Status:  Needs proofed

I woke up after a decent night of sleep, but did not need to be back in the casino until 2pm.  Donna and I went to the beach and claimed a cabana for ourselves, then walked on the beach. After walking and taking some pictures, we played some ping-pong, and then sat under the cabana.

Around noon, I decided that it was time to go get ready for the tournament.  It was a wonderful morning just relaxing and doing crossword puzzles.  Back in the room, I showered and started my mental preparation for the task at hand.

I was kind of annoyed at having to go back the the tournament for what was probably going to be 5 hands of poker.  My mission was clear.  I needed to double up, and double up quick.  With the blinds at T3,000/T6,000 with a T1,000 ante, I had no room to wait.  I needed to move with any hand that was above average (Q7o for those of you who do not know the “computer hand”) and hope for the best.  There was not a lot of strategy involved.  If I doubled up, I would still need to play fast.

After getting ready, we went to the buffet for lunch.  Donna repeatedly asked if I was nervous.  I was not.  My decision was easy.  Do I fold or do I go all-in? I must admit, as 2pm drew closer, I was a little nervous.  We made our way to the casino where they remaining chipstacks were posted.  They were as follows:

Well, I am definitely the short stack.  Sam Quento, the tournament director, decided that we were going to redraw for seats, and high card for the button.  I was at the same table, but in the #1 seat.  WPT Champion Mike Vela drew the same seat (#10) and was to my immediate right with a large stack.  To make matters worse, I was to start the tournament in the big blind.

Hand #1

There was a raise by the button.  Mike Vela folds in the SB, and I look at 63o.  This is definitely not an average hand, so I muck.  I am down to T23,500.

Hand #2

The cutoff raises to T20,000.  Mike Vela calls from the button.  I am in the SB and look down at Q6o and have exactly T20,000 left.  I am getting 2.5:1 pot odds.  I figure that this is the best that it is going to get, so I hold my breath and call for my tournament life.  The board comes K-Q-7-T-3.  I decide to be funny and pull out my pocket jokers and show them.  Mike Vela gets a really puzzled look on his face and cannot figure out what is going on.  Sam Quinto looks at my cards and says, “Oh My God!”.  I think I pulled one over on everybody at the table, and I start laughing!  The preflop raiser shows JJ and Mike Vela shows 55.  Miraclously, my Q6 wins and I triple up to over T60,000!  This is better than planned - I TRIPPLED up!  Several hands later, while still 6 handed, I pick up 77 UTG.  I move all-in and get one caller.  He shows QJs and we are off to the races.  My heart races with joy when I see a 7 come on the flop.  I am now over T110,000 and am in the hunt!  I cannot believe it!

Not having to push any two cards, begin to play more cautiously.  It is not too long before we lose 3 players to make the final table of nine.  At that time, we were moved into a room where the main event final table was playing out.  This was REALLY cool.  They had the area roped off and there were probably 60-70 people all around watching the action!  At this point, I was not nervous at all.  I knew I was on a freeroll because there was no way I should have survived and came back from T30,000 chips.  Life was good.

The top 6 places were paying in the bust-out tournament, and the looked like this:

1st:  $15,000 WPT entry + $1,000 for travel expenses

2nd:  $10,000 WPT entry + $1,000 for travel expenses

3nd:  $10,000 WPT entry + $1,000 for travel expenses

4th:  WPT Celebrity Invitational Tournament entry + $1,000 for expenses

5th:  Battle for the Season Pass IV package for you and a guest + $1,000 for travel expenses

6th:  WPT Bootcamp 3-day Champions Bootcamp Package + $1,000 for travel expenses

If I got a few decent hands, I could make a run at cashing.  We redrew for seats and high-carded for the button, then the cards were in the air.  It took about 15 minutes to lose the first player, then another 20 to lose 8th place.

We were now on the bubble.  Seven players left and six prizes to give.  Being the bubble king that I am, I make a proposal from the first Battle for the Season Pass.  I propose to everybody left that we all throw $100 into the middle.  Whoever bubbles, gets the $700 - which is a nice consoltion.   Caroline Glover, an 82 year old sweetheart, immediatley agrees.  I explain to everybody the proposition, and everybody agrees except seat 1 who is from Norway.  After explaining what it really meant, he was still hesitant, but agrees.  We all give $100 to Mike Vela.  I am one of the short-stacks, but at this point, I am 100% comfortable.  If I bubble now, I will get $700 for my efforts.

We played 7 handed for awhile, when I am in the SB and it is folded to Andrew on the button, who shoves all-in.  I peek down at AK and shove my stack all-in.  Caroline folds, and Andrew shows 75o.  An Ace hits the flop, I knock him out, and we are all in the money.  This is absolultey astonishing for me - especially coming back from T23,000 chips.

The play from here on out was pretty straight-forward.  I stole some blinds, made some all-in bets and held my own.  I built my chip stack up to 425k at one point (and had about 20% of he chips in play).  I lost a few hands, but moved when it was right.

At some point we lost the 6th place player - who won a 3 Day Champions Bootcamp worth $3000.  I really did not want this prize, as I have already been to a Champions Bootcamp.  I also did not want 4th place - the WPT Celebrity Invitational.  I wanted either 5th place (Battle for the Season Pass IV package) or one of the top three prized (15k or 10k buy-in).  After being on the ropes, I was now within striking distance of a $10,000 seat.

Mike Vela, who came to the final table as the chip leader, was now short stack.  One hand was folded to him in the SB.  He did not hesitate and shoved all-in.  I knew that since he was short-stack, he would make this move with any two cards.  I had already determined that if he soed, I was going to call with any above-average hand.  I pause for a second, and peek down at AJo.  I insta-call.  Here is my chance to bust a WPT champion.  He shows pocket 66 for a legitimate hand and we are off to the races.  My hope is shattered on the flop when I see 886.  I lose the majority of my chips and I am now back to all-in mode with a mere 80k chips.

Several hands later, I am down to T25000 in chips and in the small blind.  The cutoff raises to 80k.  I look down at T7s.  I look left and see that Caroline is going to call or go all-in. I would be getting 3:1 for my 25k.  If I had 2 live cards, I would be getting a good price to call, so I call.  Caroline goes all-in and the cutoff calls.  Caroline shows KK, the cutoff shows JT and I show my T7.  The flop comes Q T 5 and I pair my T, but am still behind the JT.  The turn is a J, and the river is another T, eliminating me from contention.  Both Caroline and I go out on the same hand, but since she had more chips, she finished 4th and I finished 5th.  That is the way I wanted it as I win a free entry into next year’s Battle for the Season Pass IV, a $6300 value! Woo Hoo! Not bad for starting with T30k chips!

Status:   Needs Proofed!

Today we begin the bust-out tournament.  They offer this “second chance” tournament  to all people who have busted out of the main tournament, hence the name “bust-out tournament”.  This tournament is more accelerated though.  You start with T10,000 chips, and the levels are only 30 minutes long.

I made my way to the casino and get my seating assignment.  I look over, and there is Crispin Leyser in seat #1.  The chips were distributed and the cards were in the air.  I had a few decent hands in the first level and was able to build my chipstack to T15,000.  I then lost a few hands and was back to T10,000.  I oscillated between T10,000 and T15,000 for most of the first two levels.  Then, I went absolutely card cold.  Whenever I got a playable hand, I opened for a raise.  I was then re-raised by a player in position, and a lot of times, there was a three-bet.  I had to lay the cards down.  I was getting pretty low in chips.  My stack approached T5000 - Yikes!

Our table was broken, and wouldn’t you know it - I was brought right into the big blind.  At my new table was professional Jules Leyser (wife of Crispin).  On my first hand at the new table, there was a raise from MP.  I looked down and saw

It was the best hand I had seen in 3 hours.  I reraised all-in.  The guy thought about folding, but after some thought, called and showed

My JJ held and I doubled up to about T10,000.  Whew - now I had a few chips to play with.  Two hands later, I am on the button with:

It is folded to me, so I raise to T1700.  The SB shoves all in for T3800.  I have to call T2100 more.  I am getting about 2.5:1 on my money.  Not too bad if I have live cards.  I decide to play and call his all-in.  He shows

We are in a coin-flip situation.  When the board comes

4-7-7-7-J, I take him out and add to my chipstack.

I went card cold again for awhile when I found myself in this hand.  I was in the BB and it was folded to the SB, who completes.  I look down at A5s (diamonds).  I think about raising, but decided to see a free flop.  The flop comes 8d-4s-3d.  The SB leads out for T5000.  I have the nut-flush draw, plus 3 aces as outs if he hit his 8.  That gives me 12 outs.  I decide to make a move and I push all-in for T26,000 making him think about HIS tournament life (I had him covered by T5200).  He calls and shows 83 for 2 pair!  Now, I only have 9 outs.  The turn is 4c and the river a Kh (right color, wrong shape).  I double up the small blind and I only have T5200 left.  I need to move with any 2 reasonable cards.

My prayers are answered a few hands later when I pick up AQo in the cutoff.  It is folded to me and its a no-brainer push.  I go all-in.  The button folds, and professional Jules Leyser ponders.  She finally calls.  the BB then is in a quandary.  He wants to call, but after much thought, he folds.  Jules shows A8s.  When the board comes A-7-4-3-K, my AQo holds and I double up again.  This hand turned out to be turning point #1 for me in the tournament.  The BB folded pocket 33 and would have turned a set.  This would have knocked me out of the tournament.  Instead, I am alive and kicking again.

I picked up a few pots here and there and build my stack back to about T40,000.  The next big hand I am in is when I am in the BB.  A player from EP player goes all-in.  A person in MP goes all-in for less.  I am in the BB for T1600, and it is T6400 to call the biggest stack.  I peek down at A8s and decide that for 3:1 odds, I am going with the A8s.  the EP players shows 85o and the MP player shows KQo.

The flop comes A-A-2.  Cool!  I flop trip Aces.  My joy was short lived when the turn and river comes J-T for 2 perfect runner cards to make the straight.  UGH - what a terrible beat.

Our table was broken and we were down to 36 people (163 started).  I was quiet with very few playable hands, but people kept falling.  Soon there were 27, then 18.  When we were down to two tables, I was seated with WPT World Poker Finals champion Mike Vela. We were to play through level 16 (8 hours) and then break for the evening.  Again, unfortunately, I was VERY card cold.  I would kill to see any face card - but alas, one never came.  At the end of level 16, we were down to 12 players, and I had T30,000 chips.  The average stack was T90,000.  I was the tournament SHORT stack.  I did make it to day two, with 11 others.

The top 6 places pay in this tournament.  I am by far the longest shot to cash.  I need to move with any facecard that I see tomorrow.  Wish me luck!

Onwards and upwards we went.  In level 7, I had only two playable hands all hour.  The first was when I picked up AQ in early position.  I was starting to get short-stacked, so I just shoved all-in.  I really hate going all-in with AQ, but I did it anyway.  Everybody folded and I picked up the blinds and antes to keep me afloat for another round.

The second had was when UTG raised to T2100.  Everybody folded to me on the button, and I looked down at AQs again.  I hesitated, but being as card cold as I was, I decided to shove my whole stack in again.  After some thought, the BB folded, so I picked up the blinds, antes, and an additional T2100.

During level 7, Rick’s aggressiveness caught up to him, and he got busted.  Who replaced him?  TJ Cloutier!  Nothing like swapping one pro out for another.  A little later, Crispin pushed all-in and lost.  When the next table was broken down, who sat down at our table?  Chip Jett.  Geesh - as we knock pros out, they are being replaced with more pros.

I had no more playable hands in level 7 and none in 8.  Level 9 was to be the last level before we broke for lunch.  With 5 minutes left, I was in the BB.  The cutoff limped and the SB completed the blind.  This would be a good time to wake up with a good hand and shove all-in.  I peeked down at:

No such luck.  I check.

The flop comes

Everybody checks around.  The turn is:

Well, now I have top pair, but I do not like my kicker.  I think for a minute and decide that this is as good as it is going to get. I have T11,500 and I bet T3500 (a mistake - I should have pushed all-in if I were going to commit over 1/3 of my stack).  The button raises to T10,000 and the SB folds.  I make another critical mistake and do not ponder the whole situation.  More specifically, I do not think about what I can beat and what I cannot beat.  If I had stopped and thought it through, I would have clearly seen I was beat and should have folded.  The only thing I can beat here is T6 or lower.  How likely is it that the cutoff played one of these hands?  Highly unlikely.  Anyway, I had already pushed all-in and the cutoff insta-called and showed

for trips.  A ten did not materialize on the river, so I was out in about 80th place.  It is difficult to defy odds all day.  Statistically speaking, one should be able to play about 20% of their hands - not three hands in four hours.  All in all, I played nine levels (hours) with under 10 playable hands.  Oh well, everybody goes through these phases and it was my turn.

Later that night, Donna and I played in a single-table-tournament, and Donna won!  I placed 4th.  Tomorrow, the bust-out tournament begins for all of the “losers”.

Today’s schedule was to do live learning labs in the morning, break for lunch, then to play five levels of the main tournament.  One of the added bonuses of having a pro analyzing the action is that you can get good edges on them if you ever play against them in a tournament.  I got a really good read on Rick Fuller during one of our labs.  He explained that in a certain situation, he does something 100% of the time.  I just hope I could get against him to exploit that part of his game.

After the labs, Donna and I went to lunch.  I still did not feel well, so I took some aspirin and hoped for the best.  My goal was just to survive to day two.

Each table had a pro sitting in seat 5.  My draw was table 7 seat 6.  I was right next to Professional Bill Elder.  We started with T20,000 chips and the levels were 60 minutes long.  This makes for a very nice tournament structure.  The players at our table were straight-forward and the play was very mechanical.  There were no loose-aggressive players making outrageous bluffs.  Play was very standard. By the end of level 4, we still had not lost any players.  Bill Elder (the pro) was the first person at our table to bust out.

As for my cards, I only have 4-5 playable hands in FIVE hours of play!  I was a little irked, but  hey, it happens.  I ended the day with T15,625.  Not too good, but certainly better than that alternative - being out!

While I was playing, Donna got a picture of these two guys who greet everybody as they enter the resort.  Here, they are sharing a biscuit.

Today, Tuesday, was a free day.  We were able to do whatever we wanted.

Donna and I decided that we wanted to go scuba diving.  The price was $125/each for two dives.  That price was comparable to what it cost in the Bahamas, so we made our reservations.  We needed to be on the beach no later than 8:45.  We got up, made our way to breakfast, then back to the scuba shack.  The dive master was a young gentleman named Roman from Nice, France.  He spoke at least 4 languages.  Joining us from the poker group were pros, Clonie Gowan and Jan Fisher.

We were told that after we boarded a small boat, we would be taken to a catamaran, where we would join up with other divers.  From there, we would take a quick 5 minute boat ride to our sites.  Both dives were going to be reef dives.  We all piled in the boat and the first thing I noticed was how choppy and rough the water was.  The waves were probably 10 feet high.  It felt like we were on a roller coaster.  Yuk.

We arrived at the catamaran, and loaded all of our equipment in the bigger boat and off we went to the dive site.  I rarely get sick, and I have NEVER been sea-sick, but I could feel my stomach churning.  I could not wait to get in the water. 

We all jumped in and I started to feel better.  Donna had trouble getting down, and she had to swim back to the boat to get more weight.  After they added more, she was able to descend properly.  The visibility was very poor.  You could see 30 feet at the most.  We descended and all met up on the bottom.  While down there, the tide and waves were pretty strong.  You would be swimming along and then all of a sudden you would get a “head current” and you would not go anywhere.  You had to kick hard just to maintain your position.  Them 10 seconds later, the water came the other way and you were propelled forward very quickly.  The water threw us around like we were paper dolls.  The reef was relatively boring as well.  However, while down there, I did not feel as sick, so that was a plus.

When our air was low, we ascended to the top.  Upon surfacing, Donna got sick and threw up.  We all got back in the boat, where she got sick again.  I was not feeling too hot either.  Donna said that she did not want to do the second dive (who can blame her), and honestly, I did not either.  As it turns out, there were five people who had enough.  This was too bad of a dive to do the second one. 

The Dive-master radioed to shore and they sent a small boat to get the people who did not want to go on the second dive.  While we were boarding the small boat, I got sick too.  YUK.

After we arrived back at the shore, Donna and I went back to our room where we immediately showered and took a nap.  Two hours later, we both woke up hungry, so that was a good sign.

There was a $300+$30 + $10 (optional dealer tip for 1000 chips) tournament at 5pm.  I signed up to play.  There were about 80 people.  The top 9 were paid, with first getting about $7500.  Two seats to my right was was Lee Childs, the 2005 WSOP Main Event final tablist.  Lee was very personable.  I enjoyed talking to him.  When the dealer started to deal the tournament, he pulled out the jokers and put them aside.  I picked them up and thought, “I can have fun with these!”

Later on in the tournament, I was short stacked and I had pocket 88 in middle position.  There was one limper.  I shoved all-in and it was folded back to the lady who had limped.  She called and showed QJs (clubs).  I reached into my pocket and said, “I have the nuts”, while flipping over pocket jokers.  Everybody at the table got a laugh out of that.  Anyway, the pocket 88 held up and our table was broken up.  I ended up going out in 25th place when I again shoved in with 88.  A guy with a big-stack called with 66 and wouldn’t you know it - he spiked a 6 on the flop.  Game over.

After that, I played some 3 card poker with Donna and won a couple hundred bucks.  I also played some craps, but the dice were not with me.

I wanted to get a good night of sleep.  Tomorrow the Main Event begins.  There is over $200,000 worth of prizes on line, and I needed to be well rested.

For orientation, they explained how things work and what the schedule was going to be.  For today, there were going to be live learning labs (more on this below), and a single table tournament for everybody.  The winner of the single table tournaments were to receive a free “excursion” of their choice.  There were about 10 excursions to choose from.  Most were priced around $100, so it was a neat little freeroll.  During the orientation, Ron Rubens (WPT Bootcamp president) asked who had NOT been to a boot camp, and who HAD been to a bootcamp.  The room was split about 50/50.  Curious, he had the people who had previously attended a bootcamp to stand up.  So, I did.  Then he asked only those people who have been to TWO bootcamps to remain standing.  A lot of people sat down.  Then, he asked only those people who have been to three bootcamps to remain standing.  I think there were maybe 10 of us.  Ron was surprised and then asked only people who have attended four or more to remain standing.  At that juncture, only three of us remained - and I was one of them.  Ron then asked everybody to give us a round of applause.  In actuality, this is my SIXTH bootcamp.  I have attended the 2-day tournament camp, 3-day tournament camp, the cash camp, and now, ALL THREE battle for the Season Pass tournaments.  :)  Anyway, back to the story. . .

After orientation, we all made our way to the casino and settled into our tables for the live learning labs.  As I walked in, a couple friends of mine, who I know from previous camps, yelled out that they saved me a seat at their table!  Wow, how nice was that! 

I knew what to expect in the Live Labs as I have been to many bootcamps before.  I absolutely LOVE these things.  They are the BEST learning tool that I have ever seen.  Here is how they work.  A pro is seated at your table and everybody has chips.  The pro then deals the cards and you play the hand out.  If you fold your cards, you are asked to keep them in front of you.  After the hand is completed, everybody turns their cards face-up and the pro critiques the play.  The REAL neat thing about this is that every 45 minutes, the pros rotate, so you get to hear viewpoints from DIFFERENT pros, which obviously incorporates their playing style. 

Our first pro was the 1984 WSOP main event champion Tom McEvoy.  Tom was a fairly conservative player who corrected you if you played bad cards out of position.  After Tom, came Kenna James.  Kenna is a lot of fun. 

He immediately looked around and said, “I recognize a lot of you from past bootcamps.”  We replied that we had hand-picked this table to be only “good players”.

Kenna responded with, “Good, I will hold nothing back then.  I am going to rip your play to shreads!” (in a good manner).  He did just that.  He held nothing back!  He was downright obnoxious a few times (but that is meant in a good way - he was actually being that way to make a point and trying to teach us a few points).  He re-iterated a few points in my game that have been lacking recently.  This was a great refresher and got me focused on the all-important question of, “What is the situation so far in this hand?”  Along the way, several people (including me) made a side-bet with Kenna.  The bet was simply whether a pro will or will NOT make the final table of the main tournament this week.  I bet him $100 that a pro would NOT make the final table.  I will need to wait until Saturday to hopefully collect on this bet.

Live Learning labs cannot last long enough, but lunch time was here.  After lunch, we were back in the casino to continue with more labs.  First out of the gate for us was WPT Champion Hoyt Corkins.  I did not recognize Hoyt because he was wearing a baseball cap and NOT his trademark cowboy hat.  Anyway, Hoyt was a very soft-spoken and kind man.  After Hoyt came WPT 2005 player of the year Gavin Smith.  If you know anything about Gavin’s play, you know he is pretty loose-aggressive.  His commentary reflected that style in his play….

I picked up several nice tidbits during the Live Learning Labs.  I was again very happy.  These things are so situation-specific and are GREAT learning tools.

After the labs, we were all assigned seats for the single table tournaments.  I looked up my location, and I was at table 3, seat 3.  The pros were also invited to play in the sit and gos.  They were spread out as to have one pro per table.  My pro?  2004 WSOP runner-up Dave Williams - and he was two positions to my left.  All in all, this was a good place to have him.  Dave was a pretty nice guy and personable, so I had to ask him how they paid him after his second place finish in the WSOP main event.  He said that they will give you cash, chips, or a check.  He said that he took a check, and when he got it, the check was HAND WRITTEN.  He then went home and deposited it into the bank, where the teller thought it was a joke.  He convinced the teller to deposit the check, and the teller said, “You do know that there will be a hold on this $3.8 million check!”  We all got a chuckle out of that and he did say that it was a true story.

 I finished 4th in the Sit and Go (lasted longer than Dave Williams).

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful.  Donna won $650 in a 25 cent slot machine, then won $500 playing 3 card poker.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we have completely OFF.  There is nothing going on with the camp.  Donna and I are planning on going scuba diving.  There is also a “warm-up” tournament with a buy-in of $340.  You get 5000 chips with 30 minute levels at 4pm.  I have not decided if I am going to play in this or not.  I guess it depends on what we do in the afternoon.

On Saturday, Ray and I conducted a charity poker tournament for Berkshire Poker, which benefited The Dalton Lions Club.  That went fairly well, and after getting everything broken down, I went home to pack.  The past two years, the Battle for the Season Pass was held in the Bahamas. This year, they were holding it in the Dominican Republic.  After getting mostly packed, it was 1am.  Donna and I had to leave to get to the airport by 4am.  I decided that I might as well stay up.  I would only be getting 2 hours of sleep.

When 3am rolled around, I woke Donna up, we loaded up, and off we went.  We made it to Hartford by 6am (2 hours prior to an international flight) and had a long time to wait.  Getting no sleep was starting to catch up to me.  Our flight went from Hartford to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where we were supposed to board a smaller plane to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  We got a little late of a start from Hartford, and hence we arrived a little late in San Juan.  The problem was that we only had a 30 minute layover in San Juan, and we were 20 minutes late.

As we got off the plane, we figured out where to go, then ran to the gate.  As we were running, I saw two other people running in the same direction as well.  I asked them if there were going to Punta Cana, and sure enough, they were.  As we got to the gate, we saw that the door was closed and they would NOT let us on the flight even though there turned out to be FIVE of us from the Hartford flight that were going on to Punta Cana - and the airplane was STILL sitting out there. 

We were directed to Customer Service where they politely said that there were not more flights to Punta Cana today.  Great… I am stranded in the Caribbean on the WRONG island.  After some research, they said that they were going to route us to a city called La Romana.  Oh boy!  We will then be on the correct island, but still in the wrong city.  They then explained that they would put us on a bus that would take us to Punta Cana. 

The five of us now had a 2-1/2 hour wait until our next flight.  We were all hungry, so we found a restaurant and I had a BLT.  At 4:30, we were in the air again and off we went.  Upon arrival in La Romana we breezed through customs (they just looked at us, saw that we were tourists, and waved us through).  Our next task was to find the American Airlines desk to arrange for a bus to Punta Cana.  Well, let me tell you, this was an interestesting experience.  Very few people there spoke English.  It was “interesting” to be in a foreign country trying to communicate a problem when you do not know the language.  After a few minutes, the person at the customer service desk went in the back and summoned a supervisor who spoke decent English.  We we able to get the situation resolved and they put us on a van to the actual resort (and not just the Punta Cana airport as originally planned).  The downside was that the ride was 2 hours long!!! 

So, we got the scenic tour of the Dominican Republic.  All I will say is that it was pretty eye-opening, and VERY interesting.  After 2 hours of very nervous travelling, we finally arrived at the resort.  We got checked in and made our way to our room, which was about a 5-10 minute walk to the other side of the complex. 

Donna and I decided that we were hungry, so we ran to the buffet.  They closed at 10pm, and we made it there just in time.  I was exhausted - remember I was running on NO sleep from the night before.  After dinner, we crashed (we did not even get the cell phones or internet card that we paid for - and hence why there was no update yesterday).

The neat thing about the travel fiasco is we made two very good friends from Northampton, MA!

Players go into the inevitable valley where no matter what they do, they get beat by every donkey who catches runner-runner for the 87th time this session.  Usually the player wants to move up a level.  Poker players KNOW that they can beat the next level - and make up the losses quicker.  This train of thought is common to poker players who are in a slump - and  I am guilty of it too.

I REALLY wanted to play in the 2008 Pokerstars WCOOP, but my bankroll would not allow it (I deposited $200 and have built it up to $800).  Stardard bankroll management advice says that you must have at least 20-25 buyins for the level of cash games &/or SNGs you want to play, and at least 50 buy-ins for the level of MTTs you want to play.

I could be undiciplined and say, “I have a ‘free’ $600 in my account, I should buy into a $530 event and see what happens”.

While a lot of people would go this route, I maintained my discipline and did not buy in.  With a current bankroll of $800, I could only play SNGs for about $30 and MTTs for about $16.  I decided that I was going to take the challenge of the WCOOP Steps.

I started every time at step 1 for $7.50.  After about 3 weeks of playing, and buying into about 35 step 1 SNGs, I had won the following entries:

Event 1 - $215 NL holdem 6-Max

Event 6 - $530 deepstack NL Holdem

Event 27 - $530 Triple Shooutout (this was actually won in a MTT rebuy tournament, not the steps).

My bankroll was down to about $550.  I am not a big fan of triple shootout tournaments, so I unregistered from Event 27 and took the 530 W$, which I sold to one of the many sites what will buy them.  That replenished my bankroll back to approximately the same amount I had before I enbarked on the Step Frenzy.

Playing prudently within the limits set by my self-imposed “Bankroll Management Class”, I was still able to play in the WCOOP.  I am tempted to unregsiter from both events and sell the resulting W$ to boost my bankroll even more, but who knows - if I can cash in either of these events, the reward would be so much greater.

Over the last year, she has played in a few casino tournaments.  She had the same problem that I had - always making a deep run, but coming up short.  Either she was card cold and was blinded out, or she lost to some pretty bad beats.  She was frustrated, and threatened to give the game up on several occasions.

Last December, we went to Atlantic City where she played in a WSOP Circuit Ladies-Only event.  There were 350 or so players in this particular tournament.  Donna made a decent run and finished in the 70s somewhere - about 30 short of the money. After this ladies tournament, she said that she much preferred to play against women.

She played in a few other tournaments here and there.  During our visit to Vegas for the WSOP, she made the final table on 2 occasions, but came up short of cashing.  I started to look for women’s poker tournaments when I came across the High Heels Poker Tour. They were hosting a tournament at Turning Stone Casino in August 2008.  I told her about it, and she was interested. So, we made our plans and off we went.

The tournament started on Saturday August 23rd at High Noon.  There were 58 players.  Each player started with T10,000 and the levels were 30 min long.  I expected the tournament to last about 6-7 hours.  Was I ever wrong!

At the mid-point of the tournament, Donna was the chip leader.  She came out for dinner break all nervous.  She told me that she had never been in this position before (being chip leader).  I just laughed in good spirit and tried to calm her down.

After dinner she had a string of cold cards, and even a bad beat or two - but she hung in there.  She wanted to make the money so bad.  I told her that she had an intermediate goal first - and that was to make the final table.  She surely would not cash if she did not make the final table.  So they continued to play, and around 10:30pm the final table was set.  Unfortunately for Donna, she was now the short stack.

At one break, I told her that her skill got her this far, and now her fate was up to the card gods.  In any tournament, skill will get anybody deep, but then you need a run of cards to win.

Rather quickly, 3 people busted out, leaving 7 - the top 6 paid.  Donna picked up A8s, went all in, and was called by AJo.  She got lucky when she spiked an 8 on the flop and doubled up - leaving the lady with AJ severly crippled.  Before too long, the bubble burst and she was in the money.  Play remained tight as each spot enjoyed a sizable increase in pay.

While the table was 6 handed, Donna picked up 44 UTG and shoved all-in.  In a 6-handed table, 44 figures to be the best hand because only larger pocket pairs beat it preflop.  Since pocket pairs are 17:1, statistically, it should be the best hand.  The card gods were not with her.  She got a call from the chip leader, and from the short stack.  Donna was all-in with a T2000 side pot.  The chip leader turned over 99 and the short stack turned over KK.  What an unlucky time for that to happen!  Nobody tripped up and after 11 hours of straight play, Donna was out in 6th place for a $675 cash - her first ever.

Because she cashed, she now has HER own Cardplayer.com page:

http://www.cardplayer.com/players/results/Donna-Larocque/88245

Donna is very excited now and CANNOT WAIT to play in more ladies events!  Good job honey!

Most people feared “Mr. Math”. They thought that he was an extremely good player.  I analyzed his play as soon as I heard people talking about how good of a player he was.  I quickly learned that you could read his hand by the amount that he bet. Mr. Math knew pots odds very well.  He would bet the numbers 100% of the time.  He would never, never, ever bet an amount that gave you correct pot odds to chase whatever draw was out there.  I observed this several times with a high degree of accuracy.

Location: Foxwoods

Game: 2/5 NL

My Stack: $600

The table is a normal mix of weak, loose, tight, and solid.  Mr. Math was in seat #10.

Hand:
The button is in seat #5.  I am in seat #3 (The Hijack position)

Seat 8: Fold
Seat 9: Fold
Mr. Math: Raise to $25
Seat 1-2: Fold

I know that this guy is feared at the table. People will most likely fold. I peek down and see

I am not fearful of a raise behind me. People get out of his way, so I am confident we will be heads up.  I decide to call for deception. As expected, everybody else folds. We are heads-up, and I am in position.

Pot: $57

Flop:

This appears to be a decent flop for my Aces.  Mr Math makes a pot-sized bet of $60.  He has SOMETHING, and whatever it is, he is definitely afraid of the flush draw.  My analysis went like this:

With his preflop raise, he could have trips, AJs, or even an overpair at this point. If a diamond comes, I might be able to make a play at the pot.  I put his range of hands as JJ, 77, AJ, or possibility, QQ, or KK.  I could be beat, but I could also have the best hand.  When in this situation, the best thing to do is raise, as it gives you the most information.  The problem with raising is, what do I do if he comes back over the top?  He would certainly make that play with JJ or 77.  Would he reraise with AJ (Top Pair Top Kicker) or an overpair?  I really do not know the answer to that question.  I have picked apart his betting tells, but I have not figured out what kinds of hands he would make this kind of a bet/raise with.  If he does come back over the top, then I have a very difficult decision to make.  One pair is not a particularly good hand to go to showdown with.  Since I know he is capable of laying down a hand on a dangerous board, I elect to make a smooth call the $60.  If a straight card or diamond falls on the turn, my plan is to make a play at the pot. The best card to help my cause would be a 8, 9, or 10 of diamonds - making the board dangerous.

Pot: $177

Turn

Mr. Math bets $50.

He just offered me pot odds of 4.5:1 with a flush draw on the board.  He does not fear the flush anymore.  I am beat, as he just filled up.  His most likely holding is 77. If he had JJ, he would have checked.

Tossing the rockets is pretty easy here.  I want him to show his hand so I can test my read.  I meekly say, “I think you have 77.  You would have checked Jacks, and you would not have raised preflop with threes.”

As I fold, I show ONE of my aces.  Mr. Math grins and proudly shows 77 for his full house – I was right on the money.