Pre Wedding Update/some WSOP TV stuff/Borgata Tourney

I’m just days from one of the biggest moments of my life as I’m set to marry Kristen on Saturday. This whole process is flying by…it doesn’t seem like there’s enough hours to get everything done!!!!

After a great run in Vegas, I was back in Da Burgh to do all those last minute wedding things. Programs. Seat cards. DJ songs for bridal party..parents..first dance etc..wrap bridal party gifts..does it ever end?…but we are having alot of fun doing everything. I also had a lot of catching up on bills and laundry and that kind of stuff to do after being gone all summer. And now, we are in the process of moving again so we have been looking at houses daily…y now…I dont exactly know…but we are.

I’ve only had a few Sundays since Vegas to play the full slate of tourneys…and forgot how absolutely absurd online can be and how ridiculously stressful it is…it is really starting to get to me…to the point I don’t even wanna play online anymorebut I had the best plan for coping with that: BACHELOR PARTY in AC….which was the best weekend ever! Thanks to all my boys for making the bachelor party amazing..great times. We did it up right at Borgata, hitting all the key spots. We had dinner at Bobby Flay and then bottle service at Mixx Friday night…everyone was out real late gambling and we were hung over saturday…some of them went on a boat fishin and drinkin..the rest of us just chilled getting ready for another party night. We had dinner at Izakaya this time…one of my favorites! We went to the pool saturday and everyone just had a blast…it was a lot of fun there…my favorite club…and I love the new part upstairs w the DJ and bar. I couldn’t be happier with the turnout of the weekend..so glad everyone, or almost everyone came..and everyone had a freakin’ blast..awesome times..wish we took more pictures…great weekend!
But after it was over I was back on the clock…even with a busy schedule, gotta make time for the family. Spent hours at mom’s house making it look brand new for the rehearsal dinner…everything is lookin’ good for the all pre wedding stuff.

As for the Main Event, a lot of people are wondering when they’re going to see my mug on TV. Don’t know exactly when or where I’ll pop up, but I can tell you the ESPN coverage starts Tuesday at 8 pm, with back to back episodes every week for the next three months.

I played Day 1B (ESPN Coverage Tues 9 pm) and it all started in Amazon Blue, table 273, seat 8. While I knew I was playing well, I had no idea what the journey was going to be like for the next 11 days at the Main, wow, what a ride it was.

From playing with Tom Schneider early, to having my good friend Matt Stout at the table later in the day, it was a good start. On Day 3 I was moved to Johnny Chan’s table…at the time he was the chip leader…he doubled me up early when he overplayed 1 pair (AK) when I flopped a set and we tangled a few other times as well. Not sure if any of it will make it on to TV, but I was fortunate to have position on him which ultimately worked out huge for me.

As we approached the bubble on Day 4 I raised every hand and was really able to chip up to over a mill from like 800k just by abusing the 20k bubble…Kido Pham was at my table and he played solid for the most part except he got caught in a huge bluff and never recovered…and I ultimately busted him 4 away from the money in a hand that will probably be on TV.

Heading into Day 5 I did an ESPN interview in the big comfy chair and am looking forward to seeing how they profile me throughout the event. There are also 2 interviews on CardPlayer TV if you want to check them out…one with Rebecca and the other with Christina.
I was eventually moved to 1 of the 2 ESPN featured tables and should get some air time there as well. One hand you might see involves me making a bad call, really light. There was history with this guy that led to my decision, but that probably won’t come across during the broadcast. I hope they don’t make me look too bad…I played pretty solid for 6 days..but that feature table I was card dead and had a bunch of solid players and big stacks there so besides folding alot I played some hands differently…but I love Norman Chad…so however it turns out, I’m sure it’ll be cool. The hand is something I’ll get into more down the road, as it ultimately shaped the rest of the tourney.
Ultimately I bust on Day 7 in 55th place, but was I extremely happy with how I played all week…with the exception of a few hands…which is reasonable…it isn’t easy to play perfect for a week straight, at the tail end of the summer…but again I am happy with how I played and I will take the $138k and my 5th cash of the summer.
As the ESPN coverage starts to air this week I’m in the process of doing some interviews for various Pittsburgh and Western PA outlets. It’ll be good exposure before my tv coverage starts to pick up. And I really plan on playing alot more televised events the rest of the year.

One other note before the wedding, there’s a cool tournament at Borgata coming-up this weekend. It’s a Deep Stack Turbo and on top of the regular prize money, first place includes entry into the September World Poker Tour Championship Event, the Main Event of the Borgata Poker Open. That’s a $3,500 free ride into a WPT TV event and adds ton of value to the DS Turbo.

Another cool thing is that Cabot Creamery is helping put on the event, calling it Put a Bad Beat on Hunger, as they raise money for the South Jersey Community Food Bank. Last year in a similar effort pro Roy Winston (also a Card Player blogger) won the Cabot tournament and helped raise awareness for those who are less fortunate and depend on the Food Bank.

I’ve got my big day and will be happily married so I can’t play, but here’s the info: Sun. August 15th- 1 pm ($260 +$40), 25k chips, 15 min levels. Fast and furious, should be a lot of fun!

Borgata link

http://www.theborgata.com/Main.cfm?Category_1=3000&Category_2=3500&Category_3=3510