Me on ESPN

Friday travel day, delayed flights

Friday was a travel day for my family. Our flight was delayed 5 hours, but I didn't care. Normally a 5 hour delay would tilt me a bit because it would mean more time away from my family, but in this case my boys and wife were with me; so I didn't mind a bit. Plus, it wasn't like I had anything planned Friday night…

Saturday

Saturday I practiced more golf. The match I play August 14th-to be shown on ESPN--is for $9 million total, $3 million a team, and $1million a man. It is $500,000 a hole, with three teams consisting of three players apiece. My team is Russ Hamilton, Billy Walters and me. Billy owns the course (Rio Secco), so that should help. It is a scramble format, one tie, all tie; with no carry-overs. Which means, to me, that it is likely that one team may lose four or five holes, or win four or five holes: thus, I think that a team member may win or lose $200,000 or so, at the maximum. After hitting putts and chips, I wandered off and found a par 3 course, where I recalibrated my distances for my new, much more powerful swing. I now hit a 7 iron from 165 yards, for the first time in my life, and it feels so GOOD! I used to hit a 7 iron from 145 yards…That night my wife and I went to "The Bourne Ultimatum," which was absolutely terrific. Action packed, well balanced, and Matt Damon was terrific one more time.

Sunday

Sunday I played a tournament at UB where I was the bounty, and they gave away a guaranteed 50 seats to Aruba! I lasted three hands…On the third hand I had Ah-9h, and I raised it up. The flop came down 9s-6h-5h, and I bet out. The turn was the Ac, and I bet out, was raised, so I moved all-in. I was called, and shown 9-9 for top set. Oh well, nothing I could do there. Actually I was lucky to have that happen at UB and not at the WSOP. Then I played "Green Plastic" heads up at the $25-$50 blind room. I bought in $2,000, and ran it up to around $6,400 before losing a few pots. The killer pot was when I had 5d-4d, and the flop came down Jc-3c-2s. Plastic bet out, and I called. The turn was the 5c, and plastic bet out $625, and I called. I was pretty sure I had him beat, and in addition, I had let him win every pot that he bet out $625 on the turn, to set up a bluff. Turned out plastic had As-9h. He was pretty dead in this spot, and it was the first time I called his $625 in a long time. The river was the 4h, and I paid off $1,400 on the river. I was pretty disgusted with the hand. I mean, I patiently let him bluff me, always trapping with my big hands, and always getting him to bluff when I had the big hand, and then finally I called him with the intent of calling him down, and he hits a miracle 4, sigh. In any case, he busted me when I had 10-9 and he had K-9 and the flop came down 3-4-9. I quit $2,000 behind feeling disgusted. I deserved better, but didn't have the patience (or desire) to trap him again at such a small limit.

Afterwards I hit some putts and chips, and my wife and I went to "Becoming Jane." And yes, I do love romantic comedies, which are sometimes called "Chick flicks!" It was an excellent movie about Jane Austen.

Monday - Poker action, finally

First thing I did Monday was answer a call from Brandon, the "Pro Player" Endurance Formula PR guy. Of course, drinkproplayer.com is where you can buy our poker drink, and it is delicious and helps with concentration in poker tournaments; with not too much caffeine. Brandon was hoping, and I did agree, to MC Indiana Pacer Jermaine O'Neals poker tournament on Saturday (August 11) called "Old School vs. New School." For more info check out Jermaine's website. The event is at the Mirage at 2:00 pm, red carpet at 1:00 pm. Afterwards, I decided to play some online poker at UB. I lost $350 in the no limit in 100 seconds, then we started a $150-$300 with online poker legend "Piejay." I won about $3,500, then I had to take a phone call. I came back later and won $10,000 more. Then Rolande de Wolfe pinged me on "AIM" and challenged me to play Chinese poker. I agreed to play for $500 a point, and when the smoke cleared I was up $25,500, or 51 points. Considering we only played for two hours, this was a lot of points for me to win. In other words, I was super lucky!

I quit so soon in order to eat a hot dinner with my family, and afterwards I dragged my wife to see "The Bourne Ultimatum" one more time. We probably should have waited more than two days before we saw it again, but it was still awfully good.

Tuesday - more golf, "Bite Tech.," and "Sleep Quest"

I practiced again for my huge golf match next week, this time I hit a par 3 course, on the bay, in the wind-to match Vegas conditions. Unfortunately I hit the ball rather poorly. I also went by "Sleep Quest" in Redwood City to read the results of my sleeping machine-that I use for my sleep apnea-and the results were very positive. I now wake up less than ten times an hour vs. over forty times an hour pre-machine. I highly recommend that everyone has a sleep test, especially if your partner tells you that you snore a lot, or wake up having trouble breathing during the night. When diagnosed and treated, dealing with it early-rather than later--can add years to your life. I was also informed that I need to go to LA Wednesday night for a Thursday commercial shoot for UltimateBet.com. I also shoot some stuff Friday, then I head to Vegas where I can practice golfing with some money on it-the only way to play golf!

By the way, I'm looking at investing some money in "Bite Tech," along with Brett Hull and 24 other athletes (the athletes are already involved). "Bite Tech" has some patents for plastic mouth guards-custom fit and regular--that actually put your mouth into a position where strength is added, just by being in that position. The cutting edge research shows that the product can reduce concussions, add strength, and increase stamina and concentration. My lawyers and I are checking out the company (doing due diligence), which is based in Minneapolis. Can you imagine a product like this that may be able to help me (or you) win more money, or even better yet, more WSOP tournaments!!!

ESPN, Ivey and Shak

Well, let me say one thing about the 2 hour "Phil Hellmuth" show on ESPN tonight. After I was eliminated, I was rooting for Beth Shak to win! I know that I said-in private to my wife and friends Greg and Janelle Pierson-that I didn't think that Beth could win, but I was still 100% rooting for her. I didn't think she could win because I felt like she would over-play A-Q again, or another similar hand, and lose most of her chips in one fell swoop. Enough said. On another note, at one point, while watching the show, I was annoyed with myself! I don't even mind that I said, "I'm the best Hold'em player in the world," but some of the other stuff I said was too over the top. Oh well, at least it was an entertaining show.

And how about Ivey being in the right place at the right time and beating me out of $109,000 while WATCHING the final table!! The first final table he has watched in years and he MAKES $109,000, sigh. I don't mind him earning, but why did it have to be against me, again!?! I loved the collage they did on me, and was it me, or did Norman Chad actually lighten a bit on me for once? Norman sure gave me credit for my feats, and took me to task for my mouth, fair enough.