Thursday, March 31, 2011

LAPC, Deepstacks poker tour and Shooting Stars WPT

Wow, what an incredible past few weeks this has been. Mike and I have been travelling quite a bit following some of the greatest poker tournaments around.

In January, he went to the Ozzy Million in Melbourne, Australia. Unfortunately, I had just got back from a 3 week vacation and the timing was totally wrong for me to tag along. Mike did really good in the televised cash game over there and came back really happy with his winnings. It was just really hard to be apart for the 2 weeks he was gone.


We then decided to go to LA Poker Classic (LAPC) together. We stayed at the Commerce and played poker (mainly cash games) pretty much the whole time we were there. We both played the WPT invitational, I had a really rough table on day 1 with Matt Afflect, McLean Karr, Liv Boeree and Brandon Adams but still, I made it to day 2. Unfortunately my friend Eric Mizrachi took me out of the tourney on the second day when he turned a straight against my two pairs. The invitational is such a fun event to play! Everybody is dressed up, friendlier and more relaxed. It's a great event!
I did not qualify the main event but Mike played it. He made it to day 3 but unfortunately busted slightly short of the money.



While in LA, Mike took me to my 1st Basketball game and Mike being a friend of Gerry Buss, we got invited to his private sky box. Now, being in the owner's suite, you can only imagine how amazing that was! It was HUGE! We were treated to his private chef who offered a pasta station, a buffet station, an amazing dessert station and infinite choices of cocktails. There were also a few "A" list guests. Gerry Buss is definitely a great host! The Lakers also won to top everything off. It's going to be hard to ever beat that experience!

Shortly after our return from L.A, we packed again and then went to Reno where we played the Deepstacks poker tour main event. Now , for those who do not know, Mike and a few of his associates own that poker tour. It usually consists of a poker tour with a few smaller events and a main event that range from $340 to $2500, the main event being televised. They also offer a one day advance poker course prior to the Main event for $500. It is taught by some of the best players in the world such as Mike Matusow, Mike Mizrachi, Tom Mc Evoy, Adam Levy, Justin Smith to name a few. Go to www.deepstacks.com for more information on the Poker classes and the Poker Tour.

I had won a package that included the seat, class (which I gave away since I already took it) and extra money for expenses and travel in one of the satellite hosted by Full Tilt for only $216 prior to the main event so I got to play. Unfortunately I did not win but Tristan Wade, one of the teachers of Deepstacks University, ended up winning the televised main event which I think is very cool.

Right after Reno, we flew to San Jose to Bay 101 Casino for the $10k Shooting Stars main event. Mike was one of the 50 shooting stars with a bounty of $5k on his head. That tournament is usually really hard for the pros with bounty on their heads to go deep as everyone plays back at them hoping to win their bounty. But, Mike being the awesome player that he is, well, he ended up making the televised final table!


It was so great to be there to cheer him on! I was trying to keep fans updated through Twitter and we had so many people from all over the world rooting for him. The internet is truly a fantastic tool!
Mike played amazing, he was really patient, picked his spots and got himself a 3rd place finish for $369k. I am so proud of him!
We came back the next day in the private jet owned by bay 101.

We went to the Lady Gaga concert last weekend. Mike got some of the best seats available... We were third row from the stage! She is an amazing performer. It was such a great show. The girl is truly talented and the staging was incredible.




We have now finally been relaxing this week and I have moved my pets in to Mike's house and brought enough clothes for the week and we are calling it "a little move in try out". So far everything is going great, Mike loves my vegan cooking, we are very happy and the pets are also enjoying themselves and getting along... Mike has 4 cats and I have 2 dogs and a rabbit. It's like a therapeutic petting zoo in here!

All I can say is that life is good :)