RED RIVER ROUNDUP RESULTS, BABY!

Back in June of this year I wrote about my having played in and won a Satellite Tournament that paid me $150 plus a free seat in the $500,000 2006 Red River Roundup Tournament at Winstar Casino. Well, that tournament has come and gone now. It was great fun and excitement and after three days of intense gambling I returned home completely exhausted. I lounged around all day the next day recharging my "batteries".

Tournament play began at $2:00 PM Central on Friday August 25, 2006 with 563 entries. Each entrant began with $3000 in tournament chips. After two days of play only the final 36 entrants remained. This means 527 poker players were now knocked out of the tournament and out of the money! Amazingly the "End Of Day Results" for Saturday August 26 2006 listed me as a finalist! Sadly, I was the short stack of all the finalists. I had $12,300 in chips left, the average chip count was $41,100, and the chip leader had $113,500. I had very little hope of lasting much longer, but at least I had qualified for the final event on Sunday and was still in the running for a "money" position.

I am fairly well liked in the Winstar Poker Room and I am considered a "regular" by many of the dealers, but it was still quite a surprise to me that so many of the dealers and players in the poker room were following my tournament progress. The tournament was held in the Show Room and filmed (taped) by a production company and was being close circuit broadcasted to the Poker Room and I was told that every time I went "all in" or won a pot, many of the folks in the poker room cheered for me. Some of the dealers were running into the showroom where the tournament was to check on my chip count and report back to the poker room on how I was doing. What a great feeling that was for me, I felt a bit like a rock star. Ha!

On Sunday, there was a "meet and greet" luncheon for all the finalists with Greg Raymer & David Williams (for those of you that don't follow poker on television these two guys are rather famous). The luncheon was at Stone Ranch Steakhouse which is located in the Mariachi section of the casino. I had sausage fettuccini cooked at my table followed by one of the best cups of coffee I've ever tasted. Like everybody else there I met Greg Raymer and David Williams, had them autograph their "wanted" posters for me, as well as autograph the casino cap that was one of the items in the gift bag we all received on registration day.

David Williams was very nice with a quick and enchanting grin and was very likable, however he was a bit shy and not very talkative.

Greg Raymer, however, was very chatty. He was quick minded and witty and delightful to talk to. He chatted with me for about 10 minutes and when I asked him for advise on how to play my short stack, he took me over to a corner of the room, and spent another five minutes or so telling me when to go all in and what position to play a drawing hand vs. a made pair from. I was shocked and delighted that he would take the time to do that for me considering this guy is a winner of The World Series of Poker, a television celebrity, and a multi-millionaire.

After the luncheon, we all gathered in the Show Room and there was a great show put on for us by a lead singer and the Red River Roundup Dancers. The outfits the girls wore were very interesting and the singing was good too. Ha! At 2:00 PM Central the final day of poker play began. On Saturday I had played on table 2 from 2nd position. On Sunday I drew table 4 and seat 7. I hoped the seat 7 was a good omen. Blinds were set back down to $800 & $1600 with $100 ante, doubling every 30 minutes. Being short stacked I knew one thing: the big stacks would be looking to put me all in and try to knock me out quickly before I could double up.

Greg Raymer had told me during the dinner to not limp in and try to hit a flop, but rather to look for a chance to go all in with either a high drawing hand from first position, or a high pair from late position.

I followed his advise and in the first hour I went "all in" three times, and was lucky enough to survive all three times. By the first break my chip stack had grown to $70,000. I was no longer the short stack at the table and the pressure eased off me a bit. The players at my table began to respect my play and were less inclined to push me all in. Some of the big stacks began to melt away and players began to get knocked out.

By 6:00 PM the tournament director announced that the 19th remaining player had been knocked out and that the remaining 18 players were now in the money. We had our final two tables and I still had over $60,000 in chips.

Against all odds, I had survived as the "short stack". We broke again, and quite a few people from the poker room who had never really spoken to me before began coming up to me and shaking my hand and calling me by my name.

When we gathered again for the final two tables, there was a round of applause as they called out each of the 18 finalists name and presented each of us with a very nice "Red River Roundup" watch! I am now the proud owner of one of only 18 existing limited production watches made by Fossil for this tournament. Did I mention I really like the watch?

So, now the poker gets serious. By 8:00 PM my stack is down to about $20,000, the blinds are $8000 and $4000 and the antes are $800. I post my big blind and my ante and my stack has been reduced to around $11,000. Everybody mucks to the chip leader and he calls. It's heads-up. The flop comes 4 7 5 rainbow. I have A 6. Two more hands and the blinds will be $16,000 and $8,000. I check. The big stack pushes me all in. I have an ace and I have an opened ended straight draw. There is no flush draw and there is no pair on the board. My outs for the straight draw are 8 cards which is about 32% so the odds of me hitting the straight are 2-1 against me but I have the ace and I am out of chips. I can't post the next blind without winning a hand. I call the all-in.

The big stack shows A J. I show my A 6. My ace is no longer any good. I have to hit the straight draw. No Limit Hold'em Poker is a game that allows no mistakes and I finally made a mistake. I do not fill the straight and I'm out of the tournament.

The tournament director announces, "Let's have a round of applause for "Mr. cdBlogger", our 13th position finalist". He shakes my hand, the cameraman zooms in on me, and the crowd roars... well, really, the crowd just clapped I guess.

It was thrilling, I won $2,186 in cash for 13th position, I won a unique watch, I had a free lunch with famous people, I have bragging rights in the poker room finishing far better in the tournament than any other local did, and they tell me I received a lot of camera time. I'm not sure what will happen with all that video. Some have said the casino has a deal with Fox for it to be televised, some say ESPN is going to air it, and some say the casino is not going to release it to the public. I asked how I could get a copy of the production dvd if they do release one and the guy said he would have one mailed to me. I don't really expect that to happen, but time will tell.

I'm pleased with my performance at the poker table. I would have liked to have make it to the big money (first place paid $214,000, second $100,000 or so, and third paid $63,000). Still, I out lasted and out played 550 other poker players some of whom were professionals. I'm happy, and I'm rather pleased with myself.

And remember, there is always next year and next year they say the prize pool will be $1,000,000. Look out, BABY, I'll be back!

I'm A Winner!

I am really excited after playing poker at Winstar Casino until 2 AM this morning, because...I won a satellite poker tournament which qualifies me to play in the 2nd Annual Red River Roundup and pays for me the $1100.00 entry fee. This Red River Roundup pays the champion 40% of a $500,000.00 prize pool PLUS a $15,000.00 paid seat in the WORLD POKER CLASSIC in Las Vegas in December 2006 AND the Red River Roundup 2006 Poker Championship Bracelet. The Red River Roundup opening rounds begin at Winstar on Friday, August 25th and Saturday, August 26th. My certificate is for the Saturday round. Registration begins at 10:00 am and tournament play begins at 12 Noon each day in the Showplace Theater at Winstar. Greg Raymer and David Williams will be playing in this tournament and there are $5,000.00 bounties on their heads which means if you knock one of them out you get an additional cash payout of $5,000 each.

If, against all odds, I make it to the Las Vegas tournament I wonder if I get to meet Meg Tilly? I'm motivated now! Oh, did I mention my winning the satellite tournament last night puts me in an exclusive drawing for a
custom 2006 Harley Davidson Fat Boy? I've already been on the internet picking out my leather jacket. For those of you that don't follow poker on television, I've provided some related links below and a link to a picture of the Harley. Wish me luck!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Raymer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Williams_%28card_player%29
http://www.bellagio.com/pages/gaming_poker_fivediamond_06.asp
http://www.hdofdanbury.com/new_vehicle_detail.asp?sid=02375147X10K4K2005J9I58I15JPMQ1436R0&veh=22646&pov=221503

A Day At The Races & the day after...

A Day At The Races & the day after...
Saturday was Kentucky Derby Day at Lonestar Park and I completely missed on all my Kentucky Derby bets with my closest shot being Jazil coming in a dismal 4th. That darn cat, "Bluegrass Cat", who I bet on all year while he lost, finally came in the money for big odds just like I feared he would when I decided NOT to bet on him in the Derby. However, my bets at Lonestar Park did somewhat better than my bets at Churchill Downs. I won on 8 out of 14 bets there which means I won at a 57% rate with the best bets being a Win bet on Pussycat Doll who I picked blind because my researched choice was scratched, and a big hit on a Place bet on Noche Ryder who came in second at 40-1 and allowed me to pocket $140 winnings for the day. I took my winnings from Noche Ryder to the poker tables Sunday (more on that later).

Derby Day at Lonestar was fun. The weather was cool and overcast with a light breeze for most of the day, and the horses were beautiful even with the mud on
them. The track was sloppy and made for interesting races and exciting upsets. Seated directly behind me was a group of eight "family & friends" who were very happy and very loud, but also very friendly to strangers. By the 4th race I had been adopted by them. The women were all wearing big, outrageous hats and one of them kept trying to put her hat on my head which I didn't really care for, but it was fun fighting her off. They all had little blue cards with the lyrics of "My Old
Kentucky Home" printed on them and they gave me one of their cards and after each race they insisted on singing "My Old Kentucky Home" very loudly and very off-key. As is predictable, it wasn't long till the folks from across the staircase began to let loose with... you guessed it..."Deep In The Heart Of Texas" and the Battle of the Bad Singers was on!

After the 9th race at Lonestar I headed home, and on Sunday morning, thanks to that black night riding colt (Noche Ryder), I found a wad of cash still stuffed in my jeans pocket, so I got out my lucky Arkansas buckeye, my silver liberty dime, a found lucky penny from my penny jug (I've been collecting found lucky pennies since I was a nine year old), and lastly, my lucky 1899 silver dollar that my grandfather gave me. Armed with my "mojo" and a hopeful attitude I headed to the Oklahoma casinos to challenge fate once again.

I arrived at Winstar Casino early (they open the Poker Room at 10:00 AM) but I laid back and let the first two limit tables fill up with regulars and poker rats, and then I took a seat at the third table and waited for the stragglers to arrive and fill up the last $4-8 limit table. It turned out to be a good strategy. After less than an hour I started to catch some good cards and I could see I would be competitive with the players at this table. I won a couple of small pots and then
lightning struck! I called a pre-flop bet with a pocket pair of jacks and the flop came Jack Jack Ace with a club draw! I decided to slow play the Quad Jacks hoping somebody would catch up and bet out and they did. At the end I was heads up with a lady with the Ace high flush and she went all in and the pot ended up being well over $200. The dealer, John from Baton Rogue, said to me when I turned over the pocket jacks, "I see it finally rained in the desert." John said this to me because
he knew that the cards had been cold to me for about 6 weeks there at Winstar and I had been hurting for quite a while. Until this past Sunday, I had not had a winning day at the poker tables since some time in March. I continued to play at Winstar until about 12:30 winning more than I lost until the table started getting too competitive. As the casual players ran out of money and left, "sharks", moving down from the higher stakes and no-limit tables started replacing them. This has been happening a lot lately as the high rollers run out of money and there aren't enough players to keep those big tables open, forcing the aggressive players with deep pockets to move down to the lower limit tables and "fish". So, by the time I saw I was facing at least 3 "sharks", I remembered the rule about "if you looking around and don't see a fish at your table then you're it". I decided it was time to leave, and go take a first look at Choctaw Nation Casio in Durant. I cashed out with $270 after a $100 buy-in and I was off.

The drive to Durant took 35 minutes, and was very pleasant with lots of rolling green fields full of quarterhorse mares, colts and foals to look at. This is a wonderful time of year to get out in the country. The Choctaw Nation Casino turned out to be very impressive, with an attached hotel, a stadium for rodeos and such, an off track race room that rivals the Pavilion at Lonestar Park, rows and rows, of shinny flashy slots, and most importantly, a 17 table Poker Room that is very nice. It is a glassed walled room that is clean, roomy, and quite, and on this day full of the kind of people I like to play against. There are only two things I do not like about it. One, you have to buy bottled water there whereas at Winstar the water is comp'd. The other negative thing is the style of poker table. They are professional felt tables but they have a slick wood perimeter around the felt with aluminum cup holders in it that makes it hard to stack your chips particularly if you have accumulated lots of them. Oh, another thing, the chips are a plastic-clay blend there, and don't feel as good as the heavy clay ones when you caress them
in your hands. But, on to the most important part. I played $3-6 limit at Choctaw Nation until about 7:00 PM, had a comp'd dinner, and cashed out with $397 after a $100 buy-in. That puts me back up again for the year a Winner! Indeed, it has rained in the desert. I'm back, "Baby", I'm back!

My 2006 Kentucky Derby Picks...

$50 WIN Lawyer Ron (4-1) has the closest ties to Northern Dancer (the real secret behind Storm Cat via Storm Bird)through his sire's (Langfuhr) line with his grand-daddy being Danzig. For me, that breeding along with how well Lawyer Ron has performed in his every test makes him the horse to beat. Besides, he is the Arkansas Derby winner, and those horses tend to do exceedingly well in the Kentucky Derby. Odds-makers don't like this horse as much as I do, but he is my pick to win. Two other horses in this race tug at me for long-shot bets:
$10 PLACE Jazil (20-1), who looks to me to be just a beautiful and graceful athlete, and his blood reaches back to Northern Dancer on his dam's side through Deputy Minister. Jazil's sire is no nag himself, having won a few races, himself being Seeking The Gold. My other long-shot is:
$10 SHOW Cause To Believe (30-1) 'cause..., well, because I just have to believe in some Storm Cat horse. Cause To Believe's sire, Marias Mon, reaches way, way, way back to get those Raise A Native genes, and his sire, Imaginary Cat, has Northern Dancer flowing in his veins via Storm Bird and Storm Cat.

Just a final comment, now that I've given up on Bluegrass Cat, watch him come in the money with big odds, just to spite me. Ha! Good luck to ya, if your betting this race...and they're off!

I've got the horse right here...

Well, after hours spent on the Internet gathering data, I've made my decisions. I've touched my Arkansas "mojo" bag, and I've opened each of my seven "chakras". While chanting my secret "mantra", I've turned three times counterclockwise with my eyes closed and my inner eye looking skyward, and somehow I managed not to fall down. So, now I'm prepared to drive out to Lonestar Park on opening day and place my bets: For a slightly better than random chance to make some serious money follow my advise. "I've got the horse right here...."

LONESTAR PARK:

Race: 3rd race at Lonestar, Thursday, 4-13-06
Bet: $2 WPS
Horse: ROYAL THUNDER
Why: I like the breeding, she is sired by Thunder Gulch, who passes on both Mr. Prospector and Storm Bird genes, and her dam is Royal Flame who passes on the Northern Dancer line. So what you have here, basically, is a MR. PROSPECTOR, STORM CAT, NORTHERN DANCER kind of horse. On paper, this horse should be in the money!

Race: 7th at Lonestar, Thursday, 4-13-06
Bet: $2 WPS
Horse: TRICKY STORM
Why: Older horse with a good record. He has been in the money 20 times out of 32 starts with 11 wins, and of course, I like the breeding. Sired by Summer of Storms, that puts both Storm Bird and Secretariat's great genes in play. Dam is Explosive Trick, well worthy of her cover.

OAKLAWN PARK:

Race: 3rd at Oaklawn, Thursday, 4-13-06
Bet: $2 PS
Horse: Wolf Trick
Why: Ok, first consider the breeding. This horse is sired by Clever Trick and Clever Trick has Native Dancer back there somewhere on his Mamma's side. The dam here is Wolverina by Wolf Power and I've been watching the trailers for the new X-Men movie, and "Wolverine" looks great in it and I think that is a omen to bet this horse. Just kidding. This horse fits this race, and the odds on Wolf Trick(if they hold up after the word is out that I bet him) look good enough to take a chance.

Race: 6th at Oaklawn, Thursday, 4-13-06
Bet: $2 PS
Horse: Highlander's One
Why: Ok, another movie theme, sort of... Follow the logic here, The last "American Idol" show featured the music of "Queen" and Katherine McPhee who is Irish sang the theme to the "Highlander" movie which is about the Scotts who are basically Irish just with darker hair and (this is the important part) everybody knows we Irish are lucky so that makes Highlander's One a lucky horse. Hey, don't say it, believe me - I've heard much worse reasons for betting on a horse from otherwise reasonable seeming people. Ok, just kidding again...sort of. Breeding here is impressive: Sired my Indian Charlie and how do I not bet on a horse with the name "Charlie" in its pedigree? Her dam is Pearl Essence who has Mr. Prospector in her lineage. This horse has good genes and should be a winner but my luck is not so lucky at Oaklawn so I will just make this a PS bet.

Now for the big ones this weekend:

Race: The Arkansas Derby, 9th at Oaklawn, Saturday, 4-15-06
Bet: $2 WPS
Horse: Lawyer Ron
Why: I know a guy who knows a guy. Wink. Nod. Again, just kidding. In the past I've been a big fan of Steppenwolfer and there is that whole X-Men, Wolverine thing I mentioned earlier that Steppenwolfer has going for him, but Lawyer Ron has made a believer out of me. He has looked good in every race I've seen him in, all the old men in the track rooms like him, and I know a very classy lady in Arkansas who likes him too. That's a lot going on for this horse. And if that's not enough he was born on 03012003 and that adds up to 9 and well, you all know about the number 9. Think about it... Love potion #9, cats have 9 lives, Beatles number 9...and so forth...Then there is his sire, I like those Canadian sires and Langfuhr is one of the best. That line contains Danzig, Northern Dancer, and Admirals Voyage and that's enough for me. I am going to slap down a wad of $1 dollar bills on this horse.

Race: Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland, Saturday, 4-15-06
Bet: $50 WPS
Horse: Bluegrass Cat
Why: I haven't given up on this horse yet, but I will admit there is something wrong in the head with him. It's like he doesn't like to be alone, hanging back with the others for their company or something. He just doesn't seem to be a competitive horse and while I can relate to that its not a great trait in a racehorse. In spite of everything I just can't give up on this horse. Remember, even the great Secretariat once lost a stakes race too. Just look at Bluegrass Cat's pedigree. OMG! Somebody show me something better if you can. Sired by Storm Cat, with She's A Winner as a dam who was sired by A.P. Indy. On paper Bluegrass Cat is a juggernaut in every sense of the word. On the sire side he inherits from Northern Dancer and Secretariat, and from his dam he gets genes from Seattle Slew and Mr. Prospector. In this race at 1 1/8th miles Bluegrass Cat's pedigree says he will go into the final turn and pull away from the rest. I'm just a dreamer I guess, but I'm staying true to my school, I'm sticking with Bluegrass Cat and I'm putting the big bucks on him.

Tales of Texas Hold'em

Well, it’s been a while since I've written anybody an email (this may come as a relief to some of you). So, I've decided to write again about my frugal but fun retirement lifestyle. Some time ago, I wrote that I planned to start gambling. I wasn't very serious when I wrote that, but as it turns out I guess I'm doing it. With my house situated strategically between a very nice horse track (Lonestar Park, 30 minutes driving time), and a decent enough casino (Winstar Casino, 60 minutes driving time) gambling is probably more of a daily option than I should have. Two weeks ago I drove over to the Winstar Casino and got into a table game of $5-$10 limit Texas Hold'em with eight other players several of whom were clearly serious about their poker. Short version: 5 hours, $300 loss. So, I headed back to the Dallas Metroplex with my figurative tail between my legs feeling old and stupid. But, sometime in that hour drive the thought came to me, THIS WILL NOT STAND! So, I stopped at Barnes & Noble Books and bought Doyle Brunson's "Super System" and "Super System 2" books on power poker. The following week I sat in Starbucks stoked on caffeine and furiously studying these books. On Wednesday, I'm sitting there and look up and there is this twenty something couple standing and smiling at me. Turns out the guy is a serious poker player with a long suffering girlfriend who just shakes her head a lot and sighs when he starts talking poker to strangers. According to him I wasted my money on the Doyle Brunson books because they are for tournament play and I should buy Phil Hellmuth's "Play Poker Like the Pros" if I want to gamble. But I'm a stubborn kind of guy, so I stick to my Brunson books and after a week of study I head back to Winstar Casio and have my second try at being a big time poker player. Short version: 5 hours, $100 loss. I drive home depressed but tell myself my trend is positive but still I stop at Barnes & Noble again and purchase Phil Hellmuth's book, and after another week of study I head back to Winstar. Amazingly, I start winning. Five hours pass and I tell the dealer to deal me out and I start racking my chips to cash in. Short version: 5 hrs, $360 profit. As I’m racking, a guy who is sitting two seats to my right and who I beat out all day when he failed to make flush draws on the river card says to me, “It’s not right, you must me reading my tells.” Of course, I have no idea what he is talking about but I make a mental note and on the way home its back to Barnes & Noble where I buy Mike Caro’s book “Caro’s Book of Poker Tells – The Psychology and Body Language of Poker” and James McKenna’s book “Beyond Tells – Power Poker Psychology”. Another week of poker study follows and along the way I pick up Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book – Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Texas Hold’em” and then it’s back to the casino the next weekend. Short version: Saturday, 5 hours, $100 profit & Sunday, 3 hours, $390 profit plus a quick stop at the Off Track Betting room to place a $ 10 win bet on a filly out of a Storm Cat mare who won her race by 5 lengths. I always bet on a Storm Cat horse and usually it pays off. So in summation my gambling adventure thus far has yielded: $850 won less $400 loss for a gross profit of $450 less expenses of $60 purchased gasoline and $148 purchased books for a net profit of $242. Wow, all that money, and it only took me 120 hours of study, 10 hours of driving, and 23 hours of gambling to earn it. As a job, I’m making $1.58 an hour – that should impress the ladies. Oh, well I’m going to think of it as 23 hours of free entertainment plus I’m meeting some really interesting people now on a weekly basis. Two things I’ve learned so far about the casino Hold’em tables: first, avoid the 20 something young guns, they have no fear, they can calculate odds I don’t understand in their heads, and they have amazing stamina. Second thing I learned: Beware the blue-haired lady to your left wearing the denim western shirt with rhinestones on the cuffs. She has pocket aces when she smiles, touches your arm, and calls you “dear boy”.



Next week: Box seat tickets for "Breeder's Cup Day" at Lonestar Park!

Serenity Now !!!

Go see "Serenity" now !!!

They did a wonder job on "Serenity", I saw it yesterday and plan to go see it
again today. The dialog is masterful, with Lewis Carroll quality to it.
There is a rhythm in the dialogue that brings "Jabberwocky" to my mind ( `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves. Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. ...) and the story is epic and while the movie is extremely funny and entertaining it also has all of the elements of a Greek Tragedy or a James Joyce novel. I do hope they do sequels. I like the movie that much.

So, go see "Serenity" now !!!