Nobody remembers 2nd place

Last night a few of my friends and I got together and played a 10 man tourney for a case of beer each. The format plays out almost identical as a sit-n-go as the blinds increase semi-fast and "play" only last the first hour when the blinds are still relatively small to our chip stacks.

I went in wanting to play a lot of pots early because I knew I could out play my opponents. I wanted to stay out of the way of Gabe (my brother, seated to my right) and Joe D. (another strong player).

The first big hand came down with the blinds at $10-$20 (started with $1,500 chips) and I had 8h-8s in the BB. The table folded around to the button who opened for $70. I defended in the BB because I was sure I had the best hand and this was one of the guys I thought I could dominate. My goal was to check-call almost every hand I played against him because he is loose/aggressive player who plays way too many hands and almost of them poorly. The flop came 9h-7s-5d and I checked to him. He bet out $120 and I called quickly. The turn was a bad card, the Qh. I thought this might have hit him but he just looked to uncomfortable as he bet out another $150. I called again and the river brought another Q, the Qd. This was actually a good card for me as now the Villian couldn't have rivered me. My only play here is to check and induce a bluff or lose the minimum if I am beat. The villian bets out $350! Why? What could he have here? He raised pre-flop and bet every round. Is he value betting? If he had a hand like A9 or TT - would you really value bet here? I think you would have to check it for value so it led to me thinking this was a bluff. He looked nervous but this bet was still for 25% of my remaining chips. I called and sure enough the Villian table A6 for nothing! "Boom," I said as I slammed my cards down. I read the hand perfect and took the chip lead.

I continued to play small pot poker, limping in with a wide range of hands in position in steailng a lot of pots on the flop. The next big hand came whenI found Ah-Th in the BB with 5 limpers out of 9! The blinds were $30-$60 so there was $300 in the pot! I studied for a few short moments and figured I wanted to raise and put the pressure on the shorter stacks. I made a pot size bets and one of the guys I was trying to play hands with (a loose cannon) called me. The flop was great, Ad-4h-9c. I heard people at the table say "I bet he has 7-2 off-suit" referring to me so I wanted to continue the story as if I was bluffing. I led out half the pot and played B quickly moved all-in. I thought for just a quick second as you should always do but this is exactly what I wanted. Make a play like I am trying to be aggressive and steal the pot with a hand and have a weak opponent come over the top. This is the Hellmuthian style of poker (not to make any comparisons) and I made the call. Yes! He had Kc-Td (nothing!). I was roughly 97% to win which is always great trapping an opponent that bad. I know had a huge chip lead and held it all the way till we got four handed.

My brother had been playing really tight and it seemed as though he was card dead most of the tourney. It was shame because we didn't get to see his creativity and excellent NL play. With five people left my brother limped UTG and I did as well with 9c-8c. Joe D. was in the BB and popped it to $400 ($50-$100 blinds). Gabe moved all-in for $1,400 total and in the end Joe D. called with Ah-Kh and Gabe showed cowboys, Kd-Kc. In the end Gabe's trap didn't mean as much as Joe D. would have most likely come over the top of a pre-flop raise from Gabe and all the money would have gotten in the middle anyway but Joe D. actually found him self all-in at a 28% underdog. The flop bricked out and Gabe looked great until the Ace came on 4th street and Gabe was left with 1 $25 chip. Gabe went out in 5th, Steve exited in 4th when Joe D. called his all-in with A5 and it held up to Steve's ten high.

The hand of the tournament came up when we were three handed and Joe D. made a standard raise from the button. The SB folded and I defended with 6h-5h. The flop was great, 6c-4h-2d. I had flopped top pair, inside sstraight draw, and a backdoor flush draw. The pot now stood at $1,600. I had around $5,000 chips and Joe D. had around $2,800 left. I decided to check-raise him all-in. I was hoping for a fold but I put the pressure on him and had a hand to back it up. He knew I wasn't on a stone cold bluff but he made the call with an overpair, 9d-9c. It was a good call, the correct call. He was once again all-in but this time he was a 58% favorite. I turned a flush draw giving me any heart, 6, 5, or 3 for the win but the river was a blank. I now lost the chip lead but I made the correct play as more often then not, Joe will not have a hand worth calling. There was a lot in the pot and my aggressive play made Joe have to call all of his chips off at under a 3-2 favorite.

The last hand of the tourney came when I moved in with Ks-Ts from the button for $2,400 total to $200-$400 blinds and was called by Joe D's As-7x and Player C's Jh-9h. Joe's Ace high won the pot and knocked out two players to win it all. I finished second and obviously was upset not to win. I looked back and studied my play and I was pretty happy when I got home.

I played real patient the whole tourney. I made a few good reads and tough calls. Also, I stuck to my game plan and it worked out. You always have to adjust what you are doing depending on the players you are up against. This even means changing hand to hand - knowing when to be aggressive and when to slow down depending on your opponents tendencies.

Joe D. was involved in four all'ins. He was all-in with A5 to Steve's T2, AK to Gabe's KK, A7 to my KT and player C's J9, and his 99 to my 65 on the 6-4-3 flop and won them all. I on the other hand was all-in one time, when I moved in at 44%, and lost. I will take the 2nd place finish and try not to complain because I did profit making three times my buy-in.

Final Results:
10. X
9. Mike Molnar
8. Matt Wills
7. Cory Miller
6. Glenn Ferguson
5. Gabe Moorman
4. Steve Sanders
3. *Tony Westendorf
2. *Damian Moorman
1. *Joe Deliberato
*cashed

The main lesson that I will take from last night's tournament is that if I play my game (patient, focused, tight/aggressive) and make the best decisions I know how to then I will always be a threat to win any tournament I enter. Wait, that's not really a lesson. Although it's true... let me try that again. Adjust to your opponents when playing Hold'em.

#11 makes Phil #1

Congrats to Phil Hellmuth, Jr. for his world-record-breaking 11th gold WSOP bracelet!

As the World Turns...

I didn’t play any poker over the weekend because I was sick as hell. I traveled to Mansfield, OH with my fiancé for her grandparents’ 67th anniversary! It was a lot of fun playing wiffle ball, pool, and cornhole... and the weather was great!

I did miss out on a poker tournament while I was gone this weekend (although I might not have felt good enough to play in it). It was just a home game special ($10 buy-in NL). It’s always so fun playing live tournaments because the best players stand out a lot more. Unlike tournaments online, you can use the ability to read players at the table as well. I am at my best when I’m playing a large live NL tournament.

The WSOP is starting to pick up and it’s get more exciting everyday. Allen Cunningham just won his fifth bracelet last night. It’s his third bracelet in three years. Allen won it when he beats Jeffrey Lisandro in Event #13 – The Pot-Limit Hold’em World Championship.

Phil Hellmuth Jr. is back! Okay, he never really left. He still gets so much crap for being a "has-been” but he has proven that notion is wrong time and time again. He did have the best results out of ten thousand plus poker players who played in the WSOP last year. Does that mean anything? Hellmuth cashed in his 58th event at the WSOP (new record) a few days ago and is extremely deep in a tourney right now. Add another cash for him as he is second in chips with 9 players left out of 2,668 in Event #15 going for his 11th bracelet!

2007 WSOP is underway!

The 2007 WSOP (World Series of Poker) is now underway in Las Vegas, NV! It'll be interesting to see what stories develop at this year's series. A new record has already been set as Steve Billirakis of Chicago, Illinois, became the youngest bracelet winner ever at 21 years and ten days old!

Where is Hellmuth? As always I have been checking on his results and he has yet to cash, but it is still early. I would love to see him get his 11th bracelet at this year's series. He is the greatest NL Hold'em tournament player alive today (Stu Ungar has a record that could be argued against Phil's). Check out his classic fold on the video feed on the right hand side as he dodges bullets during the Main Event in '05.

If you're as interested as me in what is going on at the WSOP and don't want to wait till it airs on ESPN in a few months then check out http://www.cardplayer.com and watch up to the minute updates on the players and the tournaments.

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

As I am writing to you today, I must deal with the Bodog poker table continuously "popping" up and alerting me that is my turn to act. It's hard enough to keep track of records with regards to poker, but I am going to keep this site up to post my history (stories, results, theories, etc.) on the game of Hold'em.

I would like to start off by telling you a little about myself. My name is Damian Moorman. I am 21 years from Dayton, OH (home of Chip Reese and Ron Rose). I am a senior studying Communications at the University of Dayton. I have written, produced, and recorded two CDs with my brother and band FMO. We have played hundreds of shows and sold over three thousand CDs.

I have an amazing family which includes my fiiancée Rachel. We're planning on getting married next summer (July '08) and will then move out to Las Vegas, NV (within 20 minutes of the city).

This is my journey to the top of the poker world. Thank you for sharing it with me.