Once In A Lifetime....and Being A Part of WPT History

A friend of mine, DP had the wonderful opportunity to play in the WPT Celebrity Invititational at the Commerce Casino this past weekend. Here's the link to the tournament.

There were 430 plus people in the tournament, and my friend made it to the second day. She was happy to have made it that far. The second day began with 13 tables, and their were more poker pros than celebrities left playing. Hoyt, Phil Laak, The Dragon, The Master, Linda Johnson, Jan Fischer, Kenna James, Jennifer Tilly and other players whose faces I recognize but can't recall their names at this moment, were also there on the second day.

The action was fast and furious enough, that by the time I left for dinner, they were down to 6 tables. And DP had been on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. Just prior to my leaving, she had almost quadrupled her stack. I hated leaving, but I had already made dinner plans with Amanda. I asked DP to text me if she got out.

Unfortunately during dinner, the flu hit me head on, and I could barely hold my head up by the end of dinner. So after much internal dialogue on how terrible a friend I am, I went to bed....and woke up to a text that she had gone out at 7th.

I was thrilled for her....but I also knew that she was going to be upset, because the final table always films with 6! That means she was the bubble!
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I call her on Monday, the day of the taping to see how she is doing. And the whole story is that she actually went out at the same time as another woman, Beverly.....therefore the final table was going to be starting with 5. She was still going to go to the taping, since they wanted to interview her.

She wasn't doing too well emotionally, and there was nothing that I could say that would help her feel better.
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As they start the taping, Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten announce that "for the first time in WPT history, the final table is beginning with 5 players." I had no idea that this had never happened before, and neither did DP.

In her interview, the girl asked her how did it feel to make WPT history....and I was proud of DP's answer---nothing could have prepared me to answer that one if it had been me---especially with the wound so fresh.
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I've had almost a week to think about the opportunity DP had to play, and how well she did, and the result, and the questions that she is going to be asking herself for a very long time. I feel for her in many ways. I'm so happy and proud of her for doing so well........and I'm sad for her that she is going to be questioning her decisions and being on the cusp of sitting at the final table.

I know she'll make another final table....she is too good a player....and now she should know that she can hold her own in a field of professionals.
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And of course, a woman won the tourmanent....for the first time!!!!!!!!

The Bicycle Home Game

Yesterday really sucked! I lost more money in one day than I have in all three years of poker playing combined. I'm not even gonna tell you how much it was. Needless to say...when I finally crawled into bed at 4am...I was pissed and exhausted...and well, feeling like a BIG loooooooooser!
The table we had last night was great! There were four guys there that play a home game, so we all joked that this table was their home game. Luis, Oscar, Carlos and Willie.....I'll describe each of them individually later.

Jerry Buss and some pro that I can never remember were playing a high stakes game in the back corner.

LOL! I am finally back online....after a miserable poker holiday, and coming down with the flu. I am totally blaming the homegame guys! And too funny...two of you commented before I could provide everyone with your details. I'll just let you know that I will be back for my cash!

I really didn't want to go back and play, but my friend, Amanda really wanted to play poker. So I said that I would go back for ONE more $40 round...and that was going to be it! She assured me that my run of earlier bad luck would change, and that it was an anomaly (which I also I believed).

So I don't like getting seated at a table that has already been playing when there is big money on the table, especially when I can only buy-in for $40. We were lucky enough to get seated at a brand new table. I chose to sit across from the dealer. Luis (I didn't know his name at that point) sat in seat one, and with his sunglasses, and very cool poker chip trick looked intimidating, and my first impression was that he was going to be a bully and pusher at the table. A friend of his, Oscar sat in seat three, Amanda was in 4, I was in 5, and two guys that didn't know how to play sat in seat 6 and 7. And random people came and went in seat 8 & 9. Luis kept getting phonecalls, and telling his friends to come sit with us. Pretty soon, there were 4 of them, and well, the thought did cross both Amanda's and my mind that we were getting set up.

What broke the ice at the table was that I got pocket aces and went all-in, up to that point, I hadn't won a single hand, so it's understandable that Carlos, Willie and Luis would call. However, I also hadn't raised unless I had something, and well....I only had about $12.00, so it should have been a great quadruple up. I was confident that I was gonna win the hand....and by the river, there was just Willie and I. Willie shows 6-2 offsuit, and he won!!!!!!!! On the river, he got two pairs, and I was out of the game! I sat there stunned for about 15 minutes, and Willie kept apologizing. Then Carlos was talking to Luis and called him a tightass...and I turned to him and said,"I can't believe that you are calling me a tightass." He looked at me in shock, then Luis said no, he was talking about me....and then I started laughing and the ice was broken.

They kept wanting me to buy back in...and I really didn't want to lose anymore money that day. Luis bought me a cranberry and Jager---which I liked.

I think our potential jackpot was spoiled by Carlos raising pre-flop, and I had pocket fours. Carlos had bet way too much for me to call. Too bad, on the flop, I would have had quads, and he would have had two pair....and our dealer Pam, had dealt two jackpots the week before. I kept reminding Carlos, that he was responsible for our not getting the jackpot.

I think this is what makes our trips enjoyable....is meeting the very fun and friendly local poker players. Because of my memory for faces, I saw many people that we played with a year ago, and playing at the Bike felt like I was home again.

Amanda and I thoroughly enjoyed their company, and Luis---next time we are in town, be sure to send us the email, so we can be invited to your home game!