So I played the Detox main event ($550 buyin) over the weekend at the Hard Rock here in Vegas and finished 3rd for $25,400. Not a bad pay day but disappointed in not winning it all esp. the cool trophy that comes w/ it. Here's a pic of it (w/ some deadmoney next to it..lol...nah that's my buddy Joe that won the 1st event and $31k..Matt Savage next to him).



I started the day 13th in chips out of 18 and really didn't pick up any hands at all all day and nursed a short stack until we were 4 handed. It helped that the levels were increased from 40 mins to 60 mins at the final table. Matt Savage usually runs player friendly tournaments and this was no exception. He is arguably the best tournament director out there today, and he's very friendly w/ players. He's also a mod on 2+2 and contributes there a lot so if that's not cool, idk what is (the fact that he's a well know tournament director for major events yet has the time to be a 2+2 mod, and he doesn't just post in the mtt threads...his posts are all over 2+2). He also has a charity golf tournament named after him (which he hosts) so he's into philanthropy as well (shameless request..Matt if you ever read this I'd love to be invited to it sometime!).

Anyway at the final table I never picked up a hand before a timely double up w AK vs J7 aipf. That only got me to 12 bbs or so. If there was one complaint I had about the tournament it was that there wasn't much play when were we 4-7 handed. I think there was a decent amount of play hu but alas I didn't make it, which compounded my disappointment because I felt (knew) I was the best player at the final table and probably been a favorite hu even if I was outchipped (unless I was really short).

When we got down to 6 handed, others proposed a deal and even though I only had 10 bbs at the time (along w/ 2 others at 10bbs, the cl's w/ about 25-30bbs) I nixed the deal (deal consisted of me receiving $16k when 1st was $60k w/o the deal) for a couple of reasons...I was the best player (stating my opinion w/o trying to sound arrogant) and a couple of the guys really wanted the deal so I knew there was a lot of fold equity against them. I was able to bust the next best player w/ QQ vs ATs and was up to 400k w/ blinds at 15k-30k and they proposed another deal. This time I was offered $25k and after deliberating on it for a few mins (others wanted the deal) I decided to take it for 1 reason only...because there still wasn't much play w/ the stacks at 200k, 300k, 400k (me), 1mil, 1.2 mil with blinds 20k-40k (see not much play). I knew it was somewhat of a crapshoot and I could bust out 5th easily and receive $10k (vs the $25k I was to get w/ the deal + 10k left to play for for 1st..actually $7k for 1st, $3k for 2nd) so I took it but wasn't excited about it like the others were.

There was an older asian guy that kept telling me I should take the deal because I'm getting $25k and that that's a lot...he hounded me for a few mins. about it while I deliberated it. I had to tell him everybody has different interests in regards to the $ and the tournament. He wouldn't let up though and asked me for my name because he said I must've been someone important in the poker world not to take the deal (especially since I was the only guy that was hesitant on it). I gave it to him and he said he would look me up online. Well sir if you are reading this, you found me and congrats on your 4th place finish.

Anyway after I unenthusiastically accepted the deal I lost every hand. I opr w 99 fr the sb and bb called, flop J86r, I cbet bb raised little over 2x, I tanked for awhile and folded and he showed me QJ. Then the asian guy opr to 120k on the button w/ 400k behind and I look down at KJo in the sb w/ 700k and based on his physical tells I was nearly 100% certain he didn't want to face a reraise (I guess I'll help him out if he's reading this but he got really silent when he held big hands preflop and talked a lot when he held weaker hands..was such an obvious tell...he was talking a lot here after opr) so I elected to shove and he tanked and started talking about how happy he was to have locked up $18k (like very very happy, remember he was hounding me to take the deal) and I was thinking uh oh, I didn't think about the fact that he's very happy securing $18k so I prob. have way less fold equity. Anyway after a couple of minutes about how happy he was w/ $18k (he was pretty nitty before the deal) he said, I'm gambling ..I call!! and rolls over 44 and it holds and cripples me. It was a shame because I would've been 3handed w/ equal stacks w/ the 2 older gentlemen (1 played ok, somewhat abc but ok, other loose and somewhat below avg).

Anyway after the asian guy busts w/ a very bad call (sb opl, he raises, sb shoves huge, he again goes into his usual outburst about $18k and how he didn't expect to make it this far and calls w AT and busts to AK). It was a bad call because the sb's range crushes AT based on my reads of the sb and the asian guy had plenty of chips to work w/ if he just folds (about 1mil w/ blinds at 20k-40k). Couple of hands later I was down to 285k and decided to shove K2o on the button and got called by KJ and that's all she wrote. The hu match was 2 guys in their 50s and the better player ended up winning it.

Anyway back to the asian guy he was irritating while amusing to play w/ because of his outbursts and his nonstop endless chatter when deliberating to call or fold. Think a lesser versian of Hevad Khan (during his deep main event run) but in an older asian guy's body. If you want proof, check out his post bust out interview, esp. the end when he finds out he's itm....

http://www.detoxpoker.com/2010/08/ma...-bona-sar.html

Yeah he was doing that dance and more every time he won a hand, especially when he doubled up. Now I thought he was out of line when he was hounding me to take the deal and his outbursts were a little annoying at times but for the most part I found it amusing and I must say my impression of him is that he's actually a nice guy that was excited to get as deep as he did so it's all good.

As for me they interviewed me as well....

http://quadjacks.com/videos/377/john...ker-main-event

As you can see, it was a more low key, more somber interview than the interview w/ the other asian guy. Also the interviewer's reaction when he finds out my online sn is kinda funny..."really, you're Nicolak, what was that again?"....lol. My thought while watching it...geez I need a new hair stylist!

Overall though I enjoyed the experience and enjoy playing live mtts from time to time ...although I felt like I wasted 2 months playing a lot of WSOP events over the summer, as evidenced by my June and July results (+16k total profits for the 2 months, guess it's not that shabby). I should mention I brought my ipad w/ me and pretty much did stuff on it between hands while playing. After all I'm used to playing 1k hands/hr so seeing 30 hands/hr seems snail pace to me and needed to stimulate my brain somehow (by reading football stuff for this upcoming season on the ipad).

Also I will try not to take any time off after...

So I was playing some 2/4 nl yesterday and in sits Tom "Durrrr" Dwan to my direct right. He tells the table he is going to play for 20 minutes. I assume he's making a video for the FTP academy. Anyway how often do you get a chance to play vs him at these stakes? So I looked for every opportunity to play hands vs him and they didn't end well as evidenced below.

Full Tilt, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UPsDaeSy (UTG): $465
Tweelingen (CO): $777.60
durrrr (BTN): $548.20
Hero (SB): $400
cwalk2k3 (BB): $406

Pre-Flop: 4 5 dealt to Hero (SB)
UPsDaeSy raises to $12, Tweelingen folds, durrrr calls $12, Hero calls $10, cwalk2k3 folds

Flop: ($40) 3 A 7 (3 Players)
Hero checks, UPsDaeSy checks, durrrr bets $31, Hero calls $31, UPsDaeSy folds

Turn: ($102) T (2 Players)
Hero checks, durrrr checks

River: ($102) 8 (2 Players)
Hero bets $82, durrrr raises to $505.20 and is All-In, Hero calls $275 and is All-In

Results: $816 Pot
durrrr showed J 7 and WON $961.20 (+$561.20 NET)
Hero mucked 4 5 and LOST (-$398 NET)

Full Tilt, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UPsDaeSy (BB): $495
Tweelingen (UTG): $777.60
durrrr (CO): $885.20
Hero (BTN): $400
cwalk2k3 (SB): $433

Pre-Flop: 8 4 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Tweelingen folds, durrrr raises to $12, Hero raises to $36, 2 folds, durrrr calls $24

Flop: ($78) 6 6 5 (2 Players)
durrrr checks, Hero bets $40, durrrr calls $40

Turn: ($158) 7 (2 Players)
durrrr checks, Hero bets $92, durrrr calls $92

River: ($342) 2 (2 Players)
durrrr checks, Hero bets $232 and is All-In, durrrr calls $232

Results: $806 Pot ($3 Rake)
durrrr showed 5 5 and WON $803 (+$403 NET)
Hero showed 8 4 and LOST (-$400 NET)

Obviously they're not +ev spots $ wise but they are +ev in happiness and experience. Also I'd rather lose to him at 2/4 than say 50/100.

As for my actual play of hands postflop I think they were ok and tbh were coolers in his favor. The 1st hand I thought I could be beat when he shoved but he's Durrrr, he's capable of bluffing anytime. The 2nd hand I thought @ turn I got this dude now (w/ thoughts of stacking Durrrr by 3betting w/ 84s..get a taste of your own medicine Tom!!). Oh how wrong I was! Anyway I got owned by him and he quit shortly after he stacked me for the 2nd time. Hit n Runner!

Anyway besides that I'm off to a good start to the month. Just been grinding 6max (w/ a little hu) 2/4 nl...



Now this is the way to start off a month! I'll be looking to play 3/6 and 5/10 soon and hope the good run continues. No matter how I run, I'm gonna aim to play a ton of hrs this month. I wanna give myself a chance of having my best year ever in terms of $ won and even if I don't reach that goal, I wanna know I tried my best.

As for other stuff, I've been getting exposure which is a good thing I guess. I guess I should've started a blog years ago. Anyway I was asked to come on Cardplayer's UTG show to provide some strategic advice...I thought I could've done a better job here...

http://www.cardplayer.com/cptv/chann...o-and-john-kim

Also I got to answer some questions about my career and hosting Cash Plays on PokerRoad. I thought this came out well...

http://www.pokerroad.com/news/newsbrief/1907

W/ Jeremiah Smith (a friend of FTP) called Cash plays where we focus on cash games, notably online cash games. 1st podcast came out today...

http://www.pokerroad.com/radio/cash-plays/81

As for poker, been grinding a lot..up a whopping $300..welcome to the world of the rakeback pro!

I cashed for $41,098 total at the WSOP. I missed 4 events totaling $10k. So 1% would be $410.98 + $120 = 530.98. Already shipped to everybody their shares. Everything should be correct, let me know if it isn't. Thanks for the vote of confidence guys. Sorry I couldn't make more than the measly $20 per 1% invested.

Also after talking w/ friends, I should've folded the A9 hand on the flop mainly because I could use my knowledge and skills later on in more favorable spots. I think I put too much weight into the fact that the guy wanted to make it to day 5 and a few other assumptions that may not have held too much water. I still don't think it's horrible but it wasn't good, esp. for someone w/ my knowledge and experience vs. the rest of the field. Anyway I feel terrible about busting out like that, and feel bad that I could've done better for myself and everyone that had a piece of me.

I know that I'm not the best player, but I do think I'm pretty good. W/ that said I'm prone to err in poker and I hate it when I do so, esp. in the main event. I'm still trying to get over it but I'm feeling like crap. I will continue to work on my poker game as I continuously strive to do so so I don't make these kind of mistakes in the future, and that's all we can do as poker players.

Also back to online poker fulltime!

Good news: I cashed for $24k today and profited in the WSOP..not much though. I'll figure out the #s tomorrow...my brain is fried right now.

Bad news: I busted from the main event...in a pretty sick way. I'm almost too embarrassed to say the hand but I don't feel bad about it because I went out swinging instead of waiting for big hands. I also went w/ a read and it was wrong..it happens.

Anyway I had 235k, w/ avg around 350k, playing 3k-6k. TD announces 3 more hands for the night and I opr/ w A9s ep to 14k and get called in 2 spots. Flop comes 6h5c3h, I normally c/f the flop but decided to cbet 24k thinking both guys will want to make it to day 5 and will fold a lot of their range there and also my hand looks strong cbetting into 2 there...anyway 1st guy folds, 2nd guy w/ exactly the same stack as me raises to 60k and I think about how he threw in his chips preflop (he called quickly out of turn preflop and quickly after the guy in front of him called so I deduced he had a medium strength hand but not a premium hand eg small-med pps and JTs, QJs typish hands), and I tank and I'm pretty sure (over 90%) that he's folding everything but 2pr+ there (he 3bet and folded QQ preflop and 3bet and folded on the flop earlier) and I deduce that he has 22-TT here mostly and was raising to protect. Anyway again I'm pretty sure he's folding all pps here that isn't 33, 55, 66, so I decide to jam for 160k more and he calls w/ 55 and it's gg me (had 1 ante left and that was agonizing). Obviously I feel like an idiot when hands are turned over but I went w/ my read and it was wrong, plain and simple.

Anyway I finished the series w/ 5 cashes and am up a little. Again I'll figure out the #s tomorrow because it always feels crappy the moment you bust out of the main event and don't feel like doing anything. I'm happy to make everyone money, even though it wasn't much. Maybe next year (when I'm not dusting off my chips!).

Edit: Just off the top of my head, I cashed for about $41k and didn't play in $10k of events (so you'd get back $120 for every 1% you had of me + your % of $41k) so 1% returns about $530. #s aren't exact because I'm basing this off the top of my head. I will compute exact #s tomorrow and ship back same method I received. Eh, looks like I made investors very minimal profit..about $20 for every 1% you had of me.

w/ 60k...fml. Went 0-6 w QQ and JJ after seeing flops. Picked up blinds w/ AA and KK once each. Never got AK all day. Pretty much lost every hand where I saw a flop. Blinds are 1200-2400 when we resume tomorrow...bad day today, good day tomorrow

w/ 228,600. Started the day w/ 78k, busted a ss early w/ QQ vs 99 and got up to 100k then played this hand.....

Ep limps for 500, I raise to 1750 w/ TT, bb w/ 90k calls, limper calls, flop T84r, bb donks 2k, limper folds, I call, turn 8, bb leads 3k, I raise to 9k, he calls, riv ace, he leads for 10k, I raise to 35,500, he instashoves, I call, he jumps up, slams his cards face up and yells "full house" (I guess he was thinking he was doubling for certain..for a second I thought I had to be beat when I saw how excited he got when I called, quad 88s or a slowplayed AA preflop)...he shows A8o, I show TT, he calls me f**ker and f**k you while we count down our stacks and I ended up covering him and he storms off. GG sir. (to his credit he was more angry at the situation than me, and I understand blowing up like that although I would never do so).

A couple of hands later while I'm basking in the glow from my fortunate big double, I flat a co r w/ 88 on the button, bb calls, flop 753r, chk, pfr cbets 2500, I decide to try to end the hand there and raise to 6k, bb folds, pfr just calls, turn 3, chk, I think for a bit deciding if my 88 is good here or not, but whatever I have 180k and he has 22k more so I elect to just put him all in, he tanks forever and finally calls w/ 75, w/ my 88 being ahead now that 3s paired, riv 7, ouch. Would've had 220k or so early but 155k is not bad.

Anyway I basically chipped up the rest of the day and finished at where I am which is still well above avg (80kish). More importantly blinds are 500-1k when we resume on Monday which gives me plenty of play and manueverability. It's definitely nice having chips to work w/ postflop and obviously I feel very comfortable whenever I see flops. Hope I run well the rest of the way and make everyone some money! (For those invested in me, I would need a min cash to show a profit for the WSOP..anything more is all gravy)

w/ 77,500...avg is about 45k I think. Table was generally soft for the day, w/ AJKHoosier1 being the only really good player (besides me). Only got it all in for my tournament life 1 time...w/ AA on a Q98 flop when I had 4bet preflop to 8k and had 14k left (spr 1 so a no brainer to get it all in on flop, although I bet 7k and called off rest when guy put me all in w/ AQ). Other than that just chipped up w/o having to gamble. I won't get into hands in detail here because the tournament is not over yet. Overall played well and hope I run well the rest of the tournament. My day 2 resumes Saturday.

I cashed in the $3k triple chance nl event for $6605. Finished in 76th place. This one hurts because I had some chips and decided to call a 20bb open shove from the sb when I was the bb. I had a good read on the kid, plus he was a little spewy from his previous hands. He shows KTo, I show ATo, board rolls off QJ593, gg me. Would've had 130k w/ blinds at 1500-3k.

Frankly, I'm getting a little tired of grinding live tournaments every day. I know my hrly is suffering and knowing that it just takes one hand to turn a day or 2's worth of good play to naught isn't that appealing to me. I don't mind the occasional tournament but playing'em daily almost feels like a waste of time for me. Maybe I'm still reeling from the bustout today and just feeling this way for now. I'm looking forward to the WSOP ending so I can hit the virtual felt again, and I'm be grinding harder than ever to try to reach some personal goals I set for myself this year.

W/ that said, I'm still going to play the $1k nl tomorrow but pass on the $2500nl on Friday so I can attend Howard and Suzy Lederers' charity event/mtt/bbq. That will be 4 events that I skipped that was on my preliminary schedule. Again I'll figure out the #s after the main event, which starts next Monday. I do feel like my tournament play is very sharp right now, w/ 4 cashes in the last 6 events I played. Obviously luck plays a big factor and so far I feel like my luck's been below avg. for the series, but I'm sure a lot of players feel that way.

Oh and I wanted to come out to the Leggo Party last night. Heard it was pretty good but alas the 3k event kept me occupied all day. I would've been interested in seeing if anyone older than me showed up, plus the free alcohol would've been nice.

Finally played a little online the other night, just to know what it feels like again...played some $2/4 since I feel out of the loop having not played a single online cash game hand in weeks. There is something to be said for getting in a regular routine of grinding daily...I almost felt like I forgot what my 3betting/4betting ranges in different positions were.

Anyway I played this funny hand...this is like a misclick almost always on Eunjong's part, but he is perceived as pretty nitty, esp. utg, but whatever I didn't play online for the 1st time in weeks to fold (couple of guys that know Eunjong's game said they would've folded my hand)...

Full Tilt Poker $400.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 782522
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

kerpowski (MP): $402.00
6highisgood (CO): $957.60
Kamdini (BTN): $842.70
Hero (SB): $445.00
slientwarrior (BB): $789.40
Eunjong Byun (UTG): $400.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is SB with A Q
Eunjong Byun raises to $123, 3 folds, Hero raises to $445, 1 fold, Eunjong Byun calls $277 all in

Flop: ($804.00) 6 9 3

Turn: ($804.00) 4

River: ($804.00) 8

Final Pot: $804.00
Hero shows A Q
Eunjong Byun shows J A
Hero wins $801.00
(Rake: $3.00)

I cashed in the $1k nl today but again did nothing once in the money. Today's cash was for $1886 so my 3 cashes total $10,414 so far. Still have 4 more events left including the main event. I just seem to go card dead when in the money and have lost both flips that knocked me out of 2 of the events. Today I was short from the get go and just hung on to get in the money then shoved mp w/ KJ and ran into TT and lost the flip.

For those of you keeping score, I skipped 3 events that I was supposed to play. They are $1500 nl, $1k nl, and $5k 6max. I was either on day 2 or in another event so I missed those 3. I see that the Leggo Party is tomorrow night but I may be playing the $3k nl 3x so I'll miss the party unless I bust early.

As for the World Cup, sad to see US and South Korea out but happy to see the 2 teams I have in my 2+2 $500 buy in pool make it to the elite 8. I have Argentina and Uruguay and probably the only person w/ 2 teams left. Top 2 get paid so I'm looking good. I seem to run good in sports related pools and leagues, being up about $30k in the past 12 months in various pools and leagues.