Tuesday, November 3, 2009 - Michaelbinger
Hi all,
It’s been a while…
So 2 weeks ago my brother Nick and I were geared up to go on a 5 day trip off the coast of Mexico to dive with great white sharks (in cages of course!) and tuna fishing. However, 30 minutes before getting on board the boat in San Diego we got a call from our Mom telling us that our grandmother had just passed away. She was 85 and had been sick and in pain for a few years so it was not unexpected. We of course canceled our trip and drove to LA to be with our family. My Mom and aunt were already there and I know it was hard on them losing their mother. But it is hardest on our grandfather… They were married during World War 2 and have remained so for 65 years, despite being displaced from their homeland in Ukraine during the war (caught between Hitler and Stalin), moving to Venezuela after the war (where my Mom was born), and then to LA where their jewelry store was destroyed in the Rodney King riots. I spent most Thanksgivings over the past ten years with them since I lived in CA and now vegas. I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose someone you’ve been with your whole life. We had a traditional Russian Orthodox funeral and burial last week, which was really beautiful.
My older brother Rick was also in town for the week and he and Nick and I had some down time to hang. We ended up playing a lot of Wii Sports Resort… Really fun game.
Anyways it was good to spend time with the family, although not under optimal circumstances.
The whole experience reminded me what was important in life.
So now I’m back in Vegas for a bit… I played online tournies this Sunday for the first time in a while… No luck in the UB events but I did manage a win the HORSE tourney on another site.
Later this week Nick and I are going on our shark diving/tuna fishing trip… should be awesome!
After that, I’ll be going to the Taj in Atlantic City to play their $2500 PLO and $5000 NLHE main event.
Till next time…
Michael Binger
Tags: h.o.r.s.e., Michael Binger, Poker Poker Poker, ub, Vegas
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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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Sunday, October 4, 2009 - Liv Boeree
The past week has been mostly spent in and around Leicester square for the WSOPE, which despite the fact that I didn’t get to play the main event, I still found reasons to go down there. Probably the biggest of these was the players lounge opening which contained a certain little game that is very close to my heart – table football. I probably shouldn’t mention this as I’m gonna kill all my future action, but blimey do I love hustling in that game. Noone ever suspects a thing when you start playing for small stakes (10 – 20 pounds per game), lose a few to them and then suggest double or quits, and with most poker players loving a bit of gambling action they jump at the chance. Next thing I know, we’re playing for a hundred a game, multiple times. I even got two players to play me two on one, and give ME odds! By the end of the night I’d made close to a 1000 pounds!!
Aside from this degeneracy, the other fun thing this week was a trip down to my parents’ house with a bunch of my poker playing friends including team UB pro Michael Binger. Everyone had seemed desperate to get out of the city and see some of the real England so I made sure they got the full experience including a bit of horse riding, a bit of some half rugby/half american football weird game we made up and then some prop betting on who could hold the electric fence the longest. Michael won that one rather convincingly! The day ended with a proper English dinner at the local country pub – would could be better?
Tags: Amsterdam, Michael Binger, Poker Poker Poker, ub, WSOPE
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Thursday, October 1, 2009 - Liv Boeree
Well this week hasn’t been remarkably different from the last one except for instead of bubbling, I bombed out of the one tourney I played nice and early. This was event 1 of the WSOPE, the £1k buyin that got you all of 3000 chips and left you basically one hand to play with, which in my instance was Aces vs someone’s 10s which spiked a ten leaving me making friends with the bartender and seeing how many peanuts I can throw into a bowl while waiting for my friends to also bust the event.
So since then I’ve been doing what any self-respecting Londoner poker player would do when the WSOPE circus gets into town and that’s party party party (something I do even better than bubbling). Lots of the UB crew are in town including Brandon Cantu, Michael Binger and Phil Hellmuth, and we’ve been pretty busy showing London just how it’s done. We’ve partaken in an orgy of prop-betting and drunken cash games at the Barracuda (my head still hurts from that one) and even hired out the private booth at the USA Sports Bar (because you Americans can’t bear to take on our proper sports). At this bar Phil filmed a rather entertaining video which I will promote by saying that someone gets topless… for those of you who can’t resist the promise of nudity here it is: http://www.twitvid.com/122FD
FD Who said poker isn’t glamorous?
Tags: Brandon Cantu, London, Michael Binger, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, ub, WSOPE
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Friday, August 28, 2009 - Michaelbinger
Hi all,
I am in, of all places, Thackerville Oklahoma. Obviously to play poker The Winstar Casino here has a $2100 buy-in tourney with a 3 million guarantee! They have had 4 day ones… Today is the last… Looks like they will end up with 1100-1200 players, meaning there will be an overlay of $600k-800k. That is great value, especially given relatively weak field here. Actually I am very surprised they are able to get such a large turnout for a 2k in the middle of Oklahoma…
Apparently they have been running satelites for months and to a lot of players in the region this is the biggest event of the year.
Anyway, things have started off nicely… I have triple the average stack early on. But still along way to go and the structure is fast.
Last week I was in LA for the WPT Legends at the Bike… Busted at the end of day 1 with aces versus kings preflop. I then spent a few days at the Commerce playing cash games… Wish I could say it went well, but I ended up taking one of the biggest losses in my life playing 400-800 mix games. I haven’t played that big in a while so it was painful to run as bad as I did.
After OK I am headed home to vegas for a few weeks before a heavy travel schedule in September. NC to see Mom, Philly for a wedding, AC for Borgata, London for WSOP Europe, then Aruba for the UB classic!
Best of luck!
Michael Binger
Tags: Aruba, aruba classic, Michael Binger, Poker Poker Poker, ub, WPT, WSOPE
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Friday, August 21, 2009 - Michaelbinger
Hi all! I’m in LA for a few days playing live poker for the first time in a month… Good to get back into it after a much needed respite! I played the 1k HORSE tourney at the Bicycle Casino on Tuesday. Was doing well until I got set under set in the hold ‘em round to lose more than half my stack. Then got all in with a pat 6-5-4-3-A in Razz on 5th street against someone with 2-K showing… He caught perfect perfect to bust me. But all is good… I ended up winning 2nd place money in a PLO cash game at the Commerce that night. Today I’m playing my favorite game: no-limit 2-7 single draw. It’s a big game with $200-400 blinds and an ante of $100 per person. So far so good I’m up a decent amount. Oh I almost forgot yesterday I had an awesome day… a great lunch with some friends followed by wine and games by the pool. I walked into the Commerce at 8pm and immediately ran into some friends heading out to dinner at this great Italian restaurant (Mozza). Had an amazing 4 hour dinner. Basically spent the entire day eating good food, drinking good wine, and hanging with good people. Hard to beat that! Saturday I’m playing the $10k WPT Legends tourney at the Bike… Wish me luck! Michael Binger
Tags: Bicycle Casino, Michael Binger, Poker Poker Poker, WPT, WPT Legends
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Friday, August 14, 2009 - Michaelbinger
It’s been a busy week here at home… between traveling a bunch earlier in the year and then being consumed with the WSOP I have a ton of
real life obligations. So mostly I’ve been trying to get caught up in my life. I have to say it’s a nice feeling being able to see my desktop again!
Also working on getting back into a solid healthy routine… working out every day… either swimming laps or in the gym. And I’ve been enjoying doing some cooking
around the house.
I hadn’t played any poker since the WSOP until this week…. been playing a bit online. Doing well so far in the cash games (including the 7-2 bonus games on UB).
I spent a while today figuring out my schedule for the next few weeks. There are always so many travel options to poker tournaments… and as someone who loves travel and loves poker tournaments sometimes it is hard to say no.
Just in the next month I could go to Macau (APT and APPT), LA (WPT at the Bicycle Casino), Cannes (for the Partouche tournament), Barcelona (EPT), Cyprus (WPT), Atlantic City (Borgata WPT), and Foxwoods (2k Deepstack). Or I could stay at home and play online and play some of the tournies coming up at the Hard Rock Casino. What to do what to do!?!
I’ve realized that sometimes I just need a break and too much travel just wears me thin. So I decided to pass on Macau (even though I really want to go sometime soon). Instead I’m probably going to play some of the events in LA at the Bike and here in Vegas at the Hard Rock. And definitely the Borgata in Sept. And maybe Cannes and Barcelona! Damn I’m a junky. And of course at the end of September there’s the WSOP Europe in London and then straight to Aruba the first week of October!
Off to watch a movie with my brother…
Best of luck,
Michael Binger
Tags: APPT, APT, Aruba, Barcelona, Cannes, Cyprus, EPT, Macau, Michael Binger, ub, Vegas, WPT, WSOP, WSOPE
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Friday, August 7, 2009 - Michaelbinger
It’s been a great past few weeks. I spent almost two weeks in Guyana on a volunteer trip setting up temporary health clinics around the country.
I was recruited by professional poker player Victor Ramdin, who is a member of the charity, Guyana Watch.
Every day I woke up between 5 and 6am, grabbed breakfast, and headed out on a 1 or 2 hour commute by car and or boat, to a different location each day.
My team, which included Victor, left about an hour before everyone else with dozens of suitcases full of medications.
We would arrive at a schoolhouse and find 50 to 100 people already waiting in line for the clinic. We’d set things up… moving wooden benches and tables around to create a registration area, an area to take blood pressure and blood sugar, a waiting area, an area for the doctors, the dentist and cardiologist, and a makeshift pharmacy. Then the rest of the team would arrive and we’d start taking in patients. I worked in registration, and blood pressure/sugar testing a bit, but mostly worked on crowd control/logistics, as well as in the pharmacy. Basically, wherever the longest lines were I’d try to help out.
Some days we’d be nonstop slammed for 8 hours straight, but some days slowed down after lunch, and I’d sit in with the doctors as they worked with patients. Despite the hard work and the intense heat and humidity, it was great fun. Very different routine than my normal life. Worked with a great group of people, and after the day was over, we’d get back to our hotel in the evening and sit poolside having some drinks, swim, and just unwind.
We also got to meet the President of Guyana… he invited us over to his mansion for a dinner. He was surprisingly very down to earth and thoughtful. I ended up talking with him at length about his efforts on climate change, in particular he is trying to get forest carbon credits on the agenda for the next big meeting in Copenhagen this fall. On a day off we took a small prop plane to Kaieteur Falls, one of the most stunning places I’ve ever been to. It’s the largest single drop water fall in the world, 741 feet.
OK enough about my trip… I am back home in Vegas and busy catching up on everything that was neglected during the past few months whirlwind of poker. Looking forward to Aruba on October… it’s always an awesome trip. Also, look for me at the tables on UB this weekend. I’ll be playing the 200k on Sunday as well as the 7-2 bonus tables… these are a lot of fun. Anytime you win a hand with 7-2 you get a bonus from each player at the table. This really livens up the games.
good luck!
Michael Binger
Tags: Aruba, Guyana, Guyana Watch, Michael Binger, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, President of Guyana, ub, Vegas, Victor Ramdin
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Friday, July 31, 2009 - P0ker J0
Hey Hey Hey
Another Friday – wow the Summer is flying by. It won’t belong before the weather starts getting cooler – and we all know what that means…..Aruuuuuuuuuuuba bound! I just booked my flights yesterday so I’m on my way. This will be my 5th year in Aruba and it truly feels like a family reunion. I am so blessed to have met so many players that return each year with a smile on their face – just happy to be on one happy island. Well this year will mark UB’s 10th birthday so I am assuming there will be many opportunities to celebrate. We have a few big music folks in attendance this year too. Very exciting. I hope to see a huge turnout this year – all 0f the pros will be there and of course Mr. Hellmuth will be hosting a private VIP party in the penthouse. Be there or be square!
So Annie Duke was Washington last week lobbying for poker players around the country. She met with a number of key players in congress with the goal of educating them on everything poker. By the sounds of things, her visit (along with other key poker players) has made an impact. I guess time will tell but thanks to you Annie for stepping up and making a statement!
Before Aruba we have the WSOPE and I know many of my pros are headed across the pond to play some poker and no doubt have some pints while they are there. I LOVE England and would do almost anything to go live there. I love the people, the architecture and the history. I only wish I was headed over there myself with the guys! Oh well – cheers anyway!
Our very own Hollywood Dave played and WON the VIP tournament last Tuesday. Kudos to you HD!! This coming Tuesday watch out for the great Michael Binger to see if he can do the same!
Well I am off to the gym – wow you say?? Yes! P0ker J0 has started working out. I do need to get in shape and I do need to be healthy but most of all – I have to be able to run and catch any person seen running away with my shoes in Aruba!!!
Have a good week
P0ker J0 out!
Tags: Annie Duke, Aruba, HollywoodDave, Michael Binger, Phil Hellmuth, Washington, WSOPE
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Saturday, July 25, 2009 - P0ker J0
Ok so I know the song is Just Another Manic Monday – but I feel strongly that the day should have been changed to Friday – if only for this week. My day flew by and before I knew it, I was late with my blog. Bad bad P0ker J0!!
Well I just finished a new photo shoot with some of my pros so you will soon see some exciting new pictures on the site – showing their pearly whites! Phil – in typical Phil fashion – maintained his (what I like to call) the “point and grin” pose as well as the groovy “thumbs up and smile” pose. I am never ever bored when I’m dealing with Phil. He is truly one of my favourite people in the world (but just don’t tell HIM I said that – love ya Phil!
Did you happen to see Matt Graham play in the VIP tournament last Tuesday night at 8:00 PM EST? He almost took it down! The players really loved playing and chatting with him. This coming Tuesday look out for the whacky and crazy HollywoodDave to grace the tables with his presence – and when I ‘m talking about HD, there is ALWAYS presence!
World travellers that my pros are – many are headed to London to play the WSOPE and then jetting straight to Aruba for our 10th anniversary event. I think this will be the best year ever and I hope to see you all there! There is NOTHING more fun than Aruba for the Poker Classic. And yes – its true – I do often lose a pair of shoes or two, but this year I’m coming prepared with and extra stash! Thanks to P0ker H0 for letting THAT cat out of the back! Payback is a bitch H0
I am so excited to announce (press release coming out next week) that we have reconfirmed Micahel Binger as a Team UB member for a second year. He has been so busy playing in live events this past year – but look out for the coming year. He will be blogging, twittering, providing some strategy pieces (and he’s a smaaaaaaaart cookie!) as well as playing in a ton of tournaments on the site! He is currently in Guyana with Victor Ramdin doing some volunteer work in health clinics – identifying and treating children with heart problems.
Another exciting addition to the team (which will also be announced next week) is that migration of the lovely Liv Boeree from AP to Team UB. Liv has been with AP for a number of years, initially in a UK focused role; but as you know, she has taken the poker world by storm and proven herself to be an international force to be reckoned with. Her skills, talent and ability to just play damn good poker make her a perfect addition to the strong Team UB in existence today. We are thrilled to have her, and just like Mr. Binger – you’ll be seeing a LOT more of Liv here at her new home – UB!
I want to close this BLOG with a big shout out to my MVP Scott Ian!! After a gruelling tour in Europe with his band Anthrax, he was the first person to complete the P0ker J0 homework assignment I gave the team. He truly is my MVP – so thanks to you Scott!! Keep an eye out for Scott at both the UB tables, in Aruba and on tour. Busy busy guy – but still my MVP!! xoxoxoxo
Ok – I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy and that cannot last so I’m off to the gym to do some damage (and when I say damage – I mean I’m gonna hurt tomorrow!!)
Enjoy the weekend and see you back here next week!
P0ker J0
Tags: Anthrax, HollywoodDave, Liv Boeree, Matt Graham, Michael Binger, P0ker H0, Phil Hellmuth, Scott Ian, WSOPE
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