Garrett Beckman Blog

October was a great month online across the board. I had multiple wins namely the Sunday $150 rebuy tournament on Full Tilt for $57k. On Poker Stars I won a $14k PCA package the $40k Guarantee for $7k. I was also able to final table the $300 Wednesday Quarter Million finishing 7th not one but two weeks in a row for a couple more $8k scores on stars! This seemed to spark a back to back mentality for me as I won the FTP $17k Guarantee consecutive days for a combined $10k and a run at another Triple Crown.

I added some volume on Ultimate Bet for the third leg and got another victory in the $30r unfortunately it only had 99 entrants, one short of the required 100 for the crown. I didn’t let this get me down and was able to get heads up in the same tournament the next night coming ever so close to my second Triple Crown but fell short finishing runner up.

Just as the calendar has rolled over to November it seems my poker heater will parallel. On the first of the month I final tabled the PS $100r fizzling out 9th losing a 60/40 race. I fared better in the Full Tilt $300 6max tournament with a 3rd place finish for $11k.

I am leaving for Amsterdam tomorrow for the Master Classics of Poker series where I plan to play two or three tournaments. The first live event I will play is a ¬1000 with one optional rebuy. I might play the ¬2500 second chance tournament but only if I bust early in the ¬600 Main Event on Nov. 11th. There should be about 400 entrants in each of these tournaments so it will be well worth missing a few of the FTOPS tournaments to play live.

That’s right, the Full Tilt Online Poker Series is back again with one alteration. FTOPS X will feature 25 events and over $15 Million in guaranteed prize money and a new two day $5k 6max event with a $2M guarantee. The series run from Nov. 5th – 16th so I will be in the Dam for its entirety and plan to play up to 14 of the events.

-GBecks

1 Comment

The past five days have gone by fast. I’ve spent three days on the beach and managed to bust the $5,500 main event on the last level of day 1. I had built a great image at the table and had everyone wanting to bust me. Things were going well as I built my stack from the starting 15k up to over 40k. In the last level of the day with blinds 200/400 with 50 ante I lost a rather large pot when I turned 66 into a bluff. A tight player raised to 1100 from early position, I called from middle position and we see a flop of Td8s3s. He led 1500 into me on the flop and I float called with my 6s6h. The turn brought a Js and he then checked to me. I decided to bluff since he slowed down and the board looked rough with the third spade coming on the turn so I bet 2800 which he called. The river was the 4c and he once again checked. I went for the kill and barreled another bet of 7500, just over half of his stack. He went into the tank for about 30 seconds as he counted he stack down and made the call with QhQd so I tabled my 66 bluff to keep the action coming.
The very next hand I looked down at AsAc and frustratingly raise it to 1100 and get two callers, a young kid on the button and Steven “Stevesbets” Jacobs in the big blind. Steve checked a flop of 9d7s2h to me so I continuation bet 2600, the button called and Steve raised 4k more. I thought for a brief moment, looked back at the player on the button who looked uninterested and then just called the raise, the button quickly mucked. Now heads up to the turn, Steve again checks to me when a 6 of spades came. I quickly announced, “I’m all-in” in hopes of looking like a last ditch effort of stealing the pot. Steve asked for a count so I cut my stacks down myself and told him that it was about 13k. He then called my shove and tabled 9hTc for one pair and an inside straight draw. The river binked a Td giving him a winning two pair and sigh of relief as he had hit one of his 9 outs. To put it simply I was 80% to win the hand but so goes poker&

Check back to hear about the $2k tournament and my upcoming trip to Amsterdam.

-GBecks

Comment

I’m heading to the airport in a bit and I’m pumped up to play some live poker. I’ll be playing the Aruba Poker Classic $5k tournament starting Monday. I’ll probably use the weekend to get settled in and who knows, I may even work on a tan. Haha seriously tho, I’ll probably grind Sunday online like always but I’ll have to see how strong the internet is…

I don’t have much information about the tournament but I know that it has a $4 Million guarantee with $1M to first. Which means they hope to get 800 players, I’m doubting it but we’ll see.

GBecks

Comment

My comeback to online poker has been slow the last couple weeks only playing a few full days of tournaments. I haven’t done much to speak of aside from a $12k winner’s choice win on FullTilt. This past Sunday didn’t go too well and the week before was a huge letdown.
On the Sunday the 27th I cashed in 8 tournaments of $150 buy in or higher but only came out a small winner on the day. It felt great building massive stacks in what seemed every tournament I had entered but every one of them ended short of final tables. Getting that deep in so many and not turning any of them into a good nip is disappointing but oh well.

FTOPS IX kicks off tomorrow with a $200 buy in NL Holdem tournament with $1Million guaranteed. The tournament starts at 8pm central so I’m hoping to squeeze a movie in before it starts. If it’s not already sold out I plan to get some tickets online here in a bit to see Pineapple Express with my buddies. It opens in theaters tomorrow and I’ve been excited about the movie for weeks but I may have to wait until Friday night when the FTOPS has a stud tourney that I don’t care to play.

I recently saw Dark Knight and Step Brothers and recommend both. Dark Knight was quite long but I liked every minute of it and Step Brothers was the laugh out loud comedy you would expect. I felt like Will Ferrell’s recent movies were slipping with Semi Pro and Blades of Glory but he is back on point in this one with the hilarious John C. Reilly at his side. I’ll definitely be buying this one on DVD when it comes out.

I’ll let you know how Pineapple Express goes as well as the upcoming FTOPS tournaments.

-GBecks

Comment

With the dinner break of Day 6 winding down, I stroll out of my room on the 13th floor of Masquerade Tower at the Rio on the 13th of July. A Road Runner like cloud dissipates behind me as I make for the elevators where I find Phil Hellmuth and his wife. We share the ride down and some small chat, I ask his chip count and confirm that mine is about the same& Just before we reach the Ground Level I say, “We better hustle, we’ve got short time.” Short time is something I remember my dad yelling at me during my wrestling matches in high school. This was usually when I was trailing in the match and meant that I’d better try to throw a headlock and pin the kid before I lose the damned match. I feel it warrants mention because the years I spent wrestling helped in molding a competitive side in me.

Lights flash and we hear a ding as the elevator doors open. Phil and his veer right, I hear them discussing whether to cut through the high limit slot lounge or not. I take a southern route to the left as Phil and I slip through the crowd I see he does indeed take his ‘shortcut’ but as I’m walking at an incredible rate I met him on the other side just as he exits the rear of the lounge. It’s a dead heat and we’re now in the home stretch, a long corridor that leads to the convention area where the event was being held. We both knew that it was a not only a race against the tournament clock but a race between the two of us as well. This was one race I wasn’t about to lose, never mind the obvious disadvantage of being 5′10″ vs. PH’s 6′6″ stride. I’m not sure that he would ever admit to the loss he took that day and with no solid proof I don’t blame him but he and I both know who won. I saw the look of defeat in his eye as I peered over my shoulder and wiped my brow following our intense heat. This may have been the highlight of my summer and the count now stands 3-0 because I won a couple of pots against him in a previous tournament.

Let me fill you in about my history with Phil Hellmuth. I met PH in December of last year when I drew him and the living legend Doyle Brunson at my day two starting table of Bellagio’s $15k Five Diamond World Poker Classic. I’m not sure if he would remember me or not but I figure that PH, being the true champion he is, probably doesn’t forget much. We didn’t talk much but I remember him saying “You played well kid, got it in with the nuts” following my elimination. I had called a raise preflop with 77 in position and the big blind called as well. The flop came 9h7h4c when the BB checked the original raiser bet and I put it a large raise. The big blind then went all in and the better eventually folded his overpair and I was facing a race against his 8hTh. I got a clean turn card but the Jack or hearts on the river cracked my set giving my opponent a STRAIGHT FLUSH! It was a rough way to go out but I took a lot from Phil and Doyle that day and really enjoyed playing with them.

-GBecks

Comment

My series came to an end last Sunday after six weeks, fifteen tournaments, and a deep run in the Main Event where I was eliminated in 31st place for $193k. It was the best experience of my life. Sure it has been tough to stomach at times when I think back about what could have been, but at the same time I realize that $200k to me, a grinder, is potential future fortunes and I am proud of my accomplishment.

It’s hard to explain what I have gone through, not just in the six days of play but in the past year or so when I feel my training for this tournament really began. My friends and family know how much time and effort I’ve given to the game lately and it feels good to get the monkey off my back and get a nice score in a live tournament. I’m anxious to see how much coverage I will get on ESPN after three days of feature tables too&
My trip home with my buddies Reed and Peel was full of excitement and a wild lightning storm that nearly struck us. Just after crossing into Colorado I remember noticing what looked to be broken glass all over I-70 but had no choice but to drive over it. There were actually two patches of littered road with what we later found out to be nails. As luck would have it I came through just after a trucker had lost some of his load, boxes and boxes of nails. The car began to handle a bit squirrely before the left rear tire completely blew out. My immediate instincts were to put the spare on but quickly realized that the other rear tire had a leak and was falling fast. We were able to get some assistance from the highway patrol who called a tow company who dropped the car at Sears and us at Holliday Inn.

Finally some rest right? Try SOLD OUT, lasdjf l;adsgh alkjs g! Not only were they sold out but the entire city of Grand Junction nearly was as well. Dialing through about twenty numbers on my hotel call list I found a room that I was able to check into an hour later. Apparently taxis aren’t the fastest in Grand Junction and some even come with a dog for a copilot.

The next morning Sears told me they couldn’t get to my flats until 4. Since there was a theatre within walking distance we burned the day away with the movie WALL-E, which wasn’t that great. The Olive Garden was however on point. The salad, breadsticks, and my stuffed chicken marsala really turned my day around. We were back on the road again, through the Eisenhower Tunnel over the Continental Divide and into Denver. This is the best part of the drive, the winds, curves, and drastic elevation changes are more exciting than the slow rolling plains of the Kansas prairie.

I’m back home now and celebrating my brother’s 27th birthday. It started last night with a rock band jam session at the Budke’s then a party bus of 3 birthdays and a crowd of 25+. We ended the night bar hoping in the Kansas City Power and Light District. It’s a got a cool setup with a cluster of new bars that surround a central ‘beer garden’ patio area. It’s booming with new establishments and of course the Sprint Center.

While I was in Vegas an addition was made to my household, an 11 week old boxer puppy named Cassius. He’s a cute little guy but he thinks he’s tough. We’re still working on establishing his play toys from my flip flops.

That’s enough for now, check back for stories of dinner with Victor Ramdin and some hands we played as well as a story about beating Phil Hellmuth in a race!

-GBecks

Comment

Once again, just a quick update because of the need for sleep. My table for day 5 was by far the toughest I’ve had all tournament with Adam “Roothlus” Levy and Alexander Kostritsyn. Alex is the russian kid who won Aussie Millions earlier this year and is far and above the best opponent I’ve ever played against. He took some rough beats and found some tough spots today and I eventually busted him in around 80th. On his final hand he opened for 65,000 and I called on the button. The flop came and when he checked, I bet 90,000. Alex counted out his chips 395,000, and moved all in. I spent about four minutes in the tank running his range through my head and calculating how big the pot was, how much of my stack it was to make the call… and finally I made the call to see that my were ahead of his . I was able to fade the turn and river when they came .

I’m sitting in 30th of 79 remaining players and I’m feeling great. My stack is at 1.86 million slightly above the average. The blinds start at 15k/30k with a 4k ante tomorrow at noon…

GBecks

Comment

Day 4 started late and ended early due to day 3 running late. Play started an hour later than the previous days and we ended the day with 40 minutes left in level 19. We will start back up tomorrow at noon with blinds 5000/10,000 with a 1k ante and shortly go up to 6k/12k/2k.

I spent the second half of the day at the main feature table with a solid lineup including Victor Ramdin(1.3M) and Aditya “Intervention” Agarwal (800k). It was an up and down day bottoming at 110k early and peaking over 700k a couple times. I finished the day with a solid 515k and only 189 players remain. I’m gonna do some work tomorrow.

GBecks

Comment

After three days of play we reached the money. The bubble burst in level 14 and 666 players made the guaranteed 21k minimum payday and of course over $9M to first. I finished the day with 192k from my starting 159k, progress&
My first table broke in the first 15 minutes but I didn’t feel like listening to Mike Matusow talk about himself all day and he was on my direct left. I then got moved to a table with Matt Matros on my direct left who is blindly aggressive and probably re-raise ten times in one level. This table once again broke and I was moved to a table full of monstrous stacks. I had the sixth largest stack with 200k at the time but I did have position on Matros after the move. Wouldn’t you know it, this table broke an hour later. My last table for the day was the most fun of them all with Darren dabadestchic Nelson, Tim “Tmay420″ West and Full Tilt pro Allen Cunningham.

We start play at 1 tomorrow at level 16 blinds of 2500/5000/500. Some of my college buddies (Reed, Patrick, Talon, Peel) are coming into town in the next day or two as well so it should be a fun week. Just a few more days of work left&

GBecks

Comment

Day two had its ups and downs but I was able to increase my stack from 54,300 to 230k at one point. I finished with 149,900 which is a pretty good stack. Feeling much better today and it looks like I’ll be fine soon enough. Naptime, we start back up at noon tomorrow

- GBecks

Comment