Saturday until 5:00 am!!!!

I played the $1,500 buy-in no limit Hold'em tournament Saturday and was eliminated; it wasn't pretty, but no more bad beat stories!! I left the tournament area and went to the ultra-private and ultra-exclusive "Poker Royalty" suite and practiced Wi "Power bowling" for 40 minutes (I shot a 564). Then I went to suntan for 30 minutes, had my eyebrows waxed (thanks for the tip wifey, what do us men know about grooming?), had a haircut, and then had a hard workout. At 8:00 pm I did my video BLOG, and then ordered dinner from Paymon's (one of my favorite restaurants in Vegas) on Maryland Parkway. I picked the dinner for three up in a limo as I headed to Mike Matusow's house. There we ate with his girlfriend, hit the pool and Jacuzzi, and just chilled out.

The whole while we were debating what we should bet Gus Hanson, Phil Ivey, and Tim Phan on the HORSE tournament. They rank me as the 30th best HORSE tournament player in the world, which cannot be true! Even Doyle, who will bet me vs. anyone in the world in any no limit Hold'em tournament, doesn't like my chances in the HORSE. Did they forget that I've beaten the big game (HORSE and more games) at the Bellagio the last few years? Did they forget that I have extreme tournament skills? Did they forget that I finished in the top twelve in HORSE the year that Doyle won it? Did they forget that the tournament will feature over 100 donkeys? Sure, I may not be the best Omaha 8/b player in the side games (I know that I don't play patiently enough), but look at my tournament results!! I may not be the best stud player in the world, but look at my tournament results!! Make no mistake about it: when it comes to Razz and Hold'em, I'm as good as it gets. Now Stud 8/b is certainly my worst game, even though I was really good at it back in the 1980's when I played it everyday.

It is common theory amongst the pros that I play great against weak players. Of course, they don't remember that I beat all of the great players in tournaments in the 80's and 90's. If they're right, then I should be somewhere in the top five players. Also, the later it gets in the tournament, the more the limit games resemble no limit. I know that I'm going to play great poker, but it is limit, and anything can happen. I don't think that Doyle has played a hand against me in the big game in over five years, so he doesn't know how much I've improved. I admit that I player poorly in the big games at times in the 90's. In any case, I made a some big bets on myself vs. 30 other great players that Tim Phan and Doyle Picked.

Ivey, Chan, and Matusow bet on me, even though they are Phan's list of 30 players. I bet 30 bets of $20,000 apiece (Ivey has $10,000, I have $7,000, Chan has $2,000 and Matusow has $1,000 of the action) on final table bets vs. thirty players. If I make the final table, my group wins 30 times $20,000, or $600,000. By the way, it is nice to have Ivey betting on me for once! If 2 players from there group make the final table, and I don't, then they win $40,000 (3 pays $60,000, and 1 pays $20,000). Tomorrow I will name the players that were picked vs. me, right now it is late (5:30 am), and I need to get some sleep.

I will say that after arriving at the Bellagio at midnight, I made those bets, and won $41,000 playing one-half Chinese poker at $1,000 a point, and one half 2-7 triple draw at $1,500-$3,000 limit. I'm glad that I had the day off on Saturday, and I feel pretty good, I just hope I feel good when I wake up at 12:30!!