playing blackjack. Did I forget to mention it was my birthday? Well, if you can, imagine the 2 of us in Vegas, on my birthday, both 4.0 BAC, betting 800 a hand, 11 hands in a row, and winning every one! I want to personally thank Hollywood Dave for turning me into the blackjack phenom that I am today! Crab Cakes and Blackjack. It’s what we do.
For the rest of the trip, all I did was teach at the academy, and relax. It was kind of nice. I did play a few Single Table Satellites for Lamers. Lamers are chips you can use to register for any WSOP event you wish. I highly recommend playing these, as most of the time, deals are made, and its easy to grind a profit. I will be back out there this Wednesday on the 10th, and I will be staying for the rest of the series. Best of Luck to everyone, and hope to see you all at the ‘09 WSOP! Don’t forget the grrrreat UltimateBet WSOP party at the MGM Studio 54, June 29th. Be there or be square!
P0ker H0
Tags: Hollywood Dave, Mark Seif, MGM, Poker H0, Poker Poker Poker, Satellites, ub, Vegas, WSOP, WSOP Academy
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009 - Miss C
Hey Guys,
I cannot believe that I will be in Vegas in less that 2 weeks. I am so looking forward to catching up with everyone again. As I will be there for 8 weeks I am going to get into the Vegas spirit. The Vegas spirit to me (aside from all the cocktails) would be to see some shows.
MGM Grand has Fleetwood Mac, David Copperfield, KA Cirque du Soleil, Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood.
Mandalay Bay has The Lion King, UFC, Il Divo, Keith Urban and Pat Benatar.
Caesars Palace has Elton John and Bette Middler
Bellagio has “O” Cirque du Soleil
Venetian has Phantom, Wayne Brady
Mirage has Jay Leno, Love Cirque du Soleil, Ray Romano & Brad Garrett
Palms has Cheech & Chong, The Offspring, Duran Duran, New Kids on the Block
There quite a few options and I am sure there will be a few more hidden gems that I haven’t discovered. On one of my last trips to Vegas I got taken to see Air Supply (I would have had to be taken!), Hootie and the Blowfish (they were great) and Brooks & Dunn (not a country girl, but had an awesome time and was pleasantly surprised). Make the time to see a show, it is a great Vegas experience.
Another Vegas experience that you have to do is go to a Vegas club, words do not describe it. My birthday falls during the WSOP and I am thinking I will start off having beverages at Fix at Bellagio, they do the best passionfruit mojitos and then move to Pure and get a cabana outside
I love having choices and this is definitely the town to offer plenty.
See you there and the countdown has begun.
Cheers,
Miss C
Tags: Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Cirque du Soleil, Fix, Mandalay Bay, MGM, MGM Grand, Mirage, Palms, Vegas, Venetian, WSOP
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Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - Miss C
Hello Everyone,
I am coming to you live from Las Vegas. I arrived last night and this city still takes my breath away, I swear to God my heart stopped beating for just a second when I saw that skyline. I was lucky enough to land at night time and I do think it is the best time to see the city…all those lights. I cannot believe I have not been here in 3 years. Guessing I will make up for that during the WSOP. I love this city!
This time round I have done something totally out of the ordinary and I am staying at the Signature Suites at the MGM Grand and I have to say they are a bit special. Every room is a suite and included is room internet (very important as the daily rate at most big hotels is hideous), gym (if you are here for a long time, you need to clear your head) and kitchen (nothing like a home cooked meal). If you are here for longer than a week, definitely look at staying here.
UB is having drinks and nibbles for their WPT satellite winners at Fix in the Bellagio. It is a great chance for you to mingle with our Pros. Quite a few of them will be there in full force. It will be a great time to ask some questions or even just have a chat. From experience I can tell you they are very social and I guarantee they will make you laugh.
Today is going to be a great day…I am planning on catching up on all the emails I missed over Easter and I also get to catch up with Scotty Nguyen, I haven’t had a drink with him or heard that familiar Scotty trademark “Baby” in a year and a bit. I can’t wait to get to Bellagio and see the other notable faces. Such an awesome city, makes life so convenient:) Then there is the drinks with the qualifiers and pros, all in all a great day!
Fingers crossed some of our qualifiers will get into the 25K WPT and make the money. I will be cheering from the rails. If time permits and it should in a 24 hour city I would like to play some poker. Lately, I have been playing a few sit and gos with friends and I have so got a feeling for it. Wish me luck! Let’s put it in perspective, the more I win, the more I can add to my purchases.
Next week, I will up update you on the Vegas trip and let you know all the plans for UB in Vegas during the WSOP.
Cheers,
Miss C
Tags: Bellagio, Fix, las vegas, MGM, MGM Grand, Scotty Nguyen, Signature Suites, ub, Ultimate Bet, Vegas, WPT, WSOP
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