My Aruba Trip...

[Talking Poker]

My goals for this tourney, in case anyone was wondering:

1. Make it through Day 1.
2. Make it into the money.
3. Cash for at least $10,000, so he people who bought shares of me will at least break even.
4. Make it to the final table (9 players) to get some more POY points (this is the least important goal).
5. Make the tv table (6 players).
6. Win the tourney and at least $1 million.

I can cross Goal #1 off the list now, but as you can see, I have a looooong way to go.

Like I did with my WSOP tourney, I will type up a detailed tourney report after I get home. I'm definitely not going to do that now though, as I wouldn't want any of my opponents to be able to get an edge

All in all though, the day went really well. I lost a good 25% of my chips in the first level, after getting called down with a 44 (no kidding) and being reraised on the river with a big AQ hand I had. I was realy hoping to start "up" early, but I managed to turn it around in Level 3 and it's been a steady climb since. I've only been all in where I could be knocked out once all day, and my top two pair held up (against a well played gutshot draw). The end of that hand was filmed, but the only way that will ever mke the air is if I make the tv final table. It wasn't very exciting.... just me cringing when I realized his 11k all in raise was a few hundred chips more than I had left and saying, "I don't think there is any way I can let this go" and calling, turning over top 2.

My stack was as high as maybe 42k or so. I lost $1400 on he final two hands of the night just by posting my BB (800) and SB (400) and antes (100 each). I would have loved to fight back against the blind thieves, but with 72o and 73o, literally, I figured there was no need to get silly.

Well, I guess that's all for now. I'm sure the UB blog and other sites will be updated with all the chips counts soon. I hope so anyway. I'm certainly not one of the leaders any more, but I am well above the average. I'm happy...

Now if you wil excuse me, TP needs to get in the pool!

[Talking Poker]

P.S. I LOVE live tournament poker. I mean, I really, really love it. Online MTTs are fun, but (and maybe because I'm not multi-tasking and doing 5 other things like when I play online), I'm able to get so much stronger reads on my opponent in real life. I don't just mean actual physical tells, but just really getting to know your opponents... knowing who to avoid, who to push around, etc.

I was moved twice today, which was annoying and a big disadvantage for a while... but the second move was to Table 1, so once I got settled there (which pretty much consisted of me folding for an hour), I was in good shape...

[omahilo]

did you play with any pros today?

Was wondering if you were sitting in on John Phan when he was going crazy throughout the day lol.

[jakebarf]

15th not bad after day 1. GL and have fun. YOU THE MAN!

[Talking Poker]

I see the blog has been updated and I am indeed 15th in chips out of the 79 players who survived. I'm happy with that.

John Phan was at the table next to mine when we started, but then both of our tables broke up and I didn't see much of him after that. Chatted with DevilFish during a bathroom break - he WAS doing really well, but I see he's down to 16k now.

The chip leader, James Van Alstyne - I played with him for a number of hours after I got moved to Table 1. He and Sdouble (Josh Schlien, who they profiled in the blog) were both very solid players. I would honestly rank myself third on that table behind the two of them. I play a bit tighter, which works for me, but their ultra-aggression is awesome.

Anyhoo, I couldn't be more impressed with James' play. I watched him fold to 4 or 5 (maybe 6) BIG check raises and reraises in a row... preflop, and after he'd make continuation bets on the flop. I wasn't impressed with the folds so uch as I was impressed with his attitude. He got fairly low in chips, but kept his cool, stayed patient, and then tore it up later. I even chated with him during our last break... he's been a pro for 15 years (he doesn't look that old). My friend saw him on some Fox Sports poker final table, I think... I don't get that channel.

Anyway, one more thing about him: Inside 20 minutes at the end of the day, he was WORKING his stack... raising nearly every pot to 2500 (I did this myself twice when I actually had the chance to act before him). One hand, Josh reraised to 10k. James thought for a moment, and then pushed in. You should have seen Josh's face. It was the fastest fold I've seen all day (James was the only guy at the table who had him outchipped at the time). Josh said he folded TT...

There were a few other pros I played with today too, but no one really well known. When I make the final table, I hope James is there. I'm looking forward to battling it out with him

[BlibbityBlabbity]

Very Cool, TP...

GL tommorrow and watch out for this....