Thanksgiving Nostalgia

Did I spell that word right? Oh well. Thanksgiving always makes me think of family, the good old days, and of course past poker stories. I have played over a million hands of poker in the last five years. While the overwhelming majority of the hands I've played have come from the internet, most of my best stories come from playing live. I was thinking about what to write in my blog on the trip home from Columbus, OH tonight (by the way, I spent an amazing Thanksgiving with my family and the Mott family so thanks to all of you especially Rachel, my fiance) and I decided for the Holiday season I would cut back on my jabs about other people's play and maybe, just maybe, cut back on the conceited remarks I always add about how superior my play is compared to the "world". Don't worry, this is just for one post. Instead I'll write of memories past. These are just a fraction of the stories and reasons why I love the game of poker. I wouldn't try to become a professional poker player if it was just for the money.

I remember:

-The first time we played live No Limit-Hold'em for money. We played ten cent/twenty cent blinds on the kitchen table at my house. The average buy in was around three dollars and I think Nate Woodard was the high roller, buying in for $5. He was the first player to be considered good. He was consistent, tight, cute, mathematical, patient and most importantly, knew how to fold Ace-Four off suit to a re-raise pre-flop. I do remember a few of the donkeys trying to make a straight out of QKA23, better known as the wrap-around back then. Somehow we knew that Aces & deuces beat Kings & Queens, but the face cards looked so much cooler. Lastly, we always made sure we clarified whether or not we were enforcing "The Sixth Kicker" rule that particular night. That rule was great for breaking up ties when two people had the same hand (same five cards). For example, on a board of AKKT2, if Gabe held Ace-Nine in his hand (AAKKT), he would beat Brian S.'s Ace-Six (AAKKT) because his "Sixth kicker" was higher. I guess we were all donkeys back then, but that quickly changed... for some of us.

*Special shout out to Frenchy W. for reading my blogs. It's great to learn I have dedicated readers in St. Louis. What's not great is learning that he only reads my blog while he's taking a shit.

PokerStars.com's Pot-Limit Hold'em $10-rebuy 1st Place!

1st place, baby. It's been a long time since I won a Multi-table tournament online. Sure, I've been deep with a lot of chips many times over the past two months, but a 1st place has avoided me. This tournament wasn't a gimme as it could have easily been the hardest tournament I have ever won.

I have been focusing on my game a lot more in the past two weeks. I stopped playing and starting reading again. I have been reading David Sklanky's Theory on Hold'em and many articles via the web. How can I not have had my break through win? How can I not be making five grand a week? How can I not be playing in the major tournaments? Well maybe none of these questions were answered tonight, but I definitely gained back a little confindence with the win tonight (as if I ever lost it).

There were eight players left playing four-handed at two table with the blinds at $400-$800 when I got involved with the player with the second most in chips. DevinR12 was his screen name. I was re-raised after I opened for a pot-sized bet and decided to move with my AK suited four-handed five outside the money agaisnt the 2nd in chips loose-aggressive player. Make sense? Anyway, he called off all his chips and put his tournament life at stake with a 27.6% chance. His AQ off suit outdrew my AK suited and I lost a chance to be Chip leader iwth 72,000 compared to second place's 18,000. Oh, baby! What a great spot that would have been, right? I ended up with only 12,000 in chips after the hand was done and fell into 6th place. But needless to say, I didn't give up.

Thanks to Mike K. and Kevin P., my roomies who were sweatin' me, I fought back and quickly moved up to the top two in chips. It stayed this way until I found myself with heads-up at a 2 to 1 chip disadvantage. But there's more to the story. The whole tournament railbirds (people talking in the chatroom that were not in the tournament) were commenting on how great "DevinR12" is. Who is this guy? Well, he has made over $265,000 in the last year playing online poker. He is an online pro and better yet, the number one player from last week out of all 9.2 million PokerStars.com player. Are you kidding me? This guy should have been out an hour ago.

I played small pot poker against this over-aggressive opponent and made a few big plays with nothing. I re-raised him PF with 83o and showed it to him just to let him know he wasn't going to run me over the whole match. The big hand came down when I called a raise from the BB with K7s and check called the flop of QJ7. He pot bet (huge bet) on the turn and I decided from observing his past plays and his betting patterns that he was on a draw and was trying to get me out. I called off all my chips when I re-raised him all in when he was pot-committed and with third pair no draw with a straighting and flush possible board and was CORRECT! He had a draw and I was 72% for all the money. Boom! A blank! Now I have the chip lead and all the momentum. He went out a few hands later when he moved all-in on me on the turn drawing dead. First place was all mine!

It felt so good to come back from the terrible beat this "pro" gave me to make the final six and to cash and comeback from a 2 to 1 chip disadvantage.

Tournament Pot-Limit Hold'em is my specialty. You just might see me in the $2,500 Pot-Limit Holdem bracelet events at 2008's World Series of Poker. I'm not quite ready now but with the amount of practice, reading, studying, and effort I am and will continue to put out towards my game... can anyone really beat me? I played better and I am a better played than the number one out of 9.2 million online players last week. Once I start playing full-time when I graduate from the University of Dayton, I will be the player all the railbirds are talking about.

P.S. My dad who has earned five degrees from UD including his PhD. in Electrical Engineering is going back to school this time at Harvard to be a Pattern Attorney. A special congrats to him and my brother as he is going through his first year at UC Law School! =)

A new run...

This picture is one of me from Halloween. Yes, I went as Phil Hellmuth, Jr. I don't remember as much as I wish but it was a great time and fun to see more people recognize the Poker Brat than the first time I went as him back in 2004! Come on, admit it... I look good.

November is going to be a big month for me in many ways. You will get to see the poker side. I am getting back into poker 100%. I am excited to starting playing NL cash games again online and at the B & M.

I am going to start grindin' it out online playing multi-tables and build up the BR on PokerStars.com.

It's so cold right now at my campus house. It's amazing whether you like company or not that at least another person can add heat to your night.

I'm going to start concentrating on improving my live poker game and my concentration online as well. I do not believe in luck. I do not go on tilt. These are two of the reasons why I am so strong as a poker player. I need to expand my knowledge of advanced poker theory which will be easier now that I bought an autographed copy, nonetheless, of David Sklanksky's Theory of Poker and William Chen's Mathematics of Poker. Stay tuned as I will update more often and start diving in to the game I will play the rest of my life.

I love sitting down at the table.