Made my 2010 debut at the Eastern Poker Tour tables last night. I hadn’t played live since November.

We started with 5 tables. I busted out, boat over boat in 16th.

Final Hand
There were eight players at the table. This was the third or fourth hand after we redrew, so, half the table was unfamiliar to me and I was unfamiliar to half the table. I was Big Blind. Everyone folded around to the Button.

Button was one of the chip leaders at the table. Blinds were 1000/2000. He raised 3x BB, Small Blind folded, I shoved All In for 13700 with pocket 4s. It’s a no brainer for the Button to call, but, he did tank for a little bit and I thought that was a hopeful sign. He had me on pocket 7s. Finally, he called, and turned over Q J offsuit.

Flop was incredible: Q 4 J
Woo Hoo! I had trips to his two pair!

Turn: 8
Neither of us improves and I still have a chance to win it!

River: J
Wa Wa Wa… My Fours over Jacks get busted by his Jacks over Queens.

Great rollercoaster of a last hand! That’s what makes playing no limit hold’em fun.

I’m planning on being in Las Vegas for the 2010 WSOP Final Table…Just locked in my reservation by making the down payment on my room. I’ll be staying at the great place I stayed last year – The Signature at MGM Grand. Can’t beat the views!

I’ll also be attending Pubcon, and I added a couple of days for r&r and playing at the tables.

If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you already know that this past week I have been traveling Hawaii. Only one more week to go!

So far, I have been to Oahu, Lanai, and Maui. Hawaii is as beautiful as I had heard (my first time here) and I have enjoyed each island. Next island is the Big Island. Flying home on Thursday.

When you are visiting Hawaii, you MUST:

1. Stay in ocean front room at the Royal Hawaiin in Waikiki
2. Eat at Alan Wong’s on South King Street in Honolulu (Call weeks ahead for a reservation)
   

   “My friends thought I was nuts opening a restaurant in Hawaii on the 3rd floor of an office building with no parking and no ocean view.” (AW) Yet nearly 15 years later, the unique location of Alan Wong’s Restaurant Honolulu continues to be the heart of where it all started and where it all happens.

   Google Map to Alan Wong’s in Honolulu

3. Stay at Four Seasons Manele Bay, Lana’i City, for 3+ nights. Watch dolphins and whales playing right in front of your ocean front room. Take the shuttle to the Four Seasons Lodge to do non-water sports activities like skeet shooting and horseback riding.
   Google Map to Four Seasons Manele Bay

Ooops, time to go… I’ll continue later. Aloha…

This morning I opened my e-mail to find an offer from Phil Hellmuth’s Poker Brat Clothing Company. Phil’s online store is offering a 15% discount off any in-stock item through December 31st. No one in my immediate circle has the interest and enthusiasm for no limit hold’em like I do, so, shopping for poker paraphernalia was not on my list of things to do today. Then I remembered that I do reviews on books, videos and DVDS here, so, I thought, heck, buy one or two DVDs. Get 15% off and do the reviews. Niiiiicce.

Not knowing which DVDs might draw the most favorable reviews, I hopped over to amazon.com and searched for Phil Hellmuth DVDs to see what kinds of reviews had been posted. I was underwhelmed. The reviews are not flattering. SO, I decided to compare prices to see if there was a financial reason I could use to rationalize a purchase. Here’s what I found…

The best deal I saw was on the Supercourse. However, the reviews (only 2 btw), are so negative, that I don’t want to invest my time and money in ordering, having to watch, then having to write reviews. (I didn’t base the decision on just those 2 reviews; I read all the reviews for all the other DVDs/videos as well.)

This little research task helped me realize that I want to give good reviews. I at least want to start out with the premise that the material will be good. So, Thank You Phil Hellmuth for bringing this prejudice to light and helping me understand that I need to re-visit my review strategy. Afterall, a review is a review. I need to be truthful, present the facts, and detached from the outcome.  

And, Thank You Phil for the discount offer. I won’t be taking you up on that this year.

Have you seen any of these videos/DVDs?  Use comments to tell us your review.

Happy Friday!  Thought you’d enjoy a little entertainment after a hard work week…

Here’s another guitar solo by Gary Moore. No vocals. Starts out slow, but, ramps up to an unbelievable frenzy. Grab your coffee. It’s about 10 minutes. Worth evey second. He’s quite a technician. Feel like I was taken back to school on this one.

Gary Moore – Live – Messiah Will Come Again

Got a favorite performance? Share in comments…

Last night I played my eleventh EPT (Eastern Poker Tour) No Limit Hold Em tournament in Milford MA. I wanted to win so that I could secure entry into the Eastern Poker Tour’s Championship event in January. I came SOOOO close…but it wasn’t meant to be.

Played heads-up. Heads-up play started out looking good for me. First hand, my A 5 o beat my opponent’s pr K.  I had my opponent out-chipped almost 6:1 (like $290K to 50K). Then it was over in a matter of 4 - 5 hands. I got my money in with the best cards every time…and the boards favored him. 

Here’s how the reversal of fortune played out…

One hand…I’m in the Small Blind. Blinds were 20K and 40K. Other player is down to the felt and goes All In with 9 2 o. I had K 6 o and figured I had to call with any two cards in order to finish this up. I’m favored…and he gets two pr and doubles up.

Another hand…I was in the Small Blind. Blinds still at 20K and 40K. Other player goes All In with 5 4 o. I called. He gets a straight and doubles up again. I learn that he is going to shove with any two cards.

The very next hand… Blinds still at 20K and 40K. I was in the Big Blind with a pr A. Other player had Q J o and went all in. I called. Board came with K ? 9. Forgetable card on the Turn and the River was a 10. A miraculous hit! He doubles up again!

Came in 2nd. Won $25.00. Earned 122 points for the event, and my average points earned per tournament is at 65+.

After 6 Eastern Poker Tour tournaments, I was in 134th place in the Season’s Top 200 for the Central Massachusetts Region.  This was my eleventh EPT No Limit Hold Em tournament, so, once the numbers are upated, I should move up substantially. Cut-off ranking for the Championship is currently at 63rd place.

Not too many posts. Been working on adding pages. Added:

1. 2009-2010 WSOP Circuit Schedule
2. Events remaining on the 2009-2010 WPT Schedule
3. List of Poker Hall of Fame Members

Wednesday night I played my tenth no limit hold em tournament with the Eastern Poker Tour (EPT). I was out before the end of the second level. Call it 28 minutes. Saddest part is that it took me longer to drive to the venue than the amount of time I had played.  Attempting to salvage my drive, I hung around for the “bad beat” table. I blinded out of that in 15 minutes.

During regular playI really wasn’t getting good cards. Not that that should stop me, but, I believe that if you are going to make a play, you should have a hand that has some possibility of hitting.  I was not getting those types of hands.

The first hand that put a dent in my stack depleted it by $4.1K. (I probably had 9.4K in my stack.) The blinds were at $100/$200. My opponent check-called all the way to the River. On the River he bet $1700. There was $6900 in the pot.  

Hummm… I had Ks Up – a pr Ks and the pr Qs on the board. Had he slow-played As? Ks? Could he possibly have another Queen?  I made a comment about the 2 Qs spooking me and he responded with something vague. As he did, he leaned back in his chair in a micro second of self-assuredness. (Thank you Joe Navarro!) So he had the Q. I called the $1700 in case my read was wrong, I didn’t want to leave that big a pot to someone without a fight. Got my tail whipped but my read validated.  Guess that is the cost of doing business.

The second hand…Blinds were $200/$400. I was UTG. After the flop, I had 2 pr – Ks and a small Pr. My opponent was in the Big Blind. He bet the minimum on each round (which I called thinking that I was going to make a move on the River), until the River when he bet enough to put me all in. Hummm… The River brought another J, so now there were 2 Js on the board. Is it possible that he has a J in his hand? Oh YEAH, it was possible. He had played J 7 from the Big Blind, and I let him get the win by not raising on the Flop or the Turn. One J came on the flop, but, I think he would have given it up then since I was playing really tight and had opened the pot from UTG. BUT – You have to think it through then and there and pull the trigger. I was slow playing Ks up and got burnt.

September 2009 was the first month that I played no limit hold’em tournaments with the Eastern Poker Tour. So how’d I do?

September stats for PokaPaloma
I played in 8 tournaments and placed in the top sixteen 5 times. I earned 519 points for the month. I played in two regions: Central Massachusetts and Worcester City, so, I have a rank in both regions.

For all tournaments (combined regions), I placed 72 out of the top 100.

For Central Mass., I placed 49 out of the top 100.

For Worcester Region, I placed 31 of out the top 100.

I am looking forward to my trip to Mohegan Sun Saturday night. I’m hoping for better results than my trip in April. You’ll recall…

• Poker Debut at Mohegan Sun
• My Poker Lesson at Mohegan Sun

I think the recent live play experience with the EPT will  be a big help, and it has taught me even greater patience. I’ll have to remember that the recent live play has been in no limit hold’em tournaments, and, although I’ll be playing no limit hold’em, it will be straight live play. No need to feel pressured to go All In.  Take the other players in. Pace myself. Move when I can. 

Some friends will not be joining me as the word on the street is that Mohegan Sun is not giving any winnings, well, not as frequently as Foxwoods… Hummm…I am hoping to prove them wrong!

I will write up a new review of the Poker Room (old review is Moghegan Sun Poker Room) and recount the events in the blog on Sunday.