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The FTOPS is over…..and to no surprise considering my past FTOPS results, I did jack-shit! =(  Sadly our team did not win the FTOPS competition put on by PocketFives– (I know my own results sure as hell didn’t help–srry guys)……My friend Luke Vrabel (aka ‘Bdbeatslayer’ on Stars and ‘Magikstick8′ on Full Tilt) really did have an excellent FTOPS, despite his heartbreaking deep finishes just shy of making the final table for numerous events—-The kid has got an excellent mind for tournament poker and it’s a matter of time before he puts up massive results this year as he has done so in the past!!

After I busted all the events in what seemed record timing, I enjoyed watching the likes of Magicstick8 and USCPhildo make some very deep impressive runs in many events—-congrats to both of you guys!  (Clearly I wouldn’t want to forget the rest of the players who put on a show, such as Omaholic, AJKhoosier, ShawnDeeb (Heads up champ) and especially BelowAbove who had numerous final tables and immaculate scores earning him well into the 6-figures!!—yawn.

As far as I go……. on a positive note, I did put up some really nice scores on PokerStars and Full Tilt throughout the duration of FTOPS, including two wins in the 100 rebuy for $50k+ and $25k+ (on my Birthday!!!)  respectively, as well as a win on  Full Tilt last night for another $21k in the 100 cubed!!!  I also won my way into the WCOOP Main Event in my first attempt with a Step 6 ticket I had forgotten to use (ooops)!  Along with some other scores and final tables throughout the week, I ended up shipping roughly $100K in a week!!—brag post, I know–if u don’t like it, don’t read it.  Felt really good to finally close again deep in tournaments and get away from the 15-8th place finishes—-not to mention, as horrid as I ran during the FTOPS, these results kept my confidence up enabling me to continue my success thus far in 2008.

With the completion of FTOPS, I can now settle back into a ‘normal’ daily routine, maybe a little exercise at the gym, going out with friends at night, and also take some trips to see some people I rarely get to see anymore—Clearly I’ll still be found online on Sundays, and hell probably Monday-Wednesday as well for the bigger mtt’s—but no more of these 12-hour days for 14 days straight—-straight up nearly killed a brutha!!

As of now I am already booked and set on heading to the Borgata from Sept. 2-19th where I plan on shipping a live event, AND, it’s the start of the WCOOP online!!!—  While in Atlantic City I also plan on making my way into NYC to see some friends I haven’t seen since college!!–been wayyyy too long!  After Borgata, I’ll be headed back north towards Buffalo,NY to see my family and hometown friends, likely staying for about a week—eventually meandering back into the desert where the nomads belong.  Until the next time…..

Peace kidz.
  -B-

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  Once again, sorry about the lack of updates the past couple of weeks—-I’ll save the excuses.  As I wrote before, I traveled back east to see the family and friends, overstaying my intended trip by roughly a full week….and if it wasn’t for Lollapalooza, I may have stayed another!  I managed to squeeze some small drops of poker into my trip, but nothing really to brag about

  After another miserably delayed flight upon my return to Vegas, I finally arrived back in the desert, but only to keep my bags half full readying for Chi-Town for Lollapalooza!!! —-This 3-day music festival was absolutely blaaaaaade!!  Approximately 200K+ people there over the weekend, and some of the best musical artists in the world doin their thing.—Each night had its own headline(s) act, Day 1 being Radiohead, Day 2–Rage Against the Machine and Wilco, and Day 3–Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails.  Between the headline acts, which began roughly at 830pm, tons of other bands played all day beginning at 11am each morning!—Lupe, Gnarles, Racontuers, Black Keys, Slash!—lots more.  To make the entire experience even better (or sloppier) was the endless supplies of beer, liquor, wine, waters, energy drinks—and….some other items not for public disclosure.  Very much looking forward to the next fest—sadly had to miss this All Points West—  FTOPS>APW

Speaking of FTOPS—-It has arrived!! Today is the start of it, and I am very excited to play!!  Once again I entered the major FTOPS contest that is put on through pocketfives.com—-the link to see and follow results is http://ftops.pocketfives.com/  I am on team PurplePeopleEaters, playing with teamates PurplePils (blogger!!) and Bdbeatslayer (known as Magikstick8 on FTP)—a friend of mine whom I met this past WSOP—-both tremendous players!  The way the contest works is based on your teams results per event, earning us a certain amount of points—- The buyin was $6K per team, and the prizepool is quite large this year!!  Wish us luck and come hit the rails!!  Until the next time……

Peace Kidz.
-B-

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The post WSOP traveling has begun, and it feels damn good.  At some point early last week, I booked a flight from last Thursday-Tuesday (today), headed home to see my family and friends.  It has been overwhelmingly pleasing to be home with everyone I love, a feeling I have missed a great deal—so much so that I have opted to stay back east for an additional week….(obviously laptop included

Playing poker has been put towards the end of my to-do list while home, but clearly I couldn’t miss the Sunday majors, nor the nightly Mondays—-sadly my results were quite gross and disheartening.  I took a deep run in the early 100R on Sunday, only to come up short when my KK<AJ for a top 5 stack and 60ish people to go =(  

For the grand finale I also plunged deep into the heart of the 200R….This may have been one of the most remarkable tournaments I have ever played—At the end of the rebuy period I had slightly more (like 400 chips) than a minimum starting stack, add-on included.  That being said, once the blinds and antes kicked in, I grinded out a 15-25BB stack for roughly 6 hours, in fact dipping as low as 3 big blinds with 50 people to go!!!—Somehow I hero-ninja’d that little itty bitty stack into potentially final tabling this Sunday Major!  =( However, my momentic potential quickly crashed when my pocket 77s failed to win a critical race against AQ =(  Once again I was sent back to the danger zone with my stack, having 9BBs, and sadly busted in 14th place moments later =(  

This Saturday I’m headed to a wedding (ironically my senior prom date is getting married, and I was invited!)—and without a doubt, I’ll have the hottest date around my arm, as always  Depending on my mental and physical condition Sunday morning, I should be up and around to play all the majors—hopefully getting deep AND closing!  However, If I’m not up, you should feel happy for me, cause poker will be the last thing on my mind =)

As I mentioned before, Lollapalooza is my next planned adventure - a trip into Chigaco with some friends to see some of the finest musical acts in the world.  http://www.lollapalooza.com  Check that link out to see what we are in for—not to mention we have VIP 3-day passes, and a luxury suite in the Hyatt 5 minutes from the concert venue - weeeee!  I leave July 31st-Aug4th—Updates from that shit will be ill—I hope to survive  Until the next time…..

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…sorry for the lack of updates this past month… aside from technical difficulties resulting in a new MacBook Pro, I have been really zoned…..

WSOP Main Event!!—and busto =( dafsdfad  As all poker players know, busting from this grand finale tournament is about as disheartening as it gets….. might as well rip out the kidney and the nut while ur at it….

…To make a 5 hour experience much shorter, ill just tell u my critical hand(s) resulting in my fatal bust-out….. At 150-300, and a 22K stack, I open middle position with 55  when folded to, making it 800, maniac beer drinking 40yr. old in big blind defends—shocking…. flop is a beautiful, K-J-5, two clubs….he checks, I lead for 975……….. after about .05 of a second, he thoughtfully and physically decides to move his entire stack into the middle (roughly 11k) and I call….shows A3cc for the nutter flusher draw…..cute lil 7 clubs on the river ships Mr. Beer-Thinker the pot, and sends me spiraling to 11k….. 

LITERALLY 3 HANDS later…., and I am in late position…the analytical beer drinker, Mr. Beer-Thinker,  opens to 900… I call from the c/o or button with A7cc…..and the small blind completes as well…..we see a BINK flop of 7h-5c-4c…… SB checks, Mr. Beer-Thinker leads for 3200…rather large bet, pretty much defining his hand—knew it was 1010+, hopefully not AA cuz I refuse to fold =)…..I jam the rest of my chips in the middle, SB folds, and Mr. Beer-Thinker calls revealing 2 red Kings……  the turn was a 2 of spades (more outs!!), but the river bricked…. and sadly, I do not get there and my WSOP Main Event ends in the hands of Mr. Beer-Thinker……

Even though the WSOP has come to an end, that doesn’t mean live poker is over.  Bellagio, Venetian, and Caesar’s are all running events to coincide with the end of the WSOP….and from what I understand, all pretty well structured and juicy prizepools too! 

Online poker is going fine, few scores here and there…..I took 2nd in the 65k a couple Sundays ago, and finished 2nd in the 100r the other night (sick of 2nd tbh..;) ….combined nearly 40K scoop….I have also been logging some short sessions of inspired 25-50 and 10-20 PLO on both FTP and Stars….so far so good as I run up a few thousand at a time—-

To end….I am really looking forward to the summer months winding down…this friggin heat is retarded.  Also, beginning of August I’m taking a trip to Chicago with some friends for the Lollapalooza festival—picked up some VIP seating and other incentives in order to fully enjoy 3 days of music and partying….. following Lolla, headed to New Jersey for All Points West-Fest…another concert series featuring a bunch of bands—not to mention I get to see all my friends down in the city!—After that, I really have nothing planned—- Hoping to go east sometime soon to see my family, just in-case I decide to head to Europe in the fall…..And the crew of us living in the house have been talking about renting another luxury RV and traveling the West coast, all the way up into Vancouver, eventually residing at a rented lake house in the northwest………who knows where these crazy nomads will wander off to next…..

until next time….
peace kidz.
-B-

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    First off, thank you all for the support and words of encouragement regarding todays final table.  I’m a bit spun for words to describe the feelings I had throughout the day, clearly disappointed with my result, yet thrilled with my play.
    This year has been a remarkable experience thus far, not only cashing my first WSOP event, but earning my first final table debut amongst a very strong field, particularly the final 3 tables in play.  To my immediate right for nearly 2 hours sat one of the best players in the world, Theo Tran.  That kid plays straight nasty and is a clear front runner for WSOP player of the year—congrats.  Theo had a pretty awkward stack from a massive hand he played against Napolean Ta, and I busted him in a blind vs. blind spot with A8 to his A9.  Another familiar face, and friend of mine, sat Adam Katz—known as Akat11 online— a tremendous player—his ability to establish an image at a table is remarkable, not to mention he’s an experienced live pro with a WPT Championship final table.  Kid knows how to run up a massage tab at a table too.  The two of us grabbed dinner before the final 3 tables began play, drinking roughly 14 lemonades a piece—and he also told me what it was like for him during his first big ’shining’ moment during his WPT experience— really cool cause he knew I was feelin the pressure–thanks Katz.  Other big names were Scott (SCtrojans) Freeman, Aaron Been, Napolean Ta, Shawn Buchanon, Jason Mercier, and Nicolas Levi—oh, and Fastball Freddy.
    Eventually around 4:00am, we made it down to the final 9 players moving on to day 3…I sat 4/9, and a very legit shot to win a bracelet.  The first hand started off with a bang, and me earning a 500k pot off the get go with no show-down on a K-10-10 flop (me holding QJdd =) where I 4-bet shoved the flop against the defending big blind.  After a small break, the action continued again, where I raised preflop for the 3rd consecutive hand, this time with KK and on the same victim who defended the 1st hand of the tournament…..the flop came Kc-10h-Jh…. my eager opponent then decided to shove 525K (nothing serious, just 2.5x the pot) into the pot all-in—-I held by spiking the Ks on the turn for quads.  Sadly as play continued, I found the end of the road where I opened the button 5-handed to 115k at 20k-40k and a 1.4M stack— with AKdd and the small blind defended….the flop came As-5s-Kc…….my opponent led for 200k with apprx. 1 million behind…..I re-raised to 525k and he quickly shoved with no fold equity….he revealed the 87ss for a bare flush draw….and the dreaded Qs binked the river—-this massive pot left me crippled with only 215K in chips and I was shortly eliminated in 5th place for apprx. $179K.—I know a lot of players who read about the hand were a bit disgruntled to see how he shoved through and his table antics—-but in his defense, he really didn’t know any better—-not to mention he blatantly said aloud at the table he needed to gamble to win—-which in turn also didn’t help, cuz he blew a 5:1 chip lead for 2nd place——Oh well, there’s always the next event….whichhhh I am undecided about at the moment—-I will likely take tomorrow off, not playing the PLO 1500 event, and chillin out till Wednesday’s 5K event.

    peace kidz.
    -bhanks11-

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     The much anticipated WSOP has finally begun!  Despite my lackluster results thus far, the experience has been incredible as expected.  I have met many of the finer people of the online world (LilHoldem, ShankingYou, TopTizzlePizzle, CKing, Chronic, WacoKidd, BigBoyBunk, Akat11, USCtrojans, The__DRY, and many more…), as well as some live pros (Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari)—all beginning at the Bluff Magazine party at the Tao in the Venetian (Thanks Bluff!!!!)   Bigggg props to a few notable finishes thus far in the WSOP—Sowers, Amak, Chronic420, Cking, Gboro, and Yellowsub have all made final tables!! (likely missed 1 or 2 others…srry)
    So far I have only played 4 events (plan on playing roughly 20+) and haven’t really made any noise—-granite, I’m not sure I can make any better decisions, yet seemingly run like a blind crippled man —sigh. But oh well, I’m over it =)  
     One experience I’ll share with all of you was during the 1K rebuy, where I started off at a relatively over-aggressive table consisting of David Baker, UCLABruinz, Believer82, and Lao Phan (sp?…but he taught Kenny and Theo Tran how to play!! )  I somehow managed to only be in the tourny for a measly 4K and compile a 14K stack at the end of the rebuy period…..After the rebuy break ended, I returned to my table for a little over an hour, and lost a very large portion of my stack where my QQ ran into a flopped a flush, and my AK lost to a flopped of set of 9s on an A-6-9 flop…..Our table broke, was given a new seat….and sure enough, I am moved to a table consisting of Hafizzle (PCA runner-up), Clownie Gowen, ShankingYou, Paul Ambrose, and…..Phil Ivey.  Never before in my poker playing career have I seen anybody dominate a table like he did.  For roughly 2 1/2 hours, Ivey was involved in, and WON, 90% of all pots.  His play was spot on, never making mistakes, and constantly applying various forms of pressure to his opponents both pre-flop and post-flop.  Needless to say I did bust at this table, sadly not to Phil Ivey or another pro— but some clueless noob.
    Tomorrow is my next event, playing the $2500 NLHE—- I feel really confident in my game, and expect great things to happen—-so keep a close eye on this tall bastard!  To my boys left in events today— Antuan AKA ‘BigBoyBunk’—-glglgl

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    Living in Las Vegas as a professional poker player can be downright stressful!  After a pretty horrid FTOPS with only 3 cashes, I was left with a nasty taste of pessimism and bitterness towards other players, and even worse, myself.  For those who know me well as a poker player and as a person, I am the last to ever get down on myself nor discouraged—-In fact, I’m always the one who will just laugh, smile, and move on.
    After my final bust of the night, where I cruised into the money of the FTOPS Main Event with a near 30 big-blind stack, I decided to play like a total asshole and move with AJ directly into the hungry mouth of a waiting KK……I quickly closed up the laptop, put on the running shoes (yeah Dad, I’m attempting to work-out again and not just eating pizza late at night)—and I took a jog with one of my house-mates.  As I staggered along the hot humid streets of Las Vegas, I couldn’t help but notice how irritated I had become— a disgusting outlook that ‘The Secret’ would certainly despise.  As I continued to whine like a little school girl ending my jog, I meandered back into my room to check some text messages……amazing how some of the people in your life can quickly alter your emotional state and make you realize the things that matter most…..thanks babe
       And what next???? I also came back to find that one of my housemates was very deep in the Sunday Mulligan, a major certainly worthy of praise and a nice payday!!  My good friend Brian Lamanna, known as Like7 on Full Tilt, had managed to ninja his short stack with 30 people to go into the chip lead!! Moments later he lost a rather large pot where he turned Aces up against a flopped set….ughhh….leaving him 18/20……once again, he somehow managed to chip up, and found himself at the final table on contention to win his 2nd major of his online career (won the 500K on FTP 2 years ago). To make a long, exciting final table short—-he did in fact go onto win this Sunday major, taking down a whopping $49,000 payday!!  CONGRATS LIKE7!!!  (oh, and thanks for the 20% –weeeeeeeee) =)

    I guess my whole point to this entry is to emphasize the importance of attitude—-remaining both positive, and optimistic while playing this often emotionally bruising game.  If you can’t smile, then something is wrong, and you shouldn’t be at the table.  For me, I needed one of the closest people in my life to turn my frown upside down with some magic words and corny analogies =) (Thanks Melissa!)  For Like7, despite coolers, despite beats, and despite nearly being felted in various spots, he overcame the adversity of negative variance, painted on a smile, and willed his way to victory Rocky Balboa style, never quitting and not going down without a fight.

Peace Kidz,
-Bhanks11-

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    Let me begin by expressing how honored I am to have this opportunity to write for all of you at Bluff Magazine!  Two years ago as I sat in my classroom, teaching the youth in a small rural town about Ancient Egypt and long division, never once did I imagine myself in this scenario, writing about poker and my own life….and it feels damn good.  I currently reside in Las Vegas, having moved over 3000 miles away from my family and friends in rural western New York.  The transition into this new profession has been nothing short of extraordinary—all starting with winning the Sunday Million on Stars under my name, UsourceK—-not to mention it was only the 3rd day I had been living in Vegas!  My story is a little bit of a fairytale to most, yet a tale dedicated to nearly 3 full years of studying, observing, sacrificing, and absorbing poker into my life.
    Currently I have been engulfed with the FTOPS, where I have decided to bubble nearly everything except for 1 small cash in the 300R.  After reading Stamdogg’s recent blog, I think I know what I need to do a lot more of in order to keep my head ’straight.’  I wish I could say I have been disappointed with my play, but really I am quite pleased, just unfortunate in spots that matter the most.  Aside from the FTOPS, I have been pretty much crushing the Step 6 tournaments on Stars when I decide to play them. I have won 8 seats to the Main Event so far, and am 6/9 in my attempts playing Step 6’s—-which is pretty damn good =)
    Next Thursday I am very excited to hop on board a giant jet that’s headed back home!  My family always throws a giant party (Hanksfest!!!!) to celebrate Memorial Day.  I am incredibly excited to see my family as well as close friends whom will all be in town for the festive weekend and parties!  There really is something to be said about the cliche, “you never know what you got, till it’s gone”—and Fillmore, NY, you have certainly been missed!—–  for the record, my home-town heroes, the drinks and shots are on me!! =)

Peace.

-Bhanks11-

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