John Racener Blog

Last week I played in one of my favorite events mainly because it is almost in my backyard. It was a $1800 buy in at the Derby Lane in St. Pete. A lot of us know each other there, which makes it more fun and creates looser action. The group that plays in our local cash game always does a last longer bet for anywhere between $2,000 and $5,000. It’s a re-entry tourney so we have a rule that if you re-enter then you must re-enter the last longer pool. I love this side bet we do because I feel I have a huge edge against these guys in tournament poker. I won the last time we did it and chopped this time we did it with my buddy who also made the final table with me in this event.

I almost stone bubbled this event just like my last one at the Wynn Classic, but things went my way this time when I got my chips working with the best hand. I did some research and learned that I would have been the first player in history to stone bubble back to back major events. For those of you who aren’t to familiar with poker terms “stone bubble” means you get 19th place in a tournament where the top 18 places make the money. I managed to not make history in a bad way LOL.

When we got down to the final 4 players in the tourney I raised on the button with AQ and got called in the small blind. The flop came Q85 and the gentlemen in the small blind check raised me. I called and the turn brought an Ace. He fired big again and I decided to just call incase he was bluffing I wanted to induce another big bluff bet on the river. The river was an 8, which made the board read Q85A8. We put the rest of our chips in the pot and he flips over Q8 LMAO. He hit a two outer on the river to knock me out of the tourney.

I fought hard to get 4th place in this tournament which paid $22,750 plus the $6,000 profit from the last longer. Not a bad weekend of work for playing a smaller event in my backyard.

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Well, I made a last minute decision and decided to fly out to Vegas the morning of the Wynn Classic main event. I landed a few hours before the tourney so I had some breakfast, worked out, and took a nap. I decided to register late and entered during level 2.

We started with 30k in chips and it was a pretty good structure so I figured I could get away with it. The first hand I got when I sat down in the big blind was pocket jacks. A guy opened for 300 and a few others called. The kid in the small blind made it 1800. I popped it to 4100 and when it got back to him he insta made it 8500. Not the start I wanted to get off to, but I decided to fold and just move on.

I cruised all the way to day 3 and then ran a big bluff into the nuts and found myself in a spot that I haven’t been in too often in big buy-in events, I was the shortest stack (6 big blinds) and we were on the exact bubble. 19 spots paid and 20 people were left. It folded around to me in the small blind and I decided to move in with AJ and got snap called by the big blind who had A10. I was in a great spot to double up, but got unlucky when he floped a ten. The funny thing is that three spades came on the flop and I had the ace of spades, but couldn’t improve. That was that, and I was out the door as the exact bubble boy.

Overall, it was still a fun trip. Thanks to the Wynn for taking care of me and Phil Hellmuth for keeping me busy with heads up Chinese poker on our iPads. LOL

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Our first day in LA was spent in Beverly Hills was spent shopping and had lunch outside at 208 Rodeo overlooking Beverly Hills. Lunch was amazing and we enjoyed their Mint Lemanada’s which inspired Kyra to make that at home now.

The second day we had lunch at Grove while watching Mario Lopez tape an episode of Extra. They also had an awesome Fresh Market.

We got great court side seats for the Clippers vs Nuggets game. We also went out to a new club, the Greystone Manor Supperclub that was sick. They had a great DJ and our table was next to Paris Hilton. Our table’s tab was $5,500 and although Kyra had a sugar free Red Bull and we shared two bottles of water I chipped in $1,500. ha!

The trip did not end as I would have liked by busting in Day 3 of the Main Event for a massive pot when I got all in pre flop with Pocket Queens and lost to AK.

At the Clippers vs Nuggets game.

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Last week, I participated in a celebrity bowling event that benefited The Moyer Foundation. The foundation was founded by All-star MLB pitcher Jamie Moyer and his wife Karen. The mission of The Moyer Foundation is to empower children in distress. They are planning to open one of their camps (Camp Mariposa) in Bradenton, which is about an hour from Tampa. Camp Mariposa is a camp dedicated to serving children affected by addiction in their families. The goal of the camp is to end the cycle of addiction. Before the auction, Karen spoke a little bit about the foundation. Her words were really empowering. Given my background with alcohol addiction, I really feel that this is a great cause as the camp provides children with the support and education needed to help decrease their risk of future substance abuse.

My mom and my girlfriend came with me to the charity event. I gave my girlfriend the paddle during the auction, and she went to town bidding. LOL. We ended up “winning” a portrait session with a local photographer. We also won a couple of items in the silent auction including: a gigantic tray of chocolate-covered strawberries, two huge baskets of locally grown produce and some autographed sports memorabilia.

We all had a good time bowling, met some really good people and were able to contribute to a great cause. I enjoy bowling, so I went bowling again this week with some of my poker buddies, and now Kyra is asking me if we can go bowling again. Haha. She might have to wait to go bowling in Vegas, because it’s almost time for the WSOP!!!!! I’m so excited! I’m heading out to Vegas at the end of next week and can’t wait to play some cards. In preparation for the series, I’ve been posting weekly poker tips on my site. Check ‘em out. See ya at the Rio!

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Since I last posted, I’ve been busy doing some great things – spending time with family and friends, playing some live poker and getting prepared for my WSOP Boot Camp.

My mom, sister and I went to West Palm Beach to see Smokey Robinson last week. My mom has been dying to see him live. A couple months ago, my sister saw him perform in New York. My mom nearly had a conniption when she found out my sister went without her. Haha. My sister and I were really excited to take my mom to the show in West Palm. We really enjoyed the quality time together and the show, of course. I’ve been singing, “I Second That Emotion” ever since we got back. LOL.

I also took my girlfriend to see Lady Gaga at the St. Pete Times Forum last weekend. That crowd was a little different than the crowd at the Smokey Robinson show. LOL. Lady Gaga put on a great show though. She is definitely an entertainer!

I’ve been playing some cash games during the week at the Silks Poker Room. In the game I’ve been playing, the blinds are 25/50. Most players buy in from anywhere between $5K to $20K, so the action has been pretty good, and I’ve been doing well.

When I’m not playing poker and dancing to Lady Gaga, I’ve been trying to get some materials together for my WSOP Boot Camp. I’m going to be holding a boot camp May 14th and 15th here in Tampa. I’m really excited about the opportunity to share some of my knowledge, and I’ve been working really hard on developing the curriculum. You can check out the poster below or my site, johnracener.com, if you’re interested in signing up.

And, in addition to all of that, I’m gearing up for a BIG Easter Sunday. This is the first year that I’ll be hosting Easter at my house. I invited my mom over with the promise that I would cater to her all day! This means I’ll need to enlist the help of my girlfriend to make a decent dinner for Mommabear. Haha. We’ll also go to Mass in the morning and then relax by the pool. At noon on Sunday, NBC is airing the second segment of the Heads-Up Poker Championship, which is the Spades Bracket, so it will be cool to watch that with my mom. Also on Sunday at night, FSN is airing the WPT event I final tabled at the Bellagio back in December, so we’ll watch that too! I can’t wait for Sunday! I think I’m more excited for Sunday to get here than little kids are waiting for the Easter Bunny. Haha. I hope everyone enjoys their Easter!

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I feel like there are a lot of misconceptions about the poker world and what is it that professional poker players do on a day-to-day basis, so I’m really excited to share my experiences with the bluffmagazine.com readership. Big thanks to Bluff Magazine for giving me the opportunity to start blogging on the site.

I figured I’d start my first post with a brief recap of what I’ve been up to. Most recently, I was in Las Vegas for the 2011 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship. As most of you probably know, Erik Seidel won the Championship, so big congratulations to him, another Full Tilt Poker Pro who has been killing it in the tourneys lately. As always, I had a great time in Vegas. My mom, sister and girlfriend met me out there. We had a blast at the Draw Party at Pure nightclub in Caesar’s. On Day 1 of the tournament, I played Chris Moneymaker first round, and got knocked out. I didn’t fare well in the fast-paced structure tournament, but I still had an amazing time. I’m really appreciative that Mori Eskandani invited me, and I am definitely looking forward to future NBC Championships.

Since returning from Vegas, I’m been insanely busy. As a recent first-time homeowner, I’m often busy getting things set up in my new house: unpacking, organizing, shopping for home decor, meeting workers at the house, etc. Who knew that creating my own little palace would be so time-consuming?! LOL.

If anyone has read my blog on Full Tilt, you might already know that I’ve decided to stop drinking alcohol. A couple of months ago, I realized that my binge drinking and excessive partying could strip away everything that I’ve worked so hard for. For that reason, I decided to enroll myself in a program here locally in Tampa that helps people with alcohol and/or substance abuse problems. During the week, I attend four AA meetings, and then three times a week, I attend a group rehabilitation class from 5:30PM to 8:30PM. It’s really been an eye-opening experience for me. I’ve seen the heartache and damage that a reckless lifestyle can create. I’ve had so many amazing opportunities and blessings in my life, and I fully intend to do something amazing with them.

The only downside of spending so much time focusing on getting sober is that I have little free time to do what I love: play poker online. I try to squeeze a couple of quick sessions in when I have a few minutes, but in the past few days, that hasn’t worked out in my favor. LOL.

I was able to make time to play the big reentry tournament on Full Tilt this past Sunday. It drew in around 11 thousand players, so the prize pool was pretty sick! I was up ‘til 5AM playing, and eventually got knocked out in 8th place. At one point, I was the chip leader with 15 players left, so I was expecting to do a little better, but I’m definitely happy with 8th out of 11 thousand!

It’s been a busy week, but I’m looking forward to the Tampa Bay Rays Opening Night tonight and a fun weekend ahead! I’m also looking forward to actively blogging on Bluff, so you’ll read more from me soon!

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