Monday, April 20, 2009 - Debo34
My Vegas trip was pretty short, just 5 days but was filled with nonstop action, and activities. The very first day I participated in Doyle Brunson’s 2nd annual beer pong tournament at hogs and heifers bar in downtown Vegas. UltimateBet was represented well with me, Scott Ian, p0ker h0, Tracy Scala, Hollywood Dave, and Wiscomurray all attending. I was teamed up with Scott for the tournament, which unfortunately for us was short lived. In the first round we played 2 bouncers from the bar, who by the way were defending champions and it showed. They started off hot and it looked like we were going to get destroyed. We actually made it close at the end and had a legitimate chance to win it if we had made just 2 more shots. Scott had never played the game before but he was a natural…no surprise that a rock star would be good at a drinking game. It was an awesome time, with a lot of cool people.
The next day I played the $500 6 max circuit event at Caesars. This tournament was a bit strange in the fact that for the first 6 hours of this tournament every single thing I did seemed to work out perfect. I picked up and had to show down so many big hands early, that a few hours in, it didn’t matter if I had cards or not. I won pot after pot building my stack from 8k to 36k with small pot after small pot with nothing big ever risked. Just when it seemed like I would cruise deep into this tournament, it all came crashing down in 1 big hand. With the blinds at 300/600 a fairly aggressive player made it 1800 from second position. I was on the button and looked down to see KK. The raiser had close to the same stack as was a very aggressive player after the flop even when he missed. The player directly behind me was a player who seemed like he was going broke soon. He was sitting on 14k and I thought it was very likely he might squeeze here as well. He had all of his chips in the middle at least 6 times before this hand. So I decide to flat call and try to trap and win a big pot. The guy behind me immediately raised to 6200 of his 14k. When it folded back to the original raiser he thought for about 20 seconds before announcing he was all in. This became a monster pot for this time in the tournament. Part of me wanted to lay this hand down. Not because I thought I was behind, but because everything had gone right with very little risk so far. I really didn’t want to gamble for all of my chips at this point. It reminded me of some of the things I have heard Phil Hellmuth say in the past, that at the time I heard them I thought were absurd. He was talking about not wanting to get all his money in even though his hand was dominant because he knew he would find better spots with less risk. This all made sense to me at that particular point in time. I knew my hand was good but yet I wasn’t sure I wanted to call. I decided to make the call, and the guy who made it 6200 folds with almost half of his money in the pot. My KK was up against AK and I lost the hand when an ace came on the flop. He had me covered by 900 chips. I went to the rail, and he went to chip leader in the tournament with over 80k in chips. I can’t wait to discuss this hand with Phil next time we are together. I’ve never wanted to fold a hand that I knew was dominant so badly in my life. I know this sounds crazy, as it did to me before I was put in a spot where I felt like I had control of the table like I did that day.
The only good news that came about busting from this tournament is that I got to attend the UB dinner at Fix at Bellagio we had for our Bellagio super sat package winners. Miss C put on a great dinner party and we had a great time drinking and eating, and drinking some more as we got to chat with the winners. When we were finished there we all headed over to play the drunken 11pm tournament at Caesars. Luckily for me I was out in the first 20 minutes so I could get some rest for the next day.
The next day I went and played a $2500 satellite for the 25k WPT championship. As it turns out I really didn’t need to get sleep at all for this tournament as I was out within the first hour when twice I flopped top 2 pair, and twice got caught on the river. Grrrrr
My trip overall was an A+ for fun, and a D- for poker. It’s hard to pay the bills with fun last time I checked, but I guess it could be worse. Besides, I’ll have 7 weeks in Vegas starting late May. I’m sure I will get my fill then.
Good Luck
Debo
Tags: Bellagio, doyle brunson, Fix, Hollywood Dave, P0ker H0, Phil Hellmuth, Scott Ian, Tracy "Fatcats" Scala, ultimatebet, wiscomurray, WPT Championship
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Thursday, February 5, 2009 - smokin_aces
This week’s ‘Ask A Pro’ is with Tracy “FATCATS” Scala. Most of you are familiar with his track record here at Ultimate Bet. Now one lucky UB Blog reader has been selected by Tracy for a one on one Q & A session.
Our blog reader dp_burnsy asked this of Tracy “FATCATS” Scala.
“Hey Tracy,
I’ve been a huge fan of yours since Season One of the Best Damn Poker Show. Actually, I’ve seen you in many big events but you manage to avoid the spotlight for the most part. Nice work, i get the sense you play solely for the love of the game.
Anyway, my question is in two parts and the first is this. When you first sit down to a table, do you have any sort of checklist that you go through to assess the field? Also, when you’re deciding whether to get into a hand, do you have a checklist in terms of what things help you decide to play the hand or not?
Basically I’m trying to become a more disciplined player, and i’ve heard that this approach can help.
Thanks!
DP”
Here’s Tracy’s answer.
“Thank you for your question-it is a good one. I do not have a specific check list when I first sit down at a table to play but I definitely make assessments about my opponents often based on very limited information. I immediately start to label each player with broad titles such as amateur or pro, loose or tight, weak or aggressive and so on. Sometimes the way they play a single hand, something they say or even the way they are dressed is enough to make my initial judgment. I stick with my decisions until their play proves me wrong.
When deciding which hands to play in tournament poker, all good players assess numerous variables. For me, position is the most important factor. I would much rather play any two random cards on the button than A7 under the gun! Another important consideration of mine is whether or not any of my opponents have already shown strength in the hand. For example, I will almost always raise with KJ in the cutoff but seldom call with it.
Being a disciplined poker player is important but I would caution you against trying to apply a checklist to every situation. I feel that poker is a game with so many variables that is impossible to be played the same every time. I think the players that are able to look at each situation as a unique challenge and make intelligent, well thought out decisions every time are the ones that succeed in poker.
I hope this was helpful. Thank you for your question.
Tracy Scala”
Next week the ‘Ask A Pro’ blog is coming full circle. Annie Duke was the first Ultimate Bet Poker Pro featured for ‘Ask A Pro’ and now she’s back to answer one lucky question. To ask your question to Annie Duke, simply enter it into the comments section of this blog post by Sunday Feb 8 at 8 PM EST.
Then check back next Thursday to see if your question was chosen by Annie Duke!
Ask Annie Duke a question now!
Tags: Annie Duke, Ask A Pro, Poker Strategy, poker tournament strategy, Tracy "Fatcats" Scala
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Thursday, February 5, 2009 - UB Marketing
The turnout for the last Ultimate Bet Blog Tournament was so great that we had to increase the registration limit the day of the event to keep up with the overwhelming demand. You guys like your freerolls! We’re happy to announce that due to popular demand, we’ve decided to make these tournaments a more regular event. From this month on you can mark it in your calendar that the Ultimate Bet Blog Tournament will run on the last Wednesday of each month. That means the next one is coming up on Wednesday February 25th 2009.
What do you have to do to gain entry to this event? It’s simple, as a loyal UB Blog reader you’re about to gain all the insight you need. Simply enter the code UBBLOGaew0r7q4pwn and you’re IN! Why are we giving you so much advanced notice? Because we want you to be as mentally prepared as possible to maximize your rewards and your FUN! That’s why we encourage you to check out the wealth of poker strategy related information available to you here on this blog. The Ultimate Bet pros regularly blog here and most of the time it’s about POKER STRATEGY! For example, each week we run a regular blog post called ‘Ask a Pro’. You can ask your questions directly to some of the biggest, baddest names in Poker. We’ve had Annie Duke, HollywoodDave, Scott Ian, Shawn Rice, Phil Hellmuth, Adam ‘Roothlus’ Levy, and later today, Tracy ‘FATCATS’ Scala. So during your tournament preparation, check out these insightful posts and learn a thing or two…..OR TEN! As well, each week you’ve got the chance to ‘Ask a Pro’ the question of your choice.
So get ready for the next Ultimate Bet Blog Tournament and check back here for updates. We haven’t finalized the payout structure yet, but rest assured, it will be good. Good luck at the tables!
Tags: Adam "Roothlus" Levy, Annie Duke, Ask A Pro, blog tournament, Hollywood Dave, online poker tournaments, Phil Hellmuth, poker tournament, poker tournament tips, Scott Ian, ShawnRice, Tracy "Fatcats" Scala
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Friday, January 30, 2009 - smokin_aces
Next week we’ll be treated to an answer by Ultimate Bet Pro Tracy “FATCATS” Scala. I’m sure you’re all quite familiar with Tracy’s proven track record of poker success. He has many top finishes in both online poker and in various WSOP and WPT tournaments. As well, he finished in first place during the first season of the Best Damn Poker Show. Tracy Scala is a calculating player with stacks of experience.
Don’t miss your oppourtunity to get your question answered by Tracy Scala. Post your question in the comments section of this blog post by this Sunday at 8pm EST. Then check back next Thursday to see if Tracy chose your question.
Ask Tracy Scala a question now!
GL
Aces
Tags: Ask A Pro, Best Damn Poker Show, Poker Strategy, Tracy "Fatcats" Scala, WPT, WSOP
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