Event #28 $1500 NL

I got bluffed out of my mind by a young German pro in a huge pot a few hours in and was out shortly after. It was a truly audacious bluff, and I was still staggering around the Rio hours afterwards recounting the hand history to anyone who would listen. Fortunately, there was a welcome distraction in the hours after that demeaning facial. More on this tomorrow.

Poker hottie of the day Christina Lindley was another welcome distraction before she busted deep in the $2500 6-handed.

Christina's beauty is divisive. I feel like her hotness is pretty open and shut but some tend to disagree. I find it pretty laughable that anyone could say they don't find her attractive but the more discussion these posts arouse the more I realize how variable preferences are.

Event #26 $2500 6-Handed NL

Not much to report here. Several lost three and four-bet pots. A double with kings against ace-king. Some siphoning. A big and correct laydown. Bust with nines against queens.

I'm thinking Lynn Gilmartin is the hottest poker reporter on the circuit. The accent seals it.


On a related note, whatever happened to Gloria Balding? Haven't seen her this year.

Event #24 $5K NLHE Shootout

I have no idea how good I am at poker.

When I used to play cash games, I was very good, relative to my opponents. Since I switched predominantly to tournaments, I don't know.

I play events like this and wonder if I belong in them before, during, and after the fact. I felt like today I was the second best player at the table, but then, my opponents probably felt that they were in that neighborhood too.

I do some stuff at the table that looks fishy but is well thought-out.

I do some stuff at the table that actually is fishy.

I often see well-known pros do fishy stuff at the table. Sometimes it is well thought-out, sometimes it really is fishy. Sometimes they're unfocused, not playing their best.

Sometimes I don't play my best. Sometimes I do.

I thought this one kid at the table, Toby Lewis, was playing much better than anyone else. But after dinner, I thought he made some strategical errors.

Galen Hall, the Poker Hottie of the Day, has done some serious damage this year on the circuit. But I was talking to a friend today about his play, and he makes some major mistakes too. He doesn't always play his best.


It's a tough nut to crack, this poker.

Poker Listings published an article about me this evening.

I've never had a losing year.

I feel like my chances of finishing in the red are much greater than 50% this year - and every year in the future, too.

As Lou Reed would say, I guess that I just don't know.

The $2500 6-max is tomorrow.

Event #20 $1K NLHE Day Two

I thought I played my cards well in this event, and furthered an irrelevant quest to lead all twentysomethings in lifetime cashes at the WSOP. I finished in the 200s.

Like a lot of teenage boys, I used to think boobs were the most attractive part of a woman. Then legs. Then butt. Strangely now, it might be arms. That's all it takes. A nice toned set of arms, especially in a tank top. This hottie was in my sightline as we careened into the money this afternoon.

Event #20 $1K NLHE

I have logged so many hours in these donkaments the last few years they all blur together after the fact. After each day I often have a hard time recalling how I got to the end of it. The sea of tables is so vast, it's hard to see the finish line. In the moment, however, I am a robotic chameleon. The gear-shifting has become automatic. I played all five of them today, as I often do in these low buy-in WSOP events, and emerged with 2/3 of an average stack as we rapidly approach the money.

The temperature in the Pavilion was also constantly changing, forcing hotties like my friend Amanda "Mandy B" Baker to hide in their hoodies. Like my first girlfriend, my dog, and Diane Lane, Mandy B has steadily gotten more attractive since I first met her several years ago.


Mandy B is an oasis in this desert, a poker player and Vegas resident who prioritizes the world and the environment ahead of gambling. Two years ago she stopped by our summer rental house just to replace the lightbulbs with more energy-efficient ones. Here's to Mandy B, the Poker Hottie of the Day. I'll trade you two brick for a sheep and a wheat.

And here's to you, Adam Friedman, third-place finisher in the $1500 HORSE.

And here's to you, Dallas Mavericks, for winning a thrilling NBA Finals. As I watched the last seconds tick away and the Mavericks almost incredulously celebrate their title, I thought about how long their journey has been, how daunting it must have seemed at times, how endless their lineup of foes must have appeared. But they just took it one possession at a time.

Event #18 $1500 NLHE

This was a tour de force for me, as these $1500s often are. I played at five different tables and switched between four different gears. My stack was all over the place but trended downwards after losing a pot with TT on a T8828 board and eventually succumbed with a couple hours left in the night. My play was erratic, as it too often is.

After I busted I walked by a table where the Poker Hottie of the Day was sitting and started thinking some more about the inconsistent level of performance I bring to the World Series of Poker.
Tony Dunst is not outrageously talented in the looks department, but his effort level is always supreme. The guy does everything in his power to look as good as he can at all times. He works out a ton. He generally wears a suit. He's always well-groomed. He pays attention to every detail. It was this sort of effort, not results on the poker tables, that gave him a much desired analyst gig on the World Poker Tour. Expending consistent, unwavering, exhaustive effort in anything you do is much easier said than done. Tony never falters.

Event #17 $1500 HORSE

I haven't concluded whether I should be playing tourneys like this or not. I'm much better than many of the players but significantly worse than many others. I'm likely to get something going but unlikely to get super deep, and winning would take a series of miracles. I really need to sharpen my skills in several mixed games if I want to keep playing them, but there's almost no chance of that happening now.

I played well today and didn't make any obscene mistakes but was slightly overmatched on occasion and ultimately expired late at night after losing a huge pot to one of the better players, Pat Pezzin.

I don't know if I'll see Cyndy Violette the rest of the Series as she's gotten away from NLHE the last few years, so she's the Poker Hottie of the Day. I was staring her down from a distance this evening, marveling like I would at some gorgeous mountain peak.

Cyndy has made health her priority and it's really paying dues. At 51, Cyndy still rocks a bodacious body highlighted by strong, sexy arms, shoulders, and a spectacular rack that laughs in the face of gravity. She's hard and soft in all the right places. The one time I played with her, she was cool, cordial, and never tapped on the aquarium while witnessing some horrific stud-8 plays - which is more than can be said for some other name pros I played with today.