The gambling ramblings of Pauly -- a writer, traveler, and degenerate

 
Borgata Winter Open: WPT Day 3

The Borgata Winter Poker Open continues with Day Three of the championship main event. Action will begin at Noon with 33 players remaining out of the original 381 entrants who all bought in for $10K. The winner gets $1.1M and a seat in the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championships at the Bellagio in April, along with a brand new 2006 Escalade.

The second day started with 165 players and Cliff "Johnny Bax" Josephy as the chipleader. When the day completed, only 33 were left with chips. Some notable pros eliminated on day two included Andy Black, Joe Sebok, Barry Greenstein, Scotty Nguyen, John Juanda, "My Main Man" Freddy Deeb, Matt Hilger, Carlos Mortensen, Chris Fargis, Gavin Smith, David Williams, Matt Matros, Steve Dannenmann, Brian Haveson, Steve Brecher, Alan Schein, and Tex Barch.

The money bubble came and went and Ted Forrest bubbled out in 76th place winning a free seat in September's main event here at the Borgata. Josephy let the chiplead slide out of his hands late in the evening when John D'Agostino went on a tear. He has close to $1 million in chips and is trying to make another final table at the Borgata. Last September, D'Agostino took 4th place in the Borgata Open that was won by Al Ardebili.

Erick Lindgren rivered a Royal Flush and ended the day in the Top 10 in chips. Louise Francouer ended the day near the top. A few days ago, she took third in the Ladies Event. The Grinder has a big stack along with EPT creator John Duthie. WSOP bracelet winners Denis Ethier and Erik Seidel are both alive. Ethier had been playing well all week and is seeking out another final table. He's already made two final tables in the past week finishing in second and fifth in those events. If there was an award for best player at the 2006 Borgata Winter Poker Open, it would be Denis Ethier.

By the end of Day 3, we'll be down to six players and find out who's gonna make the next WPT final table.

End of Day 2 Chipcounts Top 10:
1. John D'Agostino $988K
2. Kenny Schuyler $734K
3. Cliff Josephy $573K
4. Bill Edler $529K
5. Dane Jorgensen $519K
6. John Duthie $465K
7. Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi $414K
8. Erick Lindgren $412K
9. Louise Francoeur $402K
10. Mike Goodman $374K

The Rest:
11. Pete Skyllas $370K
12. Will Tong $337K
13. Ronnie Cauthen $317K
14. Richard Kirsch $297K
15. Eugene Todd $235K
16. Denis Ethier $223K
17. Josh Spiegelman $219K
18. Dennis January $190K
19.. Don Mullis $188K
20. Amnon Filippi $175K
21. Joseph Miceli $171K
22. Peter Feldman $170K
23. Mike Sica $163K
24. Marc Nantais $158K
25. Leonard Green $145K
26. Jim Lester $135K
27. Richard Dabal $118K
28. Stuart Patterson $94K
29. Erik Seidel $79K
30. Chris Reslock $78K
31. Vlad Mezheritsky, Jr. $76K
32. Jorge Arias $47K
33. Greg Cash $47K

Here's a list of Day 2 eliminations and money winners:

The following players won $12,935:

75. Vinod Vangimalla (Silver Springs, MD)
74. Mark Webber (Sickerville, NJ)
73. Chris Fargis (Brooklyn, NY)
72. Andrew Schwartz (Boca Raton, FL)
71. Dean Schultz (Lewis Center, OH)
70. Ylon Schwartz (Brooklyn, NY)
69. John Cullen (Farmingdale, NJ)
68. Ron Schiffmani (Cherry Hill, NJ)
67. Daniel Yanofski (West Orange, NJ)
66. Scotty Nguyen (Las Vegas, NV)
65. Jonathan Zuckowski (Jupiter, Florida)
64. Nick Grudien (Mt. Vernon, NY)
63. Mark Lurenfeld (Virginia Beach, VA)
62. Thomas Martelli (Sewell, NJ)
61. Alexander Magor (Woodmere, NY)
60. Frank Vizza (Cold Spring Harbor, NY)
59. Tommy Wang (White Plains, NY)
58. Andy Black (Dublin, Ireland)
57. Feming Chan (Cranbury, NY)
56. Joe Sebok (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA)
55. Emmanuel Syragakis (Montreal, Canada)
54. Greg Fondacaro (Sewell, NJ)
53. Nick Feoli (Richboro, PA)
52. Scott Paston (Old Westbury, NY)
51. Richard Tatatlovich (Scottsdale, AZ)

The following players won $14,783:

50. Robert Weitzner (New York, NY)
49. Richard Aquino (Kearny, NJ)
48. Curt Kohlberg (Weston, MA)
47. Albert Muir (Ansonia, CT)
46. James Fletcher (Carney, MD)
45. Mark Schaech (Eldridge, MD)
44. Rich Murnick (Montclair, NJ)
43. Jeff King (Colchester, CT)
42. Tony Solerno (Howell, NJ)
41. Brian Haveson (Newtown, PA)
40. Bill Kaczynski (Scotch Plains, NJ)
39. Sean Armstrong (Egg Harbor, NJ)
38. Michael Esposito (Seaford, NY)
37. Alan Schein (N. Miami, FL)
36. Michael Lewis (Westin, CT)
35. John Juanda (Las Vegas, NV)
34. Matt Hilger (Atlanta, GA)

***** Live Blogging Updates *****

11:40am... Main Event update: Apologies to Greg Cash, who I incorrectly identified in the top 10 in chips. He told me he was "on life support" and had friends calling him up all morning. Sorry Greg. The chip cont has been fixed.

12:03pm... Main Event update: Players are unbagging their chips and action will begin shortly.

Main Event Payouts:
1. $1,173,373
2. $591,312
3. $282,721
4. $184,785
5. $147,828
6. $110,871
7. $73,914
8. $55,436
9. $46,196
10-12. $27,718
13-15. $22,174
16-21. $18,479
22-30. $16,631
31-50. $14,783
51-75. $12,935

12:08pm... Main Event update: Cards are in the air. We have 56 minutes left of this level. Blinds are $8K/$16K with a $1K.

12:09pm... Main Event update: On the first hand, Erik Seidel pushed all in from early position. The Grinder in the big blind mucked The Hammer (7-2o) face up. Erik Seidel is out in 33rd place after he was busted by Dennis January who called with Q-Q. Seidel won $14,783.

12:20pm... Main Event update: Denis Ethier picked up A-A and busted Marc Nantais in 32nd place. The Grinder busted Chris Reslock in 31st. Reslock moved all in with 6-6 and The Grinder flopped two pair with K-10. Leonard Green busted in 30th. Greg Cash finished in 29th when he was busted by Vlad Mezheritsky. 28 left with the action moving fast.

12:30pm... Main Event update: Here are some photos from today.

Eugene Todd & Erick Lindgren


John Duthie & Mike Sica


"Johnny Bax"


Louis Francoeur & Michael Goodman
12:35pm... Main Event update: Jorge Arias is out after his 10-10 ran into Dan Jorgenson's Q-J. Jorgenson rivered a straight. There are 27 players left on three tables. Players have redrawn for seats.

Recent Eliminations:
33. Erik Seidel (Henderson, NV) $14,783
32. Marc Nantais (Alfred, Ontario, Canada) $14,783
31. Chris Reslock (Atlantic City, NJ) $14,783
30. Leonard Green (Huntingdon Valley, PA) $16,631
29. Greg Cash (Mount Ida, AR) $16,631
28. Jorge Arias (Boca Raton, FL) $16,631

12:55pm... Main Event update: Mike Sica from North Brunswick, NJ was busted when his 10-9s lost to Dennis January's 8-8. He graciously stopped by the media table and explained to us his bustout hand.

Top 5 Chipcounts:
1 John D'Agostino $950K
2 Cliff Josephy $635K
3 Erick Lindgren $600K
4 Dane Jorgensen $550K
5 John Duthie $550K

Lindgren ponders a call.


Louise Francoeur & Dane Jorgensen
1:10pm... Main Event update: Vlad Mezheritsky has been eliminated by Kenny Schuyler in 26th place.

1:20pm... Main Event update: Players are on a break. John D'Ags lost the chiplead.

Top 5 Chipcount:
1. Kenny Schuyler $891K
2. John D'Agostino $802K
3. Dane Jorgensen $768K
4. John Duthie $549K
5. Cliff Josephy $531K

1:35pm... Main Event update: We're on Level 17. Blinds are $5K/10K with a $1K ante. Ronnie Cauthen got crippled when his J-J lost to Don Mullis' A-Q. He was out in 25th place soon after.

1:45pm... Main Event update: Bill Edler is out in 24th place. His K-J ran into Grinder's J-2s.

1:55pm... Main Event update: John Duthie scooped a big pot and Louise Francoeur took one off of The Grinder.

Updated Chipcount:
1 Kenny Schuyler $1.02M
2 Michael Mizrachi $990K
3 John D'Agostino $780K
4 Dane Jorgensen $680K
5 John Duthie $650K
6 Don Mullis $590K
7 Cliff Josephy $535K
8 Michael Goodman $460K
9 Erick Lindgren $460K
10 Denis Ethier $410K
11 Gene Todd $410K
12 Amnon Filippi $380K
13 Joe Miceli $335K
14 Will Tong $285K
15 Josh Spiegelman $270K
16 Louise Francoeur $225K
17 Peter Feldman $190K
18 Dennis January $190K
19 Richard Dabal $152K
20 Pete Skyllas $150K
21 Richard Kirsch $136K
22 Jim Lester $130K
23 Stuart Patterson $69K

2:00pm... Main Event update: Denis Ethier and 9-9 ran into CLiff Josephy's A-A. Ethier was eliminated in 23rd place. Jim Lester took 22nd when Louise Francoeur's A-A eliminated his 8-8. She now has over $600K.

Recent Eliminations:
27. Mike Sica (N. Brunswick, NJ) $16,631
26. Vlad Mezheritsky (Brooklyn, NY) $16,631
25. Ronnie Cauthen (Pawley's Island, SC) $16,631
24. Bill Edler (Las Vegas, NV) $16,631
23. Denis Ethier (Durham, NC) $16,631
22. Jim Lester (Cincinnati, OH) $16,631

2:15pm... Main Event update: John Duthie's stack took a hit from Eugene Todd and slipped to 500K. A few hands later, John Duthie put Erick Lindgren to the test in a hand that lasted almost ten minutes. During the hand, at the table right next to Duthie-Lindgren's table, John D'Agastino lost a race to Don Mullis. D'Ags had Q-Q and Mullis' A-K won the race. He flopped a King and rivered an ace. That hand unfolded while Erick Lindgren deliberated over John Duthie's all in bet on the turn. With two diamonds on the board and a King, Duthie made a stab at the pot with K-3s. Lindgren thought forever and finally called with A-K. His hand held up and Duthie was crippled. John Duthie was eliminated soon after.


John Duthie (London, England) - 21st Place
2:20pm... Main Event update: Richard Kirsch is out in 20th place. Dennis January is out in 19th place. We're down to 18 players and the final two tables. Players are redrawing for seats.

Recent Eliminations:
21. John Duthie (London, England) $18,479
20. Richard Kirsch (Pampass Beach, FL) $18,479
19. Dennis January (Vancouver, WA) $18,479

Top 10 Chipcount:
1. Kenny Schuyler $1.25M
2. Erick Lindgren $1.2M
3. Don Mullis $1.09M
4. Cliff Josephy $950K
5. Dane Jorgensen $780K

3:05pm... Main Event update: We're on a break. When the players return, they will be at Level 18 Blinds $6K/$12K.

3:25pm... Main Event update: Pete Skyllas has been eliminated in 18th place.

3:35pm... Main Event update: Dane Jorgensen, sporting a black hat that read "I didn't come here to lose," got into a raising war preflop with The Grinder. When it was all done, they were both all in preflop and the Grinder flipped over pocket Queens while Jorgensen showed J-J. The Grinder busted Jorgensen in 17th place. 16 remaining. The Grinder leads the pack with Erick Lindgren not far behind.

Recent Eliminations:
18. Pete Skyllas (Astoria, NY) $18,479
17. Dane Jorgensen (Chesterfield, VA) $18,479

Updated Chipcount:
1. The Grinder $1.25M
2. Erick Lindgren $1.180,000
3. Don Mullis $1.075M
4. Amnon Filippi $990K
5. Stuart "The Donator" Patterson $950K
6. Josh Spiegelman $663K
7. Cliff Josephy $660K
8. Michael Goodman $448K
9. Gene Todd $445K
10. Kenny Schuyler $410K
11. Louise Francoeur $360K
12. John D'Agostino $280K
13. Richard Dabal $265K
14. Peter Feldman $250K
15. Joe Miceli $191K
16. Will Tong $108K

4:00pm... Main Event update: The Grinder and Kenny Schuyler tangled heads up. The Grinder raised preflop with A-10s and Schuyler called. On a board of 4-2-Q-Q-8, the Grinder checked to Schuyler who bet out 150K. The Grinder thought Schuyler was trying to steal the pot and he thought about calling for a very long time, long enough that he asked the Tournament Director Tab if he could call a clock on himself. That drew a few chcukles from everyone at the table and on the rail. The Grinder reluctantly mucked his A-10s face up and Schuyler showed K-Q for trip Queens.


The Grinder stares down Kenny Schuyler
4:12pm... Main Event update: Will Tong is out when his A-8 ran into Amnon Filippi's A-J.

Top 5 Chipcount:
1. Erick Lindgren $ 1.2M
2. Don Mullis $ 1.2M
3. Stuart Patterson $1.15M
4. Michael Mizrachi $1.1M
5. Amnon Filippi $1M

4:20pm... Main Event update: Players are on a 15 minute break.

Updated Chipcount:
1. "The Grinder" $1.42M
2. Erick Lindgren $1.38M
3. Don Mullis $1.32M
4. Stuart 'Donator' Patterson $1.11M
5. Amnon Filippi $1.1M
6. Josh Spiegelman $720K
7. Michael Goodman $520K
8. Cliff Josephy $365K
9. Louise Francoeur $282K
10. John D'Agostino $270K
11. Peter Feldman $220K
12. Joe Miceli $215K
13. Kenny Schuyler $190K
14. Gene Todd $150K
15. Richard Dabal $135K

5:00pm... Main Event update: We have two more bustouts. Gene Todd was knocked out by Josh Spiegelman. Erick Lindgren's J-J sent Michael Goodman's 8-8 to the rail. He has over $1.8M.

Recent Eliminations:
16. Will Tong (Astoria, NY) $22,174
15. Eugene Todd $22,174
14. Michael Goodman (New York, NY) $22,174

Top 5 Chipcounts:
1. Erick Lindgren $1.8M
2. The Grinder $1.46M
3. Don Mullis $1.18M
4. Stuart "The Donator" Patterson $1.15M
5. Amnon Filippi $1.08M

5:15pm... Main Event update: Richard Dabal is on life support.

5:20pm... Main Event update: Dabal is done. He was busted in 13th place when his J-3 was run down by Amnon Filipi's 3-3.

5:33pm... Main Event update: Louise Francoeur is out. Her Q-Q ran into Peter Feldman's A-A. She finished in 12th in an amazing run and she ended up being the last female to be eliminated from this event.

Updated Top 5 Chipcount:
1 Don Mullis $1.44M
2 Amnon Filippi $1.403M
3 Erick Lindgren $1.32M
4 Michael Mizrachi $1.3M
5 Stuart Patterson $1.13M

Stuart "Donator" Patterson
5:53pm... Main Event update: Players are on a one hour dinner break. See you around 7pm.

Updated Chipcount:
1 Erick Lindgren $1.82M
2 Amnon Filippi $1.5M
3 Don Mullis $1.4M
4 The Grinder $1.38M
5 Stuart "Donator" Patterson $1.1M
6 Josh Spiegelman $842K
7 Cliff Josephy $437K
8 John D'Agostino $352K
9 Joe Miceli $311K
10 Kenny Schuyler $277K
11 Peter Feldman $248K

6:55pm... Main Event update: Players are back. Level 20. Blinds are $10K/20K with $3K antes.

7:10pm... Main Event update: Cliff "Johnny Bax" Josephy was just busted by The Grinder in 11th place. The Grinder raised preflop and Josephy called. On a flop of 5-7-9, Josephy checked and the Grinder moved all in. Josephy quickly called with 9-7s. The Grinder showed Q-Q. The turn was a Queen which gave The Grinder a set and the lead. His hand held up and he busted Josephy in 11th place winning $27,718. We reached a final table of 10 players.

Recent Eliminations:
13. Richard Dabal (Rochelle Park, NJ) $27,718
12. Louise Francoeur (Palm Beach, FL) $27,718
11. Cliff Josephy (Muttontown, NY) $27,718

Final Table Chipcounts:
1 Erick Lindgren $1.95M
2 The Grinder $1.7M
3 Don Mullis $1.415M
4 Amnon Filippi $1.3M
5 Stuart "Donator" Patterson $1.11M
6 Josh Spiegelman $890K
7 John D'Agostino $320K
8 Joe Miceli $275K
9 Kenny Schuyler $261K
10 Peter Feldman $240K

The Final Table

7:30... Main Event update: A Tale of Two Pocket Tens... Erick Lindgren limped in with 10-10 and when John D'Agostino moved all in, Lindgren mucked. D'Ags showed 10-10.

Top 3 Chipcounts:
1. Erick Lindgren $1.9M
2. The Grinder $1.5M
3. Amnon Filippi $1.45M

Tournament Director Tab Duchateau, The Grinder, & Steve


Peter "Nordberg" Feldman
8:00pm... Main Event update: John D'Ags is on life support as one of the shortstacks, while Lindgren keeps adding to his.

Updated Chipcount:
1 Erick Lindgren $2M
2 The Grinder $1.45M
3 Don Mullis $1.35M

8:15pm... Main Event update: Players are on a break. Still 10 left. Lindgren has $1.9M in chips.

8:30pm... Main Event update: We're on Level 21. Blinds are $12K/24K with a $4K ante.

9:00pm... Main Event update: D'Ags is making a run. He has over $600K now. The Grinder made a monster laydown with A-K. On the turn with a board of A-Q-4-7, Josh Spiegelman made a $500K reraise and The Grinder folded. Josh Spiegelman showed A-A for a set of aces. The Grinder made another big laydown today.


Miss America stopped by the tournament yesterday
Photo courtesy of Fran Bellocchio
9:05pm... Main Event update: John D'Agostino took down a big pot from Amnon Filipi to move into 4th place in chips with over $900K.

9:15pm... Main Event update: Kenny Schuyler from Long Branch, NJ has been eliminated in 10th place by Amnon Filipi. He won $27,718. Filipi flopped a set of 3s to Schuyler's top pair and all the money went into the pot on the flop.

Top 3 Chipcounts:
1. Erick Lindgren $1.7M
2. Don Mullis $1.355M
3. Josh Spiegelman $1.145M

Kenny Schuyler - 10th Place


Lindgren & The Grinder
9:35pm... Main Event update: The past hour has been the John D'Agastino show. he picked up another pot, this time against John Mullis and now his stack is well over a million. He has $1.2M in chips.

9:45pm... Main Event update: Players are on a break. 9 left. Lindgren is still the chipleader.

10:00pm... Main Event update: We're on Level 22. Blinds are $15K/$30K with a $4K ante.

10:12pm... Main Event update: Erick Lindgren has increased his lead to over $2M and has almost as many chips as second and third place combined.

10:20pm... Main Event update: Plenty of pros are here sweating the final 9 players and checking out the action including Gavin Smith, David Williams, Andy Black, Kathy Liebert, Paul Darden, and Efro.

10:40pm... Main Event update: Nothing to report. Action has slowed down and players have tightened up.

Updated Chipcount:
1. Erick "EDogg" Lindgren $2M
2. Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi $1.2M
3. Amnon Filippi $1.09M
4. Don Mullis $1.015M
5. Josh "I Don't Have a Nickname" Spiegelman $ 990K
6. Stuart "Donator" Patterson $809K
7. Peter "Nordberg" Feldman $870K
8. John "Dags" D'Agostino $790K
9. Joe Miceli $780K

10:51pm... Main Event update: The Grinder was involved in a monster pot, probably the biggest of the day and of the tournament. The Grinder busted Don Mullis in 9th place when his Q-Q held up against J-J. Mullis won $46,196. Down to 8. The Grinder jumped ahead of Lindgren in the chiplead with over $2.4M.


The Grinder wins with Queens
(Click on photo to enlarge)


Don Mullis (Willmington, NC) - 9th Place
11:10pm... Main Event update: Joe Miceli has been eliminated in 8th place and won $55,436. His K-Q lost to John D'Agostino's 10-9. On a flop of Q-J-7, Miceli moved all in and D'Ags called. He turned a straight and sent Miceli to the rail.

Recent Chipcount:
1. The Grinder $2.7M
2. Erick Lindgren $2.14M
3. John D'Agostino $ 1.3M
4. Stuart "Donator" Patterson $1.06M
5. Josh Spiegelman $880K
6. Amnon Filippi $820K
7. Peter Feldman $650K

11:30pm... Main Event update: Players are on a break. The Grinder has the chiplead.

11:35pm... Main Event update: We're on Level 23. Blinds are $20K/40K with $5K antes. Seven players left. We're playing until one more player gets busted.

11:43pm... Main Event update: Peter Feldman has been eliminated when his A-A got cracked by Josh Spiegelman's A-K. He bubbled out of the TV table. Both players were all in preflop. Josh Spiegelman turned a straight with a 10-J-Q on the board and sent Feldman to the rail. Feldman won $73,914 and earned his seat in this event by winning a satellite online.

Recent Eliminations:
10. Kenny Schuyler (Long Branch, NJ) $27,718
9. Don Mullis (Willmington, NC) $46,196
8. Joe Miceli (New York, NY) $55,436
7. Peter Feldman (Harper Woods, MI) $73,914

Final 6 Chipcount:
1. Erick Lindgren $2.635M
2. The Grinder $2.04M
3. Josh Spiegelman $1.635M
4. John D'Agostino $ 1.34M
5. Stuart "Donator" Patterson $1.06M
6. Amnon Filippi $820K

The final table will start at 5pm on Wednesday. See you there.
posted by Pauly at 1/31/2006 12:47:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Borgata Winter Open: WPT Day 2

We're back for day two of the World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open main event at the Borgata Casino Hotel & Spa in lovely Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Yesterday, 381 players forked over $10,000 each for a shot at the main event championship and a 2006 Escalade. First place will win over $1.1 million and the top 75 players will win prize money. There are 165 players remaining looking to survive day two.

Cliff "Johnny Bax" Josephy ended the first day as the chipleader. There are plenty of pros still in the mix including Eric Seidel, David Williams, Joe Sebok, Nick Frangos, Chris Fargis, The Grinder, Freddy Deeb, Barry Greenstein, Action Bob Hwang, Steve Dannemann, Scotty Nguyen, Andy Black, Bill Edler, Ted Forrest, Matt Hilger, Matt Matros, Dan Alspach, Joanne Liu, Ammon Filippi, John D'Agostino, Alan Giehring, Brian Haveson, Denis Ethier, Carlos Mortensen, Syracuse Chris, Tony Cousineau, Gavin Smith, Jean-Robert Bellande, Matt Glantz, and Kenna James.

Event #2 winner Micahel Hickman from Media, PA is 3rd in chips.

Notable eliminations from Day 1 included Wayne Stock, Victor Ramdin, Daniel Negreanu, John Phan, Kathy Liebert, Antonio Tarver, Al Ardebili, John Gale, Olga Varkonyi, Pat White, Layne Flack, David Oppenheim, Jerry Burgess, Manny Minaya, Russel Rosenblum, Arnold Spee, Carlos Zambrano, Daniel Shiff, John Phan, Bruce Yamron, Eric Froehlich, Philippe Rouas, James Van Alstyne, Massoud Nikjouian, James Salters, Nenad Medic, Tom Sipes, Roland Israelashvili, Arthur Azen, Frank Kassela, James English, Larry "Zekeness" Lawson, Stephen Benton, Chip Jett, Bill Gazes, Paul Darden, Phil Ivey, Mike Gracz, Laura Fink, Emad Alabsi, Dan Shak, Padraig Parkinson, Fritz Stoner, Chris Bell, Eric Weiner, Scott Neuman, William Failla, Chad Brown, David Harris, Neal Gersony, Badih Bounabura, David The Dragon Pham, Matthew Hoagland, Josh Arieh, Steve Jacobs, Surinder Sumar, Amir Vahedi, Stephen Benton, Irv Gotti, David Levi, James Giordano, Allen Cunningham, and Dax Funderburk.

End of Day 1 Top 10 Chipcount:
1 Cliff "Johnny Bax" Josephy $ 386,200
2 Joseph Miceli $ 179,700
3 Michael Hickman $ 174,900
4 Frank Vizza $ 147,800
5 John Cullen $ 137,000
6 Eric Seidel $ 130,300
7 Eugene Todd $ 126,300
8 Tom Martelli $ 123,300
9 Feming Chan $ 122,900
10 Alex Cameron $ 122,100

The Rest of the Field:
11 Robert Brobyn $ 119,600
12 James Fletcher $ 117,300
13 David Lewis $ 111,100
14 David Williams $ 111,000
15 Marc Nantais $ 110,600
16 Paul Snead $ 109,700
17 John Duthie $ 107,600
18 Kenny Schuyler $ 102,700
19 Ylon Schwartz $ 101,100
20 Manny Syragakis $ 95,600
21 Billy Kaczynski $ 93,700
22 Michael Esposito $ 90,900
23 Alan Schriw $ 90,800
24 Rich Aquino $ 90,800
25 Louise Francoeur $ 90,500
26 Joe Sebok $ 90,200
27 Lee Biars $ 90,200
28 Erick Lindgren $ 90,200
29 Sean Armstrong $ 89,800
30 Marc Lunenfeld $ 87,000
31 Nik Frangos $ 86,500
32 Andy Schwartz $ 85,500
33 Vinod Vangimalla $ 81,400
34 Glen Theobald $ 80,500
35 Jonathan Zuchowski $ 77,700
36 Robert Mizrachi $ 76,400
37 Greg Fondacaro $ 76,100
38 Freddy Deeb $ 76,100
39 Barry Berger $ 75,800
40 Barry Greenstein $ 75,700
41 Robert Hwang $ 74,800
42 Scott Paston $ 74,600
43 Michael Goodman $ 73,100
44 Steven Dannenmann $ 72,500
45 Jim Lester $ 72,000
46 Ronald Schiffman $ 71,400
47 Dane Jorgensen $ 71,100
48 Jeff King $ 70,800
49 Scotty Nguyen $ 67,500
50 Richard Murnick $ 66,300
51 John Spadavecchia $ 65,700
52 Andrew Black $ 64,800
53 Lin Poo Wang $ 64,700
54 Al Laughing $ 64,400
55 Chris Fargis $ 64,000
56 Nick Feoli $ 63,400
57 Bill Edler $ 62,900
58 Ted Forrest $ 62,400
59 Alex Todd $ 61,500
60 Sorin Cristea $ 61,400
61 Brian Mizok $ 61,000
62 Tim Andrers $ 59,800
63 Matthew Hilger $ 59,600
64 Casey Kastle $ 59,600
65 Ronnie Cauthen $ 59,200
66 Will Tong $ 59,100
67 Mark Weber $ 58,700
68 Matt Wolf $ 58,000
69 Don Mullis $ 57,800
70 Matt Matros $ 57,700
71 Dan Yanofski $ 57,600
72 Eric Bankoff $ 56,900
73 Loukas Michael $ 56,800
74 Luke Neely $ 56,300
75 Charlie Kahikakis $ 56,200
76 Dan Alspach $ 55,300
77 Vlad Mezhezitsky Jr $ 54,400
78 Amnon Filippi $ 53,800
79 Nick Grudzlen $ 53,600
80 Leonard Green $ 53,500
81 John D'Agostino $ 50,000
82 Alan Goehring $ 50,000
83 Mark Duma $ 50,000
84 Anthony Salerno $ 49,400
85 Troy O'Neal $ 49,100
86 Michael Mizrachi $ 48,800
87 Beth Shak $ 48,700
88 Vince Palma $ 47,200
89 Sam Silverman $ 45,600
90 Curt Kohlberg $ 45,000
91 Mark Schaech $ 45,000
92 Tex Barch $ 44,400
93 John Finkel $ 44,200
94 Josh Spiegelman $ 43,700
95 Pete Skyllas $ 43,500
96 Brian Haveson $ 43,400
97 Ari Abramowitz $ 42,800
98 Richard Tatalovich $ 42,600
99 Doug Carli $ 42,000
100 Richard Carolan $ 42,000
101 John McCann $ 41,500
102 Alex Jacob $ 41,000
103 Mike May $ 40,900
104 Allen Kessler $ 40,800
105 Sanjay Dandya $ 40,600
106 Mike Sica $ 38,700
107 Alex Magor $ 38,500
108 Dennis Ethier $ 38,300
109 Carlos Mortensen $ 38,200
110 Richard Kirsch $ 37,400
111 Eric Fessler $ 36,100
112 Nunzio Bisking Jr $ 35,600
113 Greg Cash $ 35,500
114 Michael Boreoretz $ 35,300
115 Syracuse Chris Tsiprailidis $ 34,800
116 Kerry Andreae $ 34,600
117 John Juanda $ 33,800
118 Jim Wheatley $ 33,600
119 Guiseffe Coffi $ 33,400
120 Alfred Fernandez $ 33,100
121 Vlad Yanovsky $ 32,800
122 Peter Feldman $ 32,500
123 Pete Giordano $ 32,500
124 Ross Mallor $ 31,900
125 Peter Delamos $ 31,300
126 Bruce Spicer $ 31,300
127 Joanne Liu $ 30,400
128 George Anthony $ 29,900
129 Michael Tait $ 29,200
130 Dennis January $ 29,000
131 Thomas Koral $ 28,500
132 Stuart Patterson $ 28,000
133 Mike Maler $ 27,200
134 Jonathan Honis $ 25,900
135 Joey Brooks $ 25,800
136 Rep Porter $ 25,800
137 Albert Muir $ 25,600
138 Jeremy Brown $ 24,700
139 Tony Cousineau $ 23,900
140 Richard Dabal $ 23,400
141 Thomas Antonopoulos $ 21,800
142 Stephen Leveson $ 21,700
143 Gavin Smith $ 21,200
144 Steve Brecher $ 21,000
145 Lou Esposito $ 20,600
146 Jean-Robert Bellande $ 20,300
147 Matt Glantz $ 19,200
148 V.P. Martin $ 19,100
149 Herbert Chang $ 18,500
150 Vincent Aloi $ 17,800
151 Henry Olszewski $ 16,100
152 Ken Goldin $ 15,900
153 Richard Cohen $ 15,000
154 Rich Forte $ 14,700
155 Fabrizio Birona $ 14,000
156 Chris Reslock $ 13,900
157 Kenna James $ 13,900
158 Adam White $ 12,800
159 Tom Dobrilovic $ 12,600
160 Dean Schultz $ 10,400
161 Jorge Arias $ 9,300
162 Lisa Pickell $ 8,300
163 Joe Boat Wright $ 6,700
164 Robert Weitzner $ 6,500

***** Live Blogging Updates *****

11:03am... Main Event update: Players are seated and they are opening up their bags. Action will begin shortly.

11:08am... Main Event update: Cards are in the air. We're on Level 9. Blinds are $600/1200 with a $200 ante.


Action Bob Hwang
11:15am... Main Event update: Lisa Pickell is out.

11:30am... Main Event update: Several players have already been busted. At Chris Fargis' table, three players were eliminated in three hands.

Recent Eliminations:
Barry Greenstein
Richard Cohen
Ari Abramowitz
Matt Glantz
Alfred Fernandez
Lisa Pickell
Thomas Antonopoulos
Henry Olszewski
Allen Kessler
Robert Brobyn

Joe Sebok ponders a call
11:50am... Main Event update: Today's action features nine-handed tables. There are 16 tables left. Approximately 143 players remain.

12:05pm... Main Event update: Gavin Smith is out when his 7-7 ran into K-K. Nicky Frangos ran into John Juanda's K-K.

Recent Bustouts:
Gavin Smith
Jean-Robert Bellande
Nick Frangos
Alex Jacob
Thomas Koral
Rep Porter

12:45pm... Main Event update: 116 players left on 13 tables. That information comes straight from the tournament director Tab Duchteau. Chris Fargis busted Fabrizio Birona when he flopped a straight with 5-3s. Action Bob doubled up against Dan Alspach when his A-K held up against Alspach's 9-9. Robert Mizrachi was busted by Tex Barch.

Recent Eliminations:
Doug Carli
Freddy Deeb
Tim Anders
Robert Mizrachi
Kenna James

"My Main Man" Freddy Deeb
1:30pm... Main Event update: 106 players on 12 tables. Chris Fargis' took a hit. David Williams was busted when he ran into A-A. Matt Matros ran into an overpair and was busted.

Recent Eliminations:
Carlos Mortensen
Michael Borovetz
David Williams
Matt Matros

Andy Black


Steve Dannemann
2:10pm... Main Event update: Players are returning from a break. We're on Level 11. Blinds are $1K/2K with 300 blinds. 102 left on 12 tables. Chris Fargis has 86K. Cliff Josephy has almost 400K. Action Bob has about 60K.

2:30pm... Main Event update: Steve Brecher has been eliminated.

2:50pm... Main Event update: Joanne Lui was busted when her K-J ran into J-J.

Recent Eliminations:
Steve Brecher
Luke Nealy
Vlad Yanofsky
Alex Todd
Joanne Liu

The stats
3:15pm... 10 tables left. 90 players remain.


Tex Barch stares down an opponent.
3:25pm.... Main Event update: Steve Dannemann was just eliminated when his A-Q lost to Mike Maler's J-10. Maler rivered a straight. Andy Black has $130K.

3:30pm... Event #10 $500 NL update: There's one final event that began today. 457 players entered that event.

3:32pm... Main Event update: Players are on a 15 minute break. Action Bob Hwang was busted by Richard Kirsh when his A-K lost to J-8o. On a board of 6d-9d-8s-2d, Action Bob moved all in for almost 40K. His opponent ended up calling with J-8o. Action Bob had Big Slick and the King of diamonds. The river was an 8 and Action Bob was sent to the rail.

4:00pm... Main Event update: Cliff Josephy has almost 400K, while Erick Lindgren is in the top 5 chips with over 320K. Chris Fargis lost a big pot when his Big Slick lost a race to Jorge Arias' Q-Q.

Recent Eliminations:
Alan Goehring
Robert Brobyn
Steve Dannenmann
Beth Shak
Sam Silverman
Casey Kastle
Tex Barch

4:10pm... Main Event update: There's a Miss America sighting here in the ballroom! The place was buzzing for several minutes as she walked around and took photos with everyone and visited the players. Stay tuned for photos of Jennifer Berry from Frank Bellocchio. 79 players remaining.


Miss America visits the tournament
4:35pm... Main Event update: 77 players. Chris Fargis has les than 40K. Andy Black has 130K. John Duthie has 180K. Louise Francouer has 110K. Joe Sebok has 92K. Mark Nantis took over the chiplead from Cliff Josephy.


John D'Agostino


Louise Francouer
4:56pm... Main Event update: Michael Hickman was just busted along with Mark Puma. One more until the bubble. Chris Fargis was on the brink of elimination. He was all in preflop with A-K against Tommy Wang's K-K. He riverd an ace to double up and stay alive.

5:00pm... Main Event update: Players are on a 15 minute break. 76 left. Bubble Time. Vinod Vangimalla is still in with 60K or so.

5:30pm... Main Event update: Still on the bubble on the verge of busting. John D'Agostino has run up his stack to over 420K.

5:37pm... Main Event update: Andy Black dropped the Hammer!! Black raised with 7-2o. No one called his raise and he flipped over his hand. "I wanted to get called," he said. "I want to win a pot with 7-2!"

5:52pm... Main Event update: Ted Forrest has been eliminated on the bubble by Eugene Todd. As Bubble Boy, the Borgata will be buying him into the 2006 September Borgata Open. Everyone left will be making the money.

6:10pm... Main Event update: Chris Fargis is out.

Recent Eliminations (the following players won $12,935) :
75. Vinod Vangimalla (Silver Springs, MD)
74. Mark Webber (Sickerville, NJ)
73. Chris Fargis (Brooklyn, NY)
72. Andrew Schwartz (Boca Raton, FL)
71. Dean Schultz (Lewis Center, OH)
70. Ylon Schwart (Brooklyn, NY)
69. John Cullen Farmingdale, NJ)
68. Ron Schiffmani (Cherry Hill, NJ)
67. Daniel Yanofski (West Orange, NJ)
66. Scotty Nguyen (Las Vegas, NV)
65. Jonathan Zuckowski (Jupiter, Florida)
64. Nick Grudien (Mt. Vernon, NY)

6:35pm... Main event update: 63 players remaining. It's all over, baby. Scotty Nguyen was elimianted in 66th place when he missed a nut flush draw with Ah-8h. He lost to J-J.

7:00pm.... Main event update: A few more bustouts as we approach dinner time. John D'Agostino is still in the lead. Andy Black lost a hand with the Hammer! With 7-2 he flopped bottom pair and called Don Mullis' all in bet. Mullis had Q-J and totally missed the flop. He turned a Jack to double through Andy Black.

Recent Eliminations (All players won $12,935):
63. Mark Lurenfeld (Virginia Beach, VA)
62. Thomas Martelli (Sewell, NJ)
61. Alexander Magor (Woodmere, NY)
60. Frank Vizza (Cold Spring Harbor, NY)

7:15pm... Main Event update: 59 left. Players are on a dinner break.

Top 20 Chipcount:
1 John D'Agostino 410K
2 Alan Schein 410K
3 James Fletcher 400K
4 Cliff Josephy 394K
5 Marc Nantais 365K
6 Eugene Todd 360K
7 Will Tong 355K
8 Bill Edler 345K
9 Tony Salerno 290K
10 Denis Ethier 290K
11 Michael Mizrachi 240K
12 Erick Lindgren 210K
13 Matt Hilger 210K
14 John Duthie 210K
15 Mike Goodman 195K
16 Bill Kaczynski 180K
17 Jim Lester 170K
18 Erik Seidel 168K
19 Dane Jorgensen 155K
20 Curt Kohlberg 144K

8:10pm... Main Event update: We're back from dinner. We're on Level 14. Blinds are $2K/4K with a $500 ante.

8:20pm... Main Event update: Tommy Wang is out in 59th.

8:30pm... Main Event update: Andy Black is out in 58th place. His A-Q ran into Erik Seidel's A-K. Padraig Parkison was on the rail sweating Andy and rooting him on. When Andy busted, he looked upset.

Padraig: "Cheer up. Nobody died. How much did you win?"
Andy: "Twelve thousand."
Padraig: "Not bad for a day of work. That's more than Santa Claus makes."

8:40pm... Main Event update: Feming Chan was just eliminated in 57th place when he ran into Cliff Josephy's A-A. A few hands before, Peter Fedlman doubled up against Cliff Josephy when his pocket eights held up againt Josephy's K-J.

8:45pm... Main Event update: Joe Sebok was busted in 56th place when his A-Q lost to Q-Q.

9:15pm... Main Event update: 50 players left. The bustouts are coming quick. Bill Edler and James Fletcher are the chipleaders. Fletcher has over 500K.

Recent Eliminations (All players won $12,935):
59. Tommy Wang (White Plains, NY)
58. Andy Black (Dublin, Ireland)
57. Feming Chan (Cranbury, NY)
56. Joe Sebok (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA)
55. Emmanuel Syragakis (Montreal, Canada)
54. Greg Fondacaro (Sewell, NJ)
53. Nick Feoli (Richboro, PA)
52. Scott Paston (Old Westbury, NY)
51. Richard Tatatlovich (Scottsdale, AZ)

9:20pm... Main Event update: 47 players remaining. Robert Weitzner, Richard Aquinto, and Curt Kohlberg are out. The players are on a break.

9:35pm... Main Event update: Players are back from their break. We're on Level 15. The blinds are $3K/6K with a $500 ante. Johhny Bax is back in the chiplead! He cracked A-A with 5-7o.

Top 5 Chipcounts:
1. Cliff Josephy $600K
2. Will Tong $494K
3. Bill Edler $490K
4. James Fletcher $430K
5. Dane Jorgensen $420K

Recent Eliminations:
50. Robert Weitzner (New York, NY) $14,783
49. Richard Aquino (Kearny, NJ) $14,783
48. Curt Kohlberg (Weston, MA) $14,783

9:50pm... Main Event update: Bill Edler busted James Fletcher. Albert Muir is also out.

Recent Bustouts:
47. Albert Muir (Ansonia, CT) $14,783
46. James Fletcher (Carney, MD) $14,783

10:20pm... Main Event update: Erick Lindgren scooped a monster pot with a Royal flush! When he hit the Royal, he said he'd be happy to wear a Borgata hat. 41 left.

Recent Eliminations:
45. Mark Schaech (Eldridge, MD) $14,783
44. Rich Murnick (Montclair, NJ) $14,783
43. Jeff King (Colchester, CT) $14,783
42. Tony Solerno (Howell, NJ) $14,783

10:40pm... Main Event update: Down to 41 players. Avergae stack is 232K.

10:45pm... Main Event update: John Duthie doubled up with A-Qs vs. Alan Schein's J-9s. Pete Skyllas busted two guys in one hand; Brian Haveson and Bill Kaczynski. 39 players left. Players are on a break.

Recent Eliminations:
41. Brian Haveson (Newtown, PA) $14,783
40. Bill Kaczynski (Scotch Plains, NJ) $14,783

11:00pm... Main Event update: Still down to 39 players. John D'Agostino is the chipleader withover $800K

Top 10 Chipcounts:
1. John D'Agostino $825K
2. Bill Edler $580K
3. Cliff Josephy $560K
4. Kenny Schuyler $555K
5. Dane Jorgensen $530K
6. John Duthie $520K
7. Erick Lindgren $450K
8. Pete Skyllas $385K
9. Denis Ethier $350K
10. Will Tong $340K

Notable Chipcounts:
Louise Francoeur $270K
The Grinder $240K
Peter Feldman $220K
Matt Hilger $200K
Amnon Filippi $175K
Erik Seidel $100K
Chris Reslock $60K
John Juanda $50K

11:11pm... Main Event update: We're on Level 16 with the blinds at $4K/$8K and a $1K ante. This will be the last level of play tonight.

11:28pm... Main Event update: We're down to 36 players.

Recent Bustouts:
39. Sean Armstrong (Egg Harbor, NJ) $14,783
38. Michael Esposito (Seaford, NY) $14,783
37. Alan Schein (N. Miami, FL) $14,783

11:35pm... Main Event update: We're down to 33. Play is done for tonight. We'll resume play at Noon on Tuesday. John D'Agostino is the chipleader with almost $1M. The average stack $288,636.

Recent Bustouts:
36. Michael Lewis (Westin, CT) $14,783
35. John Juanda (Las Vegas, NV) $14,783
34. Matt Hilger (Atlanta, GA) $14,783

End of Day 2 Chipcounts:
1. John D'Agostino $988K
2. Kenny Schuyler $734K
3. Cliff Josephy $573K
4. Bill Edler $529K
5. Dane Jorgensen $519K
6. Greg Cash $470K
7. John Duthie $465K
8. Michael Mizrachi $414K
9. Erick Lindgren $412K
10. Louise Francoeur $402K
11. Mike Goodman $374K
12. Pete Skyllas $370K
13. Will Tong $337K
14. Ronnie Cauthen $317K
15. Richard Kirsch $297K
16. Eugene Todd $235K
17. Denis Ethier $223K
18. Josh Spiegelman $219K
19. Dennis January $190K
20. Don Mullis $188K
21. Amnon Filippi $175K
22. Joseph Miceli $171K
23. Peter Feldman $170K
24. Mike Sica $163K
25. Marc Nantais $158K
26. Leonard Green $145K
27. Jim Lester $135K
28. Richard Dabal $118K
29. Stuart Patterson $94K
30. Erik Seidel $79K
31. Chris Reslock $78K
32. Vlad Mezheritsky, Jr. $76K
33. Jorge Arias $47K

posted by Pauly at 1/30/2006 10:43:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Borgata Winter Open: WPT Day 1

This is the event we've all been waiting for!! Today is the first day of the $10K championship event of the Borgata Winter Open at the Borgata Casino Hotel & Spa in Atlantic City, NJ. This is a World Poker Tour sanctioned event and the final table will be taped for the WPT.

Yeah, over the next four days the Borgata will be the center of the poker universe while some of the biggest names in poker are slugging it out for the Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship, while plenty of semi-pros, locals, and amateurs are taking a shot at the big time. So will a well-known pro take this event down? Or will an unknown emerge as poker next superstar?

The winner of this event will also win a fully loaded 2006 Escalade. Right now we have around 376 players in this event and I'll post official numbers when they are available.

Over the past ten days, the Borgata had been hosting smaller buy-in events. They crowned eight champions, all of whom won a coveted Borgata bracelet.

Gallery of Borgata Winter Open Winners


Ravi Anand (New York, NY)
Event #1 $500 NL Winner - $171,944


Michael Hickman (Media, PA)
Event #2 $750 NL Winner - $176,968


Rich Marshall (Raleigh, NC)
Event #3 $1K NL Winner - $103,700


Stephen Benton (Leesburg, VA)
Event #4 $500 Limit Winner - $52,301


David Daneshgar (Los Angeles, CA)
Event #5 $1K Winner - $110,410


Konstantin "Charlie" Katikakis (Boston, MA)
Event #6 $1,500 NL Winner - $113,460


Cuc "Cookie" Dang (Clifton, NJ)
Event #7 Ladies NL Champion - $25,104


Tom Sipes (Pittsburgh, PA)
Event #8 $2,500 NL Winner - $279,075

***** Live Blogging Updates ******

11:10am... Main Event update: Cards are in the air. Buy-in is $10K and players start with $25K in chips. The level are 75 minutes or one hour and fifteen minutes.

11:25am... Main Event update: We have our first bust out. Event #8 winner Tom Sipes was busted by David "The Dragon" Pham, who now has over $50K and is the early chipleader. Matt Hilger has 36K.


The Dragon scoops a pot
11:30am... Main Event update: After a quick walk through the tournament area, I spotted several big time pros playing in today's event. Daniel Negreanu, Bill Gazes, Chris Fargis, Matt Matros, Josh Arieh, David Williams, Joanne Liu, Denis Ethier, Erik Seidel, John Juanda, Chip Jett, Gavin Smith, My Main Man Freddy Deeb, Kathy Liebert, John D'Agostino, Steve Brecher, The Griner, Johnny Bax, Matt Hilger, Olga Varkonyi, Gentleman John Gale, Mike Gracz, Brian Haveson, Arnold Spee, James Van Alstyne, Paul Darden, Robert Varkonyi, Surinder Sumar, Syracuse Chris, Action Bob Hwang, Phil Ivey, Erick Lindgren, John Phan, Nick "Takeover" Shulman, Padraig Parkinson, Kenna James, Barry Greenstien, Carlos Mortensen, John Duthie, Al Ardebili, Stephen Benton, Allen Cunningham, Scotty Nguyen, Andy Black, Joe Sebok, Jean Robert Bellande, and Tex Barch.


My Main Man Freddy Deeb


Nick "Takeover" Schulman and Erik Seidel


WPT Tunica winner Scotty Nguyen
12:00pm... Main Event update: 381 players and the top 75 will play. Stay tuned for payout information.

12:25pm... Main Event update: Players are currently on a 15 minute break. Action Bob was at a table with Jean Pobert Bellande, Erik Seidel, John Juanda, Joe Sebok, and Nick Schulman.

1:00pm... Main Event update: John Duthie took an early hit when his K-K ran into a set of aces. He doubled up just now and is about even.

1:45pm... Main Event update: Wayne Stock from NYC was busted when his K-K were cracked by pocket fours. His opponent rivered a set. Arthur Azen, who won an 2006 Escalade this week, was just busted.


Daniel Negreanu
2:00pm... Main Event update: Players are currently on a break. When they return, we'll be on Level 3. Payouts have been released. First place will win over $1.1 million and a brand new Escalade.

Main Event Payouts:
1. $1,173,373
2. $591,312
3. $282,721
4. $184,785
5. $147,828
6. $110,871
7. $73,914
8. $55,436
9. $46,196
10-12. $27,718
13-15. $22,174
16-21. $18,479
22-30. $16,631
31-50. $14,783
51-75. $12,935

Shirt and Hat of the Day


The Borgata Babes (click to enlarge)


3:00pm... Main Event update: There are 36 tables and 357 players remaining. Layne Flack just arrived! John Duthie has 55K, as does David The Dragon Pham. John Gale's stack took a hit and he has 13K left. Andy Black has almost 50K in chips. Recent eliminations include Efro, Victor Ramdin, and John Phan, who was eliminated when his A-Q lost to K-J.


John Duthie & Carlos Mortensen
4:00pm... Main Event update: 340 players left including boxer Antonio Tarver. We're on Level 4. Blinds are $100/200 with a $25 ante. Arnold Spee is out. James Van Alstyne and Russel Rosenblum are both out. Freddy Deeb appears to be among the chipleaders as his stack past the 90K mark. Joe Sebok has 38K and Andy Black has 48K.


Anotnio Tarver
4:30pm... Main Event update: Antonio Tarver lost a monster pot to Gavin Smith. Tarver flopped two pair, but Smith turned a set. Tarver has 7K while Smith has about 70K.

5:00pm... Main Event update: Players are on a break. Layne Flack is out. Padraig Parksion has around 40K.


Padraig Parkison
5:45pm... Main Event update: Antonio Tarver was busted by Gavin Smith. The two had been rumbling all afternoon. Smith flopped a flush and Tarver mucked. He told me he had two pair. David Singer has been busted. Andy Black has 48K and Padraig Parkison has around 25K.

6:00pm... Main Event update: Here are some photos taken my in-house photographer Frank Bellocchio.

The Following Photos Taken by Frank Bellocchio:


Andy Black


Chip Jett


Daniel Negreanu's table


Phil Ivey's Table


Happy Andy
6:05pm... Main Event Update: The Grinder took over the chip lead and now has over 100K. The 2005 Borgata Open Champ Al Ardebili has been eliminated along with John Gale and Olga Varkonyi.

6:16pm... Main Event Update: 292 players remaining. Daniel Negreanu is out. Paul Darden has 2K. Here's a list of some of today's eliminations:

Bustouts:
Antonio Tarver
Al Ardebili
John Gale
Olga Varkonyi
Pat White
Layne Flack
David Oppenheim
Jerry Burgess
Manny Minaya
Russel Rosenblum
Arnold Spee
Victor Ramdin
Carlos Zambrano
Daniel Shiff
John Phan
Bruce Yamron
Eric Froehlich
Philippe Rouas
James Van Alstyne
Massoud Nikjouian
James Salters
Nenad Medic
Tom Sipes
Roland Israelashvili
Arthur Azen
Frank Kassela
James English
Wayne Stock

8:05pm... Main Event Update: 235 players left on 24 tables. Players are on a dinner break until 9:05pm. Here's what's happened in the past hour or so... Larry "Zekeness" Lawson was eliminated when he flopped a King with Big Slick and ran into someone who flopped a set. Andy Black built up his stack after he busted Emad Alabsi with a nut flush. Black had over 75K at that point. Bill Gazes was busted when his K-K were snapped off by 9-9. Erik Seidel took over the chiplead after he scooped a big pot and the Grinder took a hit.

Recent Eliminations:
Zekeness
Chip Jett
Bill Gazes
Paul Darden
Phil Ivey
Mike Gracz
Laura Fink
Emad Alabsi
Dan Shak
Dax Funderburk

Notable Chipcounts:
Eugene Todd $115K
Michael Hickman $102
Cliff "Johnny Bax" Josephy $95K
Frank Vizza $95K
Freddy Deeb $95K
Erik Seidel $92K
Scotty Nguyen $85K
John D'Agostino $80K
Matt Hilger $75K
John Spadavecchia $75K
Andrew Black $74K
Ted Forrest $69K
Tex Barch $65K
Gavin Smith $60K
Stephen Benton $60K
Syracuse Chris $58K
Steven Dannenmann $58K
Alan Goehring $56K
Nicky Frangos $56K
Bill Blanda $53K
Allen Cunningham $52K
Erick Lindgren $52K
Amir Vahedi $50K
David Williams $50K
Brian Haveson $49K
Scott Neuman $48K
Matt Glantz $47K
Joe Sebok $46K
Dan Alspach $44K
Denis Ethier $40K
Robert Varkonyi $40K
Barry Greenstein $40K
Bill Edler $40K
Jean-Robert Bellande $39K
Kenna James $36K
Chris Fargis $32K
Surinder Sunar $35K
Nick Schulman $30K
Padraig Parkinson $26K
Carlos Mortensen $26K
Charlie Katikakis $25
Joanne Liu $20K
Fritz Stoner $20K
Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi $20K
Matt Matros $17K
Action Bob Hwang $17K
Amnon Filippi $13K
Chad Brown $11K
Josh Arieh $10K
John Juanda $8K

9:30pm... Main Event update: Padraig Parkison is out. Scott Neuman is out. His Kings were cracked by pocket sevens.

10:00pm... Main Event update: Nick Schulman's A-6 was busted by Steve Dannemmann A-K. Andy Black has 63K and is sitting at Joane Liu's table. Cliff Josephy aka Johnny Bax is the chip leader with 213K. Robert Varkonyi, Kenna James, Erik Seidel, and Denis Ethier and Charis Chris Fargis are all at the same table.

Recent Bustouts:
Padraig Parkinson
Fritz Stoner
Chris Bell
Eric Weiner
Scott Neuman
William Failla
Chad Brown
David Harris
Neal Gersony
Badih Bounabura
David The Dragon Pham
Matthew Hoagland
Josh Arieh
Steve Jacobs

10:30pm... Main Event update: Players are on a break. Chris Fargis has 30K.

11:00pm... Main Event update: 188 players left on 19 tables. This is the last level of play for today.

11:30pm... Main Event update: 25 minutes remaining in this level. Surinder Sumar and Amir Vahedi have both been eliminated. Stephen Benton is also out. Andy Black has over $105K.


Meet the Borgata Babes: Miss July
12:01am... Main Event update: Play is over for tonight. 165 players survived day one of play. Action will resume at 11am. Johnny Bax is the chipleader with over 376K

Recent Eliminations:
Surinder Sumar
Amir Vahedi
Stephen Benton
Irv Gotti
David Levi
James Giordano
Allen Cunningham

Unofficial Top 5 Chipcount:
1 Cliff "Johnny Bax" Josephy 376K
2 Erik Seidel 134K
3 Frank Vizza 133K
4 Joe Miceli 130K
5 Eugene Todd 130K

posted by Pauly at 1/28/2006 11:27:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Borgata Winter Open: Super Satellite Day and Event #8 $2,500 NL Day 2 & Final Table

Welcome back to the "Official" live blog of the 2006 Borgata Winter Open at the Borgata Hotel Spa & Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. It's been one wild week of action and the Borgata gave away seven bracelets and even a brand new Escalade. Arthur Azen drove away with a new fuly loaded 2006 Escalade.

Now some of your favorite pros are in town ready to play in Sunday's main event as the Borgata is buzzing with excitement. Today is Super Satellite Day which means that everyone here is trying to win a seat in the $10K event. We have about 225 players in today's super sat. The Borgata will be handing out 40-50 seats to the main event today. Stay tuned for more of those details.

The championship main event starts tomorrow and the ballroom is flooded with players for their last chance of getting into the big dance. Spectators are here too and more press is slowly trickling in.

Yesterday, the Ladies NL event concluded. Cuc "Cookie" Dang took won the event after coming from behind. She's this year's Ladies NL Champion.


Cuc "Cookie" Dang (Clifton, NJ)
Event #7 Ladies NL Champion - $25,104
I'll be covering the final four tables of Event #8 $2,500 NL. We're down to 32 players. There are several big names left including Surrinder Sunar, Andy Black, Denis Ethier, WSOP Chamipion Carlos Mortensen, and Chris "Triple Draw" Fargis. Rich Marshall who won Event #3 is still in the hunt.

***** Live Blogging Update *****

1:00pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: We're about 60 minutes away from action. 32 players left out of 365. Collin Wilson is the chipleader.

Event #8 End of Day Top 10 Chipcounts:
1. Collin Wilson 356K
2. Tom Sipes 273K
3. John Gale 210K
4. Peter Lios 185.5K
5. Jonathan Zuchowski 181.5K
6. Denis Ethier 180.5K
7. Surrinder Sunar 162.5K
8. Jaavel "Shag" McCrane 160.1K
9. Chris Fargis 138.5K
10. Rich Cole 188.5K

Today's Payouts - Event #8:
1 $279,075
2 $153,720
3 $74,573
4 $64,050
5 $54,900
6 $45,750
7 $36,600
8 $27,450
9 $18,300
10-12 $11,895
13-15 $9,150
16-18 $6,405
19-27 $4,575
28-36 $4,118

2:15pm.... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: We're under way. Andy Black won a big hand early with A-A.
Today's Photos:


Carlos Mortensen ponders a call.


Andy's Aces


Gentleman John Gale


Event #8 Today's final four tables
3:00pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: We're down to 3 tables and 24 players. The action went fast and there was a four-way all in that was the hand of the tournament and by far the biggest pot of the week. A-A vs. K-K vs. J-J vs. 9-9. Wow. And pocket aces held up. Carlos Mortensen had J-J and was eliminated in 27th place. Surrinder Sunar won the side pot with K-K and the guy with 9-9 was eliminated.


The Big Pot
Gentleman John Gale went to the rail in 29th place when his Q-Q ran into pocket aces. Collin Wilson is still the chipleader.

Recent Bustouts:
32. Tm Beyers (Folsom, PA) $4,118
31. Gary Shoengold (Olney, MD) $4,118
30. Ron Savarese (East Norwich, NY) $4,118
29. John Gale (London, England) $4,118
28. John Renzi (Boothwyn, PA) $4,118
27. Carlos Mortensen (Las vegas, NV) $4,575
26. David Zibelli (Alexandria, VA) $4,575
25. Peter Marchisello (Bayside, NY) $4,575

3:15pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: We're down to 21 players on 3 tables. They will consolidate to 2 when there are 18 player remaining.

Recent Bustouts:
24. Francis Vizza (Cold Springs Harbor, NY) $4,575
23. Brian Kocur (Baltimore, MD) $4,575
22. Casey Peters (Point Pleasant, NJ) $4,575

3:45pm...Event #8 $2,500 NL update: We're down to 19 players. Chris Fragis Fargis has been busted in 20th. Visit his blog 21 Outs to read recaps.

Recent Eliminations:
21. Richard Cohen (Huntingdon Valley, PA) $4,575
20. Chris Fargis (Brooklyn, NY) $4,575

4:00pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: I'd like to welcome all the Irish poker players from Antes Up checking in on Andy Black's progress. Right now he's got 141K. He started the day low in chips and doubled up early with A-A.


Chipleader Tom Sipes (Pittsburgh, PA)

4:20pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: We're down to 2 tables. Denis Ethier has over 460K in chips. Andy Black still has around 130K.

Recent Eliminations:
19. Michael Contessa (Rochelle Park, NJ) $4,575
18. Chris Mitchell (Brentwood, NH) $6,405

4:35pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: 3 more bustouts. On a board of 3h-10c-6h-5c, Denis Ethier bet out and Ed Jordan moved all in over the top of him. The always cool and calm Ethier thought about the call for a few moments as he pulled out 100K in chips out of his stack and held them back for a second before calling. Jordan showed 8-8 and Ethier flipped over Q-Q. Ethier's Hilton Sister held up and he busted Jordan in 15th place. Andy Black has 150K and is one of the shortstacks.

Recent Eliminations:
17. Rich Marshall (Raleigh, NC) $6,405
16. Surinder Sunar (Wolverhampton, England) $6,405
15. Ed Jordan (Bellmead, NJ) $9,150

Surinder Sumar (Wolverhampton, England) - 16th Place


Andy Black's cardcapper
5:00pm... Event #8 update: $2,500 NL update: Andy Black gets Hammered! Black was eliminated when he made a move and pushed all in with 7-2o aka The Hammer. Bold move from Black and Wayne Stock called him with J-J. Black was sent to the rail. He won $9,150. Jaavel "Shag" McCrae was busted in 13th place when his A-5 lost to A-10.

Recent Eliminations:
14. Andy Black (Dublin, Ireland)
13. Jaavel "Shag" McCrae (Ridge, NY)

Andy Black (Dublin, Ireland) - 14th Place


Shag - 13th Place
5:40pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: We're down to a final table. 10 players left. Tom Sipes is the chipleader with 734K. Denis Ethier is third in chips with 511K.

Recent Eliminations:
12. Joe Loguidice (Atlantic City, NJ) $11,895
11. Jeff Bohanek (Lake Worth, FL) $11,895

Updated Chipcounts:
Seat 1: Peter Lios 197K
Seat 2: Wayne Stock 405K
Seat 3: Jonathan Zuchowski 312K
Seat 4: Collin Wilson 645K
Seat 5: Ron Mascet 106K
Seat 6: Tom Sipes 734K
Seat 7: Joe Cappello 188K
Seat 8: Steven Karanikolas 425K
Seat 9: Neal Gershony 139K
Seat 10: Denis Ethier 511K

Event #8 Final Table

6:00pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL Final Table update: Neal Gershony was eliminated in 10th place when his J-J was snapped off by Collin Wilson's 3-3. Wilson flopped a set of 3s to send Gershony to the rail.


Neal Gershony (Rocky Hill, CT) - 10th Place
6:20pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL Final Table update: Ron Mascet was shortstacked and moved all in with A-8. Tom Sipes called with J-10. Mascet flopped trips when two 8s hit the board. However, Sipes caught a runner runner straight to send him to the rail. Mascet won $18,300. Players are currently on a dinner break.


Ron Mascet (Howell, NJ) - 9th Place

Updated Chipcount:
1. Denis Ethier 980K
2. Tom Sipes 750K
3. Collin Wilson 515K
4. Wayne Stock 370K
5. Steven Karanikolas 310K
6. Johnathon Zuchowski 310K
7. Joseph "Bobo" Cappello 170K
8. Peter Lios 130K

7:40pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL final table update: Collin Wilson took the bad beat of the week by far. He raised in the little blind with A-A 100K. Tom Sipes in the bg blind reraised to 200K. Collin came over the top all in for 300K. Sipes thought for a minute and called... with 8-6o. The flop was Q-6-10. The turn was a six and the spectators on the rail gasped in horror when Sipes turned trips. The river was a seven and Wilson's A-A were cracked by 8-6o. Collin Wilson wins $27,450.


Collin Wilson (Atlanta, GA) - 8th Place
7:45pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL final table update: The Tom Sipes show continues. He built up his stack to over $1.3M after he sucked out on Joe "Bobo" Cappello who finished in 7th place. Cappello moved all in on the turn with 8h-4h. He had a pair of fours and a flush draw. Sipes had As-10s and had a gushot wheel draw with a Q-5-3-4 on the board. The river was a 2 and Cappello was eliminated in 7th place. He won $36,600.


Joe "Bobo" Cappello (New Rochele, NY) - 7th Place
8:15pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL final table update: Tom Sipes lost a coin flip with 8-8 and doubled up Steven Karanikolas' A-J. He still holds a massive $1M chiplead.

8:30pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL final table update: Jonathan Zuchowski was eliminated in 6th place when his 5-5 ran into Denis Ethier's A-A. Zuchowski goes home with $45,750.


Jonathan Zuchowski (Jupiter, FL) - 6th Place
8:48pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL final table update: Peter Lios was knocked out in 5th place when his A-9 lost to Denis Ethier's A-10. The both flopped an ace. The board read A-Q-6-Q-9 and Either's kicker played. His two pair was better than Lios. The Linwood, NJ native went home with $54,900.


Peter Lios (Linwood, NJ) - 4th Place
8:58pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL final table update: Wayne Stock picked up a pot when he moved all in with his short stack. He had 6-6 and Tom Sipes called with 6-6 as did Denis Ethier with A-Q. Since Sipes and Ethier checked it down to the river, Stock and Sipes ended up splitting up the blinds, antes, and Ethier's bet.

9:10pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL final table update: Wayne Stock was eliminated in 4th palce when his A-5 lost to Steven Karanikolas' A-Q. Stock won $64,050. Down to 3.


Wayne Stock (New York, NY) - 4h Place
9:18pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL final table update: Steven Karanikolas was busted in 3rd place when his K-Q ran into Denis Ethier's Q-Q. Ethier flopped a Queen to take it down. Steven Karanikolas won $74,573.


Steve Karanikolas (Skillman, NJ) - 3rd Place
9:45pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL final table update: Denis Ethier and Tom Sipes were all in preflop. Ethier had 10-10 and Sipes had A-Q. Sipes turned a Queen and the tournament was his. Denis Ethier won $153,720 for second place. Sipes won $279,075. Primarily and internet player, Sipes from Pittsburgh was sick of the vicious bad beats and decided to switch to live poker. This was his first major tournament. Congrats to Denis Ethier and Tom Sipes.


Denis Ethier (Durham, NC) - 2nd Place


Tom Sipes (Pittsburgh, PA)
Event #8 $2,500 NL Winner
10:00pm... That's it for now. The $10K main event starts at 11am on Sunday. See you then.
posted by Pauly at 1/28/2006 11:21:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Borgata Winter Open: Event #8 $2,500 NL and Event #7 Ladies NL Day 2 & Final Table

It's Friday in Atlantic City! The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is the place to be this weekend for the best poker action featuring some of your favorite pros and local players. So come on down and check out the scene for yourself especially since Borgata is always hopping on a Friday night.

Today features the final table of the Ladies Event where some of the best female poker players are at the Borgata looking to take down Event #7 and the coveted gold bracelet. 270 players began the event yesterday and we're down to the final ten. Also, the $2,500 NL event started and it's going to have the biggest payout so far.

The friendly staff here is running single table and multi-table satellites around the clock upstairs in the ballroom along with a daily Second Chance MTT cash tournament. With several juicy cash games are going on downstairs in the main poker room, the Borgata is the place to be over the next week. And every day there are two different Winter Poker Open tournaments ongoing, so sure to take a peek at the Super Satellite Schedule along with the Winter Poker Open Schedule of events.

Here's a quick link to the Borgata's SNG information. Plus tomorrow is Saturday which is Super Satellite Day, so if you want to get into the $10K main event for a lot cheaper, stop by Saturday to play in one of the sats.

Yesterday the Borgata crowned a new champion. Charlie Katikakis took down Event #6 $1,500 NL after coming from behind to win it all.


Konstantin "Charlie" Katikakis (Boston, MA)
Event #6 $1,500 NL Champion - $113,460
Today I'm covering two events. They will be color coded to help you follow the action.

Event #7 Ladies $300 NL = Black font
Event #8 $2,500 NL = Blue font

***** Live Blogging Updates *****

11:10am... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: Cards are in the air. We have around 365 players in today's event. Players start with $10K in chips! That's a lot of ammo for the players today. Levels are one hour. And first place is going to get at least $250K. Amazing! And this isn't even the main championship event. I spotted Barry Greenstien, David Singer, and Chip Jett playing today. Irishmen Andy Black and Padrig Parkinson are seated at the same table. Local Jimmy Mitchell is also in today's tourney.

1:15pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: It's a who's who here in today's tournament.... Amir Vahedi, Paul Darden, Arnold Spee, Allen Cunningham, Paulie the Roofer, Joanne Liu, Tony Licastro, Denis Ethier, John Phan, David "The Dragon" Pham, Kenna James, Steve Dannemann, The Grinder, and Syracuse Chris are playing today. Action Bob slept through this morning's event! Melissa Hayden has been elimianted.

Here are some photos of Event #8 (click to enlarge):


Joanne Liu and Denis Ethier


Paul "The Truth" Darden


The agony of defeat.


Barry Greenstien


Kenna James


David Singer


It's all about the hat.


Allen Cunningham


NYC's Mizra Nagji and Paulie the Roofer




David "The Dragon" Pham


Hat of the Day
2:00pm... Event #7 Ladies NL final table: We're a few minutes from action.

Ladies Event Final Table Players with Chipcounts:
1. Sherece Gasaway 146.5K
2. Louise Francoeur 129K
3. Heather Sue Mercer 102.5K
4. Dolores Talley 98.3K
5. Carey Buck 92.5K
6. Sudha Baxter 63.5K
7. Cuc "Cookie" Dang 58.5K
8. Lua Tran 40K
9. Lisa Treffinger 38K
10. Kelly Petrucci 23K

Event #7 Ladies NL Payout:
1. $25,104
2. $14,175
3. $7,695
4. $5,670
5. $4,860
6. $4,050
7. $3,240
8. $2,430
9. $1,620
10. $1,053

Ladies Final Table
2:15pm... Event #7 Ladies NL final table: We have our first bust out. Carey Buck doubled up Cuc Dang when her 10-10 ran into K-K. She was crippled and was all in a few hands later. Carey Buck's 5-5 ended up dominated by Heather Sue Mercer's 6-6 and she was eliminated in 10th place and won $1,053.


Carey Buck (Stowe, PA) - 10th Place
2:30pm... Event #7 Ladies NL final table: Lisa Treffinger was crippled when her K-K ran into Lua Tran's A-Ks. Tran turned a straight and rivered a flush. She doubled up and Treffinger was crippled. A few hands later Her K-Q lost to Dolores Talley's 3-3. Lisa Treffinger won $1,620. We're down to 8.


Lisa Treffinger (Columbia, MD) - 9th Place
2:45pm... Event #7 Ladies NL final table: two more bustouts. Kelly Petrucci took 8th place when she was shortstacked and moved all in with A-5. She ran into Cuc Dang's 8-7s. Dang flopped a seven and Petrucci was sent to the rail. She won $2,430. Heather Sue Mercer's A-J ran into Cuc Dang's A-A and she was busted in 7th place. Mercer won $3,240. We're down to 6.


Kelly Petrucci (Uniontown, PA) - 8th Place


Heather Sue Mercer (Mt. Sinai, NY) - 7th Place
3:00pm... Event #7 Ladies NL final table: Dolores Talley was eliminated in 6th place. She was victim to Cuc Dang's hot streak. Talley was all in with A-Ks. Dang had A-Js and flopped a Jack to send Talley to the rail. Talley was playing in her first live tournament. Her daughter Gina Cannone took 12th and missed the final table by two spots. We're down to 5 players and Cuc "Cookie" Dang is the chipleader.


Dolores Talley (Staten, Island, NY) - 6th Place
3:10pm... Escalalde Giveaway! If you don't know the Borgata was giving away two Escalades. The winner of the main event gets one and one random person who played in any of the first 8 events had a shot at the other one. The more events you played in, the better your chances. Arthur Azen was today's winner! He goes home with a sleek black Escalade. Congrats Arthur!




Arthur Azen - Winner of one of the Escalades
3:20pm... Event #7 Ladies NL final table: Sudha Baxter, in her first big tournament, was eliminated in 5th place. She was shortstacked and made a move with 10-4. She had been card dead at the final table and made a stand. Sherece Gasaway reluctantly called with Q-7s. She won with Queen high and Sudha was sent to the rail. She won $4,860 for fifth place after an amazing run. She had just one $500 chip left yesterday and built up her stack to over 10K. Down to four.


Sudha Baxter (Washington, D.C.) - 5th Place
3:30pm... Event #7 Ladies NL final table: We're down to three players. Lua Tran had her Q-Q snapped off by Cuc Dang's K-J. On a flop of Kd-7d-4s, Tran made a huge bet and moved all in on the flop. Dang thought about calling for a few minutes during a tense situation. She eventually called and was surprised that she was ahead. Dang cscooped the pot and Lua Tran took 4th place. She won $5,670. Cuc Dang has a massive chiplead.


Lua Tran (Atlantic City, NJ) - 4th Place


Final Three
4:05pm... Event #7 Ladies NL final table: Louise Francoeur doubled through Sherece Gasaway. Francoeur flopped the nut flush with Kc-10c on a board of Ac-Jc-6c. Gasaway had A-4 for top pair. She had been patiently waiting for hands once it got shot-handed and picked up a $325K pot. She moved up to second in chips and still tains Cuc Dang by a lot.

Updated Chipcount:
1. Cuc Dang 410K
2. Louise Francouer 300K
3. Sherece Gasaway 120K

4:30pm... Event #7 Ladies NL final table: Antes are $1K with $4K/$8K blinds. Sherece Gasaway is making a run. She pulled even in chips wth Louise Francouer in two big hands. She doubled up with J-J against Cuc Dang's A-6. A few hands later, Dang raised from the small blind and Gasaway came over the top from the big blind for $60K more. She threw out a $100K bet on the flop and Dang folded. Dang is now the short stack.

4:30pm... Event #7 Ladies NL final table: Cuc Dang doubled through Sherece Gasaway when her A-9 held up against K-10. Dang flopped an ace.

4:55pm... Event #7 Ladies NL final table: Another big hand involving Cuc Dang and Sherece Gasaway. On a board of 8d-4c-Qc-9d, Dang moved all in. She had K-Q. Gasaway took a few moments to think, and she eventually called with Ac-8c and the nut flush draw. teh river was a King and Dang doubled through Gasaway.

5:00pm... Event #7 Ladies NL final table: On a board of A-K-4 and two clubs, Cuc Dang put out a 100K bet. Louise Francouer pondered a call and eventually moved all in. She had A-10 and Dang flipped over Big Slick. Louise Francouer from Palm Beach, FL took down $7,695 for third.



Louise Francouer (Palm Beach, FL) - 3rd Place
5:01pm... Event #7 Ladies NL final table: Cuc "Cookie" Dang won the Ladies event. Gasaway had A-10 and was outflopped by Dang's K-9. On a board of 10-7-K, both players were all in. Dang's hand held up and she came from behind to win it all. Gasaway won $14,175 for second. Dang took down $25,104 for first. Cookie Dang is an occupational therapist and this is her second major poker tournament. She had a lucky clementine with her doing her best Johnny Chan imitation. "I should take off from work more often," she joked. "I'm feeling so lucky I might have to go buy some lottery tickets."


Sherece Gasaway (Laurel, MD) - 2nd Place


Cuc "Cookie" Dang (Clifton, NJ)
Event #7 Ladies NL Champion - $25,104


The Final Four
5:40pm... Event #8 $2,500 update: Mirza Nagji was busted when his A-K ran into A-A. There is one monster table featuring the Grinder, Paul Darden, Chip Jett, and Carlos Mortenson. I'd hate to be at that table.

6:40pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: 143 players are left on 15 tables.

7:00pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: Players are on a break. Chris "Triple Draw" Fargis has about 53K and looking strong. Average stack is around 23K. Chris is posting updates on his blog 21 Outs.

8:10pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: Paulie the Roofer is out. He was shortastacked all afternoon. On the first hand after the dinner break, he found A-Ks and moved all in. He had two callers... A-K and K-Q and of course the guy with K-Q scooped the pot when a Queen flopped.

9:30pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: 8 tables left. 78 players remaining. Chris Fargis has about 40K remaining. Denis Ethier, Andy Black, Syracuse Chris, and Joanne Liu are all still alive.

10:05pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: Seven tables left. We're on Level 10. Chris Fragis doubled up and has 80K now.

10:30pm... Meet the Borgata Staff!






Photo courtesy of Frank Bellocchio
11:30... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: Six tables left.



12:30.... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: 44 players left on five tables. Andy Black, Chris Fargis, and Surrinder Sunar are all alive.


Chris Fargis


Andy Black
1:30pm... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: The bubble has burst. We're down to 36.


Beth Shak (Bryn Mawr, PA) - 33rd Place

1:50am... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: 32 left.

Recent Eliminations:
36. Michael Somma (Middle Village, NY) $4,118
35. Justin Schaller (Pedricktown, NJ) $4,118
34. Daniel Seringer (Sea Cliff, NJ) $4,118
33. Beth Shack (Bryn Mawr, PA) $4,118

Carlos Mortensen


"Shag"

2:00am... Event #8 $2,500 NL update: Play has been suspended for the day and the four remaining tables will resume on Saturday at 2pm. Despite being sick all day and night, Surridner Sunar ended the first day 7th in chips.

Event #8 End of Day Top 10 Chipcounts:
1. Collin Wilson 356K
2. TDM Sipes 273K
3. John Gale 210K
4. Peter Lios 185.5K
5. Jonathan Zuchowski 181.5K
6. Denis Ethier 180.5K
7. Surrinder Sunar 162.5K
8. Jaavel "Shag" McCrane 160.1K
9. Chris Fargis 138.5K
10. Rich Cole 188.5K

posted by Pauly at 1/27/2006 11:10:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Borgata Winter Open: Event #7 Ladies NL and Event #6 $1,500 NL Day 2 & Final Table

We're back for action at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. Today is a special day... it's the Ladies Event where some of the best female poker players are at the Borgata looking to take down Event #7.

I apologize for any technical difficulties that the Tao of Poker encountered last night. Unfortunately, I ran into one problem that duct tape couldn't solve! Not to fear, everything is back to normal.

The friendly staff here is running single table and multi-table satellites around the clock upstairs in the ballroom along with a daily Second Chance MTT cash tournament. With several juicy cash games are going on downstairs in the main poker room, the Borgata is the place to be over the next week. And every day there are two different Winter Poker Open tournaments ongoing, so sure to take a peek at the Super Satellite Schedule along with the Winter Poker Open Schedule of events.

Here's a quick link to the Borgata's SNG information. Plus this Saturday is Super Satellite Day, so if you want to get into the $10K main event for a lot cheaper, stop by Saturday to play in one of the sats.

Several pros have been trickling into the Borgata over the past 24-48 hours. Kathy Liebert, Andy Black, David Levi, and Joanne Liu have all popped into the ballroom to play in different sattelittes and events. I expect more to come over the next few days. Plus, 2005 WSOP main event runner up, Steve Dannemann, cashed in two consecutive events. He's currently second in chips in Event #6, which will conclude today 2pm.

Last night, L.A. native David Daneshgar took down Event #5 $1K NL and walked away with a bracelet.


David Daneshgar (Los Angeles, CA)
Event #5 $1K Winner - $110,410
Today I'm covering two events. They are color coded to help you follow everything.

Event #6 $1,500 NL = Red font
Event #7 Ladies $300 NL = Black font

***** Live Blogging Updates *****

11:10am... Event #7 Ladies NL: Cards are in the air. Players start with $3K in chips. Levels are one hour in length and there are about 273 players in today's event.

1:15pm... Event #7 Ladies NL: Players are on a break. Kathy Liebert is playing in today's event.

Here are some photos from today's Ladies event:


A fan of the Tao of Poker!






Kathy Liebert ponders a call.











2:00pm... Event #6 $1,500 NL update: Day 2 is starting soon. Steve Dannemann is second in chips and Action Bob was shortstacked most of yesterday and hung on to make it to the final two tables.

Event #6 End of Day 1 chipcounts:
1. Andrew Rasskamm 232K
2. Steve Dannemann 176K
3. Chris Tarrantino 139K
4. Charlie Minter 135K
5. Robert "Action Bob" Hwang 113K
6. Konstantius "Charlie" Katikakis 112K
7. Joe Koons 105K
8. Russell Fox 103K
9. Lee Biars 98K
10. Michael Mella 96K
11. Eli Bobker 90K
12. Tom Cope 88K
13. Chris Klein 75K
14. Vito Masi 73K
15. John Albright 53K
16. Adam Green 23K

2:40pm... Event $6 $1,500 NL update: We're down to 12 players. Vito Masi and his A-Q ran into Big Slick and he took 13th place.

Recent Eliminations:
16. John Albright III (Aurora, IL) $2,745
15. Michael Mella (Armonk, NY) $3,660
14. Adam Green (Reston, VA) $3,660
13. Vito Masi (Latham, NY) $3,660

3:15pm... Event $6 $1,500 NL final table update: We're down to 9 players and a final table! Action Bob is the chipleader. Chris Tarrantino suffered a brutal river suck out. He flopped a set of aces with A-A and Charlie Minter called his all in bet on the flop with A-9. Minter caught a runner runner straight to send Tarrantino to the rail. "It was horrendous," he said as he walked away in disgust.

Recent Bustouts:
12. Chris Tarrantino (Dix Hills, NY) $4,758
11. Joe Koons (Anapolis, MD) $4,758
10. Chris Klien (Blue Anchor, NJ) $4,758

Event #6 Final Table:
Seat 1: Action Bob Hwang 273K
Seat 2: Tom Cope 225K
Seat 3: Konstantin "Charlie" Katikakis 174K
Seat 4: Eli Bobker 198K
Seat 5: Russ Fox 59K
Seat 6: Steve Dannemann 196K
Seat 7: Lee Biars 181K
Seat 8: Charlie Minter 245K
Seat 9: Andrew Rosskamm 160K

Event #6 Final Table
3:45pm... Event #7 Ladies NL update: There are 119 women left on 12 tables.

4:00pm... Event #6 $1,500 final table update: Eli Bobker from Lawrence, NY was busted when his A-J lost to Action Bob's Hilton Sisters. Queens were good and Eli Bobker was eliminated in 9th place. He won $10,980. Action Bob is the chipleader.


Eli Bobker (Lawrence, NY) - 9th Place
4:20pm... Event #6 $1,500 final table update: Action Bob doubled up Russ Fox's shortstack when he lost a race with 9-9 against A-Q. Fox flopped a Queen and his hand held up.

5:00pm... Event #6 $1,500 final table update: Steve Dannemann was eliminated in 8th place when he ran into a set of 5s with Q-J after he flopped top pair. He won $10,980.


Steve Dannemann (Severn, MD) - 8th Place $10,980
5:15pm... Event #6 $1,5000 final table update: Action Bob Hwang got crippled when his J-J lost to Konstantin "Charlie" Katikakis' A-K. Action Bob was out on the next hand and won $18,300.


Action Bob Hwang (Clark, NJ) - 7th Place
5:35pm... Event #6 $1,5000 final table update: Lee Biars from baltimore busted out n 6th place when he moved all in with the shortstack. His K-J lost to Charlie Minter's A-Js. Biars won $18,300.00.


Lee Biars (Baltimore, MD) - 6th Place

Updated Chipcount:
1. Tom Cope 541K
2. Charlie Minter 420K
3. Konstantin Katikakis 280K
4. Andrew Rosskamm 266K
5. Russ Fox 186K

5:43pm... Event #6 $1,5000 final table update: Rus Fox and his short stack were all in with K-K. Chipleader Tom Cope called with Q-Q. He flopped a Queen to the dismay of Fox who begged the dealer for a King. On the river, one of his two outs spiked. Fox doubled up against Cope.

5:45pm... Event #7 Ladies NL update: The women are on a dinner break. There are 69 players on 7 tables. Kathy Liebert has been out for a while.

6:00pm... Event #6 $1,5000 final table update: Tom Cope was eliminated in 5th place when his A-K did not hold up against Charlie Minter's K-K. Cope won $21,960.


Tom Cope (Westport, CT) - 5th Place
6:30pm... Event #6 $1,5000 final table update: Players went on a break.

Updated Chipcount:
1. Charlie Minter 641K
2. Russ Fox 541K
3. Andrew Rosskamm 347K
4. Konstantin "Charlie" Katikakis 182K

7:15pm... Event #7 Ladies NL: We're down to 49 players on 5 tables. The top 27 players win prize money.

Event #7 Ladies NL Payout:
1. $25,104
2. $14,175
3. $7,695
4. $5,670
5. $4,860
6. $4,050
7. $3,240
8. $2,430
9. $1,620
10-12. $1,053
12-15. $810
16-18. $608
19-27. $527

8:00pm... Event #6 $1,500 NL final table update: Konstantin "Charlie" Katikakis doubled up with A-K against Charlie "Rummy" Minter's A-J. Katikakis flopped an King and it held up.

Chipcounts:
1. Charlie Minter 850K
2. Konstantin Katikakis 565K
3. Andrew Rosskamm 350K
4. Rus Fox 165K

8:10pm... Event #6 $1,500 NL final table update: Rus Fox's K-9 doubled up against Konstantin "Charlie" Katikakis 3-3 when he flopped a nine. On the next hand, Andrew Rosskamm's A-4 doubled up against Charlie Minter's K-J. Rosskamm took over the chiplead.

8:20pm... Event #6 $1,500 NL final table update: Charlie Minter was eliminated in 4th place by Rus Fox. Minter raised all in preflop with A-J. Rus Fox though about it for a while and called with Ac-10c. He caught runner runner clubs for a flush to bust Minter who won $25,620.


Charlie Minter (Yardly, PA) - 4th Place
8:30pm... Event #6 $1,500 NL final table update: Konstantin "Charlie" Katikakis doubled up with K-J against Russell Fox's A-7 when he flopped a King. two hands later, Russell Fox was eliminated in 3rd place when his A-7 lost to Katikakis's 5-5. Fox won $34,770 for third place. Katikakas has a $1.15M to 550K chiplead.


Russell Fox (Gates Mills, OH) - 3rd Place


Heads up
8:45pm... Event #6 $1,500 NL final table update: Konstantin "Charlie" Katikakis beat Andrew Rosskamm heads up to win Event #6! Both players were all in preflop. Charlie had A-10 to Andrew's A-9. Charlie flopped a ten and it was all over. Rosskamm won $64,050 and Charlie Katikakis won $113,460.


Andrew Rosskamm (New York, NY) - 2nd Place


Konstantin "Charlie" Katikakis (Boston, MA)
Event #6 $1,500 NL Champion - $113,460
Konstantin "Charlie" Katikakis is from Boston. He hasn't played too many live tournaments but won a few online. He came from behind to win Event #6 and the gold bracelet. Congrats to Charlie!!

9:00pm... Event #7 Ladies NL update: We're down to three tables. We're approaching the money bubble which is my buddy Otis' favorite time for any tournament. Stay tuned for a list of money winners.

11:15pm... Event #7 Ladies NL update: We're down to 17 players on two tables.

Money Winners & Recent Eliminations:
27. Jennifer Lictenwalter (Gales Ferry, CT) $527
26. Monique Sutlovich (Lake Hiawatha, NJ) $527
25. Grazynat Olszewski (Jackson Heights, NY)
24. Janice McCaffrey (Jackson, NJ) $527
23. Kimberly Gerchak (Englishton, NJ) $527
22. Ruth Ruffman (Colts Neck, NJ) $527
21. Kelly Call Beck (La Plata, MD) $527
20. Cynthia Beck Spragur (WInterville, NC) $527
19. Lisa Strippoli (Lindenhurst, NY) $527
18. Lisa Colesanti (New York, NY) $608

12:15am... Event #7 Ladies NL update: We're down to 12 players.

Recent Bustouts:
17. Elizabeth Watson (Fairfax, VA) $608
16. Mary Smith (Langhorne, PA) $608
15. Kelly Chasmer (Little Egg Harbor, NY) $810
14. Margot Revera (Green Brook, NJ) $810
13. Frances Bartolone (Robbinsville, NJ) $810

12:30am... Event #7 Ladies NL update: We're down to 10 players!!! Action has be suspended and will concluded tomorrow at 2pm.

Recent Bustouts:
12. Gina Cannone (Staten Island, NY) $1,053
11. Maria Maldonado (Glloway, NJ) $1,053

Ladies Event Final Table Players with Chipcounts:
1. Sherece Gasaway 146.5K
2. Louise Francoeur 129K
3. Heather Sue Mercer 102.5K
4. Dolores Talley 98.3K
5. Carey Buck 92.5K
6. Sudha Baxter 63.5K
7. Cuc Dang 58.5K
8. Lua Tran 40K
9. Lisa Treffinger 38K
10. Kelly Petrucci 23K

posted by Pauly at 1/26/2006 12:58:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Borgata Winter Open: Event #6 $1,500 NL and Event #5 $1K NL Day 2 & Final Table

It's humpday in Atlantic City, which means plenty of poker at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa for the continuation of the Borgata Winter Open. There is exactly one more week of action here and everyday some of your favorite pros are trickling in.

The friendly staff here is running single table and multi-table satellites around the clock upstairs in the ballroom along with a daily Second Chance MTT cash tournament. With several juicy cash games are going on downstairs in the main poker room, the Borgata is the place to be over the next week. And every day there are two different Winter Poker Open tournaments ongoing, so sure to take a peek at the Super Satellite Schedule along with the Winter Poker Open Schedule of events.

Here's a quick link to the Borgata's SNG information.

Don't forget that Thursday morning at 11am is the Ladies NL event.

Saturday is Super Satellite Day for the $10K Championship event.

Last night, the Borgata crowned a new champion. Stephen Benton came from beind to win Event #4 $500 Limit. It was one hell of a run at the final table for Benton. One of his good buddie Action Bob Hwang was on the rail rooting him on to victory.


Stephen Benton (Leesburg, VA)
Event #4 $500 Limit Champion - $52,301
I will be covering two tournaments today including the final table for Event #5. We're down to 16 players in that event and Stuart Bromley from London, England ended yesterday as the chipleader.

Event #5 $1K NL Day 2 & Final Table = Black font
Event #6 $1,500 NL = Red font

***** Live Blogging Update *****

11:10am... Event #6 $1,500 NL update: There are 244 players in this event. Players start with $7K in chips. I spotted Paul Darden, Bill Blanda, Chris Fargis from 21 Outs, Arnold Spee, Action Bob Hwang, and Stephen Benton in today's event.

12:30pm... Event #6 $1,500 NL update: Stephen Benton, the Event #4 Champion, has just been eliminated.

1:10pm... Event #6 $1,500 NL update: Players are on a break. I spotted Steve Dannemann, Syracuse Chris, Billy Hill, Dan Weissman, and Tim Dalessandro (Event #4 runner up) in the field today.

1:15pm... Staff Spotlight! Here's some of the friendly and hardworking Borgata staff.


Pete, Judith, and Ron
1:30pm... Event #5 $1K NL update: Action is about 30 minutes away.

Payout Distribution for Event #5:
1. $110,410
2. $60,816
3. $29,503
4. $25,340
5. $21,720
6. $18,100
7. $14,480
8. $10,860
9. $7,240
10-12. $4,706
13-15. $3,620
16-18. $2,534
19-27. $1,810
28-36. $1,629

Event #5 End of Day Chipcounts:
1. Stuart Bromley 245K
2. Tae H. Baik 199K
3. Minh Choe 157K
4. Evan Mandery 142K
5. Randy Hudson 127K
6. Fotios Nicoles 123K
7. Carmine Cutolo 114K
8. Jeff Owen 99K
9. James J. Salters 96K
10. Anthony Priore 89K
11. Rick Austin 87K
12. Denis Ethier 74K
13. Andy Singer 73K
14. Carlos Delafuente 72K
15. David Daneshgar 62K
16. Kurt Sexton 51K

1:45pm... Event #6 $1,500 NL update: Here are some photos from today's $1,500 NL event...


Chris "Triple Draw" Fargis


Steve Dannemann - 2005 WSOP main event runner-up


Paulie Desalvo (Old Bridge, NJ)




Dan Weissman
2:10pm... Event #5 $1K NL update: Day 2 is underway. We're on Level 13.


Event #5 chipleader: Stuart Bromley (London, England)
2:45pm... Event #5 $1K NL update: Stuart Bromley took a big hit. He doubled up a shortstack when his K-Qs lost to A-K. There are 13 players left.

Recent Eliminations:
16. Richard Austin (Landsdale, PA) $2,534
15. Kurt Sexton (Ft. Myers, FL) $3,620
14. James Salters (Hempstead, NY) $3,620

3:30pm... Event #6 $1,500 NL update: We're down to 148 players on 15 tables.

4:00pm... Event #5 $1K NL final table update: We're down to 10 players and a final table after Jeff Owen from Maryland took 11th place. Evan Mandery from Long Island finished in 12th and Randy Hudson from North Carolina took 13th. Carmine Cutolo is the chipleader with 314K. Without a doubt, the North Carolina guys have been kicking butt at the orgata Winter Open. Randy Brown plays with Lance Burton, Rich Marshall, Mike Gracz, and WSOP bracelet winner Denis Ethier. They are all from central North Carolina and it's amazing that a collection of players from that part of the country could produce such amazing players.

Recent Eliminations:
13. Randy Brown (Greenville, NC) $3,620
12. Evan mandery (East Meadow, NY) $4,706
11. Jeff Owen (Harve De Grace, MD) $4,706

Event #5 Final Table Players and Chipcounts:
Seat 1: Andy Singer 159K
Seat 2: Stuart Bromley 163K
Seat 3: David Daneshgat 203K
Seat 4: Carmine "Swami" Cutolo 314K
Seat 5: Denis Ethier 215K
Seat 6: Carlos Delafuente 71K
Seat 7: Minh Choe 106K
Seat 8: Anthony Priore 122K
Seat 9: Tae Baik 208K
Seat 10: Fotios Nicoles from "Team Tic-Toc" 274K

5:15pm... Event #5 $1K NL final table update: We're down to nine players after Carlos Delafuente was elimianted in 10th place. With 9-9 he lost a race against Fotios Nicoles' Big Slick. Nicoles rivered a King to send Delafuente to the rail. He won $4,706.


Carlos Delauente (Plainview, NY) - 10th Place $4,706

5:20pm... Event #6: $1,500 NL update: 9 tables left. 89 players remaining.

5:15pm... Event #5 $1K NL final table update: Tae Biak has been eliminated in 8th place. His A-10 lost to Daneshagar's A-K. He won $7,240.


Tae Biak (Englewood, NJ) - 9th place
5:45pm... Event #5 $1K NL final table update: Harvard grad Andy Singer took down a huge pot when he flopped a set of 5s against Minh Choe's Big Slick. On the next hand, the shortstacked Minh Choe doubled up with K-9s against A-Js.

6:15pm... Event #5 $1K NL final table update: Englishman (and Tao of Poker reader) Stuart Bromley was eliminated in 8th place. Yesterday's chipleader lost a good amount of his stack after bluffing off some of his chips. After it was folded to him in the small blind he moved all in. Unfortunately, he ran into Dave Daneshagar's A-A. Ouch. Bromley's K-J did not hold up and he won $10,860 for 8th place.


Stuart Bromley (London, England) - 8th Place
6:30pm... Event #5 $1K NL final table update: Players went on a dinner break.

Updated Chipcount:
1. David Daneshgar 663K
2. Fotios Nicoles 433K
3. Minh Choe 298K
4. Carmine Cutolo 167K
5. Andy Singer 160K
6. Denis Ethier 87K
7. Anthony Priore 27K

7:30pm... Event #5 $1K NL final table update: Andy Singer was eliminated in 7th place. He moved all in with J-8 and prayed for no callers. Minho Choe called with 9-9 and they held up. Singer won $14,480.


Andy Singer (Edgewater, Md) - 7th Place
7:45pm... Event #5 $1K NL final table update: An avalanche of bustouts happened and it was hard to keep up! Carmine "Swami" Cutulo from Staten Island was busted in 6th place. He won $18,100. WSOP bracelet winner Denis Ethier from Durham, NC went home in fifth place. He was the shortstack for most of the afternoon and hung on to win $21,720. The other Staten Islander Anthony Priori took 5th place when Dave Daneshgar busted him. He was shortstacked and moved all in with 6-4s. His hand did not hold up and he won $25,340.


Carmine "Swami" Cutulo (Staten Island, NY) - 6th Place


Denis Ethier (Durham, NC) - 5th Place


Anthony Priore (Staten Island, NY) - 4th Place
8:00pm... Event #5 $1K NL final table update: Minho Choe took 3rd place when his K-Q lost to David Daneshgar's A-Q. Choe is friends with Vinod Vangimalla and Billy Hill. All of them are from Maryland. Choe skipped his first day of classes at the University of Maryland to play in the final table. He's a marketing major and his crew represented Maryland superbly in the first week of the Borgata Winter Open.


Minho Choe (Burtonsville, MD) - 3rd Place
8:15pm... Event #5 $1K NL final table update: Talk about a quick final table! Fotios Nicoles took second place when his two pair lost to David Daneshgar's higher two pair. Daneshgar's A-9 beat out Nicoles 5-9 when they both flopped two pair. Nicoles won $60,816 while Daneshgar will be taking $110,410 back to Los Angeles.


Heads up


Fotios Nicoles (Clifton, NJ) - 2nd Place


David Daneshgar (Los Angeles, CA) - Event #5 $1K Winner - $110,410
8:45pm... Event #6 $1,500 NL update: 6 tables are left. 57 players are remaining including Action Bob, Steve Dannemann, and Chip Jett.

9:00pm... Bouncin Round the Room: I spotted plenty of pros here playing in the super satellite including Joanne Liu, Russell Rosenbaum, and David Levi. I spotted Andy Black walking around the ballroom area looking into information on super satellites.

11:15pm... Event #6 $1,500 NL update: 29 players on 3 tables remaining. Chip Jett is out.

12:45am.... Event #6 $1,500 NL update: 2 tables left with 19 players. Steve Dannemann is stil alive along with Action Bob. "Paulie the Roofer" from Long Island was the bubble boy. He was shortstacked all night and busted in 28th place when his 9-9 were snapped off by 6-6 and a runner-runner straight despite flopping a set.

Here's a list of money winners and recent bustouts:
27. Mark Schaech $2,379
26. Vincent Napolitano $2,379
25. Vincent Guglucci $2,379
24. Joseph Simmons $2,379
23. Paul Lonardo $2,379
22. Richard Devito $2,379
21. Gregory Henkel $2,379
20. Robert Wisiak $2,379
19. Gary Schoengold $2,379
18.Geoffry Creagh $2,745
17. Wooyung Lin $2,745

1:45am... Action is over for today. Play will resume at 2pm on Thursday. Steve Dannemann is second in chips while Andrew Rasskamm is the chipleader with 232K. At the end of the night, Dannenmann wrote "Having fun!" on his plastic bag when he bagged his chips.

Event #6 End of Day 1 chipcounts:
1. Andrew Rasskamm 232K
2. Steve Dannemann 176K
3. Chris Tarrantino 139K
4. Charlie Minter 135K
5. Robert "Action Bob" Hwang 113K
6. Konstantius Katikakis 112K
7. Joe Koons 105K
8. Russell Fox 103K
9. Lee Biars 98K
10. Michael Mella 96K
11. Eli Bobker 90K
12. Tom Cope 88K
13. Chris Klein 75K
14. Vito Masi 73K
15. John Albright 53K
16. Adam Green 23K

posted by Pauly at 1/25/2006 12:20:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Borgata Winter Open Single Table (SNG) Satellite Info:

$1020 + $40 SNG: This is for the WPT Championship Event #9 on Jan. 29. Winner gets a $10,000 voucher and $200 in cash. Voucher is non-transferable. If you win a second one, then you get cash. Players get $5K in chips to start and levels last 25 minutes.

$500 + $30 SNG: Winner gets eight (8) $500 transferable vouchers (or $4K in vouchers) that can be used for any SNG, super staellite, or for the Main Event. Second place and third place win one (1) $500 voucher. Players start with $5K in chips and levels are 20 minutes.

$250 + $20 SNG: Winner gets four (4) $500 transferable vouchers that can be used for any SNG, super staellite, or for the Main Event. The winning player also gets $250 in cash. Second place gets $250 in cash. Players start with $4K in chips.

$150 + $20 SNG: Winner gets two (2) $500 transferable vouchers. Second and third place get $250 in cash. Players start with $3K in chips and levels are 15 minutes.

$100 + $15 SNG: Winner gets two (2) $500 transferable vouchers. Players start with $2K in chips and leves are 15 minutes.

$65 + $15 SNG: Winner gets one (1) $500 transferable voucher. Second and third place get $75 in cash. Players star with $1500 in chips and levels are 15 minutes.

Stop by the ballroom for more details and to sign up. These are running 24 hours a day.
posted by Pauly at 1/25/2006 12:48:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Borgata Winter Open: Event #5 $1K NL and Event #4 $500 Limit Day 2 & Final Table

It's a Tuesday in Atlantic City and action resumes upstairs in the ballroom at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa for the fifth day of the Borgata Winter Open. The Borgata has been the epicenter of tournament poker on the East Coast for the last few days and will continue to be so for another week.

Single table and multi-table satellites are running around the clock in the ballroom along with a daily Second Chance MTT cash tournament. Juicy cash games are going on downstairs in the main poker room. And every day there are two different Winter Poker Open tournaments ongoing. Be sure to take a peek at the Super Satellite Schedule along with the Winter Poker Open Schedule of events.

The $10K WPT main event begins on Sunday and the $300 buy-in Ladies Only NL Event is just two days away. You don't want to miss the action, so head on down. Everyday, some of your favorite pros are popping up. Last night, I even spotted 2005 WSOP main event runner-up Steve Dannemann milling around.

Yesterday, the Borgata crowned its third champion when Rich Marshall, a house painter from Raleigh, NC, won Event #3 $1K NL. Marshall took down a hefty $103,700 first place prize after coming from behind to win it all. He and his buddy Lance Turner (who took 3rd in the same event) drove up from North Carolina together. They hit a nice score earlier this weekend throwing dice at one of the craps tables downstairs and promptly used their winnings to buy into the $1K event.


Rich Marshall (Raleigh, NC)
Event #3 $1K NL Winner - $103,700
Today, I'll be covering two events including the final table of Event #4. Here's what I'll be updating:

Event #4 $500 Limit Day 2 & Final Table = Blue font
Event #5 $1K NL = Black font

*****Live Blogging Updates*****

11:10am... Event #5 $1K NL update: Cards are in the air! The event has at least 360 players. Official numbers have not been confirmed yet. Level 1 started wth 25/50 blinds and each players gets $5,000 in tournament chips to begin.

12:10pm... Event #5 $1K NL update: We're now on Level 2. I spotted Paul Darden and Arnold Spee in today's field.

1:15pm... Event #5 $1K NL update: Players are on a short break. Arnold Spee is out. He ran into a set.

2:00pm... Event #4 $500 Limit update: Out of 343 players, there are 36 remaining and the event will be starting shortly. Larry "Zekeness" Lawson ended yesterday as the chipleader. The top 36 players will get paid prize money.


"Zekeness" - Day 1 Chipleader

Here are the Top 10 in chips:
1. Larry Lawson 59K
2. Matt Cherackal 58K
3. Eugene Ji 54K
4. Patrick Griffin 50.5K
5. Stephen Benton 48K
6. Elliot Burnham 46.5K
7. Tim Dalessandro 44.5K
7. Lee Biars 44.5K
7. Larry Milton 44.5K
10. Svetlana Gromenkova 44K

Here's the payout list:
1. 52,301
2. $28,812
3. $13,977
4. $12,005
5. $10,290
6. $8,575
7. $6,860
8. $5,145
9. $3,430
10-12. $2,230
12-15. $1,715
16-18. $1,200
19-27. $858
28-36. $772

2:15pm... Event #4 $500 Limit update: We have our first elimination. Charlie Townsend from Delaware took 36th place.


Charlie Townsend - 36th place
2:45pm... Event #4 $500 Limit update: Down to 25 players on 3 tables.

Recent Eliminations:
36. Charlie Townsend (Dagsboro, DE) $772
35. Anthony Salerno (Howell, NJ) $772
34. Winston Shinault (Matthews, VA) $772
33. Syracuse Chris Tsiprailidis (Syracuse, NY) $772
32. Louis Russo (Brooklyn, NY) $772
31. Bob Turco (Atlantic CIty, NJ) $772
30. Casey Peters (Brick, NJ) $772
29. Martin Fitzmaurice (Edison, NJ)$772
28. Steve Natoli (Massilon, OH) $772
27. Richard Cook (Pontiac, MD) $858
26. Dan Wicker (Easthampton, NY) $858

3:15pm.... Borgata Winter Open Single Table (SNG) Satellite Info:

$1020 + $40 SNG: This is for the WPT Championship Event #9 on Jan. 29. Winner gets a $10,000 voucher and $200 in cash. Voucher is non-transferable. If you win a second one, then you get cash. Players get $5K in chips to start and levels last 25 minutes.

$500 + $30 SNG: Winner gets eight (8) $500 transferable vouchers (or $4K in vouchers) that can be used for any SNG, super staellite, or for the Main Event. Second place and third place win one (1) $500 voucher. Players start with $5K in chips and levels are 20 minutes.

$250 + $20 SNG: Winner gets four (4) $500 transferable vouchers that can be used for any SNG, super staellite, or for the Main Event. The winning player also gets $250 in cash. Second place gets $250 in cash. Players start with $4K in chips.

$150 + $20 SNG: Winner gets two (2) $500 transferable vouchers. Second and third place get $250 in cash. Players start with $3K in chips and levels are 15 minutes.

$100 + $15 SNG: Winner gets two (2) $500 transferable vouchers. Players start with $2K in chips and leves are 15 minutes.

$65 + $15 SNG: Winner gets one (1) $500 transferable voucher. Second and third place get $75 in cash. Players star with $1500 in chips and levels are 15 minutes.

Stop by the ballroom for more details and to sign up. These are running 24 hours a day.

4:20pm... Wil Wheaton is hosting a tournament on Poker Stars tonight. You are all invited.

What: WWdN #12: OzCDN (check under the private tourney tab)
When: Tuesday at 8:30pm EST (or 20:30 ET in military time)
Where: Poker Stars
How Much: $10 + 1 NL
Password: monkey

4:30pm... Event #4 $500 Limit update: We're down to 16 players.

Recent bustouts:
25. J. Mitchell "Mitch" Miller (Canton, OH) $858
24. Steve Coppola (Staten Island, NY) $858
23. Ronald Durante (Mt. Laurel, NJ) $858
22. Robert Sheldon (Mays Landing, NJ) $858
21. Steve Bouzikas (Philadelphia, PA) $858
20. Elliot Burnham (Ft. Washington, MD) $858
19. Matthew Cherakal (Storrs, CT) $858
18. Bartholomew F. Simpson (Middle Village, NY) $1,200
17. David Sloane (Brighton, MA) $1,200

4:45pm... Event #5 $1K NL update: We have official numbers... 362 players entered this event. The top 36 players will win prize money. First place takes home $110,410.

5:45pm... Event #4 $500 Limit update: We're down to 12 players.

Recent Eliminations:
16. Tim Downing (Staten Island, NY) $1,200
15. Bernard Mosczyc (Brooklyn, NY) $1,715
14. Charles Stepp (Galloway, NJ) $1,715
13. Lawrence Martinez (Harriman, NY) $1,175

6:15pm... Event #4 $500 Limit update: We have finally reached a final table! There are twn players left. John Kostin is our chipleader.

Recent Eliminations:
12. Pierre Sirois (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) $2,230
11. Lee Biars (Baltimore, MD) $2,230

Event #4 Final Table

Here's Event #4's Final Table including chipcounts:
Seat 1: John Kostin 199K
Seat 2: Frank Formica 54K
Seat 3: Zekeness (a.k.a. Larry Lawson) 187K
Seat 4: Vipul Kothari 87K
Seat 5: Eugene Ji 101K
Seat 6: Jean-Francis Guay 47K
Seat 7: Svetlana Gromenkova 108K
Seat 8: Patrick Griffin 70K
Seat 9: Stephen Benton 116K
Seat 10: Tim Dalessandro 63K

6:45... Event #4 $500 Limit final table update: We have our first bustout. Jean-Francois Guay was just sent to the rail. He won $2,230. Nine remaining.


Jean-Francois Guay (Montreal, Canada) - 10th place
7:30pm... Event #5 $1K Nl update: There are 88 players remaining on 9 tables.

7:45pm... Event #4 $500 Limit final table update: We have eight players left after Vipul Kothari busted out. He won $3,430. John Kostin is the big stack at the table with 230K.


Vipul Kothari (Edison, NJ) - 9th place
8:45pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: Frank Fromica was eliminated in 8th place when his A-Js ran into Svetlana Gromenkova's A-A. He won $5,145. Seven left and John Kostin is still the chipleader.


Frank Fromica (Millstone, NJ) - 8th place
9:15pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: NYC's Patrick Griffin was busted in 7thplace when his Q-10s ran into Eugene Ji's A-4. Ji flopped an ace and it was all over for Griffin. He won $6,680. We're down to six.


Pat Griffin (New York, NY) - 7th Place

Updated Chipcount:
1. John Kostin 315K
2. "Sweet" Svetlana Gromenkova 220K
3. Stephen Benton 196K
4. Eugene Ji 180K
5. Tim Dalessandro 91K
6. Zekeness 35K

9:25pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: Sweet Svetlana is running over the table and making a run. She's second in chips and has been on a rush this level.


Sweet Svetlana
9:35pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: Another New Yorker busted. Eugene Ji was eliminated in 6th place when his Q-2 lost to John Kostin's K-J. Kostin rivered a straight on Ji who flopped a pair of Queens. Ji wins $8,575 for sixth.


Eugene Ji (New York, NY) - 6th Place
9:35pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: Zekeness has left the building. Larry "Zekeness" Lawson, the Pride of Patterson, was busted in 5th place. He moved all in preflop with a short stack. Both John Kostin and Tim Dalessandro called. Dalessandro had A-2 and won with trip aces after he checked it down with Kostin. Zekeness mucked. He won $10,290 for 5th place after entering today as the chipleader. Svetlana is our new chipleader.


Zekeness (Patterson, NJ) - 5th Place

Updated Chipcount:
1. Sweet Svetlana 380K
2. John Kostin 305K
3. Tim Dalessandro 220K
4. Stephen Benton 125K

10:05pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: Blinds are 5K/15K with 15K/30K betting rounds. Sweet Svetlana took a bg hit. With four diamonads on the board she bet out on the river 30K. Dalessandro raised her and after some minutes of careful deliberation, she mucked. Dalessandro has over 300K in chips now. The hsortstacked Stephen Benton walked over to me and said, "It's time for me to win it."

10:15pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: The momentum has swung Stephen Benton's way. The bubbly and talkative Benton doubled up and now has 250K. He picked up a few pots as the chip count leveled off. Everyone has around 250K in chips. Sweet Svetlana scooped a pot when her A-Q beat out Dalessandro's K-10 on a board of Q-10-6-4-6.

10:25pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: Stephen Benton's rush contnues as he steamrolled the table. He's up to 500K. Dalessandro has about 210K. Svetlana slipped to 150K and Kostin is on life support with 50K. Benton's buddy Action Bob is on the rail cheering him on. "I taught him everything he knows," boasted Action Bob.

10:30pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: With K-7, Sweet Svetlana caught a sweet river card when she missed her straight darw but caught a King to beat out Benton's Q-Js. Benton flopped a pair and even raised Svetlana on the turn. He slipped to 400K.

10:31pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: John Kostin was all-in with A-A and unfortunately he was eliminated in 4th place when he ran into Sweet Svetlana. Not only did she flopped a set with 7-7, she turned quad 7s! She has about 350K and still trails Benton's big stack. We're three way. John Kostin won $12,005 for 4th.


John Kostin (Hamilton Township, NJ) - 4th Place
10:35pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: Benton snapped off Dalessandro's Hilton Sisters. He defended his big blind with K-rag and flopped a King, then added insult to injury when he turned trips. He told me he has 615K. Dalessandro was crippled.


Final 3: Sweet Svetlana, Stephen Benton, and Tim Dalessandro

10:55pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: Benton scooped a monster pot with a set of 5s. He bet out on the river and Svetlana raised him with a possible straight on the board. He figured he was beat and made a crying call. benton was surprised to see that he was the winner. He now has 750K and Svetlana and Dalessandro are both behidn with about 150K each.

10:58pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: Svetlana was crippled when she missed her straight draw and Dalessandro had two pair. She has 25K left and Dalessandro has about 250K. On the very next hand, she was all-in preflop with J-5s. Sadly, she ran into Tim Dalessandro's A-A. Svetlana Gromenkova was eliminated in 3rd place. She won $13,977 and so far she has the highest finish out of any female so far this year. Both Sandra Billot and Lisa Pickell took 10th place in their events. Benton has 750K to Dalessandro's 300K.


Svetlana Gromenkova (Brooklyn, NY) - 3rd Place
11:20pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: After the first 20 minutes of heads-up play, the chiplead slipped out of Benton's hands and Dalessandro picked up the lead 700K to 350K. The big hand in that run was when Benton flopped two pair, but Dalessandro turned a straight to take down the pot.

11:37pm... Event #5: $500 Limit final table update: We have a winner! Stephen Benton from Leesburg, VA beat Tim Dalessandro heads up to win Event #4. Inside of four hands, Benton took all of Dalessandro's chips. On the first hand, Dalessandro flopped a pair with 9-7, but Benton turned a higher pair with A-10. Benton regained the chiplead and was up almost 2 to 1. On the next hand, Benton crippled Dalesandro when his bottom pair with K-2 held up against Dalessandro's busted flush draw. On the final hand of the tournament, all the money got in preflop. Dalessandro was way ahead with A-K to benton's J-8s. Benton caught a runner-runner flush to bust Dalesandro. It was a back and forth heads up battle with Benton having the lead then blowing it and storming back to win. Tim Dalessandro won $28,812 for second place. And Stephen Benton took down $52,301 and the gold bracelet.


Tim Dalessandro (West Chester, PA) - Second Place $28,812


Stephen Benton (Leesburg, VA)
Event #4 $500 Limit Champion - $52,301


Acton Bob Hwang & Stephen Benton


Pics of Benton's kid


Benton with his favorite dealer Billy
Stephen Benton is "Mr. Mom." He stays at home to take care of his one year old son. He plays online poker during the day while his wife works. He's been friends with Action Bob Hwang for over five years. Action Bob made the final table in the WPT Borgata Open last September. When the two met, Benton was just a medicore player (although Action Bob insisted that he was "horrible") and under Action Bob's tutelage, Benton quickly improved his play. The two buddies along with their wives would come to Atlantic City to play poker together. Benton regualrly plays here at the Borgata so everyone on the staff were excited for his win. Congrats again to Benton for an amazing come from behind win. When it was down to four players, he was shortstacked and confidently told me that he was going to win it all. His prediction came true.

12:30am... Event #5 $1K NL update: We're in the money! There are 30 players left on three tables. Steve Dannemann is still in the hunt.

2:00am... Event #5 $1K NL update: We're down to two tables. 18 players are left. As Hawaii Chris Smith said about the final two tables, "Whoever wins this tournament, the $100,000 is gonna change their life."

Recent Elimiantions:
36. Hee Park $1,629
35. Stepen Marks $1,629
34. Todo Blaerski $1,629
33. John Heaney $1,629
32. Scott Benedeto $1,629
31. Mark Seubert $1,629
30. Charles Coates $1,629
29. Michael Rizzo $1,629
28. Charles Goldhammer $1,629
27. Fred Goff $1,810
26. Stanley Durakovsky $1,810
25. Steven McNally $1,810
24. Eric O'Keefe $1,810
23. Steve Dannemann $1,810
22. Gary Shoengold $1,810
21. Craig Yates $1,810
20. Christopher McCoy $1,810
19. Scott Glaze $1,810
18. Stephen Rhodes $2,
17. Hawaii Chris Smith $2,534

2:20am... Event #5 $1K NL update: Play is over for tonight. Action will resume on Wednesday at 2pm. There are 16 players left and Stuart Bromley from London, England ended the night as the chipleader with 245K. He busted Steve Dannemann's shortstack when his A-Q held up against Dannemann's A-5.

Event #5 End of Day Chipcounts:
1. Stuart Bromley 245,000
2. Tae H. Baik 199,000
3. Minh Choe 157,000
4. Evan Mandery 142,000
5. Randy Hudson 127,000
6. Fotios Nicoles 123,000
7. Carmine Cutolo 114,000
8. Jeff Owen 99,000
9. James J. Salters 96,000
10. Anthony Priore 89,000
11. Rick Austin 87,000
12. Denis Ethier 74,000
13. Andy Singer 73,000
14. Carlos Delafuente 72,000
15. David Daneshgar 62,000
16. Kurt Sexton 51,000

See you tomorrow.
posted by Pauly at 1/24/2006 12:11:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Borgata Winter Open: Event #4 $500 Limit and Event #3 $1000 NL Day 2 & Final Table

It's a rainy Monday morning in Atlantic City, NJ, but the bad weather did not affect Day 4 of the Winter Poker Open at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa where there's 24 hour non-stop poker action featuring both amateurs and seasoned pros. The ballroom is packed again with both tournament players, satellite players, and spectators. As soon as I walk into the room, I'm bombarded with the sounds of chuffling chips and the ocassional groan after a bad beat.

Don't forget to check out the Winter Poker Open schedule and if you want to play a multi-table staellites (including a second chance cash tournament), be sure to take a peek at the Super Satellite schedule. And the staff here in the ballroom is also running single-table (SNG) satellites where you can win tournament chips and vouchers. And dont forget, if you register in one of themain events you are eligible for a poker player's room rate if you would like to stay in the swanky Borgata.

This past weekend featured plenty of excitement as the Borgata crowned champions in their first two events. Ravi Anand from New York City won $170K on Saturday night in Event #1 and last night Michael Hickman from Media, PA took home $176K in Event #2.


Michael Hickman - Event #2 winner
Today, I will be covering two events. They will be color coded to help you follow the action better.

Event #3 $1K NL Day 2 & Final Table = Black font
Event #4 $500 LIMIT = Blue font

Event #3 started with 340 players fighting it out for a prize pool worth over $340,000. The action is down to the final 20 players with Dan Weissman as the chipleader with over $221K. We're also starting the only Limit event in the Borgata Winter Open today.

***** Live Blogging Updates *****

11:10am... Event #4 Limit update: Cards are in the air. 343 players signed up for this event. Players start with $3,000 in chips. Blinds are 25-25 with 25-50 limits in Level 1. Stay tuned for more details.

12:10pm... Event #4 Limit update: Level 2. Blinds are 25-50 with limits at 50-100. Paul Darden is playing in today's Limit event.

12:30pm... Event #3 $1K NL update: The event will be starting in 90 minutes. Here's the twenty players who survived day one, including chipcounts...

End of Day 1 Chipcounts for Event #3:
1. Dan Weissman 221K
2. Jimmy Mitchell 202K
3. Anthony Losardo 157K
4. Abraham Korotki 108K
5. Lance Turner 102K
6. Richard Marshall 98K
7. Bandon Barton 95K
8. Vinod Vangimalla 87K
9. Sharif Wahba 85K
10. Craig Conway 74K
11. Carlos Zambrano 68K
12. Matt Smith 65K
13. Nicholas Caltabiaro 65K
14. Chase Kirchner 58K
15. Brad Rathbone 53K
16. Darrell Blaine New 52K
17. Dennis Frederick 49K
18. Greg Camberari 40K
19. Richard Besserman 22K
20. Sandra Billot 8K

1:30pm... Event #4 $500 Limit update: We're now on Level 3. Blinds are 50-75 with 75-150 limits.


Event #3 $1K NL Day 2 action
(Click on photo to enlarge)

2:00pm... Event #3 $1K NL update: Cards are in the air. 20 players remaining. We're on Level 13. Blinds are $3K/6K with $1K antes.

2:20pm... Event #3 $1K NL update: Five quick elimiantions in the first 15 minutes! There are 15 players remaining.

Recent Bustouts:
20. Rchard Besserman (Wantagh, NY) $1,700
19. Abraham Korotki (Ocean View, DE) $1,700
18. Darrell Blaine New (Ypsilanti, MI) $2,380
17. Dennis Frederick (Drexel Hill, PA) $2,380
16. Chase Kirchner (Moriches, NY) $2,380

Chase Kirchner - 16th place
2:30pm... Event #4 $500 Limit update: We're on Level 4. Blinds are 50-100 with 100-200 limits. Joe Orso has about 3K in chips. There are 34 tables left. Only one table has been broken since the even began.


Joe Orso playing in Event #4
3:20pm... Event #3 $1K NL update: There are nine players left. They went on a break before they redrew for seats.

Recent Bustouts:
15. Bran Rathbone (Williamstown, NJ) $3,400
14. Carlos J. Zambrano (Babylon, NY) $3,400
13. Brandon Barton (Vellejio, CA) $3,400
12. Nicholas Caltibiano (Syracuse, NY) $4,420
11. Matt Smith (Levittown, PA) $4,420
10. Sandra Billot (Spring, TX) $4,420

Sandra Billot (Spring, TX) - 10th place

Event #3 $1K NL Final Table Players inlcuding chip counts:
Seat 1: Jimmy Mitchell 249K
Seat 2: Sharif Wahba 166K
Seat 3: Craig Conway 31K
Seat 4: Vinod Vangimalla 139K
Seat 5: Rich Marshall 94K
Seat 6: Anthony Losardo 207K
Seat 7: Lance Turner 351K = chipleader
Seat 8: Greg Camberari 155K
Seat 9: Dan Weissman 302K

3:30pm... SNG Satellite Information: There are several SNGs you can play in to win vouchers to get into bigger events. In the ballroom the Borgata staff are running $65 + 15, $100 + 15, $150 + 20, $250 + 20, $500 + 30, and $1020 + 40 SNGs around the clock. You can win vouchers to buy into super satellites or to actual events. The SNGs pay out vouchers to the first place winner and usually 2nd and 3rd place win some cash. For example, $150 + 20 SNG pays out two $500 vouchers (or $1000) for first place while 2nd & 3rd win $250 in cash.

4:10pm... Event #3 $1K NL Final Table update: Craig Conway from Bloomfield, NJ was busted in 9th place when his A10 lost to Rich Marshall's A-Q. He won $6,800 for his efforts.


Craig Conway (Bloomfield, NJ) - 9th place
4:20pm... Event #3 $1K NL Final Table update: Players are curently on a break. Just before Sharif Wahba and his short stack doubled up with A-9 vs. 9-9. He flopped an ace. Jimmy Mitchell has 239K in chips, Dan Weissman has 300K, and Lance Turner has about 330K in chips.

4:45pm... Event #3 $1K NL Final Table update: Anthony Losardo from Wyckoff, NJ was eliminated in 8th place by Dan Weissman. On a flop of J-3-4, Weissman bet 20K and Losardo moved all in with Q-Q and Losardo quickly called with K-K. Losardo won $10,200 for 8th. Weissman is now the chipleader.


Anthony Losardo (Wyckoff, NJ) - 8th place
5:00pm... Event #3 $1K NL Final Table update: Greg Camberari doubled up with pocket aces against Dan Weissman's A-8.


Chipleader Dan Weissman
5:08pm... Event #4 $500 Limit update: 21 tables are left with about 208 players remaining.

5:15pm... Tipping Procedures: Just a friendly reminder that Atlantic City casinos do not automatically withhold a percentage of your winnings for a dealer's toke. Most Las Vegas casinos take a percentage off the top for the dealers. 3% to 5% is the standard dealer's tip.

5:20pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: Jimmy Mitchell from Atlantic City was eliminated in 7th place when his A-Qs lost to Shiraf Wahba's K-9s. Mitchell raised 38K preflop and Wahba moved all in. Mitchell quickly called. Wahba flopped a 9 and his hand held up. Jimmy Mitchell won $13,600.


Jimmy Mitchell (Atlantic City, NJ) - 7th place
5:30pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: Greg Camberari doubled up against Dan Weissman. On a board of 5-9-10, Weissman checked and Camberari moved all in. Weissman called with Q-J and an open ended straigth draw. Camberari semi-bluffed with K-Q and it held up.

6:00pm.... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: Sharif Wahba and Dan Weissman have been battling it out. Weissman had been steam rolling the table with his big stack and Wahba had been catching cards and pushing back against the table bully. He picked up several pots and built up his stack to almost 400K to Weissman's 450K. They both took a hit when they both doubled up the short stack Rich Marshall. He rivered a straight with 8-7o to triple up on a board of A-Q-9-5-6. Weissman won the side pot with A-6 against Wahba's A-J. Right now Weissman is back up to 500K.

6:30pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: Lance Turner doubled up with A-10 against Dan Weissman's Q-Q when he turned a straight on a board of 7-8-9-J-6. Then a few hands later, on a board of 10-8-8-J with two diamonds, Weissman bet out and Sharif Wahba moved all in. Weissman quickly called with K-K. Wahba flipped over Q-9 for a straight. His hand held up and he crippled Weissman in the biggest pot of the final table. Weissman has about 160K. We have a new chipleader. Sharif Wahba has over 600K.

6:45pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: Players are on a ten minute break.

Updated Chipcount:
1. Sharif Wahba 660K
2. Vinod Vangimalla 318K
3. Lance Turner 290K
4. Greg Camberari 152K
5. Dan Weissman 150K
6. Rich Marshall 125K

6:47pm... Event #4 $500 Limit update: 13 tables are left with about 126 players remaining. They are on their dinner break. I just saw a crazy hand where three players flopped sets! Set over set over set.

7:00pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: With a shortstack, Rich Marshall and his A-Q doubled up against Vinod Vangimalla's J-10. Dan Weissman moved all in with A-7. Sharif Wahba called with A-K and flopped a King. Wahba's hand held up and Weissman was busted in 6th place. He won $17,000. Wahba now has over 800K in chips.


Dan Weissman (Holland, PA) - 6th Place
7:18pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: Greg Camberari from Alexandria, VA was eliminated in 5th place when he moved all in with his shortstack and A-9s. He lost to Vinod Vangimalla's trip 8s. Greg Camberari won $20,400.


Greg Camberari (Alexandria, VA) - 5th Place
7:18pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: Sharif Wahba picked off a bluff from Vinod Vangimalla and now has over $1M in chips. The closest player has 250K.

7:45pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: Lance Turner doubled up with Q-Q against Sharif Wahba's 7-7. But that hit barely dented Wahba's million dollar stack.

Updated Chipcounts:
1. Sharif Wahba 1M
2. Lance Turner 290K
3. Rich Marshall 190K
4. Vinod Vangimalla 120K

8:00pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: Vinod Vangimalla amd Rich Marshall tangled on three hands in a row. Vinod and his K-9 doubled up against Rich Marshall's J-7. Two hands later they were both all in preflop. Vinod had A-5 and Marshall had Qh-4h. The board had 5 spades and none of them had a spade so they chopped. The next hand, Marshall doubled up with 8-6s vs. Vinod's A-4.

8:04pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: The two firends went at it. Rich Marshall and his K-7 cracked Lance Turner's Hilton Sisters when he rivered a King. Turner is the short stack and Marshall jumped up to second in chips.

8:09pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: Rich Marshall just doubled up against the chipleader Sharif Wahba when his A-K held up against A-10. Wahba flopped a 10, but Marshall turned a King to take the lead. He now has 600K. Say hello to our new chipleader Rich Marshall. Wahba slipped to second with about 500K.

8:13pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: Sharif Wahba from Ohio was eliminated in 4th place when he tried to bluff at a pot with 4-6. Rich Marshall had K-K and ended up winning with a full house with three Jack hit the flop. Wahba won $23,800.


Sharif Wahba (Parma, OH) - 4th place
8:16pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: Lance Turner was eliminated in 3rd place when his J-10 lost to Vinod's 8-10s. Vinod's flush sent Turner to the rail. He's good friends with Rich Marshall and the two North Carolina natives drove up to the Borgata together. Turner won $27,710 for third.


Lance Turner (Chapel Hill, NC) - 3rd Place
8:23pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: Vinod moved all in with K-3 and Rich Marshall called with A-8. Vinod flopped two pair and his hand held up. Vinod now has a 1.2M to a 700K chiplead.

8:37pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: After about 15 minutes of heads up play, they are both about even in chips.

8:37pm... Event #3 $1K NL final table update: Rich Marshall took a huge pot off of Vinod. His J-6s beat out Vinod's Q-8. They both moved all in on a flop of J-9-8. On the next hand, Vinod moved all in with J-2 and Marshall's 4-7s held up when he flopped a pair of fours. Vinod Vangimalla from Maryland won $57,120 for second place. He's friends with Billy Hill who took second plac in Event #1. Rich Marshall from Raleigh, NC won $103,700 and the cool Borgata bracelet. Congrats to both Rich and Vinod.


Vinod Vangimalla (Silver Springs, MD) - 2nd Place


Rich Marshall (Raleigh, NC)
Event #3 $1K NL Winner - $103,700
As I said before, Rich Marshall and his buddy Lance Turner drove up to the Borgata from North Carolina to play in a few events. Rich Marshall is a house painter by trade. They both hit a nice run at the craps table earlier this weekend and decided to use their winnings to buy into this event. The two friends started out as pool players and made a few bucks playing in random pool halls in North Carolina when they were younger. Over the last few years, they switched over to poker. Good thing they did. The two North Carolina guys made the same final table and both hung on despite being short stacked at some point, they came out on top. An amazing come from behind win from Rich Marshall.

11:01pm... Event #4 $500 Limit update: Players are on a break. There are six tables left with 59 players remaining. There will be two more levels of play tonight.

2:01am... Event #4 $500 Limit update: Play is over for tonight. There are 38 players left. The top 36 win prize money. Action will resume at 2pm on Tusday.

Event #4 End of Day 1 Chipcount:
1. Larry Lawson 59K
2. Matt Cherackal 58K
3. Eugene Ji 54K
4. Patrick Griffin 50.5K
5. Stephen Benton 48K
6. Elliot Burnham 46.5K
7. Tim Dalessandro 44.5K
7. Lee Biars 44.5K
7. Larry Milton 44.5K
10. Svetlana Gromenkova 44K

posted by Pauly at 1/23/2006 11:35:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Borgata Winter Open: Event #3 $1000 NL and Event #2 $750 NL Day 2 & Final Table

We're back in the ballroom for day three of the Winter Poker Open at the Borgata Hotel Spa & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Be sure to check out the Winter Poker Open tournament schedule as well as the Super Satellite schedule. The Super Satellites give you an opportunity to win tournament chips and even a seat into the $10K main event. The friendly staff here are also running single table satellites (for as low as $65) and there's a nightly second chance cash tournament starting at 11pm.

As soon as I walked onto the casino floor this morning, I was bombarded by the loud sounds of a slots jackpot that someone had won. Yeah, even at 11am, the Borgata was buzzing with excitement. I suppose that jubilation spilled over from last night. Saturday nights at the Borgata are always a wild one. Just ask Ravi Anand from New York City. He won his first ever live poker tournament and took home over $170K in Event #1 $500 NL.

Today we will be concluding Event #2 $750 NL. There are 38 players remaining out of 864, who are fighting it out for a prize pool of $648,000. Daniel Baldev finished up last night as the chipleader. He has 328K. First place will win almost $177K and the Top 81 places paid prize money. Event #2 will conclude at 2pm today.

Event #3 $1000 NL began at 11am today. 340 players registered in today's event hoping to survive the day and avoid brutal suck outs and river bad beats. First place should win around $100K. Event #3 is a two day tournament.

I will be covering two events today. They will be color coded to help you follow them.

Event #2 $750 NL Day 2 & Final Table = Red font
Event #3 $1000 NL Day 1 = Black font

***** Live Blogging Updates *****

11:05am... Event #3 $1000 NL update: Cards are in the air. Level 1 is $25/50 blinds. Players started with $5,000 in chips. Paul Darden, Arnold Spee, and Bill Blanda are a few of the 340 players who are in today's event. I also spotted Billy "Turtle" Hill in the tournament. He took 2nd last night int Event #1.

12:05pm... Event #3 $1000 NL update: We're now on Level 2. Blinds are $50/100. Arnold Spee had an early exit and has been eliminated.

1:00pm... Bouncin Round the Room: I just met two fans of the Tao of Poker. Mirza Nagji, a fellow New Yorker, is one of the 38 remaining players in Event #2. He and his buddy stopped by to chat. I'll keep tabs on him today.

1:15pm... Event #3 $1000 NL update: We're now on Level 3. Blinds are $75/150.

1:44pm... Event #3 $1000 NL update: There are about 250 players left on 25 tables.

2:00pm... Event #2 $750 NL update: Cards are in the air. We're on Level 13. Blinds are $3K/$6K with a $1K ante. The chipleader is Daniel Baldev with 328K. 38 players remaining.

Here are the official payouts for Event #2:
1. $176,968
2. $94,932
3. $51,840
4. $45,360
5. $38,880
6. $32,400
7. $25,920
8. $19,440
9. $12,960
10-12. $7,776
13-15. $5,832
16-18. $3,888
19-27. $3,240
28-36. $1,620
37-45. $1,426
26-51. $1,231
55-63. $1,167
64-81. $972

2:15pm... Event #3 $100 NL update: We're on Level 4. Blinds are $100/200.

2:30pm... Event #2 $750 NL update: Here are some pictures that I took from Event #2.


The final four tables


Mirza moves all in


Ezra "Bowtie" Teitelbaum - Started 8th in chips today


Rich Ruffman


Is Blaise Ingolia on tilt?

3:10pm... Event #2 $750 NL update: 28 players remain. We're on Level 14. Blinds are $4K/8K. Anes are $1K. Mirza has about 60K.

3:15pm... Event #3 $1000 NL update: 180 players are left on 18 tables. Players are on a break. When they come back we'll be on Level 5. Blinds are $200/400 with $25 antes.

3:45pm... Event #2 $750 NL update. We're down to 26 players and the action has been consolidated to three tables. Mirza was shortstacked and made a move in early position with A-3o. He moved all in and someone with A-K called him. Mirza was behind until the river when he spiked a 3. One of his table mates announced to that he mucked a 3, so Mirza nailed one of his two outs to double up. He has over 120K now.

Money Winners in Event #2 that were eliminated yesterday:
39. Matthew Falks $1,426
40. Michael Ciacciarelli $1,426
41. Brandon Barton $1,426
42. Hugh Wheeler $1,426
43. Brian Tarrant $1,426
44. Jay Jaffe $1,426
45. Steve Freifeld $1,426
46. Angelo Gionis $1,231
47. Justin Lunin-Pack $1,231
48. Jonathan Limbert $1,231
49. Erich Fischer $1,231
50. Tadevsz Bak $1,231
51. Deeangelo Seng $1,231
52. Matthew Brady $1,231
53. Gavin Agushi $1,231
54. Douglas Lauretano $1,231
55. Margat Singh $1,167
56. Howard Wolper $1,167
57. Lucas Binder $1,167
58. Jvinny Carchietta $1,167
59. Peter Grosso $1,167
60. Eric Bisdroff $1,167
61. Michael Kaneris $1,167
62. Louis Giele $1,167
63. James McGee $1,167
64. Gregory Katrogis $1,102
65. Ilya Ochakovsky $1,102
66. Scott Glaze $1,102
67. Arnold Spee $1,102
68. Pierre Sirois $1,102
69. Anthony Arcuri $1,102
70. Robert Gray $1,102
71. Alan Sansone $1,102
72. John Miraglia $1,102
73. James English $972
74. Daniel Mulhall $972
75. Anthony Argila $972
76. Salvatore Simeone $972
77. James Newton $972
78. Brett Shoop $972
79. Craig Reichard $972
80. Akio Ishige $972
81. David Goldberg $972

Here's who has been eliminated today:
38. Michael Kafka $1,426
37. Benjamin Gatzleo $1,426
36. John Malko, Jr. $1,620
35. Charles DeRosa $1,620
34. Ed Needham $1,620
33. Alan Findellow $1,620
32. Joe Schwartz $1,620
31. Armado Grabrielli $1,620
30. Theodore Goldberg $1,620
29. Paul Scatunro $1,620
28. Ezra "Bowtie" Teitelbaum $1,620
27. Michael Zelin $3,240

4:00pm... Event #3 $1K NL update: 150 players are left on 15 tables.

4:20pm... Event #2 $750 NL update: 19 players remain. Mirza has built up his stack to 160K. His 3-3 held up against a shortstack with A-Qs.

Recent Bustouts:
26. Edgar Collado $3,240
25. Anthony Casagrande $3,240
24. Damon Kaufman $3,240
23. Bart Seeman $3,240
22. Dipen Patel $3,240
21. Dean Schultz $3,240
20. Arthur Gabriel $3,240

5:00pm... Event #3 $1K NL update: 108 players remain on 11 tables. Action is gong fast.

5:30pm... Event #2 $750 NL update: 15 players are left on 2 tables.

Here's a list of recent bustouts:
19. Rob Siegal $3,240
18. Raymond DiDonado $3,888
17. David Sloane $3,888
16. Victor Johnson $3,888

6:00pm... Event #2 $750 NL update: 11 players remaining. New York City's Mirza Nagji busted out in 13th place when his 9-9 lost a race to Big Slick. He won $5,832 for his efforts. Frank Pasquale's A-Q lost to 8-9s and he was eliminated in 12th place.

Recent Eliminations:
15. Vincent Devita $5,832
14. Chance Ingeness $5,832
13. Mirza Nagji $5,832
12. Frank Pasquale $7,776

6:30pm... Event #3 $1K NL update: There are 79 players left on 8 tables. The action has been going fast in Level 6. Blinds are $300/600 with $50 antes.

6:45pm... Event #2 $750 NL update: Thomas O'Hara was eliminated in 11th place when his 10-10 ran into Sung Cho's Hilton Sisters. O'Hara won $7,776. The players redraw for seats at the final table. Michael Teich is the chipleader.

Final table seating and chip counts:
Seat 1: Kenny Schuyler 215K
Seat 2: Michael Hickman 453K
Seat 3: Blaise Ingoglia 250K
Seat 4: Daniel Baldev 492K
Seat 5: Michael Teich 657K = chipleader
Seat 6: Drew Russell 108K
Seat 7: Rick Ruffman 236K
Seat 8: John Yiovahakos 404K
Seat 9: Sung Cho 498K
Seat 10:Steve Cohen 280K

Event #2 final table

7:00pm... Event #3 $1K NL update: Players are on a dinner break. There are seven tables left.

7:40pm... Event #2: $750 NL final table update: After a short break, we had our first elimination. Drew Russell was eliminated in 10th place by Michael Teich. He won $7,776.

8:20pm... Event #2 $750 NL final table update: Kenny Schuyler busted out in 9th place when his Q-9 lost to Sung Cho's 8-8. He won $12,960. Michael Teich is the chipleader with 920K.

8:30pm... Bouncin Round the Room: Let's meet some of the people who are working hard to make the Borgata Winter Open run smoothly.

Tournament Director Tab Duchateau


Some of the Borgata's friendly floor staff: Ozzie & Byron
8:42pm... Event #2: $750 NL final table update: Rick Ruffman from Colts Neck, NJ was eliminated in 8th place when his A-9 lost to Michael Hickman's 7-7. Rick Ruffman won $19,440.

8:45pm... Event #3 $1K NL update: There are five tables remaining. We're on Level 9. Blinds are $800/1600 with $200 antes.

9:00pm... Event #2 $750 NL final table update: We're on Level 18. Blinds are $15K/$30K with $5K antes. Seven players are still remaining. Michael Teich is still the chipleader. He almost has $1M.

9:30pm... Event #2 $750 NL final table update: Blaise Ingoglia from Spring Hill, FL was eliminated in 7th place when his K-J ended up dominated by Michael Hickman's K-Q. Blaise Ingoglia won $25,920. John Yiovahakos from Norwalk, CT had been the shortstack and survived a few all in attempts. His 7-7 lost to Sung Cho's pocket Queens. John Yiovahakos won $32,400.

Here's an updated chipcount:
1 Michael Hickman 1.02M
2 Michael Teich 760K
3 Daniel Baldev 590K
4 Sung Cho 570K
5 Steve Cohen 450K

9:45pm... Event #3 $1K NL update: 38 players remain on 4 tables. We're on Level 10. Blinds are $1K/2K with $300 antes.

10:00pm... Event #2 $750 NL final table update: Daniel Baldev from Hillsboro, NJ was eliminated in 5th place. He moved all in with 9-9 and a shortstack. All four other players flat called and checked it all the way down to the river. Steve Cohen won with two pair Aces and sixes. Daniel Baldev won $38,880. Sung Cho has 1.3M in chips. Hickman and Cohen have 850K each and Teich is the shortstack with 390K.


Daniel Baldev - 5th place
10:30pm... Event #3 $1K NL update: 34 players are left on 4 tables.

10:35pm... Event #2 $750 NL Final Table update: Michael Teich doubled up with A-8 versus Sung cho's J-J. Tiech flopped two pair and now had over 700K.

10:39pm... Event #2 $750 NL Final Table update: Blinds are now $30K/60K with a 10K ante. Michael Teich from Chappaqua, NY was eliminated in 4th place. Michael Hickman raised on the button with K-Qs. Teich moved all in with pocket tens and was outflopped when a Queen hit. Hickman's hand held up and Teich won $45,360 and will promptly party it up with his neighbor Bill Clinton upon his arrival back home. There are now three players left.

Meet the Final 3 in Event #2:


Sung "The Cooler" Cho (left), Michael Hickman (center), and Steve Cohen (right)

10:46pm... Event #2 $750 NL Final Table update: Steve Cohen doubled up against Michael Hickman when he flopped two pair with 10-8s against A-4s.

11:00pm... Event #2 $750 NL Final Table update: Sung "The Cooler" Cho from Fort Lee, NJ was busted in 3rd place by Michael Hickman. On a board of Q-8-6, Hickman bet out for 200K. Sung moved all with K-8 and second pair. Hickman quickly called with Q-7. Hickman's hand held up and Sung Cho was eliminated. Cho won $51,840. We're now heads up between Michael Hickman and Steve Cohen are heads up and fighting it out for a $176,968 first place prize and the coveted bracelet. Hickman holds a slim chiplead 1.85M to 1.69M.

11:15pm... Event #2 $750 NL Final Table update: After five minutes of heads up play, we have a champion. On a board of J-J-J-5-7, both players moved all in on the river with full houses. Steve Cohen had 5-3 and Michael Hickman showed 4-7 for a bigger boat. Cohen from New York City won $94,932 for second place. Michael Hickman from Media, PA won $176,968 and the bracelet. Congrats to Michael!


Michael Hickman (Media, PA) - Event #2 $750 NL Champion - $176,968


Tom Bates presents Michael Hickman the bracelet
Michael Hickman is a project manager for a construction company. This is his 5th major tournament. He played in the 2005 WSOP main event and made the final table at the WSOP circuit event at Harrah's one year ago. He was busted in 8th by a brutal suckout and feels vindication with this victory. He's strictly a live NL cash game player and loves playing in tournaments.

"I wouldn't have come if I didn't think I had a shot of winning," he confidently said as he showed off his new bracelet to his friends.

Congrats again to Michael Hickman!

Event #2 $750 NL Top 10 Results:
1. Michael Hickman (Media, PA) $176,958
2. Steve Cohen (New York, NY) $94,932
3. Sung Cho (Fort Lee, NJ ) $51,840
4. Michael Teich (Chappaqua, NY ) $45,360
5. Daniel Baldev (Hillsboro, NJ) $38,880
6. John Yiovahakos (Norwalk, CT) $32,400
7. Blaise Ingoglia (Spring Hill, FL) $25,920
8. Rick Ruffman (Colts Neck, NJ) $19,440
9. Kenny Schuyler (Long Branch, NJ) $12,960
10. Drew Russell (Smithtown, NY ) $7,776

12:01am... Event #3 $1k NL update: We're down to three tables. 29 players left. The top 36 players will win prize money.

Here's a payout list for Event #3 $1K NL:
1. $103,700
2. $57,210
3. $27,710
4. $23,800
5. $20,400
6. $17,000
7. $13,600
8. $10,200
9. $6,800
10-12. $4,420
13-15. $3,400
16-18. $2,380
19-27. $1,700
28-36. $1,530

1:07am... Event #3 $1K NL update: 20 players are left on 3 tables. We have about 33 minutes left of play tonight.

Here's who made the money in Event #3:
36. Stephen Benton $1,530
35. Bartholomew Simpson $1,530
34. Dick Carson $1,530
33. Stephen Ross $1,530
32. Randy Lowert $1,530
31. Anthony Brigandi $1,530
30. Charles Goldhammer $1,530
29. V.Eyzeriwvich $1,530
28. Brian Hollywood $1,530
27. Brian Haveson $1,700
26. John Hockbart $1,700
25. Eugene K. Ji $1,700
24. Douglas Dickson $1,700
23. Andrew Palmer $1,700
22. Saul Brooks $1,700
21.George Mullen $1,700

2:00am... Event #3 $1K NL update: Play has been suspended for today. There are 20 players remaining. The chipleader is Dan Weissman with $221K. Action will resume at 2pm.

End of Day 1 Chipcounts for Event #3:
1. Dan Weissman 221,000
2. Jimmy Mitchell 202,000
3. Anthony Losardo 157,000
4. Abraham Korotki 108,000
5. Lance Turner 102,000
6. Richard Marshall 98,000
7. Bandon Barton 95,000
8. Vinod Vangimalla 87,000
9. Sharif Wahba 85,000
10. Craig Conway 74,000
11. Carlos Zambrano 68,000
12. Matt Smith 65,000
13. Nicholas Caltabiaro 65,000
14. Chase Kirchner 58,000
15. Brad Rathbone 53,000
16. Darrell Blaine New 52,000
17. Dennis Frederick 49,000
18. Greg Camberari 40,000
19. Richard Besserman 22,000
20. Sandra Billot 8,000

posted by Pauly at 1/22/2006 12:00:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Borgata Winter Open: Event #2 $750 NL and Event #1 $500 NL Day 2 & Final Table

I'm back here in the ballroom of the Borgata Hotel Spa and Casino in Atlantic City on a Saturday morning providing coverage of the Borgata Winter Poker Open. It's January in the Northeast, but it certainly doesn't feel like the brutal winter with the unseasonable balmy temperatures. The action has been heating up inside the Borgata as well as the ballroom was crowded with tournament players and spectators.

After a tough 16.5 hour first day of the inaugural Borgata Winter Open, action got off to an amazing start with over 1319 entrants for their first event. Dennis Scanlon ended Day 1 of Event #1 $500 NL with $227,500 in chips and will be fighting it out with 40 other players for a $171,944 first place prize. The top 100 players were paid out in Event #1.

Be sure to check out the super satellite schedule, and you can figure out when you can play in a satellite for the $10K main event or the $300 "Second Chance" tournament.

Today, I will be covering two events. Event #1 starts at 2pm. The updates will be color coded to help you follow a particular event a little bit easier.

Event #1 $500 NL Day 2 & Final Table = Black Font
Event #2 $750 NL Day 1 = Red Font

***** Live Blogging Update *****

11:20am... Event #2 update:Cards are in the air for Event #2 $750 NL. There are 864 players in the event including alternates. Players started with $4000 in tournament chips. Level 1 began with $25/$50 blinds and all levels are one hour in length.

12:20pm... Event #2 update: Level 2 started with blinds $50/$100.

1:35pm... Event #2 update: Level 3 has begun. Blinds are $75/150.

1:45pm... Event #2 update: Random Picture dump! These photos of Event #2 were taken by Borgata's event photographer Michael McRath. You can click on each of the photos to enlarge.


Steve Zoine (2005 WSOP $5K NL runner-up)


"Ellaspapi" from Brooklyn, NY


Nice bow-tie!




2:00pm... Event #1 update: Action is underway. There are 40 players remaining. Nick Frangos is still alive. He has $51,500 in chips. Dennis Scanlon is the chipleader. We're on Level 13. Blinds are $3K/6K with a $1K ante.

Event #1 End of Day 1 Chipcounts:
1. Dennis Scanlon 227,500
2. Carlos Ochoa 222,000
3. Anand Ravinderjit 203,000
4. Kenny Elazzeh 178,500
5. Jason Hickey 163,000
6. John DiSandro 160,500
7. Thomas Dale 156,500
8. Albert Frampton 156,000
9. Fatmir Cukovic 151,000
10. David Figgs 147,500

3:13pm... Event #1 update: We're on Level 14. Blinds are $4K/8K with a 1K ante. There are 28 players remaining on 3 tables. The five shortstacks that started today are still alive. Here's a list of bust outs:

The following players won $1,323:
40. Scott Lang
39. Gabriel Constanzo
38. William Braden
37. Kenny Elazzeh

The following players won $1,588:
36. Michael Klarman
35. Greg Monaldi
34. Daniel Tilipman
33. Douglas Rosen
32. Vincent Rappa
31. Frank Williams
30. Steven McNally

3:20pm... A few friends of mine are at the Borgata playing in the poker room. AlCantHang, EvaCanHang, Landow, -EV, and Helixx all stopped by to say hello.

3:30pm... Event #2 update: There are 490 players remaining on 49 tables. They are currently on Level 5. Blinds are $200/$400 with $25 antes.

3:45pm... Bouncin Round the Room: The Borgata Casino is as crowded as I have ever seen it. Saturdays are give-away days and this week the Borgata is giving away Wolfgang Puck's pots and pans. The poker room and the ballroom are both packed with players and spectators. Satellites just began in the ballroom.

4:00pm... Event #1 update: There are 23 players left on 3 tables. Here are recent eliminations, which included end of day 1 chipleader Dennis Scanlon:

The following player won $1,588:
29. Robert Fetzko
28. Dennis Scanlon

The following players won $3,308:
27. Fatmir Cukovic
26. Thomas Dale
25. Robert Bergamino
24. Nick Frangos

Day 1 chipleader Dennis Scanlon = 28th place


Nick Frangos = 24th place
4:20pm... Event #2 update: Players just returned from a break. They are currently on Level 6 with $300/$600 blinds and $50 ante.

4:30pm... Event #1 update: Players are currently on a break. 21 are left. Bill Towle busted in 23rd place. When they return, we'll be at Level 15. Blinds are $6K/$12K with $2K antes.

5:30pm... Event #1 update: There are 17 players remaining. I watched as Joe Caputo was busted by pocket aces. He had 7-7 and although he flopped a set, his opponent flopped a set of aces! We're now at Level 16 with $8K/16K blinds and 2K antes. Here are some recent bustouts:

The following players won $3,308:
23. Bill Towle
22. Daniel Saldana
21. Pedro Vicente
20. Justin Terranova
19. Matthew Gambino

The following player won $3,969:
18. Joe Caputo

6:25pm... Event #2 update: There are 24 tables and approximately 239 players remaining. We're now on Level 7. Blinds are $400/800 with $75 antes. After this level, players will be going on a dinner break.

6:30pm... Event #1 update: There are 13 players left. David Figgs was eliminated in 17th place when his K-K ran into a flush. Eric Weinstein ran into A-A when he had J-J.

The following players won $3,969:
17. David Figgs
16. Eric Weinstein

The following players won $5,954:
15. Frank Vecchio
14. Al Frampton

6:45pm... Event #1 update: Players are currently on a break. There are 12 players remaining. With a shortstack Richard Hall was eliminated in 13th place when his A-K lost to 8-7o.

7:30pm... Event #2 update: Players are on their dinner break and will return around 8:30pm. There are about 180 players remaining.

7:45pm... Event #1 update: Players have returned from a break. There are 12 remaining. Thanks to Sharla from Poker Pages for the chip count!

1. Anand "Ravi" Ravinderjilt 716K
2. Johnny Green 505K
3. Anthony Hill 320K
4. William Farilla 318K
5. Jason Hikey 285K
6. Dennis Levi 280K
7. Vincent Procopio 265K
8. John DiSandro 91K
9. Rohn Schufsky 91K
10. Lisa Pickell 62K
11. Carlos Ocha 50K
12. William Hill 48K

Ravi - Event #1 chipleader

8:00pm... Event #1 update: Carlos Ochoa was elimianted in 12th place. He was short stacked and his weak ace lost to 6-6. A few hands earlier, he doubled up a short stack when his 10-10 lost a race to A-K. He won $7,938 for his efforts.

8:15pm... Event #1 update: John DiSandro was busted in 11th place when his 10-10 lost to K-7o. He won $7,938. Lisa Pickell, who won a WSOP event at the Showboat in December, took 10th place. She was elimianted when she pushed with her shortstack. Her A-5 ran into the Hilton Sisters. She won $7,938. She was also the female who lasted the longest. There are nine players remaining.

8:30pm.... Event #2 update: Players are returning from a break. Level 8. Blinds are $600/1200 with $100 antes. Dealers are using a green deck. There are 170 players remaining. Paul Darden and Arnold Spee are still in the mix.

9:00pm... Event #1 update: William Farilla was busted in 9th. He won $13,561. Rohn Schufsky finished in 8th place. He won $19,845. Vincent Procopio busted out in 7th when his A-J lost to K-Q. He won $26,460. Dennis Levi took 6th and won $33,075. There are five players remaining.


Lisa Pickell - 10th Place
9:35pm... Event #2 update: Paul "The Truth" Darden was just busted.

9:45pm... Event #1 update: Players just went on a 15 minute break. There are five players still left. Ravi lost the chip lead to Anothony Hill, who then ran over the table and built up his stack to around 2M. Johnny Green was the shortstack at the final table and stormed back. He doubled up a few times and now his stack is over $450K. He picked up a big pot when his 9-9 held up against Ravi's Q-8.

Updated (approximate) chipcounts:
1. Anthony Hill 1.9M
2. Jason Hickey 660K
3. Ravi Anand 650K
4. Johnny Green 450K
5. Billy Hill 250K

10:30pm... Event #1 update: Billy Hill played very aggressive after the break. He moved all in preflop three times in the first orbit and picked up several pots. The final five players were good and solid. They didn't make any mistakes. Johnny Green was busted when his A-Q lost to Billy Hill's 10-9. Green moved all in preflop. And Billy Hill called and flopped trips. His hand held up and Johnny Green was eliminated in 5th place and won $39,690.

10:35pm... Event #1 update: Ravi flopped two pair with 7-3 and beat out Jason Hickey's 10-3. Hickey took 4th place and won $46,305.

Here's an updated chip count:
1. Ravi 1.47M
2. Anthony Hill 1.43M
3. Billy Hill 960K

The Final 3: Ravi, Anthony Hill (center), and Billy Hill (far left)
10:57pm... Event #1 update: On the river, Ravi bluffed at a pot with ace high on a 200K bet. Billy Hill sniffed out the bluff and won with a 6-3s and a pair of threes. Billy Hill moved up to 2.2M, Anthony Hill has 1M, and Ravi slipped to 800K.

11:05pm... Event #1 update: Blinds are going up to $30/60K blinds and 10K antes.

11:08pm... Event #1 update: On the button, Anthony Hill raised with K-K. Billy Hill called in the LB with J-6 and Ravi moved all in with A-J. Both Anthony and Billy called. Bolly picked up a straight draw on the flop, but Ravi turned an ace to triple up. He no has about 1.5M. Anthony was crippled.

11:12pm... Event #1 update: Ravi busted Anthony Hill. Ravi's J-J held up against 4-4. Anthony Hill won $52,920 for third place. Ravi is now dancing around and listening to his iPod. Billy Hill's friends from Maryland are all on the rail cheering him on and calling him "Turtle." We're now heads up. And the chipcount is about even with Ravi leading about 2.1M to 2M.

11:30pm... Event #1 update: After about 10 minutes of heads up play, Ravi crippled Billy Hill. Ravi raised 700K and Billy moved all in over the top. Ravi quickly called with 10-10. Ravi flipped over K-K and they held up. Billy had just 30K remaining and was all in on the next hand. he doubled up but lost on the next hand when his J-9 lost to Ravi's 8-8. Billy Hill won $91,155. Ravi Anand picked up the bracelet and $171,944 for first place. He told me that helikes to be referred to as the "Saint Solider." Congrats to Ravi and Billy. The first event has come to a close after over 20 hours of play.


Ravi Anand - Event #1 $500 NL Winner - $171,944
Ravi and his twin brother are from New York City. Ravi's brother bought him a poker table on eBay. They don't have much furniture, but they have a poker table. Ravi is a newcomer to the game and has only been playing for five months. His best friend introduced him to poker and he's been hooked ever since. This is Ravi's first ever live tournament. Amazing story!

Here are the Top 10 Finishers for Event #1:
1. Ravi Anand $171,944
2. Will "Billy" Hill $91,155
3. Anthony Hill $52,930
4. Jason Hickey $46,305
5. Johnny Green $39,690
6. Dennis Levi $33,075
7. Vincent Procopio $26,460
8. Rohn Schufsky $19,845
9. William Farilla $13,561
10. Lisa Pickell $7,938

1:00am... Event #2 update: We're still on Level 11. There are 50 players remaining. We'll be playing until Level 12 or around 2:30am. The top 81 places paid proze money out of 864 entrants. The total prize pool for Event #2 is $648,00.

Here are the official payouts for Event #2:
1. $176,968
2. $94,932
3. $51,840
4. $45,360
5. $38,880
6. $32,400
7. $25,920
8. $19,440
9. $12,960
10-12. $7,776
13-15. $5,832
16-18. $3,888
19-27. $3,240
28-36. $1,620
37-45. $1,426
26-51. $1,231
55-63. $1,167
64-81. $972

1:25am... Event #2 update: There are 44 players remaining. We're on Level 12. Blinds are now $2K/4K with a $500 ante. This is the last level for tonight.

3:00 am... Event #2 update: Action is over for today and will resumme at 2pm on Sunday. There are 38 players left on 4 tables.

Event #2 End of Day 1 - Top 10 chipcounts:
1. Daniel Baldev 328,000
2. Victor Johnson 222,000
3. Rob Siegal 182,500
4. Michael Hickman 167,500
5. Kenny Schuyler 154,000
6. Dipen Patel 153,000
7. Steve Cohen 146,500
8. Ezra Teitelbaum 143,000
9. Sung Cho 136,000
10. Anthony Scott 117,500

posted by Pauly at 1/21/2006 11:02:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Borgata Winter Open - Event #1 $500 NL Day 1

Welcome to the official live blog of the Borgata Winter Open. The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey will be hosting a series of winter poker tournaments running over the next two weeks.

Last September, the Borgata hosted the largest ever poker tournament in Atlantic City called the WPT Borgata Open main event, which was won by Al Ardebelli who took home almost $1.5 million.

There's a special twist to the Borgata Winter Open. The Borgata will be giving away not one, but two fully loaded 2006 Cadillac Escalades. I hear that the ticket value is around $70K. One of the lucky participants in the first eight events will take home one of the Escalades. The first place winner of the main event will win the second Escalade. Not too bad especially since the main event champion will win at least $1 million (depending on number of entrants) and a $25K seat in the WPT Championships at the Bellagio in April.

For the next two weeks the Borgata will be the epicenter for poker on the East Coast. Check back frequently for updates and results. For a complete list of events visit the 2006 Borgata Winter Open Schedule.

The tournament will be taking place in the ballroom upstairs on the second floor with some spill over happening in the actual poker room. Stop by and check out the action. The ballroom has 70 tables and the poker room contains 34.

I arrived yesterday and the Borgata put me up for two weeks in one of their luxurious rooms, along with free meals. I couldn't sleep last night so I headed downstairs to play some cards. That's the best aspect of living in a casino. You can always find something to do to cure your insomnia. I played some NL in the poker room and ended up down $20 before I crashed around 3 A.M.

***** Live Blogging Updates *****

11:05am... Cards are in the air. Event #1 $500 NL is sold out! It will be a two day event. There are at least 1,160 participants (as of now) with alternates. Players start with $3,000 in tournament chips. Levels are 60 minutes in length. Click here to read the blind levels and structure for Event #1. Stay tuned for more information.

11:10am... A few Borgata employees told me they have never seen the place so crowded. The registration line wrapped around the corner and the entire casino was buzzing with an influx of poker players.

11:58am... Photo dump! Here are a few pictures that I took already. You can click on the photos to enlarge them.


A glimpse of the tournament area in the ballroom


Here's an early all-in...


Another view of the Event #1

1:10pm... Players are on a 15 minute break after the second level completed. We have an unconfirmed number with 1319 entrants, which includes over 200 alternates. This numbers are not 100% accurate, but as soon as the info comes available, I'll post it along with today's payout structure. The ballroom filled their 70 tables and every single one of the 34 tables in the poker room were also packed with players. There was some confusion this morning with the overwhelming rush of people trying to sign up. If you intend on playing in future events, I suggest that you get here several hours early or register the day before your event.

1:30pm... Level 3 is underway. Blinds are $75/$150. Some notable players in attendance today include Arnold Spee, 2005 WPT Borgata Open Champion Al Ardebili, Syracuse Chris Tsiprailidis, and Tony Licastro.

2:00pm... Several of the tables have been cleared already as players have been getting busted at a quick pace. There are about 90+ tables left or roughly 900+ players.

2:15pm... Player Spotlight: Chris Reslock. One of the more popular players in the event today is Chris Reslock, an Atlantic City resident who had an amazing 2004. He's a 52-years old and married with three kids. He started playing poker on the side in the late 1990s to make some extra money. In a ten day span last month, the former tax driver took first and second in two major Atlantic City tournaments.

Reslock won the $10K circuit WSOP event at the Showboat in Atlantic City in December. He beat John Juanda in a marathon heads up session that lasted until the wee hours of the morning. The final table also included 2005 WPT Foxwoods Champion Nick "TheTakeover" Shulman. He also took second place at the US Poker Championships at the Taj Mahal. He won almost $500K in to weeks! Since 2000, he's won six tournaments and made a name for himself as one of the tougher tournament players in Atlantic City. He's also a cash game player and can be found playing middle and higher limits in many of the local casinos including the Borgata.

2:30pm... We're on Level 4 with $100/$200 blinds. There's an Arnold Spee sighting here in the ballroom.

3:00pm... Bouncin Round the Room: In the smoky hallway, I heard one kid complain about getting his Hilton Sisters cracked in between heavy puffs on a cigarette, "I had my pocket Queens cracked by A-J. The flop had two aces on it." Random Borgata Babes are in the ballroom signing autographs of their calendar and the line to talk to them is longer than the line at the men's bathroom.

3:30pm... Players are on a break. Tournament directors are going to move all the players on tables in the poker room, upstairs so the entire field will be in the ballroom, freeing up space in the poker room for cash games and satellites.

3:56pm... After a minor delay trying to get all the tables consolidated, action has resumed with over 600 players left on 60 tables. Cards are back the air. We're at Level 5 with $200/$400 blinds and a $25 ante.

4:00pm... Tournament Details Update: The top 100 places will get paid prize money. There were around 1320 entrants who bought in today and first place will win 26% of the prize pool or roughly $170,000. That's not a bad payday for a $500 tournament.

5:00pm... The ballroom is packed with Event #1 participants, single table satellite players, and the satellite which will begin at 6pm. Players are on Level 6 in Event #1. Blinds are $300/600 with a $50 ante.

5:30pm... If you don't know, tournament players are eligible for reduced room rates at the Borgata. You have to present your tournament buy-in receipt (minimum of $500) at the hotel front desk to receive this special rate. Special room rates are for tournament players only. Rates are valid between today and 2.2/2006. Based on availability.

Special room rates for tournament players:
Sunday - Thursday: starting $109 per night
Friday 1/20/06: starting $179 per night
Friday 1/27/06: starting $129 per night
Saturday 1/28/06: starting $129 per night

For room reservations call 1.866.MY BORGATA

6:00pm... Level 7. Blinds are $400/800 with $75 antes. 270 players are left on 27 tables. Over 1,000 players have been eliminated, so the action is moving fast. At the end of this level, players will go on a one hour dinner break.

7:00pm... Players are currently on a dinner break. There's a confirmed Al Krux sighting here in the ballroom.

8:00pm... Players have returned and we're on Level 8. Blinds are $600/1200 with $100 antes. There are approximately 230 players remaining on 23 tables. Action will stop at the conclusion of Level 12.

8:30pm... We have an unconfirmed list of payouts. The top 100 places will get paid out of 1319 entrants and a $659K prize pool.

Event #1 Payouts:
1. $171,944
2. $91,155
3. $52,920
4. $46,305
5. $39,690
6. $33,075
7. $26,460
8. $19,835
9. $13,561
10-12. $7,938
13-15. $5,954
16-18. $3,969
19-27. $3,308
28-36. $1,588
37-45. $1,323
46-54. $1,191
55-63. $1,059
64-100. $993

9:15pm... We're now on Level 9. Blinds are $800/$1600 with $200 antes. There are approxiamtely 165+ on 17 tables.

9:42pm... We have 148 players remaining on 15 tables. We are just 48 players until the money!

10:20pm... We're on Level 10. Blinds are $1K/2K with a $300 ante.

10:30pm... I had a long talk with Tom Dwyer from GoAllin.com. He's a long time fan and it was good to chat with him for a while. He played in a few sats today.

10:45pm... There are 11 tables remaining. We're very close to the bubble. Play is now hand-for-hand.

11:20pm... There are 101 players left. We have officially reached the money bubble.

11:33pm... The bubble has burst! All remaining 100 players have made the money. They will win at least $993 for their hard work today.

11:45pm... 15 minutes are remaining in Level 10. Quote of the Day from a random player: "Are there any more tournaments beginning tonight where I can get sucked out on again?"

11:52pm... Here's another picture dump. I took these in the last 15 minutes.


The staredown


Nice stack


Have a Coke and a smile!


The flop got a lot of action


Timer for Event #1

12:01am... Level 10 is over and players are on a thirty minute break.

12:40am... We're on Level 11. Blinds are $1500/300 with a $500 ante. We will be playing two more levels tonight before play is suspended.

1:15am... There are 69 players remaining on 7 tables.

1:38am... There are 59 players remaining.

1:45am... We're on Level 12, the last level of the night. Blinds are $2K/$4K with $500 ante.

2:05am... There are 5 tables left with 49 players still in the hunt.

2:30am... Congrats to fellow poker blogger Ryan from Absinthe's Troubles who just won the first event of the LA Poker Classic at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. Way to go, dude!!

2:50am... Play is done for today. There are 4 tables left with 40 players remaining. Play for Event # 2will resume at 2pm. Dennis Scanlon who is playing in his first live multi-table tournament ended Day 1 as the chipleader. Here are the top 10 chipleaders:

Event #1 End of Day 1 Chipcounts:
1. Dennis Scanlon 227,500
2. Carlos Ochoa 222,000
3. Ravi Nderjit Anand 203,000
4. Kenny Elazzeh 178,500
5. Jason Hickey 163,000
6. John DiSandro 160,500
7. Thomas Dale 156,500
8. Albert Frampton 156,000
9. Fatmir Cukovic 151,000
10. David Figgs 147,500

Event #2 starts on Saturday at 11AM. See ya tomorrow.
posted by Pauly at 1/20/2006 11:13:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Borgata Winter Open Schedule

Today is the first day of the Borgata Winter Open at the lovely Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. Check back over the next two weeks for hourly Borgata Winter Open updates.

The Borgata Winter Open is a series of 10 tournaments. All but one are No Limit, including a $300 Ladies Only NL event and the $10K main event championship which is a stop on the World Poker Tour.

Here's the schedule for the 2006 Borgata Winter Open:

Event #1: NL
Buy-in: $500 + $60
Friday Jan 20, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event #2: NL
Buy-in: $750 + $60
Saturday Jan 21, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event # 3: NL
Buy-in: $1000 + $80
Sunday Jan 22, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event #4: Limit
Buy-in: $500 + $60
Monday Jan 23, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event #5: NL
Buy-in: $1000 + $80
Tuesday Jan 24, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event #6: NL
Buy-in: $1,500 + $100
Wednesday Jan 25, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event # 7: Ladies' Only NL Hold'em
Buy-in: $300 + 40
Thursday Jan 26, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event #8: NL
Buy-in: $2,500 + $150
Friday Jan 27, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event #9: Borgata Winter Open Championship NL
Buy-in: $9,700 + $300
Sunday Jan 29, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event # 10: NL
Buy-in: $500 + $60M
Monday Jan 30, 2006 @ 12 PM

The Borgata is running SNG satellites for various events. Check their site or the poker room for more info. Best of luck to everyone playing in any of these events.
posted by Pauly at 1/20/2006 09:49:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Silver Pauly and On the Road

The Nerd is at double Platinum (20K) right now on Poker Stars. So I feel extremely inadequate with SilverStar status. Alas, I'll take it. I reached 1500 VIP points around Tuesday night. I don't think I can make it to Gold (4K VIP), especially with work this week.


Congrats to Bad Blood who won Wil Wheaton's Tuesday tourney on Poker Stars. Also, congrats to facty for winning a MTT on Full Tilt. Lastly congrats to Chris Fargis from 21 Outs who won a Triple Draw WSOP circuit event in Tunica!

Don't forget the WPBT HORSE tourney on Full Tilt on Friday night.

A bum was pandhandling on the corner of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue (click link to see a pic). I gave the guy $2, then I won $200 on Poker Stars. Coincidence? Yesterday I didn't hand out $1 bills to homeless people and I lost. Hmmmm.... I spot a trend here.

I'm heading to Atlantic City one day early hope to get some table time at the Borgata. First event starts on Friday. See you there.


Recent Update!!

5:44pm... I arrived in Atlantic City before around 11AM and played a few hours of poker. I won $8 playing $6/$12. I checked into my room on the 40th floor. The view is spectacular with the ocean and all the boardwalk casinos all in front of me. The Borgata treats their employees/contractors very well. I also have a free pass to the empolyees dining area. Free food. The black forrest cake rocked. Work is done for today and I'll be back around 11 AM on Friday for hourly live blogging updates.
posted by Pauly at 1/19/2006 07:56:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Pot Limit Omaha Tips Part 1

Early last year, I read Championship Omaha by T.J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy. My goal was to improve my Omaha 8 game and they penned a very strong section featured in the first 100 pages of Championship Omaha. The next 50 pages were dedicated to Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) and naturally I read it. I started playing PLO shortly after. It was a new game for me. I had played Limit Omaha High, but never PLO. I played Pot Limit Hold'em a few times at the Blue Parrot and in AlCantHang's homegame, but never PLO. I gave it a try and was hooked. On a simple $25 buy-in PLO on Party Poker, it was not uncommon to see people with $150-200 stacks inside of an orbit. The pots were 3 and 4 times bigger than the NL tables I had been playing on.

PLO is an action game and reminded me more like chess than any of the other versions of poker. You are constantly anticipating several moves ahead and implied pot odds and redraws. When are you ever going to muck the nuts after you flopped it? Only in PLO can you have the nuts and be a major underdog.

I played a lot of PLO late nights online when I lived in Las Vegas at the Redneck Riviera. At the WSOP I met a lot of Europeans, both pros and members of the press, who played PLO and they gave me several pointers. Some of the best PLO players in the world were Europeans and I was lucky that I could pick their brains.

When I started my losing streak in November I began playing PLO on Poker Stars to mix things up. I played too many hands and got lucky mostly. Alas, I reread Championship Omaha and tightened up significantly. I'm also folding more on the flop and never slowplaying. Anyway, I figured that I'd share some basic Pot Limit Omaha cash game tips with you. I'm pretty much going to be paraphrasing Cloutier & McEvoy since they know PLO a tad better than me. These tips are for beginner players.


Starting Hands

The best hand in PLO is A-J-A-10 double suited, not A-K-A-K double suited. The reason is because you can make a straight both ways with the J-10.

Other premium hands include:

• Double suited aces and connectors like As-8s-Ad-9d.
• A-A-K-K and aces with other big pairs like A-A-J-J
• Hands with four connecting cards like Q-J-10-9
• Two aces with unsuited connectors like A-A-J-9
• Two Kings with connectors K-K-J-10

Generally, I always folded three or more suited cards unless they are A-K-Q-J, which I seem to get a lot. I'll play two aces with three suited cards, but that's the exception.

Avoid playing danglers. "Any hand that has three or more gaps in it, then the fourth card is a dangler," explains Cloutier. A hand like K-K-Q-6 is a hand you should muck. Hands like Q-J-10-6 look good at first, but will get you in trouble. Unless your dangler is suited to your ace, it's not going to help your hand.


Size Matters

In PLO if you raise, it should always be the size of the pot. In Pot Limit Hold'em you can build pots preflop and post-flop and trap players more often. You have to avoid doing that in PLO. You have to protect your hand at all times, especially when you know you have the nuts or best hand at the moment.

Against bad players or newbies to PLO, you will often see them underbet the pot on the flop or turn. That's usually a tell that they have the nuts and are trying to get action. That's why you have to keep the size of your best universal so no one can put a read on you.

Never ever slowplay, unless you flop quads. That's the only exception.


Playing Sets

It's hard for me to fold a set in No Limit or Limit Hold'em cash game. But in PLO, a set is a fickle hand. More often than not, flushes and straights are going to win. And unless you pair the board and fill up your boat, you will probably lose a lot of money.

If you flop top set, then bet the pot and find one or more callers, you're toast. Unless you have unconnected rainbow flop like K-8-3, your K-K is still vulnerable to a flush/straight redraw on the turn. That's why you can't slow play and have to jam the pot with your top sets. If you flop top set on a suited or connected board like: Kd-Qc-3d, you might be in a lot of trouble if anyone gives you action. Some of the toughest decisions you'll have to make in PLO is folding the nuts on the flop and even mucking top set.

Beware of flopping second and bottom set. I've lost a lot of money running into bigger sets and boats. Bottom set is a hand you want to throw away in a multi-way pot. Even if you are heads up with someone, you have a vulnerable hand. I make most of my money on people overplaying bottom and middle sets.

I've flopped top set before and lost to a guy who caught quads on the river after he flopped bottom set. I've also lost to hundreds of draws that hit. Unless you have a redraw to bolster the strength of your set, you have to accept the fact that you have to muck.


I'm running out of time, so I'll return with more tips after my trip to Atlantic City. But here are two quick tips.

1. Never draw to a flush that is not the nuts. Chasing and catching King high flushes can and will suck the life out your stack. Never ever consider chasing a flush below the nut flush.
2. If you flop two pair without a redraw, just go ahead and muck. You're behind especially with bottom two pair.
posted by Pauly at 1/18/2006 01:01:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Borgata Poker Classic

I was hired by the Borgata in Atlantic City to perform live blogging duties for them. Most likely it will happen here (with a small possibility that I do it on their main site). On Thursday I head down to AC for a two week assignment.

Last year, I joined a production company headed up by a friend of mine, Michael Friedman, called Massive Impact Productions (MIP). The Borgata hired our company to help them run their Winter poker tournament. One of the services that our company MIP provides is tournament reporting and that's where I come in. This is obviously a major step for me and MIP. I have never been directly hired by a casino before, especially one as big as the Borgata. Check back over the next two weeks for random Borgata Winter Open updates.

The Borgata Winter Open is a series of 10 tournaments. All but one are No Limit, including a $300 Ladies Only NL event and the $10K main event championship called the Borgata Winter Open. It's also a stop on the World Poker Tour. Everything starts on Friday and it should be a lot of fun.

Here's the schedule for the 2006 Borgata Winter Open:

Event #1: NL
Buy-in: $500 + $60
Jan 20, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event #2: NL
Buy-in: $750 + $60
Jan 21, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event # 3: NL
Buy-in: $1000 + $80
Jan 22, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event #4: Limit
Buy-in: $500 + $60
Jan 23, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event #5: NL
Buy-in: $1000 + $80
Jan 24, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event #6: NL
Buy-in: $1,500 + $100
Jan 25, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event # 7: Ladies' Only NL Hold'em
Buy-in: $300 + 40
Jan 26, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event #8: NL
Buy-in: $2,500 + $150
Jan 27, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event #9: Borgata Winter Open Championship NL
Buy-in: $9,700 + $300
Jan 29, 2006 @ 11 AM

Event # 10: NL
Buy-in: $500 + $60M
Jan 30, 2006 @ 12 PM

The Borgata is running SNG satellites for various events. Check their site for more info. If you are playing in any of the events, stop by media/press row and say hello!
posted by Pauly at 1/17/2006 10:05:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Aloha

"The greatest hazard of all, losing one's self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all." - Kierkegaard

I'd like to thank all of my guest posters for their amazing contributions over the past two weeks. Impressive batch of scribes don't you think? Everyone stepped up and came through in the clutch. Daddy opened up the playoffs by pitching a no hitter and Otis ended it with a walk-off home run. Great job everyone. I find inspiration in my friends and especially in the way in the unique manner they all choose to express themselves. I hope to do another series of guest posts in the future. Stay tuned.

By the way, I'm seeking submissions for future issues of Truckin'. Check out Submission Guidelines and find out how you can be a contributor to my literary blogzine. I'm hoping that 2006 can be a breakout year for Truckin'.

Moving on...

I'm back to regularly scheduled programming here at the Tao of Poker. If you don't know, Tao loosely translated means "the way." This blog is the way of poker in my life and will continue to be so. Poker had become an integral centerpiece of my daily existence the past two years and this blog became a forum where I documented poker as it floated in and out of my field of vision on my journey through life.

After a poker intensive 2005 where I covered almost 50 tournaments, I focused my attention away from blogging and freelance writing for two weeks. Yet it only seemed like a few days ago I was writing my Year in Review Part 1 and Part 2. Funny things happen when you shut the world out for fourteen days. A few things change while other things stay the same. Even the Knicks went on an amazing winning six-game streak. I scheduled my breaks around tip off times. I can't describe the pleasure I get from cheering on one of my favorite sports teams with my brother when they are on a rush. And hearing Walt "Clyde" Frazier do ads for Full Tilt Poker was priceless.

Although I was on hiatus, I hardly took a vacation. I barely slept and ate horribly. I lost a few pounds and didn't have a sip of alcohol. My daily goals were: write, write, and write. I listened to a ton of music and aside from Knicks games or a NFL playoff game, I avoided television and newspapers. I stopped reading blogs. BG sent me a Soul Brother itunes mix and that was fun to write to. I dug back into my old jazz collection, stuff that I acquired when I lived in Seattle. I caught up on a few Widespread Panic, Keller Williams, and Grateful Dead bootlegs that I had, but never listened to. In order to get into a certain state of mind, for a few days I made an effort to listen to the same stuff I would have back in 1998. Sounds weird, right? Music is a gateway to memories and emotions. And it affected my writing in a positive way. With music it's easier to access and self-examine chunks of your past than if you sat in a room a chatted with your $200/hour shrink who had just as many family problems, sexual hang ups, social phobias, and unhealthy addictions as you had.

"But Doc, there is no spoon."

Exactly.

Music can be powerful. It explains why some songs make you want to dance, other songs make you want to cry, and why some songs were perfect for karaoke hour. That's why listening to the radio right after you break up with someone is one of the most difficult things to do. I always determined the severity of a break up based on how long it took for me to listened to music again without flipping out. Even to this day, there are certain songs and albums I can't listen to and might never be able to again. Music is the gateway to your soul.

For the first time in 13-14 months I took time off to write for myself and put everything else aside. I barely had any time or personal projects and always had a deadline popping up or had to travel somewhere for an assignment. I couldn't even escape a gig while on my hiatus. I penned a 1500 word article in the middle of working on the manuscript.

I had 100% artistic freedom for the first time in over a year. I can't explain how stifling some of my assignments in 2005 were. Places like Fox Sports and the Wall Street Journal expect you to write a certain way and adhere to a set of mind-numbing guidelines. Sure I got paid to write and on some level I'm fortunate to get to do that. However, most of the time it's just a job. I struggled to find enthusiasm about some of the gigs. That's why I think mostly every freelance piece I ever wrote sucked. It was a watered down or pop music version of my abilities as a writer. Sure a line here or there stood out, but overall I had been disappointed with my efforts. We all know I can do a better job. My goal this year is to apply my voice to mainstream assignments. It's going to be a challenge and I'm up for it.

The lack of creativity is why I lost interest in the subject matter. And at some point, the stories all end up the same way. How many different ways can I describe a bad beat or brutal suckout?

That's why personal writing projects like Truckin' or books that I've written were psychologically soothing for me. I finally was able to express myself freely and unfettered. I can say the things I can't say here or any other place I write. To use a musical analogy, I'm a jazz musician. Always have been. The last year I've been playing pop music and getting paid well to do so. I finally have time to go into the studio and play what I want. And guess what? I didn't play any pop music.

That's why the first part of the book took an unexpected turn. I found myself taking the book in a different direction. I might end up cutting out some of those scenes, sections, and pages, but it felt good to get it out. The last year has been overwhelming in many areas. It felt good to take an emotional shit, so to speak. I had a lot inside that needed to get let out. The subject of my book is Las Vegas and I finally expressed my love and hate relationship with that amazing city.

I had a small portion written already and instead of working on that, I scrapped it and started over. Page 1. January 2. I wrote for 14 straight days. 130K words later, I'm still not finished. I have 85% of the first draft complete. I wish I had more time. I already set aside a week in February and one week in March to finish it. I'll cut out about 10% and maybe rewrite a few sections before I send it off to a developmental editor and start shopping it around. For now I'm taking a break and working for two weeks away on assignment at the Borgata.

On the live poker front, I skipped two games with lawyers the past two weeks. I also turned down and invite to the Wall Street game. They've been taunting me and called me names associating with the female genitalia. I'll try to play some in Atlantic City.

I couldn't get poker completely out of my system. I played online poker over the past two weeks. A little everyday in fact mostly on Poker Stars. I discovered that two or three tabling Poker Stars for an hour everyday was a great way to relax my mind and inch my way to Silver Status. The Poker Nerd already has Platinum status. And some dude is the SuperNova already. The first week of the year, I got my ass kicked on the $3/$6 tables. I'll spare you the bad beat tales. Some of my stalkers lurking in the shadows witnessed the carnage on Poker Stars.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here are a few pictures to look at.

I'm shocked I won this hand in a MTT.

Jaxia beat me with quads on Full Tilt.

I won a hand with an PLOmahammer.

I also decided to play less tournaments and back more players. I think I'm better off diversifying my bankroll and investing it in other players. I bought pieces of Joe Speaker and Change100 at the LAPC next month. I also backed Mrs. Spaceman at Tunica. I wanted to buy some of CJ, but the Luckbox sold out fast. I also officially own 10% of my friend Neil. He's a professional Keno player and I cut a deal with him. Neil is a nihilist and believes in nothing. That why he's one of the best Keno players in the world. The less you believe in, the easier it is to gamble.

I recovered over 40% of my poker losses (since Christmas) by gambling on the NFL playoffs. Week 1 saw me pick up a nice win with Pittsburgh beating Cincinnati. Knocking out Carson Palmer early on helped the cause. This past weekend I went with the gut and took Denver over the Patriots. Big win. 2-0 so far this year. I might let it all ride on one game next week. Or should I take the money and run?

The realist in me says, "Book the win."

The gambler in me screams, "Press it! We're going balls to the wall. We're playing with house money."

I booked bets in my fraternity one semester. I got sick and tired of calling in bets for my friends and having to meet with my bookie to pay him their weekly losses. After I started taking their action, I made enough money to pay for all of my rent, food, tickets four Dead concerts, and all of my books. The house always wins. But collecting was one big pain in the ass.


Here's a quick Q & A session. Answers to multiple questions I was asked over the past two weeks.

Q. What's your book about? Do you have a title?

A. It's currently titled Untitled Las Vegas Project. Catchy, huh? I'm still working on the title. The manuscript covered events that occurred in Las Vegas from Halloween 1998 through Halloween 2005. I guess you can call it my Las Vegas memoirs or a compendium of my Las Vegas stories from a seven year span that featured the biggest variety of misadventures.

Q. Will you be talking about the Redneck Riviera? The 2005 WSOP? And Existentialist Conversations with Strippers?

A. Yes. Yes. And definitely Yes.

Q. When can I read it? Where can I buy a copy?

A. Stay tuned for those details. It might take a while for me to find a publisher. I'm considering the self publishing route.

Q. Are you working in Atlantic City the next two weeks?

A. Yes. The Borgata hired me to do some live blogging and writing for them. They are putting me up for almost two weeks while I cover their Borgata Winter Open. It's a series of 10 tournaments that I'll talk more about tomorrow.

Q. I heard that you are ditching poker and moving to Los Angeles to write movies with Grubby. Is Hollywood really going to make the film version of Jack Tripper Stole My Dog?

A. Grubby is writing a screenplay as we speak but nothing serious. We have entertained the idea of moving out to Southern California but right now that's just two guys talking shit. And yes, my first ever manuscript Jack Tripper Stole My Dog was reviewed by a major studio. However, they decided to pass. Sorry folks. Ivan the Russian can driver will not be appearing at a theatre near you.

Here's what a slick Hollywood studio exec said to me about Jack Tripper Stole My Dog:

"I finished your book. I laughed my ass off. Have you had a lot of fucked up relationships with women? I mean seriously? He flushes her head in a toilet? Man, you need to meet a normal chick, some sweet girl to bake you cookies."

Our conversation gave me confidence to breathe life into an old project. I'm going to find a month to take off to write a new draft and make some much needed improvements. JTSMD is my next project. It's much more appealing to me than moving to Hollyweird.... right now. Unless they happen to need a writer to pen the sequel to Snakes on a Plane.

*****

Well, that's it for now. It feels good to be back. Especially since Wil has been trying to put me on tilt.
posted by Pauly at 1/16/2006 01:36:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Next WPBT Event: HORSE on Full Tilt

Good news. April set up the next WPBT online event. It will take place for this Friday. It's the first sanctioned WPBT event of 2006 and will be a HORSE tournament at Full Tilt. That's great news for all you Mac users. You can download Full Tilt now and join us!

I loathe the O and the R. But I started out playing Stud a decade ago, so I feel comfortable 60% of the time with the H, S, and E. I just signed up. However, I have to work next Friday night so I won't know if I'll be able to play until the last moment. Here are the details.

What: WPBT HORSE Tournament #2482794 (Look under Private tab)
Where: Full Tilt Poker
When: Friday, Jan. 20th at 10pm EST (or 22:00)
Buy-in: $10 + 1
Format: H.O.R.S.E.
Password: princess

posted by Pauly at 1/15/2006 01:32:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Action Island: A Guest Post From Otis

Editor's Note: As you know, I'm off for the first two weeks of the year working on my Las Vegas book project. In the meantime, my friends will be taking over the Tao of Poker. Here's the ninth in a collection of guest posts from your favorite bloggers. Otis managed to share something from his trip to the Bahamas. Thanks Otis!


Action Island

I couldn't see any coke on his nose. Still, if you'd told me there hadn't been some marching powder shooting up his nostrils in the last couple of hours, I would've called you an idiot. He was drinking tequila and spilling towers of hundred-dollar chips all over his spot in the one seat. Presently, the only smiling cocktail waiter in the joint showed up with nine glasses of tequila. The table exploded with cheers. The one seat, a guy in a black sport jacket with a leather collar, stood with a handful of black and entered into serious negotiation with the waiter. Thirty seconds later the one-seat dropped three black chips on the waiter's tray. The one seat, a guy everyone was calling The Billionaire, turned back to the table and said, "I don't know what that guy was saying, but it was very confusing." No one told him he'd just paid $300 for $80 in drinks.

The game was $50/$100 No-Limit Hold'em. Brandon sat in the one seat. Nick "TheTakeover" Schulman sat in the six seat. Nenad Medic was in the seven seat. A Venezuelan they call Twin Caracas was in the nine seat. Mike Matusow was in the ten seat. It appeared it was Matusow's turn to do a shot. He stood and held his glass high and said, "Brandon!"

He and Brandon drank their shots while the other eight players hid their drinks under the table or handed them to friends. It was evident that no one wanted to be drunk. They had a whale on the line and they needed all their strength to reel him in.

Brandon the Billionaire shook off the effects of the tequila and told the dealer, "These guys think they can take advantage of me... and they are right."

The rail was thick with tired people. It was 3am and the main event of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure had long since been put to bed. This was a cash game and if a TV producer had been anywhere in the room, the game would've been a reality show before sunrise.

Anyone who walked up quickly realized they had to ask one question before they could watch any more. "Who is that in the one seat?"

The answers would vary, depending on who was asked. Some would say, "He's a heroin addict."

Others would tell you, "He's coked up and drunk."

More creative people would say, "Ever watch the show Dynasty? His family was the basis for that show."

It would be about 12 hours before I learned the guy's true identity. His name was Brandon Davis. He either had been or was currently dating The OC actress Mischa Barton. And, apparently Aaron Spelling did film an episode of Dynasty at the Davis home in Colorado. For the moment, though, his fame was of no concern to the other nine players at the table.

Tens of thousands of dollars sat in front of each player. The button would move, the blinds would be paid, the pots would be pushed. But for an hour, I don't remember any of the players contesting a pot with anyone but Brandon. It was not a poker game. It was poker's version of date rape meets gang rape meets star fucking.

When Brandon told a joke, everyone would laugh. When Brandon won a pot, everyone would congratulate him. When Brandon lost a pot, everyone would bemoan his bad luck.

For days, the temporary poker room at the Atlantis Resort and Casino had been home to the the biggest action for thousands of miles. At any give time, there were three $50/$100 no-limit games, several $25/$50, and a few $10/$20 games. Jean Robert-Bellande and Chris Fargis played $200/$400 triple draw. The reality show producer who never showed up would've called his production, "Action Island." This episode would been called, "Raping Brandon."

Each player took his turn fleecing the rich kid of his money. The other players weren't colluding necessarily. They just weren't playing against each other. They knew they stood a greater chance of losing against the other pros at their table. The nearly-guaranteed win would come at the expense of the one seat. So, they just waited their turn.

I'd heard tales of a whale named Casey who had done the same thing at the games in Aruba a few months before. Players lined up ten-deep to get their money down against the guy who would play any two cards for any amount of money and only fold when it was apparent there was no way he could possibly win. At one point, I heard one of the players say, "Imagine if we had Brandon and Casey at the same table."

I stood with a beer in my hand. Because I had special access, I was able to stand within a couple feet of the table and watch and listen to everything as it happened. It was one of those moments that I assume is like one's first experience with a hooker. I felt dirty and exhilarated at the same time. In front of me was poker pornography. It was a wildlife show with the kill-scene on a repeating loop.

It was nearly 4am and because of the room's special rules, the last hand would be dealt in just a few minutes. I could see the players exhale in disappointment. The guy in the 5-seat said, "If this game was in Vegas, it would go on for five days."

Matusow, happier than I'd ever seen him, looked up with a giant, sober smile on his face. "If Brandon were around all the time, I'd have to take up my drug habit again." He looked down at his chips and saw a bigger stack than he'd had in days. The he laughed out loud. "But it would be worth it."


Otis is a freelance writer, contributor to Up For Poker, and lead writer for the PokerStars Blog. He just returned from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas.
posted by Pauly at 1/14/2006 07:23:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Ladies Night: A Guest Post from Gracie

Editor's Note: As you know, I'm off for the first two weeks of the year working on my Las Vegas book project. In the meantime, my friends will be taking over the Tao of Poker. Here's #8 in a collection of guest posts from your favorite bloggers. Gracie touches on a topic that I normally don't write about, so I'm fortunate that she shared her opinion on Ladies Only tournaments. Thanks again to Gracie!


Ladies Night

If someone suggested a mens only poker event to me, I would likely be offended. If they suggested a whites only poker event, I assure you I would be outraged.

A ladies only poker event?

Please. Can we get riled up about something more important? Katrina response? Supreme Court nominations? Baby Fucking Noor anyone?

Proponents of these events will tell you that they do not exist to be exclusionary, but rather are men-free havens that enable the more fragile of the fairer sex to be introduced to the game of poker without being intimidated by all the testosterone-fueled shouting and posturing that no doubt occurs when real live men play the game.

Advocates make it sound as if these delicate creatures, who would never dream of being rude or catty amongst themselves, prefer to sip tea from dainty china cups as they demure in heavily-corseted southern accents, "Thank you evah so much Mistah Dealah, but I think I'll pass on these cahds," as they fold, rather than swill beer and shout Hellmuthian epitaphs as they hurl their cards across the room inadvertently slicing up the eyeball of an unsuspecting brush.

I agree wholeheartedly that ladies only events are not exclusionary in that the only people who want to play in these events are women.

A quick search on Google groups for "ladies only events" reveals a bevy horror stories about not only the poor behavior of the women who participate, but also of the mocking and dismissive manner in which these events are treated by the poker community at large.

Including the 2005 WSOP.

It was reported that the event was changed from one day to two during the event itself, with no warning and with no regard for the player's schedules, and that they had to have Phil Laak intervene on their behalf in order to get an announcer for the final table. I also understand that nobody took notice of them or any of the issues they were having until celebrity Jennifer Tilly made the money and took a monster chip lead.

And that is what the opponents will tell you. Participants in ladies only events aren't respected! If you play in one you will not be taken seriously! My God! Up until last year the winner of the ladies only event at the WSOP didn't even get a bracelet! She got a fruit basket! (I did not verify the fruit basket claim, but it sounded so... hilariously yummy that I chose to leave it in.)

While some members on both sides of this ladies only fence can be militant, repetitive and painfully tiresome in their unwavering beliefs, I did uncover one legitimate concern worth addressing.

It's been said that the juice is traditionally higher for ladies only events than it is for other events, and that women are being taken advantage of by unscrupulous tournament organizers who bury these costs.

However, it doesn't take a brain as evolved as Sklansky's to do a quick search of the tournament schedules over at LasVegasVegas and PokerPages to determine if the validity of such a charge. I know this for a real fact because I did this very thing just moments ago. In about three minutes I discovered that indeed, some WPC (Women's Poker Club) events had juice as high as 25%, but so did a number of other tournaments sponsored by organizations and casinos that had no intention of ripping off the ladies. No sir. They want to rip off everyone! Equal opportunity juice whores.

And yes, the World Series of Poker Circuit LIPS Ladies NLHE Event is allocating $5 of the juice to the LIPS (Ladies International Poker Series) organization. But this is no secret and the only women being duped in this instance are those who don't bother reading--not the fine print mind you--but the regular sized print. You may see that one for yourselves. And those unobservant ladies? I'd be happy to meet them at the table. Delighted even.

Are ladies only events unethical? Exclusionary? Immoral? Further evidence of the decline and fall of western civilization?

Probably not.

Are ladies only events silly and unworthy of the same attention or respect given to other events?

Perhaps.

Will I play in one?

Hell yes.

Shirley Rosario over at Poker Babes mentions watching Annie Duke at the Ladies Night Invitational. She says, "Annie Duke normally does not attend ladies only events. She stated in an interview with CBS, 'Poker is one of the only sports where a woman can compete on a totally equal footing with a man, so I don't understand why there's a ladies only tournament.'"

Did you catch that? Here it is again.

Annie Duke normally does not attend ladies only events.

But from her televised appearance in one, it is clear she makes exceptions. And well she should! As a woman, it is her prerogative to change her mind. Wildly and with reckless abandon. In fact, I unconditionally support that.

Unless I am presented with more compelling evidence, I will risk raising the ire of a gaggle of internet fussbudgets by mocking these social monstrosities while simultaneously face being dismissed by the world of professional poker players by participating in one.

Simply put, if it makes financial sense for me to play in a Ladies Only event?

I'm all in.


Gracie is a poker player and blogger from Florida.
posted by Pauly at 1/12/2006 08:58:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Two Inches of Banana: A Guest Post from Change100

Editor's Note: As you know, I'm off for the first two weeks of the year working on my Las Vegas book project. In the meantime, my friends will be taking over the Tao of Poker. Here's the seventh of a collection of guest posts from your favorite bloggers. Change100 finally got around to writing up a story that happened when she was in Las Vegas just before Christmas and we were storming the Catle. Thanks again to Change100!


Two Inches of Banana

Steve with the British accent hailed from Leeds in the north country, not London, as most of our tablemates guessed. He had squinty blue eyes and small teeth, and sat two to my right at the Excalibur's $1-3 No-Limit game behind eight towers of red checks. Mischief and intoxication danced across his round face, his lips curled in a perpetual grin as he signaled for the attention of Lucy, our young Asian cocktail waitress. Steve looked her up and down, marveling aloud to the bearded redneck between us at how Lucy's raven hair fell in a glossy, perfect waterfall all the way to the waistband of her heinous black-and-gold medieval mini-dress. He placed his empty bottle on her tray and ordered another Budweiser.

"Cut me off at twelve, Lucy," Steve demanded with a sly grin while Lucy pocketed the blue $1 chip he tossed onto her tray. "Twelve Budweisers. You promise?"

He winked at her and took a long graceful sip and I silently questioned why the hell an obviously seasoned British drinker would choose to get loaded in Vegas on fucking Budweiser of all things.

"And you," Steve was pointing at me now. A gaudy chain-link bracelet dangled from his hairy wrist. "You are going to help me keep count," Steve chuckled and winked again.

I gave him my sweetest little-girl smile; the one I reserve for guys like Steve when they're across the felt from me. It's innocent, perhaps a touch bashful - but still inviting. It says look all you like, but that's as far as you'll get. Flirt all you want and I'll knock the ball back and forth with you and make sure you have fun. We'll laugh and swap stories and drink a few beers and after an hour I'm going to have charmed you so much with my blue eyes and freckles and witty banter that youre not going to want to see me lose. To keep that smile on my face, you'll soft-play me. Check when you should bet. Do the quick look-away when you have a strong hand. Steve from Leeds was, quite simply, my perfect mark.

Steve was in Las Vegas on a three-week vacation. He had a 20-year old girlfriend back in England that he was "in trouble" with, and was taking this time, as he did at the end of every year, to relax and drink and play cards in the most debauched city in America. She, of course, couldn't understand why on earth he would want to go off on a holiday without her.

"Not a bright one, your girlfriend?"

"Heavens no! I always fall for the bimbo types, you know? Even though I'm old and bald and fat. I don't care much for clever girls."

I played tight for the first couple of hours and managed to chip up to $225 from my initial $150 buy-in. The mirrored sunglasses crowd down at the other end of the table was playing relatively weak-tight, and once I established a solid image, they pretty much did all they could to stay out of pots with me. I don't think I ever had to show down a hand. I should also mention that the chips in front of me represented, quite literally, the remainder of my poker bankroll. Four straight losing months will do that. I was going to protect my babies fiercely until I found the right hand to push.

I got it when I found pocket sixes and flopped a set. One of the sunglass boys pushed in on me when a ten fell on the turn and I delightfully called only to see the devastating news. He turned a higher set. Thankfully I had him covered and still had about $80 to work with. It was time for a break. Steve looked at me with sympathetic eyes as I got up from my seat.

'Hurry back, luv!" he called out as Lucy brought him Budweiser #5.

Up on the 16th floor, I flopped onto the bed in mock agony as Pauly whittled away at another freelance article on his laptop.

"Hey, what happened?"

"Set over set. I wanna die."

"Fuck. You know, I wrote like 2000 words while you were down there..."

"Great. I need to smoke a bowl."

"...Yeah, yeah, totally. So I've got one more freelance piece to finish after this and the Tao of Pauly and the Truckin' and maybe I'll play a couple of SNGs on Poker Stars and write a NaNo novel with my left hand and then I'll see you down there, OK? Gimme like an hour."

I smoked like three and headed back downstairs.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Thank God you made it back! They were about to give away your seat!" Steve was thoroughly schnockered when I made it back to the table. Lucy handed him Budweiser #7 as I sat back down.

"And what would my lovely friend with the reddish-blondish-brownish hair like?" he asked.

His head lolled from side to side as he tried to focus on me.

"Soco rocks."

Time to switch gears.

I divided my sixteen red chips into two stacks of eight and shuffled them together. It was either double up or go home. About an orbit went by before Steve made a raise to $15 from early position. He'd typically raise $10 with hands like AK, AQ, AJ, KQ or KJ and $15 with big pairs. He was really that transparent. The action was folded to me. I peeked down at two red queens and looked back up at Steve. He was staring out into space. I was going to find out where I was at right now.

"Raise to $30," I announced and tossed out six red chips.

The sunglass kids ducked and ran. The action came back to Steve.

"I hate to do it luv, but I have to."

Steve pushed out a stack of reds, setting me all in for my last $50. Most people would call here. Hell, I'd call here most of the time. But then I looked at Steve again with a half-smile and he looked away. He couldn't meet my eyes. That raise wasn't a challenge, it was a warning. He didn't want me broke.

"If I can guess your exact two cards, will you show me your hand?" I asked.

"Well that depends if you're calling or folding!" he replied with a jolly laugh.

"Oh I'm folding," I said. I tabled my two queens. The sunglassed guys gasped. "I just want to see your kings."

"Fair enough."

And Steve flashed the king of hearts and king of spades.

"But how the bloody hell do you lay that down?"

"Woman's intuition."

Lucy arrived with my Soco and I knocked half of it back.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

From there on out, I pretty much ran over the table. I laughed and drank with Steve, who drunkenly recounted stories of his world travels. He had taken over 25 trips to Thailand, where he usually procured the services of young Thai hookers to keep him company. Lest I think such a thing was deplorable and filthy, he explained to me in great detail how regulated the "industry" was over there. Set rates, STD tests, even special hooker ID cards they had to present upon checking into hotels with their johns. Hardly any of Steve's vacation "companions" spoke a lick of English, so he'd always have to take the time at the beginning of the trip to teach his young lady how to properly talk dirty to him. Unfortunately, one of these young things decided to try out the hot talk while they were in the middle of the hotel piano bar. In garbled, heavily accented English, the hooker blurted out "I want you to stick your cock in my pussy!" during a lull in a Leonard Bernstein medley, stunning the entire evening crowd, along with the pianist, into silence.

I suppose it was right after that that Steve wandered onto the subject of blowjobs, or really, what constituted a good one. I had just picked up a huge pot from a sunglass boy with a broadway straight and was stacking my chips when Steve posed a question to me.

"So how do you girls learn?"

"Learn?"

"To give blowjobs. Did you practice?"

"Well, once in college my roommate and I practiced on a breadstick."

"A BREADSTICK! What the hell did you think when you saw the real thing? You two would be ready for a big black man and the rest of us are all screwed!"

Steve cackled and spilled a little bit of beer on his cornflower blue button-down. Both of us had lost count of how many he'd drank and Lucy had gone off her shift anyway.

"All I know is that if I were a homosexual, I'd have to be a feeder. Two inches of banana and I'm gagging!" he said.

The table erupted. Soco practically shot out of my nose.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Pauly on the rail. "If you'll excuse me, Steve, I think I see my friend."

"Friend, friend, friend. Who is this 'friend?' You're so mysterious. Look, is there shagging involved?"

Steve's eyes still had that hopeful glint there. The 10% of his beer-addled brain that still thought he could get me upstairs if he tried hard enough. I had almost $600 in my stack and was well on my way to a healthier bankroll thanks to my eight hours here. Time to bring down my mark and ruin the poor guy's fantasy.

"Yes, Steve. There's shagging involved."

I bid Steve goodnight, racked my chips, cashed out, and met Pauly on the rail.

"How'd you do?"

"Cashed out $600. Told the Brit we were shagging and crushed his dreams."

"Nice! Wanna play Mr. Cashman?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

I took his arm and we headed for the slots while Steve looked wistfully on.



Change100 is a film executive, writer, and degenerate gambler from Los Angeles, CA.
posted by Pauly at 1/11/2006 04:20:00 PM | Permalink |

 
The More Things Change: A Guest Post from Bobby Bracelet

Editor's Note: As you know, I'm off for the first two weeks of the year working on my Las Vegas book project. In the meantime, my friends will be taking over the Tao of Poker. Here's the sixth of a collection of guest posts from your favorite bloggers. Bobby Bracelet loves talking about himself in the third person. Stop by his blog Based on Years of Experience... to peek into his madness. Thanks again to Bobby Bracelet!


The More Things Change...

Wow, the headquarters of the Tao are unreal. Stepping over passed out hookers, brushing random narcotics off my new seat, and sitting down in my temporary office, after Pauly kindly removed the dead body brings a feeling I can only explain as splendiferous. It's the only word that can do it justice. Well, maybe unbeevable could manage if the S key on my keyboard wasn't working, but it is, and that in and of itself is splendiferous because lots of words have the letter S in them. My vocabulary isn't voluminous enough to pontificate without the applicability of the S key.

Over the years I have honed my blogging skills. Like any first timer, I sucked donkey balls at first, in a non-Daddy way I assure you. But you can't stop greatness, and from my second year forward it has been mandated that I only refer to my abilities as "skillz" to demonstrate just how fierce they really are.

It's not that I just possess fierce literary skillz, I'm multi-dimensional.

Here, lean in close, I'll fill you in on a little secret. I'm the 4th Greatest Poker Player You've Never Heard Of.

Don't believe me?

Well it's true. Just google "Greatest Poker Player You've Never Heard Of" and a link to my site comes up Fourth. Google doesn't lie, I'm pretty freaking amazing.

But I'm not here to talk about me, my penis (which has been thrice confirmed as Huge), or the fact that I think a man should be able to hit a woman if she strikes him first and is looking for a fight. But the more I think about that last sentence, the more I think I may actually write about just that, so perhaps we should quit setting the stage and just get to writing.

(And by "we" I mean me.)

It's a new year. Everyone has a new chance, a clean slate. I was really hoping we could start strong and set some positive trends for 2006. I was wrong.

Proven television veteran Adam Brody from The O.C. (Note very heavy sarcasm) has just been given a development deal by NBC to create a super awesome show where a special force of the LAPD tracks vampires. Created, I suppose, because hard working policemen whose soul purpose has been to protect civilians from vampire invasion, have never really gotten their due. I guess that means that some of the other thankless jobs our civil servants provide will soon get their due as well. The special forces of the FDNY who track and kill gremlins, the secret society of Certified Public Accountants who moonlight as dragon slayers, and even the ER nurses who manage the portal between Hell and Earth. You know, reality based story lines that always combine previously popular shows into one new ripoff. Thanks Adam! We've all just become a little less intelligent thanks to you and your terrific idea.

Fucking retarded. (And I'm talking level 9 retardism at bare minimum.)

I think the only thing that's more retarded than a blatant attempt to capitalize on the "in" concept of the moment (Buffy + CSI), is the fact that after starring in a show that somehow becomes a hit, they offer development deals to these douchebags for future shit like LAPD: Vampire Unit.

At what point in the process of looking like a character and reading a script better than the next guy, does "television development deal" deserve to be inserted, because it's a sad state of affairs when a show like Arrested Development struggles to earn ratings, but some jackass at NBC creates a brand new show called CSI in Order: Special Las Vegas Emergency Medical Shield Unit and the fucking public, yes the same fucking public that you see on the street every day pulling across 5 damn lanes with no blinker on because god forbid they have to turn around or go up an extra block after failing to pay attention the entire time they drove over from their house that's bigger than yours and while you drive like a normal human being and hold doors for old ladies and alert people when they accidentally drop a twenty spot on the ground while paying for something, these fucking douche bags are cutting you off, writing checks in the supermarket, and designing software that automatically separates the word douche bag into two separate words when you really want to keep it together but that's another story because that jackass who merges onto a highway at 35mph fucking up the traffic flow is the guy with the ratings box in his house, and the day I meet someone who is part of this stupid fucking process I'm going to punch them in the face and kick them twice in the nuts for determining that unique shows like Arrested Development need to go so Ted "I was never funny but at least I get more bald and awkward looking every time you see me" Danson can get his 17th attempt at a sitcom which will fail because the people in charge of everything continue to hire no talent assbags to fill blatant attempt after blatant attempt to capitalize on whatever show became popular instead of creating something new which leaves us with 44 different versions of CSI and 15 fucking shows about Presidents and the asshole who pulls into your parking space that you've been sitting in front of with your blinker on because the car pulling out blocks you allowing him the chance to is the same guy who was somehow given a ratings box and as he spanks his micropenis to Glenn Close in The Shield we all have to fucking pay for another year of shitty television.

I can't fucking stand it.

That's why I want 2006 to be the Year Of The Normal People.

Punch that lady in the face who sends the checkout girl back into the store because she wants the twenty cents off her generic fruit punch that she believes she deserves. When you see a women screaming at her kids and slapping them around, kick her in the ovaries. Forearm shiver the guy who thinks it's alright to take up 3 parking spaces with his brand new truck that he loves more than his "old lady" or kids and features a really funny sticker of Calvin from Calvin & Hobbes pissing on the name of whatever the competing brand truck is. In fact, do us all a favor when you see that and use your keys to scratch a crude picture of Calvin on the door pissing with the phrase "Piss on douchebags who park like this!"

We need to start now because we have a lot of work ahead of us, and things appear to be getting worse.

Yesterday I went through the drive-thru at Arby's for a quick bite to eat. With only one car ahead of me, containing only one person, I figured it would be a very fast process. Apparently I forgot to factor in the current level of retardedness in society today.

With my window down I could hear everything this Einstein was trying to accomplish. "What's on your such and such sandwich? And what type of cheese is on it? And if I wanted pickles on it could I get pickles on it? And do I get to choose what type of bread I get it on? And what all comes with that? And could I get something instead of the fries because I don't like fries that much? And you don't have anything to drink besides what the board says?"

Eventually this lady, who I decided had never been outside of her house and certainly had never been to Arby's before, decided to just build her own sandwich for her daughter. She made sure to keep talking about her daughter as well, because nobody has anywhere to go, right?

Almost 5 minutes later I was able to make my order and pull up to the window. When I asked the chick with the headphones what that ladies problem was, she replied that the woman comes through the drive-thru at least 3 times a week and every time she comes by she spends 5 minutes asking questions like she's never been there before.

We need to beat common sense in to these types of people now before they teach their children to act like them. It's a vicious cycle that can only be broken with forearms, steel-toed boots, and closed fists.

As I pulled away from Arby's, Tag Team's Whomp There It Is came on my iPod. I unwrapped my sandwich while I drove with my knee. The infectious beat and brilliant lyrics took over my body and I gave the "Rerun" dance my best shot, despite sitting in a car I was driving with my knee, and I couldn't help but wonder why everyone isn't as cool and smart as I am.


Bobby Bracelet is a drug salesman and blogger from Western Michigan.
posted by Pauly at 1/10/2006 10:37:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Low Buy-In Online Tournament Mainfesto Version 1.0: Guest Post from Joe Speaker

Editor's Note: As you know, I'm off for the first two weeks of the year working on my Las Vegas book project. In the meantime, my friends will be taking over the Tao of Poker. Here's the fifth of a collection of guest posts from your favorite bloggers. JoeSpeaker is one of my favroite writers and the author of Obituarium. He can not only write, but he can play poker too. I'm grateful he decided to share some of his pearls of wisdom. Thanks again to JoeSpeaker!


Joe Speaker's Low Buy-In Online Tournament Mainfesto Version 1.0

"Talking nonsense is the sole privilege mankind possesses over the other organisms. It's by talking nonsense that one gets to the truth! I talk nonsense, therefore I'm human. Not one single truth has ever been arrived at without people first having talked a dozen reams of nonsense, even ten dozen reams of it, and that's an honourable thing in its own way...Talk nonsense to me, by all means, but do it with your own brain, and I shall love you for it. To talk nonsense in one's own way is almost better than to talk a truth that's someone else's; in the first instance, you behave like a human being, while in the second, you're nothing but a parrot!" -- Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment

I am not as well read as my poker blogging brethren. In fact, I'm about to make a shocking confession right here and now. Though I play Multi-Table Tournaments almost exclusively online, I have never read The Bible: Super/System. I have it. I intend to read it. But I haven't yet.

I had a friend who was an amazing guitar player and he never took a lesson when he was learning how to play. When I asked him why, he said it was because he wanted to develop his own chops, didn't want to have the rote chord progressions pounded into his head. He wanted to find his own way, unrestrained by convention. It was only after he found his style that he turned to the seminal texts, and applied that knowledge to what he already believed to be his strengths.

I feel the same way about my tournament poker game. I have found a style that works and I stumbled across it based on my own experience. None of this is meant to discount the knowledge Doyle Brunson, Dan Harrington, et al have to share, for it is immensely helpful. But you can't fit a random individual's game into a box any more than there is a single stock answer for any poker question. As always, it depends.

In the last year, I've played probably 300 low buy-in ($20 or below) MTTs online (please note these tips apply only to freeze-out tournaments as re-buys are an entirely different animal that attract an entirely different species of poker player thanks to prize pools that regularly go north of $50K). I've found some chops that work for me. I've found what I consider to be essential truths for me to be successful. To be sure, none of this is new or groundbreaking. It is simply my nonsense. Perhaps somewhere in here, or beyond, is truth.


Hour One

1. Do not call raises with marginal hands. On the surface, this seems obvious. You don't want to get yourself into situations where you hit your hand but are second best. These are the types of players you want calling your raises and, believe me, they will, with hands like KT and QJ. Because the tourney fields regularly shed at least half the field in the first hour, it is important to double up. Sometimes, that very real motivation causes players to enter pots with less than stellar starting hands. Don't be that guy. The main reason is you will, an exceptionally high percentage of the time, get paid off when you DO have a monster hand. Which brings us to...

2. Leave your fancy ass plays at home. There is no need to be tricky. It is safe to assume the majority of your opponents are thinking at Level 1, if that. They know only what they have in their hand. If KQ calls your AA raise and flops a pair, they're going to war with it. TPTK is gold to these people. If Ax flops an ace, they're not concerned about their kicker. Pot bets, people. You must get paid off on your monsters. You must not slow-play them and let some backdoor draws hang in the pot. Shove in your chips, force your opponents to make mistakes.

3. Be willing to limp. In the beginning, I played raise or fold poker. I almost never limped. And I gave away chances to win big pots. If you're in position, with five limpers in front, and it's still in one of the early levels-where blinds are tiny compared to the stacks-take that flyer. You have to be disciplined enough not to chase a draw if you flop one and the price isn't right. You have to be willing to drop your limp if there is a raise behind you (unless it's a min. raise; then you KNOW everyone is paying the extra and your price is still right). Sometimes that flop just hits you upside the head and you can make a killing. A corollary to this is never fold your blinds to a min. raise, or, in some circumstances, a 3x raised family pot. You're never that much of a dog to the group. Now, you don't want to be playing every hand on an ultra-passive limping table, of which you'll find plenty. Chip conservation is still an issue. But if you take the opportunity to see some cheap flops with hands with potential-hands you wouldn't normally play to a raise, like JTs, baby pocket pairs, suited one-gappers--you just might find a flop to your liking, which you will, of course, bet as fast as you possibly can.

4. Pay attention. The early rounds of an MTT can be dull, especially if you're simply clicking fold over and over. There's no money at stake in the blinds and play is slow as people slough their way through. But that's no reason to take an eye off the screen and watch a ballgame. You need to spot the dead money so you can attack them later. You need to see who plays hands strangely and you need to see showdowns to get reads on players. You need to notice the tight guy over there who has folded his first 25 hands. Information is hard to come by in no limit where not a lot of hands get tabled, but you need to pick up every bit you can. Stay focused, take notes on players (as you will very likely see them again) and try to put people on hands when you're not in the pot.

5. When in doubt. There's this Cuban restaurant by my workplace. Good shit. My favorite dish is called Lechon Adobo, fried pork with citrus, onions and a metric ass-ton of garlic, with rice and black beans. Lechon Adobo is not the only reason I eat there often. There's also this counter girl. She can't possibly weigh more than 90 lbs. Just a wisp of a young lady with tired eyes and a ready smile. But the most easily recognizable thing about her is the enormous fake breasts bolted onto her chest. Each one is as big as her head. Besides being so disproportionate, the salt bags seem genuinely out of place on this girl. She's not some budding starlet or exotic entertainer. Not a Beverly Hills trophy wife or suburban cum dumpster. She's this little ethnic girl working in a little Cuban restaurant. With the hugest melons you've ever seen. Now, I don't understand any of this. I can't begin to get to the bottom of the back story, so I gave up trying.

Like our large-chested heroine, sometimes, in a poker tournament, I'll face a bet that makes absolutely no sense in the context of the hand. If I haven't committed myself to the hand and am not holding anything substantial, I just fold. I resist the urge to out-play the strange guy with the strange bet, cut my losses and preserve my stack for when I know where I stand. Harrington on Hold 'Em says, "Most bets mean exactly what they appear to mean," which is true in these MTTs, but if I can't figure out what the bet means, I cut and run. Call it Pussy Poker, and maybe it is, but I'd hate to stack off in the dark, hoping I have them beat, when I know there will be ample opportunity to shove in my chips when I KNOW I have them beat.


Hour Two

Like many aspects of poker, your play at this point will depend on many factors, perhaps the most important of which is your stack size. If you are short-stacked (say, less than the starting chip amount), you're pretty much resigned to a single play: Find a hand and push it. With a stack near or over par, your mission is equally clear...

1. Loosen up. The play will generally tighten up at this stage of the tournament and it is to your benefit to take advantage. For one, you need to accumulate chips in the second hour. Remaining static is not an option, as the blinds and antes will soon catch up with you. Second, those blinds and antes are becoming increasingly lucrative (antes in both the Stars and Full Tilt MTTs kick in at the 90-minute mark). Now that, theoretically, a bulk of the worst players have been eliminated, your table will become more cautious, giving you prime opportunities to pick up the blinds and antes with a ramped up aggression. I will almost always raise from late position if the action is folded to me. I will raise from less obvious "steal" positions with hands I'd normally toss in the first hour (Axs, medium suited connectors, two paint). It's time to take chances to get chips. You are not going to fold into the money.

2. Play the stacks. You must take notice of how the players handle their various-sized stacks. Are the small stacks pushing often? Or staying patient? Are the big stacks making a lot of calls of raises pre-flop? Or are they dictating the action with open-raises? In a perfect world, you will be able to isolate the smaller stacks with a big hand, since their range must widen or risk being blinded off. Pay particular attention to the three players to your left, those which will be in the blinds when you are on the button or in the cut off. Will they defend their blinds consistently? Will they fold to the slightest pressure? Generally, I will refrain from stealing off short stacks with air, as they are likely to come over the top with any naked ace, or even naked king. While this often gives you the correct price to call, you are now risking a not insubstantial portion of your stack when you are behind. On the other hand, do not be afraid to attack the big stacks, especially if you have a solid read on their play. A loose big stack, you will want to punish when you get a big hand, standard tight-aggressive play. A tight big stack, one that has worked hard for his chips and is loathe to risk them unless he's holding a monster, is ripe for the stealing and I will pound on him/her until they show an inclination to prevent it.

3. Don't Be a Pussy. By the end of the second hour, you are likely within sight of the bubble. Don't take the tack that cashing is your first priority. Going deep is your first priority. You are not going to get a solid return on investment from multi-table tournaments if you settle for minor awards. The big money is at the Final Table and a couple trips there can pay for months of bubble finishes. Yes, it can be frustrating to bubble, especially if you have a stack that was comfortably positioned near par. But that stack is going to get eaten up quickly while players accumulate around you. While protecting it may get you a small profit, you'll be at a disadvantage once you are in the money, as the large stacks will happily call your all-ins with garbage and suck out.


The Bubble

1. Keep Pounding. If you are fortunate enough to be one of those big stacks, you must keep pounding away. The play gets even tighter near the bubble, as the smaller stacks are doing exactly what I'm telling you not to do, trying to fold into the money or Waiting for Godot (in this case, a Group One hand). The tournaments I've Final Tabled (and won) have all shared a common characteristic: I chipped up greatly near the bubble. All of this goes back to The Theory of Poker: If the table's tight, loosen up; if it's loose, tighten up. You will notice we have followed that rule the whole way through. Don't forget it.

2. Get lucky. Or, better still, don't be unlucky. After the remaining players are in the money, the push frenzy starts again in earnest. Short stacks, happy to get paid, will push with any two. Big stacks will call with much the same. You can't sit these hands out. You still need to accumulate. But if you call a push with AK and you see you're up against Q7s, you're not much of a favorite. Winning these hands is less about skill (though you still need to have an idea of what you're up against. For example, if someone with an M Factor--chip stack/blinds+one orbit of antes--of 4 or less limps in, or min. raises, he likely has a big pair and is hoping to double up, rather than just get the blinds and antes) than it is about good old fashioned luck. We've concentrated on playing solid poker, but the naked fact is that you need to get lucky to win a tournament. The variance is higher, in that you can't re-buy after you go broke, like in a cash game. Continue to make good decisions, and hope Mistress Variance is on your side.


The Final Table

1. Relax. Congratulations you magnificent bastard. It is not easy to navigate a low buy-in tournament online and you've made it to the Promised Land. Don't freeze up. It's still the same game. If I'm sitting in the upper half of the remaining players, I'll tighten up for an orbit or two, see if I can fold to a money jump or two as the short stacks get knocked out. The cash difference between placings is substantial at this point and I'm happy to move up the ladder without risking chips. This further allows you to get a handle on how the table will play, since you've likely not seen about half of them yet.

2. Winnin' Time. As it is with all stages of tournament play, you cannot be afraid to go broke. If you feel you have an edge, push it. With a lot of chips in play, a lot of money at stake, players tend to lose their comfort zone, play differently from the way they did to get this far. Trust yourself. Think less of the payoff than of the hands, one at a time. It can be nerve-wracking making a big raise with a medium pair, but you have to. Remember, as players get knocked out, the table gets short-handed and those cards take on greater value. You'll be playing hands you would not have played all evening and you have to reconcile yourself to that fact.

3. Chat it up. A blogger once remarked to me that I was very "nice" at the virtual table. And it's a conscious effort. Congratulate everyone when the Final Table begins. Try to start a conversation and always compliment a good hand. It's simple psychology. People are less likely to fear you if you humanize yourself. You're no longer an avatar, but an actual person, who is cheerful and fun to be around. Players won't see your incredible poker skills, but rather, a regular guy just hanging out. They are not just more likely to look you up when you're holding, they also may wish you good luck after you bust them, like the guy who once told me he hoped I'd win after I sent him to the rail.

4. Put them to the test. Once you're down to 3- or 4-handed, you want to take over the table. You want to be the aggressor. Many players do not adjust to short-handed play and you'll be able to tell almost right away if they will meekly give up their blinds. You will also know when you're beat, as they will wake up and tell you with their betting. Beware of traps and also be prepared to set some if others assume the role of constant pre-flop raiser. Here's where you have to put all your faith in your instincts and abilities. Block out any distractions (which, really, you should have done already) and concentrate. And Get. It. Done.

* * *

What I've put down here is a philosophy, my philosophy. It's less about mechanics (starting hand requirements, flop textures, when to check-raise) than it is about attitude, mind-set, adaptability. It may not mesh with your preferred style, it may not be a manner with which you feel comfortable. It may be pure, unadulterated garbage. All well and good. I'm no expert player, though I play one on the Internet. But Pauly gave me the gig. And that should count for something.

Good luck,
Joe Speaker


Joe Speaker is a writer, poker player, and blogger from Southern California. He plays in the infamous Murder's Row L.A. home game.

posted by Pauly at 1/09/2006 10:58:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Nominate The Tao of Poker for Best Blog of the Year: Guest Post from Lady Falcon

Editor's Note: As you know, I'm off for the first two weeks of the year working on my Las Vegas book project. In the meantime, my friends will be taking over the Tao of Poker. Here's the fourth of a collection of guest posts from your favorite bloggers. LadyFalcon and I play poker in NYC together. She recently started up a site and she might have one of the best new blogs around. Anyway, she was kind enough to start up a campaign to have my humble poker blog nominated for a 2006 Bloggie, specifically Weblog of the Year... which is the last category. Make sure you read their instructions carefully. Feel free to nominate Tao of Poker for best wrtten or topical blog of the year as well. Thanks again to LadyFalcon!


Nominate The Tao of Poker for Best Blog of the Year

Hey everyone,

Nominations for the 2006 blog awards are due on Tuesday, January 10, 2006. I vote that we all nominate Pauly's blog "Tao of Poker" for Best American Blog, Best Entertainment Blog, Best Writing in a Blog, and Best Weblog of the Year. The site you need to pull up to get the nomination form is 2006.bloggies.com.

Anyway, I ask you all to do two things:

1. Go to 2006.bloggies.com and nominate the shit out of Pauly's Tao of Poker Blog. Do this by Tuesday, Jan. 10...the deadline!!!

2. Leave a message on 2-3 other blogs with this same message. If even a few of us do this, eventually our message will reach a wide enough audience that we can get enough votes to make Pauly a real contender.

Thanks so much,

Lady F.


LadyFalcon is a poker player and blogger from New York City who loves afternoon tea and busting balls.
posted by Pauly at 1/08/2006 10:35:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Happy Birthday BJ!

Today is BJ's birthday. He's one of the hardest working poker reporters in the business. He writes, blogs, and takes photos for Card Player. They need to give him a raise. He's in the Bahamas for his birthday covering the Poker Stars event. Lucky dog. Have a great birthday, BJ.


Hanging with Isabelle Mercier during WPT Ladies Night III


WPT hostess Courtney Friel at the Bellagio


At the Bellagio, on the set of the WPT
posted by Pauly at 1/07/2006 04:20:00 PM | Permalink |

 
A Day in the Life: A Guest Post from BigMike

Editor's Note: As you know, I'm off for the first two weeks of the year working on my Las Vegas book project. In the meantime, my friends will be taking over the Tao of Poker. Here's the third of a collection of guest posts from your favorite bloggers. BigMike is the one guy I know that should have a blog. (Well he has a blog, but has written anything on it yet!) He's one of the most intelligent people that I know and has a wealth of stories. I'm honored that he chose to share some personal things with us today. As AlCantHang wrote me, "This is as close as anyone is going to get inside of Bigmike." Agreed. Thanks again, BigMike!


A Day in the Life

PHOOOOOOOOOOO PHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PHOOOOOOOOOOOO

Is this thing on?

Although I am criminally busy keeping my own blog fresh and current, I have consented to do a guest post for Dr Pauly as he recently did me a solid. Unfortunately, his blog style differs greatly from mine, so I will need to make some adjustments so that his audience is not disappointed. Please excuse my humble scribblings, they are in no way a match for the usual content you have come to expect from the good doctor.

What the hell... let me think a second...

So, I got dealt pocket aces. I was about fourth in chip count at a table of eight. I was dealt AA and went all in. Everyone with more chips than I had called. I was in the blig blind and they thought I was bluffing. I never bluff exept when I do. Besides, it is a goddamned free roll. I hate tournaments. I love leaving when I grow bored when I am seriously up. The side pot calculations were giving me a headache, so since I was all in, I went to the next item on my stack.

Steve called earlier in the day to tell me Michael was sick and they were off to the hospital. I had not had an update in about four hours so I sent him a text to ask the prognosis. I try not to bother them when these things happen, but the initial call concerned me. The text came back quickly: "Will call in 1hr may need surgery."

I winced. This kid is only three, but he already has my heart. I texted back, "Call when you need to talk. Take care of business. Love to you all."

How anal am I to use punctuation in text messages?

The flop came, A77. Nice. Still some side betters. Someone bets, someone raises. Stacks rise and fall. I am confident that my boat will float. More betting...

Item number three on my stack calls. It is my lovely aunt who takes care of my mother and ensures that I do not have too much disposable income. I get up from the table. Who cares, I am all in. The smells of the burning wood coming from the table tell me there is thought occurring at the table. Pot odds. Super Systems. Real odds. Odd reals. Whatever.

I leave the table. I am all in.

My mother has been dying for 20 years. Not in the sense that we are all dying from the moment we emerge from the nice dark humid room into this vale of toil and sin, but literally dying. When I was 15, my mother, in a valium rage (no really she's allergic) ejected me from my boyhood home. I proceeded to move in with my grandparents. Subsequently I went to a Public university after my grandfather informed me that Harvard was out of the question due to financial limitations. When I was nineteen, my mother had her first heart attack and reached out to me for the first time in four years. She was having a quintuple bypass (no balloon angio in those days kids). What the hell, she was still my mother so I went back. I sat in the hospital while she cried about the life she would not live. She was 46. It was finals week. I had not spent four years planning my escape from that one horse town to lose my academic scholarship, so I waited until the surgery was done and drove the 110 miles back to school to take my first test. All during the surgery, I was cramming calculus. Math does not come easy to me. I took the test (passed) and drove back to visit her for 15 minutes. You could only visit for 15 minutes every four hours. Her relatives were there, but they did not speak to me.

I was the one who abandoned her. When I managed to flag down the doctor, he told me: "She has a lot of damage to her heart. I would not expect her to make it more than six months."

Since then, I have relived that particular joy at least four times. Each time, the speech is the same.

"Michael, this is your Aunt Ruthie."

Caller ID escapes these people.

"Hello aunt ruthie, how is my mother?"

"She collapsed again during the dialysis. They have rushed her to the emergency room."

The caller waiting Caller ID starts to beep. I check, and it is the nursing home. Nice of them to call. Voice Mail.

"They don't know why she is passing out. Her kidneys are bad and so is her liver. They are not feeding her and her fluids are restricted. If my diabetes weren't so bad I would tell them but no one cares and they will not talk to me because you are her guardian. Honey did you send that letter? I don't know. I cashed your check, that god for the money. I was in a tight spot. Now remember not to tell anyone about this. It is between you and I. I will pay you back....."

Caller ID again. It is Steve.

"Aunt ruthie, hold on one second."

I click over to Steve.

"How is my namesake?"

"He doesn't need the surgery. His fever broke and he is responding. We may be able to take him home tomorrow. I am getting a hotel room so we can shower."

"Great news! Call me back if you need to talk, my mother collapsed again I am on the other line."

"Alright, talk to you later."

"My love to all of you."

"Same here. I hope your mom is alright."

Click.

"MICHAEL?"

"Yes aunt ruthie I am back. Where is my mother now?"

"The hospital. They had to do CPR on her! I don't know. My water bill is due..."

"How much?"

"No, you have done enough."

"Aunt ruthie, I don't have time. How much?"

"$230."

"Same account number as in August?"

"Oh honey, I have no one. I am so sorry but...."

My aunt ruthie had divorced her first husband a few years before my parents euthanized their relationship. She made it abundantly clear to her children that they could never see their drunken no good father again. Of course, she had not counted on him inheriting nearly $25 million dollars 5 years after the divorce. When that happened, he contacted the now grow children and basically said he had not been in their lives for five years. He knew their mother had turned them against him so he would hold no grudges. Each of them could be lifted from their blue collar obscure lives and share in his riches. He would give them houses, get them educated, give them jobs. Their ship had arrived. One condition: NO CONTACT WITH THEIR BELOVED MOTHER. As one of them explained to me in a chance meeting, he said he wished he was above that sort of thing, but as she had continually pointed out, he was NOT. To this day, only her daughter with Downs still talks to her.

She has 7 grandchildren she has never seen. Karma is a bitch especially when there is a bitter assistant lending a hand.

"....you are the only help I get."

God bless wifi. I had already paid the bill.

"Aunt ruthie, I will call the hospital and get an update in a little bit. I will let you know what is going on."

"I love you kid."

"I love you too."

(What the hell? The truth is like atomic technology. Best used in a controlled fashion.

"Call me when you find something out kid. I love you".

The turn is a 2. Nice. I wish the table were full of bloggers playing a hammer boat. More all ins, more pot splitting. Big chip is thinking about it. What the hell is there to think about? It is a free roll for god's sake. My phone vibrates again. It is my realtor Patsy. I love that name. Any AbFab fans in the hizz-ouse? I walk away from the table.

"Patsy, what is the word. I have not heard from Dennis. Is my grandparents house cleaned out yet?"

My grandmother died in June. My grandfather died two years ago. I loved my grandfather more than anyone on earth. The old woman, as I affectionately called my NaNa, was an acquired taste. Fortunately, I had acquired it. I was surprised she made it as long as she did. They had been together over sixty years, and when someone you are that attached to, for better or worse dies, usually the other person follows soon after.

"Well Michael, Dennis has had some issues. It will be one more week."

"Patsy! Sweetie! I need to sell that house! I need cash. I have had to cut back on my drinking and gambling and was recently forced to switch to domestic women. This is a cash crisis. Embezzlement only goes so far Pats. Price the thing to move."

Patsy is blissfully free of irony.

"But what should I set as a price?"

"Patsy sweetie, you are the expert. Whatever you say sweetie darling, I just want cash."

Patsy has never seen AbFab either. (Really, no AbFab fans?) She never balks when I call her sweetie darling.

"But what price. Do you remember the numbers I gave you Michael?"

"Patsy, I don't remember my inseam."

The next all in is called. I have the nuts, who cares?

"Patsy, take the comparative market valuation and add 10%. It is a depressed area. If no bites in one month, shave the price 10% and then list it as reduced. If still no bites, reduce another 10% and list it as criminally reduced, priced to sell. If you need cash on the back end, no problem, just move the shit! I gotta go, the river is rising."

"Okay Michael, what about the other property?"

"One nightmare link in the chain at a time, sweetie. Freedom is not free. Oh the river..."

The river is a 2. Hmmm. Two pair on the board and my ace. Hmmm. Can the gods be so cruel. Poker baby! Another all in call! You must be joking! My phone is buzzing again. UNKNOWN. The bane of all Caller ID worshippers. Another pregnant pause while the lone chip possessor considers it. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST! FREEROLL! Someone act. I answer the phone. No one even notices at this point. I have not had any movement since the all in, so why would they care.

Unknown is usually work. I hate work. Why wasn't I born rich instead of good lucking. (Rich, well hung, charming, orphaned, brilliant...)

"Hello?"

"Hey Mike, it's Dunce from work (name fictionalized to protect the stupid). This job turnover you put in that said to call you with any questions. I have a question. What is the problem. We just had a shift change and I don't really understand what is going on with this customer..."

Call waiting / Caller ID. The hospital where my mother is. Got to take this one.

"Hold on a second, I have another call."

CLICK.

"Michael, this is Dr. Cameron (I fucking wish! Any House fans in the crowd? Tuesdays 9PM. TIVO it. Brilliant.) Your mother is in bad shape. They over dialysized her due to fluid build up around the heart. It did not help. She is on borrowed time. I am doing my best to stablize her but..."

"I want to talk to her." "Well, I will get the nurses to transfer the call into CICU but you should know that..."

"The last time I talked to her, he legs were itching and in pain. What are you doing about the symptoms? I know she is dying, she has been dying for 20 years, but what are you doing to make her comfortable?"

"Listen YOU, I have tried every God Damned anti itching med there is. She breaks my heart. You got a year out of her she would not have had without dialysis. You need to..."

"Doc, I like you. I don't need to do anything. Put her on a morphine drip if you have to."

"Her heart won't take that. She only has 20% usage of her heart at this point. Morphine might do her in. I will be consulting with her nephrologist, but her liver is failing too. That is what is causing her itching. I am sorry."

"Doc, I understand. It has been 20 years of this. Do you have any idea how long?"

"It's in God's hands now. Not reall-y soon, but not really long either."

Fan-bloody-tastic. That is nice and precise.

"Thanks for the call Doc, let me talk to my mother."

A few clicks later, and she answers. "Hello honey."

"Hello mother, how are you?"

"I want a beer and they won't give me one. Aunt ruthie brought me a hot dog with no sauerkraut. She brought me a cheese log too, but I wanted the sauerkraut. I hate when she tries to keep things from me. They won't give me any broth in my soup because of dialysis. I had a cheese sandwich today. I like the satellite you got me, I get the hallmark channel. They had a movie on today about..."

The bet is called. My God what a mish-mash of all ins. I have no clue who has what. It is time to flip the cards.

Aces over 7's. Read them and weep suckers. I have the nuts! Aces over sevens! What do the peasants have?

WOW! Sevens over twos! Amazing! Two boats! Sadly, mine beats his. Aces and Sevens! Wow two pair! Sevens and Deuces!

Nice hand, thanks for playing. What the hell were you doing in this hand? And finally, you guessed it, (or did you)

THEMS QUAD DEUCES BITCHES!!! Fortunately the voice was in my head.

"And so I want to go back to the nursing home. I don't like the TV here. The food is no good either. Honey, are you at work? I hate to bother you, but can you talk to the doctor. I really need something for the itching. And I am so thirsty and they will only..."

"Mother, you have to control your fluid intake. Your kidneys can't handle any more."

"I know, but that beer we had when you took me to dinner was so good. You know I haven't had a beer in a long time and..."

"Mother, when I get up there we will have lobster and beer. Screw the doctor! Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death. Right?"

"Honey, come up soon. They listen to you. I don't want to say anything, I don't want to get them mad at me. I like the girls at the home and at dialysis. I don't want to say anything. Please come home this weekend."

"Of course, I will bring lobster and beer. I will come on Sunday. You will be back in the nursing home home by then."

"Okay honey, well I will leave you go. Thanks for calling."

"Love you Mother."

"I love you too honey. Don't forget the butter with the lobster because lobster without butter is no good."

"Yes, mother."

CLICK! Work! I almost forgot! (You did too, right?) A brief explanation of what I CLEARLY spelled out in the Queens English and I am off with work. I hate when I have to explain my writing! Dear reader, am I really that unclear? Work was dispatched with authority and the necessary reassurance. Gently dispatch I might add. I too was once new.

Oh shit! A bad beat story. Please forgive me Felicia. I read her blogging rules and she said no one wants to hear a bad beat story. Oh well, what's done is done. By the way, I love Felicia and you should too. If you don't, I have no explanation. Felicia is in my top ten. Felicia, Maudie, Pauly, G-Vegas anyone, Alcanthang, Evacanthang...

I hope that doesn't start a controversy, but it no doubt will. Fuck y'all if you can't take a joke. Life is laugh or cry the way I see it. (Have any of you seen the Fantasticks? A great play. There is one scene where the female protagonist is dancing and she sees suffering all around her and her dancing partner says "MASK!" She protests, but finally puts on her mask and then laughs at the suffering. No? Sorry, my references are much too obscure I am told). But seriously, quad twos! Who the hell would hold a pair of twos like that? I mean look at the flop! Live poker is rigged, like Life!

Bonus code LOVEME!

Dr. Pauly, I did what I could.

BigMike OUT! Peace!


BigMike is AlCantHang's wheelman and personal bodyguard. Some day he'll not only start posting to his blog, he'll actually give it a title.
posted by Pauly at 1/06/2006 12:06:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Fundamental Need To Be Correct: Guest Post from BG

Editor's Note: As you know, I'm off the next two weeks working on my Las Vegas book project. In the meantime, my friends will be taking over the Tao of Poker. Here's the second of a collection of guest posts from your favorite bloggers. If you don't know, BG had been sick the past few weeks. He's finally out of the hospital and I'm honored that he's sharing a post with us today, which includes both random thoughts and thoroughbred selections. Thanks a lot BG!


Fundamental Need To Be Correct

I want to play in the abstract. I want to operate in the hypothetical, weigh my own options and watch the actualities play out well after I've ran the possibilities in my head.

Maybe it's because I'm wired this way. Favorite class in college? Econ. Loved understanding the baseline philosophies behind the motivations of the markets, really helped me make more sense of everything around me. I'm a theory guy, watching it all shake out in practice is fine and all, but I don't need to see the wheels turning to know why the combustion engine should work.

Maybe it's because I'm a control-freak completist whose Maslow chart would include the extra entry of "Fundamental Need To Be Correct." I talk in circles, even in casual conversation, in an attempt to close every loophole on the way to making my point. I need to see the possibilities and probabilities in my own head before I can help you see the light. It's compulsive and annoying, but here we are.

Or maybe I want to play in the hypothetical because reality has just flat-out sucked lately.

On New Year's Eve I was taken to the emergency room with a persistent fever and abdominal cramps, and it took three nights hooked to an IV bag to rehydrate me adequately enough for release.

By the way, would it surprise you to know this would probably rank as a solid #2 on my Worst New Year's Eve Ever List? In June of 2001 I discovered my then-wife was "falling in love" with some British dude she met on the Internet. In early December of that year she decided she needed to get away for a little while to "find herself" so we could be better together. On December 29th, 2001 she hopped a plane to - wait for it - England to do just that. So let's give the death knell of 2001 the top slot on the Worst Ever List, and assume that despite being stuck in a hospital with tubes running into me, at least I was comfortable and not mentally working through the logistics of packing all my shit and leaving my best friend and wife before she got back to town.

Anyway, far be it from me to tell you this New Year's didn't suck, because it did. The guy in the next room watched his TV until five or six in the morning at an ungodly volume, they keep the "climate-controlled" rooms there somewhere just cooler than "Amazonian" thereby ensuring an entire slumber full of flop sweats, and the first thing I did in this new year was trip over my IV tube, pulling it half out of my arm and creating a temporary "fluid sac" under my skin that took a couple of hours to naturally ooze drain.

Although my gracious host here has been fond of wishing me well for my "ass problems," it's really the part of the colon that connects the large and small intestines. But it's still my colon, and I'll let the Doc stick with his initial diagnosis. So anyway, I'm currently on this plan that's euphemistically titled The Low Residue Diet. Basically, if it's soft and not chock-full of complex fibers, I can brew a small and easy dump that won't strain my already-bulging colon. This diet also precludes me from the greasy food I so love and adore too. Since I'm due to have surgery to remove the offending piece of my bowels in about twelve weeks, if you factor in the recovery time I'm unlikely to so much as taste a french fry before July.

Considering the alternative, which might include extreme discomfort, emergency surgery and a colostomy bag, I'll go ahead and skip the Double Whopper combo meal for the time being.

I don't get to drink away the pain either. Not until next week, after the antibiotics have been emptied from their respective bottles.

So what does this have to do with poker? Well, not a whole hell of a lot, other than I'm in a rut where playing the game has been really irritating lately. I'm not just talking about the same old bad beats, although they're definitely obnoxious. It's not the know-it-all jerkoffs who insist on berating your play with suited connectors either, despite how frustrated I get listening to that bullshit too.

It's the math and mechanics that are getting to me these days. The here-and-now of the decision making necessary to play the game "correctly." I've been playing too much limit poker, and the constant re-evaluation of the math and the pot odds (combined, of course, with a little bit of a losing streak - everything is more palatable with a bulging bankroll) has got me frustrated. I know in my heart that poker is a game of percentages, and I normally live and love every check, call and raise.

It's just another area of my life where I'm running bad right now, and I'm not sure I have the patience for the reality of all this. So today, we're gravitating in another direction - horses. With the horses, I can play in the hypotheticals, do my handicapping, find my favorites and run these races in my head prior to putting my money down wherever I can find value.

Wait, so I'm not just betting on the favorite? Or the horse I think has the best chance of winning? You can't, actually. The whole concept of value is finding your price on a betting option, and only playing it if the odds you're being offered exceed the odds you're giving the horse to win. Every horse has some chance of winning, the game here is to find the bet(s) on the board that give you the most for your money. I love this game because it gives me the chance with every race to prove I'm the smartest guy in the room when the race unfolds like I thought it would. I can put the pieces together in the abstract and have my theories confirmed in the minute-plus from post to wire.

So, in an effort to satisfy my gambling Jones, I'll be playing today's card at Tampa Bay Downs. I've broken down the races, and here's some plays I can toss your way, if you're interested in coming along for the ride...

• Race 1 - #4 Bronx Cheer stepped up off an October win, ran second to a much classier horse than any of these today last out and hung a solid speed rating. I'd play at 2/1 or better.


• Race 2 - With no real pressure to the pace, #2 Preceptor should get out to the front. Good signs with the step up in class and I like the bullet workout on 12/23. Probably ready for this spot. Play at 5/2 or better. #8 Bluff can close when asked, but should need a hotter pace which looks unlikely. I do like this horse at 5/1 or better (meaning higher), but I don't think that'll happen.


• Race 5 - #1 Kisses For Kara shows solid closing ability, and despite near-paceless look to this race should come in for a share. I like that the trainer is dialing down the distance for her a little bit, makes sense for this one. Play at 7/2 or better. I like #8 Kickn Chickn a bit here too, despite some oddly erratic choices by the trainer recently. I like Bernal onboard and the second off layoff angle for some improvement, and that this horse may go up and challenge for the lead early. Good play at 9/2 or better.


• Race 6 - Plenty to like here in a competitive AOC race. #1 Sacred Feather has raced at Churchill, which I like, and lost her last out to an unpressured pacesetter who ran away with the race - but hung a career-best 81 Beyer in the place at this track/class/distance. Solid workouts, steady improvement, and should love the pace scenario without a speedster up front. Tough to like a short price on this one with a lot of competition, but I'd play at 5/2 or better. #3 Ashley and I has the second off layoff angle (which I love) and could bounce a Beyer spike to the mid 70s, which would be competitive here. 5/1 or better? #4 A Different Tune gets hot jockey Lezcano onboard, the second off angle and hung a career-best Beyer last out. Great workouts in late Nov/early Dec and is really ready to strike here. Play this one at 7/2 or better for sure. #6 Buck Spender had a huge workout on 12/30, which should sharpen her speed for this sprint. Wouldn't surprise if she wakes up and grabs the lead and maybe even goes wire-to-wire. That being said, she laid a big egg last time coming off a good workout. 6/1 or better only. And #9 Cacchinated could be a longshot above 10/1 worth watching.


• Race 7 - #6 Montecastillo needs only a marginally average performance in this spot. Great play at or around 2/1. #7 On The Fan, should those odds float up towards 10/1, could be worth looking at. Steer clear of #8 Tactical De Naskra, totally overrated in this spot.


• Race 8 - #7 Davids Expectation needs only an average Beyer to win here, and I expect that will happen. Gets that second off layoff angle I dig, and has a history of running in stiffer competition than this. Like this one at 6/5 or better. #1 Great Plains has great recent Beyers, and I really dig that the trainer reclaimed this horse one race after another trainer claimed him, even paying a $4K premium to do so. This is a little bit of an ambitious class jump, but he could score. 9/2 or better.


• Race 9 - I'm really torn on #7 Chispazo. I love the unpressured pace he's likely to set, and he's on his second off which could mean a nice performance spike. Has a good history running this distance, and his best will be plenty. I think he might end up close to 5/1 on the board due to the scary-ass trainer/jockey connection, which might be the worst connection on today's card. I'd play him at 5/1. #2 Andiamo is interesting and due for a Beyer spike. He was running over his head in class, but this should now be the right spot and the right pace scenario for this horse. Great workouts lately, but he'll probably be overbet. Like him at 7/2 or better. #1 County Trial has always shown a Beyer spike in his second off layoff, which is where he is coming in today. He's a stalker and will enjoy not having to chase a rabbit out front too. He's only ran this distance on the turf before, which I don't like much, but seems capable of striking in this spot too. 3/1 on the Morning Line, I'd play at 9/2 or better.

Good luck to me today, let's hope I'm more right than wrong.


BG is a writer and blogger from Western Michigan. Be sure to stop by his blog Random Thoughts and Thoroughbred Selections.
posted by Pauly at 1/05/2006 11:28:00 AM | Permalink |

 
A Bad Beat Story: A Guest Post from Daddy

Editor's Note: As you know, I'm off the next two weeks working on my Las Vegas book project. In the meantime, my friends will be taking over the Tao of Poker. Here's the first of many guest posts from your favorite bloggers. As you know, Daddy pulled his blog, so it's a sincere honor that he decided to share his words with my audience. Thanks a lot Daddy!


A Bad Beat Story

"Happy New Year, man. Sorry I didn't stick around."

"Bro, no shit. We were all wondering where you went. I'm assuming you had a productive night with whatever her name was, eh?"

"Shit. Worst New Year's ever. Easily."

"Yikes, man. Didn't land any of that ass then, I take it?"

"Nah, I got the ass."

"Well, fuck. What are you bitching about? My wife passed out at midnight, and wouldn't budge."

"Well, her name was Lori, and I think she's from Brookville. I do know she ate Mexican food with her cousin before the party, and that ended up being the demise to my New Year's."

"What did she have?"

"How the fuck am I supposed to know? Probably enchiladas. That's not the point though. All I know is whatever it was it fucked her up pretty good."

"Did she puke everywhere?"

"Not that I know of. She was just fine at the bar when we left you guys. Her cousin lives in town, and she got the keys to her place. She drove us over and as soon as we got there she had a bottle of wine cracked, and put some Usher on the stereo."

"Usher?"

"I think. That's who she said it was anyway. That's not the point though. She was all over me, dude. I had zero doubts that I was gonna rail that ass."

"Is Usher the name of the band, or just the guy?"

"Fuck if I know. I couldn't even hear the shit by the time we made it into her cousin's bedroom. We were practically naked by the time we fell onto the bed. This girl was apeshit crazy too. Kept asking me to call her names and shit. I had her doggied for about fifteen minutes or so, and was pretty close to losing my shit when she told me to roll over so she could ride me."

"That rules, bro."

"Well, she starts to ride me, and it's hot as fuck in this room, so we're both sweating like Patrick Ewing in a sauna, when all of a sudden she just stops. I ask her if she's okay, and she looks at me and says, 'I don't feel so good.'

"Had you blown yet?"

"Fuck no. I was damn close, but that's not the point. She cropdusted me, dude."

"Cropdusted?"

"Yeah, she farted and sprayed a mist all over my balls. As soon as she'd realized what she'd done, she started crying and ran into the bathroom. I could hear her crying, but just barely over the sounds that were coming out of her ass."

"Let me get this straight. She shit on your balls? That's a bad beat, dude."

"Yes. It was basically a wet misty fart, but still not cool, bro. And it stunk too. Real fuckin' bad. So, the way I saw it, I only had one thing left to do."

"Did you whip that bitch's ass?"

"Nah, man. I finished the job she couldn't. I sat on the side of the bed and rubbed that fucker out. I was so pissed off I just let it fly too. Got it all over the curtains. The best part though was wiping off my hog on her cousin's teddy bear. I wiped my shitsoaked bag off on that little bear too."

"Man, it sounds like that fucking bear got the worst of it."

"Yeah, I got the fuck outta there quickly. She was still crying and shitting when I left. I didn't even say good-bye."

"Sweet. Yeah, fuck her anyway. Who does she think she is shitting on your sack?"

"I had to walk five blocks just to catch a cab. When I finally got back to my place I could still smell her enchiladas on my balls."

"That's sick, bro."

"Yeah, I took a long shower. My guess is that I ushered in the New Year scrubbing my grundle with a test tube brush and a gallon of bleach."

"Is Usher considered rap or R&B?"

"Fuck if I know, that's not the point. The point is, this was the worst New Year's ever. I've only told you half the story. As soon as I got out of the shower, I fired up PokerStars. I wanted to sit at a Deep Stacks tourney, but they didn't have any running. After the enchilada ordeal, it's safe to say I was on mega-tilt, so I did what everyone else would've done it that situation."

"Razz?"

"Nah. I took my entire bankroll to a no limit table. I only had about four grand left after I bought Candice the engagement ring, but I wanted action."

"Well, since you've already said it was the worst night ever, I'm assuming you lost your roll?"

"First fucking hand, and I'm dealt 'Jimmy Walker'."

"What's 'Jimmy Walker'?"

"Jack of clubs, Jack of spades. If it holds up you have to type 'DYNOMITE!!' into the chat box."

"Sweet, bro. That's hilarious."

"Anyway, I raise it up 3 big blinds from early position and there's one caller. The flop comes: Jack of hearts, Seven of spades, Three of clubs."

"No way you lost here, man. Did he hit quads?"

"I check, obviously. He bets the pot. I ponder for a bit, and I raised. I ask him 'Did you hit your Jacks?' He types in the chatbox, 'Yes,' and pushes his entire stack which has me covered. I call, obviously, and he shows the Ten of clubs, and the 4 of clubs."

"Fucking sick! Dead to runner runner clubs, and hit?"

"Nah, he turned the eight, and fifth brought the nine. Runner-runner-double-gut down to the felt. I was devastated, bro."

"No shit. Too bad you didn't have a teddy bear."

*****


Last 5 Books I Saw Hilljacks Reading at Subway...
1. The Dale Earnhardt Story by Kevin Mayne
2. Fisting for Dummies by Mitch Cumstein
3. The Holy Bible
4. No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem! by Jeff Foxworthy
5. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Fisting by Stanley Dalrymple

Happy New Year, Doc.
Hope all is kind,
Daddy
posted by Pauly at 1/03/2006 03:09:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Happy New Year

"He not busy being born is busy dying." - Bob Dylan

2006 is upon us. My goals are simple... to play better poker and improve my skills as a writer. I want to keep my bankroll above five figures by the end of the year and play in another WSOP event. My focus is going to be on Limit & NL cash games both live and online and improving my PLO game. I shall return to Las Vegas to cover the 2006 WSOP along with covering other tournaments along the way. I'm going to do a lot more personal traveling yet still do a fair amount of freelance writing.

My first task of this year is to finish my Las Vegas book. I'm taking several days off to write. I'll return soon. In the meantime, I hope that some of my fellow bloggers will step in and do a few guest posts here, including Daddy.

I hope you come back. Because it's going to be another wild year at the Tao of Poker, so much so that if you blink, you just might miss something.

*****

Congrats to Armen and his team Speed & Weed who won the 5th Annual Pauly's Pub Football Pool. The top 4 teams made the money. Coach's team Coach's Picks tied for second with Jerry's team Well T'anks for Nuthin'. Derek's team Chico's Bail Bonds finished in fourth. Thanks to everyone who played!
posted by Pauly at 1/01/2006 03:34:00 AM | Permalink |