I was forced to cancel several meetings and appointments yesterday and today, because frankly, I was too tired. I pushed myself so hard over the last little while that my body and mind finally shut down and said: you need to relax! So today I rescheduled a 12:30pm meeting and also missed an appearance on The Score at 2:30pm. Yesterday I’d planned on shooting three shows at the Plaza for the Ultimate Poker Challenge, but simply couldn’t make it. I’ve spent a lot of the last couple days sleeping and getting lots of things done around the house. From laundry to paying bills, I did all of the chores that have been neglected over the last little while. There is still a whole heap of work to do. I have to do tons of writing tonight for my Card Player column as well as my syndicated newspaper column. Both are late, and both really need to get done tonight. Thankfully I do have lots of material stored in my brain, the tough part is getting it all down on paper. As for me personally I feel great. I finally gave my body a rest and more importantly my mind. The maids came today and the house is probably the most organized it’s ever been. I still have some work to do to have everything the way I want it, but I’m definitely headed in the right direction. *************************************************************** The night before I had scheduled three UPC shows I finally got around to finishing my fourth Challenge match with Barry Greenstein. Barry had already beaten me twice in 7 Card Stud and I came back and won the Pot Limit Omaha match. We then moved on to 7 Card Stud H/L and I got off to an early head start. In fact, during the entire match I never, not even for one hand trailed in the match! We ended up playing the match over a total of 17 hours and while that’s a long time it was my easiest match up yet. I faced adversity in all of my other matches, but this match was a cake walk for the most part. I hit hands when I needed to and was lucky that Barry missed some key draws along the way. While I feel like luck was on my side, though, I also believe that my hand reading skills are better than his at Stud H/L. Of all the matches we played thus far, Stud H/L would be the one where I feel like my edge over him is at it
B) 5-6 of clubs I can’t reveal any more than that. He claims to have slow played two kings, which begs the question- would YOU have called me? *************************************************************** I started to roll for a little while and had him on the ropes up as much as $360,000. Then I lost a few key big pots where I made some bad calls and he got all the way back to even. In one pot I flopped top pair with an ace kicker vs. a straight, and in the other I had A-Q on an A-9-6 flop vs. 66. Both times I had him all in, and both times I was in bad shape. I had already told him that I couldn’t play too late since I had a 1:10am flight to catch. At 11:20pm we dealt our last hand and after 8 hours of play I am ahead $26,000. I’m uncertain when the match will resume since he lives in L.A. Plus I still have matches scheduled with Barry Greenstein, Tony Bloom, Aaron Katz, Ted Forrest, and Dustin Wolf just to name a few. *************************************************************** Since I was only traveling for one day I had no bags to check, just a knapsack with my I-POD, some magazines, and a new book I’m reading called Blink. I was already wearing my suit so there was no need to change, but I did forget to shave so I asked Travis to pick up my toiletries from the house. I made it to the airport in time and recognized the person waiting in line ahead of me. It was Joe Dumars of Detroit Pistons fame. It was rather odd what happened next: There were two security guards at the check point. When Joe walked through one of them says, “Hey man, you’re Joe Dumars! Oh man, sorry you guys didn’t win this year.” They exchanged pleasantries and then it was my turn to walk through. The first guy had no clue who I was, but this time the second guy says, “Wow, you’re Daniel Negreanu! I love watching you play on TV, you’re awesome.” The first guy looked puzzled. He had that, “Watch him do what on TV,” look on his face. I was a Joe Dumars fan myself, but I didn’t bother him. It’s just not something I do. Once through the gate I’d realized that I forgotten to eat and there would be no food available on a red eye flight. Most places were closed by that time, which for me didn’t make much difference anyway since I won’t eat most of what they offer. I walked into the pub and noticed that they had salads. When I walked in, the girl at the bar did a double take, “Oh…uh…err…umm… I am a HUUGE fan,” she says, “It is an honor.” I thank her and let her know that I’d like a salad. She gives me the salad and when I try to pay she won’t let me. Now I’m not exactly in need of a hand out and pleaded with her that she didn’t have to do that. Of course she insisted so I didn’t want to be rude and accepted it. I know she reads the blog, so again, “Thanks for the free salad!” Who says celebrity doesn’t have it’s privileges 🙂 *************************************************************** I had a lay over in St.Paul and finally made it to Grand Rapids at 9:22am. Lori picked me up from the airport and I had just enough time to shave and freshen up a little bit. The funeral service was scheduled for 11:00am. Lori’s aunt Leona had just passed away at the age of 83. I met her briefly, but know her more from what Lori has told me. At the service I was lucky enough to learn even more about her. From what everyone had said it seemed as though she had a great big heart and loved God and her family above all else. While funerals are very somber occasions generally, this one had a very inspiring aura about it. The pastor’s speech was very touching, explaining how she’s cried her “last tear” and that she is going to a better place where she will feel no pain or sorrow. It seemed to me that she lived a very full and rewarding life. She was never preoccupied with material wealth, rather she derived great joy from spending time with her family. She will be missed. *************************************************************** After the funeral we headed over to Leona’s son Russ’ house for lunch. I was genuinely worried- as I always am in these situations- that there would be nothing for me to eat. I was pleasantly surprised to see all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables since I was still pretty hungry. There I met Russ’ 11 year old grandson Austin. I would have guessed that he was 17 years old so when they told me he was 11 my eyes nearly popped out of my head! This kid was huge. Apparently he is quite the hockey player already so I made a note to draft him in my fantasy hockey pool next year. Hey, might as well get em’ while they’re young! It started to rain so we headed back inside the house. The house was full of aunt Leona’s friends and family and with the rain comes humidity. If you’ve never been to Grand Rapids when it’s humid and don
I woke up early planning on making it down there well ahead of time just in case there was traffic. I arrived at 11:40am when I noticed that everyone had already been playing!
I had absolutely no idea that they changed the start time to 11:00am. Oh well, that’s not the end of the world.
Early on I played the following key hand: an unknown player limped UTG as did Sammy Farha for 50. With KK I decided to make it 250 in position. The small blind called the raise as did the two limpers.
The flop came Qd Jc 8d. Not the best flop in the world by any means, but I wasn’t about to go broke in this spot no matter what came. They all checked to me and I fired out 700. Only the small blind called and we took the turn heads up.
A total blank, the 4s. The SB checked and I made another big bet of 1800. My opponent didn’t even hesitate and quickly called. Based on his reaction I immediately put him on just a pair of Queens. In my head I’m thinking, “No Queen!”
Of course, the river was precisely a Queen and my opponent checked again. Since I still had my opponent on a Queen I checked behind him. He turned over Q-10 off suit. I’m not going to bother to discuss how silly a call that was before the flop with a Q-10 out of position, because plays like this are commonplace in the main event and didn’t surprise me in the least.
A few hands later I called a raise on the button in a multi-way pot with Ad-9d on the button. The flop came Kd-10d-9s and the initial raiser bet out. “Be careful my friend, that A-K of yours might be in big trouble. You could go broke here,” I told him.
The turn missed me, but I think my little speech got me a free card since my opponent checked the turn. I checked behind him, but missed on the river. He turned over the A-K.
My next key pot came when I raised it to 150 from first position with 8h 9h. A player on my immediate left re-raised to 400 and Sammy Farha called on the button. Since it was a small re-raise I called hoping to catch a nice flop.
The flop was perfect: 5d-6s-7s giving me the mortal nuts! I checked hoping that the novice player would bet his over pair, but he checked also. Sammy decided to bet 1000 which brought about my first dilemma.
I could raise it right here and hope to get it all in on the flop against Sammy, or I can just call hoping that the novice player might take one off with A-K, or maybe even check-raise all in with an over pair allowing me to trap both the novice AND Sammy.
I called as did the novice. The turn was the King of hearts. At that point I had about 5700 left. If the novice had AK then I’d double through him right here. Since Sammy could have a flush draw I thought it would be safer to bet out on the turn and protect my hand just in case the novice didn’t bet for some reason.
I bet 2000 into a 4275 pot laying a flush draw approximately 3.2 to 1 odds. Sure I could have just moved all in, but I wanted some action against an opponent who might take a bad price.
I was a little disappointed to see the novice fold, but was very uncomfortable with the fact that Sammy called since I could now safely assume he was drawing live to a flush or a full house.
“No spade. Don’t pair the board,” I thought to myself. So what did the river card come? How about the all purpose card: the 5 of spades filling both the flush AND the full house.
I checked and Sammy moved me all in for all of my remaining chips. I gave it lots of consideration, but finally ruled that Sammy just had to have it in this spot. He wasn’t going to value bet a weakish hand that might win in a showdown, and he couldn’t have called the turn without a drawing hand.
The only hand I could beat was a “naked 8,” but again I didn’t think Sammy would call my bet with just the straight draw.
I folded, and Sammy later told me that he had the 9-2 of spades. Nice.
I struggled to scrounge my way back to 10,000, but wasn’t hitting. Finally with less than 1000 left my 3-3 turned a full house and I was back in action (kind of.)
Then with about 2400 in chips a player UTG limps as does Sammy for 100. With A-Q of hearts I decided to make it 400 to go. When it got back to the limper he went all in for 2350! “Oh no, that sucks,” I thought.
I didn’t want to make the call, but before I threw it away I wanted to hear the youngster speak. I asked him, “Noooo, why did you have to do that buddy? Do you have like, a really good hand or something? Or are you just kinda fed up and ready to go home?”
He finally said, “This is the World Series of Poker.” His comment made little sense which often means that a player might be bluffing. I asked him again, “What in the world does that mean?”
He simply shrugged his shoulders this time, but didn’t look like a man with a premium hand. I finally called hoping to race against a hand like 7-7 or even better a hand like A-Q.
He turned over the Q-J of clubs and I jumped up and did a mini fist pump. I won that pot and was back up to 5000.
A couple more missed draws, though, and I was right back on the felt. Both hands came against Sammy Farha.
The first hand I made it 250 with the K-J of diamonds and got one caller as well as Sammy from the SB. The flop came 8-9-10 with one diamond. It got checked around on the flop and the turn came the 8d.
Sammy bet out, and with a draw to a Q, 7, diamond and possibly a K, or a J, I decided to call. The river came another 8 and Sammy took the pot down with the 6-7 off suit.
My final run in with Sammy came when he raised from late position and the button called. I looked down at A-3 of spades in the big blind and called the small raise.
The flop came J-7-3 with one spade. Again, it got checked around on the flop. The turn card came the Queen of spades and I checked again fearing the button’s hand or possibly even Sammy’s!
This time Sammy bet out and the button folded. I called trying to hit my draw (A, 3, or a spade this time), but the river was another blank. I checked on over to Sammy and he bet all of my chips which wasn’t very much.
I seriously considered calling, but there was a clue in the hand that I couldn’t ignore. There were several clues that lead me to believe Sammy wasn’t bluffing, but his turn bet in particular had me sold.
The button player was rather conservative and for him to check that flop it INCREASED the likelihood that the Queen hit him with A-Q, K-Q, or Q-10 suited.
Sammy knows that. For Sammy to bet that card I felt like he was HOPING to get action from a Queen. His check on the flop was also suspect, but that’s another story.
Again, the only real hand I could beat here was something like a 9-10 for a busted straight draw. I finally folded and Sammy told me that he had AA. Sure, he could be lying and I won’t know for sure till the show airs, but I believe him.
So that was pretty much it for me. I threw my last 500 into the pot and ran into aces full. See ya!
***************************************************************
Very disappointing. The WSOP main event is probably the only event in the world where I’d prefer going out on the bubble rather than getting knocked out early. It’s so much fun and I didn’t want to leave.
I went straight home and vegged on the couch for a while. Later in the evening E-DOG called and invited me over to dinner at Circo, an Italian restaurant at Bellagio.
It was E-DOG, Josh and his wife Angela, Jenn and Marco, Brad, Ryan, and myself for dinner. What could have been a very depressing meal turned out to be rather enjoyable. Everybody was bummed to be out obviously, but we all tried to move on.
After dinner we headed back to the Rio to attend a party being thrown by Doyle’s Room. Several of the top players were there as well as a host of celebrities including the Hilton sisters.
So we all schmoozed for a while and then headed back over to Light. I boogied down for a little while, but then decided to call it an early night since I had a few appointments today.
At 1:45pm I was back at the Rio to do a live interview for the Players Network with Larry Grossman. Larry and I have great chemistry and the interview went well for the most part.
There was one problem. About two minutes into the interview a card is flashed at me to take my hat off. This was a live show remember and I was like, what??? My hair is a complete mess! I’m not taking my hat off.
A couple minutes later they came back with another cue card that read, “Take your hat off. We can’t see your face.” Are you kidding me? Man, I still had bed head!
I tried to improvise and make the best of the situation by lifting the hat high on my head and allowing more light to get on my face. It seemed to work ok and the interview was a solid one I think.
So what next? A couple more quick interviews followed by several hundred picture and autograph requests at the trade show. Hey, I didn’t mind at all… work was over.
I’d planned on continuing my match with Barry, but he was already playing and was stuck so we decided to postpone the match until tomorrow night. For those curious this is how I stand in all of my challenge matches so far:
Limit Hold’em vs. David Oppenhiem L $200,000 (5 hours)
Limit Hold’em vs. Mimi Tran W $500,000 (10.5)
Limit Hold’em vs. Joe Cassidy L $200,000 (7.5)
7 Card Stud vs. Barry Greenstein L $500,000 (13.5)
7 Card Stud vs. Barry Greenstein L $500,000 (18.5)
Pot Limit Omaha vs. Barry Greenstein W $500,000 (3.5)
7 Card Stud H/L vs. Barry Greenstein up $293,000 (after 13)
(you can find all of this information in the Daniel in 2005 section of the forum at www.fullcontactpoker.com)
Overall I’m down $107,000 after playing 71.5 hours of play. My plan for this week is to play Barry every night this week if possible. After that I have challenges waiting from Ted Forrest in Stud H/L, Tony Bloom in PLO, and several other challenges from people you’ve never heard of before in no limit hold’em.
Not to mention, live from the Wynn on July 13th I
I don’t know if it’s just me, but nothing gets me more pumped up for a tournament than watching Rocky. I just finished Rocky I where a beat down Rocky Balboa gave it everything he had trying to prove to himself, Mickey, Adrian, and the rest of the world, that he could go the distance. Tomorrow is Round 1 for me and I’m ready to come out throwing jab after jab, giving it everything I have. The tough part is actually trying to get to sleep as I’m way too excited right now! This tournament means so much to me this year. So much more so than last year. Last year I had such a great series that by the main event I had little to prove. This year, I have a TON to prove. Other than watching Rocky today, I did a very quick photo shoot over at Wynn, made some last minute arrangements for the wedding and watched some poker on TV. I didn’t want to be near the Rio today and have any energy sucked out of me. In fact, I made a few decisions for tomorrow to help keep me focused: 1. I might be a little rude to fans tomorrow. Not rude like mean rude, but I’m not going to spend my breaks taking pictures and signing autographs like I normally do. Tomorrow is way too important to get distracted. 2. No Text messaging. Normally I keep people updated on my progress during the tournament in the General Forum at www.fullcontactpoker.com. Tomorrow I will still periodically give you all some chip count updates, but no hands or anything like that. Last year Josh Arieh described this event as a war. For a poker player, this is as close as you’re ever going to get to real combat! Take no prisoners… destroy people… gut them for every last chip. The old, “Rip their hearts out of their chest, take a big bite, and then spit the blood back in their face.” Nice graphic huh? LOL. I’m ready. *************************************************************** Last night I attended the Bodog party at Rain and had a good time. I’d seen Shannon Elizabeth around the poker scene, but was never formally introduced. I had a booth right next to hers last night so we finally got a chance to officially meet. I was really impressed. She seemed like a genuinely nice person and I don’t know exactly why that surprised me, but it did. We talked for a while and found that we have something in common: we are both reality TV freaks and ended up talking about Real World: Austin for quite some time. She had to leave early since she was playing day one, but I stayed and waited for some other friends to show up so we could go to the after party. The after party was being held in the Real World suite up on the 28th floor. Myself, my little sister Dana (I’ll explain), her husband Colin, and four of Dana’s friends. Dana is Regev and Oren’s little sister which in turn makes her my sister. As a teenager I spent so much time with that family and always felt as though they treated me like a son, or brother. I miss my brothers deeply. They live in LA now and we don’t see each other enough. When we do see each other, though, nothing ever changes.