Wow, it has been quite a while since I last wrote. I just kept putting it off, and more things happened which made it an even more daunting task. I finally got caught up on emails and I'm ready to catch you up on what's been going on in my life. Since it has been over a month, things may be out of order and a few details might be off. I'll do my best.
After the main event was over I wanted to take a long break from poker. I was excited about my trip to Hawaii for the Bodog Salutes the Troops Charity event and it couldn't have occurred at a better time. It was the perfect place to get over the WSOP. While the main event was going on, I got a call from Matt Savage inviting me to a very exclusive tournament that would have a live 6 person final table. The buy in was $20k and there were 24 players invited to the Wynn to play. The lineup included Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Erick Lindgren, Marcel Luske, Layne Flack, Ted Forrest, Clonie Gowan, Kristy Gazes, Andy Bloch, TJ Cloutier, John D'Agostino, Johnny Chan, David Grey, John Hennigan, Phil Hellmuth, Gus Hansen and more tough spots that I can't seem to remember at the moment. Phil Ivey and Mike Matusow were slated to play, but they were still in the main event. I doubled up off Gus on the second hand, but he wasn't eliminated because he won a nice pot off David Grey on the first. I played well at first and had a nice chip lead but it wasn't easy. We played 6 man tables, and the structure was fast and everyone could play. There was a lot of gambling going on. When we got down to 8 players remaining, 4 at each table, I made two mistakes. We were combining to one table at 7, the TV bubble was at 6, and 5 spots were getting paid. Because of the value of being on television with such great players I should have been a tad bit more cautious. On one hand, Kristy opened for a raise and I reraised her on the button with 55. I wanted to know where I stood and didn't want to get trapped trying to guess on a flop with an over card. She moved in and I had to lay it down. She showed AQ, and when we peek at the flop, it made me sick. Q58. If I just call her, she doesn't have enough chips to get off the hand and I bust her. A few hands later, Ted opened for a raise at the 4 handed table with a big chip lead. Kristy moved in and I found two 9s. I thought Ted could be screwing around, and I knew Kristy knew this as well. I was almost even with her and called. Now Ted began to debate to also call! My read was wrong, but Ted showed AQ and folded. Kristy had JJ and I was in bad shape. The flop was Qxx, and I didn't get any help. If I folded Ted would have called and eliminated Kristy and I would have made the final table of 7, with two stacks shorter than me. Although we were playing 4 handed and very fast, I should have folded because of the bubble situations and the value of the TV coverage and the money. Kristy ended up winning the tournament and $250,000. Congratulations Kristy!
I was very upset at myself for these two mistakes and was miserable again. I had no one to blame but myself and couldn't get over it. I had to get back in action and that weekend I went up to the Bellagio to play the Sunday 1k NL tournament. I showed up for the 2pm start and found out I was alternate number 104! They had 150 seated and I had to be in by level 4 or I would get a refund. I was very fortunate to get in with 4 mins left in level 3. I had the 3k starting stack and the average was above 5k. Not a good spot. I doubled up very quickly and things started to go my way. In about an hour I had a big chip lead. I held my lead the entire way and even ended up busting TJ at the final table. I was in the zone, playing well and catching some good cards. When I got heads up it was about 1am and I had the lead 550,000 to 200,000. First place was $88k and second was $53k. I didn't want to chop as everyone knows I need the practice at heads up play. I can't seem to finish it off. We played for about 30 min with me never being able to make a pair. I finally did, but he had a bigger one and I got second again. I was happy with the success I had, but clearly frustrated that I lost yet another heads up match. I went to Light at the Bellagio afterwards to celebrate with a bunch of our friends.
After that it was off to Hawaii to relax and play the charity tournament. My best friend Evelyn Ng went as did my mother and sister. Bodog also sent Josh and his wife. Amelia Cooke, who you may know as the Matador's daughter from EPSN's TILT came along as well. I had a great group of friends and family with me and had a blast. The staff at Bodog is so nice and they really know how to treat people. The event was first class. The hotel was amazing and everyone was treated like kings. I didn't really do anything but sit on the beach, eat good food and read the latest Harry Potter book. Bodog also brought out some pretty cool celebrities. My good friend Shannon Elizabeth came and brought her friend Heather, who is a lot of fun to hang out with. I met "Boston" Rob and Amber from Survivor and The Amazing Race, and they are very down to earth. My mom has always been a fan of theirs, as she is a big reality show junkie. She was excited to meet them, and we had a great time partying. The comedians, Paul Rodriguez, Wanda Sykes, and Colin Quinn were awesome. It is like they are always on stage, constantly cracking jokes. You never know if they are being serious. Playing in the tournament with all of the troops was amazing. Those guys are the real heroes, and they were so excited to play with me and Josh. It felt good to be a part of Bodog and know that we were showing them appreciation for everything they do. They way the tournament was set up, the only person that mattered to me was Josh. Whenever one of us busted out, the other would be taken out of the tournament and get an automatic birth into the final table, where everyone would start with even chips. The structure was another one of Matt Savage's blazing fast formats, and combined with me goofing off, I ended up in a race with a pair against two over cards for Estella Warren. She hit and that was the end of me. The funny thing is she also busted Josh at the final table and ended up winning the whole thing. She said this was her first tournament. Congratulations Estella! The next day they had a free concert for everyone with Snoop Dogg as the main attraction. Snoop did about every hit he has, and even the songs of other preformers where he just has a verse. It was pretty cool being back stage and meeting Snoop. I got my picture taken with him as did my mom and sister. Word on the street is that when Evelyn got her picture with him, he told her he loved her! When I get the new photo album software up, I will post the pictures along with some other pretty cool ones. I want to give a big thanks to Bodog for everything that weekend. I was really impressed and I am very happy that they are my sponsor. I don't want to turn this into an affiliate ad, but they really know customer service and if you haven't checked out their site, you should.
Since my return to Vegas from Hawaii, I really haven't really played much live poker. I have been playing online to get my poker fix, and taking care of things around town. I am looking for a house or high-rise condo, so that I can have my own home and finally feel like a real adult. My next trip is to Tunica in late August for the new season of the World Series of Poker Circuit events. I also found out that somehow I am qualified for the Magic US National Championships in Baltimore this weekend. I think I am going to go. It should be fun to see a lot of friends I haven't seen in a while and to play a game other than poker. I haven't played in a long time, so I am pretty sure I'll suck. But I won't have high expectations, which should make it more fun.
Now that I have gotten to mostly everything that has happened to me since my last post, I should be able to update pretty regularly as interesting things occur. It might be a while since there really isn't anything going on for a bit, but maybe something exciting will happen in Baltimore.
