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
Comments (0)
Thursday, August 6, 2009 - Debo34
With Aruba less than 2 months away I figured I would write once a week about my favorite Aruba moments. I should be able to get 8 or so of them in before Aruba sneaks up on us. So here goes… These will be in no particular order.
Aruba moment # 1 - It was February 2003 and I had been playing on Ultimate Bet for the better part of 6 weeks so of course I thought I was a pro. I logged in to play on a Saturday morning and decided to try a satellite for entry into the $109 Aruba tournament that was taking place later that afternoon. I ended up getting into the $109 Aruba and what happened after I believe changed my life forever. 52 people signed up that day for what was a winner take all trip to Aruba to play in the Aruba poker classic. The crazy thing about this tournament was that I never really had any chips until the end. When we hit the final table I was 9th out of 10 in chips. When we were 5 handed I was 5th in chips. There was a player controlling all the action, his screen name was Stoner. What I later found out was that stoner, was David Plastic, a well established poker pro. David continued knocking everyone else out until he ended up heads up with me. He had around a 88k to 12k chip advantage on me. I remember being pretty nervous that I was so close to winning this, yet 2nd place was 0. In the middle of David running me over like he did everyone else that day, something crazy happened, I started making hands.
I started to get back into it, when I turned a flush against top pair top kicker and doubled up. I now had the chip lead!! I still remember to this day the butterflies I had. I had never played in a poker tournament higher that 20$ and now I’m heads up with a chance to go to Aruba and play in a 5k event. I believe it was 2 hands later that I found myself flopping bottom 2 pair vs. a flush draw. I remember when the chips went in telling my wife that if my hand holds we go to Aruba. David had a flush draw and when the river was dealt I opened my eyes to see the pot going to me. I couldn’t believe it.
I really believe that had I not won that trip and tasted success I may not be writing this today. It’s funny how certain moments can change big parts of our lives.
In kind of a funny side note to this story. During the opening party I was standing there when a guy came up to me and looked at my nametag and said.. ” oh you’re debo34. I’m Stoner and you’re the reason I am buying into this tournament.” He then told me how lucky I had gotten in which I couldn’t disagree at all. Everything that had to go right for me to win, went right on that day. David and I are good friends now and still joke about that moment.
I really hope to see you all in Aruba
Good Luck,
Debo
Tags: Aruba, Debo34, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, ub
Comments (1)
Wednesday, August 5, 2009 - P0ker H0
I got to tell ya I really love these new Seven Deuce cash tables on UB .I have been playing them for a couple days now and i cant believe the action I am seeing at the tables. They are perfect for players like me who need to play a lot of hands 
. A few years back I was playing in Phil Hellmuth’s annual Christmas home game ,when he brought up the idea that we play 7-2 . It was the first time i ever played it and I have loved it ever since. I remember the very first time it ever came into to play..Phil was in a hand with a very loose player named “Spa Man” we were only playing 5-10 but the game played huge ,probably 150k on the table. Phil bet pot ,pre flop, post flop ,the turn , then the river for about 3700.00 on a KJ7-10-4 board, Spa Man thought about it for 5 min before he folds his AK face up.. thats when the table went wild because Phil flips over his 7-2 and collected 50.00 from each player. Phil won 450.00 but he risked 3700.00 to do it. It is so funny how some people will play just for a little bragging rights.If you want to learn more about these new fun tables go to http://www.ultimatebet.com/poker-promotion/seven-deuce My advice to the new Seven Deuce player is to start at lower levels and build your way up. It is a little different than a normal cash game . Hope to see you all at the tables good luck H0
Tags: christmas, P0ker H0, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, Seven Deuce, ub
Comments (0)
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 - HollywoodDave
Is that all you got, UB?? Last week, I sent out an email challenging all our Legends and Icons to try and take me down in a special VIP tourney. To entice you further, UB threw in a $4k prizepool for the final table. And if THAT wasn’t enough, they put a $400 tourney dollar bounty on my head, just to make sure that I’d get called down every time I decided to put money in the middle. So…. what happened???!
I won the damn thing, that’s what! You put up a helluva fight, but at the end of the day, I guess I’ll just have to spend all this 1st place freeroll money myself. Play some tournaments with the TD’s. And try and figure out the next challenge I’ll issue, since this one clearly didn’t go your way. Maybe a blackjack tournament for some more cash? Hmmm…. I’ll figure it out and get back to ya. In the meantime… thanks for the money, boys! lol
In other news, Aruba is right around the corner and I am knee-deep in figuring out travel plans… most importantly, where I’m gonna stay while spending 2 weeks in the sun. Yeah, i know the official poker events only last a week, but HD ain’t goin all the way to Aruba without spending some serious time maxin’ and relaxin’…
Usually the Radisson treats us all so well, but the past year or 2 I’ve found some awesome deals online renting people’s timeshare suites in the adjacent highrises. Last year, for instance, I found a sick one bedroom suite at the Occidental (next door to the Radisson) with 2 gorgeous ocean-front balcony views for about a grand a week. Not bad, plenty of room to stretch out and party, and still close enough for me to walk to my poker seating assignment within 5 minutes!
This time around I think the party’s gonna be bigger and badder than ever — its UB’s tenth anniversary, bitches! And that means pulling out all the stops, so I am on the hunt for a serious party suite. Hellmuth may have Radisson penthouse locked up, but HD is gonna need someplace swank for the afterhours HORSE games that I have planned… be on the lookout!
OK rockstars, i’m out. And if anyone has any good ideas for yet ANOTHER VIP tourney, let me know. Nothing I’d love more than to pwn you all the next time, too…
-hd.
Tags: Aruba, Hollywood Dave, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, ub, VIP
Comments (1)
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 - P0ker H0
From my first days of playing poker, I loved the game! My love for poker was so intense it was the first thing I thought about in the morning and the last thing on my mind before falling asleep. I even dreamed of winning big tournaments! In my early days of poker, I got really lucky and won my very first live tournament I ever played at the Four Queens in Las Vegas for about 20K, and the flame has been burning ever since. Then about ten years ago, when the online boom hit, it really gave me the chance to take my game to the next level and play full time. It wasn’t easy, though. I remember stealing the quarters out of my pinball machines and pool tables at my bar to get money to make deposits to my account just so I could keep playing.
As my luck turned into skill and I became a lot better, I started winning satellites to go play in WPT and WSOP events. I’ve had many opportunities to experience playing in live events in such places as France, the Bahamas, Canada, Mexico, South and Central America, all across the United States, and of course the best of them all, Aruba!
I started living the dream of playing poker and it took me a while, but I realized my love of playing poker wasn’t as strong as my love of being a poker player. I found myself caught up in all the glamour and excitement of being a professional poker player…… the parties, meeting celebrities, visiting exotic locations, the money and notoriety of it all.
I think it’s very important for all poker players to stay focused on the game and not the stuff that comes with it. The game is hard enough as it is without all the distractions. Stay focused and never stop loving the game. That’s my goal from here on out……Good luck at the tables!
H0
Tags: Aruba, Four Queens, las vegas, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, WPT, WSOP
Comments (1)
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
Comments (0)
Monday, July 20, 2009 - P0ker H0
Coming home and getting back to the grind after spending five weeks in Las Vegas isn’t as easy as it sounds. With the Ante Up for Africa and the UB parties, poker every day, and the whole Las Vegas experience, coming back to little hometown Madison, Wisconsin, is like getting back to Earth after walking on the moon for the first time!
I started the grind last Wednesday night and found that the Wednesday schedule is the best by far. The UB 1K, the UB 200/80K guarantee, the $100 Aruba Rebuy, and the 20K Deepstack all start within a couple of hours of each other. And UB runs satellites into all of them, all day long. I made the final table of the 20K guarantee, taking 4th for around $1900. In the 80K, I got heads up and used the UB deal maker feature, which I really like, and the other player and I chopped for about $17K each. It was a really great way to get back to the grind.
What I’m really excited about now is Aruba! Aruba! Aruba! Every poker player should be looking forward to it, too! It’s the one poker trip that is on my mind year-round. This year will be #8 or 9, too many to remember. But what I do remember is all the people that I’ve met there. All the UB pros, all the online people I play with on a daily basis, and the wonderful people from behind the scenes at UltimateBet that grind it out every day from the UB offices down in Costa Rica and up in Canada that make it possible for us to play, work, and live the dream of online poker. Besides the friends I have made, there are the great times in Aruba too, such as golfing with Phil, the deep-sea fishing, the UB welcome and closing parties, helping PokerJo find her shoes, the endless beaches and romantic sunsets (Okay, I threw that in there for my wife!), the booze cruises, the infamous party at Phil’s rooftop suite, and the fact that I’ve choked 2 final tables…. all bring back great memories.
UltimateBet is giving us lots of opportunities to play to win a seat at the 2009 Aruba Classic. My favorite way is the Steps. These are like eating potato chips. I play them by the handful! You can catch me playing Steps 1-10 at any time of the day. Playing tight and right is very important in these. The $100 Rebuy on Wednesdays is another great way to win. I love the $500 Sunday night tournament because that usually pays between 4-6 seats. I like a tournament that you don’t have to win to get the seat. Believe me, I’ve won a few of them this way! Now, let me give you the cherry on the Aruba tourney sundae! Come to Aruba for free or as little as $5. Listen to my radio show Sunday nights, 9PM EST, “The Ultimate Poker Show”, on Roundersradio.com. We are running two tournaments every Sunday night: a free roll with $50 added by UB and the winner gets to advance to a tournament where we are giving away a free Aruba package, and a $5 tournament with a $100 added and all nine players that make the final table will also be added into the Aruba package giveaway at the end of 10 weeks. If you can’t listen Sunday nights, and you want more “Poker H0″, you can listen to me and Wiscomurray on our local radio talk show, “Man Up with Mark and Mike”, where you can get the passwords for these tournaments and listen to us talk trash and poker every Saturday afternoon at 3 PM EST, http://manupwithmarkandmike.com/ .
Good luck at the tables! Hope to see you in Aruba…..H0
Tags: Ante Up For Africa, Aruba, aruba classic, Canada, Costa Rica, las vegas, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, PokerJo, The Ultimate Poker Show, ub
Comments (0)
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - Brandon Cantu
In a previous blog, I mentioned that my second place finish was not going to be the highlight of my 2009 World Series of Poker and greater things would be coming. Less than a week later, I was final tabling my second consecutive event and making a run at my 2009 goals; to secure sponsorship and to win a major tournament. This was my chance to build a legacy and to receive respect from my peers as a top-level player.
I will admit it right off the bat – PLO 8-or-better is not by best game. As a matter of fact, I needed to study the board for an extended period of time to see where I was at every once in a while. However, I know how to play the game and I was able to roll through this event in similar fashion to my Bay 101 WPT title. Though I consider myself very competitive, looking at the final table, Lee Watkinson and a French player, Mathieu Jacqmin, were clearly the best players. I don’t think that is very debatable.
I was feeling pretty good throughout the entire event. On Day 2, I was at $1 million in chips and had about 33% of the total chips in play. Going into the final table, I was still sitting in first place with $1.1 million in chips and was still pushing hard. At one point, I started to slide a bit.
I then switched gears and waited for premium hands and the right spots to press. With patience and some good play, I reached my second Heads-Up for a bracelet spot, in under a week. At this time, I knew I had to close.
Heads-up play started with Watkinson as massive chip leader. Lee had about $2.5 million to my $900k. I even got down to about $600k at one point. My strategy was to chip away, gain some momentum and work my way back into it. I slowly grew my stack to $1.5 million and from there I was ready for the kill. I WON. I ended up taking it down for my second WSOP bracelet!!! It couldn’t feel better. Money comes and goes, but bracelets can never be taken away from you.
I was surrounded by my great family and friends; Uncle Mike, Grandpa Ron, Esther Taylor, Gavin Smith, Devo, Rick Fuller and many more. Thanks to everyone for all the support.
Looking back, things worked out interestingly for me. Based on my experience and skills, I should have won Event #39 $1,500 NLH event and not the PLO 8-or-Better. Battling against Lee Watkinson, who is just an amazing player, in an event that I am not as strong in, was not the ideal situation. It all worked out though. Success can be measured in subjective levels. For me, it is not all about measuring final tables. Rather, it is calculated by setting my goals and subsequently focusing and working hard to achieve them.
I am playing well. I am feeling good. Life is pretty good right now.
Brandon Cantu
Tags: Bracelet, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, WPT, WSOP
Comments (1)
Sunday, June 21, 2009 - Annie Duke
Up at the bright and early hour of noon o’clock. Yes. You read that right. Noon o’clock. Anyone who knows me well knows that my usual waking hour is about 7 am. I am generally in my Bikram class by 9 am having fed my kids breakfast and gotten them off to school. But the World Series of Poker creates this sort of alternate universe. A universe where it seems normal to be up until well past 3am on a daily basis. Where is seems normal to not wake up till noon o’clock. So every year at the beginning of June I get warped to this alternate universe so here I am. I just woke up.
The hours seem to be working out for me money wise so far. I have played 7 events, cashed in one and made a final table already. Not surprisingly, both were in Omaha 8 or better. Luckily, the final table was in the $10K Championship. I was short stacked the whole third day in that tournament so I was super happy to come in 8th there. I would win my all-in hand, once hitting two outs on the river to do so, but then I wouldn’t win the second hand after that. So I nursed that short stack to hell! That might be the first time I was not disappointed with an 8th place ever. I was ecstatic actually.
One thing that is not working for me anymore is Indian food. There is a very yummy restaurant in the Rio called Gaylord’s. They are fast and the food is excellent. But on the 10th night in a row that you are eating it, well I wouldn’t say that I relish the opportunity anymore. This is true every year. I eat almost no Indian food outside of the WSOP because I end up eating it every single freaking night during the WSOP. I can only take so much chicken tikka, okay? The problem is there aren’t a lot of other options that get you in and out in less than an hour. The noon tournaments have an hour and a half dinner break but I am always playing the 5pm tournaments. And those only give you an hour. So now I am a walking piece of pappadum. Crispy and yummy pappadum but seriously, I am just a think little wafer…now bugger off.
(for those or are Monty Python challenge…yes, that last line was a Python reference from The Meaning of Life. I just don’t want anyone to think I have actually lost my mind.)
Tags: Annie Duke, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, Rio, WSOP
Comments (1)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009 - smokin_aces
If tomorrow evenings Blog Freeroll was a Ferrari, this password is the key you need to fire it up! UBBLOGjen8675309
Head to the tournament lobby now and register to secure your chance to win a seat at the Sunday 200K Guaranteed.
Again, the code is UBBLOGjen8675309
Good luck!
Aces
Tags: freeroll poker, poker tournaments, ub blog freeroll
Comments (1)
