The Quest for 12

Another dinner beak

Friday I fought hard, and picked up a lot of big pairs. It was pretty smooth, but I was exhausted. Instead of my usual meal at the fine Indian restaurant--Gaylord's-I chose a message for the whole 90 minutes. I was really beat, and when I came back I put in too much money with Jh-10h (limped in) after the Q-9-7 flop. Finally, I was all-in as a pretty good favorite, but lost on the river. I then proceeded to lose over $40,000 playing Chinese poker ($500 a point) with Shawn Sheikan, and another young Korean kid that kept slow rolling me. Finally, I flipped over nothing in front, three queens in the middle, and an ace high flush in back, and he said, "Darn it," then he proceeded to collect 12 points. I couldn't take it anymore and quit right then and there!!

Play badly and rest my son!

On Saturday, I won a coin flip early with A-K vs. Q-Q and proceeded to murder my chips! Wow, talk about bad play! Oh well, sometimes I'm the donkey. The good news was that I was absolutely at the wall as far as being tired, so I came back to my room; took a 90 minute nap; hit the whirlpool; ordered a limo and ate take out from my favorite Mediterranean place on the way to Mike Matusows house; and Mike, his girlfriend, and I hit "Oceans 13." After a pleasant and relaxing day, I went to bed at 2:30 (only because I had to eat again, or it would have been earlier), and slept until 12:30, although sleeping with this breathing machine for my sleep apnea is not easy yet; I keep waking up after a few hours because the airflow is so noisy.

Cash number 60, baby!!!

I was up at 12:45 pm, but instead of making my way to the tournament, I watched the US open for over an hour. What the heck, it was great television, and we did start with $6,000 in chips. I arrived at the tournament at around 2:30 (I had about $4,800 left in chips), only to see the super tough Devilfish sitting a few players to my left. Then they brought Nick (the Greek) and Ted (businessman) over, so that I had three known players directly to my left. I was going well, and accumulated around $20,000 in chips pretty much risk free. The key hand came up for me much later, at around 11:00 pm when I called a $4,000 bet form Player A in the $800 big blind with 4-4. The flop was 8-8-7, and I
checked. Player A bet $9,000, and now I had a decision. I told Perry Friedman, "This is why I'm the best in the world. But if I'm wrong, I'll look like an idiot!" I studied for a full two minutes, right into the "15 break" time. My opponent told me. "I'll show the hand either way." I kept thinking that I was going to fold, then he was going to show me A-K, and then I was going to be mad at myself for folding. Finally, I moved all-in for $3,800 more, and he said, "How much, I think I have to call." I flipped up the fours, and he showed As-Js. I was right, but could I hold up? The turn was a 9d, and the river was the Qh, and now I was a force to be reckoned with. I had made the great call!! The next thing you knew I had the chip lead, or close to it, with $130,000. The next thing I knew, I was in the money for a record 60 times! So I was all-in once on the day. Amazingly, they kept on trying to bluff me, which is almost impossible to do right now. With 87 players left, I need to play great all day, make the final table (nine players), and then win bracelet number 12 on Tuesday for my buddy Greg Pierson!!! Gut let's not get ahead of ourselves, first I need to play great all day Monday, and make the final nine. It will definitely help my energy level that my wife and sons hit Vegas on Monday…