Monday, June 4, 2007

Such an Obvious Day...

Another Sunday Bloody Sunday for me, but fuck me and my obvious Sunday Suicidal Moments (this is a joke family) for right now. It took 7 hours, but the inevitable happened and online phenom MrSmokey1 won his 1st ever WSOP bracelet in his 1st ever WSOP event ever played, event #1 of the 2007 series the 5k 1/2 NLH 1/2 LHE which concluded this afternoon just 10 days after he turned 21. Clearly one of the sickest online players around, Smoke has always been a good friend to me and huge influence on my own game. This couldn't have happened to a sicker poker player, more less a better person.

Quick story about MrSmokey1. He's a Chicago boy like me, yet I met him through online poker. Two years ago a bunch of us online players met for the first time at Turning Stone Casino. I headed out to Rochester, New York a week before the tournament and was staying with a friend who was to accompany me for the entire trip. One day in, I was stranded and at the end Smokey drove me 2 hours back to Rochester to catch my flight. That's good people.

Quick congrats to TheWacoKidd, cashing in his 3rd straight WPT Main Event taking 2nd place for close to 450k. I know it wasn't the title you wanted, but winning 3 of your last 4 heads-up matches live ain't too bad. Just make sure you shipped Kimberely ;-).

As for me, I haven't been able to post much the last few days. I took Thursday and Friday off, went out with my Father and Step-Mom for dinner Thursday night and my friend Robby was in town town and we went out drinking followed by the mandatory "Forest Park House Game" between us and my friend George. Let's just say we started with $5 tournament with 3 maximum rebuys of $5 the last one getting you double chips. Robby won, I didn't bother re-buying as I was lacking focus on the game, which then turned to .25-.50 NL cash and ended around 9 A.M. at 1-2 NL cash. I also took a few days to prepare for vegas, as my flight leaves tomorrow afternoon. I obviously had some errands to run but I also wanted to take a few days away from poker as I will be completely focused on poker through the next two weeks live. After last summer I look to this series as being my redemption summer, and I won't be satisfied if I don't make at least one final table giving me a shot at my first live tournament win.

All I've heard and read about is that the 1st few days of the series have been an absolute mad house, which is to be expected and why I chose to stay home for the few days. I'm not a big fan of crowds and chaos, and even once the Rio people get their shit together and run things at the ability that is expected I still feel it is all a little overwhelming for me. That's just who I am, oh well I think it's a little too late and a little less profitable to switch professions now :-P. My 1st event will be the 1k rebuys, and I'm really excited about them giving us double the starting chips this year. I figure I will budget around 8k for this event like I did last year. I've promised myself that I will be 100% focused on the WSOP this year, on and off the tables, unlike last year when I was hopping from casino to casino looking for the next tournament. No second chance tournaments for me this time.

As for blogging during the series, I'm not sure if I am going to post here as Cardplayer has asked to speak with me once I get to vegas about blogging for their site. I may end up posting in both spots but we will have to see. I will let everyone know obviously. As far as following coverage online from home this weekend, Cardplayer and pokerwire have been a mess and I actually have found the coverage of WWW.worldseriesofpoker.com, which is powered by pokernews.com to be the best by a long shot. They also provided live radio feed of the final table at http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/bluffmedia.asx which I found to be an awesome way to follow Smokey's win, even if the broadcaster were a couple of blubbering idiots. Time to tighten up things for vegas......

2 comments:

ChitownStitcher said...

How'd your Dad and Step-Mom get you out of the house? I want to know their secret. LOL Have fun in Vegas and don't forget everything I've taught you. Love, Mom

Unknown said...

Btw, it's never too late to change professions. I use to work at a big online company and met a programmer (in her 40's) who use to be a lawyer! Can you imagine, spending 3 years in law school, paying all that money, making all that money, and deciding one day to walk away from it all? I'm not advocating stopping what you're doing, but maybe you can have something on the side or in addition to what you're currently doing. Maybe you can separate a certain percentage of your online winnings for reinvestment in say a Dunkin Doughnuts franchise, etc. I mean, especially before marriage and excessive personal obligations you can afford to take some risks outside the poker world. Just an idea.

-CapAceHigh (from PXF)

PS - I had a close family member commit suicide a year and a half ago. We were blind-sided and hurt. All of my good memories with this person have been soured.