For My 3 Readers

Date: Tue, Jul 22, 2008 Professional Internet Tournament

I posted an thread in 2+2 today about Scott Kowalske and it was not a good thing. People are so cruel. I e-mailed several friends with only one reply from Kasey Thompson the owner of ALL-IN Magazine who is one hell of a guy. He wants to know what he can do and I am sure he is looking into it further.

As for me...I drove to hustler tonite and played (well tried too) the 255.00 Nl tournament,

Long story short.....10-10 raise to 600 when blinds were 200-100 after losing 2100 chips with KK to an all in of 2100 with A-10 and turned an ace..So the flop comes 10s-4s-Kc I had one caller, a real luck box who should of busted on the second hand but got a lucky card to win and he went on a rush after that and thought he was going to win every pot.

With 2100 in the pot I put my last 2200 chips in and after a few minutes he called me with QJ for an open ended straight..Turn 8 river 9 giving him the straight.

So for my 3 readers...I need some cheese with my whine cause I am just at wit's end with Poker.

take care...Be Safe....

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A Good Cash Game..Still Looking For Help For Mr. Kowalske

Date: Sun, Jul 20, 2008 Professional Internet Tournament

I hope someone passed my plea for help about Scott Kowalske yesterday. I had one reply to the blog and if there ever was a time I had thousands of readers it would be for yesterdays blog. I wish there was someway to get the word out for Scott before it is too late.

I have never met the man but his story is just so touching. Here I was wondering about my health and this guy is losing parts of his body, we live in such a cruel world at times. I really feel like calling everyone I know in the Poker Community and asking them to donate, I am sure they have heard of the story but I am going to e-mail it to those I have addresses for and ask them to pass it on.

On a good note. I went to San Manuel Indian Casino Yesterday. It is only 10 minutes from my house and hopefully someday they start having tournaments there. The Poker Room has just been remodeled and it is by far the biggest in Southern California and it could easily hold 600-700 people.

The Casino was very crowded yesterday as they were having some type of promotion and a huge Bingo event. The Poker Room was also very crowded and I put my name on the board for 4-8 limit,6-18 limit and 15-30 limit and 100-300 NL.. After a 15 minute wait I sat down at the 8-16 limit game and bought a rack ($200.00) I watched the play for about 10 minutes before starting to get involved. I was up and down for the first 90 minutes or so and had actually gone down to $120.00 before I started making some plays. I bluffed at two huge pots and within 45 minutes was up to $400.00. I t was a descent table with a couple of regulars who buy in with $1000.00 and only play premium hands.

This one guy they call Mr. K is always there and he used to play the 9-18 game the same way. He is kind of grouchy and one hand I had Ac-10c and he made a raise on the button. Now Mr. K thinks his tight reputation scares players off. I have seen him get upset when someone calls his raise and he looks at you like he wants to beat you up.

Well I think he was getting frustrated because he asked for a setup (New Decks)twice in two and a half hours. So I re-raise him and there is also another caller, an older Asian man who played every hand . Mr K looks at me as I am in seat One and he is in seat nine. Mr K throws his chips in and the flop is 7c-4c-Jd Asian guy bets Mr.K raises and I re raise knowing he is on Tilt already. Now I am not usually an Ass at the table. I have played with Mr K off and on for two years and for some reason his attitude not only bothers me, but other players also. This guy on my left tells me , "K is looking at you like he wants to put you six feet under, go easy he might have a stroke in a minute" I reply to him, " Its ok, I know CPR and you do not have to give mouth to mouth anymore". The guy laughs and while we were talking the Asian guy calls the raise.

The turn was Kc and I bet the Asian guy raises and Mr K re-raise and I cap it at $64.00 This pot is close to $400.00 and I have the Nut Flush.. The river is 2d and I bet $16.00 the Asian guy just calls and Mr. K calls. Asian guy turns over 2c-4d for two pair and I am shaking my head. Mr K turns over Kh-Kd for a set and when I turn over my flush, his face turns very RED and yells out "Nice Hand Sir" and throws his cards at the muck.

The 15-30 game opens up and since I am on the board and I am up to $630.00 I leave Mr K and head over to the new game.

It starts out pretty tight but I go on a early rush and after 2 hours at the table I am up to $1200.00. I bought in for $600.00. I play tight and after another hour I lose about $120.00 so I tell the players goodnite as it is almost 9:30 pm and I have been here 8 hours. My feet are throbbing,but I made a $900.00 profit played some good Poker and have had more success at San Manuel cash games then any other place I have played. I actually have done better in cash games the past 5 months then in tournaments. The cash games have been paying my way into tournaments.

I have my buy in for the first event of Legends which starts on July 30th. A $335.00 buy in and I am determined to have a GREAT month of August!!!

Please Please tell everyone about Scott Kowalske ............Take Care.....Be Safe....

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Can Someone PLEASE Help Scott Kowalske!!!

Date: Sat, Jul 19, 2008 Professional Internet Tournament

I have nothing but time on my hands and I read a story about a Poker Player who has to be the STORY of the year.

With the Espy's airing Sunday and all the Sport figures in town, someone has to tell them about SCOTT KOWALSKE!!!!!

This guy was an avid hunter, loved the outdoors and apparently ate the Deer he killed. This gave him a debilitating disease that will cost 40,000 for treatment.

Now this Gentleman is losing parts of his body from this disease..His fingers are coming off, his toes and now this dreaded disease is beginning to eat his internal organs.

They were going to have a charity tournament for him at Oceans 11 casino in Oceanside, but it was too small. So the staff contacted Harrahs Rincon and were going to supply all the Dealers and staff and SOMEONE on the Indian reservation let this Tournament die. A small 175.00 buy in for a great cause and it went POOF.

Can you imagine the sickness Scott must of felt. There is so much money in the Poker Community and NOT one person who has some cash has stood up to help.

Scott I apologize to you.. I wish I could help you in someway with my Charity Money we have about 22k.. However the by laws of my 501c will not let me. I also have a board of Directors that say its for Law Enforcement and Firefighters only.

SOMEONE FIND SOME HELP FOR THIS GENTLEMAN.. It is a rare disease that only affects Moose, Deer and Elk and Scott is the first Human known to get it from eating venison.

If anyone can help there is a foundation setup for Scott. Go to cardplayer.com News and click on the story about Scott to get the info...

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WPT Signs with FSN...Cool

Date: Fri, Jul 18, 2008 Professional Internet Tournament

I saw late last night after writing my blog the WPT signed an agreement with FSN to broadcast 26 episodes. Great news but the shows will be only one hour compared to the two hours we are used too. But what the hey....we have Poker on TV again and maybe after awhile FSN may decide to show two hours because there is only going to be very few hands shown.

Steve Lipscomb was not going to let the WPT fade away. He has put his SOUL into Poker the past few years and I believe he does not receive enough credit. Sure the WPT was a small sponsor of my Charity Event this year. I am sure they get dozens of requests,but I have met Steve and he is always very cordial with me and I respect that in a person, "No", matter how famous or Powerful they may be..

One thing I would like to add here.. I had a talk with Daniel about 14 months ago and I thought he was a little arrogant. I have changed my mind after seeing him at the years WSOP signing autographs everyday for several hours at a time. Daniel has become a great ambassador for Poker and I enjoy reading his blogs. Daniel if you read this or hear of it, I would like to apologize to you by buying you a beer at Legends. I gave you my card at the WSOP when you were in the hallway near the Amazon room signing autographs. The line had about 150 people in it and I did not have time to stand in it and apologize to you face to face! Hope we have the chance because you always have a crowd around.

I am trying to get the final date for this upcoming Memorial Poker Classic in February. Looks like the 22nd is going to be the date, but the Bike is not committing as of yet.

Our web site is up,,,barely and we are going to be adding a few things to it very soon. Pictures from the past two events and some links to our good friends and sponsors sites.

I am just waiting for some artwork from a few of them to send over to Craig and we should be looking respectful in a few days. FallenHeroesLA.org We will have a section for comments and suggestions and if you would like to donate a product to next years event.

Hope I am not bothering all of you with constant blogs, but i am so bored at home I have to share my thoughts with my THREE readers. Used to be Five but only three responded to my request when I had a bet with my buddy Jim...LOL

Take Care ...Be Safe..

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Hustlers Tuesday Night Tournament

Date: Thu, Jul 17, 2008 Professional Internet Tournament

I made the drive to Gardena from my home in Fontana, 65 miles to play in the $255.00 NL Event with a guarantee of $40,000.00 prize pool. There were 365 people who showed up and were able to get in. I know some were turned away and the prize pool was actually over $80,000 with first place paying a very nice $25,000.

We received 5,000 in starting chips and the blinds were 50-25 with 30 minute levels.

I had TWO pocket pairs in 9 levels!!!! The first one we were in level 2..I had 55 with 3 limpers. The flop was K-9-5 rainbow so I fired out 400 chips and was called by one player. Turn was a rag and I fire again with 1000 chips and get called. The River another rag and I put in 2200 chips and get called. I show my 55 and he mucks..

Several rounds later I am the big blind and have 33 and everyone folds and that was it for pocket pairs until I busted at the beginning of level 9 with AJ on the button. I went all in for 7900 chips,blinds were 1200-600 and the BB called me with 10-10 and it was all small and I left with only 109 players still vying for the 25K.

Such a struggle again. I had the patience of a Saint and the only reason I made it as far as I did, I won a pot with K-3 clubs in the big blind with two raises in front of me. I only had 4,000 left and put it all in. Both players called and I hit a King on the river to win the pot and give me 12,000 chips. I also had a flush draw and a straight draw so a hand finally came through for me. First raiser Q-10 hearts and second caller 99..

Some good players in attendance, James Woods was there and he busted 14th. Leroy Le and his friends as well as some other well known players from Los Angeles.

If anything has come about of my Poker Playing I am getting respect at the Table when I call or Raise. Fortunately I have always had the goods when I have done this and my demeanor never changes, win or bad beat.Now if I can catch a little respect from the Poker Gods...LOL

Did you see where Harrahs made over 13 million dollars just in fee's from this years WSOP. That is not including all the fee's from satellites either.

You minus the ten dollar coupon every player received for entering an event and they still made a GRIP..Maybe they can invest in some better chairs for the players next year. They were terrible, falling apart and very low. That is why you will see some players sitting on there legs and feet and gathering these cushions Everest Poker had all over the Amazon Room when these events are on ESPN starting Tuesday.

Well I am still off of work and my feet are still swollen. I haven't heard back from Kaisers lab after they did some blood work and checked my thyroid. I just got a call from the Doctors office who did my Achilles surgery and I am trying to get into see him. I had a severe blood clot after my first surgery that may have damaged some veins,so we will wait and see. I HATE being at home all day. I have been playing this game called Call of Duty 4 on line and it makes the time go by however it is hard playing while laying down and keeping my feet up.

I am going to try and play again Tuesday Night at the Hustler. Its a great Poker Room for Tournaments and the staff are some young guys and are very good at what they do.

Good Luck John Phan at the Bellagio's 15k event. You are on a very good roll right now.Unfortunately we will not be able to see this event televised because the WPT still does not have a contract with anyone, WHAT a Shame!!!

Take care...Be Safe...

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So Far Good News

Date: Tue, Jul 15, 2008 Professional Internet Tournament

After several tests yesterday the Doctors determined I do not have any heart problems...Whew..My EKG and my blood pressure are excellent for my age. There is no fluid in my lungs which is usually attributed to a heart Condition. My legs have been through a lot over the years and especially since my two Achilles tendon and 2 knee surgeries in the past 3 years. The Doctor said I have some issues with blood flow because of arthritis condition in my legs and some bulging veins.

Blood work is not yet back but all in all I am relieved it is not my heart. My father had a Heart Atack at 56 and ended up having a Heart Transplant in 2000 which he finally passed away from at 68 yrs old, after other organs began to fail.

So I listened to some Poker Road Radio while at the Hospital on my Lap Top. Big Poker Sundays with Scott Huff and Joe Sebok. I had noticed a lot of players have been wearing the Poker Road Radio logo on their shirts as I did while at the WSOP. It just goes to show you how much respect Joe and Barry and the rest of the crew have within in the Poker Community. No One is being compensated and I applaud everyone who is wearing the logo.

Well the majority of the 2008 WSOP is over. We have to wait until November for the Final Table to be played. It is going to be interesting how much hype the November 9 get. They all walked away with 9th place money last night, about 981,000.00 each. The 9th place player only has a million eight in chips and hopefully he gets some sponsorship because he has only one move when he comes back in November..ALL-IN..on his first hand.So now he has 117 days to think about it and hope he gets AA first hand and it holds up.

Congratulations to fellow Poker Reporter, Tiffany Michelle for being the last woman standing and pocketing 344,000.00. Hopefully she did not have a deal with anyone and is able to keep all of the winnings. What a great accomplishment for someone in their first event and against the second largest field in Main Event History!!

Legends is just around the Corner and I watched the WPT LA Poker Classic on TV last night. I saw myself in the crowd several times and was anxious to see some of the hands the players folded and made big calls with. It has been 5 months since I saw it live and the WPT did a great job of putting it together. One hand I was really curious about and I will have to ask him next time I see him is Nam's 77 against Quins all in when Nam was short stacked. I wonder if Nam folded because he and Quin are good friends? Quin only had Q9 hearts and I thought that was a real aggressive move at that point by him. Hopefully he will be honest with me and I will be able to tell you. Maybe tonite as I am going to the Hustler to play a 240.00 Deepstack Event and Nam's brothers usually play in these, so Nam may just stop by for a bit.. if not I can always call him.

One of the LAPC final table players, Scott Montgomery is also at the Final Table of this years WSOP Main Event and has some chips. He was the chip leader at the LAPC and ended up going out in 5th place just after Phil Hellmuth.

Wish me LUCK tonite. Its a long drive but I need out of the house and as frustrated as I have been with Poker I have to keep attacking it. Eventually something good is going to happen and as Long as I have a buy in I am going to play. Thanks for the phone calls from you that told me not to give in. I am not a quitter,never have been, never will be. I will just have to start working Overtime to get my play money again. or maybe I will get it tonight!!!!!

Take care..Be safe.. P.S. the 2008 WSOP starts airing next Tuesday the 22nd....on ESPN.

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Concerned.......

Date: Mon, Jul 14, 2008 Professional Internet Tournament

Let me start this blog out by saying THANKS to all of my readers and Thanks to Gary Wise for allowing me to blog here. Its a tremendous honor for me and I have really enjoyed sharing my stories with all of you.

I have said this before, but felt the urge to say it gain. I read Justin Shronks blog and it is one of his best. It truly came from the heart. I have, and I am sure a lot of you have also struggled at time financially in life. I sometimes wondered how i was going to make the monthly payments even after becoming a Deputy.

Raising kids is a wonderful thing but it is a huge responsibility.

At least Justin is doing something he loves and doesn't have to get up at three in the morning and get home at five in the evening four days a week at a job that is thankless. I have no one to blame but myself, I chose this profession and thought I could change the world, but you do not realize how wrong I was.

Justin is good at what he does, PokerRoad is the best thing that has happened in the Poker Community since Chris Moneymaker and I am a huge fan. The shows success has a lot to do with the guys behind the scenes as well as the guys behind the Microphones.

So my CONCERN....Well a lot of you know I have had some terrible injuries the past four years. Reconstructed elbow and knee surgery after tangling with a PCP suspect. Missed 14 months of work behind that and came back full duty after hours of rehab and rest. Then 14 months later tore my Achilles tendon chasing a bad guy and had to have TWO surgeries to repair it, due to the first Doctor making it worse than it was. (lawsuit pending)A year off of work and 7 months behind a desk rehabbing again. I have been back in a Radio car since September of 2007 and this month makes 15 years of pushing a patrol car day in and day out in my 20 years of being with the Sheriffs dept. Add the three years I had at San Bernardino Sheriff and thats 18 years behind the wheel of a Patrol car. and now.......Well I am off of work as of yesterday because there is an issue with my health.

I am on my way to Kaiser in about an hour. My feet and legs have been swelling up during the day and I do not know why. I could not even put my work boots on and I had some terrible pain. I thought it might be an issue with my Achilles, but it is in both feet. I had my blood pressure checked at South Pasadena Fire Dept and it is pretty good for my age. But my body is trying to tell me something and I have to go get it checked and honestly for the first time in my Life I am a little worried to go to the Doctors.

I am only 52 years old and I have never really had any physical problems other than injuries. I have always been healthy rarely sick and I used to be in great shape. Its amazing how life can change so fast and ALL of you need to realize it.

Poker has been a big part of my life the past two and a half years and I am an infant when it comes to playing. I want to make it to adulthood so I am off to the Doctors.

I wish all of my Poker friends the best continue to do what you love and what you are GOOD at. Long hours are associated with success and although some may take things for granted, when you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror what do you see? You cannont fool the man in the mirror if you think about this you will be very succesful in Life.

Take care... Be Safe...

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adrenaline.

Date: Fri, Jul 11, 2008 Professional Internet Tournament

Whew.

I've only gotten punched a few times in my life. Turns out, one of the benefits of mastering double-speak and possessing an IQ higher than that of posterboard is that you can frequently talk your way out of situations that would normally find you receiving bodily harm.

The thing about getting punched is that no matter how recently the last time it happened to you, and regardless how vivid your recollection is of that time, you're still never ready for the entirety of the situation when it happens again.

This is what I realize at the end of every WSOP.

Now, probably more than 95% of the media, I love going down to the Rio everyday and walking the floor and giving a fist-pound to some famous pro I know (half because I whole-heartedly wish them well and half because I want people around to know that I know them... a little bit more of the latter with Shannon Elizabeth). I love getting there before everyone else and parking in the secret empty parking lot and taking the secret door in (you know, the one that I found out about ten days ago). I love helping create something that I think is legitimately the best of its kind in poker.

But seriously, 45 days is a long, fucking, time. And it takes getting up on day 45 (well like 41 in this case since we have to leave early to go cover Bellagio Cup), to really remind you what a punch actually feels like.

I feel like got a lot done this summer. I really think I helped take the show, along with Ali Nejad, to a new level. We didn't really start doing anything new or groundbreaking; we just got really good at the things that make the show good. Of course, without Ali, Joe, Gavin, Court, and all the guests, what I do is just a bunch of bulletpoints highlighted in different colors and geniusly organized into sections and subsections in a Microsoft Word document - but still, the show was great week after week and I like to think that enough of it was done with my help that I can take some substantial pride in that. I also had an Asian kid ask for my autograph and picture with me - that's happened before but this time the person didn't think I was Mike Matusow.

On a larger scale, I covered my third straight WSOP for my third different media outlet. I'm not sure what that says about me or the poker industry or both. I think at the very least it says that hopefully I've built up a skill set that will never leave me jobless in this volatile industry. I also moved into a smaller apartment (again, one of those push-pull accomplishments - proud of myself for getting through a move at one of the busiest times of my life? Or sickened that I had to move into a smaller apartment since I'm poor?), and played in my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th career WSOP tournaments (with a combined success level still far less than my first). I went to a strip club for the first time other than on my sister's 21st birthday (not recommended, btw), and I lost over 50 lbs and continue to follow my doctor's orders and not drink any alcohol at all (after a December freak seizure at Bellagio).

After you get punched, there's about 3 seconds where your brain and your body decide to totally forget where and when they are. It's probably the most devoid of conscious thought your brain will ever be. Then you realize where you are, and that you just got punched, and then you just kinda go from there. Nothing hurts yet because of Adrenaline.

So how was my WSOP overall? Well, I have no money, my new apartment is full of boxes and piles of clothes, and I just busted the last $40 in my Full Tilt account (after cashing out about $600, don't worry mom). On the other side, all my shorts from last summer are too big for me, I'm down to two Ativan a day, and there's a chance I might actually be able to pay my rent on time this month.

Not that any of that matters though, I won't be able to feel anything for another week or so.

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The Final Chapter

Date: Thu, Jul 10, 2008 Professional Internet Tournament

This third blog is the final in my vacation experience. It was a wonderful time and I hope at least one of my five readers has enjoyed it. It may be my last blog for awhile because tournament Poker has been so very cruel to me and I am utterly disappointed how I can be beat so many times. It really is beginning to wear on me and I have hung in there but there comes a time when one can only take so much abuse.

Monday morning we met Jim Pittman and Jon Mcneely for breakfast about 10:00am. Jim was playing the Main Event at noon so after breakfast the girls and my wife went to the pool at the Rio.

Jon and I sat down at a three card poker game and Jon took a small hit so we got up to leave. We came across this game called the WSOP where you get two cards and bet every street if you want trying to beat the dealer.

It is a fun game and at a $15.00 minimum bet it can get expensive. Jon took about 400.00 and gave me 100.00 and we pooled our winnings together.After awhile of playing I got on a hot streak and before you knew it we had amassed a $1400.00 profit.

By now it was 3pm and the girls had enough of the pool and we went over to see how Jim was doing. On a flop of 6h-9h-3d a player to Jims left went all in for about 9,000 and the other player went all in for 18,000. Jim was stunned and showed me his hand ,66. HE FOLDED A SET OF SIXES. As the other two players turned their cards over the first guy had 6-9 for two pair and the other guy had 99 for a set. Jim made an incredible lay down when most others would have gone broke with that hand.

Jon came over and we went to the Tournament Registration booth and entered the $340.00 nightly NL tournament the WSOP has been offering since day one. Jon paid both our ways in with the winnings we had from the WSOP game and the tournament was going to start at 7:00pm

There were 116 entries and first place was $9,000.00 and the top 18 were going to get paid, bottom pay was $560.00.

I played very well...AGAIN... made some nice lay downs and only once did I make a big bet on the button with 5-4 hearts to steal the blinds and antes when they were at 300-600.

I had built my stack up to 30,000 after starting with 5,000 when I had KK and a short stack who was on tilt went all in for his last 4,000. The player from France to my left re-raised all in for 8,000 so I called. First player had 8-4 off and the French guy had AK. The board flopped the case King and I made a full house on the turn.

There were only 30 players left at this point and the average stack was around 21,000.

Now Jon went on a mad rush.. Called QQ with QJ and hit runner runner Jack to win. Slowed played Aces with two big raises in front of him and won that pot and he was up to about 40,000 in chips when we hit 27 players. The hand that was most impressive though, Jon called an all in with QJ clubs when the blinds were at 1600-800 for about 18,000 chips. The guy turned over QQ and the flop came 8c-9-c-10c a flopped straight FLUSH!!! Jon was now the massive chip leader with close to 80,000.

Now here comes my fall from grace. This young kid went all in when he was the small blind when there was about 13,000 in the pot, he roughly had 23,000 and I was at 29,000. I looked down at KK in the Big Blind and I just knew he didn't have AA. I was correct he turned over A-6 off after I thought for about a minute be fore calling and giving him the Phil Hilm Stare down.

The flop A-6-3 and I did not catch a King and was crippled to 6,000 in chips with the Blinds at 2000-1000 300 ante.

There were 21 players left and I didn't make the money. I pushed with A-9 and had 2 callers, AQ and 10-8 hearts. The 10 won and I was done for the evening AGAIN.

I win the hand and I have a great chance at winning this event. I had played so well and to have it snatched like this at the END as usual is why I am so frustrated.

Jon went on to chop with another player from France for about 7,000.00 after losing a pot that gave the Frenchman the chip lead.

It was a very well run Tournament by the director, a nice guy name Lloyd and the dealers also were enjoying themselves which speaks a lot due to all the hands they have dealt this year.

My wife had come down to witness my demise again and she knows I was very disappointed. The Main Event was over for the Evening and Jim came by to watch the Final few hands. He had a tough day and ended with around 54,000 in chips. He took us to the Rio bar where we had a few too many drinks and finally made it to bed about 5:30 am.

The girls were up at 9:30 and after a long shower we headed down to the Amazon Room to watch the live Broadcast of Poker Road. I have always talked about the twins to Joe and the guys however they had never met them. After the Show we went to the Rio buffet with Jim and Jon and as we said our goodbyes the girls begged me to take them to the Castle.."Excalibur" There second favorite place in Vegas next to the Rio.

We played a few games and were on the road home by 3:00pm.

So that is the Diamonds 2008 Family vacation. First time I have ever shared one with my five readers. Please leave me your thoughts of my three part story. Jim bet me I do not even have 5 readers!!

I am not disappointed in my play as a Poker Player..But as you know we need a certain amount of luck in these tournaments and I have NEVER been a lucky person other than the birth of my twins..So I bid you a farewell for awhile until the Bug hits me again.

Legends starts here in Los Angeles on July 30th and they are big buy in events. I may or may not try some satellites at the end of the month, but as I sit here and say goodbye to you, I doubt it.

Congratulations on your marriage Josh Nichols...and to you Jon for a great evening of Poker...Thanks...

Take Care...Be Safe...

It was a great vacation!! The money spent was worth every penny to see the smiles the Girls had each morning when they awoke. They were so excited to just Go ......

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Vegas Vacation

Date: Wed, Jul 9, 2008 Professional Internet Tournament

We arrived in Vegas at 5 minutes till noon and I drove straight to the Orleans Hotel and Casino for the first event of their Orleans Classic.

I made it upstairs to a ballroom they had setup for this series and registered along with 303 other players. I was in seat 7 and this maniac was in seat 5. I guess he thought he was playing a cash game because he was in every pot and by the first orbit was down to 250 chips. As my BB came back to me I look down at 99. Seat 5 won a few pots with all in bets and had his stack back up to 2000 chips. He raised 500 when the blinds were still only 25-50 and there was 175 chips in the pot. I thought for a minute and called the 500 and the others folded. Flop 9c-Jc-Kh. I bet 1500 chips because there were 2 clubs on the board and he folded. I folded AQ hearts two hands later when seat 5 went all in against a raiser who called with AKspades. Of course the flop came out all hearts and seat 5 showed 22 and doubled up.

I played tight and my position, I actually had some cards and was up to 7200 after starting with 4000. Seat 5 was on a rush and built his stack up to 8500 chips. As we were approaching level two I had Q-10 clubs in the SB and I called two limpers, seat 5 one of them. The flop came out 9-8-J rainbow I bet 125 and seat 5 raised to 400 and I called "All-IN" seat 5 folded K-10 face up and I know I over bet, but I wanted to take this pot down due to my past tournaments. I showed him my cards and the guy called me "A Lucky Bitch" I just looked at him and he immediately apologized and I just told him No Prob, I have been called worse.

I lost about 400 chips with AK on the button on a flop of 8-9-10 when another player put in 1500 chips after calling my raise.

Just before level 2 starts I am again the BB and have 88, one guy raises to 350 and seat 5 calls as I do. the flop is 6c-7c-8d and the initial raiser goes all in for about 2200 chips and seat 5 calls so I go all in incase he is on a flush draw for an additional 5000. Seat 5 calls and the first raiser has JJ and I have a set of eights and seat 5 has 5d-9h for a flopped straight. The river is no help and I am done just as level 2 starts. "Lucky Bitch" I should have said it as I walked out, but I do not want to be the amateur Phil Hellmuth.

So my wife and I get the girls from the playroom the Orleans has for kids and they charge $7.00 per Child. Pretty good deal in Vegas and they really enjoy the play room. It was only a cheap $28.00 and as I arrived to pick them up, Bianca says, "Daddy you broke playing Poker already" Yes Honey, I said. daddy is not a Lucky ..as my wife yelled, "Diamond" so I didn't finish my comment.

The movie theatre was right there so we paid 62.00 to go and see Hancock and I was very disappointed in it. The Hulk was much better!

So off to the Rio we go and we get our room and we head downstairs to the WSOP Convention after unpacking and having a talk with the girls about behaving. They are so excited we are at the Rio.

We watch Poker on ESPN all the time and they had begged me to stay here and I had to spoil them.They see the Rio on ESPN during the broadcasts and have seen it all lit up at night on previous trips, so the Rio it was this weekend.

As we get to the doors of the Convention Scotty Nguyen and Greg Raymer are there. Greg is signing autographs at a table and Scotty starts talking to the girls and sits on the floor with them a minute. he was really enjoying himself but to many people kept stopping so as he walked away signing autographs, he looked back and said goodbye to the girls.

The spectator crowd was huge in the Amazon Room so I did a quick walk through and said Hello to J.C. Tran and gave him one of the Charity Event shirts and also Jeff Madsen. I am fortunate to know them and these are the type of guys who are great for Poker.

I met up with the wife and kids and we started heading towards the Long walk back to the food court for some pizza. As we were walking Antonio Esfiandari who I know very well from the 2007 LAPC. we met there and he went on a ride along in Compton with a friend of mine because I was not patrolling at the time due to my Achilles tendon surgery. We have kept in touch and when he finally saw my girls he sat on the floor with them asked them for a hug and began to do magic tricks after peeling the girls off of him.

Antonio was so excited sitting there with the girls he ignored everyone who was trying to get an autograph. He pulled out a Poker Chip and began to do magic for the girls, the more excited they got, he got. He begged me to be able to babysit them one night and my wife and I agreed. Antonio's father was with him and he looked over at his Dad and said, "I have to get married"!

After Pizza we actually went up to the Room about 8:30 pm and I was probably asleep at 9:00, it had been a long week and we all needed a good night sleep. My good friends Jim Pittman and John Mcneely were coming into town and we were going to have breakfast with them. Jim is playing the Main Event at noon so I know he wanted a good breakfast and it takes my wife an hour or so just to get the girls a bath and dressed. With 7 of us taking showers we needed to be up by 9:30am at the latest.

Thursaday I will finish up the vacation and tell you about John and I running a table game and then entering the evening $340.00 NL tournament at the RIO..until then,,,Be safe...Take Care..

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Family Vacation Comes to an End..River...Lake..Poker..Vegas..Poker

Date: Tue, Jul 8, 2008 Professional Internet Tournament

Well we just arrived home from our week long vacation and it was one to remember. We did so much I am going to have to tell you all about it in a series of blogs.

Last Monday evening we packed up and headed to Laughlin. We stayed in a Motel in Needles Monday night and early Tuesday we headed to Camp Moabi to launch the boat onto the Colorado River.

We stopped at The Topock marina and had breakfast which we do every year. It is a great place to eat any meal and the waitress who has been there for 19 years awaits are return every year.

After the usual great breakfast we headed down to Havasu lake where we parked in the channel and the girls played in the water for several hours. they collected rocks with different shapes to take to the Hotel later in the evening and paint. They enjoy doing this and it is something they do wherever we go.

As we left the trim on the boat would not go down and we slowly made our way towards Camp Moabi. We stopped a boat that tows broken down boats and he called a mechanic, Mike Diedrich who for a 125.00 fixed the problem in 45 minutes and we were back on our way to Laughlin. Mike saved us about $300.00 and is one hell of a guy.

We got into Laughlin about 6:00pm and bathed and I headed down to check out the Poker Room. I was told there was a Tournament getting ready to start over at the River palms casino so I headed over there to play. I had won one there last year and they usually get about 45-50 players. It is an $80.00 buy in with an extra $5.00 for 2000 more chips. There were almost 90 players which was a great turnout and I played my "A" game until we were down to 11 people. Only eight were going to get paid and first place was close to $1900.00.

I was second in chips and in the small blind with A-2 spades. Blinds were 1000-2000 and I had about 28,000 in chips.The chip leader limped in under the gun and I put in another 1000 chip to see the flop of A-A-2. I thought to myself ,COOOOOL...I bet out 4000 chips and the BB folded and the limper who was the chip leader went all in. Of course I called and I thought no way he had an Ace but when I called him he turned over A-8. He was shocked I had a full house and I was even more shocked he had an Ace. Of course the 8 came on the turn and I was on my way back to the Tropicana Poker Room to play the 2.00-6.00 Limit game there.

I had a good run making about $300.00 as I played until 5:00 am. We had to get up at 7:00 to go to the lake and the Boat had no problems and the Girls had a great day. I caught up on some sleep while at the lake and after eating a great Italian dinner at the Tropicana I again went to the Poker Room and played for about 4 hours making another 160.00 So far my winnings had paid for our gas on this trip. Between the Boat and my Expedition we used alot of gas.

Another deputy who I have known for years and is the Godfather to my Daughter Jasmine came out on Thursday and we headed to Cotton Wood Cove for the day. My girls saw there first catfish as we had a couple of fishing poles set up and I was going to cook it for dinner but my wife tossed it back in the Lake.(softy)

We set up some beer cans on the hill and had a dollar bet for every can we hit with the BB gun while sitting in the Boat. If you have ever been to the lake and know how the Boat rocks back and forth from the wakes,this was no easy task. Shawn finally gave up after I was to far ahead for him to catch up and I had him cook us all dinner and we called it even.

We went back to the Hotel and ate In an Out Burgers and I took the Girls to see WALLE. We went to bed early and instead of the lake on Friday, I took the girls to get their nails polished and do some shopping at Wal-Mart. This is what they wanted to do. It was 120 degrees in the shade and we were all a little tired from being in the Sun all week.

We then went and saw The Hulk and got ready to watch the AMAZING Firework Show..This show is the BEST. It is the main reason we go to Laughlin for the 4th every year and it would be worth just driving there to see it.

Tuesday I will tell you about heading to Vegas and Playing 2 Tournaments and networking for my Charity at the WSOP.. Till then...Be safe...Take Care..

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My Families Prayers and Thoughts for the Schmelzer Family

Date: Sat, Jul 5, 2008 Professional Internet Tournament

I was going to talk about my vacation with my family in Laughlin this past week and my two tournament beats,but after logging on and reading Ryan's blog today there is noreason to tell you another bad beat story or the story of my vacation when their is so many other more important issues going on in the world.

I have never met Ryan and I commend him for being a great son to hs Father. I have written stories before about "Perspective" in life and we all sometimes forget the wonderful gift we have of being here with friends and loved ones.

Ryan if there is anything I can do for you and your family,please do not hesitate to ask.

I will let all 5 of my readers know about my vacation later next week, in the meantime please say a special prayer for the Schmelzer family.

Take care...Be safe....

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Tough Decision, Tough Times

Date: Sat, Jul 5, 2008 Professional Internet Tournament

Roughly 10 days before the start of the WSOP this summer, Gary and I were talking and he asked me if I would be interested working with PokerNews to do chip updates for them. It’s something that I really wanted to do and I knew I would enjoy the time I’d be working. It also would have given me the opportunity to make some connections in the industry incase I decide to dabble in it after I graduate.

I got in contact with Garry Gates, who did some work for this site in the past, and we discussed how everything would work. It was short notice, but things could have worked out with just a little planning (living arrangements, transportation to and from the Rio, etc.).

One thing made me think declining the offer might be the best thing though. If you follow my blog (sadly my entries have been scarce lately), you might remember that last summer my dad was diagnosed with brain cancer. His tumor started growing again this spring and was successfully operated on again. The fact that I never knew what would happen and when led me to decide it was best that I don’t move across the country for a month and a half.

This ended up being the right choice. On what I think was day two of the Series, we found out that my dad’s tumor once again had started growing and had moved into a new location. To make matters worse, the area it moved to is inoperable.

He just started a new study program on Tuesday. He has to get an IV every Tuesday and take a pill everyday. Like everything involving brain cancer, this is in the experimental stage and has no guarantees. All we can do is pray and hope this is the answer.

I hadn’t been playing much poker this summer till a week or two ago. Things were going just OK. However, I recently picked up limit Omaha hi/lo and it has been going well for me. I have always liked the game a lot, but I always felt I had a better edge in NL hold’em. I have only had one losing session in Omaha in roughly 5 sessions. My loss was kind of sick. I had tripled my buy-in and ended up a loser. I wasn’t too happy with that. I played earlier today and lost my first buy-in and ended up fighting back and ended up a buy-in.

All I have for now. If any of you played in any WSOP events, I hope they went well. If you are playing tomorrow in the Main Event, best of luck to you!

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Vacation Time with the Family

Date: Mon, Jun 30, 2008 Professional Internet Tournament

I played in one event last Friday at the Bike. It was a 335.00 NL event with a 143 entries. I played some great Poker after getting beat with a set of Queens to a flush. runner runner hearts by the way.

I was down to 2000 after we started with 6000 chips. I built my way back up to 7400 when a big stack young gun came to the table. He raised his blind every time and really picked on some of the shorter stacks. He saw me have KK twice and he really didn't come after me when I made a raise.

I limped with 300 chips with KJ hearts in his BB and he raised me to 1500 chips. I thought for a bit and decided to make a move on him so I went all in. A short stack called me and this gave him some odds to call and he did with AQ. The short stack had 10-9 and hit a 9 on the flop and the board didn't hit me and his Ace high knocked me out.

I still was going to have 10 time the BB if I had folded but I wanted to take a chance here and if the short stack doesn't call he folds and I pick up a few chips.

Anyway I have been watching some of the events on ESPN 360 and have enjoyed them. Poker News also has done a terrific job this year reporting and again, I would like to thank them.

I didn't get an offer to play the 1500 today so I have the boat already to go and the wife is finishing up some last minute washing and we should be on our way to Laughlin later tonite or first thing in the morning. I will have my lap top with me so I will be able to check any messages from any of you. We then head to Vegas on Saturday the 5th to watch some of the Main Event and I am going to try and play in a 200.00 buy in at the Orleans Hotel on Saturday. I won my first tournament at the Orleans and I enjoy playing there.

There is a TON of Poker Tournaments coming up in the next few months so I look forward to seeing some of you soon...Take Care...Be Safe...

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