Vegas Baby

I'm back from Vegas and maaan what a trip. Overall the trip was pretty good. Had alot of fun and got some good experience, but unfortunately I didn't come even close to making as much money as I wanted too. I kind of knew it would be a longshot to earn the $20k I was shooting for but definitely thought I couldve made more than I did make. One thing I did realize is my No Limit HoldEm skills need to improve. It had been awhile since I've really played HoldEm tournaments and it kinda showed in the six I played. The good thing was I have a new found passion for the game and gonna start playing it more.

The bright spot of the trip was playing Event #22 in the WSOP. It was my first ever live PLO tournament and would be the biggest tournament of the trip. It amazes me how bad people play live PLO. I managed to kind of cruise throughout the first day never really having an above average stack and was only all-in for my tournament life a couple times. I was excited after the end of day 1 because it meant I was going to have my first WSOP cash as we played down until we made the money. It was also awesome that my friend Siva, another shipshape crew member, also made the money with me so it was a double cash for the group. Day 2 started off promising as I knocked out some Russian pro (I think he was a pro) early on. But right before the first break, I lost a huge pot that would've put me over the 100k in chips mark. It seemed I never could get any momentum going after that but hung around for a few more hours getting down to the final 50 before going busto in 50th place. The final hand was an interesting one, and I've been replaying it over and over in my head and I still think I made a good play to put me in position to get alot of chips, but it wasn't meant to be. The finish was good for $5335 and it feels pretty good to get my first of many WSOP cashes. Siva was left to carry on the race for the bracelet but he went out soon after me in 43rd place. It was my only tournament cash of the trip, but I also did very well in the PLO cash games and probably shouldve played a few more sessions.

Another highlight of the trip was running into Jean Robert Bellande at Haze nightclub. JRB is a well known poker player and some of you may also know him from his stint on one of the seasons of Survivor. Even though he tends to act like an asshole when the TV cameras are on him, he's actually a real cool, down to earth guy. He even suggested we get a picture with him and put it on twitter so he can retweet it, so we obliged lol. Heres the pic:

This trip has just increased my desire to become a professional poker player. Since I've been back at home I've been thinking over my plans for the rest of the summer, but haven't come to any decisions yet. Right now moving out of the country so I can play online poker again is my favorite option but also would be the most difficult to feasibly do. I may also make another 2 week+ trip back to Vegas but for now I'll just look for games around the Houston area and try to get a bankroll together. Shipshape.

P.S. - Thanks everyone who wished me good luck in the tournament. The support was great.

Vegas Update

Man it's been only three days but it seems so much has happened. I've played two tournaments and three cash game sessions so far with mixed results. The first tournament was a $560 Deep Stack Extravaganza (DSE) event at the Venetian. Having not played too much poker before this trip it went really well. 353 people entered the tournament which paid out 36 spots and made 1st place a little over $41k. I got down to around 60 people but ran 99 into 1010 and that was that. The second tourney was also a DSE but it was a $350 buyin. I busted out in standard fashion as I turned a flush with QJ of diamonds and got it all in against KK. I just had to dodge a diamond on the river but it wasnt meant to be. I feel these tournaments are really soft and I still have quite a few tournaments left that I will be playing so I'm looking forward to making a splash at the final table.

The cash game sessions have been much better. My first session was $1/$2 PLO at the Rio and made $720. The second session was an all nighter $1/$3 PLO session at Aria. It didn't go as well and I ended up losing $200. Yesterday I played $1/$2 PLO at Venetian and made $555, so overall I'm up on this trip in cash games. My favorite place to play is definitely the Rio mainly due to the fact that it seems to be the only place you can button straddle. It makes the game much livelier. I've been playing really well in the cash games and look to continue my good play.

Today I will be playing some more cash games at the Rio while Ben, Siva, and Dartez play the $1500 NLHE 6mx WSOP event. Until then good luck to the shipshape crew in todays event. Shipshape.

P.S. - Dont forget to follow me on twitter for live updates while we're here in Vegas. @RiverMePlz.

Blog Resurrection

So alot has happened in my life since I've last posted. I graduated college, online poker essentially got shut down in the US, and with that my plan to become a professional poker player hit a small hiccup. I've been meaning to go into depth on all three of those topics but since I'm lazy I'm going to just fast forward to now. I'm resurrecting the blog!

I'm currently in Las Vegas hoping for big things as this is kind of a do or die situation. As some of you may know I have no intentions of working a regular 9-5 so I'm taking this opportunity to kind of pursue my dream of becoming a professional poker player. Me and the rest of the shipshape crew will be living in Vegas for the next 18 days and the goal is to make alot of money. As opposed to last years trip, this will be more business than pleasure and alot of poker will be played.

Throughout the course of this trip I will be blogging almost daily, giving updates on the happenings and shenanigans that no doubtedly will be going down on this trip. I'll also be tweeting constantly so follow me on twitter @RiverMePlz. Well I'm about to go check out some poker rooms and try to play a little $1/$2 PLO so I'm gonna end it here. Dont forget to follow me on twitter for up to the minute updates "@RiverMePlz". Shipshape.