High stakes putting, Chinese, and PL Hold'em tourney

Yesterday I think that I mentioned that I won $10,000 on the putting green. While I was hanging around in the VIP lounge Phil Ivey walked in and said, "I bet I can make this 10 foot putt at even money." Richie Sexon came running in just then and said, "OK, $5,000." Ivey hit it right into the heart, no doubt that it was in the whole way. Then Ivey said, "Go again?" Sexson said, "$5,000 more." Ivey nailed it dead center again, and this putt I've been making 20% of the time, if that often. I mean, it is right to left, but if you hit it weak, it will break off left. It has to be stroked one inch right of the hole, with pace. Sexson then said, "$10,000 this time." Ivey smiled, said, "OK," and nailed it right in the heart again. Ivey picked the ball out of the hole and said, "I don't here anything." Sexson sputtered for 20 seconds, then Ivey said, "I've got to get back to my tournament." Sexson was pissed, and said, "Is the putt on a track?" hen he proceeded to miss four in a row, and lose $6,000 to me putting. Poor guy, he was there 9 minutes, and lost $26,000!! I would bet a PGA tour pro on that putt at even money all day long!!

Later I played Chinese Poker with Johnny Chan, Barry Greenstein, the businessman David Chiu, and Tim Phan at around 10:00 pm Thursday night. At 4:00 am, I was up around $50,000 at $1,000 a point. Of course, I should have quit, and gotten some rest for the PLH tournament at noon Friday. I didn't, and by 5:00 am, I was losing. Finally, at 6:00 am, I quit ahead $62,000. Chan won over $40,000 as well, but was smart enough to quit at 4:00 am or so. The win is nice, but am I in control right now? What if I would have lost another $100K, or more? Am I here to win bracelet number 11, or what? Yes, I am here for that exact reason, but last year I had some lapses exactly like this, so it's OK. I slept until 2:30 pm, then sunned for awhile, eventually showing up to the tournament at 4:00 pm or so. Fortunately I had nearly $8,000 of my 10K in starting chips. I made it past the dinner break, but I couldn't seem to get anything going. In poker I played super patiently, and believe it or not, I only won one pot and two antes by 6:30 pm!! I almost don't believe it and it may be some kind of record, but I did show up four hours late.

At the breaks I lost $10,500 to Doyle at the putting green, but I think that he and I are a good match. I don't know what happened to my putting, it was really off today, and I didn't have any feel at all. I did beat Doyle for $4,000 playing Chinese poker in the VIP suite, with Barry, Juanda, and Thomas Walrus. Meanwhile my wife and sons arrived at the Rio at 10:45 pm or so, and I was able to play Nintendo "Wi" games with the boys for 90 minutes: we played tennis, bowling, golf, and baseball. I barely saw my wife, as she dropped the kids off, and headed off for her nice suite at the Bellagio. The boys will stay with me in my suite. Having my family arrive was a huge boost for me. Family is number one for me. One of my sons will come with me tomorrow to the tournament and play Wi while I play the $1,500 no limit. The other one has finals next week. If I'm eliminated, then I'll skip the HORSE tournament and go to "Ka" or "Love" with my wife and kids. The kids are choosing the show, and it looks like "Ka." However, I will be perfectly happy if I can play until 2:00 am in the no limit. Another cash makes 59, another bracelet makes 11…