Party Poker Blog

So I dress like a bum and play high stakes poker...

Hi guys,

I work as a cable engineer. A big part of my work involves a lot of physical activity outside. So I have the luxury of wearing slacks, jeans, cargo pants, with sweaters and any apparel that has lots of pockets so I can put my tools in. Carrying a tool pouch isn't a fancy for me unless I absolutely have to do it. I also get to wear my lucky San Jose sharks cap.

So my clothes are somewhat sloppy and sometimes dirty depending on the weather and what outside conditions I have to work in. Often times, I head down to cardroom after I'm finished work and play.

Most of the other people who I play with in the high stakes on a regular basis are either 1. successful business people who like to gamble higher or 2. Very good poker players. I've noticed that either group likes to "dress up" to the part. I see players wearing really nice gold rings, Rolex watches, and other various jewellery. Some players even wear some very nice Armani suits to the game.

Myself, I like a nice Armani suit, but I rarely get the chance to wear it. The jewellry stuff is a bit too much for me.

So I guess these people like to show off how well they are.

Now my question is: Is presenting an image of having so much materialistic goods benefial to one's game of poker? Does looking like a bum make that much of a difference.

I once had a friend who asked me what I did for fun and I told him I played poker. He asked me how I did, and I said I did fairly well. His reply was that I obviously wasn't doing that well since I looked like a bum. So I started yapping about poker theories, poker terminalogy and that shut him up.

But then I thought, he's kind of right. I look like a bum. I wear these Old Navy cargos. I wear a watch my x-gf gave me that only cost $80 (yes, I'm sentimental) and my SJ cap is starting to get worn out.

invading my sanctuary

I've been married for 10 years, and although my wife is cute and has kept her figure I really don't even care to see the bitch naked anymore.

But recently she has started playing poker and invading the one thing I got left to get away from her bitching. Playing in my home games, with me on the vegas trips and watching me over my shoulder on line.

Last night in a 5/10 game on the very lame Absolutepoker.com
I get 88 late and call two bets to see the flop which comes 5Q8, she immediately starts bitching, "Don't chase them off!, Don't chase them off!"

Meanwile it is bet and raised before me, we cap it and the turn comes another 8,
yes I needed it.

More bitching. "Let them bet first!!!!"

I have no problem geting it capped.

river is a K and it gets capped again.

I was up against KK and QQ.

$400 pot. She screams her ear peircing nails on a chalkboard scream that has sucked the life force out of me for the last 10 years.

Great, Now I can buy a hearing aid.

How do I end this, without going to jail or giving up half of my stuff,
or nursing the end of a .38?

WPT BOOT CAMP ANNOUNCES FIRST CITIES

Two-Day Fantasy Camp for Poker Players Provides Instruction from World Poker Tour® Hosts and Champions

Several Student’s in Each Boot Camp Will Win a Seat at a WPT Satellite
Tournament

FT. LAUDERDALE, FL -- Ever wish you knew the poker pros' secrets for
winning multimillion-dollar pots? Before now the only way to gain such
experience was to invest thousands of dollars and hours in high-stakes
poker. But when the new two-day WPT Boot Camp™ comes to town, people will
have the chance to learn directly from the World Poker Tour® champions and
the WPT hosts, picking up enough card-playing skills to put them on the
"Fast Track to the Final Table."

A fantasy camp for poker enthusiasts, WPT Boot Camp is designed to give
amateurs an intensive emersion in poker strategy over a weekend.
Instruction comes from WPT commentators Mike Sexton and Vincent Van
Patten, as well as poker expert Alex "The Insider" Outhred, the man behind
the camera who analyzes all hands played at WPT Final Tables. This core
instructional group is augmented with a slate of poker champions such as
two-tournament victor Ron Rose and young buck Scott Fischman.

The only poker instructional school endorsed by the World Poker Tour, WPT
Boot Camp limits enrollment to only 50 students so the learning experience
is maximized. The cost is $1,495 per person, and seats can be reserved at
www.wptbootcamp.com or call 866-WPT-BOOT. Every WPT Boot Camp will reward
several student’s with entry into a WPT sponsored satellite tournament!

Password question - in case of death

Morbid question I know but a thought occured to me when I was reading that
post about the guy who allegedly gave his PokerStars password to his best
friend.

What suggestions do some of the more experienced RGPers have to allow
heirs/family get money out of online accts. in case of death? I know many
of you keep far more $$ online then I've built up (so far - heh heh ). I
just realized that if I get hit by a truck tomorrow I havne't taken steps
to allow my family to access my online funds.

I guess I'll show them how to access the various sites to cash out and
then I'll leave a list w/ my passwords in my safe deposit box where I have
other important personal papers.

I'm posting this very late so I might not get responses from the usual RGP
crowd, if so I'm apologzing in advance if I re-post tomorrow during the
day but I think this is an important question.

World Poker Open Trip Report Part One - Long


Just returned from the World Poker Open (WPO) which is held every January in Tunica, Ms, about 30 miles south of Memphis. Flew into the Memphis airport and took a shuttle [Unique Travel Shuttle Service 901/848-0486] to the Gold Strike (GS) casino where I had room reservations. Shuttle is $85.00 round trip. Gold Strike poker room rate was $49.95 per night, tax included. The GS is the nicest casino in Tunica and the rooms are comparable to the Mirage in Las Vegas. The GS and Horseshoe (HS) are next door to each other and the walk from one poker room to the other is less than five minutes. Both places have the most liberal food comps in the country and, in addition, the GS has a free tournament player's buffet. I was there a week and didn't spend a dime on food. My total trip cost was $600. If you plan to go to
the WPO book your room well in advance because every place in a 20 mile radius was sold out.

The HS poker room has 13 tables and another 18 or 20 tables set up out in the pit area. Normally the HS spreads $1-$5 stud, $4/$8 to $20/$40 HE and one pot limit, triple-draw low ball game in their poker room. During the WPO they spread $20/$40 and $30/$60 HE in the poker room and the other games are moved out to the pit area. The main WPO tournaments are held in the convention center at the GS, which is on the second floor right next to the GS poker room. All poker areas in both casinos are non-smoking.

I make a couple of road trips to Tunica every year but this was my first time at the WPO. My strategy was to fly down to Memphis during the first week of the tournament and play in the $10/$20 to $30/$60 ring games. I also planned to play some single table satellites and the first two tournament events - $550 NL and $550 Limit. The poker crowd was huge and there were tons of side games to choose from, although the waiting list was frequently 60+ deep. Since it was only the first week of the tournament most of the big name players had not arrived yet. I did see Men the master and Clonie Gowen. I heard Dutch Boyd and some members of "the crew" were
there but I didn't see them.

2004 was my biggest winning year ever and December was my biggest winning month, so I was optimistic about my chances. Unfortunately my optimism was short-lived. First night was a good example. I took a seat in a $10/$20 HE game at the HS. There were two semi-happy drunks and an Asian guy who gave new meaning to the term "clueless". Between the three of them they dumped at least $3,500 in this game and I didn't get a dollar of it. In fact, I think I lost every big pot I played against them.

I decided to go over to the GS and play some $65 single table satellites. The winner got a $500 tournament chip. The line stretched all the way around the large conference center and the average wait in line was about 40 minutes per satellite. I played three satellites and finished 3rd, 4th and won the third one. I went out to sign up for the $550 NL HE tournament. The sign-up line was so long it stretched out of the room, down the hall and back past the escalator - wait time was estimated at 3 hours plus. I heard (unofficially) that the tournament was going to be capped at 1,100, nearly 800 had already signed-up and there were more than 300 in line so I decided to pass and sold my tournament chip. Turns out they took a total of 1,500
with 400 being alternates. Probably a lesson here about not basing your decisions on unofficial tournament information.

My nest playing session was in a $20/$40 HE game and it was a real blood bath. I don't remember a playing session where I got so many premium starting hands or more action with them. Sadly I lost with nearly every one of them. It was almost surreal. Usually I'm the guy at the table who plays the fewest hands but in this one, I was "action jackson". I usually won't lose more than 30 BBs in a ring game but I got stuck $2,000 before I threw in the towel. So now, when I add in my expenses, I'm down $2,600 for the trip.

One great thing about playing in Tunica is no matter how bad the poker gets you can always be entertained by the wit and wisdom of the local players. The following are a couple I heard at the table;

"What do you say to a woman with two black eyes? Nothin' shes done been told twice".

"When you look out yer winder in the mornin' and the first bird you see is a buzzard, you know yer day ain't goin' to be good."

"Did your boy get out of prison? Yeah, he's done with that. What's he doin' now? He's in local jail now but it don't have nothin' to do with that prison thing".

Another local player would always yell, "Well hello darlin'!" every time a card that helped him came up on the board..

I decided to play in the regular $225 NL tournament at the HS, which was not related to the WPO tournament events. There were 100 entrants and 40 alternates. This proved to be the lowest point of an already bad trip. I knocked out a few players and became chip leader at my table. Another player who was second in chips bet all-in on a ragged flop. I was in the big blind, glanced quickly at my cards and saw I had made the nut straight. I immediately pushed all-in. Turns out I would have been better off if I had taken the time to re-check my hand - which I had misread. I didn't have the straight - only a gut shot, which I missed. I won't say I've never
misread my hand before but it's been a hell of a long time since it happened. Two hands later I got the remainder of my pathetic chip stack in with AQs and lost.


Next I took a seat in a $10/$20 game when they announced that there was a professional masseuse in the room. I signed up for a 15 minute massage for $25, which proved to be yet another mistake. The masseuse was a nice but big girl who didn't seem to know her own strength and had apparently learned her trade at the World Wrestling Federation. I've been in fights where I didn't get beat up this bad. When she was done she told me I had a lot of tension and really needed a full two hour massage on a table. She said she could get "a lot better leverage" if I was on a table. I was thinking that if she pounded on me for two hours I'd probably never walk again.

The remaining days were pretty much a repeat of the first three. I managed to maintain good discipline but couldn't book a win of any size. I just bounced up and down in ring games and was still stuck more than $2,000 plus my trip cost. I went back to the HS to play in one of the ring games in the pit area. The sign-up list was huge and some players had been waiting hours for a seat. I juiced one of the floor men $40 and he got me a seat in a $10/$20 game. My first hand was AA, and second hand was KK so now I'm stuck another $400. I was looking forward to flying home in the morning and just putting this trip behind me.

The $10/$20 game had started out with a good line up but most of the action players left so I followed suit. It was nearly midnight and the shuttle was picking me up at 6:15 am to take me to the airport. I decided to take one final shot and sat down in a $30/$60 game. On my second hand I pick up QQ and push them as hard as I can. Ace hits on the river and my Queens are toilet paper. I missed every drawing hand and none the few pots I did manage to win were very big.

I was ready to call it a night when I picked up 77 in the big blind. The betting was capped when it got back around to me so this was a no-brainier fold situation. Out of position, 8.3:1 to flop a set which doesn't figure to hold-up even if I hit it. I see myself cold-call four raises. Flop is 9,9,4 with two hearts. Betting is capped again. I know the odds of trying to hit a set on the turn. In fact, when ever I'm tempted to chase for a set on the turn, I think of a quote from one of my poker references. "Trying to hit a set on the turn is called wishful poker. Frankly, to professional players it's called stupid poker". Yep, that advice fit this situation
perfectly. Yep, I cold call all those raises again. Turn card was the 3h. It's obvious there are big pairs out and at least one player probably has a 9 in his hand. The third heart on the turn pretty much guarantees that now there is a flush out there as well. At this point the two remaining 7s are my only outs and even if I hit I lose if another player has 9s full. I tell myself that at this point the pot odds warrant a call to see the river. Then a miracle happens in Tunica. Mississippi. The river card is a 7. Well hello darlin'! Amazingly enough, my 7s full hold up and I take down a monster pot. [Remember boys and girls this man is a trained professional so don't try this at home]. From then on my good hands started winning and I hit a couple of nice draws. I made enough in this game to pay my travel expenses and book a $300 win for the trip. I'd hate to calculate what that came out to for all of the hours I played but I was thrilled not to leave stuck. Bottom line, the WPO is a good tournament but if you go, especially during the first week, be prepared for big crowds and long lines.

PS - I talked to Theresa Sommerfield and she confirmed that she and Jimmy have moved to Florida and will be managing the poker room on a gambling boat out of Tarpon Springs. I believe she said the poker room will open in the middle of February. Jimmy will still run the Reno tournament and help out in some others but she said they have three daughters and he wanted to spend less time on the road.

Irish Mike