Weekly Bankroll Update 6/3-6/9

Not too much to recap from last week other than the fact that Global finally credited my account for the pictures I sent in. I played the Daily Bonanza seven times cashing twice and that was about it. Here are my numeric digits:

Play Money: 7,093,000 Up 701,000

Real Money: $820.11 Up $41.63

Target for next Cash Game level: $1,000 ($50)

Target for next SnG level: $1,100 ($55)

Target for next MTT level: $1,100 ($22)

This week will be shortened by school and personal obligations, but the home game is Wednesday night and that'll be my chance to boost my roll a bit. I'm just $180 away from my next target and I need all the help I can get. I'm staying conservative and banking cash till I get there and then things start to get very interesting. I've already begun formulating a strategy for when I pass the $1,000 marker, and I'm ready to carry it out when that happens. I won't go into details just yet, but I'll be playing a lot more, that much I can tell you.

As a side note, I just wanted to briefly touch upon something that's happening in the poker world right now that I think any fan of the game should be aware of. Poker pro Justin Bonomo is having an amazing 2018. He's earned something like $14.5 million already and we are only one week into the WSOP and not even halfway through the year. What he's been able to accomplish is nothing short of extraordinary. He's won nine tournaments already with three of them being over $1 million, and two of those three being over $4 million. I think what's really impressive is that in his most recent win, the $10,000 No-Limit Heads-Up Championship at the WSOP, he defeated seven opponents heads-up. That alone is impressive, but the fact that he also won his last eight heads-up matches coming into the tournament makes it even more impressive. So basically, the last 15 times he's been heads-up he's been victorious. To say he's on a "heater" doesn't do this run justice. We will have to come up with another word to describe what he's doing right now. I can't wait to see how the WSOP plays out for him, and the way he's running right now should make the Main Event very fun to watch! Keep it up Justin!

3 Things Poker Players Can Be Thankful For

   Happy Thanksgiving Readers! It's been a tough year for us poker players with all that's taken place with the DOJ and online poker, Congress' epic failure to license and regulate the industry, and some countries and US states rejecting proposals for casinos and online gaming, but fear not! There are a few bright spots, and some reasons to be optimistic.

   It was a record setting year at the World Series of Poker. There were 75,672 entrants from 105 different nations. There were 58 events spanning a 50 day period, and the total prize pool was $191,999,010 making it the largest WSOP in history. The Main Event was the third largest poker tournament all time in a year which saw the epic take down of the three biggest online poker sites in the world. ESPN covered the final table and showed every hand on a 15 minute delay for the first time ever. This year's WSOP also hosted the largest live Pot Limit Omaha event in history with 1,071 entries, a 21 percent increase from 2010. 1st place was awarded $292,825. Next year the World Series of Poker will be hosting a 1 million dollar buy-in event which is unprecedented. A few WPT events saw an increase in traffic this year as well. These are clear signs that poker is still running strong.

   This week Governor Deval Patrick, of my home state of Massachusetts, signed a bill into law that will allow for the creation of three full-scale casinos and a slot-only casino. Massachusetts becomes the 40th state to legalize casinos and slot parlors. Opponents will likely seek a referendum to repeal the law in 2012, but personally I doubt they will be successful as this bill had a lot of support. It took Governor Patrick 3 years to get this done and he and his staff deserve a lot of credit. I happen to live on the western border of Massachusetts and the nearest casinos are Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods which are 2 hours away in Connecticut. There is also Turning Stone casino in upstate NY, but that's about 2 and a half hours (plus they don't serve alcohol there; less drunks mean less fish for us sharks to feed on). As it stands, I haven't played a live poker tournament in months! The signing of this bill could potentially put a casino just 45 minutes to an hour away thereby cutting my travel time in half. It looks as though I'll be playing a lot more live poker tournaments in the near future. Hooray!

   Now hear this, now hear this. Phil Ivey has returned to tournament poker. Finally! He sat out this year's WSOP in response to allegations against Full Tilt Poker, the website he endorsed. According to cardplayer.com, Ivey entered the Asian Pacific Poker Tour Macau main event on Wednesday. With over 13 million dollars in lifetime earnings, 8 WSOP bracelets (none of which are in No-Limit Hold Em), four top 25 finishes in the WSOP Main Event since 2002, and a WPT title, Ivey is considered by many, including myself, to be the best all around player in the game today. It looks as though poker has its "ambassador" back. Thank God! Welcome back Phil!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Final Three

    The mood in the Penn and Teller theater seemed tense as Tuesday's 3-handed showdown got underway. It was the beginning of Day 10 (not in a row) for these three players and millions of dollars were on the line. The four month wait was over and on this night a champion would be crowned.

   We begin with the WSOP Player of the Year, my top horse at this table, Ben Lamb. He not only wins an award  for sharing my first name, but he also gets the Blow-up award. Lamb ended up all-in with K-J on the first hand and lost to Staszko's 7-7!! That didn't bust him, but Q-6 did a few hands later. Okay, let's think about this for a minute. You are 3-handed. You've played 9 days. You are the WSOP POY. You are a favorite to win even though you are 2nd in chips. Most importantly, you have like 40-something big blinds and you can beat these guys with only 10 big blinds and one card tied behind you're back! It's possible he just didn't want to play anymore, but K-J off really??? And Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari thinks it's the right play? Maybe he can do a magic trick and make himself disappear from next year's broadcast. Sorry Antonio, mad respect, but I just think you're dead wrong on that one. Sidebar: I can't believe I'm saying this, but I liked Phil Hellmuth's commentary better. Now I've thought a little about this and I see where Lamb was coming from. He knows he can take Heinz, but Staszko is cold and calculating and hadn't been playing too many hands compared to Lamb and Heinz. Also, he was virtually impossible to read. It's possible Lamb's strategy was to in fact be in a coin flip situation with a chance to knock out a tough player. If he loses he still has some chips and can grind back maybe.  If he wins he's heads-up and almost even in chips against Heinz who I suspect he had a good read on. Not a bad situation to be in but think about your equity here. You can at least grind with these guys and get heads-up. If you draw Heinz you are probably a favorite even when behind. If you draw Staszko you are gonna have your work cut out for you if he has a lead in chips. Then you can go all-in with K-J. To me, the top three is a new tournament. I treat it the same way as when there are 9 people. Don't finish 9th, don't finish 3rd. I'm guessing many poker players (especially the "pros") would disagree with me and say you should just go for the win. This is fine. Maybe someday we can see whose theory works on the felt. I long for that day! Not taking anything away from Benba, but I thought it was impatient and not the correct play in that situation.

   The heads-up match between the 45 year old looking 35 year old Czech, Martin Staszko (Worst Dressed award) and 22 year old Pius Heinz (Most Aggressive award) was entertaining whether you are a poker enthusiast or not. There was virtually no interaction verbally between the two players. Maybe that's because they speak different languages? It was White vs Plaid for the Championship. Seriously, plaid? What is it 1992? I was waiting for Smells Like Teen Spirit to start playing whenever Staszko won a hand. If he'd had a pocket protector and thick horn-rimmed glasses to go with it I think he would've won the tournament. I must say though, it was an epic battle. The lead changed hand several times and the level of aggression between these two was unlike anything I would have imagined given the money at stake. In the end it was Heinz and his A-K prevailing over Staszko's 10-7 suited. Germany rejoices!

   So there it is in a nutshell. Poker has a new potential ambassador. I can only hope Pius Heinz does what he can to promote poker in Germany and around the world. ESPN deserves a lot of credit for great coverage while protecting the integrity of the game with their 15 minute delay. Poker has come a long way in the last 8 years and still has a long way to go. This year's coverage of the final table with Lon McEarhen, Norman Chad, and Antonio Esfandiari (is it just me or does he sound like he just did a wake and bake before he went on the air?) was refreshing and I already can't wait till next year. Till then...

The WSOP Main Event 2011

   So this being my first post into the blogosphere, I thought I'd begin with my thoughts on the WSOP Main Event. For those of you who know the game of poker (specifically No-Limit Hold Em) all of this should make perfect sense to you. For those of you who don't forgive my use of its lingo throughout this post. In fact, much of this blog will be about poker and the direction the game is going both live and online. But first The Main Event.

   In 2003, Chris Moneymaker won the biggest poker tournament in the world. An amateur who paid $40 on an online satellite and ran it to 2 million dollars by winning the Main Event. In the 3 years following, the Main Event grew from 839 entries to 8773 in 2006. aka The Jamie Gold Year. In the few years following that the number of entries declined a bit. This year there were 6865.  Not too bad considering the DOJ's smackdown on the big online poker sites in April. Next year will be the year we should see the full effects. I'm guessing the over/under is 4800.

   The true problem for the game right now is its lack of an ambassador. A Michael Jordan if you will. Or a Tiger Woods before all his troubles. The online thing has just rubbed everyone the wrong way and these well-known pros now just seem shady. The Jamie Gold thing was a black mark as well. Personally, I'm rooting for a big name pro to win it. Someone relatively upstanding that can maybe promote poker and have a positive influence. I think it would legitimize the game. Phil Ivey I'm talkin to you!

  Although Phil Ivey isn't in it this year (in fact he boycotted this year's World Series) I think there are some names at the Final Table this year that could do the game some good. First on my list is the hottest (meaning he's on a good run people) player in the world right now Ben Lamb. If he wins it would be an absolutely epic year for him at the WSOP and arguably the best run in the post Moneymaker era. The guy had already made over a million dollars at this year's WSOP before the Main Event even started. It would give him two bracelets and two other Final Tables, one of which was an 8th place finish at the Player's Championship. It would also make him WSOP Player of the Year. In a word: impressive. Did I mention he's only 26?

   Next up is Bahdi Bounahra. He's from Belize. He's the oldest player at the Final Table at 49. It would be pretty fun to watch an old man (relatively speaking of course) whip a bunch of twenty-something's asses. It'd be a great story and great for the country of Belize.

   Finally is Eoghan O'Dea. He has two scores over $250,000. His father cashed in the Main Event 6 times. He's from Ireland and that would be cool to see an Irish champion wouldn't it?





  Well, those are my picks for this year. I'll write again in a couple of days with a full analysis of the Final Table and my thoughts and feelings regarding the results. Till then....