Shinedown

My buddy Nick from college came into to town last Thursday. On Friday we went to the Venetian for the daily tournament. Once we got 5 handed everyone wanted to make a deal. I of course was the only objecter. In my defense they wanted an even chop when I was the chip lead. But everyone got a nice chuckle as I was ousted in 4th place. I played super aggro and got my money in bad 5 times. And despite only being 60%-70% dogs I lost each and every one. On Saturday we went to the Green Valley sportsbook to watch our teams. NC State had a very impressive win over a tough Pitt team. This put the pack at 3-1 going into the ACC schedule. On Sunday Nick went to the strip to play and I decided to play online. I had zero cashes going into the last 5 tournies. I was able to min cash in two of them to ease the pain a bit, but overall it was a bad poker day. On the bright side my Denver Broncos continued their undefeated season crushing the Raiders. Our defense looks like the real thing, but we will find out for sure as we face the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday. On Monday Nick and I were planning to go see Shinedown at The House of Blues. I went down early to put in a small cash game session of 10/20NL. The game was relatively tough except for one huge fish. I had played against him before and attempted what I know now as a silly bluff. He loooooves to make hero calls, especailly if he knows you are capable of bluffing. Becuase of this fact I was on my best behavior, due to him already seeing me try and bluff him before. I will illustrate his fishyness in one hand breakdown. I raised from middle with the 8s7s, the button calls and fish makes it 200 more out of the big. I of course call and the button folds. The flop is Jh9s8h giving me bottom pair and a gutter ball. He bet 380 and knowing I could still be ahead I decided to call in position. The turn was a 8c. He bet 640 this time. I raised to 2040 and he beat me in the pot. The river was a 7h giving me a full house and completing the flush and straight draws. I thought for sure he was just going to push, but to my suprise he checked. I did not think he would pay me off unless he made a straight or flush, but he woulda bet if he hit either. Which means he only had an overpair. I fired out 2800 and he called and tabled aces. He was shocked he was beat on a J9887 board with three hearts out there. He quit and the game broke immediatley. I watched MNF until Nick arrived ready to go. I have heard a few songs from Shinedown, but never enough to know if I liked them. Nick assured me I would and low and behold they kicked ass. It has been a long time since I saw a concert and boy did I miss it. On the way to the dentist today I heard them on the radio and I was shocked how much better they sounded live. If anyone is a fan of rock music and concerts I recommend to go see them.

Justin "robert07" Young

WCOOPing

Morgan's sister and boyfriend were town last weekend. We stayed at the Bellagio on Friday night. Andy (the boyfriend) and I played 1/2 NL much of the afternoon while the girls shopped. I played a bit loose aggressive, but still for some reason wanted to win in front of Andy. I peeled 600 from the session and Andy came away a winner as well. On Saturday we went to Red Rock to go hiking. This is my favorite thing to do in Vegas so I was pumped. It was a bit hot and we ate Chipolte before, so we were only able to stay out for about a hour. The rest of the weekend included watching football, lawn games, and grilling out, so much fun.
When Monday came around I knew I would get back to poker and play a bunch of WCOOPs. I essentially sat on my couch for a week outside of one day where I sat on Cody's couch. Early on I had little success as I only had a couple shallow cashes to talk about. It all changed on Saturday as I won the $500 heads up PLO event. I say Saturday, but the tournament took 21hrs and we finished up on Sunday. I am sure there are some real interesting hands from the 10 heads up matches I played, but the long night has erased most of them. In the last match the key hand was when I held 77xx against his J9xx on a J97 flop. I c'raised and he just called. The turn was the last 7 giving me quads. I bet tiny hoping he thought I was scared betting my straight. He called and the river was a 9. I bet 3/4 pot and he raised small. Although 99 was possible for a bigger quads, I figured he had JJ or J9 so I ripped all in for right at pot. He tanked for a while, but called. The win was my biggest on PokerStars and my first WCOOP title. I set my alarm for 1230p so I could get 4hrs of sleep before I needed to play the Sunday slate. I forfieted the morning tournies and started with the Main Event. I was flush over flushed out of the main, but was able to put enough shallow cashes together to break even including a final table in the 55r PLO. Eric is still in the main with some chips and as Eric is aware the event gives out Cardplayer POYs even though its a online event. So gl.
On a personal note, the Denver Broncos are 2-0 this year after sliding past the Bengals and smashing the Browns (thanks AFC North). I am a realist and know the success probably will not continue, but until then GOOOO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!! SUPER BOWL BOUND BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4th in the 1K

Coming into the final table I had about 95K with the blinds at 3K/6K and avgerage around 110K. At this point it was a very fast structure, but I knew I could pick some spots to keep myselft alive. Dan O'Brien also was at the final table giving USA some decent hope of taking down the title. I played very tight early on, even folding A10 in a decent 3 bet push spot, but I elected to wait and see how the table was playing. Most the action was on the other side of the table giving me few chances to steal. After about a hour and a half I still had 11BB with 4 left. It folded to me in the SB and I pushed without really looking. He called with A10o. I was hopeful when I saw I had live cards (87o), but the board bricked out. I never had a hand better than KJo all day so getting to 4th with limited chips was an accomplishment. I am never thrilled to get knocked out, but in this case 4th was a welcome sight. The score got me close to breaking even in poker for the trip which was exciting in itself.
Morgan's sister and her boyfriend flew into Vegas about the same time as me. We will be staying on the strip tonite and grilling out on Saturday. Though I am very tired and ready to recoup both of them are a lot of fun and I cant wait to hang out.

2K and 1K postlims

The 2K was pretty standard as of late. I near doubled real early, made some QUESTIONABLE decisions to get short, won a ton of flips to be decent, then squeezed into a real hand and got knocked out. It was about 315am here when I did so that kinda sucked.
On the upside I made the final table of the 1K today. I got a ton of chips early only to go card dead when the structure picked up pace. I have about 95K at 3k/6k. The massive stack only has 220K so it'll be time to gamble. Hope to have some great news tom. as well as a fun story of going out to Barcelona to celebrate.

Justin "robert07" Young

1K Euro PLO

I started the day playing online, but after about 30 minutes I realized the internet connection was not stable enough for me to continue. I took my small profit after about 5 disconnections. I went to sweat Eric and play some PLO cash until the tourny started. All the cash is short stack so its mainly about starting hand selection. I didnt see much and didnt feel like gambling so I took a small loss. I watched as Eric just missed the money and we both hopped into the 1K PLO. My table was suprisingly solid and I wiggled my starting stack of 8k up to 10K. I doubled up on a Jd10d4c board with JJxx vs AdKc4dx. That was good enough to get me to the final four tables. Then I lost two key hands. On a board of J764 and two spades I got it in with 53xx vs a medium stack and his 89ss giving him a flush draw and a straight draw. He hit the As giving him half my stack. The very next hand I got it in with top set on a 1085 rainbow board. The caller had the complete wrap of J976. He hit the river and I missed the money. Eric and I are getting ready to play the 2k NL. Hopefully better new tom.

Justin "robert07" Young

Out of EPT Main

Upon sitting down I recognized some faces, but knew no names at my starting table which is always fun at a main event with a 5 million Euro prize pool. Carlos Mortenson did end up sitting down on my left and I did come to find out who some of the players were. All that being said I love to have that table for every 10K+ I play. There was a fishes from Spain, Polland (fill in you joke here), Canada, and Sweden. I was playing extremely nitty for the first two levels to get a feel for the table. I came into level three with 31K (30K starting stack). I started to open a bit more, but nothing to crazy. I missed every flop and was down to 27K when the following hand happened. A spanish fish limped UTG and I raised to 750 with J10cc (blinds 100/200). Polish fish called from the SB and UTG folded. The flop was AK6 rainbow and no clubs. Polish fish stared me down for about 2 minutes before betting 1K. I felt pretty confident he had a medium ace (AQ-A10). So I got creative (although I would frown upon creativity against such a fish, he had shown the ability to fold in wierd spots), I raised to 2400 with the intention that he call and I bet the turn to take it down. He again stared at me for a while and called 1400 more. The turn was a 3 putting no extra draws on the board. I opted to bet 4100 to represtent AK or better to take it down. He again stared into my soul and called. I was ready to be done with the hand, but a K hit the river and he instantly checked. I figured even if he put me on a bluff the 2nd king would scare him so I had to fire another barrell. I bet 8300 and he stared at me so long I forgot what I was holding. He said call in what I can only assume to be Polish and I insta mucked my hand. He showed A10 and waited for a result. The dealer tried to explain to him that he won the hand, but he did not speak english or spanish and was anxious to find out the result. Still unclear to the result he pointed to his ace hoping his hand was good. I was done giggling at him and was mad at my one iffy play in the tourny. Down to 12K I raised the next hand with 88. Spanish fish called who had a pattern of being a calling station. The flop was AK8 with two diamonds and all I could do is think about doubling up. I bet 700 into a pot of 1200 and he called quickly. The turn was a 10d and though I didnt love it I figured betting 1400 after he checked was proper. He looked back and his holdings and called. The river was a blank and I was able to fire 3100 into the pot and get called. The pot put me up to 17Kish and I was feeling better already. A few hands later I raised in late position with J9hh, Peter Hedlund called on the button as did the BB. The flop was 10h8c2h giving me an open ended straight plus flush draw. with 1800ish in the pot I bet 1025 hoping to 3 bet jam. Peter just called and the turn was a 4d. I obviously hated checking, given the potential strength of my hand so I bet 2300. He tanked for a while and called. The turn was the 5d missing everything including the Jack which I had already decided would be good. I gave up and checked, he snap bet 3500 and I almost ripped but I remember how good my table was and folded like a good boy. He happily showed KK and I was fortunate that I did not go bust on that hand. I played super nitty including losing bare min. with 1010 vs QQ on a 8 hi flop. I was around 12K (200/400 blinds 50 ante) when Peter raised from middle position. I felt like I picked up a tell on him and decided he was weak, so when I looked down at two red aces and decided to just call from the BB. The flop was KQ9 with two clubs and already hated my play. He did his standard c-bet (1200 into 2600ish). I made it 3500 with 6700 behind. He called and I immediately loved my hand and figured I would double up as long as a blank hit. The 7h hit and I was in heaven. I calmly went all in and he beat me in the pot with KJss. I unfortunately could not fade 9 outs with one to come as the 10c hit the river. Luckily Eric is still in the tourny so "we" still have a sweat. I did sign up for the PLO tommorrow and hope to have a better showing.

Justin "robert07" Young

First two Days of Barcelona

The first day was a bit of a blur for me. We got in at 845am Barcelona time (1145pm pst). We went through a long cab ride and a wonderful lunch and before we knew it was 1pm. We headed over to the casino to check out the scene. We of course headed to the bar and indulged ourselves with Estralla Damm's (spanish beer). This to0k its toll becaus after 25 hrs after being awake we caved in around 5pm local time.
We woke up around 4am local time (11 hrs of sleep) and watched super trooper till breakfast was open. After breakfast we went a sight seeing. A few beers and a bunch a walking later we bought a ticket to a tourist bus. We were able to see a good bit of the city without having to move which pleased me. After a couple hours of this we got of close to where we got on looking for a place for lunch. A bar that happened to serve to lunch caught our attention and we stepped in. They served massive mugs of beer and a couple bites of food. When all was said and done I had a healthy buzz and we were walking back to the hotel. Along the way a few other bars caught our attention and of course stopped in for the facilities and a brew.
The sights were great and the beer was delecious, but we have to play an EPT tommorrow, so we are attempting to stay up till 11pm local time to get acclamated. I am a bit drunk (cant see) so I might be able to fill in some details tommorrow.

Justin "robert07" Young

Rugby, ND...onto Barcelona Spain

A friend and a neighbor, Cody Slaubaugh, got married this past weekend in his home town of Rugby, ND. Morgan and I of course jumped at the chance to go, because how many times can we have the conversation "Wish we had an excuse to go to North Dakota". We flew into Bismarck and joined Eric and Jon Little in renting a car for the 3 hour drive to Rugby. Everyone that was coming in decided to stay at the nicer of the two hotels in town, the Econo Lodge. We luck sacked our way into the nut room as our back door opened directly into the common pool area. Most of the poker playing friends had never been to a town as small as Rugby, (pop. 2200) which made it more fun. We had a good time soaking in the local flavor as we toured the bars of Rugby. We played a multitude of bar gams and ordered plenty of shots with beer chasers.
The ceremony itself was actually enjoyable as the priest had some verbal slip ups to keep me paying attention, including "You may kiss yourselfs".... in was funny.
The reception was about how I pictured it, everyone was smashed, Adam laying down in the middle of the dance floor because he did not have the will to get up after falling for a second time, Eric copying some kids doing the "Thriller Dance", and a 70 year old man in a T-Shirt and bushy beard doing bird whistles during the last half hour. After this mess we figured we would all go to Renee's farm and start a bon fire. Luckily a shuttle was available for transportation and we found our way back to the comforts of the Econo Lodge.
On Sunday we all got together for a BBQ and tossed the football around. We tried to make it a quiet night as we all had to get up early the next day, but 2 am got there fast and we all knew Monday would be horrible.
I will be spending today packing, as I am going to Barcelona. Eric is of course taking this Cardplayer POY race seriously and wants to get to the soft fields of the EPT. I have never been to Europe before, but I hear Barcelona is a great place to start. I took a solid three years of spanish in school, but unless everyone speaks in only numbers and colors I am sure I will be a bit lost. I am sure Barcelonians are more worldy than most and speak english as well.
Hopefully I will be able to keep up with my blogs while I am out there for the next 8 days.

Justin "robert07" Young