Tao of Poker

WPBT: HammerStars

"When the only tool you have is a hammer,
Everything looks like a nail,
And your living at the Bittersweet Motel." - Phish

I woke up in a good mood on Wednesday. I had an early haircut scheduled with Vinny and he did a great job. I'm losing my hair so I need all the help I can get. We talked about gambling the entire time. He and his wife go to the Borgata in Atlantic City once or twice a month. He plays table games and was asking me about hold'em, specifically about blinds. Vinny is from the old country, and in his early 60s, he still has an accent. "You gotta tella me about the blinds," he inquired.

On the way to his shop, I helped an old lady cross the street. Seriously, I'm just like a fuckin' boyscout except I have access to better pharmaceuticals and don't wear knee socks and scarves. I knew my karma was going to be improved after I handed a bum $1 as I walked out of the subway en route to lunch with Briana. I was putting out a gaggle karmic vibes as early as possible. I even offered to pay for lunch. She declined, like she always does. Then again if I sold a sixth of her shoe collection on ebay, I'd get enough to buy in to the WSoP and have a little money left over for a cool pair of shades and a bottle of Vicodin. And the rumors that I stole a pair of her Manalo's and sold them to bet on the Eagles getting points is 100% inaccurate. I took the money line.

I offered to stake April H. in this tournament. She wasn't going to play due to an unfunded account. I wanted to get as many bloggers playing as possible and in the mood of keeping up the positive karmic vibes, I transferred her the buy-in. We agreed on a 50-50 split of any tournament winnings. My investment almost paid off, but as long as April H. had a good time... then I had a good time. That was the entire point.

Onto the tourney. I had to play at my Mom's and I left my brother's apartment. The download of YIM took forever on dial-up. I found the chat room and it was a little rowdy. I told everyone good luck and herbally prepared myself for the event. I had my notebook, a pen, and an Orange Gatorade (the official drink of the Tao of Poker).

151 players. $3000+ prize pool. I was pumped. One year ago we had 30+. We've come a long way!

Editor's Note: If I did not link you up or got your name wrong, please tell me what your blog is or the correct info.

My First Table #9
Seat 1: NemoD
Seat 2: RickLang
Seat 3: Pauly
Seat 4: KingTut then Lefty (CJ's bro)
Seat 5: MacDKnife
Seat 6: JoeSpeaker then Waxman
Seat 7: KennyCasino
Seat 8: MtDewVirus
Seat 9: SoxLover

Level 1: Right away I saw that NemoD was seated to my right. Very cool. I don't think we ever played together before. I only recognized MtDewVirus, the winner of the last Poker Stars event. I eventually discovered that a few readers were sitting down as well as Joe from Obituarium and Charlie from Flush My Nuts. Little did I know that we would be sitting at a Hammer Friendly table and the Hammer would go on to win 7 out of 7 times. Sensational! Grubby is smiling somewhere in Vegas.

I looked at my brother's table and wow... he had some good players there. And ironically, three New Yorkers were at his table (Derek, Ferrari, and Toby). Since I was on dial up, I only had two tables open... mine and Derek's.. and I'd leave him to visit others. In these situations, I wish I could have watched every table. I took the opportunity to stop by as many tables as I could in the first level to say hi to some of my friends, readers, and fellow bloggers. Sorry if I didn't get to say hello to everyone.

I had a few decent hands to start. JJ held up for me and then I found AA. No action after I raised a huge amount preflop. I showed the rockets.

9:10pm EST... NemoD's KK knocks our RickLang's 66. By the time the level ended there were 143 players left and I had T1960.

Level 2: I found K9s in the BB and flopped two pair. I also found 44 and raised from the button. No action. I had T2110 and settling in. Everyone know's about The Hand, but some of you don't know that I dropped The Hammer a few minutes earlier.

9:26pm EST... Everyone folded to NemoD on the button and he raised with A-10. I moved all in from the BB. He thought about it and folded. I proudly showed... The Hammer. That was the start of a slew of Hammer droppings.

Level 3: I won a hand with AT. I had T2470 and was in 23rd place. Then it happened.

The Hand

Some of the most well-planned and though-out decisions I made have been the biggest mistakes of my life. Yet, some of the most impulsive and irrational things I've done... have brought me the most enjoyment and excitement in life. The last two hands I expected to be up against were KK and AA. I was hoping to steal the pot right there.

Here's Charlie's take:

I'm on the SB and I have cowboys....Yay! The guy behind Pauly, 787Style raises to 150 from 50, Pauly immediately pushes. I'm thinking 787Style=overcards, Pauly=hammer, yes I actually put the good Doctor on the hammer, I mean he did it earlier so it did not seem so far fetched. In my mind I'm probably ahead and can potentially triple up and then have some real fun at the table. Ahem, no. 787Style had AA and Pauly did have the hammer. Flop came 7h 5d 7d, gulp! Turn in 9d. Hmmm now wait, I can catch my miracle four outer flush here cause on of my K's is a d. Alas no the river is a 5h the board pairs and Pauly gets a fullhouse hammer.

The news travels faster than I thought possible around the tables. In no time the hand history is posted on Iggy's site. Did anybody get a screen shot??

I was not upset, I mean this is what is supposed to happen at the Blogger tourney right? Also I shall ever live in infamy for being involved in The Hand.

Wow. That was the craziest online hand I was ever involved in. The brawl in Vegas has got to be up there as the craziest B&M hand. I won both. It was weird because I found out I had more railbirds that I envisioned. A slew of people were lurking in the shadows and piped up when they saw the wake of destruction of The Hammer. Before I could tell people at other tables, everyone already knew. Word traveled fast. The sad thing was that Derek missed it. He was in the middle of a hand.

I used of all my karma on that one hand. I hit the flop of my life too. I also think I used up all my Hammer mojo. Cracking AA or KK is a feat in itself. Cracking both on the same hand, in a WPBT event, is outstanding. I wasn't joking before when I wrote that it was the highlight of my short poker career.

I am considering retiring The Hammer for good aside from playing it once a year on St. Grubby's Day, coming up on Monday! I really wished that I got (or will get) The Hammer in a final table at a WPT event. With Phil Hellmuth on my left I push all in with 27o. He calls with AA and I outflop him. Just once... to see if that gets him to flip over the table. That's my Hammer dream.

I'll take what I can get. I looked at the leader board and I was third in chips. I knew what was going to happen next... it was a matter of time before I blew the lead. I got AJ three times inside of an orbit and I missed every flop too. At least I didn't blow my stack on one of my trouble hands. I found AKs and got no action. That's when I was abruptly moved to a new table.

My Second Table #8:
Seat 1: DroptheHammer
Seat 2: SportsTrader then Cincy Sean
Seat 3: Pauly
Seat 4: Curzdog then April
Seat 5: VoodooPoker
Seat 6: EasyWind
Seat 7: TreeFrog
Seat 8: StB
Seat 9: Grubette!!

Level 4: Grubette knocked me out of the last PokerStars event. Good to be sitting at her table along with a few devoted readers and of course... Mr. Hammer himself. Cincy Sean from Lord Admiral was eventually seated to my right.

A few minutes before the break, Derek was knocked out with a shortstack. he had Q2 and moved all in. Sir Wafflehead called at the last possible second with 66. Derek flopped a 2, and hit two pair on the turn. Sir Waffle caught his two outer on the river to make his set. Derek was out in 102. Jay, my buddy Senor's brother, played in this one. We play at Foxwoods together. Anyway, Jay was out in 100, losing to AA.

I won a pot with QT and I flopped two pair. I had over T5475 and was in second place overall. Grubbette doubled up on the last hand before the break with 98s against DroptheHammer.

By the time the break hit, I was second overall. Amazing, eh? Here's the proof.




So having a big stack is both good and bad for me. In every big tourney that I made the money in... I had a big stack early. As Bad Blood aptly said, "Pauly's a big stack player." However, I had the chip lead in two previous blogger events (including at the final table in Vegas) and came in 3rd and bubbled out in 6th. It was still a crapshoot for me. And I wasn't about to slow down. During the break I knew what I was going to do... be aggressive.

Level 5: Everyone folded to me on the button. I raised the blinds with king high. The LB pushed all-in with a shortstack. It was only 500 more to call (maybe even less) and I did. He had Ax and doubled up. That hurt. I hate limping into pots when everyone folds to me on the button. I saw the chance to pick up the blinds and went for it. T3810 and bleeding.

10:11pm EST... Grubette doubled up with A5s against 88. When the level ends, I have T3500+ and slipped out of the Top 20.

Level 6: Another table change for me.

My last table #15:
Seat 1: Bugsy99
Seat 2: Frog?? then SirWafflehead
Seat 3: Darice
Seat 4: Pauly
Seat 5: SoxLover
Seat 6: Poker Nerd
Seat 7: a1049
Seat 8: Nick98
Seat 9: John-Paul

On one of the first hands, I limped in MP with A5s. The Poker Nerd had a short stack and moved all-in. I called and doubled his JJ up. Two hands that I should have cost me almost 50% of my stack. But my gameplan was aggression. I wasn't looking to slide into the money and break even. I was gunning for $900.

10:32pm EST... AJo is a headache hand. With a shortstack, I pushed all in and JP called with 88. I flopped an ace and he caught an 8 on the turn to knock me out in 62nd place. Not good at all. I went from 2nd to 62 in a half hour... playing three hands. But April H. was still hanging on... barely! I still had a small chance of getting some money.

I was out and watched a little bit and chatted with a bunch of different folks. Sean from Lord Admiral was the chip leader. At that point, my money was on him. Here are random things I jotted down in my notes:

11:02pm EST... April H.'s KK beats TripJax's QQ.

11:15pm EST... April H. is out in 36th place. Poker Nerd's 10-5o doubles up against ON_THG's 77

11:21pm EST... Joanne is a short stack and moved all in with KQ. Toby called with A8s, flopped an ace and was sucked out on the river when Joanne made her straight.

11:48pm EST.. Darice's AA gets beat by Bugsy's 34s!

12:03am EST... Jorgen moved all in with KQ. Sean had AK and Wax's AT beat them all when he flopped trips.

That's the end of my notes. Congrats to the winner, a Grand Haven native, Kid Anonymous aka ON_THG. Good job. Toby from Nut Heart Flush held out the longest out of the NYC crew. Ferrari was in the Top 5 in chips at one point and Toby was in the Top 10 for a while. And April H. hung in there! She outlasted me and made a great run.


Top 18 places paid
Thanks to Iggy for setting up the event. Thanks to everyone who played. Check out the WPBT site for player standings.

I was impressed that the Poker Penguin showed up. Our Canadian friends did very well. I guess since the NHL lockout has freed up a lot of their time, they've been busy improving their poker game. I was also happy to see a lot of Europeans play... despite the vicious time difference. I'm suggesting a 3pm EST tourney on a Sunday for next time. Let Iggy know your thoughts. I'm flexible.

Thanks for reading this crappy write up. Wish I could have done a better job, but I only had two hours to work on this. Congrats to all the money winners.

Tournament History for last 1 tournament requested by DrPauly
PokerStars Tournament #4684031, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $20.00/$2.00
151 players
Total Prize Pool: $3020.00
Tournament started - 2005/02/02 - 21:00:00 (ET)
Tournament finished - 2005/02/03 - 00:41:57 (ET)

1: on_thg (Grand Haven), $906.00 (30%)
2: pokerlife (La Canada), $604.00 (20%)
3: WAXMAN13 (LAFAYETTE), $359.38 (11.90%)
4: Grasp (Midland), $241.60 (8%)
5: ZeRat11 (Berwyn), $196.30 (6.50%)
6: Quillayute (Travelers Rest), $151.00 (5%)
7: a104l9 (West Columbia), $105.70 (3.50%)
8: mirven (Austin), $78.52 (2.60%)
9: Tapin42 (Campbell), $51.34 (1.70%)
10: Riddim Killa (Birmingham), $36.24 (1.20%)
11: Count Fosco (Toronto), $36.24 (1.20%)
12: jerge88 (Ames), $36.24 (1.20%)
13: myradiohead (Huntsville), $36.24 (1.20%)
14: jcostale (Burnaby), $36.24 (1.20%)
15: S.t.B (Milwaukee), $36.24 (1.20%)
16: Joanne1111 (Calgary), $36.24 (1.20%)
17: Bugsy 99 (Toronto), $36.24 (1.20%)
18: darice (Kimberly), $36.24 (1.20%)
19: larryvq (Phoenix),
20: Troublecat (Hollywood),
21: HonestAL1029 (Timmins),
22: TNSpaceman (Ashland City),
23: smizmiatch (Atlanta),
24: workz (San Diego),
25: tobyleah (Brooklyn),
26: jaysimon (New York),
27: The_Venetian (Venice),
28: Drizztdj (Maple Grove),
29: misterd2u (Villa Hills),
30: stannum50 (Sherman Oaks),
31: Posner60 (Kirkwood),
32: squaptor (New York),
33: lvvpokerprof (Las Vegas),
34: OtisBDart (Greenville),
35: lucas67 (Saint Petersburg),
36: April98 (San Jose),
37: NemoD (Berkeley),
38: Spock326 (NY),
39: ricoM (Merrimack),
40: ej333 (Fullerton),
41: TripJax (Greensboro),
42: easy_wind (Somerville),
43: Up4Poker (Lafayette),
44: DakotaKen (Dakota Dunes),
45: Ugarte's (Brooklyn),
46: grubette (Long Beach),
47: tpfelt (Toronto),
48: nick3908 (jamestown),
49: Treefrog (Raytown),
50: SoxLover (Jersey City),
51: RevmodPoker (Lyalta),
52: fhwrdh (thousand oaks),
53: SirFWALGMan (Dover),
54: ToddCommish (Pleasanton),
55: gaamblor (Newport Beach),
56: BlogReader88 (CINCINNATI),
57: gooby (Cary),
58: PayrollJones (Pittsburgh),
59: voodoopoker (Greenwich),
60: pochen (Grand Forks),
61: hank987 (Oxford),
62: DrPauly
63: LanceyH (Providence),
64: Donegal (Minneapolis),
65: frogalog (Austin),
66: NegativeEV (Washington),
67: ScarKnight (Phoenixville),
68: brazosbuck (Dallas),
69: Bazkar (Plainfield),
70: LordHatsumi (Chapel Hill),
71: Trafficant (Akron),
72: MtDewVirus (Saginaw),
73: FatTabbyMama (Austin),
74: Canesfan16 (Davie),
75: DropDHammer (springfield),
76: anisotropy (Vineland),
77: Hectorjelly (Dublin),
78: Artoch (Sebastopol),
79: Jimihat316 (Lansdale),
80: Blog-Penguin (Fernie),
81: slim999 (Watertown ),
82: GRobman (Greer),
83: MercyFlush (Malmo),
84: sportstrader (Great Falls),
85: leftyhoyt (Chicago),
86: bdidde (Mountain View),
87: TheFilmGeek (North Hollywood),
88: BobRespert (Ann Arbor),
89: MacDaKnife (Boston),
90: mccreadj (New Galilee),
91: Dane67 (Pullman),
92: NileFever (Hereford),
93: YouzaViper (Linton),
94: Burnt79 (St. Catharines),
95: z0d1ac (Ottawa),
96: Aces_Mike (Drogheda),
97: hdouble (Los Angeles),
98: curzdog (Fairfax),
99: ephro (Terre Haute),
100: WarLordAG (Newark),
101: Demonstalker (Tiffin),
102: gwjay (washington),
103: doubleas (Fairfax),
104: HermWarfare (Bronx),
105: gpoker (Astoria),
106: chrisdhal (New Brighton),
107: Aequitas58 (Gloucester City),
108: DuggleBogey (Edmond),
109: kennycasino (Vancouver),
110: aboutmattlaw (Astoria),
111: DnkyPnchr74 (Chicago),
112: TeeDubb (Fort Thomas),
113: CrzySmrtGuy (Charlotte),
114: coachJRF (New York),
115: 11round (Saint Petersburg),
116: lumberking (Poplar Bluff),
117: mean g (Glenshaw),
118: TEXnFLA (Tampa),
119: wolverinech (independence),
120: JStreet24 (Fairfax),
121: BigSlickNut (Brooksville),
122: speclj (Wichita),
123: humbird (Chicago),
124: 787Style (Austin),
125: kingtutt13 (Clarskville),
126: heL1xx (Media),
127: asphnxma (Brooklyn),
128: jdmoore99 (Philadelphia),
129: Guinness (cincinnati),
130: BrentStacks (Toronto),
131: HeyKidsItsBG (Grand Haven),
132: mcstellar (Chicago),
133: dankhank (Allston),
134: Tactix (Calgary),
135: badblood44 (Greer),
136: duffsterj (Plain City),
137: ArthurPDent (Simpsonville),
138: monstermaker (Raleigh),
139: FW190 (Washington),
140: Volcrazy (Destin),
141: SaveMySkin (Brooklyn),
142: poboys31 (Roswell),
143: GBslyr (Great Valley),
144: JoeSpeaker (Moreno Valley),
145: Mourn (Houston),
146: RickLang (Chicago),
147: rchamberlin (kenosha),
148: hotcookie42 (Millbrook),
149: Predator314 (Princeton),
150: AlCantHang (Phoenixville),
151: lifesagrind (Overland Park),

You finished in 62nd place (eliminated at hand #1162142368).

93 hands played and saw flop:
- 2 times out of 12 while in small blind (16%)
- 2 times out of 10 while in big blind (20%)
- 9 times out of 71 in other positions (12%)
- a total of 13 times out of 93 (13%)

Pots won at showdown - 1 out of 4 (25%)
Pots won without showdown - 9