What time is it? Living like a vampire

Lately I have been mostly playing cash games, pretty late as I kind of like the graveyard shift, and I have been doing really good. I did play a nightly tourney at Aria last week which I ended up winning so that was sweet to add to my "rungood".

I see a lot of players starting to play early in the evening, waiting all night for the "fish" and then going home tired an frustrated that they had only a ``soso`` profit.

I don't understand why some people are so stubborn to play early. The games are so good at 3am! It's usually a mix of drunk guys, players that are stuck and on tilt, amateurs coming out of the club or players who have played all night and are now tired. Of course, there are going to be some sharp players, but they are easy to spot and there are so few of them. In most part, majority of the players are pretty bad and make for a good game.

Obviously, when playing so late, there are some downsides... You become somewhat of a vampire. You barely sleep before 9am, you sleep through most of the day and miss on a lot of the day time activities. But poker is about making money. To me, that's where the money is.

The other downside as a graveyard shift poker player is trying to play the tournament circuits. It's REALLY hard to make a 12pm start when you went to bed at 8 or 9am! You would think that the tournament directors would take that in consideration after being in business for so long, seeing that most players are not morning people! I usually need to figure out what tournament I really want to play ahead of time and take it easy 1 or 2 nights before. Even by doing that, it is STILL hard to make it in time!

My upcoming schedule is pretty much playing the Deepstacks Extravaganza this coming Wednesday as well as Thursday at the Venetian, Cash games this week end and afterwards I am off to Lake Tahoe next week for the WSOP circuit event. I will probably play 4-5 events while I am there. I am planning on saving a day or 2 to go skiing at Heavenly, which is by far my favorite ski resort. I will obviously also play some cash games in my free time, but probably on a earlier schedule since I will need to be up early a few times for those tournaments *sigh*

I hope my poker "rungood" keeps up for many more weeks, it's always nice to go on a very long stretch without a losing session in cash games. It kind of makes us feel like gods wanna-be. But regardless of what the future holds and even though my life might seem weird to some people, at the end of the day, I do the things I love to do. I am healthy and happy. I play poker, I am working on a few other projects that I am very passionate about, I have a supportive and loving family, great boyfriend and the most awesome pets.

That's actually better than "running good". :)

OVERDUE BLOG!

It Seems like forever since I have posted a Poker blog!

I was so busy during the WSOP that I never got a chance to sit down and write, I guess I kind of lost the mojo to do so after a while. My WSOP was very disappointing. I played everyday, Mix between cash games and tournaments. I did pretty good in the cash games but no so much on the tourneys. I felt so confident going in that I was gonna do well this year but had a lot of emotional issues in my personal life that I think might have affected my game and I didn't end up with the expected results. It was a very exhausting series both on a physical and emotional level. I sure hope next year will be better!

Lately, I have been on a much more relaxed schedule, as far as tournaments, I have not played many of them. I did play the 1st pro/am Epic Poker, It was an awesome tourney with a really tough field and probably the hardest one that I have played in a long time! Amongst some of the players at my table were Eli Elezra, Allan Cunningham, Andeas Hoivold and some high stakes online pros. The structure was quite good and they had a good turnout considering it being their 1st event. My friend, David "Chino" Rheem ended up winning the main event title and 1 million dollard, that was really cool. I was very happy for him. They were holding their second event a little over a week ago and I missed it as I was on a much needed vacation with my daughter, but, I am definitely looking forward to the next ones.

I went to Mesquite with my friend Stacey a little after that to play the Eureka Open, hosted by Jan Fisher and Linda Johnson. The Eureka open is a friendly series that is held in Mesquite which is one hour away from Vegas. It was my first time going there... it's actually a very cute, small town with golf courses. I did make the final table and we ended up chopping the money. It was not big money as it is a smallish tourney, but it was fun and nice to get out of Vegas for the day.

I Played the Five Figure Score tournament last week-end. Five Figure Score is a new company that organizes tournaments, series and staking deals for mid stakes players. They were hosting a tournament at the Tropicana Hotel. It was a $160 buy-in, the bonus is that they were offering a lake Tahoe 7day vacation and staking deal to the WSOP circuit event coming up in November as an addition to the prize pool for the winner. Just that made it so worthwhile to play! I ended up winning the tournament along with the Lake Tahoe package. I was very happy and I am definitely looking forward to going in November to play. Hopefully, there will be some snow so that I can take a day off from poker and ski at Heavenly... It is by far my favorite ski mountain. The view of lake Tahoe is so beautiful going down the slopes! You guys can check out their website for more info on their other upcoming tournaments at www.fivefigurescore.com

I don't have specific plans as what's next. I am kind of going with the flow at the moment... I feel like my life is ready for something new, but I am not sure what exactly. I definitely needed that vacation in Miami last week with my daughter. I have been really missing her and was in major need of some family time. She is doing so great and I am so proud of her! Florida is also awesome. I think I would like living there! I do not push the idea of moving out of Vegas in the future... Not sure where I would go, but the idea of moving has really been in the back of my mind.


I am probably going to be in L.A .to play the "Oktober Mega Million Series III" at The bike at the beginning of October. It looks like it will be a crazy tournament. The buy in is only going to be $150, but they will have like 10 day 1, so the tournament will stretch over a two week period to get all the entries to cover the nice prize pool of 1 million guarranteed. It seems like they do a lot of those big guarantees in L.A., I don't know why Vegas doesn’t do them! It is very likely they would do well over here too. Hopefully, they will do them eventually, which would be fun!

Hopefully my next blog will come sooner!
I will try and write them more often and keep you guys posted on my adventures. :)

Jennifer Harman poker throwdown charity event for the Nevada SPCA

I just got back from Reno where I was invited to be a featured pro playing for the Jennifer Harman poker throw down charity event benefiting the Nevada SPCA. The event took place last Saturday at the Peppermill Resort and Casino where a record 568 poker pros, amateurs, & celebs participated in the poker tournament to raise money for this great cause. For those who do not know, Poker Throw Down is a unique concept of no-limit hold’em poker competition featuring a ten-player team format, but yet also allows for individual player participation. I was the team captain for the LIPS (ladies international poker series) team #3. The event was a huge success. Lips team #2 made the most points and Matt Vinks won the tournament. A lot of money was raised through tournament buy-ins, re-buys/add-ons, generous donations and a silent auction. You can still make a donation at www.nevadaspca.org

Prior to the tournament we had a little red carpet walk for the teams, the pro's and the celebrities. The Nevada SPCA brought up some of the adoptable pets to bring on the red carpet. They had all kinds of amazingly cute animals, dogs, cats, bunnies and even MINIATURE BABY GOATS!!! Oh My God! I fell in love with the latter! As a vegan, I always try to bring awareness that all animals are equals, they all have feelings and feel pain so that people think twice before putting them on their plate. Therefore, I always dreamed of owning an animal that is considered livestock to show people that they also can be great pets. Mini pygmy goats fall right in that category! They were so small, they grow up to be about 16 to 23 inches, they are not aggressive by nature and are very playful. I might try to foster one of the babies to see how it goes and try to convince Mike to keep it as they have about 8 at the SPCA up for adoption at the moment. They got rescued from a sect that was raising them to slaughter them as "Sacrifices"... I know, crazy people out there!

The whole day was about bringing awareness to the public on adopting animals that are homeless instead of buying from stores that usually buy from unethical puppy mills. Sadly, between 3 to 4 million dogs and cats are euthanized each year in the United States because too many people give up their pets and too few people adopt from shelters. One way to reduce this number is to adopt a pet instead of buying and spay/neuter your pets. The event was a great success and I was very proud to be part of it. :)

The event was followed by a VIP cocktail party, it was nice to mingle with all the players in a relaxed atmosphere. It was definitely a fun week end. Big thanks to Jennifer Harman, Lisa Wheeler, GreasieWheels productions, the Peppermill Casino and the Nevada SPCA for putting it all together!




I am gearing up for the WSOP and Deepstacks event at the Venetian, I am feeling really good about my game at the moment as I chopped another tournament at the Aria last week where I got the biggest chunk of money due to a good chip lead. Ideally, I want to play 1 WSOP per week and 1 Venetian deeptacks per week and spend the other days playing cash games as they are so juicy during that period. But I might add more tournaments if I do really good.

I am so grateful for my life and everything that is going on right now. I am one lucky girl!
:)

Mikey's birthday in Seneca Falls

I just got back from Seneca Falls where the Deepstacks crew hosted a boot camp and a tournament series. There was a main event with a $1,350 buy-in. The boot camp was a huge success, many top pro's were there teaching for the weekend. The poker director at Seneca Niagara was so impressed that they decided to book another boot camp and tournament series for the upcoming fall.

I played cash games while I was there and all I can say is the staff in that room is incredibly awesome. Everybody had a nice smile on, the room was full of action and they even were catering food to the players at dinner time. It is a great place to play that's for sure!

The rooms at the hotel are very spacious and comfortable, the spa was great and the gym was very well equipped which made time between playing poker very enjoyable. The restaurants were also very good. We ate at the Italian restaurant one night, La Cascata, where they went out of their way to make me something delicious and vegan. Which I really appreciated!



It was Mikey's birthday that weekend so we all went to Pure nightclub in Buffalo, NY.
Most of the crew was there except for a few that were still in the main event. The place was pretty slow considering it was a Saturday night, but it worked out great as they gave us 2 booths and it totally felt like a private party! Mikey had a great time and so did everybody else.



I am finally home, with the pets. I was in Quebec and Ottawa, Canada, the week prior to that to visit my family for Easter. These last weeks have been full of traveling. Which is fun, but it is also nice to be home after being gone so much! I am probably gonna play live poker in the weeks to come and maybe a few WPT preliminary events at Bellagio. Not having online poker to fill up some hours in the day is sinking in but I have found myself reading a lot more, playing more live and being productive on projects that I had kept putting off.

As always... life is good :)

Goodbye online poker... for now.

I went to Hawaii 2 weeks ago with Mike, we had a great time! We stayed at the Kahala Resort and really got a chance to relax and enjoy the sun. We have friends who live there and it was also nice to catch up with them. It was a very last minute trip. Mike had been talking about wanting to go but we never got around to planning it. He called me one day and said he finally had booked it and that we were leaving that night on a red eye! Talk about spontaneous! I am so glad we went. It got our heads in the right mindset for the months to come and the WSOP.

By now, I’m assuming that everybody heard the news that last Friday the government and the feds shut down 3 of the major poker sites: Full Tilt, Pokerstars and UB/Absolute Poker. They made a few arrests and are suing the sites for money laundering. Everyone in the poker world went crazy; it got called the Black Friday of the poker industry and was the main conversation topic on Facebook and Twitter over the whole weekend.

I know that I will miss loging into my account and playing on my own hours, in the comfort of my home, some of my favorite games, but, is it the end of the world? Probably not. It's time to think about what's next and what other options there are.

Living in Vegas, I am very lucky to have casinos that offer different styles of cash games at many levels. Same goes with tournaments. With online poker gone, one has to realize how good and juicy the live games are going to get. Lots of online pros are talking about relocating to cities with casinos, after all, big CEO of companies do it all the time. They move their family where the jobs are and where the money is. Online pros are great players, they are not going to "donk off" their money easily. However, they are usually more aggressive and they play a loser style of poker which is excellent for the game. The weaker players do not know how to adjust to that and usually start playing bad. Those weaker players are the ones we are playing against. So it's a great thing! There are going to be more games, more action and more money on the tables. I can't complain!

The day after "Black Friday" I decided to go to the Aria to see if there was already a difference in the volume of players in the room. I opted to play the tournament that day. The place was packed but then again it was a Saturday. While playing the tournament, I could not believe how easy the field was. I ended up chopping it 3 ways which was pretty cool. The following day, Sunday, I decided to play live cash games and that is when I really saw the difference... Sunday nights are usually not that busy, there was a list for each games and every table was full. Live poker is going be off the hook!

I will miss online poker but, I am looking forward to playing live, being more focused, out of the house, and on more of a schedule. I am looking forward to the upcoming WSOP. The tournament circuit is also looking more attractive. I’m pretty confident that soon enough the online games will be regulated and we will be playing in the comfort of our homes again, legally and safely. In the meantime, let's fight for our rights, look for solutions, keep positive and keep playing the game we love in live games.

See you at the tables. :)

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 :)

Back in Vegas and Super turbo's strategy

I hope you all had a great beginning of 2011. It's been a while since I have blogged and feel a little rusty. I was on vacation with my family for nearly 3 weeks over the holidays and came back a little over a week ago. We went to San Juan Puerto Rico for a few days, did a cruise in the Caribbean and then stayed some more in San Juan . It was so nice to get away and see my family. The cruise part was also awesome, we where on Celebrity Cruises and stopped in a bunch of Caribbean Islands . My favorite island was definitely Barbados . The beach there was by far the most beautiful and I really hope to go back there one day!

I came back and unfortunately found myself sick for almost a week. I was in bed pretty much and did not do too many exciting things. I played a little bit of poker online, but since I was not feeling great couldn't stay on for long tournaments or cash games that are too juicy to leave, so the super turbo's on Full Tilt were pretty much my game of choice. They are fast, easy to beat and pretty lucrative. I was capable of playing some, and then would head back to bed when feeling yucky. Mike and I have been playing quite a lot of them, he plays the biggest buy-in ones while I find my niche in the mid stakes ones. There's definitely quite some strategy to them and a lack of good players. So here's a few insight if you want to give them a try:

Since you will start with only 300 in chips and blinds at 30/15, it makes for a very fast tournament but it doesn't mean you have to shove with crap! Remember a lot of people will play bad hands and bust quickly, there is no rush for you to do the same. You can allow yourself to go all the way down to 5 blinds to find that ideal hand or situation that will hold well in a coin flip so that you can double up. Sometimes it won't come and you will need to gamble, but you have to understand that the money in these comes from quantity, you will lose a lot of them but as long as you win almost as many you will show a profit. I personally like AQ and up and 10's and up in the early rounds to move in with, lowering the range as you get closer to the button. Remember: You want to be the aggressor, not the caller. To call you will need to consider the position of your opponent. The earlier his position, the more you need of a premium hand to make the call.



Position is also really important as you have less people behind to worry about. If I get on the button or big blind vs small blind and no one has acted before me, I will show a LOT of aggression with weaker hands, as long as it's playable, I will go all in. More likely the one or two players left behind won't wake up with a hand to call me with and this will give me another round. It is really important to try and double up in those early round of the super turbo's so those first hand you chose and the position you play really matters.

Once you find yourself on the bubble, you need to be extremely aggressive. This was my biggest leak and Mike helped me a lot with it. I used to play tighter and think: "I don't want to bubble", well, guess what... neither do they! So that is the perfect time to put them to the test. They cannot (and should not) call unless they have a PREMIUM hand. So why not take advantage of it and move in on them every time you have the button or position on them? The only time we need to be careful is if the person we are putting pressure on have a huge chip lead on us, as they might call us since it doesn't hurt them so much.

Once in the money, just keep the aggression level up. You will be surprise of the fold equity these tournaments have. Play your position, attack the short stack, widen your range of cards, at this point all pairs and any face cards have bigger values, and accumulate the chips!

For those wanting to take it up a notch, look up Sit and Go Wizard. Software made to help your call/fold decision based on statistics. You can go to their web site, http://www.sngwiz.com/tiki/tiki-index.php, to download a free 30 days trial.

Good luck!