WPT Quick Recap
The full recap with a photo slideshow will be posted on Gaming Illustrated Poker later this week, but the short of it is that I had a blast, sat with a few celebrities, met a few top pros and then went on an epic 4 hour run of the worst cards I've ever seen in a live tournament. The only complain-example I'll say is that in 4 hours I saw one (yes, count it, ONE) pocket pair, and that was 22 from UTG+1. I'm actually surprised I stayed alive 4 hours! The cool thing is that I got to play and meet some cool people like Ricki Lake, Lou Diamond Phillips and Roger Cross. I met some top pros like Scotty Nguyen and Gavin Smith who were both pretty funny and gracious in person.
All in all everyone had a lot of fun, the event was first class, and we all raised a lot of money for a really great charity.
read moreToday’s the Big Day (WPT!)
Well today is the big day! Today is the World Poker Tour's Celebrity Invitational at Commerce Casino, and I am one of the participants. It's a thrill and an honor to be going, and every single pro poker player that I know has simply said "take it down" so I guess that's good advice to take.
The "bad beat" in all this is my current health. Thursday night I cam down with a cold and yesterday I was in really bad shape. I went to the doctor and sure enough I have a sinus infection. Of all the days right? So after all the OTC stuff failed on me, I told the doctor about this professional gathering I am going to, and she put me on the craziest anti-biotic regiment ever. I got a good shot in the ass (yes, cute nurse) and am on the 3-day pack of pills. The good news is that I turned a corner last night and feel a lot better today than I did yesterday and my head is a lot clearer. Hopefully after some rest during the day and a nap after lunch I'll be in good shape for tonight's festivities.
I plan to bring some meds of course, but professionally speaking I was able to get two people press credentials so we can do a story for Gaming Illustrated Poker. I hope to get a bit of video and definitely some stills. Also I am going to take a small notepad and pen to take notes so I can remember all the people I sat with.
The tournament structure is really solid, we start with $10,000 in chips and 50-100 blinds with 40 minute levels. There's a one time rebuy (contrary to what the website says) for $200 which is a charitable donation that gets you another $10,000 in chips which I plan to take advantage of. It's a three day event so I am hoping to show up, have fun, and play my best. Hopefully that means the final table!
read moreTournaments Seriously Suck
I know, I know. I'm about to play in my biggest tournament of my life on Saturday and here I am posting that tournaments suck. Obviously, I haven't been running well in them and am not used to walking away a loser in 5 straight events. I have been playing tournaments the last few days as a warm up of sorts and basically have seen the same formula in every single tournament:
- I'll double up early against a donk
- Table Luckbox goes into Godmode
- I go card dead
- I win some hands after finally getting some cards
- I then get seriously coolered to exit
After 6 tournaments and no ITMs, I'm once again stepping back from this form of poker mainly because I am not used to the mindset of "No Cashes then 1 BIG cash" that playing to win requires. Although I don't expect the level of competition to be any good at the $5-$15 buyin range, I am just tired of losing with the best hand.
Brilliant Tard in the $15k Guarantee
That hand really sucked. I was about half way through the field with an average stack and thought this double up would seriously give me some momentum. I had just suffered a loss shoving QQ into AK earlier against someone so ... yeah ... balls.
Lose a Coinflip to die in the $70k Guarantee Rebuy
This one was a coinflip through the hand until he spiked his flush at the turn. Pretty standard but to exit after 2.5 hours of play and walk away -$33 kinda sucked. I just really hate putting my life on the line (albeit the right play) on a flip. But that's poker!
Did That Just Happen - The $10k Guarantee
I'm really in a pinch here with a woeful stack that's almost exactly at 10 big blinds and considering the antes it was definitely time to shove. Again, a cooler.
Final MTT Thoughts
Although I'm a little bitter at tournament play I am really surprised how soft the fields are out there in the sub-$20 tournament world. I really have zero respect now for anyone that regularly cashes in these things ... it seems like the theory for success is to make a deep cash 1 out of 6-10 times and the rest is just you eating crap via coolers. Is this how people make money? I don't think I could handle it, and I'm heading back to the cash tables to grind out some money hopefully.
First Session in 4 Days
It feels like an enternity since I have played online at all, whether it be cash games or a tournament. As many readers out there know, I don't like playing tournaments. I wanted to give rebuys a crack this week to emulate the experience in store for me on Saturday at the World Poker Tour. There weren't any running tonight but I did play in a $5 45-man SNG. I picked up a few small pots, got to about 10 big blinds, and shoved with AQ. Here's again why I dislike playing in MTTs:
So that was that. While I was playing that 45-man SNG I played 5 tables of 100nl full ring to get back into the swing of things. I ran okay, made good laydowns, and found myself taking my time which is always a recipe for success. Hit one big hand against a regular, and actually I remember playing this guy at 50nl too when I was there. Guess we're moving up the ranks together.
That was nice. Anyways I have a ton of work on my plate tomorrow, so yet again I'm in the tough spot of not knowing when my next session will start!
read moreWon a Seat to the WPT Invitiational
On Friday I was at Commerce Casino getting content for Gaming Illustrated Poker. We got to meet a lot of big name poker pros and did video interviews with tournament director Matt Savage, as well as pros Michael Mizrachi, Maria Ho, and Tiffany Michelle. The video with Matt Savage is up and can be seen by clicking here.
After the interviews were done the kind folks at Commerce Casino (and some top flight PR people) took care of us in the food department and we played the annual Media Poker Tournament. This year the field was as good as I've ever seen it. Some pro players from Vegas (they write for PokerNews or CardPlayer, etc) were playing in this 45-50 5-table tournament. What was up for grabs was a winner-take-all grand prize of a seat at the WPT Celebrity Invitational tournament. The tournament is technically a freeroll, but there are only 250 seats, and the invite list is extremely exclusive to Hollywood stars, Poker Super Pros, and me. Go Figure.
Needless to say I am tremendously excited about this amazing opportunity. We're playing for a $200,000 prize pool, a seat to the WPT 5 Diamond Classic (worth $25k), and the final table is taped for TV and will air on Fox Sports Network later in 2009. Watch the video of me taking it down!!! >>
read moreAbout Me
My name is Sean Gibson and I am a poker journalist and part time poker player. I work full time at PokerNewsDaily.com where I host a daily news show called "The Daily Deal" and also handle the bulk of the live player interviews. In terms of poker you will find me playing $1/$3 No Limit Hold'em in Vegas or in Los Angeles (or San Diego) and online playing small stakes games.
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