High On Poker

Lately, when I think about the world of poker, I can’t help but look at things in a much darker light than when online poker was legal. It’s almost as though the recent crackdown of US sites has caused the illusion to dissipate, and I am able to see the poker world for what it really is. Sites like FullTilt were opportunistic monsters, and not the vanguard of poker that we all expected it to be. The big online poker players are now all ex-patriots, playing online poker from Canada, Mexico and Europe, leaving the dregs of the US online poker community behind. Live games have been more popular, but that only causes us to face, in person, a reflection of ourselves that can sometimes appear desperate, lonely, broke and sad.

Of course, that’s not all I see. I can still appreciate the game for what it is. To me, poker is the perfect blend of mind game and strategy. Sure, it attracts some dregs, but that is only because it is associated with gambling, which has been widely regarded as a vice. And with those dregs come cheats and scoundrels, but that will happen in any area where things are largely unregulated (I’m looking at you, Wall Street.). The game itself CAN remain pure, but to do so, we require places to play that are safe and regulated. I don’t see online poker returning to the US for another 3 years at least (2015 is my best guess). But in the meanwhile, we can still play in casinos and home games, and at times underground games, when desperate.

I’m not quite there, but I can definitely appreciate those who left the US to go to a foreign country. It’s not just about getting to play poker. It’s about reclaiming our freedom. The end of FT was necessary. It was a company that was increasingly turning into a sham. It didn’t start that way, but it sure as shit ended that way.

On the other hand, a sites like Pokerstars.net actually offered what they advertised, a safe place to play online poker. At least there, you could play solid poker, win some cash, and know that your money actually existed somewhere in the world, ready to be withdrawn when you are ready.  At least they were able to stay afloat through their European and worldwide player base.  Plus, their continued success is encouraging to the US market. If Italia Poker players can safely play poker on Pokerstars.it, there should, presumably, be an adequate model for the US to take.

In the meanwhile, I will continue to play in the live games with degenerates, gamblers, bums, scam artists, and do-nothings. And I will use those dregs as a reminder that, as amazing as the game is, it is a game, and its up to me to make sure that I’m playing the game and the game isn’t playing me.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Its official. Even in the face of flack from the boss, and self-imposed guilt about another trip to Vegas without my beloved, it’s booked. I’m going to Las Vegas for the WPBT Winter Classic. I’ll be traveling with my good bud Dave Roose. We fly in early Friday morning, and fly out early Monday morning. Let the good times roll.

Until next time, make mine poker!

This week, I have to drive up to Binghamton for a court appearance. I haven’t done the math yet, but if all goes according to my “plan”, I will stop off at one of the Pennsylvania casinos on my way back.

As I read some of the few poker blogs that still update, I began to think about my game, and how to ensure that I am playing profitable poker. The solution, nearest I can tell, is to simply revert to my old style of play.

Poker is a funny thing. It’s like the tide, in a way, or maybe the shore, more accurately. Even though the basics are there (betting, bluffing, etc. vs. sand, water, waves, etc.), its’ a constantly evolving thing. Just like the tide, poker play and styles seem to ebb and flow over time. Just like the shore, the change is often permanent, and in order to navigate without self-destruction, one has to constantly reassess the state of the shore/poker.

I cannot say with certainty, but everything I see suggests that the correct strategy, particularly for me, is to revert to a tight playing style. When I first started playing seriously, I limited myself to premium hands to get a feel for the game. Back then, you could win consistently just by playing tight, since your starting hands were always so superior to your competition. Take GCox as an example. GCox’s poker style was uber tight, and I admired him for it. He was a consistent winner, and at one point, I even told him that if I could have his game over mine, I would take it.

Over time though, the mass of players started to learn more, and the profitability of uber tight play seemed to wane. Around this same time, GCox may’ve hit the poker wall; he no longer blogs or plays regularly. He was still successful, but not as successful, and eventually, it seems he fell out of love with the game. It happens (but I miss him nonetheless). Regardless, at the time, I was working on widening my game to see more hands and play better post-flop play. I became more profitable because my opponents were no longer donkeys; they had learned some basic skills like how to read and play against a super tight player, so the optimal play was, at least for me, to play more hands, but control pot sizes.

Things kept changing, and admittedly, maybe I did not. I cannot say for sure what the current state of the live poker world is, and lord knows that it changes from region to region. The play in Vegas is going to be different from the play in Pennsylvania. But overall, it seems that we are now at the point where tight play may be right, at least for me.

I consider two major factors. First, there is a new influx of live players who used to be online poker players. Those players are often too loose aggressive, and usually fearless if they are young enough. Getting into a pissing contest will do me no good against these guys. Instead, I need to wait for an advantage, like a superior starting hand, and exploit their aggression and my tight image. Second, with irregular play, I am not as confident in my focus or reads. Tight play will help me avoid those sticky situations, where top pair is no good or hitting the flop will create more questions than answers.

I guess we’ll see later this week. My fingers are crossed.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Last night, as I added yesterday’s session to my spreadsheet, I noticed that the last time I played poker was exactly one month ago, September 18, 2011. That is the state of my poker. It is a sad, sad time for Jordan’s poker career.

Sadder still, my last winning session was all the way back in July. Admittedly, this may’ve been as big of a reason for my month-long hiatus as the other reasons, i.e., my new cat and my job. Wifey Kim and I adopted the new cat after she found the stray at a park near her job. Long-story-short, we named him Deuce (as in Deuces are wild, and not as in Drop a Deuce) and he has been a welcome addition to the family. Combine that with my busy job, and most days, I am happy to go straight home, rather than head to the local underground poker club scene.

But eventually, the urge returned, so I made my way to the BatCave yesterday to play the usual $130 tournament. The tournament suffered from a lack of players, but all-in-all, we were able to get a one-table tournament going, with several players re-registering to build a decent prize pool.

I went to the game with a definite strategy in mind. In the past, when I was eager to play or hadn’t played in a while, I would 0ften make the mistake of forcing the action. That’s a very easy thing to do in an underground club, where the players are willing to make plays with a wide range and there is no shortage of action. It also can be fatal, since variance is a bitch and sometimes, those jabronis actually have cards.

So, the name of the game was to play tight, and tight I did. I had felt in prior games that I had established a fairly loose image, and that was working against me, so it seemed logical to change up my usual routine.

Fold, fold, fold. It isn’t the most exciting strategy, but it can be the most profitable.

When I had hands, I bet preflop, but avoided my usual pattern of continuation betting a bit too often. I won several pots and built up a stack, usually without a showdown. I hadn’t lost any significant pots except one where I called flop and turn bets from a preflop raiser. I had AK and the flop was A56. By the river, the board was A5648, and we both checked. I thought I was being a bit too passive, and I was initially considering a raise on the river, but once the straight card came, I decided against it. It was a good thing too, since my opponent had opted to raise preflop with A5, good for two-pair.

I later laid down AK when the same player raised. I attempted to call, but I was out of turn. When my call was pulled back, the opponent on my right pushed all-in. The guy was friendly and playing well. I took my time considering my options. I didn’t love the idea of risking my entire stack in this situation, and a few hands earlier, the same player faced a similar situation. A player tried to go all-in out of turn and when that bet was pulled back, the guy to my right pushed all-in. He got a call from another player, and showed AA. For this reason, I smelled another high pocket pair. I decided with no money invested, I would be better off folding my suited AK. I did so, and then the original bettor called. The original bettor had AK as well; the guy on my right had JJ. The JJ flopped a set and held up. Works for me!

In another interesting series of hands, I held KJo, and decided to use my tight image (if one existed) to steal some blinds. I raised three times the big blind, from 400 to 1,200, and a player to my left decided to push all-in for approximately 1,500 more. It was an easy call, and all players saw my KJ. I was facing AT, and neither of us hit the board, so he took down the pot.

The very next hand, I had AK, and decided to raise 1,200 again. I wanted to create the impression that I had KJ or was maybe a bit tilty. Another player, Guy, decided to re-raise. When it folded back around to me, I decided to shove all-in. Unlike the AK v. AK v. JJ situation, I was comfortable getting all-in with AK here because I knew that Guy saw me as a loose player (from prior play) and he was willing to resteal. When I pushed all-in, Guy called, since it was not for much more, and then showed 9Ts. I flopped a King and he didn’t catch up, and I doubled up, giving me a healthy stack.

As the game progressed, we were eventually down to five players, and I had a good feel for everyone’s play. I had reverted to a very tight style, although I gathered by then that my image was locked in as a gambler. Still, my cards weren’t great and I saw players getting a bit loose, so I wanted to see them punch each other out before I went in for the kill.

Finally, I had my chance. I was dealt 88 in the BB, and the action folded to the button, a bald guy named Vic. Vic looked at his cards and then decided to raise from the 1,200 to 3,600 (blinds of 600/1200). It folded to me and I decided to push. I had watched Vic and while he started off playing tight, he had loosened up as we had fewer and fewer players. I had assumed based on his action that he wanted to steal the pot. I figured if I pushed, he would likely fold, and if he didn’t, my 88 was probably ahead. I pushed. He called. And then he tabled A6h.

I was ecstatic on the inside, but on the outside, I remained calm and collected. The flop was Ace-high, though, and no 8 came to save the day. I was out, after playing well for three hours. I got up, made a half-hearted joke and then left the table. I made my way over to W, a friend who was at the game but not playing.

“W, will you be my poker psychologist for a moment?,” I asked. I was still calm and cool on the outside, one of the things that I pride myself on when losing, but on the inside, I was a cauldron of bubbling emotion.

“Sure,” she answered, “but I’m crazy too.”

“Okay, here it is,” I explained my losing hand. “That’s typical. There is no reason why that should phase me. But for some reason, it’s really bothering me.”

Yes, I was that guy. I was the guy who played poker, lost to a 3-outter and couldn’t get over it. W consoled me with a story about how she chased the dragon one day in an AC re-entry tournament. She offered that it may be that I simply felt like I was not done with poker for the night, but my game was ended abruptly.

There was some truth to W’s statement. I was suffering, at least in part, because my play has been so infrequent. Finally, I had an opportunity to play my best, and I did play my best, but it was not good enough for a win. To make matters worse, there was no online poker to kill the pain and let me work through some of my poker frustration. That was it. I was done for poker for the day, and likely for the week.

Playing infrequently is its own trap. Individual games can suddenly take on new importance, whether real or fabricated. The long run gets even longer, and the variance of the short run even more painful. But this is the poker world we live in, and I have two options: adapt or leave.

So, it is with great sadness that I announce my retirement from poker. It started when online poker was killed, and was finished when I realized that live poker is just not accessible for a New Yorker with a day job.

Who am I kidding! That last paragraph was a complete joke, literally. I’m not leaving poker! What the fuck would I do otherwise? Take up bridge?! Puh-lease! Nope. All I can do is recommit myself to the game and adapt to the realities that face me. That may mean playing higher stakes so I can play more games in NYC. It definitely means making a commitment to play these weekly tournaments at least once a week. And for the purposes of this blog, it means writing when it feels right and worthwhile.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Hey folks. I haven’t been writing much because I am still utterly disgusted about the end of online poker and what it means for poker players in general. I don’t even want to get into it, because there is nothing to be done but sit back and wait for our government to legalize the game and find new ways to screw it up.

Regardless, I write to you seeking advice. Can anyone recommend a website that sells good custom poker chip sets, including a case? There are a lot of options out there, but after a while, its all a bunch of noise.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Until next time, make mine live poker!

*** WARNING: NO POKER CONTENT ***

Being a lawyer, especially a plaintiff’s lawyer, has its up and downs. The benefits are largely obvious, and quite irrelevant to today’s mini-post. It’s the negatives that always blow my mind.

How can you tell a lawyer is lying? His mouth is moving.

A guy walks into a bar and complains to the bartender, “All lawyers are assholes!” Another guy at the end of the bar chimes in, “Hey! I take exception to that!” The first guy asks, “Why? Are you a lawyer?” The second guy responds, “No, I’m an asshole!”

What happens when a lawyer takes Viagra? He gets taller.

Yes, lawyers are liars, assholes and dicks. That’s not true across the board, but its true enough. After all, this profession does attract some percentage of the greedy, status-oriented, or narcissists that roam this earth. But we also do something else. Some of us fight for victim’s rights.

The other negative I am constantly faced with in the practice of law is this crazy idea that people are getting rich quick on frivolous lawsuits. Let me briefly explain that frivolous lawsuits are not nearly as common as we all think they are. Why? Because frivolous lawsuits DON’T WIN. Law is a business and for most personal injury lawyers, the customer cannot pay the crazy fees charged by big law firms to large corporations. As a result, the vast majority of personal injury cases (including medical malpractice) are done on a contingency retainer. The law firm lays out all the costs (sometimes tens of thousands of dollars) and if the lawsuit fails, the firm eats the losses and gets nothing. It’s a literal gamble. And as you can imagine, if you are going to gamble thousands of dollars on a case, you don’t want it to be frivolous. But that’s not what the insurance industry and most corporations want you to think.

See, most corporations and insurance companies want to reduce the amount of law suits. After all, its the insurance companies and corporations that generally have to spend money to defend a lawsuit when someone is hit by a car, or injured by a dangerously defective product. Lawsuits are BAD! And they must be stopped…even if the victims suffer.

So, with all that in mind, I present to you the trailer for a new-ish documentary airing on HBO titled, Hot Coffee: The Movie. The documentary delves into the crazy McDonald’s case in which an old woman spilled coffee on her lap while holding it between her legs and driving down the freeway, and consequently won a lawsuit worth over $2 million dollars! Well, that’s what McDonald’s and most corporations want you to think. In reality, it was a lawsuit about an elderly woman who was parked in the parking lot and in the passenger seat when she opened her coffee to add sugar. The coffee was at 190 degrees Fahrenheit, which was way above industry standards. McDonald’s also had hundreds of complaints about the heat of the coffee. As a result of the spill, the woman suffered horrific burns to her groin and rear end. She asked McDonald’s to pay the medical bills, but they refused…so she sued. The jury found that McD’s knew of the danger, had many complaints, but ignored the complaints. The jury punished the huge corporation by giving punitive damages worth one day’s work of coffee sales…over $2M for McDonald’s. But then (and this is the kicker) the judge reduced the award to closer to $200,000 as punitive damages. I don’t agree with the reduction, but it is indicative that the Court does prevent insanely high verdicts.  It was also widely under-reported by, naturally, the corporations that control the media.

Oh boy, now I’ve just gone on a rant. Ignore my rant and just see the movie. Then leave a comment here, if you can. I’d love to see what non-lawyers think about it.

Until next time, make mine live poker!

It’s been over a month since I played poker in the underground poker club, the BatCave, so when wifey Kim had another one of her Girls’ Nights last night, I heard opportunity knock.

While still in my office, I changed from my suit, which was already in fairly bad shape thanks to the sweltering heat, to my brown $uperman t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts. I had already loaded up my backpack with all of the usual accoutrements, including my new starfish-shaped stone card cap, which I picked up recently on my trip to Mexico. I left the office with a bit of a skip in my step. It’d been a while since I had played poker, and the last time was at Turning Stone, which was not the most successful run. But I had mentally prepared to play, largely due to the poker drought and that yearning tug at the back of my brain that always brings me back to the game.

I first stopped at Hill Country Chicken in midtown Manhattan for a quick dinner. Hill Country also has a BBQ joint in the city, and if you asked me about the BBQ joint, I’d tell you to skip it. From my recollection, it was one of those joints with several counters for meats, sides, etc. You fill up a tray and then pay per pound or something. In other words, you pay too much (because it’s hard to eye meat by the pound) and the food is luke warm (because it is sitting in hot trays or whatever). Not good.

In contrast, Hill Country Chicken is pretty damn good. They have two versions of the fried chicken, one with the skin and one without that has a cracker-based coating, and some delicious sides, including mashed potatoes with cheese and actual fries incorporated in the mash. Very odd, but delicious (and probably a calorie bomb to  boot). I enjoyed my dinner with a Miller Lite (keepin’ it classy) while I listened to Howard Stern interview Lady Gaga.

I left Hill Country and walked to the poker game. Naturally, I was early and the first person there. I made some small talk with the two guys who work the room, and then pulled out a magazine to kill time. By the time the tournament was ready to kick off, though, there were a lack of participants, and we started with only eight players, including one of the staffers. That said, the other players included two of the most talented I had seen at the club, one of the most solid players I had seen, and a couple of wildcards which look easier to beat than they actually are.

In a small group like this, walking away from the table to take audio or written notes just wouldn’t fly. I sure as shit don’t want them knowing about the blog, because I want to be able to speak freely, so instead, I decided to simply focus on the game and worry about the possible post afterward. For that reason, you won’t be seeing any detailed hand analysis or replays here.

I kept to my strategy at first, folding the vast majority of hands while I hoped my opponents would punch themselves tired, like a boxer not prepared to go the full 12 rounds. By the time the re-register period was over, one player who I’ve played with since the Salami Poker Club days had bought in three times. He was the best player at the table, but a couple of hands hadn’t gone his way, and he kept buying in because he was near the points leaderboard. Meanwhile, I was treading water, after losing one hand relatively early when I decided to play position more than anything. I raised preflop in LP with Q6o because of a slew of limpers. I only got one call, the staffer. The flop missed me entirely, but had an Ace. He checked and I bet out. He pushed all-in over the top, which was way too much to bet in the spot. Regardless, I put on a brief show before folding and groaning about how he got lucky and hit two pair on the flop to beat my strong ace. He showed the Ace, but nothing more. Whatever. I was just trying to save face from my failed bluff.

That hand reminded me that I had to play smart and not give myself a chance to lose chips. That also resulted in me folding a couple of hands that a looser person might play, especially at that table; naturally, those folded hands would’ve been winners, but I didn’t let that tilt me.

As the blinds got higher, I used position a bit more, but very sparingly. I had one hand that was a bit odd and caused a negative reaction from the best player at the table. The blinds were 400/800, and I was in the BB. The Best Player (besides me, naturally) was in the SB. In MP, one of the Wildcard Players (who will play ATC for a push at times) pushed all-in for 1,200 only. BP called, and I called as well with Q5.

The flop came down 234. I don’t think there was a flush draw. The BP checked and I decided to bet out the minimum, 800. The BP folded and we showed our cards. My Q5 was behind the WP’s A3. By the river, though, I hit a Queen and took down the pot, eliminating WP.

After the hand, BP complained, “Why’d you bet there?”

I responded, “Why wouldn’t I?”

“You should be playing to knock out WP. I had a piece of that flop.” I was surprised when he said this. In the past, I took it as standard that you would check down here to increase the chances of knocking out a competitor, but as is the way with strategic games like poker, eventually common knowledge becomes exploitable, and new strategies emerge that take advantage of what is common. Of course, those new strategies become part of common knowledge until new new strategies emerge.

If I were a smarter man, I would have kept my mouth shut at this point, but it was a friendly game with all players openly discussing strategy in the abstract. I countered, “I wasn’t playing to knock him out. It’s too early for that. I was playing to build my stack. I thought I could even be ahead of WP with the way he plays, but I didn’t want to give the pot to you if you hit the turn or river.” I thought for a bit more and added, “Besides, I had a draw, so if you did call, I was building a pot.”

And that’s the truth. I could have checked it down, but what good would that do me. I was there to win the tournament, not knock out the guy who went out 7th out of 8 players. Interestingly, this hand probably won me another 1,500 about a half-hour later.

In that scenario, a player once again pushed all-in with less than 2x the BB. I was in the BB and BP was in the SB, and we both called. I had T4o, but the preflop action was so cheap that I felt I had to call. Plus, now I knew BP was the type to check it down, so I felt that I had an opportunity to pay for the flop and see all five cards.

That is exactly what happened. We all saw the KQ9 flop. We all saw the Jack turn, which gave me a straight, and we all saw the negligible river, where I bet out 1,500 and was called by BP. Sure enough, he had called me light, having hit the Jack only. In fact, when I showed my cards, he was incredulous that the chips weren’t pushed his way…until I pointed out that my Ten made the straight. I guess he was so conditioned to check it down and so conditioned to call my small-ish bets into a dry side pot that he wasn’t even thinking about what I could really have. All he thought was, “I saw this before, and all he had was Q-high!”

I actually held a decent stack until we got down to the top 3, with only 2 spots paying. At that point, I was the small stack, against BP and one other dude. I mostly stayed out of there way, stealing when I could to keep afloat. I was able to double up right before the 3rd player was eliminated by BP.

Down to two, both in the money, I considered the possibility of a chop, but BP couldn’t do it. Having bought in thrice, he was in the tourney for $390, and 2nd place was only $320. Instead, we played it out, with me at a 1:3 chip disadvantage. I made somewhat of a comeback, but it all eventually went in on a cointoss, his pocket pair to my overcards. I missed and he won the tournament, but it still felt good.

I made some money. I also played well, particularly against BP. I remember when we were heads up, I didn’t feel a moment of stress or anxiety. I remember thinking, “Go figure, I’m up against probably the best player here,” before thinking, “It doesn’t matter though. He’s just another player. I’m going to play my game.” And it worked, at least temporarily. I made a bit of a comeback before that coin toss, and I wasn’t really upset about the coin toss situation, so good play, bad results. It’s just part of the game.

Who knows when I will be back. But I’ll certainly be back. Let’s hope this is the start of another streak.

Until next time, make mine live poker!

Hey folks. I have a few odds and ends for your blog reading pleasure.

First off, I haven’t played poker in weeks. Crazy, but true. I could’ve played at Dawn‘s birthday party two Fridays ago, but I didn’t realize how late it was (1opm start? Really?) and I had just returned from Mexico, so I was exhausted from the travel and the week’s worth of booze and sun. Sorry Dawn, and happy birthday season!

Fortunately, I break the seal tonight by returning to the BatCave for the $130 tournament. Wish me luck. I know I have ring rust for sure, so the plan will be to take my time, watch the action, and try to play extra tight. With the quick blind structure, that’s a decent strategy if I can pick up some cards. If I go card dead, though, I’ll be playing push or fold poker within an hour or so; fortunately, I’m a short stack specialist.

Without poker, I’ve been spending much of my free time playing PS3. My current game of choice is Red Dead Redemption, which is now probably more than a year old, but brand spanking new to me. I’ve also taken up gardening, if one can consider some random herbs and jalapenos growing on my windowsill as a garden. See? Life really is better without free choice!

I read an interesting article on Atlantic City today. When Pennsylvania legalized poker, I opined that AC needed to Vegas-ify themselves if they wanted to retain their customer base. That would mean more events, like concerts, and more cheap rates to encourage people to stay at the hotel cheaply, but gamble and spend more in the restaurants, bars, clubs and stores. Well, it looks like someone in AC has been reading HighOnPoker. The article basically explains how casinos in AC have been throwing cheap-ticket concerts at an initial loss, so that they bring in customers, who all end up gambling and spending enough money at the casinos to more than offset the cheap tickets. If you read the article, you’d also think that the hotels are giving away weekend rooms. That hasn’t been the case from what I can see, but I’m glad to at least see that AC is doing something to keep in the mix.

Until next time, make mine live poker!

I noticed recently that April has posted the details for this years poker blogger gathering in Vegas. I actually skipped the event for the first time in years last year, mostly because I felt that I should spend my birthday weekend with my wife. Prior to that, I had spent my last two or three birthdays in Vegas playing poker with my Internet friends, and while I had a great time, it always struck me as awkward leaving my wife for my birthday, including my monumental 30th.

This year, I have no such problem. For the first time that I can remember, the event is scheduled for the first weekend in December, instead of the second. My birthday is usually on or around the second weekend of December, so suddenly, the glory of my birth and my cravings for degeneracy are no longer in conflict.

Of course, that’s not to say that I will definitely be in Vegas for the WPBT Winter Classic, which will be held from Thursday, Dec. 1 through Sunday, Dec. 4. I still need to see if it makes sense.

Deciding factors will include: (a) who else will be there, (b) how expensive it will be, (c) how many vacation days I have left by then.

Truth be told, with this wild extended family of degenerates, I can pretty much show up without a care for who is attending, since surely whoever attends will be fun. The best part of these events, aside from the poker, is the fact that the poker bloggers are an incredibly inclusive group, and if you are staying in the right place or know where to be, you can literally stumble around until you find some fellow bloggers, and instantly have an awesome night. Even so, I am curious to see who will be attending, if for no other reason then the fact that there are a handful of you that I really want to meet and/or have a beer with.

As for the cost, this is truly the biggest wrench in the works. I recently checked direct flights, and they start at around $600, after taxes, etc. That just sucks! April did a great job of getting us some good rates at Aria (I’m used to staying in shitholes like the Imperial Palace, happily I might add), but even with the reduced rates, I’m looking at a $1,000 weekend. It’s doable, certainly, but its a lot to spend for what amounts to a weekend of fun.

The vacation day issue is the last hurdle. I’ve done the math, and if I do not take any more vacation days after my upcoming European Vacation (sing with me, Holdiay Ro-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oad, Holdiay Ro-o-o-o-o-o-oad), I will have exactly two vacation days to spare. Usually, I save one for the AC in Xmas season, but since that appears to be on a weekend this year, I may have two full days for my Vegas adventure. Exciting.

If anyone is interested in a roommate, feel free to hit me up, although obviously I cannot commit for a while. Priority goes to the people who I have roomed with in the past, mostly because none of them molested me (save for TripJax, and arguably, with the amount of E we were on, some might argue that it was consensual). Next priority goes to people I like. Finally, the last class of people are people who I dislike; I will only share a room with you if you agree to provide copious amounts of drugs and alcohol.

Before I sign off, I should mention that I was speaking to the one loyal person in all of Donkey Island, JamyHawk, and I began to wonder about an East Coast poker blogger gathering. That led JHawk to suggest a St. Louis gathering, since he is from St. Louis and apparently they have legal poker there. And that got me thinking about the fact that there is legal poker in all sorts of unexpected places.

I right now have no plans for any trips for 2012, which depending on how l

Until next time, make mine live poker!

Every year, I try to run a prop be on the WSOP to keep things interested even though I’m a nation away from the action. This year, we had six participants choose four “horses” (aka players) apiece, with two bets. The first bet was for the most final tables and bracelets, with one point per final table and one point per bracelet. The second bet was for most cashes and awarded one point, flat, for each cash. I won both bets.

How? Well, some of it is just plain stupid luck. After all, you never really know what is going to happen at the beginning of the WSOP, especially since there isn’t an official roster of players or anywhere to tell who will play what. But beyond stupid luck, there was some strategy involved, and it paid off way more than expected.

When choosing horses, I have basically two requirements for my horses. First, they must have the funds or ability to play many events. In other words, they are either uber rich, a big name pro, or have a sponsorship. Second, they must have a driving force, some goal or motivating factor to encourage solid play. After all, poker is a largely mental game, and I think the WSOP is the mentalist of them all.

So, let’s take a quick look at my roster and how they did. Picking fourth in the first round, I was able to get Phil Hellmuth, after earlier players took Erik Seidel (Skidoo), Scott Seiver (CK) and Negreanu (Ingoal). I thought Seidel was a good choice, especially since he has been on a hot streak. Seiver falls below my radar, but he has been on a hot streak too, from what I do know. However, streaks tend to mean very little in the WSOP. Just look at the hot players each year pre-WSOP and during the WSOP. I doubt the lists look identical.

Negreanu looked like a good pick because he always acts like he has something to prove. If he were available, I may’ve chosen him. But he wasn’t which left me with two main top choices, Phil Ivey or Phil Hellmuth. I ended up choosing the latter.

Ivey seems like an obvious pick…only he wasn’t. See, even though Ivey won me the pool last year with his final table at the main event, I still felt like Ivey would be a bad bet, or at least a worse bet than Hellmuth. With the FT shutdown, I figured Ivey, who had become synonymous with FT over the last year, would be too distracted to play well. Also, if FT didn’t matter as a marketing device and moneymaker, Ivey, who is more of a cash game player, would have less impetus to play WSOP events. Alas, it was worse than even I thought, once the Ivey v. FT suit began. Fortunately, I had already chosen Hellmuth.

Hellmuth and Jason Mercier were really the horses that took me all the way in both of the bets. The key, to me, was that both had something to prove. Hellmuth is still desperate for bracelets, so he was sure to play as many events as possible and try his hardest. I know guys like Hellmuth, too stubborn to do anything but perform their hardest. It didn’t matter that Hellmuth lacked an online casino to back him (although I do think he had some endorsement deal from a land casino). He had history to make, and I had money to make.

Mercier has been a force on the poker scene for the last few years, but he, too, had something to prove. Another (thanks Windbreak247) bracelet for Mercier would mean further recognition and solidification of his role as one of the new generation of big name players. Tom Dwan, another of my picks, also did well, probably for a similar reason. These young guns cannot rely on history to keep them famous, like Chris Jesus Ferguson or Mike Matusow, to name a few. They needed wins or at least good showings to make clear that they are the young guys to beat. And both performed exceptionally.

Finally, I should note that I also won my prop bet with Skidoo regarding the WSOP entrants. I picked somewhere around 6300 to his 5800 or so, if memory serves correct. Details don’t matter, since the actual amount of players were higher than either of our picks. The recipe for success there was 1/2 guessing and 1/2 logic. I figured that the numbers would drop because of frozen funds, but not drop too much because of degeneracy. Without online poker, I figured that some players who would normally not play (and would rather sit at home and play in their BVDs) would finally give it a shot. What else were they going to do?

So, money in the bank. Not bad for a leak.

Until next time, make mine live poker!