Thursday, April 27, 2006

The Fix is in

In last night's tournament I chopped five ways (uneven... I demanded extra compensation for having top stack and being on the button at the time), scoring 2 points towards the W.S.O.P. freeroll tournament, and locking in top score for the month at 27 points.

The next closest person in score is at 14 points, and there are only 12 possible points left in the month. It felt good, but now I have an important decision to make.

I really need another intermission. Playing in a live tournament every single day (and twice on Fridays & Saturdays) for 26 days in a row has been a lot more demanding, both physically and mentally, than I realized it would be... and now I'm considering keeping it up for another month and a half.

The top point leader overall for the entire period through June 11th gets a $1000 W.S.O.P entry. My current total points are 39, which puts me in 6th place overall. The current point leader has 54 points, but started in January, and has scored only 10 points in the last 27 days, in which time I just told you I scored 27. I am almost certain that I can catch him, but it will be close, and will require the sacrifice of some important plans I have in May.

There is also a $1000 seat awarded to whoever lasts longest in the freeroll of the top 10 point scores overall, so you can be sure that I'll be defending my top 10 position no matter what happens.

Between those two bonuses, and the W.S.O.P seats of varying value to be awarded to the top 10 finishers of the 30 person freeroll, there is a lot of potential here, and I'm really glad I put in the effort to secure my position.

I'm going to continue playing everyday through next Tuesday, and make a decision about the push for first when I see the point totals updated, and have slept on it some over the weekend.

-Tommy
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Monday, April 24, 2006

The Doctor Appointment

"That girl is totally out of your league." -Spaceman

"Sure man, but she's a fan..." -Dr. Pauly


On Thursday night I was at the final table of yet another tournament out at Sam's Town, with most of the usual suspects, and one total donkey who just wouldn't bust. He'd been forced all-in by the blinds twice already, (the first time he caught QQ, a feat he would repeat later, the second time he was holding an 8T offsuit and flopped trips) when one of the regulars made a push with a QJ. This particular time the mark was holding AQ, and the flop came A K 8. The regular was turning to walk away when the 3 came on the turn, and when the T fell on the river, he headed over towards the tournament director to collect his winnings.

The straight hadn't registered with him, and as we called him back to the table I said to him under my breath, "Hey! Sometimes the good guys suck out too."

"Yep."

Little did I know at that moment that this particular regular, who I was also seated with at the starting table of the first tournament I ever played at Sam's Town, was the infamous flipchippro.

The next night during a break, I walked over to talk to another regular that I routinely joke around with. He was engaged in a conversation with flipchip at the time, and as I waited patiently for them to finish their conversation, I couldn't help but notice the business card that was slid across the felt at the conclusion.

"You're with the lasvegasvegas.com guys?", I inquired.

"Yes."

"Dr. Pauly and them?"

"Yeah, I had lunch with him today."

"Wow, it'd be kinda cool to meet him."

I didn't really mean it as a request, just a thought made verbal, but without hesitation he responded, "Come out to the Bellagio tomorrow and I'll introduce you."

We chatted for a few more seconds, and as the break ended, I returned to my own table.

The next morning as I was waking up and catching up on my morning news rituals, I got an email from my friend Philo Vivero, aka Timeless, aka Tim Ellis, who was mentioned in Forbes magazine last week for his crazy DBA skills, without which digg.com would not be where they are today, and I got involved in a somewhat lengthy IM conversation with him.

I mentioned the Bellagio invitation thingy, and that I wasn't going, based on the facts that I hate the strip, I especially hate the strip on Saturdays, and I really don't want to be seen as some kind of fucking stalker. He suggested that I was an idiot for passing up an opportunity to at least go see what a serious poker tournament is like, but it was this conversation with another friend that eventually changed my mind:

xxxxx: So, like, if you were to somehow defy all probability and win the WSOP, this guy would be writing about you?
tommy: That's not gonna happen.
xxxxx: But if it did, and you had bought him a drink a few months before, he'd probably write nice things about you.
tommy: Yeah, not gonna happen.
xxxxx: Go buy him a drink anyway, fuckwad.


And so it was that at approximately 4 PM, I set out for the strip.

I should mention how much I fucking hate the strip. I hate it nearly as much as I hate the cattle that make up the strip, spending all their time blocking street & foot traffic inside and outside of the casinos, staring at the whatever pretty lights they've most recently come across. These vile loathings alone make me doubt that I could hack it as a true professional poker player, who would be forced to deal with them regularly.

I got to the Fontana Room just in time to see Johnny Chan bust out to a flopped boat, and yet he left the table with a smile and the grace of a true professional that I rarely get to see in the tournaments that I've been playing in. Later, as I was walking around the casino I spotted him sitting near a bank of Video Poker machines by himself, smoking a cigar. My first thought was to go over and bother him, but then it occurred to me that I'm not a fucking tourist and opted for the head nod of recognition instead. I was rewarded with a wink, and continued happily on my way.

Eventually I spotted flipchippro and Dr. Pauly, and headed over. After introductions and some chatter, I was also introduced to Spaceman (who was sitting quietly nearby typing on his laptop), and my offer to buy drinks was quickly accepted. As soon as the break rolled around we headed to the infamous "Hooker Bar", joined by their friend and fellow journalist Mike Friedman. After a round of drinks, some random people watching, and a little light conversation about nothing terribly important, they headed back inside. Definitely a cool group of guys.

I took off for Sam's Town. My run at the points there has been going extremely well, and I'll make time to write about it soon.

-Tommy
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Thursday, April 06, 2006

On the Run

It all came down to Saturday night.

I had been wanting to make a run at locking in a seat, and April seemed the perfect month to do it, but I didn't have the bankroll necessary for it without a few early wins, so I told myself that I would only go for it if I made the money on Saturday night.

I mentioned in a previous post that I have been playing regular tournaments out at Sam's Town. I also mentioned that I was up quite a bit of money from playing these, and that there is a points system that awards seats for a helluva W.S.O.P. freeroll satellite.

Well, I had a big win on Sat night, and so began my run at the seat, which will be continued by my playing in every one of April's 39 tournaments (nightly at 7pm, with an additional tournament on Fri & Sat at 11pm). I have been doing very well, in fact, I'm in the lead, with 6 points for 6 tournaments played.

Sure, it's only the first week, but if I can maintain it, at this rate I will far surpass the point totals for any of the previous monthly winners. If I fail, the attempt itself will likely give me enough points to get in as one of the top 22 point totals, of which I am already 18th from playing only on Fri & Sat nights.

I'll get the details of the contest and post them here when I remember to do so, but I'm still debating whether or not to post the spreadsheet I'm using to track my progress.

-Tommy
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