Ugh ...

For a day with so many good things in it, my time at the tables was miserable yesterday.

But, first things first. The folks at Hollywood Poker are really running a good outfit. In the event you're not familiar with Hollywood Poker, they're a Poker Room skin, but they're really making an effort to stand out above Poker Room. The service there is outstanding. Case in point, I tried logging on the other day, but they were having server troubles and each time a table opened, it would promptly close again. The next morning, I get an email from them with the words "We're sorry" in the subject line. I'm intrigued, figuring it's some sort of clever marketing scheme. But no, instead, it was actually an apology for the server troubles from the day before, along with a free ticket to their signature tournament, the Michael Woods Invitational, a $10+1 multi.

So last night I cash in my ticket. The tournament setup is pretty cool. In addition to the normal tourney, several celebrities play and they all have $20 bounties on their heads. In addition, the winner of the previous week's tournament and another chosen player (I don't know how they choose the second one) also have bounties. I didn't get to collect any of the bounties, though I did get to sit at a table with one of the guys from the new Dawn of the Dead movie. He was pretty cool. But what sucks is that I played well, caught some great cards early and tripled up in my first five hands. The the cards kind of went dead on me and I nursed a dwindling stack for long time. Finally, it gets down to 43 players (top 40 play) and I'm one of the three bottom stacks. The blinds were 600/1,200 and approaching fast, but I had enough to complete two orbits before being blinded off. Then, I got stupid. Under the gun with 2,700, I look down and see AK. Everyone is playing squeaking tight with the bubble so close, and I figure if I go all, there's a chance everyone might fold. My only worry is the small blind, who has almost exactly 10 times my stack. But even if he does call, I figure I'm still the favorite. Everything goes exactly how I figured, and the SB calls with Q10. A queen falls on the flop and there's no miracle on the later streets. I end up going out in 42nd place, two out of the money.

Yes, the logic holds up. I had every expectation of winning that hand, but the cards just fell wrong for me. But I'm still mad at myself for screwing it up. Had I just proceeded to fold the next 20 hands, I would have almost certainly ended up making $30, which isn't much, but it's a great payout for a freeroll and it certainly beats the fat sack of tilt I got instead.

So, afterwards, I head to the ring games with steam still coming out my ears and proceed to just cream myself. My daily starting bankroll of $100 is utterly decimated, and I'm left holding $21 three hours later. What a crappy way to finish the day, although entirely appropriate considering my crappy play.

But there were several highlights on the day, including busting a nonstop bluffer, as well as doubling up at a $25 NL table with AA, then catching AA again two hands later. The bluffer was the most ridiculous player I have ever seen. He saw every flop, bet every time it was checked to him and raised big every time someone bet into him. The board could have two pair or trips showing, with no card under a jack and a flush draw on the board to boot, and he'd be reraising the size of the pot with 46o. I finally took him out with a full house against his busted straight draw.

At that point, you'd think I'd be playing pretty well, but you would be wrong. I was up until that point, but after I busted him, the wheels completely fell off the cart. I became him. Next thing you know, I'm losing half of my healthy stack by bluffing with a busted straight draw.

So yesterday I finished the day down $80 and really pissed. I was actually up $30 at one point and should have quit. But no, I played myself into the ground again, defying my $20 win limit. Tonight is much better. I've built my $21 back to $51, and I'm quitting for the evening. Yes, that's $30 ahead, not $20, but I figure that's a more reasonable figure to aim for each day. Too many times, I'm still hungry to play more after picking up my $20, and once I hit it, I see no point in stopping. And I do intend to stop for the evening, maybe even take the weekend off from the tables. I have been playing far too much lately, and it's beginning to show.

Disappointing end; other stuff

Sorry that I petered out those last couple of days of the main event. First, I kept waiting for the WSOP to send daily results, and they never did, at least not to me. I don't know what happened.

But I was also disappointed with the conclusion this year. After watching Phil Ivey and Greg Raymer get sent packing, I pretty much lost interest. About the only thing for me to do during the final table was root against Mike Matusow, and that didn't last very long. After he was gone, I tried to follow the action listening to Card Player's streaming audio live broadcast for a little while, but it started to seem like following $5 Party Poker SNG. I wasn't that impressed with the level of play, at least in the hour or so after Matusow was eliminated, and I found something else to do.

But I do have to give a nod to Card Player's broadcast. I thought Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Jennifer Harman did an excellent job, during the time I listened. Unfortunately, the audio wasn't that great, especially trying to listen at work. I'd be turning up the volume and leaning close to the speaker, trying to hear the tournament director's announcement, and then Hellmuth's voice would come booming out, loud enough to burst my eardrums. Trying to find a balance between hearing the very soft background and the very loud commentators was difficult. But I enjoyed it all the same, and hope they do it again next year.

And now that all the action is over, it's time to watch it all unfold on television. Last night was ESPN's first broadcast of a WSOP Circuit event and, although I missed the first hour due to work, I was able to get home in time to catch the second hour. I have to say that, although I've always preferred the WPT in the past, ESPN's WSOP coverage is starting to grow on me. The primary difference is that the WPT focuses on the event and the location, while ESPN focuses more on the individual players.

Speaking of the WSOP Circuit, the 2005-06 season has been announced, and there's actually an event near me! Caesars Indiana, the site of my thus far first and only experience in a casino, will be hosting one leg of the circuit. I'm not exactly sure how they will be able to pull it off, considering the space limitations, but I'm already salivating over maybe having the chance to actually play in an event with "WSOP" in the title. If they hold to the same formula as this past year, the earliest events were just $200+25. I just may have to consider entering the field. We'll see how the bankroll is faring around mid-October. But here's a list of this year's events:

World Series of Poker Circuit Events

Grand CasinoTunica – Aug. 11-25, 2005

Harrah’s Las Vegas – Sept. 6-16, 2005

Grand Casino Biloxi – Sept. 29-Oct. 12, 2005

Caesars Indiana – Oct. 19-Nov. 2, 2005

Paris/Bally’s Las Vegas – Nov. 9-22, 2005

Showboat Atlantic City – Nov. 28-Dec. 9, 2005

Grand Casino Tunica – Jan. 5-26, 2006

Harrah’s Atlantic City – Feb. 7-17, 2006

Caesars Atlantic City – March 21-31, 2006

Caesars Palace Las Vegas – April 3-14, 2006

Harrah’s New Orleans – May 18-28, 2006

Harrah’s Lake Tahoe – June 6-16, 2006

2006 TOC at Rio – June 28-29, 2006

2006 WSOP at Rio – Summer 2006

As for the status of my bankroll, I have to say it is a bit stunted right now. I've not been losing, mind you, but rather making regular cashouts. You see, in just a mere nine days, I'll be loading up the family car to take the wife and young'uns on our first-ever Florida vacation. This will be the first time the kids have ever seen the ocean, and, although they don't know it yet, their first trip to Disneyworld. (I'm hoping to keep it a surprise right up until we pull in the gates.) The most gratifying part of the trip is that it's being financed by the fine folks who play online poker. That's right, if you happen to read this after losing a big pot to me, you can take solace in knowing that you helped put smiles on my boys' faces.

So, anyway, the bankroll has been holding steady while I have been cashing out each day's winnings to pay for my vacation, and that has led me to apply some interesting principles to bankroll management. First, since my steadiest winnings have come from five-card draw, that is the only game I've been playing lately. Second, as I mentioned in an earlier post, part of my problem in moving up has been that once I start winning consistently, my impulse is to play more and more until I eventually burn out and start losing. To combat that, I've decided to take a novel approach -- I decided to limit my winnings. Bizarre, huh? My theory is that once I reach a certain level, I quit for the day. But, I must admit, I haven't held to that limit too faithfully. When I first concocted this hare-brained scheme, I figured I had a good 10 days of poker left to ensure all of my cashouts would reach my bank account prior to leaving. And I figured that, while I pretty much had all the money I would need for my trip, an extra $200 cushion would be nice to offset the mandatory unforeseen expenses. So I set a limit of $20 in winnings each day. After that, I would quit for the day and come back to the table more refreshed than if I had stayed up half the night trying to squeeze every last dime out of a table until I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer. Therefore, in my mind, even though I was limiting my potential for how much I could win on any given day, I was keeping myself fresher and better able to win each day.

The first couple of days, I held fast to this rule. As soon as my take on the day crossed $20, I quit until the next day. But then Friday came and I made my $20 quota while I sat down to play for 10 minutes before heading to work. After work, I decided that since the first $20 had come so easily, I might as well play a little more just to pad my vacation cash. Then, after I made my second $20 quota on the day, I quit. And it's a good thing I made the extra $20, because I couldn't win a pot Saturday and actually took a small loss on the day. Sunday wasn't much better. I was up and down the entire day, but actually managed to finish up $11. Monday was another $20 day, but Tuesday I doubled that again. And this morning, before heading to work, I sat down and promptly pulled in $50. So, obviously, I've abandoned the $20 limit, even though I think it has actually helped me. Maybe I need to set a higher limit, just so I am able to play a little longer each day, but not burn myself out.

Oh well, we'll see how it goes.

News and notes

Just thought I'd share a few bits of interesting information I've stumbled across. First up, we have another way to follow the action at WSOP main event:

CardPlayer.com to host streaming audio from WSOP final table

CardPlayer.com, the go-to source for comprehensive World Series of Poker event coverage and analysis, announces its most exciting feature yet: live streaming audio with top poker pros.

Poker superstars including Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren and Jennifer Harman will provide hand by hand coverage at http://www.cardplayer.com/audio from the World Series of Poker final table. Live audio coverage begins Friday, July 15th at 2 p.m.

Then we have this, as if there aren't enough poker instructional products flooding the market already:

Phil Gordon releases poker instructional DVD

Phil Gordon, a professional poker player who has won in excess of $1.3 million in tournament play and is one of only four multi-time winners on the World Poker Tour, announced this week the release of his instructional DVD, "Final Table Poker with Phil Gordon." Released by EXPERT INSIGHT, and available exclusively online (http://expertinsight.com/), the DVD is designed as the first in a series of titles where leading experts -- from chess to NASCAR -- share their thoughts on winning strategies in sports.

"My impression of the titles currently available on the subject of poker is that they are dry, visually uninteresting and often even torturous to watch by even the most diehard of fans," said Gordon in making the announcement. "My goal with this project was to take an entirely different approach to instructional videos by bringing an inventive, entertaining and theatrical-quality approach to teaching the winning ways of Texas Hold'em. In the process, I've realized that the Expert Insight approach can transfer perfectly to almost any category. We see this as the first of many titles to come."

Imagine yourself at the final table of a high stakes game of Texas Hold'em. Seated around you are some of the best players in the world. "Final Table Poker with Phil Gordon" allows the viewer to go inside the mind of a top professional as you play along with Phil Gordon, feel the pressure and excitement of tournament play, and see and hear how winning decisions are made. From preflop play, flop, turn, river, bluffs, pot odds and tells, all aspects of winning strategy are covered in the groundbreaking instructional DVD.

Added Executive Producer Rafe Furst: "Working on the production of the 'Final Table Poker with Phil Gordon,' I had the opportunity to reinforce Phil's concepts through repeatedly watching the material from production to completion. As a result, it immediately elevated my game. I finished in the money three times at this year's World Series of Poker -- a first for me -- and I recently won a nationally televised 'Ultimate Poker Challenge' tournament. I can think of no better endorsement."

BONUS WHORE ALERT: Actually, this is a few days old and I don't know how anyone could have escaped seeing it already, but just in case you missed it, here's the biggest signup bonus I've seen yet:

For all the Hollywood hopefuls and promising poker players dreaming of their big breaks, Hollywood Poker is offering a 500 percent bonus, up to $1,000 on a player's first deposit. In order to qualify, players must create a Hollywood Poker account using the promotional code "HP1000" and make their first Real Money deposit up to $200.

Hollywood Poker is offering this bonus as a reward for new players signing up to truly make them feel like a star. The bonus is ideal for mid-to-high stakes players, as this bonus is released in $50 increments as they play on the site. This is just one way of thanking players for their ongoing support of Hollywood Poker as the site continues to grow.

In order to acquire the bonus money, players need to play for Real Money at Hollywood Poker and start earning Poker Points. The release of the bonus is directly based on the number of Poker Points earned over 60 days. In addition to the cash bonus you will receive a free Red Carpet Tournament ticket just for making a deposit.

Down to 27

First, my apologies for not updating yesterday. Too much work, not enough time.

But what a couple of days it has been at the WSOP. Last year's champ and the chip leader after Day 3, Greg Raymer, had a disastrous Day 4, squandering his lead and falling to the middle of the pack with a smaller-than-average chip stack. Day 5, however, proved that you cannot count Raymer out, and he fought his way back into contention. He finished Day 5 with nearly $4 million in chips, placing him fifth with 27 players remaining.

But for Raymer to repeat, he will face some stiff competition -- and very likely an old nemesis from last year. Mike "The Mouth" Matusow has continued to build steam and steam players throughout the tournament, and he currently holds the chip lead with over $5 million. But if The Mouth has a defining characteristic in addition to his acerbic personality, it's his ability to tank in the final stages of a tournament. I think it's probably just a matter of time before we see another another collapse from Mike "Meltdown" Matusow. He should make the final table, but I just have a feeling that he won't finish higher than third.

That leaves Phil Ivey as the one to beat this year, in my opinion. Ivey currently sits in second with $4.6 million, and he knows how to use a big stack. And while his table should provide a lot of fireworks today, given that he will be seated at the same table as Raymer and Day 4 chip leader Tim Phan, he enjoys the advantage of having position on both of them most hands. Speaking of seating assignments, Raymer has the distinct disadvantage of having Phan at his immediate left. While Phan's chip stack has been cut in half since Day 4, he is still a dangerous player and could give Raymer a lot of headaches today.

All in all, it should be an exciting conclusion, with quite a few big-action players slugging it out.

Here's the results from the previous two days:

WSOP World Championship - Day 4
WSOP World Championship - Day 5

Is it too soon to start talking repeat?

Of course it is, but it's also a definite possibility. With 188 players left in this year's WSOP main event, last year's champion, Greg Raymer, has built a monster chip stack. He is in the lead, joined by yesterday's chip leader, Rod Pardey Jr., as the only two players with over $1 million in chips. Two others, Brad Kondracki and Johnny Howard, are the only others with over $900,000, and then the field falls to under $800,000. Raymer certainly isn't anything close to a commanding favorite, outchipping Pardey by a mere $23,000, but he has already shown that last year was no fluke.

I cannot overemphasize how big an accomplishment it would be for Raymer to actually win two in a row, or even to make it to the final table again. There's still a lot of cards to be played and a lot could happen to knock Raymer out, today even, but the Fossilman has given a resounding answer to his critics. The boy's got skills.

But it's still far too early to speculate on the outcome. For now, here is what we do know so far -- those still standing and those who finished in the money:

WSOP World Championship - Day 3

WSOP update - Day 2

WSOP World Championship - Day 2 - The second day is in the books and things are really starting to get interesting. The first nine who bust out today will not get anything. The rest will receive at least $12,500.

The top of the list is remaining pretty dynamic. Rod Pardey Jr., of Las Vegas, is our current chip leader, with $464,000. One constant in the top tier, however, is Lee Watkinson, who sits is sixth place with $336,800. And look here, last year's champion is not only showing that his win last year was no fluke, but that he is a contender for the outright title. Greg Raymer is in ninth place with $318,700.

We will not be seeing Dan Harrington making a third consecutive trip to the final table. He busted out yesterday. And it is a little sad to see that Chip Reese was knocked out yesterday, just a few places out of the money.

And how about this -- we all know that the 2002 champion, Robert "The Fluke" Varkonyi, was only able to win the main event by being the biggest luckbox to ever hit the tournament. He held up to form and busted out on Day 1. However, his wife, Olga, currently has $209,500 in chips, when the average stack is just shy of $99,000.

Combined Day 1 results

WSOP World Championship - Day 1 Combined - Haakon Waerstad remains the chip leader after the final Day 1, with Sam Farha close behind. Day 1C's chip leader did well enough to place third overall, while Day 1A's chip leader, Lee Watkinson, has slipped to fourth. Overall, 19 players have over 100,000 in chips at this point. One of those is "Minneapolis" Jim Meehan, who has a knack for livening up a table. Nearly 1,900 players will play in Day 2 today.

The final signup statistics have also been released. Overall, 5,619 players entered the event this year. First place will pay $7.5 million, and the top 9 will make at least $1 million. 560 players will receive some money, with the bottom getting $12,500.

WSOP Day 1B

After two days of Day 1, we're seeing quite a bit of action at the WSOP. Gone are Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and many, many more. Even this year's "most likely to be the next Stu Ungar," Eric Sagstrom, checked out on Day 1B. Phil Hellmuth spent a lot of time at the ESPN TV table and had it going well most of the day, but collapsed after midnight, even after making a brilliant laydown with AK on an AA4 board. But that's enough. Here's the results:

WSOP World Championship - Day 1B - Norwegian Haakon Waerstad finishes at the top of Day 1B and moves to the head of the pack, but Sam Farha is not too far behind.

Trials of a languishing blogger

Yeah, yeah, yeah ... it's been awhile, I know. It's been awhile since I said I would start positing more frequently. I swear, I have the best of intentions when I say stuff like that, but then life gets in the way ...

Work has been rough ... sort of. Actually, the hours are a little better now. I'm not away from home in the evenings nearly as much as I used to be, and I'm probably putting in just a little bit less clock time. You would think I would be rested, but it hasn't worked that way yet. I am a creature of habit, if nothing else, and having worked the same schedule for years, I find it hard adjusting to a new schedule that should be easier. I'm sure that will change in time, and then my mind won't be too tired to write the occasional line or two on here.

So, what gives? Why the sudden urge to write, when the biggest poker event of the year has thus far been to inspire to set fingertips to keyboard? I guess it's guilt. While perusing Iggy's blog earlier last night (By the way, Iggy, congratulations on returning to the ranks of the unemployed!), I noticed that I had fallen into the category of "Languishing Blogs."

Ouch, that hurt. Especially reading it on the one blog that inspired me to start my own. How did I come to this lowly state? How could I fall victim to such degeneracy?

Well, only one way to resolve the public humiliation of my new image as a layabout blogger ... time to start writing again. (It's only embarrassing because it's true.)

Poker-wise, things are pretty much the same as the last time I wrote about things. Well, maybe a little worse, since the bankroll has a few more dents in it. Of course, between then and now, I actually went on a bit of a run, which I've blown over the past couple of days, to bring me back down to a wee bit south of even. All in all, I reckon I'm down about $70 from where I was a week or so ago. That doesn't sound too bad, except just a couple of days ago, I was ahead of that figure by about $250, and I'm still not to the point that a $300-plus swing is easy to take.

And that's seems to be the story of my year thus far -- big run-ups, followed by big run-downs. (OK, stop laughing ... I know you big-money players find it cute for me to refer to a couple hundred bucks as "big," but I'm still eking out a miserable existence in the teeny-weeny limits.) I wish I was better able to police my play. I do the same thing over and over again, and I know it, but I seem powerless to stop it. I run bad, maybe even get broke or close to it, so I take a break from the game. That time away, I know for a fact, is very beneficial to how I play when I return, relaxed and refreshed. When I return, I'm usually ready to start making some money, and I do. But instead of limiting my playing time to a reasonable amount, so that I remain refreshed, I gung-ho it and try to make poker my second full-time job. But the more success I have, the more I want to play. The (faulty) logic has it that if I can make x-number of dollars playing y-number of hours a week, then I should be able to make 10x-number of dollars playing 10y-number of hours a week. And, for a brief period, that seems to hold true. But then I get burnt out. I start playing out of compulsion, rather than enjoyment, and pretty soon I'm not playing well. I'm taking unnecessary chances. I'm trying to win every pot. In short, I'm generating enough poker suction that my game collapses upon itself and sucks all of the money out of my bankroll.

For example, in May, after taking a break, I stepped back into the game with a mere $25 deposit. Soon, I had grown that to roughly $500, so I'm walking around, chest puffed out, feeling like a freaking genius. So I start playing more, I get burnt out, I start losing money, and then, to compound the problem, I start playing even more, trying recoup my losses. So, back to the example, after working diligently to turn that $25 into $500, I end up turning that $500 into $0. So then I took another break. After awhile, I'm ready to play again, but I'm a little gun-shy about actually putting any money into the game after my most recent crash-and-burn, so I decide I'll hone my skills on the freeroll circuit. I'll be damned if I don't win the very first freeroll I enter, making a whopping $14. Now, with money to play with, I run that $14 into $400 in no time flat, playing everything -- ring games, SNGs, hold'em, five-card draw. No matter what table I sit down at, it's +EV. But now, that $400 rests back in the $150 range, after I went on another card binge.

Sigh ...

But, at least I've not lost it all (again). I've caught myself in time, I think. And maybe that's one key to becoming a successful player -- knowing when to leave the table. This weekend, I plan to take another break from cards and indulge in some other interests. Maybe I'll decide to sit down to one low buy-in multi, but then again, maybe not. One thing is certain -- I'm definitely not going to attempt to grind out another marathon session. At this point, that would just be throwing money away.

But enough about my petty play -- the freaking World Series is going on! Right now! The main event is taking place this very moment!

And I've been lax in posting my updates, although I don't know how badly they're missed, since you can't spit on your screen without hitting a link to WSOP results. But, just in case you missed any of it, here's the rest of the preliminary matches. I didn't receive three reports, so I've just linked to Poker Pages for one, and no results are available for the other two.

WSOP Event 27 - $5,000 rebuy pot-limit Omaha; winner, Phil Ivey.
WSOP Event 28 - $5,000 limit hold'em; winner, Dan Schmiech.
WSOP Event 29 - $2,000 no-limit hold'em; winner, Lawrence Gosney.
WSOP Event 30 - $1,500 limit razz; winner, O'Neil Longson.
WSOP Event 31 - $5,000 six-handed no-limit hold'em; winner, Doyle Brunson (!)
WSOP Event 32 - $5,000 limit Omaha 8/b; winner, David Chiu.
WSOP Event 33 - $3,000 no-limit hold'em; winner, Andre Boyer.
WSOP Event 34 - $1,000 seniors no-limit hold'em; winner, Paul McKinney.
WSOP Event 35 - $10,000 pot-limit Omaha; winner, Rafi Amit.
WSOP Event 36 - $3,000 limit hold'em; winner, Todd "Dan Druff" Witteles.
WSOP Event 37 - $1,000 rebuy no-limit hold'em; winner, John Heneghan.
WSOP Event 38 - Satellite event, for which no results are available.
WSOP Event 39 - $5,000 rebuy no-limit deuce-to-seven draw; winner, David Grey.
WSOP Event 40 - No results available.
WSOP Event 41 - Media/celebrity invitational charity tournament; winner, Randy Boman.

And, last but not least, let's not forget the results from day 1, flight 1 of the main event:

WSOP World Championship - Day 1A - Lee Watkinson ends day as chip leader.