A "straight" jacket eliminates the Magician

My buddy Antonio gets taken out by a straight on the river at the Bay 101 Shooting Star. A set of tens should be good to go but the Poker Gods gave his opponent a straight with via a Q and a then a 9 on the river (opponent had K-J). A good man goes out WAY too early. Better luck in the next one my friend.

AM

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$2000 Buy-in Result

Antonio finished 40th out of a field of over 200 in the $2000 event. He is now on to the $10,000 WPT gig. I am predicting a final table appearance. See ya on Friday at the Bay 101!

AM

Antonio Esfandiari The Magician

Antonio Esfandiari at Bay 101's Shooting Star $2000 buy in. This is from early in the tourney but the Magician had already flopped a set of fours and busted one guy with a flush on the turn. Did he have a four up his sleeve instead of an Ace? Antonio's not telling. Best of luck to him at the WPT $10,000 event. I'll be posting some stories as I hear about them. Send me any of yours (am@surgicalpoker.com)

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AM

8-16 1/2 Kill Poker

Movin' on up to the 8-16 game. Check out SurgicalPoker for more pixs and posts.

The game was super tight and a moderately predictable. I bought in for $300 and waited for the big blind to come around. No one raised my 7-2 offsuit and the flop was trash except for an Ace. Four people were in and checked it. The turn comes off with a two and I again check it as does everyone else. The river is a blank and this time I bet it. Everyone folds except on guy who calls and I take down a early small pot with the worst starting hand in poker.

A short time later I peek down and find A-A. Of course I raise before the flop and six people call me. The flop comes 9-7-9. I am in early position which I HATE. I bet it again and two people call. The turn comes up a J and again I bet. One guy folds and another one raises me. I ponder for a second and think does he have J-J and now a full boat? No, I think he has K-K and doesn't want to see a Ace on the river. So, I reraise him. He instantly calls me. The river comes out a blank and I again bet and he calls. My AA gets cracked by K-9--Trips. I tried to put him on a hand but didn't read him well. That premiere starting hand melted my stack of chips moderately.

The guy who beat me turned out to be halfdome-all rock. He only bet when he had perfect hands. He was a good player but never played anything but great hands. I stayed away from him for the rest of the night.

AM

6-12 Limit Hold'em

Played the 6-12 game at Bay 101 on President's day. Started with $300. The first hour was mainly up. American Airlines and the Speed Limit held up nicely and I was at about $420. A nice profit but I typically set a time limit. This time it was three hours. Hour two was painful. It was as dry as good Martini. Every time I looked down it was 7-5 offsuit or perhaps 8-6 suited. I took a couple pokes at pots without any lucky flops. Despite my mostly tight play, I was down to $340 at the end of 120 minutes. The first half of hour three was the same---Garbage. The dealer even scooped by big blind hand without me seeing it because the TV caught my eye. A very bad move on part. I was down to 30 minutes and about $300 when I woke up with J-10 suited in late position. This looked like Elle Macpherson to me after all my crappy cards. I called two bets and saw a flop of 8-5-9 all unsuited. Again, a early position player raised it and another made it 24 to go. Thanks to reading Phil Gordon' book, I knew the pot odds favored my calling with an open ended straight draw. A sexy queen on the river made my hand. The early position raiser again bet. The second guy folded and I RAISED!! Fortunately, the early raiser had two pair (Qs and 8s) so she called. I flipped over the J-10 and scooped up a nice pot. The next hand I again got AA that stood up to a flush draw. Patience had paid off. At the three hour mark, I left the table with $606, a nice $306 profit. Better lucky than good I guess. Any comments?

Sushi Apres Ski in Aspen

Matsuhisa is the best place for a sushi sake night out after skiing. The food is excellent and the bar environment is filled with good looking skiers and riders. Check it out if you are in Aspen and post your opinion. Next post, I promise will be about poker!!

Sky Bar in Aspen

We checked out the Sky Bar in Aspen yesterday. Very cool bar but the top shelf margaritas were 15 bucks--yikes! The scene included a view of the hot tub and pool right at the base of Aspen. So the views made up for the prices. Overall, a great place to hang after apres-ski.