Mar
9
by Chad Holloway
Congratulations to Annie Duke on her NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship win. The National Heads-Up Poker championship is essentially poker’s version of March Madness. I look forward every year to competing with other players from around the world in making predictions. CardPlayer currently offers the best Fantasy Poker competition for this tournament and this year had nearly 700 entrants (for the record, not one player pciked Annie Duke to win it). That’s not a lot, but then again the time between determining the match-ups at the draw party and the event’s start is quite short. It’d be nice if NBC held the draw party a week or so in advance. This would surely increase the number of participants from the Fantasy Poker/bracket prediction perspective. With all that said, I pretty much failed with my Fantasy Poker bracket.
Of the 32 first-round match-ups, I only got 16 correct. That doesn’t sound too bad but most of those came in two of the four brackets, so the winners advanced and just knocked each other out. Because of this, I wasn’t able to rack up too many points. It didn’t help that I chose Antonio Esfandiari to make it the to the Championship Match and he was knocked out in the first round. I did have a few good picks though. From the other side of the bracket, I picked Phil Laak to go all the way. He didn’t, but he had a decent run and made the money. I picked both Eric Bladwin and Jason Mericier to go far. Baldwin didn’t but Mercier sure did. I also did well in predicting how far Doyle Brunson and Annette Obrestad would go. Even though I didn’t win this Fantasy Poker competition, I had a great time. I can’t wait to watch it all unfold on television.
In other Fantasy Poker news, Scott Clements and Jason Mercier are having a little competition of their own. At the PCA Main Event, both players put an undisclosed amount of money on the line (rumored to be quite high) in regards to the BLUFF’s 2010 Player-of-the-Year race. Each chose ten players for their team and whatever team racked up the most points would win. Since the PCA Main Event was going on, the remaining players in the field influenced the draft. Clements won a coin flip for the first pick. Here is how their teams ended up:
Team Clements
Jeff Madsen
Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin
Nick Schulman
Jonathan Little
Nick Binger
Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier
Jason Potter
Daniel Negreanu
Joe Serock
Yevgeniy Timoshenko
Team Mercier
Praz Bansi
Amit Makhija
Christian Harder
Dan O’Brien
Faraz Jaka
Todd Terry
Mike Binger
Ben Zamani
J.C. Tran
Vivek Rajkumar
“Jason and I are both pretty competitive. It’s something that would be fun to watch throughout the year, and also [we] talk a little trash to each other,” Clements says. “Even though we have the bet, I won’t root against him. I still want him to win. He’s still a friend, even if it costs me money.” It should be interesting to see how this Fantasy Poker bet pans out.
Mar
8
by Katrina Lim
Where has the time gone? Sorry for not blogging sooner. Been jankin’ around. Got lots to report though. Starting with the LAPC, I played a $1065 buy in and it was smooth sailing until David “the Dragon” Pham decided to get lucky against me. I picked up JJ and raised 4 times the big blind because when it comes to JJ, I always get burned and I was happy to take it down preflop. However, Dragon decided to call my raise after some hesitation. And of course, villain #2 next to him wanted in too. Flop comes 2, 4, 8 rainbow and both fools check to me. I throw out a good pot-sized bet. Dragon thinks for a little bit, and shoves. Villain #2 folds and I tanked for a good 5 minutes. Something deep inside told me to throw my JJ away but a few hands before David showed a bluff. My gut was telling me fold. And of course do I listen? Of course not. I called. Dragon flips over 8, 6 off. To add insult to injury, Dragon tells me my JJ should’ve been an instacall. I laughed at him and said I was so close to folding. That pretty much left me crippled and my last hand I held AQ and was called by 77. Of course the villain flops quads. Good game.
Played a home game with the gang and won that. Good stuff. My hands are holding up at showdown and I really feel good about this year. Played the $150k G at the Bike Friday night and here I’m thinking play will stop around 12:30pm. 12 levels later I’m staring at 3am and completely drained. Happy that I was patient the whole time and picked my hands carefully. Built my meager $3k stack back up to a healthy $20k but the fatigue finally took over. I was in the small blind and folded around. Staring down at Q, 10 s and shoved expecting to steal easily. Big blind instacalls me with KJ off. That call was actually questionable to me as we both were almost even in chips and almost in the money. Questionable as in the instacall. But oh well. Good game. I didn’t need to shove there but was already sleeping between hands. Placed 70th of 500. Jank.
Big congrats to Marilou Morelli!!! Scari Mari is on a roll and placed 11th in the LAPC Main Event!!! Last woman standing. When you taking me to lunch? Day after Scari played the $5/$10 NLH cash game at Hawaiian Gardens and turned a $3500 profit. Nice work sista!
My upcoming schedule includes the other guaranteed tourneys at Bike this month and crushing the home game again. But I do have some big news…
I am back in Corporate America. I got a job offer I just couldn’t resist. I am back working with my prior boss of 7 years and best of all, my office is down the street from the house. I can eat lunch at home and no commute. I can even work at home! What a luckbox! I win! As for poker, my boss knows I love playing so much and will let me schedule work time with poker time!!! Amazing! So, I’m still looking forward to the WSOP this summer and hope to hit a few events.
I feel a full-time job will help my poker even more. I have no pressure to win anymore. Poker is a bonus. I will still be grinding on weeknights and weekends especially when the cash games are juicy. Supplemental income is the best! And I will still be playing tourneys too. It’s nice to be part of a team again, having colleagues, and most importantly, I am back with the best boss in the world!! I would work for my boss for free. Seriously. I am extremely fortunate to have this new opportunity. Thank you so much, Boss Lady! We are going to kill the quota this year!
What else is going on? Hmm, oh yeah, with all the bad press Toyota is getting, I scored such a great deal on a RAV4, that we bought 2 of em! Don’t believe the media hype. Toyota is a great brand. Sure, lately they’ve been going 0-60 even when you don’t want them too, but hey, how many millions of Toys are on the road??!! Also, we got RAVs that were made in Japan. Only Toyotas made in the USA were recalled. Perfect example of lost in transalation. Anyway, we love our Toys that we might add a 3rd RAV to the family. Yes, we are cracked. Super jank!
Back to poker, I read Justin’s first blog for Bluff magazine. Brotha, how do you do it?! $180k profit in a cash game with Matusow and a few others…popping bottles of Cristal to boot!! Nice job! When’s the housewarming? I want to school you and Anita in ping pong. Justin and Anita moved into a newer, bigger house in the Hollywood Hills so they could have a game room and buy a ping pong table. Good stuff. I love ping pong and I hope to make bets with them. Easy money. If I can find just half the poker success as Justin, I will be happy. Good enough for me.
Pearljammer and Tracey also picked a date for the wedding and I’m so excited for them!! I’m even more excited that I get to be the maid of honor. I have exactly 1 year to lose 15 pounds. Better start soon. But with all the yummy food I’m finding, OMG! It’s gonna be hard! Time to get back to the gym. Nothing else going on. Just gonna keep grinding and dining. Life is good.
Feb
11
by Katrina Lim
There you are! Haven’t seen y’all in a while! Lots to report…
My first ever cruise to the Mexican Riviera was a blast! With stops in Cabo, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta, I was having so much fun lookin’ for souvenir magnets while enjoying some 88 degree sunshine too. The brief escape from the rain was nice, but I’m glad to be back in the real O.C. enjoying the current thunderstorms. I had the best ever Mexican food at El Patio in Puerto Vallarta…a quaint lil place next to the famous La Jolla de Mismaloya hotel. It was cool to stroll the town’s cobblestoned streets too. I definitely wanna go back! And no one ever told me the infinite amount of food on cruises!!! So awesome!! Sure, I’ll have some pizza at 3:30am…and cookies fer dessert!! Uh, I was obviously exempt from my diet on my vacation. Man, I love cruising now and I would go just for the food!
Of course I also got my poker fix on the cruise even though they only had one automated table. It was good enough to play some $1/$2 NLH. My first time ever playing on an automated table. I also entered the poker tourney they held onboard and yours truly won it. So, I won myself a 7 night Caribbean cruise for 2 in December…where I will also play in their grand championship event which boasts a $100k prize pool. Cool! Going heads up, I was a 6 to 1 underdog too, but was able to chip away and remain patient, thus allowing me to come back and take it down! Uh, I also earned a couple of nicknames that I can’t decide whether they’re good or not: Hurricane and Dragon Lady. I’ve heard peeps call me Hurricane before, though. I can live with it. But Dragon Lady?! That sounds a bit too janky to me. Can’t wait to cruise again! Get to play poker and eat! My 2 favorite hobbies! Life is good!
2010 has been a great year for me thus far! Later today, I’ll be heading to Commerce to play LAPC Event #23…their first $1065 event. Hoping to take my win streak with me just by having my hands continue to hold up. Hoping the prize pool will be decent too. Thus far, entries have been lower in other events. Understandable given the present economy. Oh, I got a job offer yesterday too. Back to corporate America? Wouldn’t mind it…it’s a great opportunity and so close to home! If I do the 9-5 grind again, I will still play part-time and grind it out on weekends and evenings. Supplemental income never hurts!
Yesterday I discovered the greatest video game ever!!! And no, it’s not COD: Modern Warfare 2. It’s the game that beat Modern Warfare 2 for 2009 game of the year: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves for the PS3!!! OMG, this game is the absolute greatest!! The graphics are astounding and the most impressive I’ve ever seen!!! The game play is so awesome!!! I am absolutely hooked! Not only that, it has an awesome story line and plot and the voiceover acting is really good!!! I’m currently on Chapter 9 and try to play 2 chapters each evening. It’s like I’m in the video game! That’s how realistic it is! I’ve been all over my 360, but now it’s all about the PS3…not gonna touch anything else until I finish Uncharted 2! Absolutely amazing!!! I still have to watch “Inglorious Basterds” too before I start the first season of “True Blood”.
Other than that, been laying low. Not much else going on. Good luck in the Premier League, Phil! Should be a cakewalk fer ya since I’m not playing! Bwahahahahaha. If you’re in the LA area, check out the LAPC. Maybe play the tourney? Come get you some!
Feb
9
by Chad Holloway
Sometimes the answer to tilt is a little Call of Duty.
I’ve made preparations to attend the World Series of Poker circuit event in Council Bluffs, Iowa that runs from February 18 thru March 2, 2010. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to play the duration; in fact, I can only manage to go for a few days. I will be there from Feb. 24-26, which isn’t ideal but will still allow me to get some lucrative cash game action in. I will also play their Event #17, a $345 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament. I’m long overdue for a poker excursion and I’ve always enjoyed the circuit events. I’m hoping to have some UnaBomber Poker gear or patches to wear by that time as well.
Poker on TV has been keeping me entertained recently. A couple weeks back I watched Phil claim victory on Poker After Dark by outlasting Annette Obrestad, Mike Matusow, Erick Lindgren, and Phil Hellmuth. Laak also defeated Antonio Esfandiari heads-up for the $120k. which was entertaining to say the least. Speaking of entertaining, watching the two of them heckle Hellmuth as he blinded himself away was priceless. Congrats to Phil on that win. ESPN has also started to air the WSOP-Europe Main Event. I haven’t watched it yet, but it’s waiting for me on my DVR.
In other poker news, I’ve been on a bad run in recent weeks. This isn’t due so much to bad cards, but to my bad play. I’ve been struggling with two major problems: bankroll management and tilt. I’ve been risking way too much money every time I play and can’t seem to walk away when things aren’t going my way. Top this off with some really bad steaming and it makes for a dangerous situation. I’m going to try righting the ship by tightening my game and finding outlets for my tilt other than trying to make things happen. I know how important it is for successful poker players to exhibit control, over themselves and their bankroll, but this is proving easier said than done. It is something I know I need to work on and I’m making it a priority.
I hate to overlap on a topic that Phil talks about often, but I started playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (COD 2) and it is fantastic. I started off terribly but after a few hours I started getting back into the swing of things (I used to play the first one) and quickly rose through the ranks. I haven’t played online with Phil yet, but I should get his gamer-tag . . . for some reason I think that’d be a wicked good time.
My next blog will focus on some more WSOP Fantasy Poker stats. More specifically, I will reveal the top ten six-handed hold’em tournament players; as well as, the top ten Deuce-to-Seven tournament fantasy studs. These lists ought to help you if you’re planning on playing in a Fantasy Poker league this year, so check back for those.