Playing Poker with the Big Guns

About a month ago I had the honor of playing in a charity poker tournament held at actor Hank Azaria's home. As a fan of High Stakes Poker and the WSOP on ESPN, I'd never imagined that I would be playing with the Hollywood poker elite that I see on television. But that is the beauty of poker right? Anyone can play. To be honest, it was a bit intimidating being around all these people. My boyfriend and I walked in like we hang out with celebs all the time, doing our best to play it cool but inside we were bursting with excitement. We would lean into each other and whisper, "OMG there's... Hank Azaria, Sam Simon, Brad Garrett, Kevin Pollack, Mike 'Silent Mike' Baxter, Ioan Gruffudd, Corey Feldman, Jason Alexander, Mike Sexton, Nick Cassavetes, Grant Heslov and Jon Landau!" We couldn't believe it. I'm sure a lot of big shot writers, producers and ceo's were there, but I really only knew the people I had seen on TV or in the movies. Most of the guests were 30s and up, so there wasn't any young internet phenoms playing. As long as I wasn't next to Mike Sexton I figured I'd be fine with the competition.

At noon, the tournament director called everyone to the tent to get started. It was a pretty big tent in his backyard, and underneath was enough tables to hold the estimated 150 players all vying for the grand prize, a seat to this years WSOP main event. My boyfriend and I part ways and sit down at our assigned seats. I don't know anyone at my table, but one guy is a producer for the WPT and The Big Game, and another guy won the charity tournament last year. I look over at my boyfriend and he's got Nick Cassavetes and Grand Heslov at his table. And just as everyone has pretty much sat down, Mike Sexton comes to our table and sits down on my right! I couldn't believe I was sitting at the table with him. He introduces himself to me, I introduce myself back and I say with a smile, "I know who you are, I'm a big fan of yours." He was the nicest guy, just like you would imagine him to be. He was showing everyone at the table photos of his two year old son on his iphone. The best part of this experience, I'm on his LEFT. Thank you Lord!

It was a deep stack event, we started with 10,000 in chips, starting blinds were 25/50, going up every 20 minutes, so no need to go crazy in the first few levels. If you were planning on winning this event, (which I was of course) you would need to be prepared to be there till 9 or 10pm. I was pretty card dead in the beginning, but I did get pocket Queens in the big blind. Mike Sexton had raised in the Small Blind after the button limped in, I reraised. Button folded, Mike thought about it and then finally folded. I showed him my hand, just because I couldn't help myself. He said he had AJ and should have called or shoved on me. I was just happy to take down the pot.

I'll tell you what, watching so many poker shows and you see these people play on TV, the knowledge of how they play really does come back to you if you pay attention. One example, the guy who was the producer for the WPT, I remember seeing him at a final table on that show, and they did a piece on him, how he learned poker from editing all that footage for the WPT. Then he went on to explain how he used reverse tells, etc on people. So it was funny because I would watch him and I knew what he was doing. He would raise and then stare at the person, acting like he was pretending he was strong, but I knew he was strong. Then another hand, he three barrel bluffed this guy who then shoved on him at the river. The producer guy folded his hand because it was crap and that guy took down a nice pot. Turned out that river shove guy was a bit of a nut job, he would check call and then shove on the river to several people, showing an inferior hand every time. Then Mike Sexton would say, "That man has a lot of heart right there!" Ok pinch me!

Luckily I got moved after three levels at that table. Not only was I card dead but one hand had me low on chips. I tried to raise and take down a pot but check call shove river guy was in it with me. I whiffed on the flop, I led out anyway and he called of course. I didn't want to go broke with a bluff shove in case that guy called me, so that put me low on chips. Funny enough I get moved to the left of my boyfriend. He was doing pretty well, he had hit a set against a guys aces and doubled up through that. Not only am I next to him, but I get Nick and Grant at the table as well. I'm excited because I've seen Nick play on HSP and I can't wait to see how he plays here. First hand I have KJ on the button, it's folded to me, I shove and take down the blinds and antes. Next hand KQ sooted. Nick raises UTG, I shove all in, everyone folds, Nick calls. He tells the dealer to just run it and he doesn't turn over his hand, so I keep mine face down as well. A queen hits on the turn so I know I at least have a pair. Nick says you probably got it, I have Ace high. I flip over my hand, and I get a nod of approval from him. So now I'm doing pretty well. We go on break and everyone at the table I just got moved to gets moved to other tables because they were six handed.

I run off to use the restroom and on my way back I run into Nick. We shake hands and introduce ourselves, I love how I pretend like oh yeah Nick Cassavetes, nice to meet you, like I have no clue. I tell him thanks for the double up, we talk about a few hands and then I head back to my new table. I kid you not, the table they moved me to, I end up sitting to the left of Hank Azaria. This day keeps getting cooler by the second. Since he is the host of the party, he had pretty much everyone coming up and talking to him while he played. I was able to sneak in a quick conversation with him. I'm a big fan of Top Chef Masters, and he was a judge for one of the episodes. So I figured I'd ask him about his experience on that. He told me how he didn't even get to talk to the chefs, they just had him judge and that was it. He was extremely nice and very open to talk to. His wife ended up bringing their baby boy to the table and put him in Hank's lap. He was so cute, but he kept putting poker chips in his mouth. I don't think that was too clean but it kept him busy.

I continued my hot streak at this table as well. Six of us in a min-raised pot, I have pocket 5's. Flop comes J 5 8, two diamonds. The original raiser bets, this one girl calls, I'm last to act and shove all in since there was straight and flush draws. It's possible someone could have a higher set but it didn't seem likely. The original raiser folds, then the girl goes hmm well I guess I have to call. My stomach dropped a bit, worried about a big draw, but she ends up calling off all her chips with K Q off suit! Um ok, thank you?! Everyone at the table was kind of stunned, I turned to the guy on my left and whispered, was she playing like that the whole time? He just kind of shook his head in wonder. I won of course and she got knocked out. As I was pulling in all my chips, Nick Cassavetes and Mike Sexton start shouting at me from the other table. Ok can this day get more surreal? Nick C and Mike Sexton are shouting MY NAME and clapping at how many chips I have??!! Pinch me again!

I continue to build my stack with a nice hand, the old J 3 off suit. This one guy was raising a lot of pots at my table, and unlike my first table where there were crazy guys willing to fight for it, this one was more tame and full of guys just wanting to talk to Hank. I was in the Big Blind and not willing to let this guy run over me. I call. Flop is 3 8 9. He bets out, I raise figuring he didn't have any of that, he makes the call. Turn is a J, now there are two spades on the board. Ok possible straight and now a flush draw, but I have two pair. He bets out, I raise again, he calls. River is another J. Yeahhhh. He bets, I put him all in and he calls with A6 spades. I guess he felt pot committed. Everyone got a look at my crap hand and that built my reputation for that table! I hear one guy at the end say to the guy next to him, "bottom pair good enough for a raise?" Hehe. Next hand I get pocket Aces. I raise ( I hear that same guy say "she knows how to use that big stack") this old lady shoves all in with pocket sixes, I make the call. She hits her set and wins, and I could tell people at the table where happy for her because I was taking them out one by one lol.

Awhile goes by, I get moved again. We are now down to just four tables, 36 of us left. Mike Sexton is at this table, as well as the guy who won the tournament last year. In the beginning the guy who won the tournament was showing down all these crazy hands and talking about how 6 4 was his favorite, so I had some idea of how he played. He raised my big blind from UTG +1, I had K 8 spades and made the call. The flop came 10 8 4. I checked, he bet, I raise, he goes all in. The way he went all in, I knew he had something. I ended up folding and asked him if he had 6 4, he said he had two pair 10 8. I don't know for sure, but I could tell he had something good. He ended up going all in in an exciting hand with Mike Sexton. He played one of his crap hands, a sooted 3 4, made a flush on the turn and Mike had a set of Kings. He shoves all in on Mike in the same manner with me. Mike took a long time but finally made the call, and made a full house on the river. LUCKY!

Now we are down to three tables, my boyfriend is out of the tournament in 34th place so it's up to me to win the grand prize. Top 18 made into the prizes. At my new table I get to play with Hank Azaria, Jason Alexander, Silent Mike and Iaon Gruffudd (he's an actor, played that stretchy guy in Fantastic Four). Iaon is on my right, then Silent Mike, then Hank, and then Jason. Very cool. I hear Hank whisper to Jason, "that girl knows how to play" as a warning. Awesome. By this time blinds and antes are so high and it's pretty much shove or fold mode. UTG raises, Hank goes all in, I have pocket aces and I shove all in. The UTG guy takes a long time and then finally folds. We flip our hands and Hank has pocket queens. UTG guy is like I had pocket 9s. He seemed pissed about his lay down, but it was a good one considering our hands. Of course because Hank is all in, everyone comes over to the table and is rooting for him. I end up knocking him out, surreal moment #14! We shake hands, I feel bad but someone had to do it and it got to be me! What a great story to tell. Funny enough a nine came on the turn and that guy about keeled over.

Going back to my past observation of watching the celebs play on TV and then you play with them live, I was able to tell when Jason was going to try and bluff and the same with Silent Mike. Silent Mike was a very cool guy, I had him change out some of my chips for the antes. He didn't say much, surprise surprise! He went on a tear and just kept shoving to get all those chips in the pot. I was pretty card dead and it was looking bleak. Jason raises, I could tell he wasn't too happy with his hand, so I happily shoved all in with AK sooted, but then the small blind goes all in. Crap. Jason reluctantly calls off the rest of his chips. He has KQ off, my AK sooted, and SB has AA. Dang it. He knocks out me and Jason. I finish in 21st place, just shy of getting a prize! Ah well, the experience was a huge prize in the end for me.

By this time it was 7pm and I was tired and knew I needed to get home and take out the doggies. I walk up and say goodbye to Nick C and Mike Sexton and my boyfriend and I head up to the valet. Jason Alexander walks up right behind us and we just start chatting with him. I talk to him about the last hand, his sponsorship with Pokerstars, etc. He was so down to earth and cool, just a great guy to talk to. He was funny because he was saying how he already had his entry into the main event from Pokerstars so he was just playing for fun. Our car arrived and we hopped in and drove home. I have to say, a Saturday couldn't get much better than that!

Almost a year... Variance in life and Poker

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a year since I have written on this blog. I was looking around at other blog titles and found some people did just one post and it was in 2004. I think domain names should expire if no one uses their blog for a certain amount of time so others can use the same blog title if they want. Anyway, onto poker related news. I have taken a break from the game, I think its been a month now, and I have only played a couple of sng's. I belong to a poker forum www.pokernations.com and I have won several prizes there. First prize, I won a free month subscription to www.deucescracked.com if you poker players out there are not on a video training website, I can't recommend it enough. It is really helpful if books and playing on your own isn't garnering the results that you want. I have to say I've learned a lot since I've last blogged, and one of the key things I learned is VARIANCE. All my previous posts/woes could have been avoided if I really understood and came to terms with variance. Because if you play your best, then that is the best you can do, and if your aces get cracked five times in a row, so be it. The second prize I won was an entry into a charity tournament at the Bike casino hosted by Annie Duke on April 3rd. I'm really excited to be a part of it, even if it is a shovefest. I talked with a member of the Poker Players Alliance, they are the one that sponsored this prize, and he pretty much told me no one knows what they are doing at these events, so I think I might have a slight chance if my cards hold up in the flip situations. If you guys aren't a member of Poker Nations or the Poker Players Alliance, they are both great groups to be a part of and are welcoming communities.

In non-poker news, I am still unemployed. So I've started a journal at livejournal.com, in which I've joined up with one of their communities, the unemployed one of course lol. I'll post those posts on this blog as well. This all goes back to my gripe about not being able to use blog titles from the beginning of the post. I'll stick with my poker blog, but it will have all the crazy interviews from me being unemployed as well. Feel free to talk about that and poker. Good luck at the tables.

Full house vs Full house

Today was bad beat central for me, but instead of complaining about all the crap that happened to me, I thought I would post the one hand that I re-sucked out on.

Me 8 7 Villain 5 5

Flop A 8 8
Turn 5
River A

What the?

What the hell is up with Full Tilt's tourny history? You can barely read the font to see any results. I just finished another poker book, this one is an old school cheapy one I picked up in the Borders bargain section for 3 bucks. It focuses on limit poker and stud, and was written right after Moneymaker won the WSOP. It had some good basic advice, one bit I am going to start doing is keeping track of everything. I used to go to the link from full tilt but now since I can't friggin read it I'm going to write down all my results. I have my hand history to look at as well on the hard drive from years ago. A lot of info on how to improve my game. My bankroll small as it is, is going up on Fulltilt. I had it down to under a dollar and now I have it up to almost $30. Pokerstars hasn't been so good to me and I'm at $30 there too, down from $50. Gotta keep grinding away.

I noticed on Pokerstars there is at least one person every tourny with a huge stack who sits out until they make it to the money and then they come back. One good thing that Pokerstars does is when someone doesn't come back when they run out of chips they don't have a showdown they just get knocked out. I like that better than at Full tilt where they can keep doubling up. Ok random thoughts, back to the tables.

still focused...

Yay! I'm on my game finally. I got unlucky in a 6 man, my set was busted by a flush, but I won an 18 man sng. I also made 8th in a wsop freeroll, so I'm doing well. I think not giving up is key.

Finally!

OK finally I won!! whoohoo! after an afternoon of feeling defeated, and knowing I did not play my best heads up, I got myself together and won two sng's. One was a satellite to the daily dollar...cuz I ran out of money lol, and then I won a 6 man sng and came in 2nd in a 9 man sng. So now I have some $$ and I have to build it back up with those $1 tournies. I didn't feel like playing pokerstars today, even though I need to earn those points, but my full tilt bankroll is so sad I had to work on it. It used to be really high and then I played like a donk and almost lost it all. I think I realized one of my biggest mistakes is not LEARNING from my mistakes. It's not good to be a repeat offender. The heads up battle I won I fought hard! I had the best hand twice going all in to knock them out but they caught up both times, I had AQ vs A9, they catch a 9, and I had KK vs A8 they catch not one, but two aces. I fought my way back and they shoved with A4 and I had KK and thankfully they held up and I finally won. It feels good to know I gave it my best...