A Little Poker Before We Talk About the Travels

I left for the WSOP with $0.36 in my Full Tilt account. I hadn't made a deposit in about a year and a half and I finally busted it with a $5 SNG I bubbled on Memorial Day weekend. I wasn't going to have time to play online while I was in Vegas so I didn't bother to re-load. (Well, actually I traded some actual cash for a $200 transfer with a fellow journalist while I was there but donked that all off in short order). So when I got home all that was left in there was $100 from payments for that little red and white ad you see on your right.

I have close to $600 on there now. And I got most of it from winning 3 $22 SNGs in a row.

That's right. In. A. Row.

Didn't Noble Poker used to pay out a million bucks, seven virgins and a swag bag for a similar feat back in the day?

I was so stuck and sick of poker by the end of the World Series I wanted to leave Vegas three days early. But as I cashed out of that last losing session I had out in the desert (at Red Rock, while Pauly was tilting Crazy Asian Ladies) I had that feeling that I'd run so card dead and afoul of the deck that enough of that bullshit had transpired and I was about to turn around and be hit in the face by it. So I wasn't surprised when I won the first SNG. I mean seriously, it was about fucking time.

In the second one I very nearly bubbled. Then some poor donk with a dominating hand got sucked out on and I slipped into the money. Winning two coinflips got me heads-up with about a 2-1 chip advantage and my opponent was so weak-tight I was able to just slowly but surely whittle him down with aggression.

In the third I got heads-up with a guy who turned out to be a fan of both Pot Committed and the Tao of Poker. But I pretty much ran over him too. Pauly's jaw hung open in shock as I screamed "ship it!" for the third time.

It took me 3 days to play another. Because I knew, I knew I was guaranteed to lose. And surely enough, my K-K was run down by K-4 catching a runner runner straight.

So after all the SNG fun, I had about $350. A week of hit & run $1-2 and $2-4 LHE sessions later added another $200. Hey, this is starting to look like a baby bankroll.

And then, moments ago, I finished 39th of 601 in the Full Tilt $10 rebuy having not played a big-field tourney in months. I spent four hours and nine minutes in it and netted just over $30 after accounting for the $31 I invested in the initial double rebuy and the add-on. All I wanted to do was sit down and focus and not do what I seem to always end up doing in MTTs-- choosing a moment either just before or just past the money bubble to completely lose my mind and go off on one hand. I did it at the Treasure Island tourney I played with Benjo and Pauly right after the Main Event. And I'd done it just last night when I played an $11 180-player SNG on Stars. With blinds at 150-300 I had a perfectly workable stack of 9,000 with 29 players remaining and decided to re-raise a late position raiser to 2,700 with A-Q from the button. The small blind re-popped it to 6,000 the initial raiser folded. I have 6,600 behind here and every reasonable bone in my body is telling me to fold, while the devil on my shoulder insists that I need to gamble more to actually win tournaments. I don't want to see Q-Q, K-K, A-A, or A-K. Those are the only hands that would make this move... Jesus Christ why the fuck did I call of course he has A-K.

So yeah. Trying not to do that anymore. Didn't pull any stupid shit and actually played rather conservatively on my way to cashing the rebuy. My old problem of being a late-stage pussy is comparatively easy to deal with compared to the "change100 blowup."

On a slightly related note, I watched Annette_15, the 18-year old Norwegian online poker phenom take down the Full Tilt $500K Guaranteed last night. Talk about total domination. I could certainly take a few lessons on the position re-steal from this chick.

Two very necessary pimps here. I met pro poker player and Pokerati blogger Michele Lewis at the WSOP and she's just as lovely as you'd imagine. I mean, how can you look like that after having 3 2 kids? Seriously, she was far and away the best dressed lady at the Series-- always rocking chic little jackets and high-heeled patent leather slingbacks. Well, she's got a new website and started things off with a bang with her Jeffrey Pollack interview. It's a great read and spiced with the wit that makes Michele... Michele. An excerpt:

JP: If the GLE comes back next year I suspect it would just be “Games and Gear” based on this year’s experience. Some elements of that show were not The Rio’s prouder moments.

ML: I didn’t really find it that offensive.

JP: Well, you’re an open-minded Texan.

ML: I’m the only one. No, just kidding. I’m Jewish too. Actually, I converted.

JP: Really? Welcome to the Tribe. How does all of the guilt feel?

ML: It’s less now.

JP: That’s unusual.

ML: Well, I have kids (to pass it on to…) Do you have kids?

JP: No

ML: You’re married right?

JP: Yes

ML: Let’s see…so no more strippers?

JP: No, they won’t be back.

ML: No? No Chippendales? [Disappointed]

JP: No. Not my style…not my….No.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Tom Sexton this summer. Tom is Mike Sexton's brother and is nearly his vocal double. He worked for PokerNews at the Series and his presence was invaluable-- he knew all the top players, hell he plays golf on a regular basis with the top players, and has a wealth of phenomenal gambling stories. It would be two in the morning and I'd be half asleep covering some random stud tournament and Tom would come off the floor and tell me some insane Billy Baxter or Stu Ungar story and I'd be reminded of the depth of history of this great game and the insane personalities who played it. Now you can hear Tom's tales too in his new PokerNews column Sexton's Corner. Don't miss the first one when he tells about the phone call he got from his brother when the first Party Poker payment arrived.

Oh, and if anyone wants to bet on how long it will take me to donk off my newfound $600 online, I'm sure Pauly will book your action.