Tony Dunst, my friend and fellow Poker Savvy guest pro, has just departed for his own world poker tour. Better yet, Full Tilt Poker has hired him to chronicle the journey for their blog. As Bond explains it:
… Read full postI go on a trip starting from Melbourne and ending in
I was in Providence Wednesday night for the Rhode Island Urban Debate League‘s end of the year banquet. It was a powerful event marked by three highlights: speeches from Providence mayor David Cicilline, Great Debaters star Nate Parker, and the graduating seniors of the RIUDL. Perhaps the biggest story, … Read full post
I dragged my ass out of bed this morning and got over to the State House around 8:30 AM for a rally, organized by the Poker Players’ Alliance and by Harvard Law School professor Charlie Nesson and his Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society.
Since they were going to have … Read full post
I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about FIX, but my opinion after dining there last night is that it’s overrated and overpriced. I’m not generally particularly snobby about food or demanding about service, and though I like to eat out, I don’t go to expensive restaurants very often. … Read full post
I played this for a few hours last night, thinking the games would be softer than usual because of the current Five Diamond series they are running. Wrong. Almost everyone in the game was a regular, and although I was still one of the best players at the table, there … Read full post
Man I hate live poker tournaments. Only the biggest buy-in events have a reasonable structure, such that even when you’re playing for thousands of dollars, you don’t get a lot of room to play poker. But every now and again I tempted by them, because the atrocious play does kind … Read full post
On Friday morning, we got the chance to explore the region of Zion called The Narrows that we had to pass on Sunday. As the name suggests, it’s a particularly narrow portion of the canyon that is both one of the most scenic and one of the most difficult to … Read full post
Last night I attended a panel discussion hosted by Harvard Law School’s newly formed Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society. I hadn’t realized this at the time, but the discussion was actually part of a class taught by Professor Charles Nesson, so seating was at a premium. I … Read full post
OK this is pretty much just a brag post, but whatever, I had a huge day today, thanks in no small part to this first guy. Here’s some masterful play by him that angers the universe:
Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $10 BB (5 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of … Read full post
I should be on my way to the Rio right now, preparing to nurse a sickly stack into a monster as I did on Tuesday. Instead, I am sitting in front of my computer trying to decide how to explain to all of you how it all came crashing down.… Read full post
Barry and goleafsgoeh were the two players who most concerned me at the table, and with one gone and one crippled, I was ready for total table domination. Except that we didn’t get to play even a single hand after the second break. No sooner had the tournament director announced … Read full post
I ended my Day 1 report by bemoaning my measly 30,000 chips but predicting that, “A lot will depend on how things go in the first few hours. If I can get off to a good start, I could easily double or triple up and be right back in contention.” … Read full post
I left the house around 11AM on Friday bound for the Rio and the main event of the 2007 World Series of Poker. Vegas is experiencing record highs for the weak, with the thermometer topping out near 120 degrees. It’s enough to leave me sweating after a two block walk … Read full post
I arrived at the Rio around 3:30 PM on July 4th. I had $4000 in tournament lammers in my left pocket and $3400 cash in my right. My objective was to play satellites (they were running a bunch of $500 and $1000 megas, including one at 4PM) until I was … Read full post
Went out to the Rio last night, primarily to meet Nate from 2+2. Traffic was atrocious, so it took me like twice as long to get there as it should have, but I still had about two hours to play. I got a seat in a new game, and when … Read full post
After the $5K yesterday, I played a $512+13 ten-handed satellite. It was winner take all in tournament lammers, but since this was live poker, my understanding was that deals were almost always made.
The play was predictably bad. Tons of limping pre-flop, no one ever raised without having AK or … Read full post
I am both pretty good at poker and kind of arrogant, so it is rare for me not to be one of the best players at any poker table and even rarer for me to admit it. In yesterday’s $5K 6-max event, I was not one of the best players … Read full post
For those who liked the first Rekrul story I linked a few days ago, here are some more:
I Saved a Life Today
I Made a Friend Today
I Made an Enemy Today… Read full post
This is one of the best poker stories I’ve read. Definitely check it out:
Today I played my second preliminary event in the 2007 World Series of Poker. The game was pot-limit, rather than no limit, Texas Hold ‘Em, with a $2000 buy-in. As the name implies, a player may not at any point bet or raise more than the amount in the pot. … Read full post
On Monday, I played my first WSOP preliminary event, a $2500 6-max tournament. This is a little beyond my bankroll, but there are so few opportunities to play 6-max tournaments, and I’m not playing many other events, so I decided to go for it.
The dealer at my first table … Read full post
On Friday I played some 5/10 NL at the Rio with Tom (LearnedFromTV on 2+2). He took a seat to my immediate left, but didn’t give me much trouble and provided a welcome relief from the boredom of live cash play. No particularly interesting hands, but here, I think, were … Read full post
Over continental breakfast, Emily and I discuss what to do about the last episode of Sopranos, which was to air that night. Though Emily is not a fan of the show, I very much am. The complication was that, lacking either cable or ready access to friends with cable, I’d … Read full post
For those who don’t know, my girlfriend Emily is moving to Las Vegas for work, and I drove out with her to help her move and then to stay through the WSOP. After a solid week of driving cross-country from Boston, Emily and I finally got into Vegas late last … Read full post
PokerStars Tournament #49464655, No Limit Hold’em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: $615.00/$35.00
551 players
Total Prize Pool: $338865.00
Target Tournament #43905792 Buy-In: $10000.00
30 tickets to the target tournament
Tournament started – 2007/05/13 – 18:00:00 (ET)
Dear foucault82,
You finished the tournament in 1st place.
This qualifies you for a seat in … Read full post
nTodd and I hit up the breakfast buffet at the Veranda Café. I mentioned that I like casino buffets for cheap meals because although some of the food is guaranteed to be terrible, you can keep rolling the dice until you find something you like. If you order a sandwich … Read full post
With about ten minutes to go before the 6PM $500 satellite, I spot Rich (2p2’er Shorty55), whom I first met in Vegas last summer and who took half my action in the 2K I played at Foxwoods a few months ago. Then again, he’s not tough to spot, partially because … Read full post
For some reason, Foxwoods decided it would be a good idea to have a $3000 deep stack tournament on a random Thursday. Todd invited me down to play satellites on Wednesday, and I took him up on it. I’m a time nit, so we left way earlier than we needed … Read full post
This weekend I’m taking a two debaters from Boston to the J. B. Fuqua Urban Debate League Celebration in Atlanta. The two debaters, Charles and Peter, are a great team. Charles is a hefty black man, smart but reserved, very friendly and with a charming sense of humor once he … Read full post
I attended a pretty interesting meeting yesterday about the UIGEA and strategies for legitimating the game of poker in general. It was an impressive crowd consisting of some prominent lobbyists and lawyers for the gaming industry, Poker Players Alliance president Michael Bolcerek, professional poker players Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, and … Read full post
I’ve posted once before about my home game, (but something’s wrong with my permalinks- gonna have to figure that out, stupid Blogger), so I’m going to skip a lot of that introductory material. If you haven’t seen that, you can search for it (it’s in the February archives or under … Read full post
A lot of you may have read this already, but for anyone who hasn’t, I encourage you to visit Adam Junglen’s blog and read his report from European Poker Tour Monte Carlo. I don’t want to ruin any of the suspense by saying more than this, but he is a … Read full post
I woke around 6 AM this morning so that I’d have time to shower, eat, and make the two hour drive to Foxwoods and arrive by 9AM. Though the $2,000 tournament didn’t start until 9, I needed to get a Wampum Rewards card (lost my old one) and register, and … Read full post
I had some Mandalay Bay chips that I forgot to cash in on Saturday, and since I needed to go there anyway, I decided to check out their game. The guy keeping the wait list when I first got there didn’t seem to speak English very well, and I couldn’t … Read full post
Joe, Logan, and Darren all left on Sunday, which meant we had to check out of the Venetian. I was staying another night, but at the MGM, so the plan was for them to move all of their stuff into my room there. Since they didn’t get in until like … Read full post
Although it was after 5AM Saturday morning when we went to bed, I woke up in time to play the $500 Noon tournament feeling not the least bit hungover. It may have been better if I slept through it, though. Early on, I made a classic internet donkey mistake and … Read full post
I woke around 8AM Friday morning, it being 11 AM my time. When I finished showering and dressing, Logan was awake as well. Together we went across the street to the Mirage buffet.
Though the selection at breakfast wasn’t great, the food was quite good for a buffet. The bacon … Read full post
Ugh, I started working on this yesterday and somehow managed not to save what I had done. My apologies if laziness and irritation compel me to write less well than usual.
My friend Logan, his roommate Joe, and a regular from our poker game named Darren had been planning to … Read full post
I’m just back from a week out West with Emily. Though we flew in and out of Vegas and stayed there Friday night, I didn’t end up playing any poker. Mostly we were there hiking, enjoying some warm weather (while Boston was getting nailed with the worst they’ve had all … Read full post
No Vendar Flores
I didn’t get to bed until 4AM last night, but I suck at sleeping in and wake around 9. For once there is no rain, and I am really not bummed about busting on day 1 of the tournament, since I now have two more days to … Read full post
I show up early at the casino to make sure I have time to register, and who should be next to me in line but Yurian? We’ve got time to kill, so we get lunch along the waterfront. I let him choose the place, and he selects what is essentially … Read full post
Once again I awake to pouring rain, but yesterday the precipitation tapered off by mid-afternoon, so I don’t stress about it and just go downstairs to see what our free breakfast buffet looks like. My understanding was that the continental breakfast you get at an American hotel (coffee, juice, pre-packaged … Read full post
The Rain in Spain
When I wake up, it is morning, and we are about to land in Barcelona. I meet up with 10K-in-Clay, whose real name is Dan, and his girlfriend, Danielle (Dan and Danielle… cute, but maybe a little too cute). Dan is a 19-year old Canadian about … Read full post
I take a short flight from Boston to Philadelphia, then a long one from Philadelphia to Barcelona. 2p2’er 10K-in-Clay is on this flight and has told me I should be able to recognize him because he’ll be with his purple-haired girlfriend. I introduce myself briefly, agree to split a cab … Read full post
I qualified for EPT Barcelona largely by chance. After having a great time and cashing at the WSOP, I had the desire to play more big live tournaments and the bankroll to take some shots at them. Unfortunately Poker Stars runs most of their satellites on weekends, and I rarely … Read full post
I get back to my room about 2AM Friday night, exhausted from another long day of poker, but there are no more days off, and I need to be in my seat at the Rio and ready to play at noon on Saturday. I wake at 9AM, head down to … Read full post
About 1150 players begin play today, and 873 will win a prize. Obviously no one wants to finish 874th, and so an interesting dynamic will develop: some players, especially those with the fewest chips, will tighten up considerably, passing up even rather favorable opportunities for fear of going home empty-handed. … Read full post
Thursday night I’ve got a meet-up with a contingent of online poker players with whom I regularly discuss poker strategy. This is my first time meeting most of them in person, and it was a blast. Unfortunately, I had pre-paid $55 for the event, which was to include entree (salad, … Read full post
Thursday night, after having dinner with my father and brother, who have come out to support me for a few days, at their hotel, the Stratosphere Towers, I took a cab back to the Monte Carlo. It is only 8PM, but I need to get an early start in the … Read full post
As most of you know already, I’m playing in the main event of the World Series of Poker this week in Las Vegas. A lot of people have asked me to keep them updated about how I’m doing, so I thought a series of e-mails would be the best way … Read full post