East Bay Poker Camping

It was supposed to be a friendly night out camping with the guys and our kids. After putting the kids to bed, we broke the cards and chips. Fortunately, we kept the buy in reasonable because the game had sharks that can swim on the land. Nick, Perry and Bob were all smart aggressive players and they knew my tricks well. There would be no limping in and trapping with these guys. Very nice play by them eliminated me from claiming the title of best Poker Dad for that night. Perry and Nick split the spoils (our MONEY!!) with their excellent play. Bob and I want another chance to prove ourselves and an opportunity to restock our poker stashes. You name the place and we'll be there.

AM

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Long Way to the World Series

Today I played in the Spread-Limit tourney at Bay 101. Finished 22/117. The top 18 places were paid so again I was close to the bubble. I won a few races but never really built up a chip stack. Most of the players were solid. I should have gone all in with AQ when my stack was mediocre. After the flop I was outplayed and lost. Also, I lost with AK to KJ when a straight popped up on the river. My final hand was 77 against the chip leader at my table who flipped up AK. He eliminated me with a set of kings. Overall, I played my game as planned. The problem, however, is my game isn't surgically sharp yet. If I don't improve, I will be the easy to spot WHALE at the WSOP. Also, clearly I didn't win with or crack AK. No chance to win a tourney when that happens.

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World Series of Poker Bracelet

This is an official World Series of Poker Bracelet. In fact it is Phil Hellmuth's tenth bracelet that he let me put on for a moment. Yes, it was an amazing feeling. Now, I need to learn how to play MUCH MUCH better and go after one of my own. For more pix and stories check out Surgical Poker.com

Unabomber Phil Laak and AM at Hard Rock Party

Phil Laak, also known in poker circles at the Unabomber is shown here with AM at the STUFF party that was held at the Hard Rock Casino Pool in Las Vegas. Yes, the party was awesome. More pix will be posted soon. Phil proved himself to be a fun, intelligent, engaging player at the celebrity tourney with his beautiful girlfriend Jennifer Tilly always nearby.

Phil Hellmuth at STUFF Magazine Party

This is ten time World Series of Poker Champion Phil Hellmuth with a couple STUFF Magazine Party crashers. Have you seen these guys? They are wanted by the Las Vegas cops. They were caught having too much fun at PURE, the Hard Rock and TAO.

Quad Threes win Tourney at Caesars

I am in Vegas for Camp Hellmuth Three and the day before it started, I bought into the daily tourney at Caesars. I got VERY lucky on the second hand of the tourney with Aces that busted Kings and I immediately doubled up. Those chips allowed me to cruise through four rounds. By then, however, I had bled down to six big blinds. In the small blind, I had A10 suited. I went all in and was dominated by AQ. A beautiful 10 on the flop kept me alive.

A couple other nice hands and a few bluffs brought me to the the final table as the chip leader.

I played super tight and made the final three. Then, it was a mind game. One guy took a bad beat and went on tilt and was out. Heads up went on for a while. Finally, I called the big blind with pocket threes. I checked when I flopped a full house. The other guy went all in with AQ and of course I called him. The three on the turn gave me quads and the tourney win, my first!

AM