This is the time for a little change. Not as the WPT bored or anything, but the European Poker Tour (EPT) is a new challenge for me and I intend to take this opportunity to travel to other countries, learn other languages and live with the reality of other cities as Las Vegas, Atlantic City .... and TUNICA!
This is the time for a little change. Not as the WPT bored or anything, but the European Poker Tour (EPT) is a new challenge for me and I intend to take this opportunity to travel to other countries, learn other languages and live with the reality of other cities as Las Vegas, Atlantic City .... and TUNICA!
The EFA seems to grow at a rapid pace, a bit like the WPT in its infancy. I plan to have several WPT events over the next year, but I think I'll devote myself to more EPT tournaments and see how I'm doing against the best in the world. The preliminary list that I made is quite loaded, but I do not think it will be less so, in fact, if I am rapidly eliminated some tournaments, I could very well be the first aircraft available to go to a tournament last minute. Here's what I planned to date not including possible last minute tournaments:
August 26 Flight to Barcelona
28 August - 1 September EPT Barcelona
September 2 Flight to London
September 6th WSOP HORSE
September 8th WSOP Pot Limit Omaha
September 10 WSOP No Limit Hold'em
September 16 Flight to Las Vegas
September 22 Flight to London
EPT London 25-29 September
September 30 Flight to Las Vegas
October 5th Flight in Baden, Austria
7-10 October EPT Baden
October 11 Flight Spain
11-15 October WPT Spain
October 16 Flight to Las Vegas
October 25 Flight to Toronto
26-30 October WPT Niagara Falls
October 31 Flight to Las Vegas
Vol 7 November at Foxwoods
8-12 November WPT Foxwoods
November 13 Flight to Las Vegas
13-18 December WPT Bellagio
January 3 Flight to Bahamas
4-11 January PokerStars EPT
January 12 Flight to Las Vegas
January 19 Flight to Tunica (yippee! I always successful there!)
20-23 January WPT Tunica
January 24 Flight to Las Vegas
January 27 Flight Germany
January 29 to February 2 EPT Germany
February 3 Flight to Las Vegas
February 17 Flight to Copenhagen
19-23 February EPT Copenhagen
February 24 Flight to Las Vegas
February 24 Flight to Los Angeles
24-28 February WPT Commerce
March 1-3 WPT Celebrity Event
March 4 Flight to Las Vegas
March 9th Flight to San Jose
10-14 March WPT Shooting Stars
March 15 Flight to Las Vegas
March 30 Flight in a European country where there will be a tournament
April 6th Monte Carlo Flights
10-17 April EPT Championship
April 18 Flight to Las Vegas
19-25 April WPT Championship
This is what I have until now, but that could change in a gale. There is a WPT Borgata tournament, a tournament in Dublin and an EPT tournament in Poland where I could possibly apply if I manage to fit my schedule. I would also add to my list the Aussie Millions in January.
That being said, I am leaving tomorrow afternoon to Vancouver for 10 days to shoot some commercials and stuff like PokerStars. I had friends in Vancouver before, but they all moved to Toronto, so I'm not sure what I'll do with my free time, suggestions are welcome! Maybe I'll bring my golf clubs but at the same time, I would not even know where to go with that? If I ever really find anything to do, it will be a great opportunity to take me in my writing.
Oh, and I removed the WSOP, lol (laugh). It was a hard day for me on day 2 until I finally broke down and made a mistake for my last 40,000 chips. Here's how it happened:
Everything was fine, I started the day at 40,000 chips, but soon I could go up to 200,000 chips. Whenever all my chips were involved, I was greatly favorite. In fact, the key hand where I could triple was a situation where my two opponents had virtually no chance of escape (drawing dead), while both had the best pair against my "bottom set" on the flop.
Then things got worse very quickly. Button, a former poker dealer relaunched in 4000 with Kh9h. I raised the SB 12 500. He decided to call the setting despite the fact that it would only 25,000 chips left after his call. This, my friends, will NOT be in my book!
In short, the flop came Kd 6h 4h. I hesitated and I spent hoping to induce a bluff on his part by showing weakness. He bet 10,500 and I raised all-in. The turn gave a brick, but the river gave him his flush and gave a serious push to my chip stack. Only three hands later, I raise with ACKH and BB raises me all-in for around 40,000 chips. I did not hesitate a second to send my chips in the middle so I was expecting to see a bluff. I revived many of his blinds and I felt he was changing speed at this point for a big raise. I was right.
He showed QhJd (note: same hand as Glover). The flop came Jc 9c 3c. I'm still a favorite on the flop, needing an ace, a king or any clover, but once again I lost the pot. It was like that all day. Hand after hand I found myself in a difficult situation with a tough decision, but I think I was right every time. Seriously, I would be very surprised to learn that I could be wrong on any of my decisions.
Finally, late in the evening, fatigue began to take hold of me and I could not play well. I raised preflop in "late position" with T-8, which is a standard game considering the fact that the BB was very selective in his hands preflop. The button called my bet 6000 and played the flop heads-up.
The flop came 8h 6h 7s, giving me a better pair + straight draw. I bet 12,000, leaving me behind me 40,000. After much dialogue, my opponent has raised me all-in. And it is at this point that I became what I call a "sucker price", I often criticized players too focused on mathematics. I had scores of 2: 1 for my last 40,000, but I still had to sleep manually. This player does not have all the air of bluff, then the best scenario I could hope for was a close 50-50, while he has a set, I'm in very bad shape. I ruled out the possibility of 9-T, based on my reading of this player for me to think he was not the "nut" absolute. I was sure he had a very good hand, I just left ship for some reason and I had no clue what it could be.
After so many consecutive hands lying, I did just what it was to sleep that. I called the bet and he was 8-8. As bad as this call can he be bad, it was yet another unfortunate situation for me. The only way he will play a big pot against me after the flop if he hits 8, giving me a pair and set him. Any flop without the 8 and I do not lose all my chips, in fact I'm going to win the hand over 50% of the time.
It is a shame that I have wasted a great day poker tournament ended this way. Somehow, I "abandoned". I could not stand the heat, then I am saved. Not intentionally at all, I really wanted to win, but I exceeded my limit and I turned a "fold" in a hasty easy disposal.
But hey! This is really not the end of the world and it is certainly not something that will keep me awake. If I've learned anything this year playing poker is knowing continue to move forward despite our mistakes and this is the key to long term success.
There is a WSOP champion, a genius in the genre that regularly scuttled his tournament after making an error in a marginal situation. He has the idea that if he does not play optimally, it's not worth risking to win. I spoke to the player repeatedly telling him that playing only 65% of its capacity, it could play well enough to win and sometimes it should rely on its remaining capacity to try to win .
The idea that there is a "perfect player" is a myth. Neither Phil Ivey, Chip Reese, Patrick Antonius and Brian Townsend are immunized against momentary errors of judgment, sometimes passing them for fools. My mistake unfortunately addicted to go on television on ESPN! LOL.
Apart from this last hand, I think you'll see that I played excellent poker and I got readings incredible games ... and I'm trusted rather than calling bets! I'm happy with my game at the moment and hard blows in the face HORSE and the Main Event will not be enough to make me lose confidence in myself. I would even say they motivate me more.
If I had to give me a note for my performance (based on my game and not the results), I give:
Preliminary Tournaments Main Event: B
$ 50,000 HORSE: A
$ 10,000 Main Event: A-(A + It would have been were it not for the last hand!)
I was upset, I was frustrated, I had ups and downs, but this is what happens when you play poker tournaments six consecutive weeks. It's a pretty grueling endurance test. Speaking of endurance, my schedule for the next year also looks like a good challenge.
Everything was fine, I started the day at 40,000 chips, but soon I could go up to 200,000 chips. Whenever all my chips were involved, I was greatly favorite. In fact, the key hand where I could triple was a situation where my two opponents had virtually no chance of escape (drawing dead), while both had the best pair against my "bottom set" on the flop.
Then things got worse very quickly. Button, a former poker dealer relaunched in 4000 with Kh9h. I raised the SB 12 500. He decided to call the setting despite the fact that it would only 25,000 chips left after his call. This, my friends, will NOT be in my book!
In short, the flop came Kd 6h 4h. I hesitated and I spent hoping to induce a bluff on his part by showing weakness. He bet 10,500 and I raised all-in. The turn gave a brick, but the river gave him his flush and gave a serious push to my chip stack. Only three hands later, I raise with ACKH and BB raises me all-in for around 40,000 chips. I did not hesitate a second to send my chips in the middle so I was expecting to see a bluff. I revived many of his blinds and I felt he was changing speed at this point for a big raise. I was right.
He showed QhJd (note: same hand as Glover). The flop came Jc 9c 3c. I'm still a favorite on the flop, needing an ace, a king or any clover, but once again I lost the pot. It was like that all day. Hand after hand I found myself in a difficult situation with a tough decision, but I think I was right every time. Seriously, I would be very surprised to learn that I could be wrong on any of my decisions.
Finally, late in the evening, fatigue began to take hold of me and I could not play well. I raised preflop in "late position" with T-8, which is a standard game considering the fact that the BB was very selective in his hands preflop. The button called my bet 6000 and played the flop heads-up.
The flop came 8h 6h 7s, giving me a better pair + straight draw. I bet 12,000, leaving me behind me 40,000. After much dialogue, my opponent has raised me all-in. And it is at this point that I became what I call a "sucker price", I often criticized players too focused on mathematics. I had scores of 2: 1 for my last 40,000, but I still had to sleep manually. This player does not have all the air of bluff, then the best scenario I could hope for was a close 50-50, while he has a set, I'm in very bad shape. I ruled out the possibility of 9-T, based on my reading of this player for me to think he was not the "nut" absolute. I was sure he had a very good hand, I just left ship for some reason and I had no clue what it could be.
After so many consecutive hands lying, I did just what it was to sleep that. I called the bet and he was 8-8. As bad as this call can he be bad, it was yet another unfortunate situation for me. The only way he will play a big pot against me after the flop if he hits 8, giving me a pair and set him. Any flop without the 8 and I do not lose all my chips, in fact I'm going to win the hand over 50% of the time.
It is a shame that I have wasted a great day poker tournament ended this way. Somehow, I "abandoned". I could not stand the heat, then I am saved. Not intentionally at all, I really wanted to win, but I exceeded my limit and I turned a "fold" in a hasty easy disposal.
But hey! This is really not the end of the world and it is certainly not something that will keep me awake. If I've learned anything this year playing poker is knowing continue to move forward despite our mistakes and this is the key to long term success.
There is a WSOP champion, a genius in the genre that regularly scuttled his tournament after making an error in a marginal situation. He has the idea that if he does not play optimally, it's not worth risking to win. I spoke to the player repeatedly telling him that playing only 65% of its capacity, it could play well enough to win and sometimes it should rely on its remaining capacity to try to win .
The idea that there is a "perfect player" is a myth. Neither Phil Ivey, Chip Reese, Patrick Antonius and Brian Townsend are immunized against momentary errors of judgment, sometimes passing them for fools. My mistake unfortunately addicted to go on television on ESPN! LOL.
Apart from this last hand, I think you'll see that I played excellent poker and I got readings incredible games ... and I'm trusted rather than calling bets! I'm happy with my game at the moment and hard blows in the face HORSE and the Main Event will not be enough to make me lose confidence in myself. I would even say they motivate me more.
If I had to give me a note for my performance (based on my game and not the results), I give:
Preliminary Tournaments Main Event: B
$ 50,000 HORSE: A
$ 10,000 Main Event: A-(A + It would have been were it not for the last hand!)
I was upset, I was frustrated, I had ups and downs, but this is what happens when you play poker tournaments six consecutive weeks. It's a pretty grueling endurance test. Speaking of endurance, my schedule for the next year also looks like a good challenge.
