Sorry folks, monkey had this blog post up a week and a half ago. Unfortunately, I was two days away from a wedding and the ensuing honeymoon (without internet access), thus I didn't get it out to the masses. All blame is mine for the delay. -WBOkay I have had a bunch of you pestering me about the fact that I haven't done a blog update since September 30th. I'm sorrrrrrry! But it isn't because I haven't had anything to write about. Fact of the matter is, I have been (uncharacteristic of me) biting my tongue waiting on something to happen with the Beau. Well, things HAVE been happening (none of them good) and I just didn't know how to present it to all of you.
This is totally unrelated to everything I am about to write about. I am watching MTV right this second, a channel I haven't landed on in quite awhile. I CANNOT believe what I am watching. At first I thought it was a joke. But.....nope, its legit. I will give you a hint. These are the most uttered words so far..."gorgeous, hot, princess"...and right now there is a girl relishing being another girls' chosen PET! That's right. Paris Hilton's BFF. People are competing to be Paris Hiltons' new Best Friend Forever! OMG. WTF have we become? First of all, when I watch Paris walk...or slink...I laugh my ass off. If it weren't for the family money, the expensive clothes, the expensive hair and makeup...what in the hell would this girl be? NO ONE would even look twice at this skinny T&A-less bitch. She's not funny. She's not interesting. Yet she's in every freaking magazine and on every damn reality show. I don't get it. WHY? Who watches this crap? You know what else I am tired of/done with/over? Freaking America Idol and every show LIKE it. Who wants to Dance? Who Thinks They Have Talent? Who wants to be a Country Star? Who wants to make me throw up!??? The line forms at the left...grab a ticket.
So they finally arrested this lady we all know killed her daughter. ITS ABOUT TIME! If I had to watch damn Nancy Grace go off about this every night for another week/month/year...I was going to kill MYSELF!
(OMG. As I write this. One of Paris' BFF candidates, who, I'm pretty sure is a GUY (yep, confirmed, guy!) who is all dolled up to simulate a girl, GAY AS HELL, is getting on a roller coaster..and is crying like a little bitch, literally, CRYING...and scared...to go on the coaster...oh..coaster ride is over...HE/SHE is now throwing up. PLEASE GOD LET ME PUNCH THIS FREAK OF NATURE IN THE FACE!)
Back to the Caylee Anthony saga. I've never seen anything or anyone MORE GUILTY (besides OJ, who seems to be headed off to do time himself, finally) than this broad. When they find dead body DNA in your trunk, and then determine that you never HAD a babysitter who you claim to have left her with...oh and never were working at the place you said you were...wow. I cant wait to see what the inmates do this piece of vermin. How did I get off on this tangent? Oh yeah....Caylee. Nancy Grace. The way Nancy Grace pronounces the name Caylee? Oh wow. It became like nails on the chalkboard, every time I heard her say it I cringed. BTW, I wasn't watching this out of 'entertaining TV deprivation'. No...it was the SQUIRREL GOT HOME FROM WORK AND FORCED ME TO WATCH option.
I'm leaving for Seattle Sunday. For ten days. To help the MOM move into her new house. And to take Squirrel to meet my father for the first time. She hasn't even been to Seattle. 7 almost 8 years together and she has never been to Seattle. That is pretty bad. Its going to be awkward, mainly because my father is a guest of the State of Washington, having been a guest for 10 years now...with 3 more left to serve. He had a little mishap involving alcohol, his truck, and a teenager speeding on a motorcycle back in 1997. It was a bad deal. A lot of sub-plots involved, some botched legal work, but the bottom line of the whole deal...was that whenever alcohol and death are involved, whoever is behind the driving part and was at fault, doesn't really matter when booze come into play. So a large part of my desire to succeed in poker has been with my father getting out in three years and not having to go find a job at 65 years old. Not that I don't think he should do SOMETHING...it would just be nice if I could thrown him a fat chunk of dough to live off of. We do have this little chunk of 100 acres in North Dakota, that has been in the family for about 30 years. Recently an oil company took out a lease on the mineral rights for 5 years. It lies above the Bakken oil reserve, which you may have heard about on the news lately. It is kind of difficult and expensive to access. But as long as oil hovers around $100 a barrel (which as of this week it ISNT, at $70 due to the faltering economy) it is economically feasible to go after this oil. They say there is as much oil down there as in Saudi Arabia. Our family gets 15% of whatever they source. Potentially we could all have our own freaking Reality Show...something along the lines of BEVERLY HILLS MONKEY BOYS! That wouldn't SUCK..but I am definitely not holding my breath. I know better than to get too excited by anything these days. PS: I am liking that gas is back down below $3 a gallon, especially with a potential drive to Vegas looming!
They are building a new, kickass casino a few miles from my mothers new house. Not sure if it will be done by the time I get there...but we will be checking it out for sure if they do. There are a lot of places to gamble up there. OH but it IS ILLEGAL to play ONLINE POKER in the State of Washington! (whatever!) I will try to visit some of them and issue some kind of report on them. The other usual highlights of my trip home will not be in existence. A trip into town to see either a HUSKY/SONIC or SEAHAWK game. Well...the Huskies, who should be coming off another HOME loss to Oregon State this week (currently at 13.5 underdogs) will be hosting NOTRE DAME, or the team our current disaster of a coach, Ty Willingham used to coach. Notre Dame is 4-2 and much better than last year. They could easily be 6-0. We are OH AND FREAKING FIVE. And could easily go WINLESS this year. While Husky Stadium is one of the most beautiful places to go and watch a game, and exciting (when things are going well) as well, I just have too many GOOD memories of Husky Football to bring guests to a game there in their current state. (especially when Squirrels team, ALABAMA is undefeated and ranked #1/#2 and would have to spend all game listening to her tell me how bad we suck!) Not to mention pay probably $50 to $100 a ticket to go see them get the shit kicked out of them. The Sonics? Well, David "THE DEVIL" Stern let the Hillbilly Shyster from Oklahoma City work his plan to perfection and move them out of the only city they have ever called home. Makes me sick. And the Seahawks....???? My god. 1 and 4 and not looking even KIND OF good at any time this year. Good decision to dump Shaun Alexander and go with a bunch of stiffs. I hope Alexander goes to DC, goes off, and somehow makes it to the Super Bowl and gets a ring. He was nothing but a class act the whole time he was Seattle.
Got a new dog. Not sure what it is. Part Lab and part Pit Bull I think. Named Molly by Squirrel. Cute little devil. She has this thing about sticks, pine cones and digging holes that is making me insane. At night she gets in our bed and burrows her way into the bed..sleeping under the blankets down by our stomach. Its bizarre. I have this cool little carpeted sunroom that is a room to the dogs. Every day now it is covered in chewed up sticks, shredded pine cones and dirt and sand from running back and forth, in and out. And then there are the holes. I am pretty obsessive compulsive, so when things are out of their usual order, I kind of go crazy. I love this dog...and Jasper has his new buddy. But I am ready to tie her in a straight jacket. I thought about putting socks on her front paws and duct tape them. Cheryl says I cant do that. I say, why not? It will keep her from diggin, and me from going crazy. I intend to win this battle. We are leaving them at home, and have a friend staying at the house while we are gone. I am fearful to come home and step foot in the back yard. I might need to get my hands on some Zoloft first, maybe fire up the one-hitter. (OMG are the FEDS reading this?!!!!)
After we get back from Seattle, the I.P. tourney starts up. I texted Ronnie yesterday, and he almost immediately called me back. I don't know if he has been reading my Blog, I think maybe he has been. He told me that they were in the middle of fixing their structures for the tourney. Gave me a run down of where the tourney will be held. I like what they have done. They moved three tables out of the poker area to free up some space. Good idea. They are having 7 tables outside of the room, to use strictly for SNGS (which I BEGGED him to change the structures on, and might win THAT battle as well! that would be great. The old structure 25/50>50/100>100/200>200/400>400/800 was a suicide run!) during the tourney and overflow tourney seating. Good idea. And the tourney room is going to be...when you walk into the poker room....go straight..and then hook a left...into that very wide hallway, and the ballroom on the left. Again. Good idea. Sounds good. Then he picked my brain about structures and chip counts. Said he was willing to be more "Player Friendly" which is exactly what I have been lobbying for now for months out of them. I like that they are finally 'getting it' and trying to work with us players. A big fat "A" for effort to Ronnie and the Boys at the IP. What I suggested to him was the following chip counts. $200 buy in gets $3000, $300 buy in gets $4000, the $500 buy in gets $5000, and the $1000 main event gets $10,000. The were talking about doing $2000/$2500/$3000. Not good. I like deepstack tourneys, and I will display just how much I like them...when I leave for Vegas on November 10th to participate in the Venetian event, where you are getting from $7500 to $12000 starting chips every event.
Here is my thing about it though. Deepstack players like myself, we know HOW to play a deepstack. Players who are used to only getting $1500-$3000 chips in a tourney...they do not know HOW to handle $7000-$10,000 starting chips. It makes them play horrible. As a strong player you end up sitting back and letting these donkeys take themselves out. But you miss a lot of chances to win big pots, when you cant limp in for 50 with your pairs of 2 through 9...looking to flop a set against that dumbass with ACE whatever who thinks top pair is the nuts. You cant, because that same dumbass gets 10,000 chips and thinks he should raise from 25/50 to 400 when he sees AK...causing you to breathe a sigh of "you stupid donkey" before dumping your 88s. So I think starting out with 3000/4000/5000 chips, there is a little more importance placed on your chips. Plus...say a donkey raises 250 with his AK...on 25/50 blinds...and I decide to flat call him with 77. If its early in the tourney, and I think this guy is a clown who is going to make that play with AK...I might just take a shot at whacking this guy early, or taking an early shower myself. The thing is...if I can get to 10 to 15K early...I am almost guaranteeing that I am making the money. So, say I get the magic A-7-J flop. We all know I am getting this clowns money. Say the flop comes 2-3-10? He bets out 500. To me, I am thinking continuation bet, one that he HAS to make. I have two ways to go here. Without the 10K chip cushion to fall back on by smooth calling there, I have to make a decision. Do I think I have this joker beat? If so, I can re-raise that special amount...you know...lets make it 2200. That way, he has two choices. I have just raised more than half his stack. It should be abundantly clear that I am not going to fold. If he moves all in...well, looks like a short day for The Monkey because now I guess he must have a big over pair. But a lot of times he will fold his AK/AQ/AJ brick house there...and I am now setting the tone for the rest of the day. Oh yeah, and dragging a nice 1400'ish pot early in the tourney. While also confirming in my head what a moron/donkey/clown/jackass/fool this guy is. On the other hand...I pride myself as a short stack NINJA...and if I think he DOES have a big over pair, I can and WILL fold there...keep my remaining 1500 chips and get to work on getting the ones I lost back into my stack. I'm not that guy who just says "oh well" and calls even though you know you are DEAD!
So in talking to Ronnie, we determined that a few rounds definitely need to be added in. I promised him that if he reconstructed those structures and enhanced the starting chip counts, that I would write about it on here, and send an email to my poker crew, encouraging them to come play the event. It will be coming on the heels of the Goldstrike event up in Tunica...and I don't see a lot interfering with it, so I really hope to see some people turn out to play this event. The fields at the last one were really disappointing. When events only pay 9 spots it sucks. I am also having to resign the fact that I wont be winning the ROUNDER OF THE YEAR...thanks to a couple of things. But I do have a shot at leading the WORLD in TOTAL FINAL TABLES. I have 8...but now a bunch of guys have 8, a couple have 9 and a couple, including CUB...have 10. But I have at least 20 tourneys to play between I.P. and Venetian and possibly the WSOP LAKE TAHOE event to rip another 3 to 6 final tables. So I will have my foot on the gas!
Two years ago I attended the Inaugural WPT BOOT CAMP BATTLE FOR THE SEASON PASS at Cable Beach in the Bahamas. It was a stones throw away from the Atlantis resort, where Pokerstars hosts the Caribbean Adventure in January. It got me to trying like hell to win that damn trip. IN four years I have never won that friggin thing. I have been SO CLOSE so many times. Got heads up for it one time. Losing on the river for the trip. Then last week, in their steps format...I won step 1, step 2, step 3, step 4, then got mired on step 5...finishing 3rd three times in a row...to get a re-do...before finally winning it..and advancing to step 6...a $2100 buy in if going that route. Tons of SUPERNOVAS, PLATINUMS...at the table. It was pretty nerve-wracking. 1st place won the trip. 2nd place won $2100, and 3rd won $1600. I finished a disappointing 5th place and got knocked all the way back to Step 1. The good news was those Step 5 and Step 6's were earning me a HUGE number of FPPS so I am only about 800 pts away from achieving GOLD status for the month with 15 days still left in the month. Gold is big because it enables you to play a LOT of the freerolls. And it will be good through the end of November, which kind of blows, since I will be playing mostly ALL LIVE tourneys in November, but oh well. I want that DAMN TRIP!
Oh but back to the WPT thing. They moved it this year. Its now in the Dominican Republic. Good, because that hotel on Cable Beach was a dump! And it rained the whole time. They are holding it at the Bavarro Princess Resort in Puna Canta. The regular cost is $4400. As a returning player I get it for $3900. Then the airfare is about $750. OUCH. But you get ALL YOUR FOOD, ALL YOUR DRINKS, THE HOTEL...and transportation, as well as BUYIN for the FEATURED EVENT..which is a tourney where you get 20,000 starting chips with 1 hour blind levels. They cap the entries at 250. This includes about 40 full time 'name' pros. So the competition is pretty stiff. But you are playing for (10) $10K main event entries and $10k in spending money to win. 2nd through 6th also win some stuff, 2nd gets 3 10K packages, 3rd gets two...and it goes down from there. The first three days are spent doing their Boot Camp stuff that I don't really give a damn about. I'm not going, if I go, to LEARN how to PLAY poker...I'm going to try and win $110,000. For a $4500 investment. My backer is on vacation right now...but I talked to her about it and she seems pretty excited about it. I think its a good idea. Definitively a WORK trip, I don't really care all that much about the beach and all that other crap. Until I win a million bucks and get my life on the easy track...there is NO FUN TIMES FOR MONKEY!
IF...IF I don't do the WPT trip...the WSOP TAHOE event starts the first week of December. WPT trip is DEC 1st through 7th. Tahoe is DEC 3rd to the 10th I think. I will try to figure out before I go to Vegas which I am doing. IF I am doing Tahoe, I will probably drive out to Vegas so I have my car. Then I will get in my car and drive to Tahoe and play that event. Two things I have going for me. I have a house to stay in at both places. In Vegas I will be staying with my boy Allie Prescott. OH SHIT. How did I forget that. Big shout out to my boy ALLIE...and one step further, his and my boy MATT BRADY...an awesome dude, with a great game...who took down the ARUBA tourney two weeks ago. It was fun following them. Sucks that I wasn't there with them, mainly because when we talked about it last month, they were holding me a room to come down there with them. But I couldn't be happier for them. Its a funny deal because Allie has been getting staked by Matt and Dave Fox for most of this year...and he has come through for them a couple times. Allie is a good player. When he is dialed in. I think he has been playing better when he's getting staked. I've played with him in the past when on his own dime, and there have been times when he just gets bored and says "Fuck it" and will make a stupid, stupid play. He admitted to me...in Aruba, he was getting low on chips...and starting to not care...but then he got moved to Matt's table, and some renewed sense of purpose set in. Then he went on a nice little run and finished 4th. When they got to 5 they re-did the money. I don't know what Matt walked with, I want to say about $750K...but Allie ended up taking down $350. AWESOME AWESOME day for both of them. They both deserve it. Am I jealous? Well...sure, a little bit. But it makes me feel good that all these guys that I am friends with (throw Brandon Cantu in there as well) are scoring so big. I know mine is just around the corner. I just think the Poker Gods are making me struggle a little longer so I will appreciate it a lot more. So anyway, I will be staying with Allie out in Vegas...I'm welcome to stay he says, until Thanksgiving, when his family is coming out. Perfect, Venetian ends the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
A couple of other shout outs. Jonathan Little, he of the NIGHTMARE AIM HACKING and money scam that cost me $530 and soiled my reputation for about three days before it all got sorted out and caused him and Shannon Shorr to think for a time that I was a computer hacking crook (what a nightmare that week was) went back-to-back 2nd places (sound like anyone else you know!!!!???) out in Vegas at the Festa al Lago at the Belagio. And first place in both was the same guy...some dude I've never heard of before. Meanwhile, Gabe Costner...who invited me to be his Facebook buddy and asked if we were still friends after he screwed me and put me on the rail in Tunica three from the money (ME AJ in SB raising and announcing I HAVE A GOOD HAND, him claiming to also having a good hand and calling with 55...FLOP J-5-7...end of the DAY FOR MONKEY! Cue the MONKEY RANT!) has made two final tables at the same event and is climbing the POY rankings. Of course we are still friends. Gabe is a good guy. And Claudia...well, she is too much fun to have out of my life. Crazy bitch, I love her. We all had a very fun night out at VENUES a couple weeks ago...me, Squirrel, Claudia, Squirrels best friend Brandi, and Cub...who was uh...okay...he was just chilling with us! ( happy, Cub?) We all had a very fun night. Claudia flew out the next morning to meet Gabe in Vegas. Gabe is my boy, we just see things differently when we are at the table. As a poker pro...I know that the NUMBER ONE mission is TO CASH. To make the money. I have a select crew of people who I care about in poker. Should we cross paths on the way to the money, I will go to great extremes sometimes to NOT put them on the rail. Its not cheating. Its not collusion. I just CARE about people. I know the pain of playing for hours and hours and not making a cent. So if I can give them a free pass, sometimes I will. If I have plenty of chips to make the final table (baring a horrible nightmare) and a guy I really like moves all in shortstack...and say I am on the button with AK, or 1010 or something that might necessitate an INSTA CALL against most players...I will happily muck my hand. I don't NEED those chips. I don't have to have them. Its not my DUTY to whack another player. I will let him know what I folded later. What's the point in that? Because maybe, later...at another tourney, when the roles are reversed...and I'm that guy making that all in shove with A8 and praying that everyone folds...that the guy over there on the button with AK...will remember that...and let me take the pot. Well, I am that guy. I will always be that guy. I wont apologize for being that guy. That in effect is what got me kicked out of the Beau Rivage. Its sickening. I understand that their is this notion that this falls into the category of what some like to label 'soft play.' And some would have you think they should be allowed to call the floor on you for NOT making a call that THEY would make. Look. Call it whatever you want. The bottom line is...if there is a lousy player at the table who I do not know, I want that player gone. And if he is shoving with what I think is probably a small pair or a weak ace...and I have 99/1010/JJ...or AK AQ...YEAH...I will make that call. Why? Because (a) I am probably ahead. (b)I don't want bad players making the final table. If its a good player, a player that I either (a) like, or (b) respect...I will consider the following. (a) will this call cost me MORE than the 15% of my stack that I see as an acceptable threshold with which to make a 'semi-loose' call and (b)would I rather wait to find a better spot to get those chips back from him? There is a lot of strategy involved when it comes to deciding whether or not you want to whack a player. I will give you a couple of good examples...
This March at the Beau Rivage...when I made four final tables in a week...I had a situation that was pretty unique. There was a guy sitting to my immediate left. He was very loose. He was also VERY easy to put on a hand. He was also a luck box, i.e. he kept winning big pots by getting lucky. I had a chance to bust this guy...and DIDNT. Why? Because at the time, we were almost in the money...I had a 'decent' stack, and I knew they weren't going to breaking out table any time soon. With the blinds still relatively low, I felt like I wanted to KEEP this guy to my left, because when the blinds got big, the pots got bigger, that I could then extract a LOT MORE chips from this PEZ DISPENSER! I was UTG and I raised with 10-10. He called. So in my head...smooth call, I'm immediately thinking AJ/KJ/A10/KQ. The flop comes Q-10-6, rainbow. Based on his body language after the flop, I KNOW he hit the Q. I decide to go ahead and bet right into the set...which I WILL DO a lot, with all players. Did it down in New Orleans in May vs. Tyler Smith when I flopped a set of ACES vs. his flopped set of 9's. Completely changes how they think when trying to assess your possible hand there. Anyway...he obviously liked me betting there. He gives me this "your dead, buddy" look and smooth calls me. Okay. That's cool. I am not the least bit worried here. The turn is a 4. I make another 1/2 pot size bet. He looks at me and says "I think I have you beat...." I tell him, no you don't. He asks me if I'm sure. Oh, I'm quite sure. He then raises. Now, I could have just min raised him...and put him in a real bad spot...to either lose another large chunk of chips there, or even, to go broke. But I decided then and there...I don't want this guy leaving yet. I said. "I am all in, and if you call, YOU LOSE." He mulled over it for a while...then folds open faced...KQ. I show him a set of tens. He reacts like he just made the greatest lay down ever. (haha, we know the real deal!) Good! I wanted him feeling like that. That was perfect. I had to explain over the dinner break to a couple of poker pals who were watching why I didn't bust him and take the rest of his chips. After my explanation, they bought in. Well, sure enough...two levels later...he raises UTG...I am in the BB. I look down at AK suited. I now have him covered by about 3 to 1. I could tell when he made his raise from watching him that he was raising me with something he didn't feel all that comfortable raising with...something like A10, QJ suited. I liked my hand. I knew I was ahead. He was already in the money...not deep, but I knew if I re-popped him he wouldn't fold. He just wasn't one of those players who aspired to WIN. I think 'cashing' was good enough for him. I re-raised him...and he moved all in. I called of course and he turned over ...TADA! Ace Ten. I hit the K on the flop and it was all over for him. I won 32K right there, three times what I would have taken from him earlier. And eliminated another player. So...did I 'softplay'' him earlier? See my point?
One time about three years ago...we are at the Reno Hilton. The tourney was a $300 buy in and was paying 18 players. The average chip stack was $23,000. I had 78,000. I was definitely making the money. I was in the top 3 in chips. We were down to 19. This young lady...who had her husband lurking by her all day...was down to the felt almost, needing a miracle. The next smallest stack on the other table was getting close to being all in as well. They were a young couple. I could tell they NEEDED that cash. I didn't know them from Adam, aside from that. But I could sense the tension. Well, I am in the SB...and she moves all in on the button. I look down at KK. Wow. I ask her "maam, let me ask you a question. Taking into account that the BB still has to act behind me....how BAD do you need, or want...to cash this event? Because I think if I call you here you are almost certainly done." She was pretty shy. And she told me she wanted to make the money more than anything. And she was sincere. I said "you know what...I am going to lay down this monster for you...but I want the dealer to keep it on the side in case the BB also folds, so she can show you how nice I am!" The dealer put them aside. Well after that, HOW could the BB call? He folded. The dealer showed her my KK. She almost started crying. Seriously. The other small stack went out on the very next hand. She ended up going out 17th. But she was so happy. Her husband, probably about 23...came over and shook my hand and thanked me. For about a year...whenever I was in Lake Tahoe and/or Reno I would see them, and they would always bring that up and tell me how nice that was...how they always tell other people what I did for her. It made me feel so good to do that for them. Some would say I shouldn't have done that. That I OWED IT to the other short stack to make that call. I guess I could understand that argument, and for that I feel a little bad for the guy who DID go out on the bubble. But the bottom line is, they are MY CHIPS, and I am entitled to play them however I want. OMG...there was a guy at the New Orleans $1000 event that I got second in...this guy should have gone to poker JAIL, if there was a POKER JAIL for players making lay downs they aren't supposed to be able to make. Me, in the 3 seat, and the guy to my right...watched this guy lay down...PREFLOP....(he was showing his hand) QQ TWICE (both times with NO RAISE behind him!!!!) ACES! Yes...he FOLDED ACES...claiming he 'took a bad beat with them last year and now refuses to play them!" And the capper...he does play a J9 hand....flops 10-8-7 !!!! Lady in the BB...a SHORTSTACK....goes all in. HE FOLDS! He shows our whole end of the table his hand and declares that he is "going to stay tight!" We all just sit there with our mouths wide open! I couldn't believe I was seeing this. Without a doubt the CRAZIEST shit I have EVER seen in a poker tourney! The only thing I could think of...was that this guy had like a $5000 last longer bet with someone!!!!!
So, to those who want to condemn me for NOT making a call where THEY think I should have made a call...and I didn't...because either (a) I didn't feel like racing for 15-20% of my chips when I didn't need to (b) didn't want to bust the person because I wanted to keep them around for a bigger pot later, or (c) didn't call and bust them because I spent the whole day with the person, felt their need, and didn't want to ruin their day, and maybe inherit a little good karma......I say this....BITE ME. FIND A GOOD REASON TODAY TO DO SOMETHING NICE FOR SOMEONE. QUIT ALWAYS LOOKING FOR A REASON TO BE A HATER!
So where was I? I was going to write a quick entry...then go out to the backyard and try to get some sun...but now I see its 3 already. Dammit. See, I AM a slave to you guys!
I really don't even want too talk much about my online play lately. Its so up and down. In the last two days I am 4 for 19 with pocket Aces. That's right. I have made the bubble my personal bedmate. Every time I try to sneak the blinds I run into AA or KK. And of course, I never suck out....like everyone has done to me. I have been beating my head against the wall. Play 3 or 4 hours in a tourney...get deep...and BOOM! Disaster. Last night...I am so patient, at a table of utter maniacs. Just keep on folding. Paying 342 spots. Well, here we go, almost out of a freaking movie...343 left. I have 6500 chips. Blinds are 500/1000. I am in 4th position and pick up AA. Wow. How to play this. Move all in, no one calls, don't win much. 1 left to lose...I stall a bit, then even if I DO get cracked I probably at least cash, right? You would think! So I decide to LIMP in...and hope to get RAISED. Which is exactly what happens. Okay. GOOD. And I get to be heads up with the guy holding AJ. Perfect. Until the board goes 7-9-10-8-Q. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! And......I go out....343rd. BUBBLE. Lets just say the last three days have been a nightmare. This really sucks because the worse you run, it really starts to affect how you play. You start to overbet quality hands. You start to shove all in when you flop a set, instead of working it for a bigger pot. You feel like you can NEVER hit a draw (flush/straight) so you play your draws totally differently. I just hope to god that all this online poker I've been playing the last month wont impact/effect how I play in these upcoming events. I don't think it will. I think in four years I have learned how to shift gears between the internet DONKFESTS to the live tourneys. I think a lot of the reason has to be put on the international influx of players. These guys will literally play any two cards...and play them strong. I HATE IT. But I have to respect it. They just don't care if you have AA. You could type in there "Good LUCK sucking out I HAVE AA" and they will call anyway with 79 and take you down! Its crazy.
Last night I was watching Day 5 coverage of WSOP and Hellmuth, who has been a prick pretty much the whole tourney is going BANANAS, calling the dude from Eastern Europe who loves to play 104 against AK raises, an idiot. Over and over and over. Hey...the guy has his hand he likes to play. And honestly, I have a feeling that the Euros don't think Hellmuth is this GREAT,AMAZING player like a lot of Americans think he is. His game is pretty predictable, frankly. I mean, should I ever get a draw with him at my table....I will certainly not be fearing him. People are all the time saying things about him, Negreanu and a few others...wow! They nailed that guy's hand. How did they do that? Please. I do that ALL THE TIME. People are like...wow, Monkey...you think you're like Negreanu or something? No, I think I'm the Monkey...who has played millions and millions of hands online and/or live and after awhile your poker IQ gets to the point where your betting patterns and/or body language is telling me EXACTLY what you are holding. I'm not a damn MINDFREAK (who by the way Squirrel thinks is THE DEVIL) or anything, man! But who DOES scare me is a guy calling my KK raise with 46 offsuit and playing me into the grave. THAT GUY SCARES ME! I don't like it. But I respect it. Which is what that asshole Hellmuth needs to realize and deal with. What a total jerkoff he was at the table. When the guy finally, in his broken English, says to Hellmuth "I don't mind if you criticize my game, but you don't need to call me names. You need to learn some manners" I thought AMEN! Made me feel kind of bad for the other guy. I want to remember that episode last night and take something from that. I've been known to make little insidious comments at times about hands guys have played against me. Wow, please don't let me make a Hellmuth-like comment. GUY#1 (think it was Matusow actually-speaking of black coffee and kettles) states "that's poker Phil...deal with it" and Hellmuth cries out....To YOU GUYS ITS JUST POKER...BUT TO ME...THIS IS MY LIFE!!!!!
Dude. I felt like that when I was struggling to pay my bills, and guys were sucking out with total dogshit to put me on the rail. Like these assholes were keeping me from paying my bills. Well, then you score a couple big wins, and put that money away (hopefully) and when you lose you are supposed to handle it a little better. Hellmuth is a damn millionaire. And yet, whenever he DOES lose...he acts like he needed that cash or he was going to lose his wife, his house, his cars and his children. GET A GRIP DUDE!
Oh the other thing that would happen if I ever got to his table? Not sure. Was watching Brandon at his table and how Brandon was handling him. It was pretty funny, mainly because I know what Brandon thinks of him! I was thinking...how would I keep from challenging Hellmuth to a fight? How? Especially if he was talking to ME like he was talking to Brandon. I don't know. It would be tough. Because to an extent...he is somewhat protected by the floor and tournament staff. More than I am. I might just have to pop a muscle relaxer, go outside, fire up the one-hitter, start drinking Baileys, and just laugh at him. That might be funny. Pretty sure that's about exactly what Brandon was doing!!!!!
New show on MTV now. Not sure of the name...but its featuring P-Diddy, or whatever the hell his name is now. And on commercial break was a feature for a new show coming our way soon. "Chocolate News" Huh? I'm not even going there. I don't know what is happening to this country. I really don't. And Obama is probably going to be elected President. I might be filing my Blog reports from Montana in six months. BTW...if you get a little free time...run a search on Obama and how he came into the money he did that allowed him to go to the schools he did and the house in Chicago that he bought and who his personal advisor is and how she got herself into that position. How he took a trip around the world after high school with his Pakistani roommates. How those Pakistani roommates are now in charge of raising all the money on his internet fund drive. It scares the hell out of me that a guy who 'poses' as a Black man, and gets countless millions of Black voters to go out and probably vote for him on the basis of race (P Diddy is sporting a VOTE FOR OBAMA t-shirt on this show right now and demanding that everyone VOTE FOR OBAMA....you know how powerful that is!???) when most of them have probably never voted in their life...will take an election and use it to serve the interests of the radical Muslims that have used their money and influence to elevate Obama to the position he currently sits in. Scary as hell. Blacks voting for him simply because he is Black. He's barely black. They know nothing about his policies, have done nothing to research his background. We are only 7 years removed from the day when Muslim Terrorists flew planes into buildings and killed 3000 Americans. For a year...you could barely imagine anyone with a name RESEMBLING a Muslim/Arab holding ANY office in the United States. And now we are about to elect BARACK OBAMA as President? A guy who has a very easily research-able background that would point out in very obvious fashion that he is NOT who we should have RUNNING our country. My only hope...is that if...IF..he is what I think he is (and I might be TOTALLY wrong, and hope to GOD that I am) that the CIA and/or NSA will take steps to 'neutralize' any plot that he may be a part of. The "change for the better" side of me was excited about Barack Obama when he first came onto the scene. I read both of his books. I watched his interviews. He seemed too good to be true. His ideas seemed fresh. And if electing a 'sort of' black man could do great good for racial harmony.....AWESOME. I am all about both races getting along in every way. But the more this drags on...it almost feels like it will divide the races even more. Sort of a "look, WE run this country now...you will answer to US from now on" attitude could take a foothold on our nation. That is not going to bring about any kind of positive change. At the same time, I think John McCain is a doofus. If I had to hear him say "My Friends" one more time in their last debate, I was going to ask God to take away my sense of hearing. His snickering and laughing is more annoying than that of George W Bush's...which I thought would never be topped. I respect elements of his political career..but for the most part, I think he is a loose-cannon and should NEVER be the President. And as for Sarah Palin, lord. Aside from being pretty hot and sexy...which you can't deny...her "oh golly, gee, gosh darn" act is a joke that I'm guessing maybe 14% of the nation is 'buying into.' And of those 14% maybe 5% of them are registered voters. Of those 5% maybe 2% of them will either remember to go vote or find the money to gas up the tractor to drive themselves to the polls. WHAT A NIGHTMARE that these are our two choices. Unlike my African-American (a title I still can't get with..not until people start calling me an English/German-American) counterparts...I am not going to go vote for John McCain simply because he is white and I am white. That's just narrow-minded and ignorant. I hate to say it, but I think the best candidate was probably Hillary Clinton. But listening to that voice of hers for 4 years would have made me NUTS! Mitt Romney probably would have been a good President. Mike Huckabee was probably the best candidate with NO SCANDAL attached to his name. I don't know, I have decided NOT to vote. I just hope, and pray...that whoever wins, actually does something FOR the country based on his desire to be a good leader, and not use the office as a platform to further his own personal agenda...like our last idiot President.
Not sure how I got off on this rant. Hope no one got offended there.
Okay...time to wrap this up. I know you all want to know what is going on with the Beau Rivage. Well. I have been debating (with myself) how I want to address this with all of you. I am walking a very thin line with these guys in what I say and/or do. I am trying to do and say everything right, and to NOT make my hole any deeper. I know I don't OWE you guys an explanation on what is going on...but....you guys, a LOT of you...have been VERY supportive of me through all of this, and I feel that you have earned a right to be kept 'in the loop' on this deal. So...without further ado....adieu? Adooo? Not sure how to spell that word....but here it is:
When we last left off, I was waiting on what the Beau Rivage management told me was 'clearance from the Gaming Commission' before they could do anything in regards to the '86 they placed on me. Now, our understanding on this was that I had been ACCUSED of doing something that was along the lines of 'cheating and/or collusion.' That the commission had to investigate this. Which made a question Cheryl asked me seem pretty astute. "Will, if you cant go to the Beau, or any of their properties, because you are being investigated by the State Commission for cheating/collusion...then don't you think its weird that all the other casinos are allowed to let you in THEIR casinos?" Hmm...good point.
Well, in fairness, I let about 5 weeks of water pass under the bridge. Went up and played in Tunica. Then I decided it was time to start following up with Warren Mason at the Beau Rivage. I never got through to him. I spoke with his assistant about six times though. The final time she told me that Warren has told her to let me know that he had put it back on Ken Lambert and Johnny Groomes. Really? Interesting. Especially considering I was told by Mason himself that it was ALL UP TO THE COMMISSION. Okay...I wasn't going to freak out. Maybe once the commission notified Johnny and/or Ken...they would let me know that I can return, right?
So, I call Johnny in the poker office. We talk for half an hour. In my best attempt to summarize, lets just say that Johnny made it pretty clear that the Commission wasn't even a factor. He made it seem pretty clear that I wasn't ever going to be allowed back in there. That my 'actions' warranted my permanent exclusion from their poker room. Why exactly it is extended to the entire casino and all the clubs and restaurants, as well as ALL the other properties they own or manage, I have no idea. He told me he would 'look into' getting the property ban lifted so I could at least come to the casino to dine or hang out with friends, or visit Cheryl while she is working. It has been a week. I have heard nothing from Johnny, Ken or anyone. When I told Johnny that nothing I did was witnessed by a staff member, nor was I reprimanded for anything while there...that in fact, the basis for their whole decision was based on a loose interpretation of what they read on my blog, he didn't want to give any ground. He said "If you had said something like 'you don't want to be in this hand' or something like that, it would have been fine." Well, that is EXACTLY what I said to Lake...after saying I was ALL IN..."you don't want to be in this pot, probably Lake, unless you want to double me up." There was NO knee! In fact, there was a chair between us, of a player who I believe had gone to eat or smoke or something. He folded, I showed my hand. On the hand in question...I merely mentioned it would "HAVE BEEN NICE" if Lake had given me "the knee" (which in quotations as it was merely gave it a figure of speech connotation meaning some kind...ANY kind of signal like I had given HIM earlier by telling him he might not want to be in this pot if he didn't want to go broke!) to let know I was about to lose all my money. But he didn't. So I am banned, 86'd...for WISHING a guy had given me SOME INDICATION I was about to lose my whole $550 stack!???
When I told him all that...I got very little in return. Almost like he was reading from a prepared script. "Um, Will, look, its like I said, at the current time..there is nothing I can do to allow you to return to the poker room. I'm not saying something might not change in the future...you are welcome to call me every month and check on it...but right now...I just cant help you."
So I asked. What exactly is going to change in the future? What is going to change between 5 weeks ago, today, tomorrow and next year? Me winning a huge tourney, becoming a celebrity, from Biloxi...and you guys WANTING me in there? He said that didn't have anything to do with it. Okay. Fine. So then what? When Warren Mason tells me on the phone, "Will, it was never intended to be a permanent ban. We just had to do SOMEthing because of how it looked. It will all work out, don't worry." Well, hate to say it...but now I AM worried.
When I asked Johnny why I was told that I was informed that it was all in the hands of the Gaming Commission...that when their investigation was closed, and the Beau Rivage was cleared...that I would be free to return? He told me...."If I get a call from Warren Mason or someone from the Commission telling me that we have to let Will Souther back in my poker room, then yeah, I guess I wont have any choice but to let you back in."
We ended our phone conversation. My next phone call went to the Gaming Commission, where I spoke to Officer McClintock. He was very helpful. We talked for about 20 minutes. In that conversation I learned a lot about what the Gaming Commission does. And DOESNT do. One of the things they DONT DO is conduct investigations on players that have been 86'd from casinos for allegations stemming from something they wrote about on their blog. My name was Greek to them. Never had my name. Never ran any investigation. The Beau Rivage was using them as a smokescreen. Pure and simple. I hung up the phone feeling...well, several emotions. I went searching my mind for answers as to why this is going down the way its going down. I am trying very hard to take the high road.
Okay. I have a 'colorful personality' and I rub some people the wrong way. I get that. I write about something on my blog that 'doesn't look or sound right' to the haters that want to use it against me and the people who have to run a credible poker room. I get that. I know that I have provided the poker staff with moments they would rather not deal with in the past. I get that. And I get that in these times of everyone trying to keep their job, not screw up...not do something that is going to bite them in the ass, that MAYBE, JUST MAYBE...Johnny and Ken are maybe just a bit concerned that allowing me into their poker room might somehow affect their jobs. That by just eradicating me from their lives it will go one step further in assuring them job security. I might get that, too.
However...what I do NOT get...is that by feeding me a lie, keeping me on the fence for five weeks, before I finally decide to get a little proactive and start looking for answers on my own...then unearthing the truth, how that would put me in the position of KNOWING that I was out and out LIED to! And that makes me think...that they think...that I am an absolute MORON. That I would never FIND OUT that what they were feeding me was total BS. I am offended. First of all, I realize that a casino reserves the right to refuse service to ANYONE they feel like refusing service to. For whatever reason they deem reasonable. I KNOW that. Second of all, I understand that they have to present a poker room that has a credibility factor. I get that too. Here is what I don't get. I have been coming there since they opened. I have taken the time to get to know the floor people, the dealers, the chip runners and the waitresses. I have tried to be instrumental in helping run better tourneys. I have always tipped them exceptionally. I have written nothing but complimentary articles about them on this blog. I have openly promoted all of their tourneys to all the people I play poker with. My job is poker. I got a house in Biloxi, proposed marriage to a girl who WORKS at the Beau...has since they opened. I have made this my home. Poker is my job. So when they tell me that my ability to earn an income is incumbent upon the Gaming Commission deciding on the fate of my 'misstep' they are using the Gaming Commission as their skapegoat to deal with a situation that affects me on a daily basis. How can they, ethically, do that? That is why I am so angry, and feel so violated, and think, for the first time...that I may have a case that someone a lot more qualified in the legal forum than I am might possibly be wiling to take a look at. And to ban me from ALL PROPERTIES for a situation that I wasn't even reprimanded for? That they tore from an online blog entry? For WISHING that a guy had used a tactic they consider a form of cheating? Even when HE didn't. And when I never had nor admitted to doing? Trust me there are a lot of people in the casino doing a LOT WORSE, ADMITTING TO DOING A LOT WORSE and being CAUGHT AND ALLOWED TO RETURN FOR A LOT WORSE....than what I am getting 86'd for WISHING SOMEONE HAD DONE!
I tell all of you this at a time when I am still awaiting a response from Warren Mason on a letter that I very carefully wrote last week. Trying very hard not to sound threatening, or spiteful or crazy. I won't lie, it was read and 'maybe' slightly edited a little bit by Squirrel. It was a letter saying what I had just experienced the last day with the phone calls with Johnny and the Commission. Cited my frustration with the process. Asked for him to please allow me to return. Voluntarily offered to go on some form of probation. Even volunteered to stay away for the rest of the year and even exclude myself from cash game...which is where this situation arose from. I sent that letter to him last Thursday. Now, in fairness, Warren is a busy man. He is back and forth to the Gold Strike. He is out of town a lot. He doesn't come in on Friday. So I am not giving up hope that when he does finally read my email, that a sense of ...I don't know....don't have the word here, but that he will see fit to work something out between me and the poker room, and I can get back to playing poker, hanging out with all of my poker buddies, having an occasional kick ass meal at the BR PRIME...partying at 875 or Coast...and making some more Final Tables, where we drink some Red Snappers!
To those of you who have written me and said that you think this is so unfair, and that you won't support the Beau Rivage or patronize them until I am allowed to return...look, thank you. But I am not naive enough to think that enough people out there are going to quit going to the Beau Rivage to the point that it affects them and they have to let me come back. The petition that the website guys were going to start...also a very nice gesture, and there is no doubt in my mind that we could easily get 500 signatures at least. But when that is marched into the Beau Rivage and presented with the request that they allow me back in...I just have a feeling that is just going to embolden them. You can't fight fire with fire. They have a blow torch. I have a match. While I appreciate all of you supporting me, and defending me in this...I think the easiest way to approach this is for them to just SEE for themselves that what they are doing is simply, UNJUSTIFIED. I hope they will. But until they do...I will gallivant all over the country and kick some ass, make some money and have some fun. I can't control some things. This is one of them.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO EVERYONE!!!! WHEN I SEE YOU ON HALLOWEEN AT THE I.P. I HOPE TO BE AT THE FINAL TABLE, AND I WILL PROBABLY BE DRESSED (from what Squirrel is telling me) AS A PIRATE! SO I GUESS WE WILL BE DRINKING CAPTAIN MORGAN AT THAT FINAL TABLE!!!! ARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Posts
