Worlds collide

It's so annoying planning for a night of poker only to find out PokerStars are doing their weekly reset of the server. Its weekly (I think) but it never seems to be on the same night, there's no announcement so you can never plan to be elsewhere.

Before the reset I was doing really well, chipped up in two 45 man tournaments with a good chance to cash both. I went a bit card dead in one and by the time final table formed I was in 8th or 9th place. I pushed all-in early and chipped up a little when I took down the blinds but was still short-stack. I picked up ace king off and pushed that all-in only to get called by the short-stack in the big blind who had pocket 6's and found a 6 on the flop. I then had pocket 5's under the gun and decided to put it in. I got called by a big stack in the small blind with ace ten off and the big blind who had ace 3 suited. Not a terrible spot for me until a ten hit the flop and the turn and I didn't improve, going out on the bubble.

On the other table I was in a good position, decent stack with a few short-stacks on the table. One or two went out and I found ace king in the small blind. The table folded around to me so I pushed all-in and got called by the big blind for 2/3 of his stack. He showed queen ten suited and turned a flush to knock me out in 7th. Frustrating as if I take down that hand I easily make top 3 and have a good shot at the win. Oh well, I now play for the win so I have to accept that sometimes.

I had another bubble later in the night to end what has been a very ordinary week in terms of profits (in other words losses) and statistics.

I was going to post this video clip as music and poker go well together. This is probably my favourite song at the moment, not because its Jay Z who gets plenty of love ... but because of the alto sax and the old-school groove. I watched the official clip for the first time today and saw it also includes a quick poker scene as well as LeBron James which is where the "Worlds collide" title comes from. Click here to see my other life.

Poker blogs

Drugs are bad ... mmmm k??

I'm not sure why, but poker and smoking pot seems to go hand in hand. When I first started playing APL a few years back, I almost felt left out because I didn't smoke (cigarettes) like so many seemed to. Now, reading the forums and a few poker blogs, it seems so many players smoke pot. Considering poker is a mental game that requires focus and concentration, I'm not sure if it makes sense ... but I've never touched the stuff, so what would I know?

Anyway, one of my favourite bloggers, Assassinato had an unexpected 2am wake up call on his way to Italy. As always, a very entertaining read so click on the title to hear the whole story.

Random Thoughts From A Seattle Poker Pro

A drug sniffing dog came into my room along with two guys in vests, reminding me of what FBI agents look like in movies. I was pretty sure they weren't as powerful here but I was still scared shitless waking up to that. The dog started going through our room and not finding anything.

“Do you have marijuana?!” The guy yelled at me. I said no. Then, almost on cue, the dog started scratching my backpack, and looking back at the agent. Fuck.

“If you have something you better tell me right now.” I could tell by the way he asked it he already knew the answer. It was just a matter of if I handed it to them now or if they went through everything. I got up and opened my bag and handed him a small brown bag.


After the WSOP wrapped up, it had been a very quiet time in terms of poker blogging. After a run in with the Devilfish, Tony "Bond 18" Dunst is finally back online again. Full credit to Bond for pulling the original Devilfish story and being man enough to say he made a mistake by writing the story in the first place. Now that he's in Africa being socially responsible, blog updates will likely be few and far between but thankfully he's still writing. Reading this latest blog, all I could think of was, "Hello muddah, hello faddah. Here I am at Camp Granada" which I actually heard on Qantas when I was flying back from Melbourne recently.

A Week in Africa | PokerSavvy Plus

The headmaster however, is Idi Amin Jr. During a parent-teacher assembly he announced to the crowd that 'The Americans have promised to bring us 10 computers next year!' which was something nobody promised or even mentioned in any form during conversation. Two of the teachers that Katie (the other volunteer at the school who is a nice girl from New York) and I are friendly with have told us he shorts their pay and pockets the money. He told some other volunteers that for 5,000 shillings he would organize a brand new bus and great trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro. They paid him and rocked up to find an old, piece of shit bus that broke down on the way. He attempted to convince them to keep going to the mountain in the middle of the night, as pointless as it is dangerous, knowing if he got them there they couldn't demand a refund. The volunteers refused and demanded to go back home. When they got there they naturally wanted their money back and he refused saying that it had already all been spent. One of the girls, Shrea, flipped out on him and he eventually refunded them each 4000. Already been spent indeed. Shrea has not been back to the school to volunteer since and is now working in an orphanage.

Corruption like this is everywhere, and as far as I can tell, is the largest problem a country like Kenya will have in moving forward. The stories of this kind of angle shooting are absolutely endless and while years in the poker world have made me well prepared for picking up on bullshit many of the other volunteers are not as paranoid or suspicious of people’s motivations. The corruption is on all levels of government and daily life, and while picking up a newspaper in the US normally depresses me, picking up one here makes me suicidal. Many other volunteers have questioned the volunteer company's validity itself; as they have spent weeks of time and considerable money attempting to get placement in programs only to have the people organizing them not show up or horrendous delays in communication make their efforts pointless and infuriating.

Rough night of online poker

The night before last I started to come down with cold/flu like symptoms so instead of going to a trivia night yesterday, I instead lay low and played online at PokerStars. I'm pretty sure I got the cold from a friend on Sunday so I wasn't keen to pass it on to anyone else.

Yesterday's session started off well enough. I came 5th in my second game and then 2nd two games later to break my streak of not reaching heads up. The heads-up battle was frustrating because I couldn't catch a break against someone I felt I should clearly beat. The final table had been a longer one so by the time we got to heads up the blinds were high already. I had a commanding chip lead (3:1) and we ended up getting it all-in first hand. Opponent limped in, I had ace rag in the big blind so I raised solidly and he re-raised all-in with jack 2 suited. The flop comes safe for me as did the turn and then BINK, jack on the river and our stacks are now even. It went back and forth from there until I had a 2:1 chip lead and I re-raised him all-in with ace 5 suited. He turned over ace queen off and held on to win. He ended up raising me all-in and the blinds were too big to fold and I called with queen 8 suited. He turned over 6 10 suited and rivered a straight with his 6. Frustrating ...

After those early cashes, it seemed to go down hill from there. I felt I was playing well and making the right moves mostly, but had some ugly, ugly beats.

1. Raised solidly with aces from early position, called by the player next to me and then re-raised by the player next to him. Everyone else folded, I raise all-in, the player next to me takes an age to decide and then calls, as did the re-raiser. The re-raiser turned over jacks, the guy next to me turned over 5's and I had aces. Great for me until a 5 on the river, decimating my stack.

2. Two tables left in a tournament and I have pocket kings in the big blind. Someone min raises under the gun and is called by a loose bad player right next to him. I re-raise all-in, under the gun thinks and then folds ... loose player eventually calls turning over jack ten off. Great for me ... flop is 2 2 jack, blank turn and then jack on the river. I'm out and Mr Jack-Ten off is chip leader.

3. Second level of a 90 man tournament I have aces on the button (I think). Five players limp in so I raise 5 times the blinds (probably should have gone more) and get called by all but one of them. Flop comes king, rag, rag so I lead out with a strong bet. I get re-raised by someone in earlyish position. I'm committed to the pot and I put him on king something so I re-raise all-in. He calls and turns over king jack off ... jack on the turn and I'm gone.

4. The worst of all tho was late in a tournament, two tables left I think. Someone from middle position raises solidly and is called by 2 others and I'm big blind with pocket jacks. I should've shoved but thought I'll call, see the flop and evaluate from there. Flop comes 7 5 3 (I think). Small blind bets min so I re-raise him. Other two players fold, he calls. Another 3 on the turn and he shoves all-in. I don't believe he has the 3 and am virtually sure my hand is still best so I call. He turns over pocket 2's, fist pump from me until a 2 comes on the river. I could not believe it ... I'm out and he's the chip leader. Off the top of my head, one of the worst beats I have been given. Yes, I should've shoved pre-flop or even on the flop and there's a chance he may have folded (although somehow I think he would have called at least on the flop).

There were other ugly occurences but that's enough of those stories for now. Yes, it was a rough, rough night and I'm a little scarred. I likely won't be playing on Friday and Saturday so I will tonight while I hopefully recover from this cold (and these recent beats).

Online poker update

Despite some very social weekends of late, I've still been managing to get a lot of online poker action in on PokerStars.

Last time I posted I was in the middle of a purple patch including a run of successive nights with at least one tournament win. The streak finished at five nights in a row I think ... with the final two nights including two wins. After every "heater" it seems there is a down-swing and I am down a little over the last week or so and haven't had a win or even a second-place since the streak which is almost two weeks ago now. I've played 7 sessions in that time and I think only one of them was profitable, a couple have been pretty much break even and there's been a couple of shockers.

I feel like I'm playing well and making the right plays, things just aren't going my way when I need them to. Sure, I realise I get lucky in other spots so I'm not complaining and I'm sure I'll get on another upswing soon.

Last night I played 19 games, cashing just 3, a 4th a 5th and a 6th all in the 45 man tournaments. The fourth was disappointing as I went to the final table sitting in second place and did absolutely nothing wrong, I was active and felt very much in control. I took a hit four-handed when a short stack pushed all-in and I called from the big blind with pocket 6's. He turned over pocket 10's and I lost about 40% of my stack and was now the short-stack. I fought back through the big stack when he tried to steal the blinds and I re-raised with ace ten in the small blind. He turned over jack 9 off and I hit a full-house to more than double up. Things were going well until I got ace king on the button, raised and was then re-raised all-in by the big blind (same guy that had 10's earlier). I had to call and was happy to do so, he turned over queens (fair enough), I catch a king on the flop (YEAH!) and then the turn comes a queen to send me to the rail.

I also had my first ever tournament where I got knocked out first hand. Someone doubled the blinds from under the gun, called by under the gun + 1 and then the next player pushed all-in over the top. I had pocket kings in the small blind and knew this was a good spot so I called and everyone else folded. The pusher turns over pocket 9's, I fist-pump until the first card out is a 9 and I know I'm in massive trouble.

Bankroll is just over US$420. I'm starting to come down with a cold so I'll likely be staying in the next few nights playing online. Hopefully I can get in the money a little more often and get to heads-up again. I'm keen to start playing the $3.25 45 man games and really start pushing upwards.

PokerStars wins the world record contest

In case you missed it (like I did), the heavyweights of the online poker world ended up going head to head in a world record attempt recently to host the largest ever poker tournament.

I was in Melbourne at the time celebrating my birthday with friends so didn't even know about it until after the fact. From what I have read at the Two Plus Two poker forum, PokerStars was the better run tournament but Full Tilt Poker had the biggest prize and was seen as the better opportunity for a big score with a much larger first prize.

Here's the story from PokerNews.com about the event:

PokerStars Retains Guinness World Record Online Mark | PokerNews.com

The planet’s two largest poker sites staged a remarkable battle this weekend, as PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker both attempted to settle the question “Who’s on first?” by laying claim to a new world record. The record in contention was for the largest-ever online poker tournament, and the previous record was set by PokerStars early this year in an event that featured an $11 buy-in and attracted 35,000 online runners. Last week, Full Tilt Poker announced its intention to break that record with a special massive tournament to wrap up its “FIVE” promotion in celebration of the site’s fifth birthday. Full Tilt’s event, dubbed The Record Breaker, was set for Sunday July 19th and featured a $5 buy-in, generous overlays, and a cap of 50,000 players.

Just days later, PokerStars decided to make an attempt to keep its own record intact, and scheduled its own mega-entry tourney to take place roughly an hour before the scheduled attempt at Full Tilt. The PokerStars tourney, called Guinness World Record, featured a significantly lower buy-in of $1. Initially, the PokerStars tournament had no limit on the number of players allowed to enter, but eventually a cap was set at 65,000.

When Full Tilt did not remove the 50,000-player cap from its world record tournament, this battle was effectively over before it even began. Both events sold out fairly quickly, so the previous world record was smashed to bits. But PokerStars, the holder of the old record, will retain the record with a new mark of 65,000 online runners — almost double the previous record.

But as is often the case with corporate rivalries, the real winner was the consumer. On Sunday, players were served up two separate chances to win a massive chunk of cash in exchange for a buy-in that was virtually nil —especially in light of the fact that Full Tilt’s event could be bought into with frequent player points, and both sites ran loads of uber-cheap satellites in the days leading up to world record tournaments. Even better, both sites doubled the prize pool with overlays. Full Tilt added $250,000 to the $250,000 guaranteed prize pool, for a total purse of $500,000, while PokerStars contributed $65,000 to its $65,000 guarantee for a total pool of $130,000.

The winner of the PokerStars event, ‘004 license,’ took home $13,000 for an investment of $1, along with the distinction of besting 64,999 opponents and taking down the world’s largest-ever online tournament. The champion of the Full Tilt Poker tournament , ‘breo40’, earned a whopping $45,000 in exchange for a $5 buy-in. Since this corporate rivalry shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, online players can almost certainly look forward to more great deals and copious overlays as these two poker giants continue to challenge each other for online poker supremacy.

PokerStars update

Just a quick post as I'm heading to bed shortly so I can get up and go to the gym in the morning.

I haven't actually played online at PokerStars this week. I went and played an APL game on Tuesday, State of Origin 3 last night and I can't remember what I did Monday, other than go for a run.

Anyway, I was looking forward to playing and after the usual slightly slow start I won my 4th tournament which was a $1 90 man game. I was short-stacked around the 30th spot but managed to survive in to the top 20. When I was 17 of 19 I won 2 big pots in a row and was suddenly in 6th place. The heads up battle was fairly close because I had been on the same table with the guy for most of the tournament so we knew how each other played.

I did really well in the ANZPT freeroll but pushed with 6's with about 100 to go and called by pocket 9's and was out.

I bubbled a 45 man game when I pushed from early position with pocket 5's, got called by pocket 8's and was out in 8th spot. The next 45 man game I wasn't doing much until I started getting cards at the right time, pocket aces within about 5 minutes of each other and chipped up well. I struggled on the bubble when I was playing aggressively with good hands and kept getting sucked out on. I folded ace 9 suited from the small blind when someone pushed massively from early position. I was short-stacked but got aces again and doubled up and from there started to climb my way. There was an uber-aggressive newby that was shoving with very marginal hands and he pushed from the button 3 handed, the small blind was virtually all-in and called and I pocket 7's in the big blind. Against another player I might've folded ... but I knew he could be pushing with anything, called caught a 7 on the turn and took down a good pot. He still had a 2 to 1 chip lead going in to heads-up but again he was pushing with anything much of the time so I re-raised all-in with pocket 5's and he called with 2 4 suited. I won that hand and gained the chip lead and from there he ended up pushing with ace rag, I called with jack ten and hit a jack to win the tournament.

So I think I only played 12 tournaments but won 2. My heads up record for this month is outstanding and it was nice to have another day with 2 tournament wins. I'm just outside the top 3% of PokerStars tournament players on Official Poker Rankings, hopefully these 2 wins will put me over the top.

Bankroll continuing to grow, US$460. Graph from SharkScope is looking good ...

World Series of Poker - November nine set!

This (below) just in from PokerNews, the November Nine are set and Phil Ivey has made it in as second short-stack!

Live Reporting | 2009 World Series of Poker | Event 57 - $10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold'em | PokerNews.com

Meet Your November Nine

What a day of poker! If you asked anyone in the media when we got here this morning if we thought the tournament would be down to its final nine players -- the November Nine -- before 11pm, we would have laughed and challenged you to put your whole bankroll on it. Yet here we are, just shy of 11pm, with the final nine players bagging and tagging for the night.

But that's getting slightly ahead of the action. We started today at noon with 27 players. Leo Margets, the sole woman in the field, was the first elimination just twenty minutes into the day. That seemed to set the tone for play, as players got their chips into the middle with glee. Before we finished the first level of play, three more players were eliminated, including the good-for-television Antonio Esfandiari.

All through the day, players continued to be eliminated at a rapid pace. We thought there would be mini-bubbles at 19 left, 16 left, and 13 left. In fact there were no such bubbles.

The big stacks did their jobs today, as Darvin Moon, Steven Begleiter and Billy Kopp all applied relentless pressure on the short stacks. It was unfortunate for Kopp that he ran a small flush into a bigger flush and went busto in 12th place, a classic elimination that is sure to haunt Kopp for a long time.

Of course there's one other player whom everyone was watching today. Some consider him to be the greatest player in the world; all were hoping he'd make the final table. Phil Ivey started off trending dangerously downwards, but he seemed to recognize what many other players did not -- the stacks were still relatively deep and the levels were still two-hours long. No need to panic. Ivey didn't panic, and as a result he secured a spot in the November Nine.

When Jordan Smith said "Good night, Moon" and exited in tenth place, the November Nine were determined. Here they are!

Seat 1: Darvin Moon
Seat 2: James Akenhead
Seat 3: Phil Ivey
Seat 4: Kevin Schaffel
Seat 5: Steven Begleiter
Seat 6: Eric Buchman
Seat 7: Joe Cada
Seat 8: Antoine Saout
Seat 9: Jeff Shulman

Moon will be the chip leader for the next four months.

Many will argue that this is the most talented Main Event final table to have been assembled in years. They'll have almost four months to argue back and forth over which player they think has the best shot. The final table festivities will take place from November 7 - 10.

It has been our great pleasure to be your source of live updates during the 2009 WSOP. We hope you'll join us throughout the rest of the year as we cover major poker tournaments around the globe. Please stop back in November for what is sure to be an exciting conclusion to the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event.

World Series of Poker update

Day 6 at the World Series of Poker was rough for many of the players I was following.

First elimination was Joe Hachem. He couldn't get anything going on day 5 or 6 and ended up pushing all-in short-stacked with jack 9 suited. Joe was called by pocket 4's but his hand didn't improve and he finished 103rd.

Kenny Tran was struggling near the bottom stacks, doubling up occasionally but not staying far enough ahead of the blinds. He pushed with a suited ace, got called by pocket 8's, didn't improve and bust out in 86th place.

Also hitting the rail on day 6 were one-time chip monster Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier in 122nd, one-time chip leader Matt Affleck in 81st and last year's champ Peter Eastgate in 78th.

The story of the day was the rise and rise of Phil Ivey. He had sat in the middle of the pack for much of the tournament but by the end of day 6 he was in 3rd and looking very dangerous. Midway through day 7 he's still cruising along in 2nd place and the field has narrowed to just 29 players left in action.

Phil Ivey, the man to watch

PokerStars update

I had a friend's 30th on Saturday night and had a big night on the town for the first time in ... ummm ... well, ages! Got to bed about 4am which is something I don't usually do, didn't get anywhere near enough sleep and was up by 10am. One panadol, plenty of water, some fresh air and some Red Rooster for lunch and I was feeling human again.

With Triple J's Hottest 100 of all-time on the radio, I was keen for a quiet afternoon so fired up the laptop and played online at PokerStars.

I've been on a bit of a roll of late, winning a tournament each of the last 3 days I've played. This continued yesterday and I actually won 2 in one day which is new for me. Since I've decided to focus on smashing the $1 games before putting $2 tournaments back in the mix, I've really been doing well in the 45 man turbos. This month I've cashed in 25 out of 71, won 5 of them, second in another and three 3rds.

With two wins yesterday, I've already smashed my monthly goal of 4 wins and am now at 6 with more than two weeks to go. I'm very pleased that my win ratio in heads-up situations is so good this month ... 3:1 compared to previous months 1:5. I'm ahead of my other goals so far too ... profit $113 (goal $100) and in the money 29% (goal 25%).

I'm waiting till this evening to see if yesterday's results puts me in to the top 3% of PokerStars tournament players on Official Poker Rankings. I'm currently rated 96.94% over the last 120 days and 96.65% for 2009.

Bankroll: US$437

Smells Like Teen Spirit took the #1 on Triple J's Hottest 100 of All-Time

World Series of Poker update

We're now midway through day 5 in the World Series of Poker and with 232 players remaining out of the 6494 starters, one of Assassinato's mates Matt Affleck currently leads the field.

The poker community would love for one of the big name pros to take down the Main Event and this year there are a number still in contention. Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier has been at the top of the leader board for the last few days and is currently in the top 20 while my boys Joe Hachem and Kenny Tran aren't far behind. Phil Ivey is also roughly midfield and has plenty of time to make a move.

From last year's Main Event, Dennis Phillips and defending champion Peter Eastgate are both still well in the hunt.

PokerStars update

After my 3 day break from poker I jumped back in to the action on Monday night. It started well enough, min-cashing my first 45 man tournament but things got ugly as I then failed to cash 13 tournaments in a row before again min-cashing a 90 man tournament to end the night. I don't think I was playing badly as I made it down to the final 2 tables on 9 of those 13 tournaments but couldn't win hands at the right time to get me on to final tables and in the money.

Tuesday went a lot better. After the disappointment the night before I was focussed and crushed early, cashing 3 of the first 4 tournaments including a win a 3rd and a 5th (all 45 man tournaments). I trailed off a bit but still had another 2nd a 5th (45 mans) and a min cash in a 90 man. So the results from Tuesday (6 cashes from 18 games) made up for the losses of the night before.

Last night I planned to play a little in the afternoon and then watch some DVD's (Seven Pounds and Role Models) later in the night. I forgot that poker is on OneHD on a Wednesday night so the DVD's would have to wait. Unfortunately, the poker turned out to be a replay of the PCA that I had seen a few weeks earlier ... but I of course still watched it.

The night started well with a 5th in a 45 man before a stretch of 6 non-cashes. After some dinner I cranked it up a level tho and cashed 5 of the last 8 tournaments including a win in a 90 man and three 4ths. I was pleased that I had two good finishes in the 90 man tournaments because it had been a week or so since I had a top 3 finish in those so to finish with a win was nice.

The win was a hard-fought one. I was struggling for chips with about 30 to go and would have been close to the bottom of the chip-count. I pushed all-in twice with pocket 3's, once out-running ace queen and another time getting called by a big blind short-stack with 3 8 suited. After getting to a comfortable stack I then started to actually get hands and come final table was well placed.

Final table started a bit rocky when my ace jack couldn't hold up against a short-stack all-in of ace 2 suited and another caller with queen jack off. A 2 hit the flop and it was good enough to win. The same short-stack later pushed all-in from the button 5 handed, the small blind big stack then re-raised strongly and I loved it because I had aces! As I was re-raising my wireless internet connection dropped out so I was frantically trying to reconnect. Thankfully I managed to, button turns over king ten off, small blind has kings and my aces held up to take down a massive pot.

3 handed I raised solidly from the button with pocket queens, I get re-raised all-in by a shorter-stack who has ace 9 off ... 9 on the flop, ace on the turn ... groan. I exacted some revenge shortly after taking him out and getting to heads up with a slight lead. The other person took down a few early pots but the turning point would be when they min-raised from the small blind and I called with king 2 off. Flop comes king 9 9 with two spades which I didn't really think much of. First to act I checked, assuming my king was good, he bets, I re-raise strongly and he calls all-in. He turns over 5 6 of spades so I'm sweating no more spades and thankfully I take it down. He's almost out so I re-raise with ace 3 suited, he turns over ace queen but I flop a flush and its over.

I thought the king ten button, kings small blind, aces big blind seemed cold short-handed on the final table but I just across this from the World Series:

McKusick Gains Heat From a Cold Deck

There's was a ton of commotion over at table 72 in the orange section just a brief moment ago. We turned to the table to see three players all in. One player held and another player held . Both were terribly dominated by the third player's .

The board ran out , to give the player holding the the nut flush. That player was Ken McKusick out of Baltimore, Maryland and he now has nearly 120,000 chips.

To make things even more interesting, two players in the hand held jacks and another player held pocket sevens. Cold deck much?

Solid lay-down from the pocket jacks. You'd be pretty unhappy if you were the guy with the aces ... "but I have trips!!"

Bankroll now just under US$400 and I'm already just one win short of my goal of 4 tournament wins for the month.

Top 2009 WSOP Performances

I came across this great summary on PokerNews this morning about the top performances so far from the World Series of Poker. Not surprisingly "Aussie" Jeff Lisandro (pictured below) leads the way with his ridiculously good form this series with 3 final tables which he converted in to 3 bracelets.

Once day 2b finishes this afternoon, I'll update you on the Main Event.

The PokerNews Top 10: Top 2009 WSOP Performances | PokerNews.com

It has been a summer full of amazing individual achievement at the World Series of Poker, with no less than four players winning multiple bracelets, and several others with five or more cashes and several deep runs. With only the Main Event to go, it’s a good time to look back and consider the top ten performances from this summer. It should be noted that the following list does not strictly mirror the points model employed by the WSOP to determine its player of the year, although many of the names on this list appear at the top of the POY list as well. Nor does the list rate players strictly according to the number of cashes a player has accumulated or total winnings earned, but rather the overall consistency of a player’s achievements at this year’s WSOP, with added weight given to those who managed to realize the goal of every poker player who enters a WSOP event by capturing the bracelet.

10. Barry Greenstein -- 7 cashes, 2 final tables, total winnings $161,243; Daniel Negreanu, 8 cashes, 2 final tables, total winnings $331,860

Both Greenstein and Negreanu came up short this summer in their quests for bracelets, but both once again ably proved themselves as belonging among poker’s elite. Greenstein’s seven cashes came in a variety of games (limit hold’em, mixed hold’em, pot-limit Omaha, seven-card stud hi-low 8-or-better, H.O.R.S.E., no-limit 2-7 draw lowball). The California resident made two final tables this year, finishing ninth in the $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha event (No. 40) and fifth in the $2,500 Mixed Hold’em (Limit/No-Limit) event (No. 47).

Negreanu’s eight cashes also came in many different varieties of poker (limit hold’em, mixed hold’em, PLO/PLH, seven-card stud, seven-card stud hi-low 8-or-better, Omaha hi-low 8-or-better, 2-7 triple draw). Toronto’s most famous poker player managed a fourth-place finish in the $10,000 World Championship Omaha Hi-Low 8-or-Better event (No. 18) and had a near miss by finishing runner-up in the $2,500 Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event (No. 14).

9. John Juanda -- 4 cashes, 4 final tables, total winnings $170,745

The 2008 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event winner had a stellar 2009 WSOP, making no less than four final tables. Born in Indonesia and now residing in California, Juanda finished fifth in the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud event (No. 16), fourth in the $10,000 World Championship No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball event (No. 23), ninth in the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event (No. 30), and fourth in the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Limit event (No. 55).

8. Steve Sung -- 2 cashes, 2 final tables, 1 bracelet, total winnings $883,380

Sung earned his first ever WSOP bracelet in the so-called “Stimulus Special” $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event (No. 4) during the first week of the series. That meant he bested the largest field in any event this summer -- 6,012 -- outside of the Main Event itself. The native of South Korea, who now makes his home in California, followed up on his Event No. 4 victory with an impressive third-place finish in the $10,000 World Championship No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw event (No. 23).

7. James Van Alstyne -- 3 cashes, 3 final tables, 1 bracelet, total winnings $519,080

Van Alstyne’s summer just kept getting better as it went along, with three final tables all in mixed-game events. Born in Georgia and currently residing in Las Vegas, Van Alstyne finished sixth in the $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event (No. 12) in which players play eight different games (the H.O.R.S.E. games, plus 2-7 triple draw, pot-limit Omaha, and no-limit hold’em). Then he finished as the runner-up in the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event (No. 21). Finally he broke through and won Event No. 31, the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event, thus capping off a remarkable WSOP.

6. Greg “FBT” Mueller -- 3 cashes, 3 final tables, 2 bracelets, total winnings $709,635

After taking seventh in the $10,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud event (No. 6), Mueller came back two weeks later to win another of the $10,000 World Championship events, the Limit Hold’em event (No. 33). Then the one-time professional hockey player from Vancouver turned around and became the fourth player this summer to win multiple bracelets when he took another limit hold’em event, the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout (No. 50).

5. Ville Wahlbeck -- 6 cashes, 4 final tables, 1 bracelet, total winnings $1,082,176

Not only did all of Wahlbeck’s cashes this year come from deep runs, but five of the six came in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship events, the only exception being his 12th place finish in the $2,500 Razz event (No. 44). During the first week of the Series, the Finnish pro took third in the $10,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud event (No. 6), first in the $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event (No. 12), and 13th in the $10,000 World Championship Omaha Hi-Low 8-or-Better event (No. 18). He then nearly won the $10,000 World Championship No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball event (No. 23), finishing runner-up. Wahlbeck then capped off his WSOP with a sixth place in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event (No. 49).

4. Brock Parker -- 4 cashes, 2 final tables, 2 bracelets, total winnings $806,870

Along with Wahlbeck, Parker was the talk of the WSOP in the early going after he became the first player this summer to win two bracelets. In fact, the Maryland native’s victories came in two consecutive events, as Parker entered the second the day after winning the first. Both were also in short-handed events, the first in the $2,500 Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event (No. 14), and the second in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event (No. 19). Parker would additionally cash in Events 29 and 50, both also hold’em events.

3. Phil Ivey -- 5 cashes, 3 final tables, 2 bracelets, total winnings $356,994

Ivey added to his already formidable stature in the poker world by capturing two more bracelets this summer, bringing his overall total to seven. Ivey won the $2,500 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball event (No. 8), then also landed the $2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better mixed event (No. 25). The native of California and New Jersey resident would additionally final table the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout (No. 41), as well as cash in another hold’em event (No. 13) and a pot-limit Omaha event (No. 30).

2. Vitaly Lunkin -- 4 cashes, 3 final tables, 1 bracelet, total winnings $2,696,385

Lunkin ends the summer as the highest earner over the first 56 events -- by a long shot -- having started off the Series in grand fashion by winning the prestigious $40,000 buy-in 40th Annual No-Limit Hold’em event (No. 4). After scoring a modest cash in the $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event (No. 12), the Russian would come close to winning a second bracelet on two more occasions, finishing runner-up in Event No. 40, the $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha event, then taking fourth in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event (No. 49) after having had a sizable lead at the final table.

1. Jeffrey Lisandro -- 6 cashes, 3 final tables, 3 bracelets, total winnings $807,521

Lisandro tied an all-time WSOP record this summer by winning three bracelets, taking down the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud event (No. 16), the $10,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better event (No. 37), and the $2,500 Razz event (No. 44). The native of Australia who now makes Italy his home just missed another final table, finishing ninth in the $10,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud event (No. 6), and additionally cashed in a pot-limit Omaha event (No. 35) and a pot-limit Omaha hi-low event (No. 27).

3 days ... no poker

I just posted on my FaceBook profile that I haven't played poker for 3 days ... not surprisingly, within minutes a number of my friends came back wondering if I was sick, my internet was broken or just general shock. Yes, it has been a while since I've had a few days off from playing.

So what's been going on? Well, just had stuff on, just haven't been on my laptop, just had other things to do.

Friday afternoon I left work a little early as one of my best friends had invited for dinner and a night at the Broncos. I hadn't seen him for a while so it was good to catch up with him as well as a number of other friends that came to the game. After the NZ Warriors scored an early try to shock the crowd and of course the Broncos, Brisbane fought their way back in to the game and rolled over the top of the Warriors in the second half. Beers before the game, beer during dinner, beer during the game and I ended up crashing the night at Steve's place.

The next day started with a casual chat with Steve and his wife before Steve showed off his ever-improving culinary skills with the chef-standard omelette. That afternoon I went to the start of an old friend's bucks party which was barefoot bowling at Moorooka (where I used to live). It was a beautiful afternoon and perfect for lawn bowls and a couple of beers. The form on the greens was rather inconsistent to say the least, but I did have my moments. That night I went to the parents for dinner and as always mum cooked up a feast! Bowls was supposed to include a BBQ lunch but it didn't happen so by the time I got to the parents I was STARVING. Mum delivered the goods with a malaysian curry buffet and I'm pretty sure I had thirds. After that settled there were some home-made chocolate brownies straight from the oven ... mmmmmmm.

Sunday morning is always a leisurely affair at the folks place. Sleep in, have breakfast and enjoy hours of Foxtel programming. Simpsons, Sex & The City and plenty of property/renovation shows. After lunch I eventually hit the road, did some grocery shopping, got to the gym and then had dinner. Still ... no poker played.

When I finally did get online tonight, I of course caught up on goings on at the World Series of Poker. In the final event before the Main Event, one of Assassinato's friends, Faraz Jaka came 3rd in the $5K 6-handed no-limit hold'em picking himself up a cool $400K prize money. I'm sure he's disappointed not to have won but its a great result in a field of 928 players. Good going Faraz!

The Main Event itself got underway yesterday and day 1b finished today. With almost 1000 players starting both days its very hard to find out how players you follow got on. It'll be easier to figure out who's in and who's out when we get to day 2 and 3.

Anyway, I promise there will be more poker talk next post ...

The Brisbane Broncos in their Lance Armstrong inspired yellow jerseys

July off to a flyer

Having not played online poker for the last few days, I was sort of itching to get on PokerStars tonight. Quiet afternoon at work so I shut up shop half an hour early and headed home. The original plan was to get changed and head to the gym but convinced myself it would be too packed and I would go later.

My first two tournaments didn't go too well, two 45 man tournaments that I made the final 2 tables of but couldn't get lucky at the right time and failed to cash. The next two went better and I min-cashed another 45 man finishing in 7th while I was focussed more on the final table of a 90 man tournament that I had made.

The 90 man tournament was a huge comeback as I was in trouble with about 30 players left. I ended up getting my short-stack in a 5 way pot and caught top pair on the flop, someone bet out on the turn with pocket kings and I hit another jack on the river to survive and chip up massively. I played the final table fairly well but as usual was facing a chip deficit when it came to heads up. The blinds were so high relative to the chip stacks at this stage that I had to be aggressive. I took down a large pot and had a huge lead but I couldn't my opponent to the sword. I kept pushing pre-flop with an ace in my hand and twice including the knock-out hand I got called by queen jack and he caught a jack. On the final hand it came on the river for him so I finished in 2nd. I kept getting my money in whilst ahead so I'm happy with how I played the heads-up battle.

Surprisingly, after that tournament finished I managed to walk away from the laptop and did actually go to the gym for a cardio session.

After a shower and something to eat I was back on PokerStars for a few more games. Two hours of Stars of Poker was on OneHD so I didn't plan on playing for too long. Like the afternoon games, the first 90 man tournament didn't go too well finishing 26th. The other 3 games went a LOT better tho.

I final tabled the last 3 games I played, first finishing 3rd in a 45 man tournament before getting a 1st place in another one. The final game of the night was a 90 man and thanks to a few eliminations late I came 3rd.

So out of 8 tournaments played, I cashed 5 times, won 1, second in 1 and third in 2. It had been a while (start of June) since I had actually won a tournament so it was nice to chalk up a win on the first day of the month.

Bankroll US$367