Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Round and Round we go...

Hello all who are left here. I apologize for the long delay in blogging but I just have not had it in me to sit down and bust one out. I got hazed a little recently and then came on to the site and saw... "Damn...I haven't wrote a blog since 2013 around November"...yikes...maybe I can put something together here about what I been up to...I don't know.

Poker wise I haven't played in a bunch of events...but I have been playing enough to keep my chops somewhat sharp. I have been beating the cash games when I get to play, but haven't had much success in the tourneys I have been playing...but I will discuss a few here below:

Mid States Poker Tour (MSPT) came into Baton Rouge and put on a tournament with a $100k Gaurantee that had a buy-in of $1100. Good things I liked about the tourney were I was real impressed with the owner of MSPT Bryan Mileski. He came into town in a tough spot and assessed the situation and adapted to his environment to put on a great event. I really like the smaller "personal touch" tours and the "Satellite Structures" to get players into the main event is a smart move vs just blowing through prelims...etc. The tourney was held during Mardi Gras which I personally believed was a good thing so tourney rounder's could see the Mardi Gras parades as the Parades passed literally... right in front of the Casino. Most of the locals would probably take this as a "negative".
The tournament was held at the Belle of Baton Rouge Casino which most poker players know in the State of La...is known for being pretty "Rough/Shady"...but I must admit that they did in fact step up to the plate and do everything they could to accommodate the poker players. I am going to say I was absolutely "Stunned" when with 2 tables left in the tourney... the Casino Boat General Manager called all his slot bosses over and in a somewhat pissed off voice said, "I CANT BELIEVE I am doing this but TURN OFF THE VOLUME on all the slot machines up here" (3rd Floor)...15 min later we had a somewhat normal poker room...you could hear chips riffling...etc. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen/heard it myself. Also the structures got tweeked by Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler while the Baton Rouge event was going on to make the structures "Chainsaw Approved".

Bad things about the Event...They didn't get as many as we had hoped. (GCP was a Marketer/Sales agent for the event)...Cash games were non-existent except for 1-3 limit holdem played with white chips. I believe that the Casino should have had a dealer sit there during peak hours with a 1-3 NL card and even rally some locals to come play. If the game jumps off even 3 handed I believe they would have gotten a NL cash game going. Food kind of sucked also...I have never been a fan of that restaurant they have there.

I was able to get a respectable stack and made it through to day 2 pretty confident. I cooler-ed WSOP Bracelet winner Nick Jivkov in a 50k pot with set over set...my Kings against his deuces. I played an interesting hand with 2nd place finisher Kou Vang where I flop bottom 2 on an ace high board and he rivers higher 2 pair. Got to play with a bunch of other good players...and some bad. I was knocked out 13th-14th and they paid 11 places...Monkey and Justin "@theycallmetrues" Truesdell were at my final table.

I also made it over to Coushatta to play that event...nothing going...Whiffed the Beau tourney and their Main Event...got semi-coolered by Ben Mintz...Blind vs. Blind my A-Q vs. his A-K on an Ace high flop...at least my chips went to a nice guy

There has also been alot of news lately ...National News and Twitter/Facebook news about players "Angle Shooting" and such. Phil Ivey made the national news in the Borgata scandal. Personally...what Ivey has built in Poker/Gaming...his team/website will eventually blow-up huge...I dont think he should have to go around "semi-cheating" casinos. I am indifferent about who was right or wrong...I dont really care...I just dont think he should have to put himself in these types of "shady spots"...he should be above that. Say what you want about Hellmuth but you dont read about him being sued by casinos because of defective playing card printers.

All poker players need to also understand that Twitter/Facebook opens you up to getting "Called Out" by your poker peers if you try to angle shoot or do sketchy stuff. Nancy Birnbaum found this out the hard way recently. We have been playing with Nancy for years and she has emerged as a "known pro"...and she was called out for doing something other players thought was sketchy...twitter flame war ensued. The guy that won the National Championship the year I played...Ryan Eriquezzo...got slammed for crumbling cards in a tourney and got DQ'ed...then he wanted to debate with Matt Glantz on twitter who is that poker room's "ambassador" ...really??...not a smart move.

I am not saying any of these people did...or didn't do...anything wrong...all I am saying is watch your self out there or you could wind up like Robert "Uncle Krunk" Panitch who gets called out by Johnny Bax for going to restroom at the WPT Championship ...and didn't wash his hands. In fact...this is the 2nd time he is called out as I seem to remember Tim "TK" Miles tweet something similar about Uncle Krunk months before...BE CAREFUL OUT THERE FOLKS!!!

Our House broke ground last week...we hoping to be in by my son Ivey's birthday on 11/9...Ivey's growing up faster than we want...I am told it always happens this way.

Every now and then... I play with a player that I can tell is way above avg...and is just an all around solid poker player. I had the pleasure of playing the MSPT tourney in Baton Rouge with a players named Matt Kirby...one of the sponsored MSPT players...and he was by far...the best player I have seen in a long time. I played everyday with him in Baton Rouge...Sattys...and in the Main Event...and we wound up 4 handed in a Satty with Matt and another player from the MSPT tour...and Me and "Trucker" Kenny Milam from Louisiana...3 got a seat...and Matt shifted gears 4 handed on the bubble...better than anyone I have seen in a long time...look out for this guy in the future and I would take him to win a bracelet this summer in the WSOP.

Thats all folks...and I was the eventual "stone cold" bubble boy in that satty...LOL

Take care...

"Anything in life worth doing...is worth overdoing...Moderation is for cowards"
Alexander Ludwig as Shane Patton in Lone Survivor
















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