Poker Slam

A few days ago I was contacted by Neal Gersony. He emailed Dayton2Vegas@yahoo.com and asked if I could review his new fictional book, Poker Slam. I agreed and he sent me a copy to my apartment and included a nice note of thanks. What a nice guy!

Neal Gersony has his own poker site, PokerSlamU.com, that offers instructional courses to help beginner and advanced players. He's cashed at the World Series of Poker and has earned over $225,000 in tournaments.

I'm excited to read and review Neal's book. All the reviews of Poker Slam that I've read online have been extremely positive. Check back to Dayton2Vegas.com soon for the full review!

Check out Poker Slam on Amazon today!

Black Friday Death

Unbelievable.

A man who worked at Wal-Mart was killed this past weekend during "Black Friday" in New York. How sick is that? What kind of a world do we live in? The customers ran over the guy and sent four other people to the hospital, including a pregnant woman!

I hope no one will die on "Cyber Monday" as they now call today.

I pre-ordered two copies of The Dark Knight and managed to not injure anyone around me which is always nice. I hope everyone had a great and safe Thanksgiving!

Read the entire article here.

Top 20 SnG Player

Okay, not in the world... yet.

However, I am ranked in the top 20 on SharkScope.com for total profit in 2008 at middle stakes SnGs (and I've only been playing since August)! Even though being the best at middle stakes is somewhat like being the tallest midget your town.

My goal for next year is to make over $100,000 playing $30 SnGs. I will be the #1 middle stakes SnG player in the world!

Peter Eastgate = 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion

Peter Eastgate, 22, of Denmark is the new World Series of Poker Main Event Champion!

His first place prize exceeds over 9 million dollars! Eastgate becomes the youngest player ever to win the Main Event. Sorry Phil (he was 24)!

Check out all the hand updates and information at CardPlayer.com!

T.S. Eliot

"For I have known them all already, known them all: Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons; I know the voices dying with a dying fall. Beneath the music from a farther room. So how should I presume?" - T.S. Eliot

Keeneland

Quick note:

I went to Keeneland in Lexington, KY with my brother and his law school classmates (two school buses full of them). It was an awesome new experience. No, Curlin wasn't there but the track was beautiful. Lastly, I want to throw in that I was 100% on my bets all day... 1 for 1. That's enough "gambling" for me in one weekend.

Thanks a lot to Gabrel for inviting me out with him for the weekend! =)

Anthony Holden Quote

"The difference between a gambler and a poker player is a crucially simple one. A gambler, be he one who bets on horses or sports events, on casino games or rain drops running down window panes, is someone who wagers unfavorable odds. A poker player, if he knows what he's doing, is someone who wagers favorable odds. The one is romantic, the other a realist." -Anthony Holden

The Greatest Sports Movie of All-Time.

Raging Bull (1980)

An emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring, destroys his life outside it.

The Money. The Girls. The Power.
He knew it all. He blew it all.

#3 on the American Film Institute's Top 100 Movies of All-Time
#73 on IMDb's Top 250 List
8 Oscar nominations - 2 wins (Best Actor - Robert De Niro)
7 Golden Globe nominations - 1 win (Best Actor - Robert De Niro)
98% = Rotten Tomatoes
-Directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Deniro and Joe Pesci.

Negreanu lays down KK pre-flop

Read Daniel Negreanu's blog about his big laydown. Was it the correct play?

"Hand 2: After coming back from break I pick up KK with blinds at 200-400 with a 50 ante from under the gun. I make a pretty sloppy, nonchalant raise to 1000 and it's called by the same loose player. Matt Keikwon, a player I know and am friends with, re-raised the bet to 3700, 2700 more. He didn't have a ton of chips, so I decided to just go ahead and make my claim for the pot right there. I re-raised another 6000 investing 9700 into the pot at that point.The other guy folds and it's back to Matt. He goes all in for an additional 20,100 more. I kind of hoped to get re-raised and go all in with this hand, but my guy was telling me Matt had to have AA here. Problem is, the pot is laying me a sick price to call. There is already over 20,000 in there so I'm getting over 2 to 1 odds with a pretty good hand! Besides that, after winning previous pot I was in decent chip position. I agonized for ages and then finally dumped the KK. Matt, being a bit of a smart ass, showed me one card, the Ace. Considering I had two of the KK that pretty much confirmed for me that he had AA. I doubt that he would do that with AK, so lifetime, I've folded KK pre-flop twice and believe that I'm one for two. The last time I did it years ago at Boragata the guy showed me QQ! Uh oh."

*ESPN WSOP coverage tomorrow night from 9-11pm. Tune in for Hellmuth's explosion. Less than 100 players left! Don't miss it!

Michael Phelps - The Poker Player?

Check out this extremely interesting interview Cardplayer ran with one of the greatest Olympic athletes ever. It turns out Phelps is a huge fan of the game. If you ran out of videos to watch on YouTube then check this article out. Phelps is two for four this year in making final tables! He just made a Final at a $1,500 buy-in event at the Bellagio out of a field of 187! How sick is that?

Cardplayer's Q & A with Michael Phelps.