Sylvain is a friend and occasional student of mine whose praises I’ve sung on these pages before. At my request, he wrote up a trip report from his time in Las Vegas during the WSOP prelims, in which I was staking him. Asshole that I am, I’m just now … Read full post
The full report from my first day of play at the 2012 WSOP main event is now appearing in Two Plus Two Magazine. It contains both strategic insights and a few anecdotes about the crazy stuff you’re pretty much guaranteed to see in that tournament. Here’s a little teaser:… Read full post
When I was in Las Vegas, I had the opportunity to get breakfast with an old poker friend I hadn’t seen in a few years. We used to run into each other at Foxwoods from time to time and get together during the WSOP each summer, but he hadn’t been … Read full post
Edit: Changed flop so that I have the nuts on the turn. Thanks to goldhawk for pointing out the error. I quadruple-checked that I would have the nuts if I hit my hand, so I think it’s a lot more likely that I misremembered the flop now than that I … Read full post
Liesse
We took a bus to the Keukenhoff with the intention of visiting the world-famous tulip garden. Before going in, however, we rented bikes intending to spend an hour or two riding around the nearby tulip fields, but we ended up enjoying the ride so much that we never got … Read full post
I enjoyed meeting all of the other Team Online members at the PCA this year, but Richard “Tzen1” Veenman was one of my favorites. As you might imagine, these grinders were not the most extroverted bunch. It generally fell either to Adrienne “talonchick” Rowsome, the only woman among us, … Read full post
Part of the impetus for Emily’s and my Europe trip is a friend’s wedding, to be held this June in a small town in Germany called Diez. Since we needed to bring formal wear for that anyway, we decided to dress up for the opera in Prague as well (there’s … Read full post
Despite my previous rant about the tourist’s dilemma, Emily and I did do a few more classically tourist things in Prague, like the castle,
the Charles Bridge, and the St. Vitus Cathedral. Even at the opera, the audience seemed to consist mostly of tourists. Neither of us had ever … Read full post
The exciting (?) conclusion of my 2012 PCA Trip Report has just been published in the February issue of 2+2 Magazine. Regular readers of “What’s Your Play?” will recognize a few of the hands, but there’s plenty of new content for everyone, plus it turns out the Mizrachis’ mother … Read full post
This is the conclusion of a trip report, the first part of which can be found here, from a high school debate tournament at which I recently volunteered. I founded the Boston Debate League in 2005 to bring competitive extracurricular debate to students at some of the city’s more … Read full post
Sorry for the recent silence – I was in Boston over the weekend running a debate tournament for the Boston Debate League. I don’t have a WYP for this week, so instead please enjoy this Trip Report which hopefully will provide a behind-the-scenes insight into the world of high school … Read full post
I don’t play pit games, I don’t go to strip clubs, and I don’t get table service at Las Vegas nightclubs. Whole Foods is my leak.
Last night I was there for the second time in two days. My girlfriend has been cramming for the GRE and just had her … Read full post
If you’ve been enjoying my BCPC trip reports, be sure to check out my write-up from the WSOP Europe, now appearing in 2+2 Magazine:
… Read full postLoose-aggressive play has become so common among the best players that many of them tend to assume that anyone who doesn’t open 50% of hands
I once final tabled a small-field, small buy-in PLO8 tournament at the PCA, but otherwise the final two tables was the closest I’d ever made it to a live final table. It was exciting to keep seeing (some of) the same people day after day, and to feel the envy … Read full post
I was happy with my table, and the day got off to a great start. I was one of the two biggest stacks, the other one of whom was a young Asian kid in yellow hoodie and designer sunglasses who looked like he could be good. He handled his chips … Read full post
Emily and I arrived in Vancouver less than two days before my departure for Europe. I’ve been back for a little over a week now, so I’m just starting to get settled in. It seems like a very cool city: mild climate (for Canada- still chilly, but the notorious rain … Read full post
After a low-key Friday night, Nico and I resolved to live it up on my last night in Madrid. We started off having dinner and watching the Barcelona-Seville game at a restaurant/bar across the street from his apartment. It was a bit of a dive but had surprisingly good food … Read full post
The rest of the trip report will have to wait until the next 2+2 Magazine, but here’s a little write-up from the WSOPE party, which proved pretty amusing:
The night before the start of the main event, the WSOP hosted what they called a beach party that actually took place … Read full post
Edit: Fixed the flop in the Vanessa Rousso hand, I didn´t river a full house obviously.
Busted third to last hand of the night, been going back and forth a lot for the last half hour about whether I like my call, but we´ll get to that in a second. … Read full post
A
fter all the hassle, the money did successfully make it to Cannes, so I am all bought in and ready to go! Play starts in a little over two hours, but I´m already having a great trip and have the beginnings of a trip report to share with you. … Read full post
The conclusion of my 2011 WSOP main event trip report is now appearing in the October issue of 2+2 Magazine. We’re down to Day 6, and needless to say, things are starting to get tense:
“The last hand before a break, especially a dinner break, always means fireworks. Some … Read full post
We’ve left Canmore and are now en route to Vancouver, but before departing we snuck in one more hike that proved to be one of the best we’ve done. There are these trees up here called “larches” that are like pine trees except that they turn yellow in the autumn, … Read full post
The second installment of my trip report from the 2011 World Series of Poker main event is now appearing in the September edition of 2+2 Magazine. It covers my experiences on Days 3, 4, and 5:
… Read full postThere are people who are good at poker, and then there are people who
Part 1 of my trip report from the 2011 WSOP Main Event is now appearing in the August edition of 2+2 Magazine. This covers my first two days and includes everything you could want from the WSOP: big calls, big bluffs, scared money, fearsome Russians, surly Frenchmen, bad beats, and … Read full post
Whenever we get a lot of new visitors at Thinking Poker, and probably a lot of people who haven’t read my more monolithic trip reports (understandable), I reprint select stories that are buried in much longer narratives but that I consider among my best. This article is part of that … Read full post
This is one of those stories that, though amusing, doesn’t have much of a point to it and so didn’t make the cut for “Three Days in Madrid“. I think you’ll get more out of reading this if you’ve already ready that article.
Mitesh and I were leaving … Read full post
Part trip report, part sequel to “Gray Friday“, “Three Days in Madrid” is my latest article for the Two Plus Two Poker Magazine:
… Read full postMy heart beat eagerly as my eyes scanned the waiting crowd at Madrid-Barajas Airport. It’s nice to know that, after nine hours of
One summer during college I worked at a day camp for kids from Cambridge. Most people know the city for Harvard and MIT, but actually a good chunk of it is projects and other low-income housing. The camp consisted mostly of minority youth from low-income backgrounds, but there were a … Read full post
(Sorry for all the low-content posts lately, I do plan on getting some more poker-related stuff going soon. For now, enjoy the filler!)
One summer during college I worked at a day camp for kids from Cambridge. Most people know the city for Harvard and MIT, but actually a good … Read full post
I’m all out of Tales from a 7-11, but I’ve had a few requests for more stories, so I’m going to reach back to another job that I once held for a new series called “Tales From a Summer Camp.”
One summer during college I worked at a day … Read full post
Thanks to Short-Stacked Shamus for calling my attention to this fascinating article from a 1967 issue of Sports Illustrated. The writing is spectacular and evokes the atmosphere of the California cardrooms of half a century ago, doing justice to the article’s title, “Lowball in a Time Capsule”:
… Read full postIn Gardena, unlike
Yesterday’s post mentioned the “honor system” method that is becoming increasingly popular as an enforcement mechanism on public transportation. The idea is that both weekly/monthly passes and single use tickets are sold by machines at the train stations, but in most cases passengers will never need to use their ticket … Read full post
I am totally addicted to this 2+2 thread “Stingiest Thing You’ve Seen Someone Do“. In between some stupid arguments about tipping and such, there are some truly jaw-dropping stories:
… Read full postmy ex gf’s mother finds overripe fruit at the store, takes it home and removes all the good parts,
…and it isn’t me. Or you. Unless Jonathan Duhamel is reading this, in which case, congratulations, bro!
In honor of the event’s conclusion, we’ve now got up a page with links to my 2010 WSOP trip report plus interviews and ESPN appearances.
Maybe next year…… Read full post
I finally got around to buying a new phone today, after having run out my contract with Sprint months ago. I’d been wavering between a Droid and an Iphone for a while, and then Full Tilt went and made the decision for me by releasing a Beta version of Rush … Read full post
The exciting conclusion of my 2010 WSOP Main Event trip report, covering Days 5 and 6, is now appearing in the October issue of 2+2 Magazine. Here’s an excerpt:
… Read full postMy Day 6 felt like what the World Series of Poker is supposed to be about: a battle of wits and
It was one year ago today that my girlfriend and I left our apartment in Boston and became officially homeless. For the past year we’ve been without permanent residence, living out of a Subaru Forester, camping, renting garages and spare rooms when we can, and staying in hotels when there’s … Read full post
The second installment of my trip report from the main event of the 2010 World Series of Poker, covering Days 3 and 4, has just been published in the September issue of 2+2 Magazine. Here’s an excerpt:
… Read full postI came into Day 4 with a monster stack relative to the field.
The first installment of my 2010 WSOP main event trip report, covering Days 1 and 2, is now appearing in the 2+2 Internet Magazine:
“We began play with 30,000 chips each and blinds of just 50 and 100. On the very first hand, about half the table … Read full post
This year’s WSOP journey ended for me about an hour ago. Out of more than 7000 players, I finished 87th and won just shy of $80,000. There was nothing dramatic about it. I lost two very standard pre-flop hands to Eric Baldwin, once with A4s < KJs for a 700K … Read full post
I’d been playing a 2-5 NL game at the MGM Grand for about two hours when Mary came to the table. She looked to be in her early 60’s, with a sweet face and the perfect little old lady vestments: a beige sweater with an oversized ceramic image of a … Read full post
Since we’ve got a lot of new visitors at Thinking Poker, and probably a lot of people who haven’t read my more monolithic trip reports (understandable), I’m going to start reprinting select stories that are buried in much longer narratives but that I consider among my best. This article is … Read full post
Sorry I’ve been a bit quiet of late, I’ve been doing plenty of writing but it’s mostly towards the book. It’s taken away from my playing time a bit as well, so not as many interesting hands of late. If you’re looking for something interesting to read, check out this … Read full post
Today’s the last day of March and the last chance for you to help out the Boston Debate League in its March for Goodness competition. This is an organization that’s near and dear to my heart, and if you’ve enjoyed and/or profited from this blog, a $10 donation is … Read full post
The girlfriend and I were driving yesterday from White River Junction, Vermont to Burlington, and is par for the course for us, we consulted the GoogleMaps application on her Blackberry for directions. To our pleasant surprise, Google actually suggested a route consisting of small highways and county roads rather than … Read full post
Big thank you to everyone who’s contributed to the Boston Debate League so far to help us get more unique donors for our “March Goodness” competition (details here). If you enjoy reading this blog, and especially if you feel like it has helped to make you money, please … Read full post
Some of you are probably aware of this controversy already, but in the Full Tilt Poker lobby, heads up tables are currently displayed in alphabetical order. What this means is that whoever is lucky enough to get Table Acre or other names that occur early in the alphabet have by … Read full post
Even after days when I’m totally immersed in poker, it’s pretty rare for me to dream about the game (or to remember those dreams, anyway). I’m sure it’s happened before, but I can’t recall any specific instances. I had two such dreams last night, though.
… Read full postIn the first, I raised
Ever since reading Tommy Angelo’s excellent Elements of Poker, I’ve been working on keeping calm and focused while playing live poker. This is no mean feat: the pace is glacial and the company grating. There are a million reasons to zone out, wander around, or get annoyed with someone. … Read full post
We were looking for a place to stay last night in Estes Park, a resort town just outside of Rocky Mountain National Park. During the summer, the place is apparently over run with tourist families, but in December it’s a ghost town and lodging prices plummet. After walking out on … Read full post
Emily and I are currently camping in Nickerson State Park on Cape Cod. It’s a huge campground with hundreds of sites, and even past peak season it’s nearly at capacity. There just a few building with showers for the entire campground. The other night I visited one of them for … Read full post
Sorry I haven’t been posting much lately. I actually have some pretty exciting news to report, which will make clear why I’ve been busy.
As of today, my girlfriend and I are officially homeless. No, I’m not busto. She’s currently between jobs, and I can play poker from anywhere, so … Read full post
Emily and I were looking at used cars today, and though we weren’t even at the point of negotiating prices or anything, I found a few parellels to poker that I thought were interesting.
I should tell you about the guy we were dealing with first, because he was a … Read full post
Edit: Important correction here. The non-bountied live pro I busted was not Bill Gazes but rather Bill Edler.
I decided to play the Bay 101 because of the combination of a nice location, great structure/tournament director (thanks Matt Savage!), and interesting people I thought it would attract, both because of … Read full post
Shantel was a middle-aged black woman who for some reason developed a sort of matronly affection for me. She always told me that I was her favorite person to work with, but I don’t know why and the feeling wasn’t mutual. I didn’t dislike her, but she was a lot … Read full post
Our manager was in the store mornings almost every day, but even then he was usually in his office. Store policy was enforced on employees not through regular supervision but by the threat of surprise inspection by Carl, the manager at another branch owned by same person who owned our … Read full post
Bear wasn’t an employee, but he was one of our most colorful regular customers. I mean that both figuratively and literally: he was a hulking biker dude covered in ink from head to toe. Rose bushes encircled naked women on his arms, and his shiny bald head was decorated with … Read full post
Gary was a tough guy to work with. He had some mental disabilities that prevented him from engaging fully in the idle banter that generally passed between co-workers. Most of the time he did his job just as well as if not better than the other employees, but his strength … Read full post
Mark was our youngest employee. I knew him first as a customer who came in nearly every day and talked about how badly he wanted to work in the store. Sure enough, he started work on his sixteenth birthday.
The 7-11 was just a stepping stone for Mark, though. His … Read full post
Norman was in his early thirties when I worked with him, and in retrospect a giant fuck-up. He was a lot of fun to work with, though. When we were bored, which of course was quite often, Norman would sporadically break into a verse or two of a self-invented ditty. … Read full post
Bear wasn’t an employee, but he was one of our most colorful regular customers. I mean that both figuratively and literally: he was a hulking biker dude covered in ink from head to toe. Rose bushes entangled themselves with naked women on his arms, and his shiny bald head was … Read full post
Hatty was about my age, maybe a year older, but very much a teenager. The 7-11 where we worked was in Baltimore County, but it was just over the city line on Edmondson Avenue. Thus, it was quite accessible by public bus, which was how Hatty got there for her … Read full post
I haven’t played much poker of late, but for some reason I was compelled recently to write a series of vignettes from my days as a 7-11 employee. I figured I might as well post them here on days that I don’t have anything poker-related to say. Please let me … Read full post
About five years ago, when I was a senior in college, I attended a panel on education reform that a professor of mine had organized. One of the panelists was “domestic terrorist” Bill Ayers. I don’t recall what Ayers was bloviating about, but he told some story about seeing a … Read full post
The finale of my trip report from the 2008 WSOP is now appearing in the October issue of 2+2 Internet Magazine. I must say, getting down to the final tables of this huge tournament is a pretty thrilling experience, at once exciting and surreal:
“On Day 6 of the main … Read full post
My latest poker article, a strategy-filled narrative from my third and fourth days at the World Series of Poker Main Event, is now appearing in the September Issue of 2+2 Internet Magazine. Here’s an excerpt from early on Day 4:
… Read full postAt this point, I was rolling along with