Victory is mineeeeeeee!

Ahhhhhhh....the sweet taste of victory has returned to Monkey Central. And not a moment too soon, as I was about to lose my mind. I slept very well last night, as it rained all freaking night and turned my backyard, once again...into a swamp!

Day 1 of the IP ended with me Final Table'ing the 7pm tourney but then screwing up huge and going out 10th, depriving myself an entry in the WSOP Freeroll. Then Day 2 was absolute abortion. I played ALL THREE tourneys, the Nooner, the 4pm HORSE, and then the 7pm $230...and air-balled all of them. Yes, I pulled the much-mentioned 'hat trick' that I was so looking to avoid on this trip. Granted, I did run off 3 wins in SnG's out of 4...and had pulled almost even on the day before losing my final 3 SNGs to end the day on a real downer. The shitty part was that in every one of those, I was doubling up on the first level to take an early chip lead...only to go out with hands where I was ahead every time preflop. But I handled it well, as I have been pretty much everywhere I've played since the summer. Ya lose, just smile, shake your hand in disappointment and go try again. It looks so much better to everyone!

Even while I had been getting pounded I have been having so much fun. Everyone has been great. I'm loving this event. Just yesterday...one day after I asked Jim Sterling "hey, a couple years ago you guys had food services in here...that seems to be the only thing you guys DIDNT do this year.....was it just too expensive to do?" and then VOILA...yesterday....THAT shows up. These guys are doing SUCH a great job running this tourney. And they are so open to every suggestion from players. I arrived yesterday only 5 minutes late...and then stopped to chat with a few players on the way to my table, and in doing so arrived to my seat with the small blind being on me. Well they are using that rule we all think is just retarded, that they have been doing at the Rio since last year...where you have to wait until you are the BB to play a hand. I HATE it. As does every other player. And I told Jimmy as much...and don't be surprised to see that go away. I'm just really proud of the guys at the I.P. for doing everything to make this a great event. They are really excited about their April event coming up in the spring. I am a bit disappointed that we are having semi-light turnouts. The first night, for the 7pm $120 we got 179 players...and thats the most we have seen. 150 on Thursday's $240 and then 160 for Friday's $340. I would liked to have seen around 300 at least. The first event at the Venetian drew 507 yesterday...ouch! That kind of stung to read!

So yesterday was a $340 at noon. I arrived and started winning hands. Almost every one I played. Went from 8k starting stack up to 12k rather effortlessly. Was flopping sets, turning straights, getting people to pay off...it was going great. I had a pretty soft table too. Was chatting with everyone...making buddies...it was going SO perfect. Then...BOOM! I get AA...UTG+1. I raise (from 100/200) to 550, and get called 4 times. Now, I was playing a very effecient brand of poker all day, raising light...like 2.5x...a LOT...encouraging action..and still having everyone fold to me a lot. Fear? Not sure. But funny, I get AA and they ALL call, and you get that sick feeling where you KNOW you are about to get assraped. Cue the ass raping. On a flop of 3-4-9....two diamonds....and 2400 in the pot...and me having all four players more than covered, I bet out 2200. When the guy behind me goes all in for 6300, and everyone else folds....I'm left sitting there wondering....SHIT! Does this guy have a set? Or is he just aggressively shoving on a flush draw? In which case I'm sure he will hit like they all do! Or maybe he has an overpair to that board and is putting ME on AK? I can't convince myself to fold and make the call. 444. Dammit. Now I'm down to 4k. But I quickly work that back up to 8k again.

Then...in the BB and the blinds at 200/400...a guy raises to 1000 from cutoff. I look down at 44 in the BB. Hmmmm.......okay, I call. Flop comes 2-3-6. I consider it a pretty good flop. He has 4100 behind. Now if I am correct and he has a big ace...he should fold to an all in. I don't want to check raise him...because he is going to be pot committed to anything he bets with his stack....so I fire my whole stack at him. He tanks! Sweet! I must have him.Then finally...he calls, and turns over 1010! WTF? Jeezuz. Bad read. I pick of an A on the turn...come on!!!! FIVE!!!!! or 4! Nope. Nothing. Dammit. Now down to 1200. Ugh. I sit around and wait for something to shove with. A guy limps for 400 and I look down at AJ. Perfect. ALL IN! He really wants to fold...and this guy has been a really nice guy all day, and I have offered him some valuable tips that he has already used a couple times...I really like the kid, but he finally calls with 33. Okay, I can live with that, right? Flop? 3-6-6. Wow. Really? Ladies and Gentleman....Monkey has now left the building!

Good news? It was 3:30. Starting at 4pm was a tourney I really was wanting to play....as is TODAY's 4pm, which would really lead one to ask..."why am I playing the noon $340 today?" Today's event is Pot Limit Omaha H/L. Love that game. Been smashing it online. Well yesterday's event was a $240 LIMIT Omaha h/l, which I like...just not as much. Not crazy about the limit aspect of it. Well, I draw a table with 3 little old ladies at it. Im dead! Try to haphazardly request a table change. Not happening Monkey, Bill Bruce tells me. "You're just gonna have to play well, sir!" Great.

Things dont start so hot. Mama calling station flops QUADS on me once to beat my flush...and me not having any low. Then she rivers me a few times. I kind of give and take for 5 levels...not ever getting over 7k. We only started with 44 players...it was paying just 4 spots. But if you MADE the Final Table...you MAKE the WSOP Freeroll tourney at the end. So that was Mission #1. Well, I get into a three way pot...that ends up being about a 15k pot. Flop the nut low...holding A2JJ....flop comes 678. Nice. Turn a J for a set. Awesome....then, with both of them calling, raising....and calling some more....the river is the ace of clubs...completing a flush and potentially destroying my low. Which is exactly what it did.....son of a bitttttch! I lose it ALL. Now I am sitting with 3500. And our table breaks...down to 3 tables. That 3500 would become 2500. Blinds went up to 500/1000 and with the clock showing 8pm, I was at least not going to have to worry about pulling another hat trick, as I was too late to get into the 7pm tourney. Things were looking bleak! SNG LAND was only moments away.

Then it happened. Guy behind me raises and I find As4sJsJc....and move it in. Preston (last name escaping me) hesitates....then looks at me...and taking note of our mutual friendship and respect of each other...decides to fold, what would have been the eventual winner. The other guy was raising with a ridiculous hand...AcKcQc10c. Yeah, all clubs. No low draw. And I've got him pretty well locked out with two of the jacks he needs for a straight. Now I just need to fade the three overs....or at least hit a low. He hits nothing and I get a clean double up! Sweet! Preston would have flopped QUADS! I thank him. Literally walked over and kissed him! It was funny. And I said, "Look guys, when your married to a beautiful woman, you can do that and not get questioned!!!!"

About this time the critical moment occurred. Or at least I am chalking it up to this moment. I asked Stephanie the dealer if my hair looked okay today. I hadnt been wearing a hat all day. She says "no different than it always looks." Huh? That can't be good. Okay, then...I'm putting on a hat! Then it was a question of WHICH hat? My GCP hat that I am growing ever increasingly fond of? Or my Aruba UB visor? Now the day before I was trying it on before leaving for the day and Squirrel started clowning me about it. "Wheeeel? (thats Alabama redneck for Will) What is THAT? You're gonna wear a freaking visor in the dang winter?! Thats just stupid!" Well sweety....so is being a pothole and doing Geico commercials, but I don't make fun of you!  :)

So, realizing that NONE of you have much fashion sense...and that wearing white after Labor Day doesnt really apply to US...I reach into my bag and slap on my visor. And guess what happens? It was like when Jim Carrey put on the MASK in that movie and just went bananas. The minute that damn visor went on....I start getting shit like AA2K....AK23 double suited....QQA2...flopping boats....I mean ONE monster after another...and the sweetest guy in the 6 seat who literally went from about 40k to NOTHING in little under an hour...most of them going into MY stack. I couldn't miss! It was the most meteoric rise I have EVER encountered in tournament poker. And I was drinking margaritas again like they were the cure for cancer!

So now it just became a 'just how many chips can I possibly get' contest! Oh...somewhere along the way...Tim Burt...who was still in the noon tourney with a pretty decent stack, decided to trade a percentage. I gave him 10% of mine for 5% of his...since his 1st place was for $12k and mine was only for $3500. Well, he would lose a big hand and get shortstacked about the time I was sitting on 2500. I was feeling kind of bad before that...like maybe I had duped him when we made the deal. But I honestly never felt like I didn't have a shot to comeback and win.

I might as well cut to the chase...because this final table was about as comical as the one here last Halloween when I just DESTROYED all nine players in like an hour. Oh shit...wow, HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone! Almost forgot! And its my little brother's birthday too! He doesnt read my blog I don't think. Too busy with his job and all his kids!

We get to the Final Table and I have now got the overall chiplead....by quite a bit. Its at this time that I put on the Final Table Monkey Beads. And then formally request the SNAP MONKEY shots! I only get ONE person to drink with me! ONE! And he is the shortstack, nice guy in the 2 seat, me in the 8. And I tell him...."Sir! Mark my word....because you are drinking with me...guess what? You are about to go on the heater from hell...and you and I will get heads up! Just watch!"

Guess what? Me and that guy got heads up! It was great. With 7 players left...and 215k in play...I had 124k. It was awesome. The greatest hand came with me holding JJA3...raising and getting called in three places. Flopping JJ8...and getting raised and re-raised. It was a gigantic pot and I felted two players and crippled the third. We got down to 5....and they wanted to GIVE ME first place money...and take like $900 each. I didnt take it. I know, you are all calling me crazy, and yeah...that WAS crazy! But you know what? I was having SO much fun...and it wasn't like we were playing for that much money anyway...and I just really wanted to WIN! Outright! I wanted to feel that feeling you get when you have won ALL THE CHIPS! That feeling can't be matched.

But at least I DID do something kind of cool. They were proposing taking out $50 each for the bubble guy. And I said..."NO!" They all kind of looked at me weird...and I said...."If we are going to do that, can we please at least make it so that they get their buy in back and then a little over that? Can we make it $75!???" That put a smile on their faces. So thats what we did...and when I whacked the 5th place finisher he shook my hand and left a little happier.

I would dispatch the last 4 players very quickly. Once we were heads up, I think I had this guy out in 5 hands. For Preston making that life-saving fold when he did, I gave him 5% of my winnings. I gave Tim his 10%...or I will when I see him today. He ended up cashing, but for just a little, so I don't owe him too much. I left the dealers a very nice tip...and jussssst as I was about to escape the building to go down to Chill and hang out with some of the tournament staff members, I got conned into taking the last seat in a $125 SNG. Ahhhhhhh mannnnn.

Well, I'm glad I did. For two reasons. (1) It contained a lot of my good buddies, who were all drinking...and all congratulating me for my win, thus making the win feel even better...and (2) With a $20 bounty, a $20 last longer (with 8 players) and  $100 last longer (6 players) I would end up winning/chopping it!!!! Freaking NICE. So me and the guy who got heads up chopped the $600. We gave the $160 last longer to the 3rd place guy...and we played heads up for $100. He would end up rivereing me to actually WIN...and that was just fine! I'd had a great day already. We both tipped the dealer $40 I think (dealer if that is wrong please tell me and I will remedy it...but I THINK that is what we left you!) and I called it a night!

Went downstairs and met up with Jason Boz......Booozzzzz how do you spell his last name? Boslough? Bozlow? Whatever. We all call him Boz! Him and Jim Sterling. We sat and chatted for a bit, goofed on each other...talked about the tourney, talked about the Harrah's mess a bit...and what Jim could do to help clear that up...then finally I decided to go home and see my wife. And my dogs! Who are ALWAYS happy when daddy gets home.

It was a great freaking day! And while I didn't win a MOUNTAIN of money...hey...I won! And that, more than anything in poker...felt AWESOME! Now then...its 11:33....lets go do it AGAIN!

MONKEY