Andrew Robl

It's midnight here in Vienna and I just got off the phone with Andrew Robl. There has been much discussion about the last episode of The Big Game and how Tony G and I "ganged up" on Robl for being a nit.

Let me start by saying I genuinely like Andrew Robl, and I always have. I saw his blog, and I thought he had every right to defend his actions and I don't mind the shots he took at me, I'm a big boy :-)

Robl is a winning player who depends on high stakes no limit hold'em action, so a game like The Big Game is a great opportunity for him to both make a name for himself as well as get some juicy EV. There are only 5 available seats per week other than the Loose Cannon, and a lot of people are banging down the doors to get into the game since it's such a high value game.

I was shocked that Robl wouldn't straddle despite everyone else in the game straddling. It's a nitty thing to do and I called him on it. Sure he isn't obligated to do it, but in the interest of action and keeping everyone happy, the better play for him would have been to say, "OK boys, I'll gamble with you, but just this once."

So as mentioned, I got off the phone with Andrew and let him know we are cool and we squashed it. He explained to me why he didn't straddle, and I explained to him how it came off, etc. and we both agreed that we made valid points.

So as far as I'm concerned, it's a dead issue and I think this all ended up working out better for him anyway. It certainly created a lot of drama and discussion which always makes for a good story line the next time he appears on the show with me or Tony G. He let me know he's OK with me needling him at the table, and I'm obviously fine with taking jabs from him as well, as long as at the core it's all in good nature which I'm sure it will be.

*****************************************************************

So I'm in Vienna and it's midnight. Not ideal for a wake up time for a noon start tomorrow, but such is the way of the EPT when you travel from Los Angeles to Europe. I'll be OK. I hope to get to bed again by about 5:00am and wake up around 11:00am and just do the best I can to make it through day one. I'm hungry for a win. If I happen to bust, I will not be partying in Vienna. Instead, I'll be getting back to the grind on PokerStars.com and playing $100-$200 no limit hold'em with whoever is willing. I'm on a nice hot streak in that game winning my last 9 sessions for close to $500k.

*****************************************************************

No partying in Vienna, partly because I did plenty of that in LA last week. I was there for four nights and we went out every single night which is rare for me. On one of the days I actually flew to Vegas for the day to give the new owner of the Tropicana a poker lesson. It was actually for his wife who is a huge poker fan. They were nice enough to drop me off in LA on their way out of town on their private plane which was one of the nicer planes I've seen.

I got back at around 6:00pm and was at dinner at Geisha House by like 8:00pm. Also had dinner at Katsuya, and then was really excited to eat at Bazaar in Beverly Hills, a restaurant created by Jose Andres who I'd seen on 60 Minutes. He is an energetic chef who is very vegan friendly and the food was amazing.

One night after dinner we stopped by Justin "BoostedJ" Smith's house in the Hills. He has a really cool pad and we had a few drinks there along with Joseph Kahn and his girlfriend. Kahn, who is the world's foremost music video director, just wrapped filming on an indie film starring Dane Cook and Josh Hutcherson. The movie is a high school horror/comedy and I laughed just from reading the script so I'm anxious to see what it looks like when it's all said and done. It should be released in 2011 and I play a bit part in the film as does PokerStars.net The Big Game host, Amanda Leatherman. I think Boosted might be in it too, but I'm not totally sure. Anyway, I'll let you guys know more about it as it gets closer to the release date.

I also had a chance to hook up with my buddies Regev and Oren which is always fun. They are great people, been friends with them since high school and although we don't see each other too often, they are still two of my closest friends and every time I introduce them to people they fall in love with their laugh! It's infectious.

All in all, it was an amazing week, but now it's time to get to work. This hasn't been my best year results wise in tournament poker, but one big score can turn in all around, so I'm hoping it starts here in Vienna. It took me a while to get my first EPT cash out of the way in London, so hopefully I can go back-to-back in Vienna, but this time make a really deep run at the title.

I'll be updating my progress on twitter at RealKidPoker as always.

Daniel Negreanu is the 2004 CardPlayer Magazine and World Poker Tour Player of the Year. He presents his poker strategies in one-on-one virtual training at pokervt.com and writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column.
Read all of Daniel Negreanu's poker blog and poker articles at Full Contact Poker.