I was talking about swaps in MTTs in another thread and it reminded me of something:
Mig.com was notoriously nitty with swaps. I found it hilarious. He would swap with Blair and probably Tom but would refuse to swap with some big name players. They would naturally get offended and it might have even caused some drama but mig didn't give a FUCK and I greatly respected him for that.
I could potentially share some other stories but I am going to keep those close to the vest and fast forward.
I think it was a year later or maybe 2 years later and I was between Malta and Buenos Aires but decided to drop into Vegas for the WSOP.
Actually, there is one story before this that ties in that I am remembering.
It was 2008. I was getting some grinding in at the WSOP and I remember telling mig about a trick I figured out. Anytime you are playing with someone that you don't know and it is a good 3-bet spot. Put in your 3-bet and pretend that you get a jolt of adrenaline like you have Aces. It works crazy well and mig and others thought it was cool and that made me happy. I remember Tom sharing a trick that you should always swap your ante chips with a nit or a fish since every time a new player comes to the table or you get sent to a new table it looks like you are a fish that never steals a pot. Oh man, I am sharing all the secrets! It is a poker website after all!
So, the next year in 2009, I am staying at the Rio. I don't think I'm even playing any WSOP events at this point. I'm just sort of bummin' around. I remember one night my friend and I decided to chill, drink some free red wine, and play blackjack. I don't know if he would want to be mentioned so I will just call him Adam. It was sort of a pastime to just chill and play some blackjack but we usually had a cappuccino at the Bellagio. We got fucking hammered. All I remember is that it was absolute madness. Adam kept busting his stack so I kept giving him chips to go on a run but it never happened but I was winning every hand so I didn't care. It was absurd. Then they cut us off. Then I got belligerent so they kicked us off the table. Then I got the spins. Then I somehow got back to the room. Then I vomited everywhere. The cleaning lady was LIVID the next day. I was hungover and felt like shit. Then I opened my suit case and it looked like I had moved all-in into my suitcase with black chips the night before. What the fuck? Ok, I'll take it.
The problem with the Rio is that I hate the Rio. Tom had an extra bedroom at his house and was kind enough to let me stay there so that's where I went. I remember one day I just casually sat down at his dining room table overlooking the pool and the blue sky and I was playing "Beach on Hawaii" by Ziggy Marley on repeat and just had one of those good feelings grinding the whole day. I was playing more tables than I liked to on that laptop but I was in the zone. I remember Ket coming in to sweat. I still remember this hand. Third spade comes in on the river. I have a K high flush. I bet. Villain shoves. I have a bad feeling. I am tanking a bit and Ket is like, "you aren't actually going to fold that hand right?" And, now, I am distracted and playing too many tables. "He could easily have the A of spades blocker." And, I am thinking, "yeah, I know. I know but this guy never bluffs here..." Decisions are piling up... "Grrrr" *Call* He shows the nuts. I actually get a bit tilted. It seems like I'm throwing shade at Ket and maybe at the time my expression was not pleased but who knows? Ket could easily be correct in that spot. Even if he was not he is still a Legend. A "resplendent gentleman" of the highest degree. That's a Corwin Special. Man, I am missing these people in my life.
Bro. 2006. Ket wins a seat to the Main Event. I am sleeping on the floor of the hotel room. We get housekeeping to bring me at least a pillow and a blanket. I tell my sister I will give her all of my PokerStars FPP points if she let's me take her piece of shit MacBook to Vegas. Fucking dullard play. You can't even get PokerStars on a Mac at that point in time. So, I am like 2 tabling on Full Tilt Poker. The whole thing is fucking stupid. Ket let's me play on his laptop. He introduces me to some new metal that he likes. I am lit up with the sonic experiences and I am going HAM vs VaeSolis and the bunch. Ket obviously is trying to findagrind as well so I am back to playing 1 HU SNG Table on Full Tilt Poker on possibly the first MacBook ever made. I want to throw it out the window but that is impossible in Vegas hotels and it isn't my laptop. So, then I start putting in marathon sessions at the Venetian. I gotta say that's a great setup they got down there at the Venetian besides the perfumed air. We find out that RainKhan also won a seat to the Main Event and has an extra bed that I can crash there. Hevad is one of the most unique people I have ever met. It is fun spending time with Hevad.
Ok, where was I?
I get coolered or make a bad call in a big pot and I am a little bit tilted and worn out at this point so I call it a day and book a $23,000 win. I am still feeling pretty good. I decided that I wanted to play the WSOP Main Event. The problem was it started the next day. I had maybe $2,000 in cash on me. I ask Tom what he thinks I should do?
He says something to the extent of, "What is wrong with you, you money burning moron? How could you not be prepared to play the fucking Main Event?!?!?!
That is classic Tom and he wasn't afraid to berate me earlier in my career too. I was winning crazy amounts of money for 2/4 and 3/6 in 2006 but the problem was I wasn't all-in on poker. My parents expected me to get a job after college. I had agreed to take a job as a manager at a start-up golf course before I went to Vegas. While in Vegas it became clear that agreeing to that job was a fucking dullard play but I agreed to work at least the rest of the year when I got back from Vegas. I would work from 6am-6pm and then come home and try to play 5/10 against Samo, BlDSwTTrS, Gogol's Nose, et al. until past midnight, rinse, repeat, ad infinitum.
Quick side note on Gogol's Nose. I remember the day he told me he just bought a shit ton of acres and a mansion in Montana and he was over the moon. I was like, damn, man, I am happy for you but secretly thinking fuck, I need to get my shit together. That is actually kind of the story of my poker career.
So, back to Fall and Winter of 2006. By January I am free from my manager job at the golf course start-up but my bankroll is decimated. I think I am playing 1/2 or even .5/1 and more or less surviving on those $1,500 checks from the PokerStars FPP store. Every time I talk to Tom he berates me for burning money. He strongly suggests that I get more aggressive with my bankroll especially since I had a 10+ptbb/100 at 2/4 in the spring and summer of 2006. I listen to his wise advice. Love you Tom. By the Spring and Summer of 2007 I am crushing 2/4 again. Straate asks me if I want to move to a house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It does not take me long to say yes and I book the flight. I don't tell anyone anything until the day before I sheepishly ask my mom if she can give me a ride to the airport. But, that is another story.
Back to 2009. I have decided I want to play in the WSOP Main Event the night before it starts with only $2,000 on hand. After Tom finishes berating me he advises that I talk to mig. I go to mig's house and he is in his office at his desk looking like a boss. I sheepishly tell him my predicament. He basically says that that is unfortunate but everything is already budgeted out. No funds bro. That could have been the nice way to say "Get out of here fish!" or it was truthful and he was also thinking "Get out of here you money burning moron! You don't deserve any cash!"
So, the Earth kept spinning and eventually Tom went back to England but he let me stay in his house for an extra day. There was another mutual friend that stayed as well. That morning I woke up and walked in on the mutual friend fucking his girlfriend. I don't think they knew I was even in the house. I didn't think they saw me but I went into fight or flight mode. I remember standing at the front door panicked because my original plan was to just walk out the front door and walk to mig's house to see what they were up to. I remember just standing there frozen. "Ok, ok, ok. ok. ok. All I have to do is open this door and I am free BUT then they might hear me and know I am here...." Then I heard movement and I dove behind a bed in another room. I hid there until they left the house. To this day, I don't know if they knew I was there or not.
Then, later that day I packed up my stuff and travelled back to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
If you were not mentioned in this story it doesn't mean that I do not Love you.
Stumbled on this website again a few days ago, blast from the past, and was enthused to see a lot of the old regs still seemingly about including yourself good sir. Was going to dig up my password and say hi but got distracted and didn't bother, but upon seeing this glorious post now it has to be done. Amazing blasts from the past, I think about those epic espn golden era / shana hiatt hosting wpt days of degeneracy also from time to time. Waking up at the crack of midnight while staying at Treasure Island or the Rio after a long restorative sleep, and grab a 1am breakfast at the All American Bar and Grill ready to put in a grind sesh, and by grind i mean toss handfuls of chips around at 1/2 with 100/100 vpip/pfr and try to bust some scared money tourists.
AND SUP RIKD MY GOOD SIR. i was in SF a couple years ago for work and met up with straate for some food and coffee and i am very confident your name came up in a reminiscing discussion of the absolute gentlemen we mutually knew from here
So, I was thinking about the craziest online games I've ever seen:
1.) 10/20 PokerStars - B_Buddy and Twin-Caracas tilt
2.) Straate vs Gunning4you (Scott Seiver) 4 tabling hu nlhe - I think straate booked a win in the bloodbath category but I am not sure. That was when straate was probably better than anyone in the world at hu nlhe not named lars luzak but that is my biased perspective. I was never actually playing in those games. The best hu nlhe player I ever played in hu nlhe was a relatively unknown Jungleman when he was on the come up. I got buried. So, I know a little bit but I was never even close to battling LarsLuzak at 200/400 in 2007.
Also, there is the seemingly fundamental law of hu poker: Just because A is better than B, and B is better than C, doesn't always mean that A is better than C, etc. I don't even know if I truly believe that. I think I originally saw that idea in "Ace on the River" by Barry Greenstein. It could carry over into anything. Federer in his prime is beating everyone except for maybe Nadal in his prime on clay courts. I don't know enough about sc:bw these days. Wasn't it Flash is greater than all except for maybe someone on certain maps? Maybe LarsLuzak has ultimate edge at the biggest game possible on Prima but loses some of that edge if he plays on PokerStars or Full Tilt. Maybe, I don't know. That's certainly different than maps in sc:bw or court type in tennis. There's no imba in poker or tennis. I could probably talk about this for a while but I will just end with I wonder what the 2021 "GTO" opinion on this matter is?
3.) One day Ket, Mez, and VaeSolis all decided to sit at a bunch of tables and go HAM ^ 2
Ket,
When I think about it I am still a little sad my phone died in Manhattan and we did not end up meeting up in Koreatown. I ended up finding myself in a crazy adventure in which I met one of my adolescent heroes Rob Van Dam and ended up lost in the Bronx at 3am but I would have much preferred to have a chill, reasonable night with the Ket crew.
hiems gets me inspired to Make Liquid Poker Great Again even though I banned him from this blog but I figured I would dump the article here.
Thinking back it rings true.
Probably, the most important is Diamond Internet.
I remember playing on the sketchiest Internet ever at a new apartment in Buenos Aires. I 4-bet AA, Villain shoves, I lose connection, time out, and fold. Literally a minute later I hit top set. I c/r, Villain shoves, I lose connection, time out, and fold. I proclaim I am not playing another hand of Internet poker until we get better Internet and proceed to go on a 5 day bender without raising a single finger to help fix the Internet connection problems. Pretty standard.
Next, is to be settled with a nice setup. Decent desk, gaming chair, above the curve desktop PC, at least 1 30'' monitor and I liked having a 20'' monitor on the side for lobbies, starting 6-max games, waiting for hu, etc. Gaming keyboard, gaming mouse, gaming mousepad. An optimized setup maximizes win rate. Of course, traveling is fun and also good for poker experience. A top of the line gaming laptop is worth the investment. I remember FeaRFaCT taught me how to optimize the DPI settings on my Logitech MX 500 and then I grinded up to top scores on MissionRed. I was spending every waking moment laddering and watching SweeT replays. My Hero control was stellar. I could coil and nova with the best of them. My surrounds were on point. My statue blocks were on point. I thought maybe there is a little bit of a chance to get to South Korea. We've been through this before. There wasn't a chance. I sucked. Luckily, I transferred all of that energy and focus into poker and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Anyways, the reason I told that story is because in 2009 I was moving to Malta and wanted to do it right. I maxed out a 17'' MacBook Pro. The idea was to hook that up to a 30'' monitor and that is a pretty good mobile setup. I bought a special suitcase to transfer my 30'' monitor and now I can't remember why I didn't bring it. I get to Malta and start to play on my MacBook Pro but I hate the iOS and the mouse sensitivity is fucked up. So, I go back to my piece of shit Acer that I am used to. Buying electronics in other countries can be a shit show. I was used to the Acer and it served me well but I was certainly leaving money on the table.
When I think about it I am still a little sad my phone died in Manhattan and we did not end up meeting up in Koreatown. I ended up finding myself in a crazy adventure in which I met one of my adolescent heroes Rob Van Dam and ended up lost in the Bronx at 3am but I would have much preferred to have a chill, reasonable night with the Ket crew.
why yes indeed, shame that. man wasn't that like 2012.. time flies and we're all oldtimers now
Steve maybe deserves his own category. I remember when I thought he was hustling me in Ninja Warrior prop bets but I was probably extremely blazar'd at the time.
Then, there is the Legend of The Hobo King but I don't think he ever posted on LP.
1/3 gatorade, 1/3 sprite, 1/3 ice water
eat dry toast if u can get it down
go for a walk in some calm breeze and watch the birds if u can manage
bob evans, five guys, thurman's in columbus if u can stomach it
i am trying to dig up the iconic photo of ElkY when he first went to s korea. i think he had purple or blue hair and the classic shades for that ElkY epoch.
i am trying to get more progamer pictures on pinterest
Contact Users: 1220 Active, 1 Logged in - Time: 01:51
United States. Feb 01 2021 09:25. Posts 9043
Hope you are doing well
