Ok so it’s taken Las Vegas all of two days to crush my poker spirit.  Thank God I’m not here for two months.  The good news is that the sickness that I’m currently feeling in my stomach is being harnessed into a massive positive.  I’m tilting real hard as I write this, probably more tilted than ever before in live poker.  Steeling yourself with the pain can only make you stronger, and I’m happy that it all takes me one step closer to things turning around.

It started two days ago when I ventured into the murky depths of WSOP Event#54: $1,000 No Limit Lolament.  These tournaments require huge amounts of luck with such massive fields and relatively short stacks.  However I think as long as you get off to a good start, the structure isn’t too bad.  If you slide back in that first level, then things are going to be tough.  Fortunately I found pocket aces on the very first hand of the tournament.  I only won a small pot, but I was able to chip up early with some small ball and stay out of trouble.  The table was soft enough but I didn’t get to sit still for long, as I played four different tables in eight levels.

On my second table I went on a bit of a heater.   I knocked out one guy with AK vs KK, and then three-bet squeezed QQ to win a nice pot.  Shortly after I hit a set with QQ and got three streets of value against AQ.  As this hand finished, a strange scenario happened as our table broke.  The other players racked up their chips and followed the TD from the Amazon Room to…somewhere.  I was left raking in the chips from the previous hand, and when I turned around, everyone was gone!  I was like a lost kid in a department store. I wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes before I wimpered to a TD that I was lost and couldn’t find my mummy.  He escorted me to the Pavillion room, I got a new seating card, and then walked over to the other side of the Pavillion Room to find my seat.  All of this took a good ten minutes.  I should’ve just wandered around for ten hours, as I had over 18k at that point which would’ve been an acceptable end-of-day count.

However my new table wasn’t so smooth as I went card dead for four levels.  I won one small pot with 88, I raise-folded AT and A4 to three-bets, and my two steal attempts from the button/cutoff with T7 and K6 were both met with re-raises.  I slowly slipped back to just over 10k which was still around 25BB when I finally found KK under the gun.  I raised, and UTG+1 shipped all in, I called and he showed JJ.  He skillfully hit a jack on the flop to rake in the 18k pot.  If I win that pot, I have nearly 20k and would be a strong chance to reach my first WSOP cash.

Next hand, I find QQ in the big blind.  The cutoff opened to 850, button called and I shoved my last 1,800 in my best “don’t give a fuck” splash of the pot.  Cutoff shoved to isolate and button folded.  Cutoff showed A6, and I’m in great shape to triple up on the QJ5 flop.  K turn. T river.  Are you kidding me? I consider flipping the table upside-down and smash people over the head with my chair WWE-style, but instead I stand and leave the Rio quietly.

Today was a chance at redemption in WSOP Event #56: $1,500 No Limit Spazzament.  My starting table had one guy wearing a Full Tilt patch, and then Hai Bo Chu joined the table a little later.  The rest weren’t too concerning.  I won the first hand of the day (again), then lost a fair chunk on the second hand when I raised QJ on a T93 flop.  My opponent re-raised for half his stack and I wished I just called.  Many would gamble here, but I don’t think he’s doing it with AT, and he’s not folding, so it was overpairs or better.  I didn’t want to gamble on 8 outs at best so I let it go.  It proved a good decision as he played pretty tight for the rest of the day.

I chipped up and won a nice pot when I three-bet JJ from the small blind and flopped a set.  I bet flop, and then check-shoved turn.  Then my favourite hand came up again.  With the blinds at 75/150, FT pro raised to 325 UTG, and MP called.  I had KK and made it 900 from LP.  UTG shoved QQ and I snap it off.  Q in the window and once again I get two-outered in a massive pot.  If I win that, I’m up to 10k in level 4.  Instead I head to the second break with 2,125.

Hai Bo was travelling well and I hope he goes deep, as our table breaks. I get moved to join Simon Watt who has a bazillion chips and making things look easy.  I’m looking for a spot to double and get it with ATs holding against KJ.  I then get moved again and it’s a tough table with four or five American Internet kids who all appear to know each other.  Sigh.  The only one I recognize is Jason Potter, famous for getting robbed in Melbourne after the Aussie Millions.  I cold, four-bet jam AK to get myself up to around 6,500 before raising KJs and folding to resistance on a dry board.  Next orbit I try again with KJs in MP.  I raise and get flat called by a kid on the button.  The flop was a dry 852 and I c-bet small.  He flat-called, and I guess alarm bells should’ve been going off since the flop was so dry, but you never know with these guys.  The turn was the Jc and I have about 4k left (20BBs).  My first instinct was to check-raise shove, and its a good spot for it I think, but I decide that there’s no value in turning my hand into a bluff when I have a good chance of having the best hand, there are few draws and he’s likely to be an aggro-tard at me.  So I decide to check-call, and again call on most rivers.  Once I call the turn, I don’t think I can really fold the river, so I stuck with the plan.  The river was 9h, I checked, he shoved and I made a quick call.  He turned over pocket aces.  Obviously I didn’t put him on that, and I guess he played it well.  I neither love nor hate my play.  I’m sure a case could be made to play it differently, but once I hit top pair on the turn with a pretty short stack, I think I have to go with it.

So it gets better from there…

After I bust, I grab some dinner with Tim, Ben and Dave and Tim talks me into playing some $1/$3 cash with him.  It was mostly good fun with some light raising against limpers without really making any hands.  Tim doubled up with a nice flush over flush, but I was hovering around even, until a drunken American douchebag sat down and caused havoc.

I didn’t realise he was a douche until, after he raised four hands in a row, I decide to three-bet him with AJ.  He made it like $13 and I made it $29.  He insta-shipped all in for over $350.  WTF?  I’m confused but he’d been raising so much and he started staring me down so I was leaning towards calling his ass.  Then he started giving me the speech.  You know, the “I don’t care, I have more money in my pocket, etc, etc” speech.  He didn’t stop with the verbal barrage, and I couldn’t really figure out what he wanted me to do.  After the speech I was now leaning towards a fold, when he gets all pissy and calls the clock on me!  I’d thought for all of 60-90 seconds, and far less than many, many other smaller decisions at the table during the night.  “Whatever fuckface, I’ll now sit here until the floor is called and I time out,” I thought in my head.  And so I did.  Meanwhile douchebag has time to order two Caronas from the waitress as the floorstaff earns his money counting from ten to zero. I time out and he shows queens.  MBN and WP.

I slip two Benjamins on the table, and raise pocket queens, and of course douchebag decides this is the one hand this lifetime he will fold.  I flop a set and everyone else folds. Unreal.

A few hands later I have jacks on the button.  Douchebag opens to $18 and I raise to $60 on the button.  I know he’s always calling.  Flop 8c3c2s.  He checks and I bet $100.  He insta-ships and I call it off.  He shows 6c5c!  Fuck off!  This guy is verbally intimidating the table, playing every hand, raising junk, drinking two beers and calling three-bets OOP, only to flop a fkn straight and flush draw!  FFS.  Ok well, I’m in front but practically flipping.  Turn is the Qh as I fade the first card.  I’m now a favourite and I need to fade the river to ship to $800 pot and end my day on a high note.  River….4c.  Fuck off! The wanker calls out “Straight!” not realizing his flush is good as I quietly walk out of the Pavillion in slient rage for the second time in the day.

GG WSOP.

Manila is one crazy place. F-Train described it as the Mexico of Asia. Our first experience of Manila was leaving the airport and before the taxi had even reached the main road we had kids coming out the darkness and pelting rain to bang on our windows and beg for money. It was like something out of a horror movie with zombies on the loose in the streets!

“Lock the doors!” snapped the taxi driver. We quickly and quietly obliged.

Many locals warned us of the trouble that can find you in Manila. Every taxi driver warned us to lock the doors and told us stories of how the boots of taxis are pried open and bags stolen while the taxi sits still amongst the jam of traffic. It didn’t stop at the taxis. When we arrived at the hotel our taxi was met with a guy with a mirror who checked under the taxi for bombs before allowing it onto the premises. Glad they waited until the end of our taxi ride for that check! We then had to go through a metal detector (also found at all shopping malls) and bag check and finally we were inside our hotel!

Our first evening we found a lively little strip and ventured into a few bars. One was a karaoke bar with a couple of ladyboys as hosts. They were a little disturbing but welcoming with their witty one liners. “Welcome to Manila, home of kidnap and ransom!” they said as we found our seats. “Have you been kidnapped yet?”. Oh god.

Another night saw us venture to a bar called The Hobbit House where all of the staff were midgets! They had some live music and sold weird Obama paraphernalia which kept our American friends entertained.

The night before the final table saw us find another funky bar. We knew it was going to be fun night when we saw the sign on the door as we walked in…

With some live music, friendly locals and buckets of six beers for less than six bucks we were set for the evening. As we stumbled out at about 5:30am the whole night had cost us less than $40 for the entire group. As we headed back to the hotel, we were harassed by heaps of kids/locals begging us for money. Someone had the idea to buy some supplies from 7/11 and hand them out. So we stocked up on bananas, fruit juices and even donuts and walked the streets as the sun rose, handing out food and a little joy to the homeless and kids sleeping in the streets of Manila.

The APPT Manila event itself was well run and we grabbed a few hours sleep before the final table. Unfortunately the final table was sheer torture! 16 hours of limp-check-check-check-showdown poker. The three Koreans were nice and loose but didn’t seem to have the aggression to back it up. The talking point was the incredible luck of Van Marcus. A one-outer and two-outer on Day 2 saw him enter the final well placed and he carried that luck til the very end. He got his money in bad about six times and won every time. They weren’t even traditional races. He was either crushed, dominated or drawing and somehow managed to survive every time. As much as he was very lucky, he was extremely patient and determined to succeed – traits which are very admirable. He finally captured the trophy at around 4:30am and it was great to see him win and continue the incredible run of Australians on the international stage!

So our Manila venture came to an end, safe and sound. I’m not sure if I’ll rush back here again, but I will some fond memories of our time there.

So I’ve been home for a few days after a hectic time covering the Victorian Poker Championships for Poker Network. Things were very busy with some long hours and stressful moments (thanks to all the guys for your hard work!), but as usual the experience of being part of a big event was rewarding. Australia’s #1 online player Jay “Seabeast” Kinkade took out the main event to prove that online players can adapt to live play (eh Tim!).

I was fortunate to get a chance to play in three events and hopefully I’ll write about those shortly. Since being home I’ve caught up with some work while trying to squeeze in as much online play as possible, which is usually about two hours a day! Man I miss playing, especially when running good. I’m on a twenty session winning streak which is sweet and have run at a ridiculous 25BB/100 over 2.5k hands over the past three days. Life is good while there are still fish doing this:

– dog71 sitting in seat 1 with $512.18 [Dealer]
– guytert sitting in seat 2 with $158.19
– iljaz sitting in seat 3 with $295.37
– fALLINgman sitting in seat 4 with $241.36
– TassieDevil sitting in seat 6 with $514.78

guytert posted the small blind – $1.00
iljaz posted the big blind – $2.00
** Dealing card to TassieDevil: Ad, Ah
fALLINgman folded
TassieDevil raised – $8.00
dog71 called – $8.00
guytert folded
iljaz raised – $38.00
TassieDevil called – $38.00
dog71 folded

** Dealing the flop: As, Jh, Kd
iljaz went all-in – $259.37
TassieDevil called – $259.37

** Dealing the turn: Qc

** Dealing the river: 9s
iljaz shows: 3d, 3h
TassieDevil shows: Ad, Ah
TassieDevil1 wins $601.74 from the main pot

I hope to inflict some more pain and get some more shopping money before I head to Hong Kong on Monday for the APT/APPT events in Macau. This should be a good trip in an awesome city with a strong team of guys so I’m looking forward to it!

The first few days of the WSOP are in the books (well the blogs) and all was smooth sailing. Everything seems to be running well in the Rio and the PokerNews team are working well. So well, that the first few days were nice and short which was a nice way to ease into the series. I’m expecting tougher times, but so far so good. Our tournament number system is even starting to gain popularity with the powers that be. It’s a great system and one that I’ve pushed hard with various people at different events so great to see it in action. It’s still got room to be improved but soon it will become standard at all live reported tournaments.

I’ve watched so much poker over the last few months and played so little, that it feels great when I actually get to play. I have yet to hit the live tables here, maybe I have “Tilt Phobia”, but mostly it’s because I’ve been trying to finish up on some projects before things get crazy here. I did get the chance to play a little online. I ran good for a while and remembered how much I enjoy playing. Then shit hit the fan and I soon remembered how painful it can all be. Nothing went right. I missed every draw, lost every race. My W$SD% was less than 40. I hit a few sets and lost them all to gutshots. Then the following hand was the final straw. It’s not a huge hand, and my play might be considered questionable, but I think his cards explain my decision making.  Nice call Mike.

FullTiltPoker Game #6671164046: Table Easement (6 max) – $0.50/$1 – No Limit Hold’em
Seat 1: sexuelity ($116.85)
Seat 2: vmshs ($63.90)
Seat 3: mike2100 ($48)
Seat 4: mb77 ($89.65)
Seat 5: Campus_Club ($306.50)
Seat 6: bluffedcomau ($258.65)
vmshs posts the small blind of $0.50
mike2100 posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bluffedcomau [Js Kd]
mb77 calls $1
Campus_Club folds
bluffedcomau raises to $4.50
sexuelity folds
vmshs folds
mike2100 raises to $15
mb77 folds
bluffedcomau raises to $258.65, and is all in
mike2100 calls $33, and is all in
bluffedcomau shows [Js Kd]
mike2100 shows [7s 2s]
Uncalled bet of $210.65 returned to bluffedcomau
*** FLOP *** [7d Ks 5s]
*** TURN *** [7d Ks 5s] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [7d Ks 5s Th] [9s]
bluffedcomau shows a pair of Kings
mike2100 shows a flush, King high
mike2100 wins the pot ($94.50) with a flush, King high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $97.50 | Rake $3
Board: [7d Ks 5s Th 9s]
Seat 1: sexuelity (button) didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 2: vmshs (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: mike2100 (big blind) showed [7s 2s] and won ($94.50) with a flush, King high
Seat 4: mb77 folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Campus_Club didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 6: bluffedcomau showed [Js Kd] and lost with a pair of Kings

Standard.

The upshot is that I’m working the first week of the WSOP for free. Nice one.