Stud was a blast. I arrived at the Rio a little bit early and tried to find Scott Fishman for to get the same tips he gave Johnny Bax for the first stud event. He gave me some helpful tips, most of which just made sense. I was very excited and at first it was very hard to keep up with the folded up cards. People folded too quickly and I didn't have time to memorize them. Luckily, I was able to catch up with the timing of the folds and a few levels in; I could tell you every card folded, including the suit. I held my own pretty well and caught some pretty good cards and was able to get my 5k up to 16k by the dinner break. Obviously I wasn't playing perfect, or close to it, but a lot of players told me they didn't believe I had never played before. That made me feel great. After dinner I took two sick ones, but I really don't feel like any bad beat stories, so I'll just sum up the two hands. Basically I had trip 10s on fifth street and was against a 3 flush and didn’t fill up, while he caught his flush. That hurt and about 5 min later, the exact same thing happened. I paired my door card on 5th to make trip 10s again, and was against 578 with two spades. On 6th I didn't fill up and he caught the worst card in the world for me, the 6 of spades. I played on but didn't fill up and he also made a backdoor flush. Oh well. I was a tad bit upset, that I lost with such big hands, but I had so much fun and I'm very disappointed there isn't another stud event at the World Series this year. I went home surprisingly happy and got ready for bed.
Today I left for the Rio with Noah (Exclusive online) in the best mood I had been in the entire series. All the "running bad" didn't seem to matter. I sat at my table and the only player I knew was Clonie Gowen, two to my left. There was only one interesting hand and something about it is close to last night. I raise to 75 with the blinds at 25-25 to open the pot in late position with QcTc. The guy behind me seems kinda funny and reluctantly calls, as does one person behind him and the BB. The flop is T84 with one club. Not a bad flop for me, and I know not to go broke on this flop. It is checked to me and I bet 225, happy to pick up the pot here and let no over cards come. If called, I know I can improve or pick up a flush or straight draw. The player behind me, that acted funny when calling, made it 450. He raised the absolute minimum. What in the hell is that move? The other two folded and I decided I was at least calling. I had 2500 (starting chips) to begin the hand, I put in 300 and had about 2200 left. If I call I would have 1975. I didn't want to raise, as I already smelled something when he called me preflop, and I thought he may have just called me with JJ or QQ. Most likely JJ since I have a Q. I just called his raise. The turn was a 10. Uh oh, trip 10s again. I don't believe in that superstitious mumbo jumbo, and I checked going for my signature move (as they said in TILT, hehe) the check raise. He bet 600 and I considered the chances of him having the best hand. I really didn't think he had 88 or 44. There was no reason for him to raise me on that flop or get rid of the other two in the hand. I also didn't think he had AT and would play it that way. It seems he would raise more with such a vulnerable hand. I really thought he had JJ, by his actions preflop and how the hand was playing out. It seems his minimum raise on the flop was actually a raise that left him an "escape route" if I were to move in. That way he could lay down his JJ if I had a bigger pair and still have chips. I thought for a while, tried to give off some false weak tells and moved in on him. A raise of 1375. He began to think. When this happened, I was 100% sure I was good. There is no way he would think this long with a better hand. I was trying to will him into calling. Thinking in my head CALL! CALL! CALL! I began to shake slightly and act nervous and drink water hoping he would. He looked over at me and threw his chips in the pot. I turned over my hand and a big frown came over his face. He turned up JJ. I was dead on. That felt great to put him exactly on a hand, and have him close to dead. Well, if you read the title of this story, I'm sure you can figure out the river. I was ok though; I smiled and went out to wait for Noah. He busted shortly after, and we went home and relaxed. My barber came over and I got a much needed shave and haircut. I took a nap and got ready for tomorrow.
Playing the stud event changed something in me. I am not sure what it is, but I am not that upset anymore. I had fun playing poker yesterday and today, and that is what matters. I'm just going to continue to enjoy myself and whatever happens, happens. I appreciate all the emails and comments, and my next entry is going to be an answer to the comments I haven't responded to yet. I try and respond to everyone at least once that emails, but I can't have 100 ongoing email conversations. I love answering a quick question or two. I've also gotten a lot of request for autographed pics lately. I am going to get a P.O. Box and I'll put up an address to send a self addressed stamped envelope that will fit the size of the pictures I get. I will post when that is all setup, probably after the WSOP. Oh, and after the WSOP, Bodog is having celebrity poker event in Hawaii. Josh and I will be going and I am super excited to get a vacation. Bodog is great, and are doing alot of things to make their site better for their customers. If you want to try and win a trip to Hawaii too, sign up for Bodog, make a deposit and refer a friend to do the same. For each friend you refer, you'll be entered again. That's enough advertising for me. I am going to get some food and continue to relax. My mom gets tomorrow to play the Ladies Event on Sunday. Can't wait for her to get here, I seem to play better with her watching. Don't wanna look dumb in front of mom.
