While I wait for the 2007 WSOP day 2 event, I’ve been playing at the MGM. At the 2-5 no limit tables, there’s been at least 1 WSOP player, and as many as 4 on one table. So it’s no cake walk but we’re all after the tourists. They keep reaching into their pockets for more money. Delish.

Today, a shark sat to my left so I had to move seats 2 times.  Actually, I think he realized I was trying to trap him so I don’t think he minded me moving.  Almost anybody that was live straddling (where you bet double the big blind before the cards are dealt and get to act last) would pump it up to $60 or so to get all the money.  On one hand, there was a straddle and I woke up with pocket aces.  I wanted to trap the straddler, so I limped in.

Unfortunately, the straddler does not raise and now I have 5 players going to the flop. Oh well. I know how to get away from this hand if needed. The flop is A – J - blank with two <diamond> s.  I check my set, and there’s a bet of $40 and a call. Normally, I would pump it up here with the flush draw and straight draw but since I played this hand so weird, I decided to simply call, hoping that no <diamond> comes or paint.

This hand is going down the drain as 9 <diamond> comes on the turn. Check, check, and the last guy only bets $60. Clearly, he has the flush and wants to get a caller. The other guy folds. I do have the Ace <diamond> and he made it cheap to suck more money out of me, and I call.

The river brings another 9, giving me the dream boat. The only problem to solve here is how much to bet. He doesn’t have the nut flush because I have the ace, so he can’t call all-in. The pot is big enough that he should be able to call $200 but I play conservative and bet $120. He thinks for only a short time and calls with a Q high flush.

So a hand that went down the drain, came back to life this time. I don’t think I’ll be getting that cute again anytime soon though.

On a side note, Ramus, the Danish guy that I met at the MGM told me that he got knocked out at the ESPN table playing against Chris Moneymaker. He said being on TV was nerv wracking and made him nervous. I can only imagine.  I’ll watch him on TV when the show goes on ESPN.

Back again for day 2 of the Gaming Life Expo to see pro poker players. Click on the thumbnails to see a bigger version of the picture.

First picture is of Guns Hansen signing autographs. It’s amazing how poker players are treated like real celebrities at the WSOP.

The next set shows the Seamless Gentlemen’s Club’s dunk booth, one of 3 real dancers who work there looking scared about getting dunked into the water. A few seconds after this picture, she goes int0 the cold and murky water.

Mark Seif was at the PPT booth.

The next picture is a booth for a Xbox 360 WSOP game. There didn’t seem to be too much interest. I think the people at the Expo want to see live people.

Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari playing on a heads-up computerized poker table against Phil Gordon.

Next pictures is of 10 time WSOP bracelet winner Johnny Chan signing autographs. During his break from one booth, he went over to yet another booth for more signing. There was a long line at both booths. Here at the WSOP, the poker pros are treated like big time celebrities.

Phil Gordon playing against Phil Laak on a heads-up computerized poker table. I read Phil’s “Green Book” that my friend Deana gave me. Good info and a quick read.

Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari signing autographs. I don’t know him, but he didn’t seem to want to be there all that much. Maybe that’s the way he always is. He did comply with all the stupid requests from people. One guy wanted his picture taken with Antonio holding 7-2 offsuit and the guy holding pocket aces.

One of the few hot ladies of poker, Vanessa Rousso signing autographs at a booth. She’s also super smart and graduated from Duke in only 2 and a half years and I think just finished law school, according to her myspace page. How does she finish law school and play pro poker, and do promotions? I have no idea. She’s dating Chad “Downtown” Brown, a fellow poker player and commentator. She’s done pretty well for herself.

One of the Pro Player Drinks girls poses for me, only after I agreed to taste the drink. It tastes like orange soda. Hmmm. Energy drink specifically marketed only to poker players. I don’t think so. Nice try though.

“Real” celebrity Jennifer Tilly and boyfriend and poker player Phil “Unabomber” Laak shown playing on one of the computerized poker tables. Phil gets knocked out first with AQ.

Olympic Garden girls posing on their booth’s stage. Nice shot, right?

Hall of Famer, “Amerillo Slim” Preston in the halls. Not sure if he was playing or promoting something but he joked that I could use this picture like a scare scrow to get rid of birds.

Chris “Jesus” Ferguson giving an interview in the halls. He was wearing a Matrix type black trench coat.

Last shot is Daniel Negreanu taking pictures with a fan.

On a side note not related with the Expo, I was playing a live game at the MGM and met Ron, the president of Lightning Poker which has a booth at the Expo. They also make those computerized tables and Ron told me that they will have a few of their units at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles.

I really think these computerized tables will become the norm in the future. Old timers won’t like it but the online 20 something players are going to love it. The casinos save money by not having to have chips, dealers, or cards. Players won’t have to tip the dealer or deal with mistakes, or people playing out of turn. But for now, the units might be too expensive, even though they are leasing them to the casinos. When the price goes down, this will be the future of live poker playing.

As per my plan, I had pre-ordered my breakfast room service which came right on time. Took my shower, ate breakfast, watched a little CNN, then went downstairs to the tournament. I timed the walk and it’s about 7 minutes, but I wanted to get there a little early just to be safe.

They were not letting people in yet when I got there and there was a flood of players and spectators, and media in the hall, getting ready to enter. When I got to the Rio on the first day, I checked out where my table was so I would know how to get there quickly.

When the doors opened, I think I was the first one at my table. A player I met at a live game at the MGM was supposed to be at a table nearby but his table was moved to the ESPN featured table with Chris Moneymaker. I guess I’ll see him on TV, and I’ll get to see if he bluffed me out of a big pot or if he had it.  

The only player I recognized was Rafe “Tiltboy” Furst, who unfortunately for me, was sitting to my immediate left.

After waiting a few minutes, the tournament director made the announcement, and we started playing.  We are starting with a whopping 20,000 in chips. Each round is 2 hours long. The blinds started at 50-100 with no antes.

One of my few big hands was when everybody limped in and I was on the button with 6-3 offsuit. Normally, I would muck but it was so early and nobody seemed to want to pop things up for a steal. The big blind was an older gentleman that was playing super conservative. So I limp also with my horrible hand.

The flop is A 6 3.  Nice. But with everybody in the pot, somebody could easily have A-6 or A-3. Everyone checked to me. I wanted to get rid of anybody with a wheel draw so I bet out fairly aggressively. Everyone folded except for an Irish guy in seat 5. He flat calls me. I didn’t like that but I was hoping he had ace rag.

The turn was a Q. No change for me. I didn’t put the Irish guy on A-Q so I figured nothing changed. He checked and I bet yet again. The Irish guy called again. I hope I’m not going to get knocked out this early.

The river was the magical 6 for me. I rivered a boat. The Irish guy checks yet again. I figured I’ll bet and he’ll fold quickly. I bet out 3,000. The Irish guy goes into the tank.

He finally wakes up and asks, “You have a boat?” Interesting question. Normally, I would not answer but I nodded my head to make him think I was lying. He says, “Well, I have a boat too. I call.” Whaaat? He has a boat too? Oh crap! Luckily, he flips over pocket 3s and shows 3’s full of 6s versus my 6’s full of 3s.

Wow.

I thought I was winning the whole time and instead, I had sucked out on the river. I think Rafe said he had a 6. If so, it was a one outer, about 2%.

Lucky baby!  Rather be lucky than good.

That put the Irish guy on tilt and Rafe was no longer the tiltboy of the table. The Irish guy pretty much just had 2 moves. Fold or all-in, after his bad beat.

I finish round 1 with 33,150.

After the supposed 20 minute break, which was more like 30 minutes, we continue round 2. I finish round 2 with 34,725.  So far so good. Just kept playing good hands and stole a blind or 2, here and there.

In round 3, I got A-K under the gun (first to act after the big blind). A truck driver named Buzz-dog came into the pot. He was playing super tight so I didn’t like this at all. Maybe he came in because I kept stealing his blinds and maybe he got tired of it. The big blind also comes in. Not good.

The flop is A-Q-7. The big blind comes out swinging with 2,000. I have to get rid of any draw so I pop it up to 6,000. Buzz-dog thinks for a while and goes all-in. Big blind goes all-in. I don’t have to think too long. I’m all out, after losing my 6,000 raise to the pot.

They flip over their hands and the big blind as A-7, and Buzz-dog has A-Q. What a crazy flop! I’m glad I only lost 6,000.

That hand put a hurt on me, but I still end this round with 39,725.

We go for dinner break at 7:05pm and when I get up to my room, the room service guy is knocking at the door. Perfect timing. I eat my dinner and relax for a bit before going back downstairs.

After resuming play, I end round 4 with 42,925.

In round 5, Rafe Furst is getting low on chips and is pushing way too hard to steal blinds. I noticed that so I limp from the small blind with no callers at all. I had K-2 <heart> and normally, I would raise there but I know he’s going all-in and I can’t call that. He wants to see the flop and checks.

The flop has king high and so I pair my king. I check knowing full well, Rafe is going to bet out. I’m hoping he goes all-in. But he just bets 2,000, and I check-raise him and he folds. So Rafe, if you are reading this, I didn’t make a great play on you. I had the king.

Not much after that, Rafe goes all-in and gets knocked out of the tournament.

Players are starting to drop like flies now. They are getting low on chips and are making big moves. The Irish guy goes all in with pocket 10s and gets called by pocket 7s. Not sure about calling there with pocket 7s but I can see why he did that because the Irish guy was doing it too much. The pocket 10s hold up and yet another guy goes away.

On one hand, I tried to steal the blinds with 10-6 offsuit but the big blind calls me with A-10.  The 10 flops but it’s all <club> .  The big blind came from another table and has aobut 80,000 in chips. He check calls me.  The turn brings a blank and I bet out 15,000 and he check calls me again. After the river, I give up and show my hand and lose a bunch of chips. Now, I’m below my original 20,000.

Now I know I have to double up before the night is over.  A guy raises and I look down at A-K. I really need to get some chips so I make a crazy overbet and go all-in for 18,000 or something like that. He thinks a bit and calls. Crap. I didn’t want that.

He shows pocket 10s, so it’s a race for my tournament life. I flop the ace and he doesn’t improve so I double up. Nice. I really needed that. Now, I’m back up to almost 40,000, where I was a while ago.

I end round 5 at 43,700.

Round 6 was rough for me.  First, we change tables. That was not good because I had established a good table image and now I don’t know anybody at the new table and they don’t know me.

There are 2 low chip stacks at the table, which made stealing nearly impossible. I had to wait for a hand which never came. I had one opportunity to try to steal but a guy had limped under the gun. Very dangerous. But being pretty desparate for chips, I raised and sure enough, he called. He checked the flop, I bet and he check-raised me. Of course. Oh well, I lose a bunch of chips there.

Nothing else really happened except I got blinded down to 32,300. Not good considering the average chip stack is 51,000.

It’s 4am. I’m spent. I’ve never felt so tired after a poker game before.

There’s going to be 2 day 2s this year. My day 2 will be on Wednesday.

Well, I’m all set and ready. Now, it’s waiting and preparation. I’m now going to reveal some of my secrets for getting ready for the WSOP main event.

First, start waking up early. The event starts at the crack of noon. For me, this means waking up 2 to 3 hours earlier than I’m used to. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been waking up earlier by 30 minutes each week. Today, I woke up at 11am with no problems.

Second, stay at the Rio. This will save you at least 30 minutes traveling to the Rio in the morning. That’s 30 extra minutes of sleep. Not only that, during the 20 minute breaks, you could run to your room if you have to use the bathroom and the line is 20 minutes long.

Third, pre-order room service. You can order “breakfast” the night before you go to sleep, and dinner as well. They deliver the food within 5 minutes of the specified time. Instead of trying to find a place to eat dinner, just go up to your room and eat during your 90 minutes dinner break.

Fourth, play some live games with other WSOP players and make friends. This might help during the tournament, plus you may find some valuable tells. Just make sure you’re not giving away more information than you are getting.

Well, since this is my first time, that’s about all I can think of for now. I’ll probably come up with more after the event.

According to ”Poker Pro” magazine, the WSOP is reducing the money for the top places and increasing the money for the lower places. Of course, since I’m going to win, that’s less money for me, but if it helps the poker community, I’m all for it. But seriously, I like this idea because last year, if you made the money, basically, you just got your money back. This year, you’ll more than double your money back. Considering you are risking $10,000, and playing poker for multiple days, I think this is fair.

Last night, I went to the MGM for some live poker. I’ve never seen so many bad players. In the LA casinos, you would never see players that bad at a $2 – $5 no limit table. But I guess that’s why the pros love playing in the tourist filled Vegas casinos. Actually, one of my biggest pots I won was against the best player at the table. He had a lower straight and went all-in. I figured we probably had the same hand and called. Including my money, that was about a $1,100 pot.

Normally, I would stay with the monster stack and make more money, but I had to stay on my WSOP schedule so I went to bed early at 3am.

As promised, it’s not going to be all WSOP reporting. Let’s see what’s going on at the “Gaming Life Expo.”

To demonstrate that this expo isn’t all about gaming, and they have indeed added girls to the roster, Saphire Gentlemen’s Club had Lexi (shown here) dancing on a micro-stage. Another dancer named Summer was giving away 2-for-1 drink passes.

On a less purient nature, Mark Seif (pro player, and now commentator) was representing the PPT booth.

At the same booth, the more exciting news is G4’s Layla Kayleigh (she does the “Feed” on “Attack of the Show”) is the new World Poker Tour hostess for 2008.  She’s a hottie with a British accent, and very possibly lesbian or bi. Nice. Don’t want to start rumors but I’ve been around the block and I know these things. Well, okay, I’m just making it up but one can dream. With heels, she must be about 5′ 4″ at the most. A real spinner.

There were more than one booth with computerized poker tables. Hollywood Park, and now Hustler have these but I’m not sure they are talking off yet. I have to think that the casinos would love to have them because it would eliminate the dealers, which must be a large part of their overhead. One company custom makes them for the home. I was too scared to ask for the price. No way I could afford one.

There were a bunch of booths giving away poker magazines, selling books, posters, seats, pillows, and of course, playing cards, poker chips and on and on. The only mild standout was a poker dealer button that has a built in tournament timer with an LCD on it for only $15.95.  I just use my laptop but I guess if you don’t have a watch with a timer, or don’t have a laptop, this might be for you.

The only thing that I actually bought with real hard earned (or poker playing) money was this “Hold’em Shades” (see picture) from bestpokerstuff.com.  No, it’s not sunglasses.  It’s a pair of poker glasses. There is no dark shading, just flash mirror coating. I tried them out and it’s what I’ve been looking for and never found. Also, the side is thick so the guy sitting next to you can’t see your eyes either. I think I’ll use this at the WSOP main event final table.

It’s finally the day to go to Vegas for the World Series of Poker, 2007. It feels like it’s been months. Oh yeah. It has been months since I won an entry at the Hustler.

At the airport, a cute blond sits next to me while I wait for the plane. I guess I creeped her out so she walked away, then an Asian guy sits down and starts listening to weird music on his Nokia cell phone. I look over and it’s Men “The Master” Nguyen. Looks like the WSOP is getting closer by the minute.

After checking into the Ri0, I go downstairs to confirm my pre-registration for the Main Event.  Pre-registering was the smartest thing I’ve done so far. There was a line for registration, then to pay, and even to go to the bathroom.  Okay, maybe not the bathroom, since it was almost midnight.  They make you sign a “release and confidentiality” form. In fact, blogging about the registration might be breaking the rules. This thing is so long, I think I may need 2 attorneys to look at it.

Look at this place. It’s a mad house. And it’s midnight. Event #54 is still going on with Erik Seidel and Chad “Downtown” Brown going heads-up after “Sean” Sheikhan busts out to Brown. Seidel eventually wins his 8th bracelet.

But there’s actually a bigger crowd around a live game ($50 – $100 blinds) going on. I walk up to see what’s going on and see Ben Affleck and Matt Damon playing at the table.  The ladies were taking pictures and giggling. But the guys that walked up after me only saw Daniel Alaei (a top cash game player) and didn’t even notice the actors. That’s a real poker player for you. While this is going on, Johnny Chan walks up to the table for a quick look see. Man, this is like a poker players dream.

Enough watching. Time to play.

Decided to try my hand at $3 – $5 no limit right there. There was a board with 10 or more people on it, but with so many tables, it went quickly. Sat down and noticed that the players were tight. Called a $20 raise with 8 – 9 offsuit.  My kind of hand.  Flopped trip 8s, and had one guy betting into me.  There was a <club> flush draw possible, but I wanted to try slow playing it, and just flat called. Then turned the 9 <club> which gave a flush draw their flush, and giving me the boat at the same time. Sweet!  He went all-in, and I called. Hope the WSOP is this easy.  

Kept playing for a little while longer and finally decided to call it a night before it got too late.  My start date is Sunday so I have 2 more days to play.

Yet another tournament to try at the Bicycle last Saturday. Since it was the day after the big iPhone release, I talked to a few people with brand new iPhones.

The buy-in was $120 (including fees) and there were about 297 people in the no-limit, Texas holdem tournament. It was $10k for 1st palce. We started with only 1,000 in chips but the blinds started at a low 5 – 15, and went up every 30 minutes.

My first big hand was early and I had pocket aces against pocket queens and almost doubled up. I remember a similar situation at another tournament and knocked out a player on the very first hand I played.

Unlike other tournaments, I decided to play super tight. My next big hand was pocket 10s aginst 2 players. One was the chip leader at the table and the other guy was the short stack all-in. I went all-in, and the chip leader called. They happen to both have King – Queen off suit, so I was happy to see that, and I more than doubled up there.

Near the money (they paid to 27), I tried to steal the blinds with an all-in holding Ace – 6 off suit and ran into AK. Damn. I figured I was out and stood up to get ready to leave. The flop brought me an open ended straight draw and got the needed 2 on the river. Wow. What a suck out. This kept me alive to make the money.

At the end, a guy with pocket 9’s goes all-in and I look down to find pocket Kings. Nice. I go all-in, then the button with the big chip stack also goes all-in. Unfortunately, he had pocket Aces, a 9 flops and I come in 3rd in this last hand. Well, at least I made the money.

On to some live game action.  By the way, they are finished with the expansion of the upper area and now goes all the way to Yosh’s sushi restaurant. In fact, there’s an entrance directly from the poker side to the restaurant.

Anyhoo, coincidentally, several of my friends were playing live at the Bike. Ted and Hugo were both at the same $80 no-limit table, and David was at the $100 table. I started at the $200 table and moved to the $300-$500 table (blinds $5 – $5) after a few hands. One of my big hands came up like this:

Cochinoman			Small Blind Player

Flop				Turn	River

Everybody limped in and I also limped in with a terrible 4 – 5 off suit on the button. With a hand like that, you really should raise on the button but I don’t play that way. The small blind wakes up with aces and pops it up to $40. The big blind calls, and another guy calls.  According to Cardplayer’s odds calculator, 4 ways, pocket rockets is about 54% to win, and I’m about 13.9%. Heads-up, aces would be 81.93% and I would be 17.70%. Frankly, I thought I might be able to steal after the flop, since I had position.

Before I called, I asked the small blind if he wanted me to call. He rightly says, “No!”, but the big blind says “Yes!” Heh, heh. With those pot odds, the money looked too delicious, and I called.

A dream flop came for me. In fact, I looked at my hand again to make sure. That was a tell, if anybody was watching me. As the small blind got ready to bet out, I said, “Be careful.” Which he ignored, and bet out $160. Big blind calls quickly. The 3rd guy folds, and now it’s to me.

If the big blind didn’t come in, I would have slow played it, but with the flush draw, I felt I needed to get rid of him drawing on me so I poped it all-in. I covered both players with over $500. The small blind with aces thought long and hard and made a big fold and showed me his hand. The big blind calls about $260 left of his stack.

I don’t know what the big blind had but I know I don’t want to see any clubs. When the 8 comes on the turn, I’m not really happy because he could have had 9 <club> & 10 <club> , and made a higher straight.

The Ace comes on the river, with no clubs and the big blind mucks his hand. He told me he had 2 pair but I’m not sure that’s what he had.

In any case, I was happy. Kept getting lucky at the table and made more money but that hand was sweet.

Apparently, there was this same expo last year but I never even heard of it until this year. They changed the theme a little to add girls and gadgets to the gambling. Wait a second. This expo is the same theme as my blog! I guess that means…

From the exhibitor list for this year, it looks like a few Vegas strip clubs will be representing their wares. Among the listed are Library, Olympic Garden, Saphire, Seamless, and Treasures. On the floor plan, there was a “Rhino Vegas Basketball,” but I don’t think that’s the Spearmint Rhino. Too bad.

I don’t get the impression that it will be like the AVN expo or even the old CES, back in the day but I’m ready to see what stuff they have since I’ll be at the World Series Main event anyway.

Look for my double report of this expo and the goings on at the World Series of Poker 2007 Main event.

Gaming Life Expo 2007
July 5-8, 2007
Rio Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada

After the Hawaiian Gardens tournament, I decided to stop by the Bicycle Casino on my way home for some live action to get my money back.

On one big hand, I flopped a small flush against A <heart> & Q <diamond> , who was the initial raiser. The flop was all <heart> , and the top card was a Q. I checked and the initial raiser bet out strong. I went all-in for about $400. But since he had top pair and nut flush draw, he called.  Unfortunately, the <heart> came on the river and I got felted.

But I re-bought in and got pocket rockets, got one caller who flopped top pair and called my all-in after the flop.  He came to the table with a lot of white chips ($100) and was an action player at our table.

After that, I entered a pot raised to $20 (blinds are $5 and $5) holding Q <spade> & 8 <spade>  , along with 4 other people.  The flop was Q <club> 8 <club> 7 <diamond> . There was already over $120 in the pot, and the guy to my right bet out $100 into the pot. He was the tightest player at the table and I had not seen him play any big hands before this hand. There was a straight and flush draw so I went all in for $550.  Everyone else folded, and it was back to the tight guy to my right.

He called time and thought about it for a long time. He had over $1,000 so he had me covered. I figured he didn’t have a set or he would have called, even being a tight player. Now, I was starting to think he had a monster draw, like 9 <club> & 10 <club> , giving him an open ended straight flush draw. After what seemed like forever, he finally blurted out “I call.”

The turn was a <club> completing a flush draw. My heart sank figuring I was now beat. Then on the river, I got the 8 <heart> giving me my full house! I opened my hand to show my full house and the other player mucked his hand.

The action player on my left asked the dealer to open the cards. Personally, I never do that because I think it’s poor etiquette to do that to the losing player. The dealer opened his hand and it was 9 <heart> & 10 <heart>  which meant that he was only open ended and had 8 outs. That’s a crazy all-in call from what I thought was a tight player. I guess he got bored waiting for hands.

Not much after that, I decided to semi-hit and run and left.  

A few weeks ago, I went to a poker tournament at Hawaiian Gardens which was a $340 buy-in with no rebuys. I don’t normally play there but I like this particular tournament because you start with 3,000 chips and there’s no rebuys.  I didn’t do very well in the tournament but there was one interesting hand for me that went like this:

Cochinoman			Player

Flop				Turn	River

I raised from middle position with pocket 4s. Only the button called me. I flopped middle set and came out betting $650 into a pot of about $800. The player flat called me with the nuts. I didn’t think there was any way that he had the straight with 3-5 because he called my pre-flop raise so I put him on an overpair to the board. He must have gotten a boner when he saw the flop. When you call a raise with 3-5, that’s a dream flop.

But next, the board paired with the 2 <heart> which gave me a full house. I didn’t even realize that I sucked out on him. Anyway, I didn’t want to scare him off so I checked and he bet only $500. At this point, I wasn’t sure if he was betting small hoping for me to come over the top (because he had a monster), or because he didn’t like the board pairing. I made a comment about the strange bet and flat called.

The river brought my dream card giving me quads. As I started to think about how much I should bet to get a call, the player went all-in out of turn. As the dealer started telling him that he bet out of turn, I quickly called his all-in. The player took back his bet and the dealer had to call the floorman, who ruled in my favor. It was a nice double up early in the tournament. In hind sight, I guess he went all-in out of turn as a defensive bet, hoping I wouldn’t be able to call.

Unfortunately, a few hands later, a lady with AQ went all in when the ace flopped, which I called with my AK. But then got her Q on the river and took a bunch of my chips.

I returned to this tournament again yesterday and got further but still didn’t make the money. My friend Cheryl was also playing and we busted out almost exactly at the same time. During the break, she and I talked about Arial Clark who we both knew from Caribe Casino who died in a car accident with his producer/director father Bob Clark. Ariel was so talented and taken so early. He’ll be missed by many.