Ac Qc 9d 10d (nuts straight, no re-draw)
I got a quarter of this monster pot which was pretty disappointing. Sure my spade draw was no good, but man, what a hand!
On my way home I picked up a check from the Bellagio to wire into my www.fullcontactpoker.com account. I want to have a healthy bankroll on the site in case I get some action in the $500-$1000 limit hold’em game or the $50-$100 blind no limit hold’em game.
There are tons of high limit players on the site so it shouldn’t be hard to find any action. It will be nice to have enough money to play for longer than 10 minutes!
The last two times I played I bought in for $20,000 and $30,000 respectively, and frankly, that’s just nowhere near enough. If you lose 3 or 4 hands playing $500-$1000 that’ll cost you $20,000 easy.
Sitting with $200,000 or so should help me fade the swings. After doing some research recently on limit hold’em and some of the players I’ll be facing, I’m more and more confident that I’ll do quite well with a $200,000 bankroll.
One of the obstacles I face, however, is that when I’m playing it’s just me. When playing against others online, you could be playing anybody. In fact, there are teams of guys who share bankrolls online and take shifts playing.
If one guy gets unlucky and starts steaming, he gets pulled in favor of his teammate. If one guy gets tired, he can tag in and have someone fresh come in.
That’s about the only real concern I would have, aside from having to adjust to a different player and not knowing when they are switching in and out.
Tomorrow I plan on playing some real poker at the Bellagio, and then later this week I’ll be sitting at table “KidPoker” at www.fullcontactpoker.com waiting for some action. If I do get some action, I’ll be letting everyone in the General Forums at FCP know as soon as I do.
Tonight’s tally at Bellagio was as follows:
$300-$600 0.5 hours -$3,900
$400-$800 1 hour +10, 500]]>
Chau: Kh Ks 9h 8s
Lyle: Ah 8h 2c 4d
I was in great shape here, and when the 8d hit the river I’d won a $300,000 pot and got myself “unstuck.”
The game was really rocking, as several top players had “lost their cool” at that point and were playing wildly. I called my wife Lori to let her know not to wait up, as I’d be there for the long haul.
At about 7:00am, Chau quit and the remaining survivors were Gus, Sammy, David B., and myself. While David was falling asleep at the table, when he was in a hand he was playing fantastic. David is used to playing 40-50 hours straight so this was nothing for him. He maintained awesome focus throughout.
I was happy with my play also, but felt like David was being a little more creative that night and was totally zoned in. He made some highly sophisticated plays that had me thinking, “Wow, this guy can play.” I always knew that, but he really impressed me last night.
So anyway, I was up and down like a yo-yo. Up as much as $300,000 in the game, and down as much as the same. By 9:00am I finally decided to leave the boys and quit after a 13 session in that game where I’d won $148,000 in that game without playing any props.
So the final tally was 3 hours of tournament poker, 5 hours of $2000-$4000, followed by 18 more hours playing $4000-$8000. I won $28,000 in props, lost $142,000 playing $2000-$4000, and won $148,000 in the $4000-$8000 game.
All told, I left $34,000 richer which is what you call breaking even at those limits.
I got home at 10:00am and hit the sack hard! I finally woke up at around 5:30pm and will be up all night playing a little online poker at www.fullcontactpoker.com, checking some hockey scores, returning phone calls, surfing the FCP forums, answering e-mails, and trying to get some relaxation in as well.
Tomorrow, I will be playing in a special tournament that will air on FSN which pits U.S.A. versus the “World.” Being a proud Canadian, I’ll be on the world side in what promises to be a fun format. More details to follow…]]>
I started out at yet another extremely soft table. Right off the bat I was making hands and cruising up to $55,000 by the end of round one. Round two went pretty smoothly also and I was up to 64,000. From 64,000 all the way down to about 12,000 in level 5 with about an hour left in the day. I was able to double up, though, when I made it 1500 from middle position with QQ. The button made it 3000, and I re-raised him 3575, leaving myself with 5000. He looked over and noticed I had just one blue chip left and threw it in. He was a rookie so I made the easy call and he turned over A-J. That got me up to about 25,000 when I made it 1500 to go with 33. I got two callers and the flop came Kd-4c-3d. The blind checked, I checked, and the rookie checked. The turn was the 8c, the blind checked, I bet 2400, the rookie called, and the blind called. The river was the 7c. Now I absolutely knew that the blind was drawing to clubs, so when he checked I checked behind him. The rookie checked also, and the blind turned over Q-10 of clubs. Sure I could have won the pot on the flop, but I was looking to get some action for my set. The very last hand of the night a tight player limped in for 600, I limped on the button with A-4, and the big blind checked. The flop was Q-9-7 with two clubs and both players checked to me. The rookie was in the big blind, and if he had ANYTHING he would have bet that flop, while the other player didn’t have a pair. How did I know that? I looked at him and could tell, plain and simple. I threw out 1000, the rookie folded and the limper called. The turn was the 4c, he checked, and I checked. River came another blank and I won in a showdown against his J-8, gut shot straight draw. I ended the night with 21,450 and it felt like a bitter sweet result. I’m happy to have a decent sized stack after taking several tough beats on the river in a row, but at the same time, it felt like I was in control for a second there. With 21,450 in chips and only looking at 400-800 blinds not much has to change for me strategy wise. Sure, I have to be a little more careful, but I can still use my reading skills and also try to “chop my way” back to respectability. There was one key hand I played early in the day with A-10 that I’m going to save for an upcoming Card Player column. Speaking of Card Player, at 9:00pm, after the day was over, I headed up to a suite with Mike Matusow to do a radio interview with the guys at cardplayer.com. The interview went VERY well and it ended up turning into a very informative listen for those of you looking to improve your no limit skills. Mike and I ended up sharing lots of secrets and strategies that the pros use to get the job done. I highly recommend listening to the link when it becomes available. Also, the tournament will be updated as always at cardplayer.com, but you can also discuss the tournament and get updates on specific players in the forums at fullcontactpoker.com. The plan for tonight is to watch a movie before bed. I’m thinking Rocky III! I need to get my mojo going for tomorrow and Rocky always does the trick!]]>
Including Gord, we had 11 people with us and crammed into the box of one of the owners who had food and drinks there for us all. I talked to the crowd a little bit about the party on December 6th and then signed a bunch of autographs for the fans in the crowd. The Marlies won, which was bitter sweet since I’m a Toronto boy sitting in the box with the Bulldogs owner! I was also wearing a Kostitsyn jersey, a player I drafted on my fantasy team years ago that just got called up to the Canadiens the night before. Also in our box was a group of guys from Fallsview casino in Niagara Falls. After the game, they invited all of us out the casino to check out the poker room, etc. I walked through the poker room for a bit and signed a few autographs before turning my attention to the craps table. My brother and his friend wanted to learn how to play so I bought in for $5000 and was betting $50 on the Pass Line. I started out throwing the dice and won about $300 on my roll. Then a lady at the other end of the table got a hold of the dice and started to get on a heater! I had the “bases loaded” with a six point and all of the numbers covered. She rolled for at least 20 minutes and I took a $4000 win. Once a seven hits, the game is no longer fun for me so I headed to the poker room, lol. I went to sit in the “big game,” a $10-$20 no limit hold’em game with a $3000 max buy in. I sat with a couple familiar faces, but for the most part I had no idea what I was in for! I bought in for $3000 and started out by playing in the dark, making it $100 to go. I ended up having tons of all-in confrontations: Hand #1: Three limped or $20 and the player next to the button made it $160 to go. From the small blind I made the standard play with the J2 of clubs… and went all in! The original raiser ends up making a terrible call with two kings and that started me off $3000 in the hole. I, of course, rebought for the full amount and got involved in my next big hand: Hand #2: I raised blind once again to $100 and a young Vietnamese girl re-raised me from the small blind to $400. It was heads up, and I had position, so I decided to go ahead and make the call blind. The flop came Kh 6h 5h. She bet out $500 and I sweated in my first card… paint. I then sweat my second card and it was a “two across diamond,” meaning that it was the 4 or 5 of diamonds. I looked back at the paint card, and it was a King! Unfortunately, my next card was a 4d, but nonetheless, I decided to go all in anyway hoping that my pair of kings were good. She thought long and hard which made me feel good about my hand. She then flashed me the Jack of spades, so I immediately said, “Jacks huh? Question is, do you have the heart to back it up?” She acknowledged that she did, and after a couple minutes she finally called with her pair of jacks, jack of hearts. The turn was a heart, and now I was down $6000. Hand #3: Once again, “the sucker” rebought and also decided to start looking at the cards before betting. A couple players limped for $20 and I made it $100 on the button with 7-8. We took the flop five ways: 9-10-J game me the dummy end of the straight. Everyone checked to me and I bet $200. The Vietnamese girl check-raised to $1000 and one of the limpers called. I wasn’t about to fold, so I went all in behind him. The girl folded, but the other player called with Q-J. The turn was a King and I was toast again! Oh brother. Hand #4: I went all in on a 8d 7d 4c flop with the Q 5 of diamonds. My opponent, called the bet with the 9-10 of diamonds. The last card was a 9, and it was rebuy time! Hand #5: Since I couldn’t buy a pot, I thought I’d try something new. Three players limped in and I went all in from the small blind with J-8 off suit for my last $1590. That’s literally, all the money I had with me. All folded to the last limper who says, “I’ll give you some action,” and calls me with Q-2 of hearts! I won that pot, and was off to the races. Hand #6: I made it $100 to go with J6 of clubs, and one more time, the Vietnamese
Wendel Clark
Gary Leeman
Ric Natress
Mark Laforest
Jack Valiquette
Tony Currie
Bill Derlago
Wilf Paiement
Dave Schultz
Dan Daout
Lou Franceschetti
Napier played with the Bullies. Wendel Clark has always been my favorite player, as when I was just starting to develop a love for hockey Clark was the 1st overall pick in the league in 1985. He played full out and literally gave it 110% every night.
Bill Derlago, who I recently lost a bet to, was also on hand with Gary Leeman whom I grew up watching play together. Leeman is “only” 41 and Clark is 39, but says that his body can’t go anymore.
The game was a ton of fun and had a little bit of a Harlem Globetrotters appeal as there all kinds of pranks throughout the night. The following prank had me laughing:
The Bullies goalie was pretty good as he plays for York University. Our goalie, Mark LaForest, let in a few softies so the guys pulled him from the net and traded him to the other team.
Then when the Alumni closed in on Laforest, they PASSED to the goalie, and he scored! LOL, you had to be there, it was so funny.
Anyway, the pressure was on me as the Alumni have never lost a game. With a minute left I was already thinking about the shootout as the score was 12-12.
I just had to go with my dream line, and told Derlago to go out there first. He says to me, “I’m going five hole coach.” and wouldn’t you know it, he scored right through the five hole.
Laforest stoned the Bullies first two shooters and I sent Wendel Clark out there to win it for us. He pulls some bizarre leg kick shot and missed badly, later adding, “I see all the young guys doing that these days.”
The last shooter was Gary Leeman and he missed also, but Laforest came up big and I’m now 2-0 as a head coach. Sweet!
I had a blast hanging out in the locker room listening to all of the stories. Clark was telling me about how he used to go to dinner with Bob Probert and Joey Kocur in Detroit, and then the next night they’d be pounding on each other! What a strange world.
After the game there was a little poker tournament and I was seated next to my childhood hero, Wendel Clark. A great hockey player… poker? Not so much, lol. He got broke when his 9-2 got rivered by a 5-8.
I didn’t win the thing but had a lot of fun razzing the guys as they know how to take it and to dish it out. Lou Francescetti is a riot. He was sticking it to me and I was giving it right back to him, “Coach, we’re losing here, do your job!” he’d say.
“Well if you’d score a goal or make a decent pass once and a while we might score!” I’d reply. All the guys got a good laugh out of that one.
At the poker tournament he was razzing me, “Hey, we need a fish, bring him over here,” Lou would say.
At that moment a lady asked me if I wanted a drink and I said, “No that’s ok, Lou will go get me one as soon as he goes broke!’
I ended up going broke before Lou and he said, “I’ll have a Molson Canadien.” Everybody laughed hysterically.
I am having soooooo much fun here in Toronto going to games and hanging out with good ol’ Canadian boys. The fun continues tonight, as I’m headed to Hamilton to drop the puck for a Bulldogs game.]]>