What happens in Vegas...

I had a good time in Las Vegas. I don't have any secrets to hide, so I'll let out a few details from my trip.

1. The World Series of Poker is a media frenzy
2. Two million in cash makes a big stack of bills
3. Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow are nicer guys than they appear on TV
4. I played poker with Phil Gordon
5. I won some money
6. I didn't become rich or famous and I'm glad

I enjoy poker and I play well enough to win a little money on these trips, but being around so much vanity and materialism for a weekend really left me with a sick feeling. I've always enjoyed the game for its social aspects and emphasis on logical decision-making but watching people in Vegas really left me feeling sad and unfortunately, you have to wade through the layer of slime that comes with the casinos to get to the poker room. I feel bad for people that are caught up in the love of money and the quest for beauty. It is good to be home.

Vegas Baby...

It is WSOP time and I'm off to Vegas. Wish me luck and don't worry, I haven't quit my day job...yet! If anyone thinks this liberal minded pacifist doesn't appreciate the positive attributes of capitalism, then you haven't played poker against me.

Poker exemplifies the worst aspects of capitalism that have made our country so great. ~Walter Matthau

If I somehow make it in front of a TV camera this weekend it won't be hard to recognize me. I'll be the only guy in the room with a pile of chips and a t-shirt that says "I [heart] Leo Tolstoy".

Close but no cigar...

4 hours and 15 minutes of gut wrenching poker ended with a very near miss. Out of 185 players I finished 12th. 1 - 5 place got a $13k price package so I was pnly 7 positions from making it to the WSOP main event. I have played in 3 buyins for WPT and WSOP tournaments and finshed 12th twice and 8th once. If I keep getting that close, then one day I'll make it.

This is how close I came. Late in the tournament with about 5000 chips (getting kind of low at the point) I caught KK in the big blind and got all my chips in the pot only to find an opponent also had KK. If I had not split that pot I would have been near the lead and had enough to survive the coming frozen wave of cards. I didn't catch many cards after that and stayed alive just by stealing blinds here and there and dodging the bigger stacks for what seemed like hours. I finally went out with A T against a small pair when I was nearly out of chips but the cards didn't flop my way. I don't really think I made a poor decision the entire time. The only other tough beat that I had was when I raised on the button late with KQ and a guy called my raise from the blind with K 6. The flop came K 6 T. Luckily he had a shorter stack than me so I only lost about 40% of my chips. That hurt but I bounced back. I can't believe he called that. He had been playing pretty tight, but I guess he got tired of me stealing his blinds.

I have played many tournaments but these WSOP satellites were very tough. Not the usual party poker events at all. I can only imagine how stressful it would be to play 10 hours a day for 2 weeks. My hat is off to the guys that make the final table this year. It is more difficult than you might think. I am use to long nights of concentration and attention to detail but 4 or 5 hours of intense poker wears me down mentally and emotionally.

Well I still have a couple weeks, maybe I will try again this weekend. I think I'll have a cigar anyway.

I'm back in!!

I took the conservative approach and pocketed my winnings from the WSOP tournament last night. Then I bought back into a lower stage of the WSOP satellite tournaments and I won again! I'm really playing well right now and feeling good about my decisions. So now I'm one step from the WSOP in Vegas PLUS i'm up $400 win or lose. Let's hope that the server doesn't crash again this tonight. Maybe it was good that it happened that way.

Wish me luck

Technical Difficulties...

Well I didn't lose....

The PartyPoker site crashed during my tournament last night, so they gave me $500 to buyin to the next WSOP satellite. I was definately pissed becasue I had to wait until 3am to find out that the tournament was not going to restart. Since they gave me real money instead of a tournament buy-in I now have to decide if I actaully want to buy back into the next tournament or pocket the $500. I may drop back down to the $50 level and win my way in again. Even if it took 5 attempts I would come out ahead $250. Atleast I'm still in the running. I'll keep you posted.

Making my way to vegas...

I just got home from a great weekend at the beach and decided to try and earn my way into the
World Series of poker. I just won an entry level tournament which got me into another tournament and I won that one too!! I need one more win at the next level to be sitting at the WSOP in July with a $10k buy-in plus $3k in travel expenses. The next tournament is Wed. night (6/1) at 11:15 PM. I"m not sure how many players will be in it, but I have a decent shot. I'm playing really well right now in tournament structures.

Wish me luck!

More poker evangelism…

I just spent 4 nights in Connecticut and had a great experience. It was a business trip that had an added benefit of a weekend stay-over at Foxwoods casino in Mystic, CT. The casino was huge and it had over a hundred tables in the poker room alone!

The most enjoyable part of my trip was just watching the culture differences up north. Foxwoods sits half way between Boston and New York so you couldn’t go more than an hour without a RedSox vs.Yankees conflict. I hate to make generalizations, but so many people I met up north were very uptight and seemed self involved. The whole world is passing right before them and they just look straight ahead never stopping to enjoy the things around them.

I found that an amazing thing happens when you take a few minutes to show them another way. Like for instance, I was the only person I saw that sat down and introduced myself, shook a couple of hands and even smiled. Even though we were playing low-limit friendly games, they were engrossed in the spirit of competition. One guy was so bitter that he wouldn’t tip the dealer when he won a hand. Of course the dealers were not happy (it’s the only way they make money) and the atmosphere seemed very tense. Well I decided to try a little textbook Vineyard-style servant evangelism and started tipping the dealer for him when he won a pot. A little southern hospitality and pleasant conversation changed the whole atmosphere. The whole table changed and we started laughing and having a good time. By the time I left it was like we were old friends and he had tipped the dealer and at least 3 different cocktail waitresses. I’m not sure if it was my inspiration or the 3 cocktails, but either way the next couple of hours were much more fun.

After I left I realized something interesting had happened. Every time I left a poker table (often with most of their money) those same people that seemed annoyed when I wanted to be friendly extended their hand to me first. I was shocked to here “See ya later Georgia” and “Go Braves”! I realized that people are really looking for love and acceptance but since they don’t think it is possible to get it, they put up emotional walls.

It was really an eye opening experience to me. I really think it may have changed how I interact with people. I struck up conversations with a couple more “strangers” on the trip home and I was pleasantly surprised to see the results. I swear I have grown more as a person as a result of playing poker than I have in 1 million hours of going to church. Of course if it were not for my experiences in church then I probably would look at poker completely different.

Poker is the nuts!

There are many reasons that I love poker. I have put together some thoughts about the game and how it is enhancing my life and molding my character. Every time I play it seems I discover another reason. Here a couple off the top of my head...

1. Poker is all about self-awareness and self-control. You must control your emotions and be able to accurately and honestly identify your character flaws and control them. Just like in life, you have to have a realistic view of your strengths and weaknesses and understand how to maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.

2. You must control your natural need to get caught up in the details of short term success and instead focus on the big picture. There is very little you can do when you are dealt bad cards. You have to learn to loose a little in the short term and "take your beating like a man".
The profitable poker player will focus on long term success where the "luck" will always even out.

3. It makes me take risks when the odds are in my favor. Very few things in life are 100% guaranteed. I am by default a very conservative person. That helps me avoid big looses, but it keeps me from getting big consistent wins. I have to over come that and break out of my conservative shell. My business ventures, relationships, and faith has all been positively effected by learning to take some risks when I feel like I'm in a good position.

4. Poker funds my vacations! I play at several online sites and use the proceeds to fund vactions for my wife and I. I also use a portion to help out some people in need in my community.

5. I play poker online and have been blessed to do well for a small-med. stakes player, but I also love playing cards with a bunch of guys in my home town for fun at the "micro-stake" level. You learn alot about poeple by watching them play poker.