I am THE James

During the main event of the World Series of Poker, I mentioned to one of my field reporters that Barbara Enright is in his section and he should follow her. He replied that he knew and jokingly said, “Who cares about Barbara Enright?” Well lets see, just a majority of the poker world and the Poker Hall of Fame. That’s all. Enright just took down her third title of the year on sunday when she won the Ladies Event at Legends of Poker. So far this year, Enright has three wins, 6 final tables, and a cash at this past World Series of Poker. Maybe it me, but that sounds like someone worth following.

Great job Barbara, keep up the great work. Let’s see a deep run in the LOP Main Event!

We really had some fun with names this past World Series of Porno, I mean World Series of Poker.  For your amusement, I am going to dramatize a hand between some players.

Zelong Dong Comes Up Short

Zelong Dong limped in from early position.  Strong Wang then raised from middle position.  Woody Deck sat upright directly after the raise and then made the call.  Dong called as well.   On a flop of A-5-6, Zelong Dong checked and Strong Wang splattered some chips in the amount of 2,000.  Woody Deck made the call.  Zelong Dong called.   The turn fell the 4 of clubs and Zelong Dong checked to Strong Wang, who again bet out in the amount of 4,000.  Deck folded and Dong called.  The river fell the 2 of diamonds and Zelong Dong checked out Strong Wang for a moment before checking.  Wang bet out 12,000 and Dong decided to look him up.  Zelong Dong showed A-5 for two pair, while Wang showed A-3 for the wheel.  Strong Wang yanked in the pot.

As hard as it may be for some of you to believe, I have actually been obsessed in the last couple of days playing NL Holdem. Those of you whose jaws just hit the floor, you can pick them up now. I have been playing a lot of HEADS-UP NL Holdem in the last couple of days. I actually do enjoy this version of NL. The main reason is that a lot of people just don’t know how to play heads-up properly. I love the players that try to be uber aggressive with me. I just sit back, pick up a decent hand or wait for them to lure me in when they get their monsters. If my garbage hits when they have a monster, I tend to break them. The players that aren’t uber-aggressive, I tend to play a modified version of smallball with. I had one player last night that played the game as if it were Limit Holdem. Yum Yum. There were only about 5 times total that I have been all-in or pushed someone all-in and was called with the worst hand pre-flop. Two of the times, I sucked out.

The same frustrations that I experience with a ring game of NL Holdem are still there, but it isn’t as magnified. Also, I am playing Sit-N-Go’s and not cash games, so that helps. That reminds me of a talk I had with a friend of mine Mickey last night. He expressed that when he is running bad, the game affects his overall mood. I tend to sympathise with him. One thing that I mentioned to him was the fact that I tend to get frustrated more in cash games as opposed to Sit-N-Go’s. In SNG’s, once I pay the money, I consider it gone forever unless I cash. In a cash game, I see the actual money going up or down depending on how I am running. I am not like some people where the money doesn’t mean anything to me at all, so there is I guess the added psychological pressure. True, this is all in my head, but at least I admit it.

My Stud-8 game has been running really well lately. I’ve only had 2 losing session, and 0 losing days so far. I probably need to work on my Stud 8 tournament game some. It is still hard for me to find the patience to sit for a long tournament online. In a future blog, I will go over my Stud 8 cash at Binion’s during my Vegas trip.

I don’t really feel like talking about much else right now, so have a good one folks.

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A lot of interesting and strange things happened at the WSOP this summer.  Some good and some bad.  Below are some things I discovered:

Harrahs truly does try and accommodate all players.  We had deaf players, legally blind players, players in wheelchairs, players with no arms, and even a quadriplegic.  (With that being said, the media is TOO SENSITIVE in trying not to offend handicapped players.)

Mike Matusow is just as insane off the camera as on.  (Proven by him coming up to me and randomly ranting about his chip stack during a break.  Why did he come and rant to me personally?  I made eye contact I guess.  I don’t know.)

David Singer complains a lot….

John Phan would get a ticket in Oklahoma for playing too slow.

People take $10,000 whims….

Blogs do indeed take on people’s personalities.  (I wrote some blog entries during one event and for two days people came up and TOLD me that I wrote that.  Didn’t ask me.  They told me.  And most didn’t even know my name.)

The phrase “One time” is probably the most overused phrase in history.

Followed by “bad beat.”

Followed directly by “ship it.”

Playing connect four is so much fun, but YOU play alone, cause you’re a virgin.

People have a hard time grasping the concept as to why a decent poker player would rather do something other than play poker.  (You have no idea how many times I was asked why I didn’t play.)

Younger players need to learn more about the history of poker beyond Doyle Brunson, Stu Unger, and Johnny Chan.

Jean-Robert Bellande may appear to be a jerk but he does have an honorable side.  In the Limit Shootout, he was heads up and his opponent did not return on time from break.  He refused to take his seat and let the dealer pass the blinds around until his opponent arrived.

“If you don’t lose a hand heads up, you will eventually win a tournament.”  - Words of wisdom from Tom Schneider referring to Daniel Negranu’s bracelet win.

This past Monday, I returned from my stint at the World Series of Poker as a blogger for PokerNews.com. It was a fantastic experience, one which I hope to get the chance to do again sometime. Playing in the World Series is a lot different from reporting the World Series. I actually enjoyed the later more this time. One reason is that I didn’t have the stress associated with playing. The last two years, I was burnt out by the time the World Series was over. This year, I could have continued on past the time my contract expired. I was glad to be done though. By the time 4-H Camp time arrived, I was sort of regretting my decision. I ended up figuring out later on that was just due to my missing camp. I talked with several people about camp, and things went well. Step will be taken to where I can attend next year. There is a small hole in me that is noticeably missing due to not attending camp. At the same time, we must make sacrifices in our lives at time to make our overall life better, or at least put ourselves in said position. (more…)

I covered Event #29, which was a $3,000 NL Holdem event. As most of you know, I hate NL Holdem, but I will play it and I will cover it because thats where the money is at. Tuesday night was the final table of the $3k NL event. John Phan and David Singer were two of the pro’s at the table. (more…)

I am writing from Event #29, the $3,000 NL Event.  Since I have last posted, we finished event #22, the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event.  Jens Voertmann won the event, but it was a fantastic final table with Marcel Luske, Steve Zolotow, Hoyt Corkins, and Jennifer Harman.  Out of those four, only Marcel had any real shot to win as he finished 3rd.  He was up and down a long time but finally his loose style caught up to him.  I am glad that Voertmann won out of the two left, especially after one hand late.  Doug Ganger and Voertmann were playing a hand of Omaha Hi-Lo where Ganger slowrolled Voertmann.  After that hand, it was as if Voertmann said, “Ok, we play now.”  He just flattened Ganger after that point.

Today, I am covering the $3,000 NL event.  Some big names, but a lot of the top tier names are over in the $10,000 Limit Event.  I would much rather be there, but I guess I have to do time in the NL jail.  Actually, it’s not too bad to cover.  Its actually simple.  I think thats the point.  Its so simple a game that after a while, everything is routine.

After this event, in three days I cover the $10,000 Omaha 8 or Better World Championship.  That should be a lot of fun.  The only down side to all this is that I am beginning to miss some of my friends, which was to be expected.

Unless I make a last minute change, I probably wont play in a WSOP event this year.  I am planning on playing the Stud 8 or Better event down at Binion’s on the 24th, but right now anything else will depend on my schedule and how I feel.  I may hang around and play over at the Orleans open next month, but I haven’t decided.

Anyway, I will try and write again before the end of the 3k event, but this event isn’t all that exciting.

I’m currently covering the World Series of Poker Circuit at Harrah’s in New Orleans as most of you already know.  Day 1 was quite interesting.  TJ Cloutier, Gavin Smith, Ted Lawson, Josh Arieh, Allen Kessler, Steve Bilarakis, and several other pro’s came out for the event.  Right now, the only huge name left is Kessler.

It  has been quite an experience so far.  Very different than playing on the circuit.  If you’re interested in seeing what I have written, head over to Pokernews.com and go to live reporting under the Harrahs New Orleans Event.  All of my postings under Day 1 and today will be listed under my nick of compncards.

Anywho, I’ll update in the next day or so.  Have fun.

Here are some practical examples of various hands and scenarios.  Tell me what you would do and why.  Note:  Suits, if used, are denoted by lowercase letters.

No Limit Holdem satellite that pays a seat to 10 players. There are 11 players left. Average stack is 35,000.  You are in 5th chip position with 41,000 with blind of 1000 – 2000 with a 100 ante.  The chip leaders have over 100k each, and 2 short stacks are below 15k.   One of the chip leaders raises from middle position and your on the button with A, A.   What do you do? (more…)

Just for the fish today, I decided to play in a freeroll at Full Tilt.  (Fish, you know…the halibut.)  I had built up my stack to about 8k when I picked up pocket aces.  There was a raise to 250, and I made it 1,000 straight, and got called in 4 spot.  Flop is 3, 4, 10.  I am first to act and push all in.  I get called in 2 spots.  The powerhouse hands that called me were 3-4 and Q-4.  Remember they called 1,000 pre-flop.  No help for me, so I’m gone.  (Yes, I was covered by the person with 3, 4.) 

Lol donkeyments truly applies to freerolls.  I have played a couple of Pokerstars and gotten really deep and all the players that have chips are playing like crap.  I play crap and don’t catch.  I guess freerolls truly are crapshoots.  I know none of what I am saying is really earth shattering or ground breaking, but I just wanted to post about it.