Euro Schecky

Jen Versus the Wii

2008-05-06T04:17:00.005Z

There are many things Jen and I discuss regarding our coming baby. We hope it has Jen's positive outlook on life, and 'always happy' persona. We hope it gets my 'street smarts' for lack of a better word. We hope it acquires Jen's sense of adventure, and we hope it gets my.......coordination.

Jen played for the second or third time on the Wii tonight, playing Wii tennis and getting her skill score up to around 500. Then.....tragedy struck. As she wound up for a big topspin backhand, she swung with all her might....and hit it solidly. And, by "it" I mean the 1950's vintage atomic drinking glass we have (one of a set that was once eight. I think we have 5 left). Throwing the glass violently against the wall some 10 feet away.
Let this be a lesson to you all. And, now - a note from Venus Williams Leo and her possibly broken finger.

Back into Blog obscurity for me!

Poker World, WTF???

2006-12-17T16:23:00.000Z

Yeah, I never post, but this one has brought me out of the woodwork. When you type all day for a living, the last thing you want to do is type recreationally.

The last couple days have been particularly disturbing to me in the poker world surrounding a couple young and maybe not all that stable players.

Dutch Boyd, and Brandi Hawbaker have been ‘holding court’ on the deck outside the Fontana room, and on various chat forums.

Brandi has posted some really wild stuff on 2+2, and caused the one of the bigger insta-stirs on that forum in recent memory. WARNING - This is a ridiculously long thread, even though its only a day old.

The post

She accuses Captain Tom of trying to take advantage of her physically, taking her bankroll, and a lot of other stuff. She has been on camera on various poker media sites a lot over the last couple months, and since she is attractive she gets the coverage. It’s really difficult to tell if she is a naïve woman learning the hard way, or a young woman trying to use her charms to their fullest extent. Either way, she is clearly going through a tough time in her life, and doing so very publicly.

It goes without saying that if the Capt Tom stuff is true (Tom has not responded – there could be – and likely is – an entirely different perspective out there), he is out of line, and the woman has a big time point.

Dutch Boyd has been very publicly showing off his ‘flaws’ in the tournament and on the deck outside the Fontana room over the last couple days. He has a bracelet, and got a lot of play from ESPN in 2003 because of his ‘crew’, but watching his conduct is really hard to take.

We at PokerNews.com won’t cover any of this stuff, and I hope the rest of the poker media will follow suit. Part of the reason these folks act out is because they get the coverage. In the old days, stuff like this was handled away from the bright lights, mostly because there were no bright lights. But in the new, hyper-competitive world of the poker media, every flaw comes to light…and its often not very pretty.

Let’s let these folks work out their stuff on their own, and figure out who they are. Both are still very young, and giving them the spotlight doesn’t do Poker or them any good.

Quality of Life

2006-09-20T10:51:00.000Z

Jen and I have spent the last four days in a small town on the coast of Spain called Cadaquez. It was originally supposed to be my first actual days off in two years, but I still haven’t found anyone who can fill in for me with respect to creating the news stories at PokerNews, so I had to work two or three hours a day, but we definitely made the most of the rest of those days.

We rented a scooter, and drove all up and down Costa Brava. A place that particularly fascinated me was a place called Cap de Creus. It’s the point of land near where the Atlantic, and Mediterranean meet, so the winds can get to 140 mph, and are often in the 20-30 mph range. This place is essentially untouched, and you have about a 140 degree view where you literally cannot see one sign of civilization. Just like it was about, oh, 1,000 years ago. There is a lighthouse at the top of the cape, and, oddly enough, an old, beat up Indian restaurant (at least a restaurant that serves Indian food). The view is unique among all the places I have been in my life, and I’m not sure I wanted to leave.

In Cadaquez, you hear people talk about quality of life…..a lot, and you realize they have it in spades. Sure, there aren’t many places with high speed internet, and there are maybe 10 or 12 restaurants in the whole town. But, the people here lead full, rich lives. Lives that simply aren’t possible in Los Angeles. They manage to make a living, have kids, laugh, and have a roof over their head….all in one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

The words ‘quality of life’ are dirty words to some people I know, and I think my visit here has prompted me to seek more of it. I hope I can hold to this, and the desire doesn’t disappear when the views do. See you all soon.

Viva Espana!!

2006-09-12T13:09:00.000Z

I landed yesterday in Barcelona for the EPT tournament here. Jen and I had a big question facing us, which was the host hotel was a ridiculous $500/night (for a Hilton??....I don't think so. I wouldn't spend $500/nt for Paris Hilton. Nicky....maybe. But, I digress), and so we needed to sort out some accomodation. The travel queen came up big, and landed us an apartment right on the water for about $130 a night.

This place is right in the sweet part of town, actually in a park (parca Diagonal Mar), and 5 minutes from the biggest shopping food place in town (also 5 minutes from the host hotel).

the Wifi was broken at first, which sapped my soul for day one, but I am up, and in business now for day two. The apartment is awesome, with Hardwood floors and a great view. There is a court right below us for this fascinating game....1/2 paddle tennis, 1/2 raquetball. There is no out of bounds, and the back wall on each side is in play, so the defensive play is to play a lob off the back wall. Can you tell I was partially raised in a tennis family?

I really want to give it a shot, and my Spanish is probably just good enough, but alas, the 35 pounds working in the poker world has 'given' me probably tells me I should stay on the sideline.

The tournament starts tomorrow, and I am off to the beach. See you soon.

Mansion and FSN do know how to throw a party

2006-05-29T23:57:00.000Z

I'm not much of a party person. I normally stand against the wall, and talk to the three people in the room I know.

But, last Thursday I went to a party a Tao in the Venetian that was one of the better parties I had been to in a long time.

Instead of the requisite three, there were about 30 people I knew, and a lot of the Poker World was there to see a 'presentation' of the Mansion Poker Dome show.

I'm not really into nightclubs, but Tao was really, really impressive. The decor was fantastic, and they had dancers, and one person I was particulary fascinated.

The girl in the tub

I don't know her name....don't want to know, actually. But it was nice to 'hang' with her for a few hours. As my friend Peter from Liverpool might say "Mmmm - More Vinegar, Please"

It was nice to see a bunch of people I knew, and chat them all up. I spent nearly the entire night talking with people, and while normally I can only be charming for about 90 minutes, tops - I managed to chat people up all night.

People I saw, and chatted with included Gavin Smith, who was about to get on a redeye, and miss by one card going wire to wire at the circuit event, Kristy Gazes, Robert Williamson III, Matt Savage, and a cast of thousands. It was nice to finally meet Mike Friedman in person, after speaking to him every day for a year, and never meeting face to face (one of the few downsides of the internet).

There was poker. We had a shootout format that had one pro at each person's table. Chip Jett was the pro at my table, and he wound up taking Kelly Flynn down heads up. I got my money in good twice, and couldn't get there. Jen's uncle essentially busted me. Man, did I want a piece of Chip heads up, but it wasn't meant to be.

All in all, a fun time was had, and man....did FSN and Mansion throw the dough around. My lovely parting gift was an iPod Shuffle.

Schecky chats up Kristy Gazes, and Karen Williamson

Schecky the talking head

2006-05-24T17:55:00.000Z

G4 is a national cable network devoted to video games. They have a show called 'Attack of the show'. I was on there yesterday with current World Poker Tour player of the year Gavin Smith, and Shawn Shiekian discussing online poker. This show was LIVE, and I had never done 100% live TV before, so it was interesting.

I was really happy with how it went, and I felt I represented the online game well. Those TV things are always so interesting. They move so fast, and everyone is so stressed out. The poor producer was sweating it until the very end.

Here's the funny part. I was 'live' via Satellite....but I was 10 feet away from the host. Ahh....the magic of television.

Big party at Tao tonight to launch the poker dome. I will try to blog about that a bit in the next day or so.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 9272996

Why do I have a blog? For nights like this…

2006-03-28T01:54:00.000Z

Yeah, it was time to go to the Playboy Mansion on Saturday, and I must say, it was a good time. But, I think the quote of the night comes from Erick Lindgren, who as we boarded the shuttle back to our cars, said ‘This was so much better in my mind.’. Not that it wasn’t a pleasure to be there – it absolutely was. Cheers to Brian & Chris of Poker Royalty for making a young boy from Redondo Beach’s dreams come true.

The event was sponsored by PokerHost, and was a benefit for the Urban Health Institute. A lot of top pros were there, and every one saddled up for the fastest structured poker tournament that wasn’t played at Binion’s 2 minutes before the main event started. We started with 3,000 chips, the blinds were 100/200. I started on the button, and by the time it was my Big Blind, the blinds were 400/800. Nice.

The mansion is really cool. Its hard to believe places like this exist in Los Angeles. Just the sheer acreage boggles the mind. Reportedly, if you stay here, you can order anything you want…..at any time….and I quote

“Hi, I would like a Ribeye Steak with Baked Potato, and a bottle of Gentleman Jim…Yes, I know its 7:14 am” - Jonathan Gray.

The grounds are immaculate, and there is more bling in the driveway than most people will earn 10% of in their entire lives. We didn’t get to go inside the mansion, or go down and see the monkeys, but it was still top notch.

A lot of money was raised for a good cause, and there were a lot of cool people there…though to be fair, the next trust fund kid I see wearing a sportcoat and a baseball hat sideways gets punched in the face.

But, I digress.

People I saw at the thing – Don Cheadle (who won the event), Anthony Anderson, Tara Reid, Mekhi Phifer, Shannon Elizabeth, Ted Forrest, David Williams, Daniel Negreanu, Grinder & Lily, Gavin ‘life of any party’ Smith, Oliver Hudson, Hoyt Corkins, Amir Vahedi, Josh Arieh, Johnny World, David Oppenheimer, and more.

Apparently, there was nakidness in the grotto pool, but long after I departed. I got to hang with Pauly, and met people like CJ, and Spaceman, and Al Can’t Hang, who couldn’t have been more drunk….10 minutes into the party.

This would have been something Jen would have absolutely loved. But, I was forced to fly solo, and play a very poor wingman for a marketing director of an online poker site.

Oh, the poker – yes. Let me give you my hand history for the entire night. 9c4c FOLD, 10 2 – Fold, 4d 6d - fold (that was the mistake), J 2 – FOLD, Q7 consider….FOLD, 2 4, FOLD. K 8 Off suit (Big Blind) – Call All In. Goodnight, now. GG Schecky.

All you need to know about Deauville

2006-02-21T18:26:00.000Z

This woman sat next to me for a good part of the day. Cameras were clicking on her all day, and it was funny. She rode a short stack for most of the day, and many of the guys at my table were wishing she would ride someting else. This pic doesn't do her justice, and it was really amusing to watch all the guys at the table drool, and fall all over her.

EPT Deauville

2006-02-09T16:44:00.000Z

Thanks to everyone who read, and followed along. Thanks to Jen for keeping the blogs coming. Overall, I hqad a good time, but ultimately, the cards did not cooperate. The way I play, I need some help from the deck. Unfortunately, I really felt outclassed this time, though that might have been because every move I made went down in flames.

I did want to clarify one thing that was covered in some of the blogs (including this one). The way the hand played out when I doubled up with Jacks. It wasn't all the money going in preflop...way to early in the tournament for a move like that.

On a stack of about 9,000 I made it 900 to go (blinds 150/300) from middle position with JJ. A guy who had been playing every pot I opened (and taking most of the pots) called from the small blind. The flop came 8 6 3, rainbow. He checked, I led out for 1,000. The guy immediately makes it 5,000. I did think QQ was a possibility, but ultimately, he was staring at me, daring me to call. I moved in for my last 7,000+, and he called with AK. Turn & river were blanks, and I was up to 18,000.

Thanks for everyone's comments, and the pics from Gutshot, and PokerStars. outclassed, or not....I will return to the EPT. The facility is top notch, and Conrad, and everyone at Poker Stars make these events a pleasure.

The Schecky-coaster is over

2006-02-08T22:01:00.000Z

Thanks for following along everyone. John just left the room after his Jacks lost to Aces. It was the best hand he'd seen since dinner. There are 99 people left, and they're in the 8th level with blinds at 300-600. It's now 11:00 p.m.. Marcel Luske, Carlos Mortensen, and Tiffany Williamsen are also out.

Howard, who is the kind gent writing the PokerStarsBlog, wrote up a bit about John in his post, "Making the News."

Chip Counts

2006-02-08T21:03:00.000Z

They are on another break. For those watching John, he lost about 8k or so right before dinner. Another level and he's down to 7.8k. The average chip stack is 17,863k. It's quite the roller coaster again. He says we're near going home. I'm trying to get him to think positive, but it's no easy task. Now, he's off taking a meeting.

LEVEL 7, blinds 200-400. Time is 10:00 p.m.

Our hero John Cardwell 7.8k

Carlos Mortensen 5,000

Roy 'The Boy' Brindley 26,500

Marcel Luske 14,000

Ram Vaswami 28,000

Noah Boeken 10,000

Ross Boatman 11,000

Jeff Duvall 26,900

Patrik Antonius 35,000

Roland de Wolfe 16,000

Mark Teltcher 15,000

Chip counts are courtesy of GutShot. Thanks David and Stephen!

Pics from the EPT French Open sponsored by PokerStars.com

2006-02-08T20:21:00.000Z

People are going out right and left. But, thes ones that really matter are still in.

Our guy John Cardwell sitting next to lady luck. Apparently, the guys at the table fold to her. That was before dinner. I saw her eating a lollipop since, must be to ensure it continues.

Marcel Luske doing some homework.

Great shirt.

Better shirts. Everyone needs luck when they're playing poker.

I think Carlos is terrific.

There's Ram.

John is going strong at the 2nd break

2006-02-08T17:20:00.000Z

John is supposedly sitting next to one of the Poker Queens and has 17.5k in chips. The average chip stack is 12,440k. The dinner break will be in another 30 minutes.

He's ALL-IN

2006-02-08T16:40:00.000Z

A few minutes ago I took a peek at John and saw that his inch of chips had doubled a bit, but he was no where in the clear. Then, my GutShot eyes came over and told me that he'd gone all in. John's Jacks went up against the 7th seat's AK. I was told that John had stood up and everything. Luck looked his way, and he's doubled up again. An eyeball's read says he's got about 12k in chips. The blinds are 100-200, with 42 minutes on the clock.

There will be an hour+ dinner break after this level. He's passed word to me that we'll be going to the player's buffet.

First Break

2006-02-08T15:18:00.000Z

The players are on break and there are 198 players left from 209 that sat down including Marcel Luske, Carlos Mortensen, Ram Vaswani, and Tiffany Williamsen, among others. Apparently 470 players signed up for the tournament.

John has lost half his chips already and figures we'll have a free day tomorrow. I think he meant on the 10th as tomorrow will be flight two. He'll either be doubled up or out any time now after they resume. That's what he says anyway.

I am going to think double up double up double up double up. The 1,000 chips are yellow. So lets do a bit of positive thinking for him.

Come on Shchecky, you can do it!

chip stack, Chip Stack, CHIP STACK!!!

For full tourney coverage, check out GutShot.com.

Schecky's Return to the EPT French Open

2006-02-08T12:07:00.000Z

Jen here—we've arrived after a full day and a half of planes, trains, and taxis. Deauville is charming and quaint, you know, the two words no travel writer is ever supposed to use. Many thanks to PokerStars, who have put us up in a five star hotel connected to the casino. Our room at the Hotel Normandie normally goes for 300+ Euros/night. It has an open window that looks out over the village. Hermes, Hugo Boss, and other high end stores just around the corner.

Last night we attended a cocktial party hosted by Poker Stars. I had a lovely time chatting with the Poker Stars blogger, Howard Swains, who already has some pictures up of our hotel and the goins on. Greg Raymer was also at the party, but thought it was a drag and left early.

John will be playing today, the first of two Day ones. I'm in the media area with the GutShot crew. Isabelle Mercier is three seats to my right, in a mini skirt and her black PokerStars shirt, typing away on a mini lap top. You can read her recent article, "On the Road," on GutShot. I'll be reporting as long as John is in the tournament.

Here are the dealers, at their station. The room is grand. There are high celings with eight chandeliers. The players are lining up to take their seats. John is at table 15, seat 4. He just walked in and I was able to say good luck before he took his seat.

I’ve finally figured online poker out!

2006-01-24T01:24:00.000Z

Here is how you succeed at poker. First you take the worst two months of your life as far as beats are concerned….then, finally fed up with it, you blog about how miserable it has been.

Immediately after you blog, your luck changes. No one likes a whiner, and apparently if you whine the poker gods will hear your cries. Or….maybe its just random coincidence.

So, anyway I had some time Saturday afternoon and I went to Party, and played some Steps. I had been saving up a ‘Step 5’, and decided to play it. I won the Step 5, and was off to the races.

Then, I played in one of the wackiest MTT’s I have played in. It was the Saturday night $109 at UB, and it was a kooky experience. Here was the odd series of events that led to my, uh, ‘climb’ to second place. With 14 players left, I was 12th in chips. I had just taken one of my patented “AK versus A 10….doorcard is a 10” sort of beats for most of my money, and was ready to log off.

Four hands later, I won a coin flip with 66, and was 8th or 9th in chips with 13 left. So, 15 minutes later, and here is where I stand. I make the final table….9th in chips with one ultra shorty.

There was one guy who had about ½ the chips in play, and was looking to gamboool….So, here is how I got to second.

-Ultra shorty out. Down to nine.

Two of the larger stacks inexplicably decide to go four preflop raises with 55 vs AJ (but, it was sooted!). All the money goes in. Flush is flopped. Down to eight.

I limp in with 7 9 of spades from the Small Blind. Flop 4 6 8 with the six and eight of spades. I move in, and get called…..by A Q of hearts. Turn is an Ace….it is also a Spade….crippling my opponent. He goes out on the next hand. Down to seven.

Here is where it gets kooky. At this point, I would say it was about 200 k for huge stack, two or three guys at 50-75k, and me and another shorty at about 25 or 30k, tho I had more chips. Other shorty gets ground down, and now we are at six.

One of the mid level stacks puts it in with AK of hearts. Mr Big stack calls with A 4 offsuit (blinds were NOT that big yet….maybe 1,000/2,000) Flop 3 5 J, two hearts…..turn a deuce. Down to five.

Now the second biggest stack gets in a preflop raise war with Mr Big. All the money goes in preflop, second stack AA – Mr. Big – 77 Four blanks……river is a…….7. Down to four.
Next, Mr Big re-raises the next biggest stack with 6 8 of clubs (although, to be fair, he now has about 75% of the chips in play). All the money goes in pre flop. 2nd stack, QQ, Mr Big 6 8 (sooted). Flop J 8 8….just for punctuation…..river is the case 8. Down to Three.

Now, all of this happened in about 15 hands. I haven’t played a hand in 15 minutes, and have moved up six money places. Down to three, Mr Big (apparently) decides to push his tilt reset button, and we actually go 20 or 30 hands with very little action. Chip counts – Mr Big 350,000, other guy 60,000, me 30,000. I bait other guy, and double through him on a pot where I flopped top two pair. Two or three hands later, other guy thinks Mr Big is still in charity mood, and calls Mr Big’s re-raise with K 7 (but, it was sooted). Mr Big has 10 10…..good night. Down to two.

So, the chip counts are Mr Big 360,000 - your boy Schecky 50,000. Valiantly, our hero fights back to about 160,000 to 250,000 then runs out of steam when Mr Big hits his flush draw with most of my money in the middle.

Overall, a rally from nowhere to 2nd place feels just fine to me.

SUNDAY

I played in the EPT France qualifier on Sunday morning at 9am. It was typical Schecky….I never had a lot of chips…I would chip away, and manage to double up a couple times. I took a two outer about 2 ½ hours into the tournament when my KK ran into JJ on a J high flop. Luckily, I had about 10 Big Blinds left at the time….cause if I had five, I probably would have gifted them off to someone.

So, I am in the bottom 20% of chip stacks from about hour two through hour five of the tournament. A couple moves here, a nice flop there, and with about 25 left, I just survive (199 Entered the tournament - 10 go to France), and I’m about 17th or so in chips.

Then, I pick up AK sooted (clubs) on the button. MP player makes a standard raise, and I move in. He calls with A 10 (also sooted – hearts). Flop comes 10 7 6…..all clubs :)

That gets me to about average. Then, the key hand of the whole tournament for me. I have about 17,000 chips, average is 19,000. I open in middle position with 33. The button (a really good Swedish player named Anders Henrikkson, who just finished fifth a couple weeks ago at the WPT PokerStars Caribbean Event) takes a while….and I know I am in trouble - but he just calls the raise from the button….Small blind also calls. The flop comes 9 3 2. I check my set, and the button bets the pot, which is about 6,000. The small blind player smooth calls (??), and my butt begins to itch, but with 15,000 chips in my stack, and 15,000 dead money in the middle, obviously, I gotta push. I move in, and you can hear the cussing all the way from Stockholm, as the button calls (small blind guy folds) and turns over 10 10 for an over pair. Because of that extra call from the SB, I’m now at about 42,000 – 4th in chips. I am able to maintain that stack until the very end when the blinds get kooky, but my stack was enough, and I hold on to get top 10, and the ticket to the EPT French Open. I am leaving for Europe on Friday, and you will hear from me from France…..event if it is just a bad beat list to get my luck going again. Thanks for reading.

So, you want a blog, do you?

2006-01-20T21:25:00.000Z

Ok....Everyone complains I don't update my blog. Well, here you go. This is exactly what happens to me every day I play poker. Here are the five tournaments I have played in the last 24 hours.

FIRST HAND OF THE TOURNAMENT - BY THE WAY, THIS IS THE GOOD BEAT.
***** Hand History for Game 3396185058 *****NL Texas Hold'em $200 Buy-in + $15 Entry Fee Trny:19338893 Level:1 Blinds(10/15) - Wednesday, January 18, 23:56:46 EDT 2006Table Step 3 #1068359 (Real Money)Seat 7 is the buttonTotal number of players : 10 Seat 2: BobMaheu ( $1000 )Seat 4: tbrownfan ( $1000 )Seat 8: Mr_Kingpin ( $1000 )Seat 5: guinnessz ( $1000 )Seat 6: KQ823 ( $1000 )Seat 7: byrnsie ( $1000 )Seat 1: gqnext ( $1000 )Seat 10: Belicoso32 ( $1000 )Seat 9: truffet ( $1000 )Seat 3: USDA_PRIME ( $1000 )Trny:19338893 Level:1Blinds(10/15)** Dealing down cards **Dealt to BobMaheu [ Qh Qc ]Belicoso32 folds.gqnext folds.BobMaheu raises [60].USDA_PRIME folds.tbrownfan calls [60].guinnessz folds.KQ823 folds.byrnsie folds.Mr_Kingpin folds.truffet calls [45].** Dealing Flop ** [ 5s, 2s, 2d ]truffet checks.BobMaheu bets [150].tbrownfan folds.truffet is all-In [940]BobMaheu is all-In [790]** Dealing Turn ** [ 9s ]** Dealing River ** [ Kd ]BobMaheu shows [ Qh, Qc ] two pairs, queens and twos.truffet shows [ Ts, Qs ] a flush, queen high.truffet wins 2070 chips from the main pot with a flush, queen high.BobMaheu finished in tenth place.hi bob, kingBobMaheu has left the table.Game #3396189674 starts.

Next, the Bubble of a 'Step' Tournament. my AK vs his A7....

#Game No : 3396143692 ***** Hand History for Game 3396143692 *****NL Texas Hold'em $200 Buy-in + $15 Entry Fee Trny:19337323 Level:7 Blinds(150/300) - Wednesday, January 18, 23:50:03 EDT 2006Table Step 3 #1069172 (Real Money)Seat 10 is the buttonTotal number of players : 4 Seat 2: BobMaheu ( $1580 )Seat 7: byrnsie ( $1620 )Seat 9: TxTaxDoc ( $2970 )Seat 10: Mr_Kingpin ( $3830 )Trny:19337323 Level:7Blinds(150/300)** Dealing down cards **Dealt to BobMaheu [ Ad Kh ]TxTaxDoc calls [300].Mr_Kingpin folds.BobMaheu is all-In [1430]byrnsie folds.TxTaxDoc calls [1280].** Dealing Flop ** [ 4c, 7h, Jc ]** Dealing Turn ** [ 8h ]** Dealing River ** [ Jd ]TxTaxDoc shows [ 7s, As ] two pairs, jacks and sevens.BobMaheu shows [ Ad, Kh ] a pair of jacks.TxTaxDoc wins 3460 chips from the main pot with two pairs, jacks and sevens.BobMaheu finished in fourth and wins Entry to Step 3lolBobMaheu has left the table.The Small Blind left the table. The Dealer button remains in place.Game #3396146479 starts.

Next, sixth hand of a 'step' My KK runs into AA

#Game No : 3400533019 ***** Hand History for Game 3400533019 *****NL Texas Hold'em $200 Buy-in + $15 Entry Fee Trny:19361252 Level:1 Blinds(10/15) - Thursday, January 19, 20:47:27 EDT 2006Table Step 3 #1068126 (Real Money)Seat 6 is the buttonTotal number of players : 10 Seat 3: noluck4me71 ( $1000 )Seat 6: pokeraries ( $975 )Seat 8: titolee13 ( $1000 )Seat 9: What_Da_Hell ( $985 )Seat 10: sdsat30 ( $985 )Seat 2: BobMaheu ( $1040 )Seat 4: andyinter ( $985 )Seat 5: muzzy348 ( $985 )Seat 1: stevenbisnel ( $1000 )Seat 7: PATS_SOX ( $1045 ) Level:1Blinds(10/15)** Dealing down cards **Dealt to BobMaheu [ Kh Kc ]What_Da_Hell folds.sdsat30 folds.stevenbisnel folds.BobMaheu raises [50].noluck4me71 folds.andyinter calls [50].muzzy348 folds.pokeraries folds.PATS_SOX raises [75].titolee13 folds.BobMaheu raises [250].andyinter folds.PATS_SOX is all-In [960]BobMaheu is all-In [740]** Dealing Flop ** [ Qs, 8s, Jc ]** Dealing Turn ** [ As ]** Dealing River ** [ 3h ]BobMaheu shows [ Kh, Kc ] a pair of kings.PATS_SOX shows [ Ac, Ah ] three of a kind, aces.PATS_SOX wins 5 chips from side pot #1 with three of a kind, aces.PATS_SOX wins 2145 chips from the main pot with three of a kind, aces.BobMaheu finished in tenth place.BobMaheu has left the table.Game #3400537668 starts.

Hand eight of a 'step' my JJ runs into his TT

#Game No : 3404548458 ***** Hand History for Game 3404548458 *****NL Texas Hold'em $200 Buy-in + $15 Entry Fee Trny:19381090 Level:1 Blinds(10/15) - Friday, January 20, 15:10:15 EDT 2006Table Step 3 #1067773 (Real Money)Seat 8 is the buttonTotal number of players : 10 Seat 8: supraholic ( $1050 )Seat 9: Monkey2nutz ( $1030 )Seat 10: Mr_Kingpin ( $985 )Seat 2: BobMaheu ( $1220 )Seat 6: therobber696 ( $725 )Seat 7: gmo20 ( $970 )Seat 4: ssofia123 ( $970 )Seat 5: VsM35 ( $785 )Seat 1: aabrabo2003 ( $1000 )Seat 3: twolabs111 ( $1265 ) Level:1Blinds(10/15)** Dealing down cards **Dealt to BobMaheu [ Js Jc ]aabrabo2003 folds.BobMaheu raises [50].twolabs111 folds.ssofia123 folds.VsM35 folds.therobber696 raises [300].gmo20 folds.supraholic has been reconnected and has 20 seconds to act.supraholic folds.Monkey2nutz folds.Mr_Kingpin folds.BobMaheu calls [250].** Dealing Flop ** [ Ks, 2d, Th ]BobMaheu checks.therobber696 checks.** Dealing Turn ** [ 6s ]BobMaheu checks.therobber696 checks.** Dealing River ** [ Kc ]BobMaheu bets [200].therobber696 raises [400].BobMaheu calls [200].therobber696 shows [ Td, Ts ] a full house, Tens full of kings.BobMaheu doesn't show [ Js, Jc ] two pairs, kings and jacks.therobber696 wins 1425 chips from the main pot with a full house, Tens full of kings.Game #3404553875 starts.

Seventh hand of a 'step' This time I flop the set with the smaller pair, only to get hit with the 2 outer.

#Game No : 3404864998 ***** Hand History for Game 3404864998 *****NL Texas Hold'em $200 Buy-in + $15 Entry Fee Trny:19382862 Level:1 Blinds(10/15) - Friday, January 20, 16:20:01 EDT 2006Table Step 3 #1068359 (Real Money)Seat 3 is the buttonTotal number of players : 10 Seat 1: mello99 ( $940 )Seat 2: BobMaheu ( $945 )Seat 3: thrill92 ( $935 )Seat 4: eugeneg111 ( $1175 )Seat 5: WRX_Man ( $1000 )Seat 6: NpAa2129 ( $925 )Seat 7: MissMuckIt ( $1100 )Seat 8: k1ller22 ( $840 )Seat 9: icgboy ( $1165 )Seat 10: cactusjak9 ( $975 )Trny:19382862 Level:1Blinds(10/15)** Dealing down cards **Dealt to BobMaheu [ Jc Jh ]NpAa2129 folds.MissMuckIt folds.k1ller22 folds.icgboy raises [55].cactusjak9 folds.mello99 folds.BobMaheu calls [55].thrill92 folds.eugeneg111 folds.WRX_Man folds.** Dealing Flop ** [ 3h, Jd, Tc ]icgboy bets [175]. BobMaheu raises [350]. icgboy is all-In [935]BobMaheu is all-In [540]** Dealing Turn ** [ Ts ]** Dealing River ** [ Qc ]BobMaheu shows [ Jc, Jh ] a full house, Jacks full of tens.icgboy shows [ Qd, Qs ] a full house, Queens full of tens.icgboy wins 220 chips from side pot #1 with a full house, Queens full of tens.icgboy wins 1915 chips from the main pot with a full house, Queens full of tens.BobMaheu finished in tenth place.BobMaheu has left the table.Game #3404868916 starts.

So.....this happend over the course of a week.....right? No, this was five in a row over the course of about 30 hours. Here's the thing - right - I HATE people that post this stuff. For the last 3 or 4 months, this has been it.....every day. I've taken countless two outers/three outers/kings run into Aces, etc.

I am OK with this, its going to level out. But this is why I don't blog. Who wants to read this shit?

Enjoy!

Monkey off my back

2005-12-12T04:14:00.000Z

Firstly, apologies for not updating this more...I have discovered that when I run bad, I really don't like writing about it. I am the first to admit...when I run good...I run good. No question about it. When the cards fall my way...all the gutshots get there, and all my two to one hands hold up, etc.

But when I run bad.......it gets really ugly. After my best month ever in Sept, I had one of my worst months ever in Oct....and Nov wasn't much better. I really haven't been playing that much. I hate telling bad beat stories, but this one is pretty comical. In five sit n goes, or super sats in a ROW....I took a two, or three out river beat....for all my chips....on the bubble. Bubbling in a sit n go is one thing. Bubbling in a super where 17 people get seats out of a field of 170 isn't easy....to do it twice in a row is really hard.

So, I haven't been writing....or playing. I took about a month off (I played alittle here, and there, but not seriously....just an hour here or there, but for the last two weeks I was 100% off), and just started playing again Thursday. I won a $50 sit n go Thursday, and played a little Friday, and Saturday.

I entered a $109 Multi table at UB today, and fisnihed 2nd. I really felt good about how I played. I did go 5-1 in coin flips, which I refuse to apologize for. I also got a 6 out gift on the river, but I was ahead in the hand when the money went in....he sucks out on turn, Double Schecky suckout on the river.

It was a pretty stacked final table as far as internet players go, and I felt good about how I held up. Gank, Leggggggggy, Papa Georgio, and AngryCLEC were at the final table with me. If WestTexasMan, and BRSavage were in the house, it would have been the UB all stars.

We were about equal in chips when the last hand occurred. I was a 73/27 favorite after on the turn. So, three out of four times I woulda won it.

Anyway, the monkey is off my back, and hopefully I can start running good again. Cheers.

Random Notes

2005-11-17T04:10:00.000Z

I went to Vegas for a bunch of meetings Sunday-Tuesday, and actually got in some poker. I played in the $200 at Binions, and was happy to get busted in a traditional way (guy flopped a set on me) rather than all the 3 outer, runner/runner junk I have been enduring lately.

But, I digress. I have a few notes/observations for you....in no particular order.

- I saw a guy get kicked out of a tournament. I have seen people take multiple penalties to the point where it was clear their stack wouldn't survive the penalties, but I have never seen a guy actually kicked out. The dork in question was having his birthday. So, he wanted to play in a tournament, and drink some Crown. So....he brought....a bottle of Crown (a fifth? One of the ones shaped like a crown. It was big) and proceeded to drink the entire thing in the first hour of the tournament. Here's the funny thing....he was crushing his table, and had a ton of chips. So, the madness starts about mid hour two, when he is assessed two 10 minute penalties for the F-Bomb.

He returns, and is pretty much being an ass. The (seven months pregnant) TD was being as patient as she could, but she had to give him 20 more for a couple more F-Bombs. I couldn't believe the guy was still standing, as he might have weighed 150 soaking wet. Finally, mercifully...a security guy came in, and dragged him out by his heels, and his stack was blinded off.

- Also saw Mike Paulle at Binions, who told me he was 'officially retired'. Mike always got a bad rap in the tournament reporting circle, but I actually find him charming in his own way, and I never had a problem with him. ps - THANK GOD I am retired from covering tournaments. There is a kind of low you hit in your life that can only be achieved when you are in your mid thirties, its 3:10 in the morning, and you are watching a bunch of rocks split stud/8 pots over and over. There is no other low quite like it. Pauly put it best in one of his late night posts at some tournament.

"This is finally over, and I my impending suicide is avoided at the last minute." Something like that....but he hit the nail on the head.

- Speaking of Pauly, I will again be a bounty in this Saturday's 'Saturday's with Dr Pauly' tournament at Poker Stars. Bust me, and you will get $20, and a shiny PokerNews.com T-shirt. You know its bad times when the girlfriend is # 5 on the Pauly leaderboard, and you are #60. Don't think I haven't been hearing about that.

I might point out that last week I got busted when my opponent (who had sevens) busted my Aces by flopping Quad Damage in my rectum for the win. For those of you not into poker....suffice it to say....not good.

- I went to a taping of Poker Superstars III in Las Vegas. I got to sit with the current World Champion, Mr Hachem, who coudn't have been nicer. He was there with two of his sons (I assume), and was nice, and well spoken.

I didn't watch the whole thing, but here are a few key things that stood out. Chan had Aces two hands out of three, and flopped trips on one, and Quad Damage in Carlos' rectooom (that's Spanish) on the other. The line of the day was when someone asked Chan when he started wearing Full Tilt (which he was wearing for the show), and his reponse was "As soon as the check cleared' - classic.

- My favorite view in Las Vegas is from the tower at Mix. Mix is on the 64th floor of Mandalay Bay, and the windows run so long, you can almost get a 180 panorama of Vegas. Foundation Room at House of (everything but) Blues has a better perspective, as it looks straight down the Strip, but it is such a small patio, that I will take Mix anytime.

I know there were a couple other funny stories, but they escape me now. I will add on if I remember.

Ladies and gentleman - Dick Van Patten!

2005-11-10T06:33:00.000Z

One of the funny things about my life is that I get invited to parties that I know there is a good chance I won't enjoy, but somehow I wind up going thinking this one will be different.

The 'Hollywood Poker 1st anniversary Party' had potential, in that it was at a place called the Montmartre Lounge, which of course is a reference to the Montmartre, one of the tres cool clubs of old Hollywood, where Howard Hughes alledgedy first met Ava Gardner back in the day.

But, I digress. This party was a fanstastic mix of old Hollywood, new Poker, and the people who get paid to show up at this stuff. Some guy even handed me (on the SUPER sly....at first I really thought he was giving me drugs) a slip of paper that said 'Improve your life - get invited to some of the most fabulous parties in LA and NYC'. My first thought is 'Would my life improve by my ending it after I went to half a dozen of this guys parties?' My second thought was 'Did this guy look at me when he handed me this??'

For now, let's talk guest list. Jeff Ross, Dick, and Vince Van Patten, Dennis Quaid, some guy from 'Lost', SCOTT BAIO (Uh, Huh....Scott Baio...told you it was big), Shannon Elizabeth, the guy from Home Improvement and Family Feud, Kathie Lee Crosby from 'That's incredible', and and many others. I felt really bad for them, because James Woods, who is one of the main two people in the Hollywood ads....Didn't show. Poker pros in attendance were Amir Vahedi, Hasan Habib, and Gank.

The silent auction was kinda funny too....pick the item that doesn't fit that was up for auction - iPod, Jean Jacket, $100 gift cert, tennis lesson with Vince, $400,000 Porsche, Plantronics headset, two tickets to a Laker game. Give up? Yeah, who wants to go to a Laker game?

Anyway, a good time was had by all, the free drinks were only free in the VIP area (learned that one the hard way by paying for the first round - $5 for a club soda???). I must say that Vince was a trooper...he went up, and put on a good show introducing the 'Hollywood Poker Calendar girls', and doing some schtick with his Dad telling stories about how Don Adams used to come over and play poker. Don Adams! Now that would have been a game I would have liked to be in.

Ok, that's it for now....I have to go and call this number on this little piece of paper this guy gave me....

Bounty Schecky

2005-11-02T20:02:00.000Z

Friends -

I will be playing in the 'Saturdays with Dr. Pauly' tournament this Saturday on Poker Stars. Many of you know that Pauly is the top poker blogger, and an all around Renaissance man. Bust me out of this tournament, and you will recieve $20 into your stars account, and a PokerNews.com T-Shirt. Below is the info. See you there.

Saturdays with Dr. Pauly
Where: Poker Stars
When: Saturday November 5th at 1pm EST
Tournament Info: #14338880 (check under Private Tournament Tab)
Password: hiltons

A twenty table sit n go.

2005-10-27T12:58:00.000Z

Only in the online poker world could you have something as silly as a sit n go where 180 players sit down within a matter of minutes, and were off to the races. I saw the tournament in the interface, and opened the lobby thinking if it looks like it might fill up in the next 30 minutes or so, I'll play just to say I did. There were about 20 players registered at the time.

Just for laughs, I looked about 3 minutes later, and there were 143 players registered already(!!) I thought what the heck, and I....played in a sit n go....something I have done 2,000 times in my life. Oh, yeah, there were 179 other people in it with me.

Double Oh yeah....I finished 174th after my kings met two hearts that decided to chase me down (K 5 of hearts to be exact).

I'm combining crap play with crap luck right now to really have a tough strecth. Looks like Oct will be one of my worst months ever. Considering Sept was my best month ever, I have to live with it. It has been a pretty wacky 2005.....definitely the most highs, and lows I have experienced in my five years of "serious" play.

Poker on the plane.

2005-10-23T14:56:00.000Z

So, I was flying to NYC for my Bronco adventure, and I was on Song, which I have never flown on, but highly recommend (clearly, this is Delta's answer to JetBlue - TV at every seat, cheap tix, etc.).

Anyway, so I sit down at my seat, and notice that one of the games you can play (you can 'unlock' the games for your whole flight for $5) is Texas Holdem. I figure let take a shot, mostly curious to see if anyone else would play. I sign up, and for the first 45 mins of the flight, I am the only one signed up, I figure I have blown $5, and move on with it.

About 20 minutes later, I go back into the games section, and see a couple people playing. One thing interesting about this game is that it tells you where the other players are, for example, when i am on, it said 'Schecky, seat 12C'. So, I see the other two that are playing are sitting next to each other. So, I sit down, and having not played 'free money' poker in about 5 years, it was really fun, and funny. These two hadn't played a lot, and it was really interesting to see how they played. Here are a couple gems.

- one played checked his straight flush on the river after I had checked to him with third pair.
- another player called raises, and called me down with King high on a board with a straight, flush, and pair on board. I almost check folded the river.
- another check on the river (from the same guy) with top full house.

I know, I know, its play money....on a plane, not reality...but that's the point. I haven't played anything like this in years, and it was interesting to see how people would play, and react.

The point is, if you are on Song, the $5 poker is probably worth it to kill some time.

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure qualifier

2005-10-08T22:29:00.000Z

I always tell people that on balance I get pretty unlucky, or at least take some pretty bad beats. Everyone always shrugs me off, 'Yeah, we've heard it all before, etc.' I am loathe to tell bad beat stories, so I will simply present the hand history of my latest gem. The ONE OUTER!!!! LOL!!! Would anyone believe this is the third one outer I have taken this year....and I don't play very often. Anyway, Enjoy. Guess I won't be going to the Bahamas....yet :)

************************************************************************************
PokerStars Game #2754508685: Tournament #13192390, Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2005/10/08 - 12:26:42 (ET)Table '13192390 3' Seat #5 is the button
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Schecky [As Ah]magyar: folds GixxerJoe: folds Mangudai: folds quikmic: folds donbrennan: folds ClaudioReyna: folds SongheJe: calls 15Schecky: checks *** FLOP *** [3d 2d 2c]SongheJe: bets 30Schecky: raises 60 to 90SongheJe: calls 60*** TURN *** [3d 2d 2c] [Ad]SongheJe: bets 30Schecky: raises 60 to 90SongheJe: raises 900 to 990Schecky: raises 230 to 1220 and is all-inSongheJe: calls 230*** RIVER *** [3d 2d 2c Ad] [4d]*** SHOW DOWN ***SongheJe: shows [6d 5d] (a straight flush, Deuce to Six)

Schecky: shows [As Ah] (a full house, Aces full of Deuces)SongheJe collected 2680 from potClaudioReyna said, "omg"*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 2680 Rake 0 Board [3d 2d 2c Ad 4d]Seat 1: GixxerJoe folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 2: Mangudai folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 3: quikmic folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 4: donbrennan folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 5: ClaudioReyna (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 6: SongheJe (small blind) showed [6d 5d] and won (2680) with a straight flush, Deuce to SixSeat 7: Schecky (big blind) showed [As Ah] and lost with a full house, Aces full of DeucesSeat 8: magyar folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Caption contest

2005-10-06T22:16:00.000Z

OK, so I have never posted photos to a blog....Let's see how this goes. We will have a caption contest. Whoever wins the caption contest (I am the judge) wins their choice of three prizes. These pics are from the World Masters in London. Leave your captions in the comments section at the bottom of this entry.

The prize choices are:
1) a PokerNews T-shirt
2) $20 cash
3) My undying respect. (not available to all participants)

Here we go. Photo # 1

My caption is. 'Fire Bad!.....Chips Good!'

Next, we have this gem of a selection....

My caption is this: "Wow, I have a lot of chips. I wonder how much hair plugs cost?"

OK....Get to it, don't let me down!

Short Stack Blues...

2005-10-02T16:18:00.000Z

Well, as anticipated, I am out quickly. Of course I start under the gun, so I had no time to wait for anything. I found 67 of diamonds first hand, and actually considered it. I folded, and a guy raised, showing AK of…..diamonds. Then through the blinds with nothing. I find A 4 in middle position, and chuck it in. A good Swedish player to my left moves over the top, and I stand up and put my jacket on. He shows QQ, and I do not hit my three outer, and I am done. 23rd place – 4,000 pound (about $7,100).

Overall, this was a fun experience. I always seem to have these 90 minute (in this case three hour) stretches where I find nothing but rags, or if I do have a semi hand, a player has already raised before me, and I can’t play. I manage to get myself grinded down to short stack status. I guess to get better, I have to figure out how to survive these stretches better. I had chips, and was probably top ten in chip count for the second thru fourth hour of the tournament, but then I went cold, and had to work the short stack for the last two hours of the night.

Whatever…………winning two seats into this event, and cashing was a nice experience. London isn’t too cold (mind you, I’m not really looking to wander around outside right now, but it isn’t miserable to get where you need to go), and I’m glad to come back here (been here a dozen times, but not in 6 or 7 years).

Off to Brick Lane tonight, then meetings all day tomorrow, and Tuesday. Thanks for checking out EuroShecky, and I will try to blog more as I keep going for these EPT things. Next one is Oct 28th in Dublin.

John

Slithering into the money....

2005-10-02T12:12:00.000Z

First of all, thanks to Jen and Brad for making some kind of updates possible. It was a long day of poker, and now I am through to the final day (and in the money), but unfortunately, I went really card dead the last three hours of play, and consider myself lucky that I didn’t get called on a couple of my all ins down the stretch. Plus, there was one guy who was pitifully short, and although I am loathe to just wait my way into the money, in this specific situation, I think it made sense.

So, here I sit, 23rd out of 24 players in chip count. First prize is $550,000, but I have a lottery-esque chance of getting there. The nice thing about where I sit is I have zero expectation past where I’m at now….so, I’ll either double up twice in the first 30 minutes, and give myself a chance, or take my 4,000 Pound ($7,100), and go have a nice day.

Here is what I remember.

I was very pleased to see only one name I recognized at my starting table (Luca Pagano), and he was to my right. The table was a very tight, timid table, and while that may not bode well to get yourself a monster stack, it is good to build chips. I was clipped down to 5,000 chips (we started with 10,000) almost right away, after I tried to trap a guy by limping from the small blind, and after I made two pair on the river, he had made a wheel.

From there I got it back up pretty quickly. I had AA once, and it held up. I decided to flip for all my money with QQ (the guy who re-raised me was the only guy at the table shifting a lot of chips), and the first card off was a Q. Now at about 25,000, I took the aforementioned Mr Pagano out with AK, after I put him on a move from the cutoff. He was on a move with A 4, and I didn’t get unlucky, and off I went. One hand that came up was crucial. There was this wild Czech kid who sat down at our table pretty short stacked…maybe 6,000. He was moving in every third hand. On this one hand Jac Arama (aka Schmulka’s hero) raised it to 3,000, and the kid moved all in for about 10,000 (Jac had about 20,000 left). I looked down at AK suited, knew the kid was on a move, and hoped Jac didn’t have a monster. I moved my stack in, which had Jac pretty much covered. Jac debated for along time, and finally folded. It was a good thing he did fold, because a river King (the kid had 8 10, and caught an 8 on the flop) would have made Jac a flush, but was also the card I needed to knock the Czech out. That put me at about 45,000, and I was the clear chip leader at the table. Just when I was able to take advantage of having the big stack at the table, they moved a guy with a mountain onto our table (of course to my left). I got it up to about 55,000 with about 30 people left (118 started, twelve made the money)….and then proceeded to go on a Caldwell-esque dead card run the likes of which haven’t been seen in the Vic for a long time (OK, I exaggerate, but it really sucked) I saw ONE pair, and zero big Aces the last three hours of the tournament. I actually feel kind of lucky to be where I am at. I was making “creative” moves down the stretch with hands like 8 10 suited (of course!), and just got lucky that I never ran into a hand.

So, I wish I could write for hours about this day, but I slept so late that I actually have to hustle to make my 2:30 pm start time right now. Thanks to everyone for their support, and wish me luck….I’ll need a lot of it early.

Out…

Live from the Vic, Part III

2005-10-01T23:35:00.000Z

20 players left and John is still IN. I think he has more than 50k. He got a nice save about 20 minutes ago. As Brad told me...

John was in the Big Blind when UTG (under the gun, or first to act) raised 3x the BB. John called and the flop came QTT. John checked and the other guy bet. John raised. The other guy sat there thinking about it for five whole minutes--and then folded showing AQ. John took the pot without showing his cards.

OK, new report. John's stack hasn't changed much since then. He has enough chips to get him down to the money, but he'll have to do some work as there are only 2-3 short stacks with eight left to go till quitting time. And there are a lot of players with the same amount as him. (This just in from Brad)

I don't know if I should go in there to watch, or not...Well, if I do, I better show up with a mineral water, I know that much!

Live from the Vic, Part II

2005-10-01T22:49:00.000Z

Jen again...John is still IN. It's almost midnight our time. He's still at the same table he's been at all day. They've cut the field down to 30ish, maybe a little less, and they're playing to 12. I don't know what will happen if 4am rolls around and they still have more than 12 players. I guess we'll see.

He came out on a 15 minute break a little while ago and said he had 45k, which is down from 55k. I just went and took a look (there's no room for me to hang out there full time, even if I wanted to be that girl) and the stack is small, but there are plenty of 5k blue chips in it. Brad says he's about average, and the guy standing next to me who was much taller than me took a second look and said that he was better than average. In fact, he was a little surprised that I would call my guy average and asked if I wanted to rate him properly. 1-10 he asked....

Still, John seems to be fine. He went for a short walk on the break and didn't need anything. I know he'd like to have more chips and as he headed back to the table said he was going to go get some.

Meanwhile, I've gotten my computer up here and am trying to do some work. I don't have any internet access, but the GutShot boys are fun. Steve, one of their writers, is really tripped out because he realized while we were talking that he reads my blog for travel writers, Written Road. I don't understand why this is weird for him, but hey, if he want's to be freaked out, that's fine with me. He's buying the coffees.

But lets get back to John, cheers to 4am! You can do it, John.

Live from the Vic

2005-10-01T19:08:00.000Z

Jen, here. Brad Willis, the blogger for PokerStars.com, was kind enough to let me use his computer while he's off taking pictures. I made it to the Vic in time for the dinner break and found John. He's a little below average at 17k. His PokerNews cohorts Tony G and Noah B are already out. We ate at a table with three other players who were still in, and one who wasn't. One of my faves, Joe "the Elegance" Beevers is still in. Kathy Liebert is also still in. But now I have a new guy to add to my list. Stewart from Edinburgh. He was friendly and I'd be happy if he kept going, but didn't beat John, of course. This is only his second live tourney....power of winning a seat online.

So, back to John...he's in a good mood. Doesn't seem too tired, and is still cracking jokes. He says he's been catching cards, but I think he only doubled up once when his queens beat a guy with AK. Lets hope his luck stays steady.

He's in a back room where they aren't really allowing people on the rail. But Brad seems to think that'll change as the night widdles people down to two tables. When John makes it to midnight, things will get more interesting. Lets not forget, they're playing till 4am.

Ok, luck to John. Is there anybody out there reading? Come on now...

Two hours into day one, and I have zero chips

2005-09-30T17:35:00.000Z

Well, yes, but this is because I don’t play until tomorrow. I was informed upon arrival that is is a two flight event, because they can only accommodate 128 players at a time. So, the tournament is sold out at 256, and each flight of 128 plays down to 12. All 24 remaining players after two flights are in the money, and play down to nine…then they start the TV. The only players that I know for sure who are playing today are Raymer, and Kirill G. Tony, Noah, and I definitely got day two. I’m sure I will have the both of them to my left. I’m a bit surprised, but Marcel is not here. He must be in Aruba. All the top European players (save Marcel, and Devilfish) are here, and I ran into many of them as we were all packed into a small ish place. One surprise player here is Kathy Liebert, who must have qualified online at Stars, because she was in our Poker Stars player welcome luncheon.

So, sorry for the anticlimactic post, but it appears my poker will start tomorrow at 3pm local time.

The Vic is a very cool place, but is terribly understaffed for this kind of an event. I felt bad for them as they struggled to keep everything together. Conrad, Otis, and the people at Poker Stars were all really great, and did everything they could to try to pitch in. There are actually poker tables on three different levels for this event…and remember, we only have 13 or 14 tables in play at a time. Another thing I learned about the Vic is they have some big cash games here. Outside of Bellagio, and maybe a couple other places, this place has got to have the biggest games. Everytime I begin to fool myself into thinking I am a poker player, I walk by one of these games, see the amount of money on the table, and am instantly reminded I am a tournament player. See you tomorrow.

The Jen Show

2005-09-29T20:20:00.000Z

So, there are certain things that happen to my girlfriend Jen that could ONLY happen to her….I’ll explain.

For example, a couple months ago we were in the Palm Restaurant (fairly upscale place), and the waiter came up behind Jen and….started feeding her. Took the fork out of her hand, and started trying to delicately shovel food into her mouth. Jen protested, but the guy persisted. If any of you know the Palm…these are guys who are professional waiters…its not some place where kooky antics ensue, or the waiters have to wear a certain amount of ‘flair’ or whatever. So, the waiter finally gets the hint, and leaves…only to come back 5 minutes later and put a lobster bib on her (she didn’t order lobster), and try to feed her again. This time he got the hint fairly quickly. Believe me - I was expecting Ashton Kutcher to pop out of a wall at any moment to tell us we had been punked.

So, tonight…we had another episode of what I call the ‘Jen show’…this time we are in London. We were going to go to Brick Lane, and have some Indian, but both decided we were too tired, and just went across the street to a pub to get some bangers & mash (which I had in honor of my guy Schmulka), and Jen had steak, and guiness pie.

We run into these three guys in the pub (which was packed) who were nice enough to let us have our dinner at their table (which they weren’t using - after circling the pub three times, Jen went up to them, and charmed them into letting us occupy it). Three guys in their mid forties – an Englishman, an Irishman, and a Scot. Anyway, we get to chatting with these three (the scot more than the others).

So, after a few minutes of chatting with these guys, the Englishman takes off his shirt (in the middle of the bar), and autographs it for Jen, and gives it to her (by the way the inscription was “From Crazy Big Kid – Sept 05”). Now, how did I know he was the Englishman? The second he took off his shirt…I knew….Yikes. Fee Fi Fo Fum, I see the build of an Englishman. Bad Times.

Anyway, he gave her the shirt, and we couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Of course, she did get a big sloppy kiss before he let her go. So, now we have a Neil Young shirt (Size XXL, thank you) from about 1985 to add to our collection.

PS - Let me recount the line of the night. This Scottish had a pretty thick accent, and I had to really focus to understand what he was saying. The Scot is trying to tell us which places to go to, and he says “Do you know Time Out?” (London magazine which lists all the happenings). I understood him, and said yes. Jen missed by little however, and responded with “K Mart? Of course we know K mart.”

This one everyone can understand...

2005-09-29T14:15:00.000Z

OK, so one piece of instant feedback I got on my blog is a little too technical on the pokerspeak for my friends, so I will try to create some balance. Here is a blog entry having nothing to do with poker....

I bought a couple DVDs for the plane ride over. One being the Family Guy Stewie Griffin movie, and the other being the Dick Cavett rock icons DVD.

Before watching the Family Guy movie, let me say that I think Family Guy is great….but make no mistake, give me the Simpsons anyday. After watching the Family Guy movie, I think there are more days you can give me the Simpsons. Much like the TV show, I find FG to be inconsistent. The movie starts really slow on the laughs, and improves over time, but I guess if I were to sum it up in one word, I would say (slightly) disappointing. There are definitely moments, but I see why this is the one that went straight to video, and the next one (which I presume they will work harder on) will be the one released in theatres. I think the hardcore FG people will be happy, but I can’t see anyone ranting and raving the way many people do about the show.

Dick Cavett…..those were the days. Sly Stone baked out of his mind mumbling on national TV…..Ironic that you couldn’t get away with that kind of stuff on the air today, because of all the “progress” we have made. Anyone who enjoys that period of time should at least rent these. Seeing Bowie in his prime was really cool, too….Never seen that. Speaking of DVDs…when are people going to put out Get Smart on DVD? There are bootlegs of the show out there, But, as I hear it the guy who owns the rights died, and his heirs have never gotten the right offer to put the DVDs out. Someone…..get on that! Luckily, we watched the DVDs because Jen talked (begged) me out of bringing the 11,000 pages of Howard Hughes declassified FBI docs I bought off Ebay (on CD Rom), Now THAT will be a party.

The plane ride was uneventful, with the notable exception of the British gents sitting behind us. How do I know they were British? They spent $100 on drinks for a 7 hour plane ride....try that sometime...not easy to do.

“Tomorrow” (today since we lost a day on the red eye flight), we are going to go to Camden market, and buy some stuff. Also, I need to get some Heinz rusks for my infant friend Will….seems his Daddy curled up in a ball, and ate all of them after his precious Raiders went 0 – 3. By the way…when someone can figure out my Broncos for me (are they the team that got killed by Miami, or the one that humiliated KC on national TV)…..send me a memo. Speaking of the Broncos….Going to Giants Stadium in three weeks to see them play. My boy Nick is trying to hook up some VIP love…Have I mentioned how much I like him.

Oh yeah, I'm playing in the London Masters tomorrow.

Out..

EPT London qualifier $380 at Stars

2005-09-25T23:01:00.000Z

I just won my second seat into the European Poker Tour London event on a Poker Stars super satellite. I doubled up on the first hand on a very atypical play for me, putting it all in with TP/TK on the first hand, but I had played with the opponent before, and knew him to be a pretty free & easy 'get chips early' kind of guy. He had TP/2ndK, and I was off.

The two supers I have won into this event have been really odd for me. The first one, I was the chip leader for about 4 of the six hours of play (having double anyone else in the field for a solid 90 minutes). In this one, here I was again, top of the table from the first hand on. Usually, I am the one lying in the weeds, middle of the pack, surviving until the time comes to mix it up.

So, after about the first hour of play I was getting brought back down to earth, and by the end of the third hour of play, I was near the bottom in chip count. At one point, I was 37th in chips out of 38 players. I just couldn’t find anything to put it in with, something I’m normally pretty good at. It got to the point where I was going to move in with any two cards UTG, as I had 3 big blinds left. I found 3 5 off, and just couldn’t do it. Turns out the UTG + 2 raised, got re-raised, and his AK suited ran into KK…on a flop of A K A….ouch, check please.

So the next hand. In the BB with less than 2 BB’s behind it. I see 8 4 off. UTG makes it 3BB, gets one caller, and I call figuring the miracle triple up is just what the doctor ordered. Sure enough, the board comes 2 3 K, the turn is a 5, and the river is a 6. Now, through my BB, I have about 8 BB’s, and although terribly short, I don’t have to stick it in with anything.

From there I go on the rush of life, including a couple key bluffs when the following hand comes up. One guy in particular (goldy18k) had been re-raising me all night. I have QQ UTG, I make it 3.5 BB’s to go. He is in the small blind, and comes over one more time. I insta call, and he shows….AA. The flop some 3 5…….Q all diamonds. I look…he doesn’t have the A of diamonds. No reverse two outers, and I am 7th in chips with about 25 left (20-13 get their money back, top 12 go to London).

Rare to pat myself on the back (when it comes to poker, anyway), I must say from there I played pretty well, and with some well timed position plays, I got to the point where I was 2nd or 3rd in chips for the last 90 minutes of the tournament. This one took a little longer (7 ½ hours…the first one I won took 6 hrs 15 mins), but at 10:30, we were done.

Dick that I am, I didn’t realize that Stars pays this out in W$, so now I have $5,500 W$....which I can sell, but I won’t get as much as I should for winning the second seat.

Anyway, off we go on Wednesday morning to play in the first seat, and I am really looking forward to it. I’ll stick around in London for some meetings the following week, as London has become pretty much the center of the online poker business world, with many of the top firms there. I can’t wait to have some first rate Indian food, and see what I can do against Europe’s best. Speak to you on the ground from London.

Schecky

London Bound

2005-09-20T18:31:00.000Z

I leave for London on Sept 28. You can follow along with the whole tournament on Poker Stars Blog. Or, if you're just interested in my experience in London, keep it locked right here at EuroSchecky.