NAPT Venetian Day Two

Today I found myself in many very profitable situations and went on an incredible rush from 8500 chips at about 1:30 PM to exactly 400,000 more when we ended play about eight hours later. There appear to be 148 players left and I am in 9th place. MasterJ is 5th in chips and my good friend SamENole is still in as well.

NAPT Venetian Day One

Sometimes I feel bad that the most popular form of poker in 2010 is full-ring tournament play. Poker is such a beautiful game. Playing it live, ten-handed, with average stacks of 30-50 big blinds is a corruption. I feel bad for the people that win a satellite to an event like this, the people who are playing in their first big tournament. I feel bad for the people who win a seat to a WSOP $1000 or $1500 event in a bar league or basement kitty. Ten-handed poker with shallow stacks is an abomination of what poker should be. This alleged "big tournament" is not any finer than your average online MTT. It's just more uncomfortable.

I am on to day two with 16,300 chips. Blinds will start at 500-1000-100 tomorrow at noon.

On The Road Again

The epic week I had planned fizzled out somewhat, though I was able to make a score that will fund the next adventure: A journey to Las Vegas for the NAPT Venetian, immediately followed by an undetermined number of events in Los Angeles that will at a minimum include the LAPC WPT $10k Main Event, followed by any number of options involving Chicago, Council Bluffs, the Wynn, Bay 101, Caesars Indiana, the Hollywood Poker Open in Indiana, cross-country drives and/or flights, crinked necks, wild bankroll fluctuations, March Madness, egregious run-on sentences, changes in latitudes, and changes in attitudes. I might not be home for a month.

WPT Hand

I just saw a goofy hand from last week's episode of the World Poker Tour. The event was the $10k Legends of Poker. Fast forward to the 5:52 mark to watch this hand.




Todd Terry limped from the small blind with 86 offsuit, and chip leader Kevin Schaffel made a very tricky check of pocket kings from the big blind. The flop came T63 with two spades. Terry checked, Schaffel bet 70k into a 105k pot, and Terry called. The turn came the Tc. Terry checked, Schaffel bet 150k, and Terry called. The river was the 6d. Terry checked, Schaffel bet 200k, and Terry very reluctantly called.

Mike Sexton made a big stink about Terry's hesitance to call, even referring to it as a "slowroll." Schaffel also seemed disgusted, in part because he lost a large pot with pocket kings, but also because he may have felt he was slowrolled to some degree as well.

If I had been in Terry's seat, I may well have folded on the river. The way the hand was played, it made little sense for Schaffel to have anything but a ten. His bet-sizing and barrelling were completely indicative of a ten. The way Terry played it, it was highly likely that he had a six. When Schaffel bet 200k on the river, Terry felt sick because he knew it looked like he had just made a full house sixes over tens, and Schaffel was still betting.

I am completely shocked that Schaffel, a professional player who was part of the November Nine this year, bet the river. I love to see a nice thin value bet, but this bet was merely a donation. It made absolutely no sense. I don't know what he could have thought Terry would call him with. A pair of sevens?. Ace-three? It made no sense for Terry to have anything but a six or a hand with no showdown value, with the unlikely exception of an ace high flush draw.

That was one of the worst value bets I've seen in a while. I sided much more with Terry's pain on the river than Schaffel's.

The other thing about this hand is I would have usually folded the turn in Terry's seat, because it is so rare to see a double barrel bluff when the top card on the board pairs. In fact, many players would check back the turn with what Schaffel actually had.

It is interesting because at low levels, Schaffel's turn bet could mean a lot of hands. At intermediate to high levels, Schaffel's turn bet usually means a ten. And at the highest level, Schaffel's turn bet could again mean a lot of hands.

Terry is drawing dead if Schaffel has a ten, and not too far in front if he has a draw. I am not real familiar with Schaffel's game, but generally speaking I don't think a call is profitable in that situation when it is pro vs pro.

Another Heads Up Score

I finished 3rd/4th place in the FTOPS $535 Heads Up event for $27k. It's pretty clear I'm one of the best heads up tournament players out there, though that wouldn't translate to high stakes heads up cash games. I think I may have no choice but to play the $10k Heads Up at the WSOP this summer.

The Alive of Winter

Everything is going according to the plan. I have been working hard in every aspect of my life, and that labor is starting to pay off.

I was a slight winner in poker in January, which is notable because it was the first time I have ever finished in the black the first month of the year. It was encouraging to finish the month with a profit despite failing to cash in two $10ks, despite blowing another $10k in a satellite I should have won, despite crapping out late in several medium to large online tournaments.

In the past, I have had friends who I knew were going to break through on the tournament trail and hit it big. I was certain of this happening before it happened, and every time it did.

The last few weeks, I have developed this same belief about myself. My no limit game is razor sharp. It is not a matter of if; it is a matter of when and how much. It might not be this spring; it might not be this summer; but I know if I keep working as hard as I have been working the last month, it will all come in time.

I have so much going on in the next week it scares me. I have no idea where I will be, literally or mentally, in ten days. But I take comfort knowing I have so much to gain and so little to lose. One thing is for sure - it is better to have too much on your plate than not enough.

January Top 15

15. Billy Joel - Get It Right The First Time
14. Meese - Next In Line
13. Jay-Z - Run This Town (feat. Rihanna & Kanye West)
12. The Streets - Fit But You Know It
11. Stereophonics - Roll Up And Shine

10. Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard - These Roads Don't Move
9. The Streets - Dry Your Eyes Mate
8. David Bowie - Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
7. Melanesian Choirs - Jisas Yu Holem Hand Blong Mi



6. The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
5. Alice in Chains - Check My Brain
4. AC/DC - It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll)
3. Powderfinger - My Happiness
2. Brendan Benson - Jet Lag

Song of the Month: Green Day - See The Light