O-Poker

It is very late and I'm very tired so I'll make this short. We finished playing at 3:30 AM Vegas time.

I made it through Day 1 and have 27,975 chips going into Day 2. My high mark was around 33k.

I'll post more over the next couple of days.

Dinner break and Mitch is sitting with 18k.

Hasn't had that much action but he told me about the following hands:

Limped in mid position with 77. Flop came 228 and he checked. LAG player bets 300 and he calls. Turn is another 8 and Mitch bets out, LAG calls. River comes a K and Mitch check calls a pot sized bet. LAG mucks AJo.

Another hand he made a solid call with the BAX (97cc). Flop came with 2 clubs and 9 high. He check called all the way down against someone he thought probably had him pegged as a TAG player and won the pot. Was just moved to a new table before break.

More to come... GL Mitch!

Just heard from Mitch during his first break of Day 1b.

He's at table 147 alongside none other than TIFFANY WILLIAMSON! He said she's playing solid so maybe last year's humiliating TV coverage helped her to improved her game.

He's won a few pots here and there and is up to 14k.

Updates to come,
Loopy

Here are a couple of pics that I took this morning after my hangover started to wear off. I play tomorrow

Cards are in the air!!

Full Tilt Poker Pro's Bracelets

I'll try to post an update of my chip count tomorrow at dinner break

I won't be partying quite as hard as Pam and Bob (Kid Rock) are right now, but I will have some fun. My wife and I get into Las Vegas tomorrow and plan on having some fun. We haven't had a vacation from the kids since before our son was born 10 months ago. Tomorrow is going to be action packed.

8:30 - Plane leaves Orlando; Layover in Charlotte - grab a few beers at lunch

12:50 LV time - Arrive in Sin City - Wooohooo!! Vegas here we come baby!!

2:00 - Check in to Hotel, Get WSOP registration 100% squared away, check in with FTP booth - Headaches all behind me.

5:00 - PPA Party - Buzios at the Rio, We will probably check it out, have a few drinks then head over to the Pocket Fives party.

6:00 - 8:00 - Pocketfives Party - NYNY Hotel; I am looking forward to this one the most. There are a lot of people that post on P5s that I would like to meet. It is always cool putting names to faces.

8:00 Pokershare Monkey Party at the Palms Real World Suite - How could I pass this up? A chance to check out the Real World Suite. The trained monkey is like the unexpected reload bonus that pops up when you sign into your regular poker site - not required, but very cool.

9:00 Ultimate Bet Party at Voodoo Lounge at top of Rio. We are staying at the Rio so it is the perfect place to wind up. We may need to call a bellman downstairs and have him haul us back to our room.

Full Tilt Poker Party - Not sure when or where

Poker - none tomorrow

Friday - No plans other than rest and "O" at night.

Saturday - Main Event Donkfest

Hope to see some of you in Las Vegas.

I have been working my ass off so much lately. There hasn't been much time for poker. I just finished a project that has consumed me over the last 3 weeks and now I can finally start to think about Las Vegas. This is a good thing since I leave in 2 days and have 12,341 things to do before our plane takes off on Monday.

This cartoon (from Thepokerforum.com) really sums up how I feel about work right now.


working on putting cartoon here


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My Plans for Las Vegas

Thursday - Party
Friday - O
Saturday - WSOP Main Event
Sunday - rest then Party
Monday - wife heads back to Orlando; rest; Poker all day
Tues - Day 2 of WSOP Main Event
After Tues - POKER, POKER, POKER, some BEER, POKER, a little more BEER, POKER, and maybe a little MORE BEER

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Living the Dream

This is my equivalent to playing in the Super Bowl, US Open, NCAA Basketball Tourney. The full weight of the next week(s) is not lost on me. On Day 1, I will probably sit down at my table and bask in all the hoopla surronding the event. The Main Event of the World Series of Poker is here and I am jacked up.

It is especially sweet after last year. Last year a group of us headed to Las Vegas during the first part of the WSOP. I had planned on playing the $2k PL Holdem event. A friend talked me out of it because it was over my bankroll. I have been regretting that ever since. The trip wasn't a complete loss because I did wind up chopping in a $500 MTT at the Bellagio.

I am going to play my game and let the chips fall where they may. Sounds cliche, but that is really about the only plan I have right now. I'll probably wind up jotting a few things down on the plane flight, but nothing concrete. I don't want to have specific rules to follow because every situation is different.

The only rule will be to always ask myself these questions before getting too crazy:

1. Why are you doing what you are doing here?
2. What is the goal of this action?
3. What is the expected outcome?
4. What will other players reactions be to this action?
5. What will Lon say about this donk move my an internet player? (jk)

I'll try to post updates as often as possible and look forward to meeting a few of you. Good luck to all of you that are playing the Main Event!!

I'll leave you with a picture of our group in Las Vegas last year.

Joe, James, Me, Josh, Josh's friend, Loopy, Dave

A few thoughts before the Main Event starts next week:

Mitch will be heading out Thursday for his first REAL trip to Vegas. Sure, he's been there 6 or 8 times previously but this time it's for the MAIN EVENT at the '06 WSOP! He's had one hell of a run the last few months so let's hope fortune is on his side for a few more weeks. We'll be posting updates here as frequent as possible and I plan on living vicariously through him as he navigates his way through the field of 8,000 plus. :)

Another way to keep track of Mitch and other online qualifiers is through Pocket Five's new live tourney reporting site Pocket Fives Live. Adam, Cal, Riley and the crew have gotten this up and running in time to post live updates on all P5'ers that have a seat in the M.E. including Cmitch.

Here's hoping Mitch is fortunate enough to have Mikey the chimp at his table. Yes, it's true... Mikey has a seat in this years event provided by none other than PokerShare. Great, a trained monkey has a seat and I don't. If he makes the money I swear (for the 200th time) I'll quit poker forever!! Here's where you can keep up with Mikey's progress.

Joecarswald over at View from the Rail did a Five Question/Answer segment with me on his blog. Click here to go check it out.

Joe recently moved to Atlantic City from Orlando and started his blog around the time of the move. He used to write articles (some poker related) for the Orlando Sentinel. View from the Rail started their blog back in April and it is off to a great start - go check it out.

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Funny comment in a heads up cash game from a player that was on tilt. A guy told me that he was doing research about online poker being rigged for pocketfives. LOL

I have a project due Friday, so I might not be able to post much content between now and then. I have gone through the WSOP MTT hand histories and will definitely post a few when I get a chance.

I always seem to work crazy hours right before and after vacations and this one fits into that pattern. If I work 80 hours/wk the two weeks before I take off and 80 hours after I get back, is it really a vacation?

I have a lot of things on mind and will probably work up a big post over the weekend.

9 Days til Las Vegas!!!

I just won my 2nd WSOP Main Event Seat at Full Tilt Poker - WooooHoooooo!!! They give you $12,000 if you have already won your seat, so I am pysched!!

On top of the seat they had an added bonus. They were giving all the players that made the final table a Paid in Full Hotel room for the duration of their stay - This is on top of the $2,000 spending cash. That is pretty cool and something they didn't have to do. 1st place also gets free 1st class airfare, upgraded hotel, limo service, etc., etc. I finished 9th, so I got the free hotel room on top of the 2 seats and the spending money. At the final table, I ran AK into 1010 and 1010 (when short) into QQ and lost both. No complaints here though!!!

Kudos FTP poker. Um, in case I haven't said it before, I love FTP!!!!

I'll post some hand histories and analysis in the next few days.

I don't know what happened to our old template. I opened up the blog yesterday and there was no format at all. It looked like an unformatted Microsoft Word document. I found this new template yesterday and slapped it up quickly. I am not sure if this one is going to stay or if I will change it or not. Let me know what you think. Does this template look good? Are there any errors that you are seeing that I am not?

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Getting Ready for WSOP

I am still working on what/how much poker that I am going to be playing over the next couple of weeks. I have a ton of work to get done before we leave for Vegas, so I am not sure how much poker I will be able to get in.

I know I need to play some live poker, so tonight I am probably (about 75% chance) going to head over to the Tampa Hard Rock and play the $200 MTT. The structure is horrible, but at least I will be sitting at a live table.

I am feeling "run down" today. I didn't get a lot of sleep Sunday Night and was running on empty all day Monday. I was going to go to bed early Monday night. I played a $150 SNG to the $1k WSOP sat and won my entry into the $1k WSOP Monday Night Satellite. That probably wasn't the smartest thing to do since I had to wake up early the next day. I built a decent stack in the satellite, but wound up busting out after going card dead/blinding away at a very aggressive table. I finally pushed all-in (out of frustration) into a an unraised pot with a weak Ace and it folded to the BB, who called with AK. My hand didn't improve and I stayed up late for nothing.

Yesterday, I had to get up at 4:45 AM so that I could catch a 7:00 AM flight to Ft. Lauderdale for business. I flew back last night and made it back home around 7:00 PM. I was exhausted, but still found the energy to turn on the laptop and play a few cash games. I won some money, but was kicking myself for playing until 12:30 AM. Based on how tired I was and how I was feeling I should have gone to bed around 9 PM. I am paying for it today.

I don't have a current goal/plan for poker right now other than "try to get ready for the WSOP." I have had specifc goals that I have been working towards every month this year and it has helped my game tremedously and kept me focused. It seems strange to not have a specific plan each night. I need some direction/a plan. Every night I have fired up the laptop and looked through what tourneys were about to start. If nothing looked good, I would jump into a 5/10NL, 10/20NL, or 25/50NL cash game(s) depending on which games were running and which tables looked good. I play until I am tired and then go to bed.

I am not sure how much playing time I will have before the WSOP because of all the work that I have to get done before leaving town. I feel like I am drifting aimlessly through the online poker tables right now - although that could be the lack of sleep talking. I am going to try to figure out some short term goals by tomorrow morning. Any suggestions are welcome.

cmitch

Thursday Night

I went to the $1k freeroll live tourney and didn't fair too well. Everyone's starting chips were based on how many points that they had. I had only played twice during the point qualifying period, so I started with a short stack. (I think I started with $9k in chips - most started with $15k) I arrived late and had about $8k in chips. I was starting to get really short after a couple of orbits and was dealt JJ in the BB. SB limped and I decided to make a smallish raise to get him to come along. He called. Flop 589. We get all the money in. He has 67o. GG me.

I made it home in time to register for the $150 MTT on pokerstars. I busted before the 2nd level with AKs vs QQ on a Q5A flop and K on the turn.

After that I played 2 tables of 10/20NL and faired much better.

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Friday Night

I was going to go to a 2/5NL cash game, but wasn't up for it. Instead I went to a live $100 tourney that had about 13-14 players. I busted out 11th I think when I played a hand horribly against a guy that wouldn't fold AQ. I did have a lot of fun and drank a few beers (cost/beer probably wound up being around $$16/ea based on my tourney buy-in)

I played some cash games that night when I got home and was up a little when I decided to quit and go to bed. I was having trouble holding my eyes open and was thinking that I might fall asleep while playing. Definitely -EV to fall asleep.

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Saturday Night

We went over to some friend's house and got hom late. When the kids were finally in bed, I fired up the laptop and played the $215 $200k Guarantee on Party. I finished in the 300s after I couldn't put a guy on a big hand and went broke with my middle pair/straight draw.

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Sunday Night - HORSE FT Bubble

I played the $215 HORSE MTT on FTP. I had a lot of ups and downs. The blinds/bets get crazy late in that tourney. I went from 3rd in chips with 9 left to out in two hands.

Hand 1 - Short handed table. We were on Limit HE round with $3k/$6k bets. I was third in chips with $24k (if that gives you an idea of how high the blinds were). I get dealt A10s in BB. Aggressive button raises. I re-raise. He calls. Flop comes 105Q. SB bets. I raise. He calls. Turn is a blank. Check. Check. River is a blank. He checks and there is no way that I am putting him on a Q. I bet. He calls with Q9.

Hand 2 - Next hand. I am now short stack and in the SB. I am dealt A9. MP raises. The pot was too big not to call. BB also calls. Board is 107105A. MP had AK and I'm out on the final table bubble for $500+.

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25/50 NL

I have tested the waters of 25/50NL a little over the past week. I actually played around 900 hands at 25/50 and came out ahead a decent amount. I will probably be sticking to 10/20 and 5/10 for a while, so that I don't get any more grey hair than I already have.

I'll try to post some of the interesting 25/50 hands later this week, but had one that I wanted to share for now. It was a hand against Mike Matusow. The hand isn't too interesting but I am guessing that Matusow had AJ or pegged me as putting in a weak cont. bet and was trying to buy the pot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?397815

cmitch

I just placed an order on Amazon.com. I am going to get as much cramming in as I can before the WSOP. I ordered three books.

1. Pressure Poker by DoubleAs - I have been looking forward to this book for a while. For those of you that don't know DoubleAs (not sure who doesn't), he has a great blog with a lot of interesting takes on different situations. You should go buy this book.

2. Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategies for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. III--The Workbook - No explanation needed. The first two books were awesome.

3. Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - This isn't a poker book. "Blink is about the first two seconds of looking--the decisive glance that knows in an instant." from Amazon.com. Sounds like it will help will decision making, reading other players, and most importantly putting yourself in the other person's shoes. Hopefully, this well help with a deeper understanding of why the other players are the table are doing what they are doing. VeiwfromtheRail had a good review on the book.

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I'm playing a live point leader $1,000 freeroll tonight for the top point earners in what used to be my regular game. Should be fun to play some live poker.

I am probably going to another live game on Friday night. It is a 2/5NL game with no cap on the buy-in. I have only been there once before and the average stack was around $1,500 with a lot of loose players - should be a wild game.

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22 days to VEGAS!! It seems like a year.

cmitch

I set a June Goal of playing 10,000 hands of 5/10NL and wound up playing more than 10k hands. I didn't play many tourneys in June because of focusing on the cash games. Below are my stats for June:

5/10 NL Cash Games
Hands played = 13,670 hands
Mult-Table ratio = 1.75 (I usually only play 2 table at a time)
Pokertracker BB/100 = 4.71
Pokertracker BB/Table Hr = 4.28
Total Actual Playing Hours = 85.93 hours
Hourly Rate = $149.77
VP$IP = 24.81%
Pre-Flop Raise % = 11.19% (I guess I'm a nit.)
Aggression Factor (incl. preflop) = 1.12 (2.15 without preflop)

I am not going to set a goal for July. I am just going to try to get ready for the Main Event of WSOP. I will probably set some sort of new goal/challenge for myself after I get back.

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I made a very long post and somehow Blogger froze on me and the entire post was deleted. I don't have the time or energy to re-write everything so this will have to do it for now.

cmitch

I didn't actually win but did take the most money in a four way chop. My take was $5,953. I had the most chips and opted for Party's chip equity chop. The remaining four players all had chips and it was anyone's tourney to win with the blind structure. I'll try to post a tourney report in the next couple of days.

cmitch