High Stakes Poker...sort of & more!
I really enjoy writing in my blog here. I really do. I just find that when I'm running really badly, two things happen:
1)I want to play more poker to get of the schneid (which means less time to write)
2) I don't enjoy writing because losing sucks and writing about losing sounds like whining, which sucks even more.
So yeah, I've been slacking. But a lot of fun things have happened since my last post.
Back on Apr 23 (Wed. night), during the $25,000 WPT Championship, Assani and I ventured up to the SWPC and there was an incredibly soft/juicy/good 5/10 game going on w/ a must move so I took a seat in it. Assani was only there to play some pot limit Omaha (PLO) so he didn't want to be bothered slumming it in the 5/10 :) So things are cruising along when Vanessa Selbst (aka fslexcduck, an instructor for DeucesCracked.com as well as a well known MSNL poker player) walked into the room. She also is 'famous' for in the 2006 WSOP at the Final table of one of the preliminary events (which has been on ESPN numerous times), she raised then 4 bet shoved on a guy who had AA w/ 52s. Anyway, she's made some fantastic videos for DeucesCracked and whatnot, so I was excited to be able to play vs her. She ended up getting a seat in the must move on my right, so we were chatting it up a bit.
A bit later, we both got moved to the main game and it was just as juicy as it had looked earlier. So we're playing and BS'ing and everyone was having a good time and there were some guys who were there to do nothing BUT gambooooooooooooool. I mean throwing yellow $1k chips around like they were $5 chips. It was a great game. But then a few guys walked in the room and that changed for me. Phil Galfond (aka OMGClayAiken/Jman28) walked into room with Andrew "Good2cu' Robl and a couple of other 2p2'ers. Phil saw Vanessa and they started talking about their WPT bustouts and just general BS. Phil said that he and the fellas were gonna try and start a 5/5 PLO game and Vanessa said she'd join. Well, while this 5/10NL game was rockin', guys at my level don't get much of a chance to sit with guys who routinely play on "High Stakes Poker" & in Bobby's Room @ the Bellagio. So why not have some fun right? Juicy poker games will come and go all the time, but experiences like this, at least at this point in my career, don't. And life is all about experiences and not necessarily always about making money, so I quit the 5/10NL and got a seat @ the 5/5 PLO game.
Here was the lineup:
Seat 1: Brett 'gank' Jungblut
Seat 2: Andrew ' Good2cu' Robl
Seat 3: Vanessa 'fslexduck' Selbst
Seat 4: Me
Seat 5: 'KhalynYohrk'
Seat 6: Mikey
Seat 7: Phil 'OMGClayAiken' Galfond
Seat 8: 'Bones'
Seat 9: Assani Fisher (my roommate)
Long story short, we were all doing rounds of shots and just all BS'ing and having a lot of fun. Everyone at the table was really laid back and very cool. Noone had any type of attitude or whatnot, we were all just there to have fun and chill. Phil was joking that he was going to get unstuck from earlier in the day, by taking down the blinds, $10 at a time (he said he'd dropped $250,000 earlier that day playing 300/600 NL/PLO in Bobby's Room). Phil was really cool about answering some various questions some of us had. Overall, I dropped $800 but had a fucking BLAST doing it.
*click pic below for a few more*
In the last couple of weeks, Amanda & I have gone to the Shark Reef @ Mandalay Bay and also went to a benefit concert for Lili Claire
featuring the Goo Goo Dolls concert (with Sugar Ray) and really enjoying life.
*click for more Goo Goo Dolls pictures*
*click for more Shark Reef pictures*
Also, during my absence, Amanda had her birthday. I gave her a week-long trip to LA coming up next week so we could hit Six Flags, a few Reds games, and she could get her tattoo from Kat VonD @ High Voltage.
Then last night, we all (everyone here @ the house: me, Amanda, Assani, Anthony, & Katie) were going to head out to a club, most likely, Tryst. So around 7pm, Amanda, Assani, and I piled into the Caddy and we headed out to the Wynn. The plan was to play some pokers until Anthony & Katie met up with us @ 11pm and head to Tryst from there. We were thinking of getting bottle service, but they had a two bottle minimum (read: $1200), so we decided to pass. If it had been a one bottle minimum, we'd have gotten a table, but c'est la vie.
So when we get to the SWPC, there's a pretty long list for the 5/10 even with two games going. So the three of us are just sitting around and Assani asks if I wanna play some Chinese Poker while we're waiting. Sure, why not. So Assani and I start playing $15/point and Amanda is playing vs both of us for $5/point. After about 10 mins, Jean-Robert Bellande walks up and asks what we're playing. We tell him Chinese for $15/pt and he walks around for a bit then sits to play. He wants to play $20/pt and Assani & I are game and he joins (Amanda keeps playing $5/pt w/ all of us though). We play for about 30 mins when a seat opens up in the 5/10. Assani's up first but he'd rather keep playing Chinese, so I take it after dropping $200 @ Chinese. Amanda also quits, dead even, since she doesn't want to play if I'm not. She had a really good time though and J.R. was a good sport. Cocky, but a nice enough fella.
So I sit in the 5/10 and it's like 7 regs and 2 tourists, but I think I'm finally coming out of my DS. I hit two sets and value bet top pair vs one of the tourists and come 11pm, I book a nice $1k profit. Novel, trust me.
Now, about 10pm, Anthony & Katie show up and watch the fellas play Chinese. About that time, J.R. hollers over at me and asks if I want him to walk us into Tryst. Well, since I loathe waiting in lines (got enough of that shit in the USMC), I was like, "Sure...handle that will ya?" :)
So I cash out and watch Assani, J.R., T.K (Chinese/mix game reg @ SWPC), and another guy play Chinese. During the next 15 minutes or so, we all are doing shots of SoCo w/ Lime and pounding drinks. Then the final two hands, the guys want to play double ($40/pt) and the final hand is triple ($60/pt). Since they were 3-handed, J.R. says he's gonna play 2 hands on the button and at $60/pt, asks me to set one of his hands...heh. I take a look at the hand and he's got dick. I mean, a really bad Chinese hand, so I tell him he's not gonna like it and set it for him. Assani ends up making a good bit the final two hands but when they quit, he's still stuck pretty good...maybe that will keep him from playing too much Chinese vs real poker ;)
So after the game ends, we're all sitting around Table 2 drinking and waiting for J.R. come back from the bathroom to walk up into Tryst. We're all cutting up and doing more shots and overall just being loud, obnoxious and having fun. About 10 mins. later, J.R. asks if we're ready and we head over to Tryst.
Now, for those that have never been to a club in Vegas, the lines on the weekends are just stupid. They go on for about 54 miles. So being able to avoid them w/o getting bottle service is a big deal. So we walk up to one of the hosts and J.R. talks to him...and J.R.'s contact isn't working that night and the host is kinda like, "Sorry for ya"...and he's about to walk away when I pipe up and say, "Bro, you really don't know who he is?!?", hoping to pique the guys interest. I'm sure some/most of y'all reading this also know that J.R. was on "Survivor" fairly recently, so I figure this cat would ask and once he found out, would let us in. J.R. trys to play it off, but the host is like, "Ok, now I'm curious..." and we're in ;)
We get a script that lets us in w/o waiting in line and w/o having to pay. We still ship the head host who J.R. DOES know $60 and we head into the club. The place is obviously bellybutton-to-asshole with people, but it's a pretty damn impressive place. Not a place I'd want to hit up weekly, but if you're gonna go clubbin', this is definitely one of the places to check out. Obviously the drinks are expensive, but that was to be expected, hence why we were pounding the drinks & shots at the poker table (read: free + tip). Fast forward 3 hours and we're all feeling no pain and having a really good time. Katie and Anthony headed out to meet some other friends and we were going to meet up with them, but Assani really wanted to stay at Tryst but didn't want to be by himself so we stayed another hour or so. But then, Assani is toast and wanders off never to be heard from again, or at least until the next day from a random chix's hotel room. So we text Anthony and they're home already so we call it a night and head home.
*click for more drunken Tryst pictures*
All-in-all, though, a great time had by all. Vegas is still a helluva lot of fun and it seems as though I'm emerging from my downswing, so things are just going to get better with the WSOP only 3 weeks away!!! My good buddy, Jody, is coming to town for most of June for the WSOP so that should be a blast as well. I'm looking forward to 96-hour work weeks during the length of the WSOP and maybe even scoring a nice chunk of change in a couple of the events...either way, it's going to be a fantastic 7 weeks!
1)I want to play more poker to get of the schneid (which means less time to write)
2) I don't enjoy writing because losing sucks and writing about losing sounds like whining, which sucks even more.
So yeah, I've been slacking. But a lot of fun things have happened since my last post.
Back on Apr 23 (Wed. night), during the $25,000 WPT Championship, Assani and I ventured up to the SWPC and there was an incredibly soft/juicy/good 5/10 game going on w/ a must move so I took a seat in it. Assani was only there to play some pot limit Omaha (PLO) so he didn't want to be bothered slumming it in the 5/10 :) So things are cruising along when Vanessa Selbst (aka fslexcduck, an instructor for DeucesCracked.com as well as a well known MSNL poker player) walked into the room. She also is 'famous' for in the 2006 WSOP at the Final table of one of the preliminary events (which has been on ESPN numerous times), she raised then 4 bet shoved on a guy who had AA w/ 52s. Anyway, she's made some fantastic videos for DeucesCracked and whatnot, so I was excited to be able to play vs her. She ended up getting a seat in the must move on my right, so we were chatting it up a bit.
A bit later, we both got moved to the main game and it was just as juicy as it had looked earlier. So we're playing and BS'ing and everyone was having a good time and there were some guys who were there to do nothing BUT gambooooooooooooool. I mean throwing yellow $1k chips around like they were $5 chips. It was a great game. But then a few guys walked in the room and that changed for me. Phil Galfond (aka OMGClayAiken/Jman28) walked into room with Andrew "Good2cu' Robl and a couple of other 2p2'ers. Phil saw Vanessa and they started talking about their WPT bustouts and just general BS. Phil said that he and the fellas were gonna try and start a 5/5 PLO game and Vanessa said she'd join. Well, while this 5/10NL game was rockin', guys at my level don't get much of a chance to sit with guys who routinely play on "High Stakes Poker" & in Bobby's Room @ the Bellagio. So why not have some fun right? Juicy poker games will come and go all the time, but experiences like this, at least at this point in my career, don't. And life is all about experiences and not necessarily always about making money, so I quit the 5/10NL and got a seat @ the 5/5 PLO game.
Here was the lineup:
Seat 1: Brett 'gank' Jungblut
Seat 2: Andrew ' Good2cu' Robl
Seat 3: Vanessa 'fslexduck' Selbst
Seat 4: Me
Seat 5: 'KhalynYohrk'
Seat 6: Mikey
Seat 7: Phil 'OMGClayAiken' Galfond
Seat 8: 'Bones'
Seat 9: Assani Fisher (my roommate)
Long story short, we were all doing rounds of shots and just all BS'ing and having a lot of fun. Everyone at the table was really laid back and very cool. Noone had any type of attitude or whatnot, we were all just there to have fun and chill. Phil was joking that he was going to get unstuck from earlier in the day, by taking down the blinds, $10 at a time (he said he'd dropped $250,000 earlier that day playing 300/600 NL/PLO in Bobby's Room). Phil was really cool about answering some various questions some of us had. Overall, I dropped $800 but had a fucking BLAST doing it.
*click pic below for a few more*
In the last couple of weeks, Amanda & I have gone to the Shark Reef @ Mandalay Bay and also went to a benefit concert for Lili Claire
featuring the Goo Goo Dolls concert (with Sugar Ray) and really enjoying life.
*click for more Goo Goo Dolls pictures*
*click for more Shark Reef pictures*
Also, during my absence, Amanda had her birthday. I gave her a week-long trip to LA coming up next week so we could hit Six Flags, a few Reds games, and she could get her tattoo from Kat VonD @ High Voltage.
Then last night, we all (everyone here @ the house: me, Amanda, Assani, Anthony, & Katie) were going to head out to a club, most likely, Tryst. So around 7pm, Amanda, Assani, and I piled into the Caddy and we headed out to the Wynn. The plan was to play some pokers until Anthony & Katie met up with us @ 11pm and head to Tryst from there. We were thinking of getting bottle service, but they had a two bottle minimum (read: $1200), so we decided to pass. If it had been a one bottle minimum, we'd have gotten a table, but c'est la vie.
So when we get to the SWPC, there's a pretty long list for the 5/10 even with two games going. So the three of us are just sitting around and Assani asks if I wanna play some Chinese Poker while we're waiting. Sure, why not. So Assani and I start playing $15/point and Amanda is playing vs both of us for $5/point. After about 10 mins, Jean-Robert Bellande walks up and asks what we're playing. We tell him Chinese for $15/pt and he walks around for a bit then sits to play. He wants to play $20/pt and Assani & I are game and he joins (Amanda keeps playing $5/pt w/ all of us though). We play for about 30 mins when a seat opens up in the 5/10. Assani's up first but he'd rather keep playing Chinese, so I take it after dropping $200 @ Chinese. Amanda also quits, dead even, since she doesn't want to play if I'm not. She had a really good time though and J.R. was a good sport. Cocky, but a nice enough fella.
So I sit in the 5/10 and it's like 7 regs and 2 tourists, but I think I'm finally coming out of my DS. I hit two sets and value bet top pair vs one of the tourists and come 11pm, I book a nice $1k profit. Novel, trust me.
Now, about 10pm, Anthony & Katie show up and watch the fellas play Chinese. About that time, J.R. hollers over at me and asks if I want him to walk us into Tryst. Well, since I loathe waiting in lines (got enough of that shit in the USMC), I was like, "Sure...handle that will ya?" :)
So I cash out and watch Assani, J.R., T.K (Chinese/mix game reg @ SWPC), and another guy play Chinese. During the next 15 minutes or so, we all are doing shots of SoCo w/ Lime and pounding drinks. Then the final two hands, the guys want to play double ($40/pt) and the final hand is triple ($60/pt). Since they were 3-handed, J.R. says he's gonna play 2 hands on the button and at $60/pt, asks me to set one of his hands...heh. I take a look at the hand and he's got dick. I mean, a really bad Chinese hand, so I tell him he's not gonna like it and set it for him. Assani ends up making a good bit the final two hands but when they quit, he's still stuck pretty good...maybe that will keep him from playing too much Chinese vs real poker ;)
So after the game ends, we're all sitting around Table 2 drinking and waiting for J.R. come back from the bathroom to walk up into Tryst. We're all cutting up and doing more shots and overall just being loud, obnoxious and having fun. About 10 mins. later, J.R. asks if we're ready and we head over to Tryst.
Now, for those that have never been to a club in Vegas, the lines on the weekends are just stupid. They go on for about 54 miles. So being able to avoid them w/o getting bottle service is a big deal. So we walk up to one of the hosts and J.R. talks to him...and J.R.'s contact isn't working that night and the host is kinda like, "Sorry for ya"...and he's about to walk away when I pipe up and say, "Bro, you really don't know who he is?!?", hoping to pique the guys interest. I'm sure some/most of y'all reading this also know that J.R. was on "Survivor" fairly recently, so I figure this cat would ask and once he found out, would let us in. J.R. trys to play it off, but the host is like, "Ok, now I'm curious..." and we're in ;)
We get a script that lets us in w/o waiting in line and w/o having to pay. We still ship the head host who J.R. DOES know $60 and we head into the club. The place is obviously bellybutton-to-asshole with people, but it's a pretty damn impressive place. Not a place I'd want to hit up weekly, but if you're gonna go clubbin', this is definitely one of the places to check out. Obviously the drinks are expensive, but that was to be expected, hence why we were pounding the drinks & shots at the poker table (read: free + tip). Fast forward 3 hours and we're all feeling no pain and having a really good time. Katie and Anthony headed out to meet some other friends and we were going to meet up with them, but Assani really wanted to stay at Tryst but didn't want to be by himself so we stayed another hour or so. But then, Assani is toast and wanders off never to be heard from again, or at least until the next day from a random chix's hotel room. So we text Anthony and they're home already so we call it a night and head home.
*click for more drunken Tryst pictures*
All-in-all, though, a great time had by all. Vegas is still a helluva lot of fun and it seems as though I'm emerging from my downswing, so things are just going to get better with the WSOP only 3 weeks away!!! My good buddy, Jody, is coming to town for most of June for the WSOP so that should be a blast as well. I'm looking forward to 96-hour work weeks during the length of the WSOP and maybe even scoring a nice chunk of change in a couple of the events...either way, it's going to be a fantastic 7 weeks!
posted by SirFelixCat at 4:04 PM
|
