PrtyPSux

Due in thanks to a '7 from Heaven' J.C. 'PrtyPSux' Alvarado finished runner-up in WPT Reno and jumped into 4th place in Card Player's Player of the Year standings. Congratulations J.C.!!!

J.C. 'PrtyPSux' Alvarado...

... is 2nd in chips entering the televised WPT Final Table in Reno. I will be alongside SBRounder, Tmay420 and others on the rail. I assume we will sipping on a few beverages throughout and popping open a few bottles of champagne at the conclusion.

Snow Day

After a poor snow season, it seems mother nature is playing catch-up. Last night more than a foot of snow fell from the sky in the Lake Tahoe area. I was clueless about the expected storm and while the snow began to fall I was hanging out with some friends at the Grand Sierra in Reno after dropping off Reed 'Badbeatme' Hensel at the airport. After receiving notice of the storm, I quickly left for the condo. Since the Mazda caught a flat earlier in the afternoon, I was left with my dad's car, which does not have chains. As I began to climb the Kingsbury Grade, the snow began falling thicker and quicker. To be honest, I did not think the chances of reaching the top were very much in my favor. Nevertheless, I kept going, as snow tires/chains were not mandatory at the time. Even though it was safe to proceed, I knew I was in for a real treat after passing a flipped car on the other side of the road. It was around this time I made a deal with myself. If I made it safely to the top, I would park the car and walk the remainder of the way. It was certainly a sweat the rest of the way (i.e. spinning tires, lost traction), but I made it. I parked the car and walked briskly through the fast-falling snow.

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With 11 players remaining, J.C. 'PrtyPSux' Alvardo is 2nd in chips at WPT Reno. Play will conclude when six players remain. Other notables: David Pham, J.C. Tran, Mark Seif, Danny Wong and Erick Lindgren.

Sunday Re-cap

After a disappointing weekend in San Jose, Reed & I headed back early, arriving in Reno at 11 PM. I played a single-table satellite (570) and a HU last longer (300). Unfortunately, I went down in flames.

The Sunday Million (1050) and Mega Satelitte (650) looked alluring, but I opted to take the day off from tournaments. In the Full Tilt 400K, Lawrence had its fourth representaive reach the final table since September. Tom 'TheTBone' Petric finished 6th for 14K. This is Tom's highest finish in an online major tournament. Congratulations, Tom!!!

Blur

A typical Tuesday evening:

Reed & I got Anoob'd playing HU Omaha Hi against Anuj.

After which, we drank steadily till 4 A.M. at The Fox & Hound, then Mont Bleu.

At Mont Bleu, I scored $55 and Reed $400 in 1/2 NL. These guys were hardly competition. The poker room would have been declared a disaster area if these clowns re-bought.

The game broke, I stole a 'Missed Blind' button and Reed & I were off to Harvey's. Rick, the graveyard poker room manager, was not in the best of moods. Apparently, if seven seats are available at 3:30 A.M., one must wait at the podium, rather than take a seat. Thanks for the attitude, Rick. We left before playing a single hand. GG, Harvey's...

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Leaving for San Jose tomorrow morning... Rock Chalk!

West Regional

I purchased two tickets for the West Regional in San Jose early this afternoon. Reed and I will be heading out from Lake Tahoe on Thursday morning in the Mazda. Kansas v. Southern Illinois will be the opener, after which UCLA and Pittsburgh will wrap-up the West Regional. If chalk holds, we will spend Friday out-and-about, awaiting an Elite 8 match-up between Kansas & UCLA or Pittsburgh. If the world comes to an end, it will be a short trip.

Either way, I might play WPT Reno on Sunday (5K). I am a little hesitant, but I might just say, "What the heck?" and go for it. If this is the case, I will have to pick up the pace in order to attend Bellagio in April. Or, I can just have a deep finish in WPT Reno.

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Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Sunday Re-cap

I didn't have any success in the tournaments this afternoon. I played Stars Million, 650 Mega Sat. (WSOP) on Stars, Full Tilt 750K, UB 200K and 109 Sat. (535) on Full Tilt. In the Million, I RR AI with A7 from 3600 to ~ 28K against a hyperactive button with a sizeable stack. He quickly called with A9, GG.

In Full Tilt, I had a very nice stack (15K) with the blinds at 140/280. The only player at the table whom I was covered by open-limped the button. He had been playing particularly tight, having early checked from the big blind with KK. SB folded, I checked the option with 64 and the flop came 764. I check-raised to 2,000, he quickly moved-in and I followed in right behind him. He showed A7. Ace on the river.

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WSOP Satelittes: -$1,561.50

March Madness

It is the time of the year in which all is put aside for the NCAA Tournament. March Madness pools, cinderellas and unpleasant exits by the Kansas Jayhawks. However, it is another year and the focus is the University of Kansas cutting down the nets in Atlanta. I guess it is the hope of them doing so...

Predictions:

Kansas v Florida
Georgetown v Ohio St.

Kansas v Georgetown

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In other news, I made the final table of the 120+9 freezeout with bounties on Ultimatebet. In fact, I finished 4th (of 272) for $2,400 and collected 8 bounties for an additional $160. With 11 players remaining, I re-shoved with KT (Lawrence, baby) and drew out against A8. Hopefully this tournament foreshadows the upcoming events of the next two weeks. BraveJayhawk finishing 4th the night preceding the NCAA Tournament --> University of Kansas reaches the Final Four? I can only hope. I will post a re-cap of the tournament later in the week. Enjoy the Madness!

Gamble, Gamble

After a few drinks at the local bar, I decided to go gamblin'. I called a taxi, arrived at Harvey's and jumped in 2/3 NL. On the first hand, I raised to 25 with AA after two players limped. It was a pretty standard result. Everyone folded. I almost cashed out after the first hand. I had a feeling. Not the feeling of a gutshot coming with one card to come. I felt the hand was a forshadowing of future events. Thereafter, I was called in multiple spots in every hand in which I raised. I donked off a buy-in, lost with A2 against 35 on a 345 board (AI on the flop) and re-raised AI (200) with AQ after a raise to 10 and a call. A player behind called with AK. It didn't make much of a difference. I would have lost if the initial raiser had called with 55. It was not an enjoyable taxi ride back.

Back to School

During the LAPC, I decided it was time to go back to school. I won't quite playing poker, as it would be completely unrealistic. However, I have finally succombed to the pressures of being a full-time professional poker player. I will continuing coaching and staking players, but I have realized I don't have the killer instinct and talent to play at the middle/high stakes levels. Therefore, I have been playing in smaller stakes than I have been in the past two years. I can earn plenty of money playing smaller stakes, but I think it is just as possible doing so while going to school.

I am heading back to Los Angeles...

Sunday Re-cap

Line-up:

Poker Stars Sunday Million (and a half) - 630

Bodog 100K - 250

Full Tilt 400K - Zip

WSOP Mega Satelitte - I hate satelittes


It is only a matter of time before I have a deep finish in the Sunday tournaments. I have a very impressive ITM %, but I have only made the final three tables once. Even still, it was on Bodog. I did not play a lot of cash games this week. After returning from Las Vegas, I was able to put in three sessions on Poker.com for a loss of nearly 2K, but the horses have continued doing very well. Back to the grind tomorrow...

...


Yesterday, I finished 8th in a WSOP DS. For my efforts, I received a replay.

WSOP Satelittes

Double Shootouts: 0
Mega Satelittes: -650
Other: -52

Total: -702

Lake Tahoe

After a 6-day stay in Las Vegas, I am back in Lake Tahoe. Although it was not a particularly succesful trip [in financial terms], I enjoyed myself. I was very unsuccesful at Commerce, losing close to 6K between live games and tournament entries. However, many friends had great success. SBRounder, Jon Eaton, PrtyPSux, and Travestyfund scored 6-figures in tournaments. In addition to Travestyfund, Looshle also won an event (LHE).

In a spur of the moment decision, I flew out to Las Vegas Thursday morning. It didn't take much convincing from Travestyfund and The Usher. I started off with a bang, winning nearly 3K HU on Poker.com and over 4K in live cash games at The Wynn. However, as most Las Vegas trips have gone in the past I finished the trip burning up in flames. 10/20 NL at Bellagio did not go very well. Besides horribly misplaying the last hand of the session, I played decent. However, I found myself on the bad end of a couple hands early in the session. Away from the table, I hung out with Travestyfund, The Usher and ZeeJustin. We watched Blood Diamond (very sad) & Borat (very funny) and had a few drinks here and there. I also lost a flip against ZeeJustin for room service.

In other tournament news, The Usher won the 3K at The Wynn Classic for 156K & Tmay420 made his television debut, finishing 3rd in the LAPC Invitational. If all goes well in the next month, I will play in WPT Reno & qualifers for the WPT Championship. Hopefully, some of tournaments success I have been surrounded by has rubbed off.