The WSOP is right around the corner and I'm ready!

Online poker at UB, do I ever win?

Have I won in the last three months at online poker; even one single time? I think not! The good news is that I'm less than $30,000 loser over the last 3-4 months, and I'm still up around $450,000 lifetime online. Still, losing every play would normally piss me off big time. However, for two reasons I will not be tough on myself. First, I haven't played the high limit games more than 12 times in the last three months. So it hasn't been that many losses. Second, it is hard for me to play my best when I do play, because the games are relatively small (so I don't care as much, and thus don't seem to focus very hard); and I never sit down fresh (I usually hop on UB late at night when I'm tired). I know, excuses, excuses! Bottom line, I've played poorly when I do play poker at UB the last three months.

Meanwhile, this week (Weds-Sat) I have really been struggling using a C-pap machine for my sleep apnea (I just found out that I have sleep apnea). The machine attaches to my nose with a mask to help you breathe better at night. I'm getting used to it, and I know that it will help me out tremendously when I am used to it. I've heard that I may start remembering my dreams again, once the C-pap kicks in. By the way, I do have the state of the art machine, and care from Robert Koenigsberg, the CEO at "Sleep Quest" in Redwood City.

Online Chinese poker, it's an addiction!

Friday night at around 6:30 or so, I began playing Chinese poker with Rolande De Wolfe and Mike Matusow online. My sons and I watched "Star Wars; Episode I" as I fiddled around playing Chinese for $500 a point, and my sons played their online games (not poker!). My wife is working this week, and she didn't come home until 9:30 pm. Yikes! In any case, I broke about even, beating Roland for $2,000, but losing $6,000 to Matusow. I finally quit around midnight.

"Record Man"

Saturday I was off on another long run, while trying to make sure I didn't fall down this time! Saturday night my wife and I went out for a nice dinner in Redwood City, and then hit "Spiderman III." Knowing Tobey (just a little bit) makes it more interesting for me to see any movie that he is in. My wife and I loved it, and gave Tobey a "Thumbs up" on his performance, which was a lot deeper than in the other two Spiderman movies. Clearly, this script asked Tobey to do a lot more. But the world already knows that Tobey has some serious chops ("chops" is a Hollywood term for acting skills). In my opinion, the movie did try to cover too many themes, but it was still a must see.

At dinner with my wife I said, "I'm so excited to go to the WSOP (World Series of Poker) this year!" She stopped cold and said, "I haven't heard you say that in years." Which made me think back over the last few years…I remember that I skipped the first few tournaments in 2004 and 2005, telling myself, "You're not going to the WSOP until you can't take missing it anymore." In 2003, I skipped the first four or five tourneys before I couldn't take it anymore. In 2004, I made it down to the WSOP on the fifth or sixth event (HORSE) and then made it to the final two tables before I took some bad beats and was eliminated (Doyle Brunson went on to win that one). In 2005, I made the money in the very first event that I played in, beating 2,200 players before I faded and finished 25th or so. I thought that was a good omen, but 2005 wasn't a very good WSOP for me. I remember leaving after one week to do a conference in Toronto, and I felt like this may have thrown me off (A convenient excuse!). In 2006, I was ready to play-I had cashed in the WPT in Paris a few weeks before--from the beginning, and I made the money in the very first event out of the box. I remember playing poorly near the end of day 2, and finishing roughly 65th. That really bothered me, because being eliminated was totally unnecessary, and 100% my fault. I had no story, no bad beat, I just tried something stupid against a calling station, and of course, I got called! I was pretty pissed off at myself, that's for sure. So in 04, 05, and 06 I cashed in the first event that I played in at the WSOP.

Why wasn't I excited the last few years? Why am I so excited this year? Maybe because I just played so beautifully at the WPT Championships a few weeks back. Had that been a three or a four day tournament, I probably would have won it. Right now, I know what I have to do in order to win a poker tournament. Will I keep that knowledge during the 2007 WSOP? Who knows? Another reason that I may be excited is that I'm just thinking about the mere possibility of winning bracelets number 11, 12, or even 13.

I do have one key thing going for me this year: I'm ready to use all of my power to win. Also, I'm ready to be the man that breaks all of the records. To me, this means that I will not sabotage myself, or falter, when I have the record in sight, as I have done (occasionally) in the past. To me, it means that I'm ready to be the "Record Man" (as the Italian newspapers call me, no translation just "Record man").

Monday I fly to Vegas, and Tuesday I enter the Mandalay Bay WPT event at noon. I cannot help dreaming of greatness, "What if…?" "What if I win the WPT event, and three WSOP events in six weeks?" No one ever accused me of thinking small! I will try to reach for the stars one more time!!