The Legends of Poker Celebrity Invitational

During my lunch break on July 29, 2009, I was goofing around on the internet and decided to check my Facebook account. I noted that I received a message post from Eveliene Dullaart, from the Bicycle Casino. She was inviting me to attend the Bike’s silver anniversary celebration and grand opening of its newly remodeled Event Center and to play in the Legends of Poker Celebrity Invitational & Media charity poker freeroll.

I accepted her invitation, jumped out of my chair and headed straight to the Bike. The charity poker event started at 3:00 but I wasn’t able to hit the road until 2:15 - which was cutting it close since I was traveling from my office in Newport Beach to Bell Gardens (just off the I-710 near the 105 freeway interchange). I arrived just 10 minutes before game time, and lucky for me they were running behind schedule. I checked in right afterJamie Gold and poker novice-in-training, Jayde Nichole (the 2008 Playboy Playmate of the Year). I found myself sitting with them at Table 9, Jayde was immediately to my left in seat 8 and Jamie was assigned to Seat 1. Next the the lovely Jayde, I look like a washed-up old lady!!!

Also in attendance were notable poker pros Annie Duke and Van Nguyen (aka Mrs. Master) as well as well known celebs., J.K. Simmons, Camryn Manheim, Ken Davitian, Joseph Reitman (Annie Duke's man), and Christina Lindley. While not necessarily celebrities, the very well liked amateur poker player Scott Diamond was playing for his charity Fallen Heroes and the ever popular poker writer/photographer/blogger Stephen Hall (http://www.pokergossip.com/) was seated directly across from me in seat 3. Both Scott and Stephen made great showings. Scott came in fourth in the winner-take-all event, but no worries, Jamie Gold agreed to add Fallen Heroes to the Jamie Gold Foundation!

I played well, but was pretty card dead. I was stuck at around 5K in chips and the 20 minute levels were not condusive to a short stack. I managed to knock out one celebrity, but then got chipped down as the blinds went up. It was difficult to play a larger range of hands because there were a few amatures at the table that pretty much played any two cards - regardless of the raise or board. I tried to make a few moves when the table appeared distracted but got caught one time when Jayde pushed all-in behind me for just 200 more (my bet was already 600). She was talking to Jamie right after the break and I was certain she was just going to throw it away because she had not been watching the action. Nope, she picked up J/10 suited, and with only 800 chips and the blinds at 200, what would you do? Of course, even on a move - I can't get away from my hand for just 200 more. She flopped a Jack and pulled in the pot - Darn it! The blinds were at 300/150+50 when I picked up A/Q. Of course I pushed - of course I ran into pocket Kings! Does my Ace hit? Nope - - no “one time” Ace for me, just bricks. Jayde managed to survive an hour longer and made it to the final three tables. I'm happy that she had a great experience for her first live tournament. Good for her!

There was a comedian named Reggie who was not much of a poker player, but liked to play the game. He was in Seat 5 at my table and I swear he must have keistered a horseshoe because he played almost every hand and if he didn’t hit the flop, he sure caught up on the turn and river (including hitting a straight flush – which is a rare hand to catch). It was Calling-Station Reggie who single handedly knocked out the majority of the players at Table 9, including Jamie Gold, and found himself at the final table seated to the right of Annie Duke. While many poker players say they would rather be lucky than good, it would take all the luck in the world to get past Annie Duke’s monster poker skills. Needless to say, Annie took it down and earned $2K for her charity, Ante Up for Africa.

After the event, I wandered off to the main floor and found Johan playing satellites. He chopped two satellites which was enough to buy into the inaugural $100K Guarantee event and have some change left over for me to play a satellite. I played the last satellite of the night and played absolutely solid. I paced myself well, chipped up nicely, then took down the chip leader in two monster hands. In the end, I agreed to chopped half and half when it got to heads-up, which puts me in for the $300K event scheduled for August 1-3, 2009.

Johan played Event #3 all night and made it to Day 2, he even caught his first tournament Royal Flush at level 6 for a double up. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the last level of Day 1, he got into a big hand when he limped under the gun with A♥Q♥ then called the small blind’s all-in squeeze play. The small blind (who appeared to be short-stacked) turned over pocket 6s. He expressed his disappointment that he was called by Johan's huge overcards, then nearly had a heart attack when the flop came K♥J♥#. How many outs is that? A bizzillion? In this time of recession, half the deck was gainfully employed by Johan's hand. However, this would not be an “unfortunately” story if there was good news. The board went runner-runner fives (totally heartless), and that was that. The worst part of it all was that the Small Blind looked short stacked and before calling the all-in, Johan asked for a chip count. The inexperienced dealer (just out of dealer school) counted out the chips then announced that it was 16K to call the all-in. Johan had over 40K and had put the small blind on a small pair, the call was a no brainer. After the hand, the dealer recounted the chips. She then told Johan he owed the small blind 26K. I can sum in up what happened next in one word, "FLOOR!"

After about 15 minutes of arguing with the Floorman, the ruling was that the dealer was suspended but an all-in is an all-in, the chips were in the pot and the small blind gets the pot - - period. After Johan surrendered over half his chips he promptly went card dead until the end of the night. He said he almost threw up when he bagged his last four chips at the end of the night. With the blinds at 3000/1500+500, Johan will have to return for Day 2 (his 35th birthday no less) with 12K in chips. But, I’m hopeful that the Poker Gods will grant Johan the gift of good hands that hold up for his birthday. If anybody can take 4-chips and a chair to the final table, it’s Johan.

Although it wasn’t a perfect day, I am so thankful for the great day it was. I had a wonderful time and poker was fun for the first time in a long while. I look forward to many more days like that.

One crazy, crazy week in July.

On Wednesday, July 8, 2009, I noticed that my left eye seemed a bit irritated. By Thursday, my eye was fully inflamed and I had to call-in sick. I went to the Doctor, who gave me some eye drops and sent me home to rest. Instead, Johan and I headed straight to The Bike's Nooner ($40 Buy-in) tourney, a pleasant little daily tournament that attracts at least 200 players on average. Johan got knocked out early, and I managed to make it to the final table, placing 10th out of 203 players.

The following day (Friday), my eye had not improved so I took another sick day - - having made plans to pay with Jena Delk on Team Bullet Proof at the WSOP Dream Team Event scheduled for July 12-13, 2009 - - it was very important that I get better. So, I chose to relax by playing another Nooner. I chipped up well the entire day, and by the time they announced that we were in the money, I was about average in chips among those last three tables. However, I was not feeling well by that time. I had developed a headache and my focus was at a minimum. A bit dazed, I looked down at pocket 6s on the button and thought it was just me and the blinds. I pushed for the steal . . . and after the blinds folded I was feeling like it was a good move, until the dealer tapped the felt in front of Seat 1, who (unbeknownst to me) had limped into the pot and had me covered by just 2K in chips. At first I wasn't worried because up until that point I had only played about 4 hands at that table - - all of which I had won, and the weakest hand I had showed was A/Q off suit. Unfortunately, after Seat 1 thought about it for half a minute, he looked across at me (I was in Seat 4) and said, "Ok, I'll gamble - - Call!" He turned over pocket 9s and I bowed my head in defeat as I turned over my sixes. Needless to say he, and the rest of the table were shocked - - the player to my left stating that he had put me on Jacks. I wished he had whispered that over to Seat 1 before he called! Well, the nines held and I was out 27th place - which paid just a little more than my original buy-in.

Johan and I wandered over to the cafe, and discussed what the weekend game plan should be over a quick bite to eat. While in the cafe, I got a call from my friend Frankie O'Dell who had flown in from Vegas the day before. He had just won a satellite and told me he was sitting at a table on the main poker floor. We went over to say hi and Frankie encouraged me to play a satellite to get a seat to the NLH $150,000 Guarantee taking place that weekend at The Bike. He handed me a yellow $25 poker chip and said to take it as my lucky chip. I took $40 from my winnings and Frankie’s lucky chip and bought into a $60 satellite, using the $5 chip the dealer gave me as change for my card protector. After getting pocket Jacks busted (back-to-back) by the only other female player at the table, who caught Aces and A/K, I was left with only one green $500 chip by the end of the second level, just as the blinds went up to 100/50. I picked my spots carefully, made a few moves and my hands held up. Before long I had taken out the player that beat me when I was holding those Jacks. I played my heart out and made it to the final three: me, Seat 10 and Seat 1.

Seat 1 tried to make a deal that, while 1st place would get the buy-in for the tournament, 2nd would get $140 and 3rd would be guaranteed his/her money back. I agreed, but Seat 10 was absolutely against it because he said he had taken his last $60 to play a satellite and was hell bent on getting into the Guarantee . . . yeah, yeah, I know! Finally, Seat 1 got so aggravated by Seat 10's stubbornness (I was the short stack, and after having watched me fight back from Level 2 with just a chip and a chair, Seat 1 thought I deserved to at least make my money back – believing I was about to bust) that he made a mistake and called Seat 10's all-in pre-flop. It was Ace/rag against Q/10 and Seat 10 won with Ace high. Although Seat 1 busted, the Poker Gods will shine on him in his next tournament, I'm sure. In the end, I made a deal with Seat 10, and we chopped the winnings. It wasn't until he had his chips in hand, and the rail birds explained the earlier deal that Seat 10 realized the error of his ways. I sold the tournament chips that I had one for the cash equivalent and Johan and I returned home. Seat 10 played Day 1a of the Guarantee that night.

I woke up early on Saturday, my left eye was still swollen, I had a mild headache and a stiff neck. I was supposed to drive to Vegas that morning to meet up with Jena for the Dream Team Poker ("DTP") tournament on Sunday, but instead, I had to cancel and let her find a replacement. Playing silly little Nooners is one thing, going up against some of the best players in poker, in a huge event like the DTP was completely different. Based on my close calls the day before, I knew I simply did not have the focus to play the DTP event. It broke my heart to have to cancel, but whether I played or did not play - if I was not going to bring my A-game, I would be letting Team Bullet Proof down, no matter what.

After discussing it with Johan, I returned to The Bike on Saturday, this time by myself because Johan stayed home to watch the kids. My commute to The Bike was horrible! Traffic was bumper-to-bumper on almost every freeway I took, and the 710 on ramp was closed at the 91. After taking several alternate routes, what should have been a 40 minute drive, turned out to be an hour and a half trek through the streets of Los Angeles. By the time I got to The Bike, my head was throbbing. Rather than buying-in immediately, I moseyed around the casino and said hi to all of my friends. Several friends commented that, while they were happy to see me, I didn't look my best and asked if I was doing alright. I told them I was okay, and sat down to play a quick satellite. Although I amassed chips early, I was knocked out in the 3rd level when I picked up Jacks (Yes! Jacks) on the button in Seat 10. I re-raised with half my chips against a 4-bet by an aggressive player in Seat 7, but Seat 5 (who had limped under-the-gun) pushed. I thought about it, and I KNEW I should have laid down those stupid Jacks, but instead I called. He turned over Kings and I knew I was done. ARG! What a cooler. I was again left with a chip (this time it was only 25) and a chair, and managed to get back up to 700 in chips, but was knocked out when I flopped Aces up with A/7 but was counterfeited on the river when my opponent holding A/10 caught another 10.

After that, both Frankie and my friend, Jack Boghossian, advised against me playing the tournament. They both thought it simply wasn't my day. It is one thing to be card dead, it is an entirely different thing to catch big hands that prove to be the second best hand over, and over, and over again. Either way, it is as sign of a bad day. In addition, they could tell that I was not playing my A-game. Me, call that all-in with Jacks? No, that is not my style - - I play better than that. They were right – it was time to go home. Driving home, I realized that my stiff neck had become so painful that I couldn't turn my head left or right and my headache had developed into a migraine - it is a wonder how I even made it home without crashing. While not all poker players are friendly, I certainly am proud of the few friends I have made at the tables and believe that I even when I run bad, I am lucky for the people I have had the privileged to meet.

Johan and I went to Hollywood Park Casino yesterday, Wednesday, July 15, 2009 and I managed to loose pocket Kings (♦/♥) in my first big-blind (after 5 hands into the tourney) to a Donkey. The hand went down like this: I popped it up to 350 pre-flop (50/25 binds with 5 limpers), then I bet 1K on the 5♥, 3♥, 9♥ flop and when my opponent reluctantly called I put him on A♥/K. I hammered 2K on the Q♣ turn, and I watched him pick up enough chips to put me all in, but after some thought he just called. Well, I lost when the 7♥ hit the river – and he showed Ace♥/8♠. I had a monster pair, with the 2nd nut flush, with only 1700 in chips left by the river. I check called his 1500 bet. (Yes, I could have laid it down - but think about it . . . can YOU lay that down for just 1500 into an 8K pot?) It was ok though, my read was right - he only had one heart and no pair, and I’m proud of myself for playing him the way I did – he just got lucky. However, I'm not going to let this drag on into some long boring tale of bad beats and tragedy. No, no, no – after all I did cash back to back earlier in my story.

So, continuing with my the HPC tourney story, when I busted out a few hands later, Johan had just a little over 2K in chips (starting chips were 5K). He then went on a sick heater, and was the tournament chip leader within 20-minutes. Johan knocked people out left and right, including that A/8 Donkey, and managed to remain the chip leader for the remainder of the tournament. It cost $80 to play the event, and Johan cashed $1000 for first place. He played his A-game and was completely unstoppable. I am so happy for him - - believing himself to be the Bad-Beat King (on the loosing end) he finally got a reprieve from the Poker Gods and was able to show off his amazing talents.

The last seven days have been one crazy ride, full of ups and downs - - but one hell of a week to remember. And, now that by left eye is better - - you all better watch out for me. I'm brining my A-Game to the table!