The story starts last October, when I was introduced to Mindset Coach, Sam Chauhan by my buddies at the WSOP Academy, who thought Sam would be a good fit for Bluff. Upon meting Sam, I was instantly sold on his teachings, and to be quite honest, I didnt even have a clue at the time how powerful they could really be. When he was nineteen years old, Chauhan’s interest in understanding why people do what they do led him to study the mindset technologies. Sam used these skills to help him succeed in business. He has a unique ability to build conscious and subconscious rapport with anyone, making him a valuable asset to individuals and businesses alike. Chauhan has quickly become a highly sought after speaker, recently speaking at an event with Deepak Chopra and Ben Stein, and works with celebrities, MMA fighters, and now poker players.

Sam has since become a regular Bluff Magazine contributor, and we’ve become good friends in the process, so when Antonio mentioned to me about a month back that he had met with Sam, and was contemplating working with him, I didn’t hesitate to give Sam my glowing recommendation. In fact the conversation via text went a little like this:

Antonio: What do you know about this guy?
Me: He’s the nuts, for sure.
Antonio: In good way, or bad way?
Me: Definitely in a a good way.
Antonio: You scared me there, but thank you for the recommendation.

According to Sam, the next day, Antonio and he came to a six month coaching agreement, where Sam would do all he could to help Antonio refocus on poker, not his poker skills, mind you, but o not allowing any outside distractions into his life when poker needed to be the priority. There were some new rules for our resident lifestyle columnist, and Antonio would no longer be allowed to have his phone with him while he played, let negative thoughts deter him from playing his A game, or party while he was still in a tournament.

The next tournament Antonio played was the $3,000 buy-in triple chance event, and I saw a group of rubber bands on Antonio’s wrist, a sure sign he was practicing Sam’s teachings, and had bought into his system. After day one, Antonio was one of the chip leaders. Antonio went on to finish 24th in the event, and was thrilled about his first cash in the WSOP this year. Sam and Antonio continued to work, continued to focus on getting Antonio in the best mental shape of his life before the Main Event; Antonio was becoming a Mindset machine. As a fan, and friend I kept an eye on his Main Event progress, and after each night, I’d notice his name still in the mix, still fighting. Of course, some things never change, and Antonio missed his Bluff Deadline, begging me for more time, and for me to hold tight for him to make the final table. He was so focused on poker, that he hasn’t yet had the time to write.

Yesterday was a tough day for Antonio, he got short a number of times, and instead of giving up, he constantly fought back, doubling up when he needed to at all the right moments, continually giving himself the best possible chance for success. This resurgence from Antonio, is nothing short of phenomenal, and I could not be more proud, or happier for him going into today. You may think it’s all coincidence, but I know better, and to me the proof is in the pudding. Hopefully his performance opens up the worlds eyes to what it takes to succeed on the highest level in poker; its not just the cards, its not just his pre-flop, or post-flop play, its how he handles adversity, how he handles being a chip leader, how he handles his twenty minute, and ninety minute breaks, how he handles himself when each day is done, and each morning begins, and right now — with Sam’s help, there is no one more locked in mentally than Antonio Esfandiar (**note** Phil Ivey may not be human so he doesn’t count).

Tap into the powers of Poker Mindset yourself by checking out an archive of Sam’s articles right here at BluffMagzine.com

I was in the BB, for 500, with 250/500 and a 50 ante. It folded to the button who made it 1,300 straight, and I looked down at 10c-9c and flat called. The flop was Tx-3s-4s, and I checked to the button, figuring he’d lead at this pot 100 percent of the time, and lead he did putting out a 2200 bet. I didn’t insta-shove, I counted out the chips for a call, shuffled, and thought for about fifteen to twenty seconds, before announcing that I was all-in. My opponent, asked for a count, and the dealer counted out that it would be 12,400 for him to make the call, and the longer he tanked, the better i felt that I might get a call from A high, or maybe a pocket pair below tens, and double through here. After about two minutes, he finally made the call, and I was a bit shocked to see pocket Jacks tabled. Unfortunately, i didn’t suck out and that was the end of my Main Event run.

As I tend to do when busting from a big tourney, i replayed the hand about a thousand times, thinking how I could have done things differently… Should I have just folded? What if I led out for 2,500 on the flop, he’d surely raise me, and maybe I get away leaving myself with 13k or so. If I flatted the flop the turn brought the 6 of spades, completely flush, and straight draws. If I shove there does, he fold? Probably not — i have to remember my stack was less than intimidating. I finally came to the conclusion, that I am OK with my bust out hand, and I think if I ran into the same spot again in the future, I might just play it the same way.

Obviously, I want to thank Pokerstars for giving me a shot, and hopefully one of these days I’ll be able to capitalize in a big way in a major event. Be sure, to check out the August issue for a full recap of my main event.

I arrive around 11:40 or so for the noon start time, and was surprised to see a huge line for registration. I over heard a few guys in line saying we may be alternates, and that the fields have been huge for the $330 events, but I was pleasantly shocked that not only did the line move very quickly and efficiently, but that I would be able to start on time and not be an alternate.

I settled in to my seat, at Table 61 seat 5, and made my goal to play super patient early on, not getting into any questionable spots. There was a lot of action at the table off the bat, with the older gentleman to my left, limp calling essentially every hand. My first taste of action was when it folded around to me in the SB, and I raised the “old man limp caller” with A8 off. He called, of course and we saw a 955 flop. I led out, he raised and I folded. A few hands later he lost a huge pot with a turned two pair, with his Q6 off, and pocket Aces counterfeited him when the board paired threes on the river. Shortly after that, this gentleman raised for the first time, only to get re-raised, upon which he went all in for another 10K or so (blinds are 50-100 btw), the three-bettor called with two Kings, and the old lunatic had A8 off, and bricked. I was sad to see him go, since I got zero of his chips.

My stack never made a trip upwards, with the exception of a flush made out of the SB where I won about 2K. From there on it went something like this: I raise from cut-off with 9h-10h, get three bet and, I fold. I raise with AQ from 3rd position, get 3 calls, and a re-raise, and I fold. I call a raise with (Insert small pair here) brick the flop and fold.

At some point through my miss-flop-fold-fest TJ Cloutier sat down at the table. TJ’s book was the very first book I had ever read on poker, so It was pretty cool to get a chance to play with him. He was playing pretty loose, and seemed to be enjoying himself at the table. After the first break, we came back to 100-200 blinds with a 25 ante, and my stack was sitting at about 4500 or so. TJ bumped it up to 700 UTG, and it folded to me on the button, where i looked down at two Jacks. I felt that I didn’t have much of a decision to make here, TJ was UTG, so his range was calling my shove most of the time, but I thought he could have anywhere from pairs like 77+, AJs, AQ, AK, so I’m only behind against QQ, KK, and AA, and in decent shape against the rest of his possible holdings. He flipped over Queens, and that was it for me.

I was genuinely happy with my play in the tournament, as I never got out of line. I kept my composure even when things were miserable, and never deterred from my initial game plan. If anything, I may have been too passive. I may give another deep stack tourney a crack before the Main Event which starts in about 10 days or so. If you’re in town, and looking for a great tourney, definitely give the Venetian a go, its got great value, and some seriously swollen prize pools for your money.

The story of the tournament, still must be, young Annette Obrestad, who is poised to final table this event, taking a shot at her second major event, the first being her amazing WSOP Europe win two years back. Although Obrestad started the day not as high on the leader board as in days past, the lights and cameras of the feature table must have lit a fire under her, as she has climbed back to a point of control, with about 1.8 million in chips.

Over at the other end of the tournament room, the the High Roller Championship, which attracted big names, with big wallets, and some not-so-big names, with bigger wallets than we most of us can even imagine rallies on. With 79 players entering the event, all but 19 have been eliminated, with the formidable Team PokerStars pro Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier sitting right in the middle of the pack waiting for his chance to pounce towards the top, as we’ve seen so often from the french superstar.

More to come later, as Im headed back to the Sporting Club to see how this day ends…

Yesterday was another a great day, the tournament itself buzzed with action, as the registration numbers exceeded all expectations, with play ten-handed to start, and players literally searching for seats so they didnt have to hunch over, or kneel at the table. When all was said and done, the PokerStars EPT Grand Final is now, officially the largest poker tournament ever held in Europe in terms of it’s prize-pool.

When evening hit, it was time for all the hard working media, and journalists to get their crack at poker stardom, and being that I am one for one in Media events, I liked my chances. At my starting table were Garry Gates, of PokerNews, and Owen Lauklanen of Poker Listings, and we quickly got into the discussion of adding the PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo Media event to the “Grand Slam” of media tournaments, Aussie millions being another, (thank you very much). Much to my dismay, however, this tourney didnt last nearly as long as my Aussie Millions win did, in fact, it was over in two hands. I utilize the “go big, or go home” strategy in these, and raised it up with AhTh, Owen called, as did two other gents I didnt know. The flop was A-8-4 rainbow, and I quickly over bet the pot by tossing out about 600 of my remaining 1800, or so. Owen moved in, and so did one of the unknowns, and knowing I was quite a bit behind, I tossed in the rest of my chips, hoping for a miracle on the turn or river. Owen flipped over AQ, and our silent assassin had pocket eights, and I was drawing to runner-runner… It was not meant to be, I’m sad to say.

Today, day two started with a bang, with a few of the bigger names like LIz Lieu, and Daniel Negreanu getting ousted within the first level. I spoke to a number of pro’s like John Juanda, Nenad Medic, Sorel Mizzi, and David Williams who at the time had amassed a 240,000 stack, and was tweeting away on one of two mobile phones, about how much they enjoyed this event, and the growth of the PokerStars EPT, and poker overseas in general for an upcoming Bluff Magazine article. Williams, who hadn’t planned on making the long trip, stating “he doesn’t like to travel much for poker”, was urged to come out by friend, Noah Boeken, who is having a party in Amsterdam shortly after the tournament, now tells me, because he loves Monte Carlo so much, he will surely add this to his yearly stops on the circuit.

With the day now done, the story seems to be the rise of the young, online femme de’ force, Annette Obrestad, who sits second in chips with a whopping 600,000. Will she be able to maintain her edge over the field, or will she fade as she did in one of her last big runs, in Australia a few months back. Be sure to check out the PokerStarsBlog.com, tomorrow to find out.

The trip itself was rather uneventful, with a bunch of connecting flights, some in flight entertainment, some sleeping pills, and a little bit of turbulence. Upon arriving in Nice, France, I hopped in a cab and was driven about a half hour to the one of the smallest countries in the world, one which it’s sunny 300 days of the year, however it was just my luck, because today it was pouring rain.

This morning however, it was beautiful, with the sun shining, and the sounds of the ocean crashing against the shore outside my window. After making my way to the casino, the EPT Grand Final began in Grand fashion. Before play began, I got a chance to chat with Barry Greenstein who discussed the importance of the PokerStars EPT Grand Final among the poker world. If there was a Grand Slam of Poker, Barry said, The PokerStars EPT Grand Final would definitely be one of the events to be included in that mix, with the WSOP Main Event, and the WPT Championship two of the others. Greenstein seemed excited to get things going, as he admittly “hasn’t travelled internationally very well”, without any success in major events overseas.

Day 1A, began with 396 players, more than the entire WPT championship, showing the importance of this event worldwide, and the explosion of poker in Europe, and in-particular the EPT events. By days end 251 remained, with Team PokerStars Pro’s fairing quite well, with Lee Nelson leading the way with a whopping 250,000. Other big names making a splash were Luca Pagano, Annette Obrestad, Dario Minieri, James Obst and Daniel Negreanu. Among the fallen, were Greg Raymer, Phil Ivey, Tony G, and Chris Moneymaker.

The evening for me ended with a great media dinner at a place called Zelos, where I shared a great meal with members of the international media, and in particular, my friend from Hardcore radio, Chris Tessaro. Tomorrow, Day 1B gets underway, and there is sure to be another flurry of poker activity here in Monaco.

Stay Tuned…

In other news, we’ve just completed our April issue, featuring 2008 Online Player of the Year, David “The Maven” Chicotsky, and while, yes I’m biased, I have to say its a great issue filled with great content. As for May, which we are already hard at work on, you can expect to get all the dirt on the Celebrity Apprentice from our May cover girl Annie Duke, as well as an exclusive behind the scenes look at the NBC Heads-Up Championship.

Ive also joined the bandwagon, and have started my own twitter account, that I hope to be updating frequently, starting with tomorrow Dream Team Poker Event at Caesars. http://twitter.com/pdparv19

I having nothing but respect for Patrik Antonius, he has crushed the game at almost every level he has played at, whether it be tournaments, or cash games, live, or online; but in this case, I think that Dwan will come out victorious, and Ill tell you why:

Preparation: Although both competitors have known about, and have prepared for the challenge over the past 4-5 weeks, there is no doubt in my mind that Dwan has been preparing for this well in advance of announcing the challenge. It takes a very strong mindset to battle it out in this nature, and the additional time Tom has had to prepare mentally creates a slight edge in his favor. He may not have been four tabling HU 200/400 PLO every day, but he knew all the stipulations of the the challenge, as he set the rules, so I’m sure he finely tuned aspects of his game specifically to ready himself for this format in particular.

Family: This may seem like a foolish statement, but the fact that Tom is single with out family commitments works in his favor. On top of putting in the hours, and focus it’ll take to complete in this challenge, Patrik has a wife and a young child to look after, and while I’m sure they understand the importance of this challenge to Patrik, family, is still family, and its hard for anyone to focus on nothing but a game of poker with that family in mind. Patrik, also has the strain of needing to be able to support his family, and while obviously, I cant comment on his financial situation, this challenge could break someone for millions of dollars; there is no way that the money aspect of this challenge doesn’t get into your head when you have people other than yourself relying on you. Tom, on the other hand is young, and unattached, he could go broke, walk away, and rebuild with out it affecting his life, or lifestyle significantly. Sure, he doesn’t want to lose millions, who does, but again, its a small edge that leans in his favor.

A little help from his friends:While all the players at the nose-bleed levels have strong friendships with other top-notch players, Dwan has a great friendship with Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, who along with Dwan is one of the most prolific nose-bleed players in the game today. In fact, Galfond was the one player who was prohibited from taking Dwan’s challenge, both for Dwan’s respect for Phil’s game, and respect for their friendship. When I interviewed Tom, for the February BLUFF cover back in December, he mentioned Galfond is one of the only guys he actually talks strategy with in depth, Dwan also mentioned that while they are both highly successful, that they have vastly different styles of play. I would bet on Phil and Tom discussing the match as it plays out, with Dwan getting Galfond’s insight on his own play, as well as Patrik’s. That added knowledge could be a big factor in how this plays out, and once again, I think it gives an edge to Durrrr.

Stamina & Mental Strength: 50,000 hands is a lot of poker, and playing four tables of HU PLO is an all encompassing task, but while they both have put in thousands of hours at the highest level games, Durrrr seems to be more accustomed to long sessions, with many tables. Many of us know the feeling of having a losing session, and being down, while trying to regain composure and play at the top of our game, but what about when you are down six-figures? Durrrr has proven to have the stamina and mindset to persevere through long sessions, and long losing sessions at that; this past month alone Durrrr has experienced a major downswing of about $3 Million dollars, but still seems to be playing at the top of his game. Another tick for Tom.

I mentioned this above, but wanted to point out again, that while I strongly believe Durrrr will prevail in his quest against Patrik, that I still feel that Mr. Antonius is one of the greatest players of our day. Patrik has proven time and time again that he can compete with the best in the world, at the highest stakes, and I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for him. That being said, while their skill level and ability maybe close to even, the match, will be decided by the factors I’ve mentioned above, and Tom “Durrrr” Dwan will walk a way a winner.

If you have been following poker seriously, you know that Michael has gotten involved in the poker scene; final tabling a tournament at Caesars, hanging out with the players in Vegas, etc… Nowhere can I remember any stories of Phelps going into the pit and gambling away ludicrous amounts of dough, chasing cards at a blackjack table, or mindlessly betting sports. I just hate how poker is lumped in with drinking, and drug problems. Even in a recent WIcked Chops post, they mention that this weed incident is probably the end of Phelps short-lived foray into the poker world. If this is the case, its quite sad, since his involvement in poker, even though not a huge deal, is another positive thing for poker. Why would a guy who just won a bazillion gold medals in the olympics want to play poker? Could it have anything to do with the massive skill it takes to learn, and compete on a high level? Could it be that Poker is one of the most competitive games/sports out there? Could it be that Phelps was trying to snatch up some gold for his wrists to match the medals around his neck at this years WSOP? Or maybe its just the fact that he is spiraling downwards into a deep world of drugs, booze and gambling… It really is laughable, that after five years of being in the mainstream, having countless hours of high level poker being aired on ESPN, FOXSPORTS, NBC, and other networks that poker still has to fight for its legality, and legitimacy. The fact than an American champion has to even consider about giving up a game like poker because of the “message” it may send his fans and followers, is absurd.

Michael, if I were you I wouldn’t stray from poker, I’d use the three month swimming suspension to hone in on your poker skills, and get ready for this summers WSOP. I’d bet any amount of money against you winning eight bracelets, but I’d also bet the adrenaline rush, and the drive to win at the WSOP would be just as strong as it was when you were hitting the pools in Beijing.

Within two minutes of that chat, I heard “Bluff Magazine is All-In”, from both tables. While I didn’t see the hand with Bonomo, the action was raised from either cut-off or the button, and Bonomo decided to put his opponent to the test and move in. His opponent quickly called with KK, and it Justin could not catch an Ace with his AJ, he was left with a paltry 15k or so. Eric, who had less then 10 Big Blind’s moved in with 8-8 only to look in despair as Jamie Gold called with two Queens. We were in bad shape. Eric called for a 4 board flush, and when the turn and river both delivered a heart, our wish was granted. We somehow managed to survive to the final table, with Justin finishing in 10th and Eric finishing in 7th, giving us a team score of 17. The only team with a shot had his team-mate finish in 17th, so even if he won it would not be enough to beat Team Bluff, the new Dream Team Poker Champions!

All in all, the Dream Team Poker experience was awesome. Its a great structure, and honestly the most fun I have had playing in a poker tournament. The best part of playing as a team, is even when you bust out with a sick beat like I did, you still have a shot to win because of your team. I want to thank Daniel, Houman, and Mario from DreamTeam for inviting us to this inaugural event. We are very proud to be your first Champion, and we look forward to repeating, and becoming the first Dream Team Dynasty!

Unfortunately, I was an early casualty. There was a late position limp, and I completed in the Small Blind with Q-To, and the Big Blind checked his option. The flop Qh-Th-6x, and I led out for 200 into the 300 dollar pot. The BB raised and made it 800 straight. After pondering his range, I knew my worst case scenario was a flopped set of sixes, or a random some sort of big draw, and I was way ahead of the rest. I thought my best line was to raise it up to 3400. My opponent quickly moved all-in, and I made the call. He flipped over 10-6 for bottom two pair, and I was in great shape… Until the 6 peeled off on the turn, and I bricked the river. GG Me.

My team is faring much better though. Justin ended the day with just under 70K for one of the bigger stacks, and Eric is sitting with 30K. Out of thirty teams, there are only five remaining with 2 players still in. There are twenty people left in the tournament. WIth 4 teams paying, our odds to cash at this point are pretty good. Our strategy is to try and have Eric survive as long as possible, with Justin going for the win.
Lets all hope for a Team Bluff Victory!