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Well, exciting news. I went back today for the final 22 of the Venetian $330 Deep-Stack tournament. Upon getting there, I looked at the standings. There were 22 people left, and there were 7 people with smaller stacks than I had. This put me in 15th place. I got a hand early on and doubled up to about T500,000. But with blinds starting at T10,000/T20,000 with a T4000 ante, it really forced action.

People trickled out. The next increase in pay was at 18 people. It was not too long before we got to that point, and we combined down to two tables. My goal was just to push good hands, while trying to climb the ladder. Several times I folded decent but vulnerable hands such as KTs. Soon, we were down to 15, and the pay increased to about $1900.

Action was slow. It typically went raise, fold, fold, fold. This was how poker was meant to be played. Everybody was tight and aggressive. About two hours into the second day, we were down to 12. The pay again went to to $2350.

I was getting cards, but every time I had a hand, everybody would fold. We worked our way down to 10 people - the bubble for the final table (two tables of five). Blinds were at T20,000/T40,000 with a T5000 ante and I had T240,000. I had not seen a decent hand for awhile. I was UTG and saw QTo. I pondered whether I should make a move. The table was tight and respecting raises. The problem is that my only move is fold or all-in. I knew I only had enough chips for three more rounds of the table - which was 15 hands. I thought that I was the tournament short stack, and decided to make the move. I pushed all-in. Everybody folded to the big blind who calls. He shows AA. UGH! I busted out in 10th place for $2350.

I must say that this was another great learning experience. It is interesting to see how the face of the tournament changes as you get to the money bubble, then how tight it gets as you get closer to the final table.

Because I cashed, my Cardplayer.com profile will be updated. I will post the link as soon as the results are updated.

So, the question is, “What next?”

I might play the $540 Venetian Deep Stack tomorrow (7/3), the $1060 Deep Stack on 7/4, or the $540 Deep Stack on 7/5. I have not decided yet. . .

It is 2:30 am here in Vegas. Just wanted to give you east-coast early-birds an update on The Venetian Deepstack Tournament. Entry fee was $340 and a record 738 people entered. This was the largest deepstack tournament The Venetian has ever hosted. At 2:00am, they suspended play for the night. There are 22 people left (yes, I am one of them). Blinds are at 10,000/20,000 with a 4,000 ante. Average chipstack is about 400,000. I have 251,000. I have won at least $1068. The next cut is at 18 people - where the pay goes up to about $1500.

We resume play tomorrow at 4pm. I will write more when I wake up. I am mentally exhausted after 14 hours of play.

I woke up and again went for my daily hour walk.  It was overcast, so the sun did not beat down on Donna and I as badly as it did yesterday. After returning, we ate breakfast, and off to the tournament I went.

I was not nervous, but rather anxious.  There were 2700 entrants for this tournament.  It sold out.  On the first hand of the tournament, it was folded to the button, who raised.  I had 76s in the BB.  I checked an open-ended straight draw on a K85 rainbow board.  The button checked as well.  The jack of hearts came on the turn giving me a flush draw in addition to the straight draw.  I fired out T200, and the button folded.  I had won the first hand of the tournament - and the jitters were gone.

After that, I really did not have a lot of cards.  During the rest of the level and half of level 2, I had only two more playable hands.  As if I was not card cold enough, I then went through the rest of level 2, ALL of level 3, and half of level 4 without getting anything playable.  This amounted to about 2 hours.

Finally, with my stack at T3025, I pick up JJ in a mid position.  With blinds at T100/T200 with a T25 ante, I raise to T700.  A guy two to my left reraises all-in.  I don’t  like the position I am in, but there are really only three hands that beat me - the three bigger pocket pairs.  I call and of course, he shows QQ.  When a Jack did not materialize on the board, I was out.  Frustrating to only get 5-6 playable hands in 4 hours.

I did not play the rest of the day.  I needed a break.  Tomorrow (7/1), I am playing the $330 Venetian Deep Stack.  We start with T10,000 chips with 50 minute levels.  This is MY kind of tournament.  You  have much more room to manuever in Deep Stacks.

As a side note, there was a $1500 HORSE tournament at the WSOP yesterday.  They had 803 entrants - the largest HORSE tournament ever.  It looks like this game is becoming wildly popular.  With most people being decent at one game, if you sharpen your HORSE game and get good at 3-4 of the games, there is a LOT of money to be made.  I have been saying this for the last year - and it looks like it is coming true!

Notable Sightings for today included:  Steve Danaman, TJ Cloutier, Vanessa Rousso, Men “The Master” Nguyen, and John-Robert Bellande

Donna and I got up. I promised myself that I would get exercise every day while we were out here. Otherwise, I would sit at the poker table all day. We walked from the Rio, to the Wynn and back. On the way, we stopped at Denny’s and ate breakfast. We walked for about an hour, plus the breakfast stop.

After returning, I went down to the satellite area and decided to play in a $175 single table satellite. That went well, and once we got down to three people, one of the guys offered to do an even chop. First prize was $1500 in tournament chips (Lammers) and $120 cash. He proposed that everybody get a $500 chip and $40 cash. Since I was the short stack at this point, I voted “yes”. Valarie, the other lady involved, agreed too. So, the first tournament was a success.

Next, I wanted to play in a $275 or $325 tournament. I asked the lady coordinating them if she was going to get one of those going. She was currently trying to promote a $525 tournament. She also said that she was not going to get a $325 one until she had the $525 sold out. I caved in and signed up for the $525. The moment I paid, she started to take sign ups for a $275 Single Table Tournament. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. I should have been more patient. The $525 tournament did not go as well. I placed 5th and got nothing.

After that, I decided to play cash games. 2/5 NL is what I decided on. I will not get into details, but lets just say I was not getting the right cards. I finished down about $500. By then, it was 5:30 and I was getting hungry.

I went back to the room, and Donna and I went to the strip to get some dinner. We would up at The Burger Palace, which was located in the The Imperial Palace. After dinner, we played some Three Card Poker.

I was starting to get tired. Although I wanted to play some more cash games, I decided against it to get a good night of sleep. The $1500 NL tournament is tomorrow and I need to be well rested. I had heard through the grapevine that they are capping the entries to this event at 3000. I decided to register early, so down I went. I got my seating assignment - Amazon Room, Red Area, Table 29, Seat 1. Ugh - I Hate seat 1. I also watched some of the $50,000 HORSE final table. Among the pros at the final table were Lyle Berman, Eric Lindgren, and Scotty Nguyen.

Notable sightings today included Daniel Negreanu and David Benyamine.

On tap for Monday 6/30 at Noon (Vegas time) is the $1500 NL tournament!