DAY 2.....picture a mushroom cloud.

Lying at the bottom of that cloud is a previously healthy chipstack. My chipstack. Yes...it has now been obliterated!!!! Kaboooom! My plane landed Tuesday at 11:05am...amid much enthusiasm and optimism on my part. It was a sunny day. The temperature was a perfect 68 degrees. Delta didn't ruin my new luggage.

Since then...I have had AA a total of 5 times. I have KK 3 times. I have lost ALL of those hands...with 4 resulting in my ouster from whichever tourney I was participating in. Those kind of stats are pretty damn rough. They are very Pokerstars'ish in nature.

I would like to thank Matt Stout, a really solid player...and a guy with some of the same personality traits as me... who I knew 'sort of' but got to know better during the Main Event at Borgata last fall. Matt has taken an interest in my current P.R. mess with the Beau and with Jimmy Sommerfeld and his 'crew' at WSOPCE and decided to get involved. Along with Matt, a letter was sent by Frank Kassela to Jack Effel of WSOP...also in support of me. These are guys who have accomplished a LOT MORE than I have in poker, certainly, and it means a whole lot to me to have them stand up for me. I don't want to slight my buddy Kai Landry, who also has emailed Jimmy, wondering aloud what possible reason he had for freezing me out of this Tunica event. Its just hard to thank the guy too much, because a lot of you consider us connected at the hip.

Well, Kai has his own agenda, always. He certainly owes me nothing. I respect the kid, and really treasure his friendship...as I do the 10-15 really solid people in my life I call 'friends.' In times like these...your 'friends' are there for you. Thanks guys!

Brandon Jarrett posted a comment on here that I just noticed. Its regarding the math that is being done with money collected vs. money paid out in live tourneys. He brings up a lot of very interesting points. But its the age-old argument...players want to bitch about the juice...till their face bleeds, but then what do they do about it? Well, in Brandon's case, he gets in his car and drives home. Amen to him. But how many others do this? Not enough. So they just keep whining about it, but keep showing up. That will result in nothing changing. In fact, it stands to just get worse.

Hell, I don't know...maybe the Department of Justice or the Internal Revenue Service need to get involved. I'm not that versed on legalities surrounding what casinos and/or tournament directors are legally permitted to skim from prize pools to cover their own costs and profitability margins. No idea whatsoever. So I won't pretend to sit here and talk about how effed up it is, because I'm really not sure.

The bottom line is that I have a lot of friends (well, okay..maybe they are acquaintances?) who deal on the circuit, that I genuinely care about, whether they care about me a stitch or not. I want them to be successful. I want them to NOT have to live paycheck to paycheck. I wish for them to not have to sit in a city of a just recently concluded event....waiting for their check so they can finally leave and travel to the next event. If we get tagged for an additional $10 on our buy ins at these tourneys for a 'dealer appreciation' add on...then I want to KNOW that they get that $10....not $7...while the floor people get the other $3. On top of what the floor people are already getting from the dealers' 3%. I think that this is borderline illegal.

Then there is the 'two box' tipping system they have implemented. I almost feel responsible for this. About...mmm, 4 or 5 years ago, I started openly lobbying people to tip out the floor AND the dealers after cashing in a tourney. Unbeknownst to me at the time...the floor actually recieved a percentage of what was left to the dealers. So in essence, I was calling for players to allow them the opportunity to 'double dip.' I apologize for being ignorant. It happens.

So now...they have gotten so brazen with it...that they have literally put TWO boxes on the counter where you get paid out...and then they watch you with that look on their face...daring you to NOT put something in each box. The players who 'get' what is going on...are up in arms about this. There is a lot of rumblings going on about it...even threats being made behind the scenes. All of which I feel uncomfortable talking about, and so I won't. But I will say that I am happy to see people actually getting angry about things that are an injustice to others. Its nice to see a little passion from people for a change. Especially poker players...who are tradionally some of the most apathetic people I know.

There is no other way to really change things though unless one thing happens. And frankly, it never will. Should a group of high-profile professional poker players ever get together with some major financiers...and maybe a couple of heavy-hitting sponsors, and announce a new poker tour, complete with deals/contracts with specific casinos...that embody a prize structure similar to online poker sites'...then we could see a 'golden age' in live tournament play. Are there enough 'good' human beings out there who could ever possibly launch something like this, putting their selfish desire to make a mint on the backburner?

A 'league' that would attract all of the best dealers, because they would actually get paid well, and treated well? A league that would attract all the serious players who care about where their money goes? That would offer the best structures? Who would work closer with the casinos to assure a better package of benefits to the players who are staying at their hotel?

Could that EVER happen? I don't know. Would it be amazing? Hell yes, it would. What players seem to fail to realize...is that all these people who control us? Who control what we play, where we play, and the rules we are expected to play under? Those people...are all paid...by US! It's our money that empowers them.

Okay. That whole topic...wasn't even something I was going to write about today. Something inspired me I guess.

Yeah...I've been here for two days, and I am running like crap. Running so bad...that I actually sat down at a slot machine last night...and cashed out my $100 investment with $430. Now that is just weird. Watched a really good live band play in that little side bar at the Venetian for awhile. That was kind of cool.

Yesterday's tally was a loss in the nooner, when I got AA twice in four hands.....losing half my stack the first time to a stripper from the Rhino, who I'd been warned...was a total fish...when somehow, she called my preflop re-raise..my flop bet (pot size) my turn bet (half the pot) and rivers a gutshot straight with 7-9 offsuit. Un-effing believable. Then two hands later...I get AA again, and limp UTG for 150. A guy 5 players down makes it 550. Guy next to him calls. Folds to me. I re-raise to 1250. Is that not enough to make a guy fold 22? I mean...are you calling the 550 with 22? Wow. Well, they BOTH call. I now have just 3350 left...and I moved all in preflop. Well, first guy tanks....lets go dramaboy....then folds....and the second guy calls of course, with his set of twos on a 10-3-2 flop. FML. OUT!

Skip the 4:00 turbo because its a joke. Go play 4/8 Omaha H/L. Win about $40 in one hour. Yippee. Go play a $240 SNG. With a $100 last longer and 6 people. Actually chop that with 4 left. So...a freeroll. Guy asks if we can chop it four ways for $550 each. Um......no?

So on next hand...I raise his BB with 77. He spite shoves. I ask him if its a spite shove. He acknowledges by saying 'maybe.' It was. I call. He has A6 offsuit. Why wouldnt he river an ace? FML. Cripples me. I lose next hand. 4th. No dinero.

Play another SNG. $80 one. Won't bore you. Guy who had two moves....Call or SHOVE.....shoves behind two limpers...I wake up with QQ in the BB. I re-shove. He has A7off. He flops an ace. It holds. Good bye. FML.

I play the 7pm tourney. A guy who looks like a pornstar/out of work actor/car salesmen/dentist wearing tons of gold, a suede leather blazer and sporting a terrible mustache is sitting in the one seat and raising 6x every hand then talking about how many speeding tickets he gets racing his sportscar on the PCH. (pacific coast highway for you gulf coasters) He plays any ace like his kicker is a Q-K or A. Very predictable. My whole end of the table hates him. I see him as an opportunity.

Then it comes. At 100/200 he raises to 750...I have KK. I smooth call his raise. Suggest my table mates watch and enjoy, maybe. They all fold. I whisper that I am 'fading an ace.' Flop comes 7-7-2. He checks, I bet 1200. He calls! Turn is an ace. We all groan. He checks. Nice try buddy. I check. River is a 5. He bets...actually he just grabbed chips...

"Nice ace sir....." and fold KK face up.

"Wow...why did you let me hit the ace? Why didn't you bet me off the hand?"

To which two players start laughing...one guy says to him "dude he bet 1200 on the flop! That wouldn't be considered 'betting you off the hand' in your book?"

He tells me I didn't bet enough. I change the song on my iPod and close my eyes...and dream about a land where leg humpers are immediately captured by Human Control and euthanized on the spot.

A while later...notorious limper limps again. I see 1000 in the pot and 3000 in my stack and shove all in with AQ. Oh...happy day...BB wakes up with AKs. Nice hand sir. At least he was a cool old guy. Had no problem giving him my few remaining chips...and so I did. GG.

I would play another $240 SNG. Had a bunch of internet geeks at my table.

"Ohhh...are you THE Monkey? Ive heard about you....wow."

Great. So I became their target, whether I liked it or not. $100 last longer. Four players. $50 last longer....6 players. $20 last longer....5 players. First place....$1100. Can you say....lets win and get healthy again?

Start good. End bad. With an average stack...this guy min raises my BB. I call (because I call ALL min raises) with J9s. Flop comes 9-5-2....one diamond, okay? I just move all in on the guy. He snap calls. Damn. Must have A9. Oh no. He has ...ready? 6d9d. Did he hit a six? Of course not. No...he just goes running diamonds. Everyone looks at me...waiting for me to go berserk. I get up, grab my bag, and tell everyone good night. And leave. FML.

And that was my shitty Day 2. Pretty exciting eh? Ceasers has their little $550 Main Event today...hear its a 3-day event, 30,000 starting chips. Not sure about the structure. I still have an 86 on me over there...but Jim Padullah is no longer there, and my buddy who is a floor guy over there told me I just need to get in touch with new poker honcho Andy Rich over there and see about getting reinstated. Too little time to do it in order to play that event...so I will have to miss it. I am anxious though about returning to Ceasers. I always liked, and ran well at Ceasers. And then the little dictator came on board and ran the place into the ground. I hope they have righted the ship over there. Its a great casino...hate to see nice places suck.

Today's Venetian event was a 1k. My buddy Frank Alpan went to play it...and when he texted me that there was only 72 players...I was like....ohhhh yikes! Think I will sit that one out. I am getting a little buzz in my brain telling me I might need to shoot over to LA...shack out on my old NYC roomie and baseball teammate's couch...Chris Bruno (the actor) and play a few of those LAPC events. So at 1:05 I went to the 12th floor and used the gym here...had a great workout...really cleared my mind. Nice! And now I am laying here...at 3pm...talking to you guys...and wondering what I should do next. My boy Charlie 'Smoke' Oliver just flew in today...so maybe I willl hook up with 'ol Smoke and find some entertainment tonight.

I was going to post those two idiots' comments...the anonymous ones...and just tear into them, as I was kind of in the mood to be an asshole today. I actually noticed that one of them had the initials 'JT' at the end of it...so that one was 'sort of' an anonymous post...while the other one was totally anonymous...and then he makes it even douchier by calling me a pussy because I won't post it. Yeah I am afraid of criticism! Hilarious.

Maybe I will post them later. I don't know. Their both pretty effing stupid. And pointless. I also kind of wanted to talk about this mess in Egypt...but I'm afraid whatever I say may go way beyond most of you. But I have major concerns about what is going on over there, as...whether you folks realize it, majorly impacts the entire planet. I have been watching what's been going on in Egypt now for close to 4 years. This didn't just happen overnight, although it sure feels like it did. It's crazy...and its about to get much crazier. Lets see what Israel, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Lebaneese/Palestinian reaction is to all this uprising. Scary shit. And what the hell is Anderson Cooper thinking? Dude is going to end up getting killed over there. Guess he wants to be a journalistic martyr or something.

Okay. I'm done. Hope you enjoyed this scribe.

MONKEY