Phil Hellmuth once said that if it wasn't for luck he'd win them all. Now it sounds cocky and it sounds brash, but hell if that comment doesn't apply to me as well. Recently I played the FTOPS stud hi-lo event and was killing it. 512 entrants for a 1st place of around $25,000. I finished in 19th due to an extreme suckout. I had a jack high flush on 5th street and a terrible player was calling my raises all the way hoping to catch the low end. Rather than catch the low, he rivered a queen high flush. Had he not gotten as lucky as he did I would have been in the top 3 in chips and can confidently say I would have taken the tournament down.

Then I headed out to Las Vegas for a meeting with Anna Wroblewski who proved to be a no show. Thanks, Anna. But while I was there I decided to take in some action. So the first night I find myself in a tournament at Caesar's Palace. I get to the final table 2nd in chips; about 3-4 big blinds less than the chip leader. So as I'm unracking and stacking my chips the cards are being dealt. I'm in the big blind for $4,000. The short stack under the gun(UTG) moves all in and then the next player(UTG+1) proceeds to do the same. It folded around to me when I looked down to see J-J. The bigger stack had about 1/5 of my stack and I of course called. UTG+1 quickly flips over 8-8 and UTG shows J-10. So I am in amazing shape here. The flop comes 3 spades and only helps UTG+1 who has the 8 of spades. No more spades came, but something of way lower mathematically possible proportions happened. The turn was a 10 and then of course the river happened to be a 10 as well.

The very next hand I get dealt 4-4 in the small blind. It folds around to the button who pushes all in for about 1/4 my stack. I knew he had A-K and decided to call. The big blind openly folded an Ace and the button showed A-K. Even though the big blind had an Ace it didn't matter as one came on the flop. About 25 minutes later a player raised it 3x the big blind. I looked down at 7-7 and with the level coming to an end and my big blind coming up soon I decided to shove. He thought for about 3 minutes and called, showing A-J. The flopped was crap and of course the turn was an Ace and out I went.

It wasn't all bad though. The next day I was back at Caesar's for another tournament. I found myself down to 1900 but managed to come back and win the tournament. There were no crazy hands to report. It was just a matter of classic outplaying your opponent. Getting them to call me when they should fold and getting them to fold when they should call.

I think my game is at a high point right now and I have a few tournaments coming up that I will report on. But in the meantime, back to grinding I go.

In nonpoker related news, congrats to my friend Sonny on her new place. The building stalled long enough in getting everything taken care and after the long wait I'm really happy for her.

And congrats to my boy DJ J-Octave on getting back in the mix. I just realized I made a little play on words there without even trying. Get it? DJ --> Mix? No? Well whatever it was kinda funny to me.

Until next time...

-Dynamite

Yeah I'm back...big deal. I've been busy as hell dealing with some business things but now I am rededicating myself to the game. My results recently have been pretty off the hook so you can expect more updates. Most recently was the United States Poker Championships. I had a good run in the stud hi/lo event but busted just shy of the money. "Miami" John Cernuto and I got locked up in a fwe key hands and he had the better end of the draw. It's all good though. You live and you learn.

I'm keeping this one short because I'm multi-tabling at the moment. I'll check back in soon...

- Dynamite

So I haven't updated this in a while because there pretty much hasn't been anything to write about. I've been running pretty bad online lately. I use success with pocket aces as a borometer. Last 3 times all-in preflop with rockets they got cracked. That usually means I should chill out for a bit but we all know that's not likely to happen.

I'll write something tomorrow...

- Dynamite

So the WSOP has played down to the final table; the "November Nine" they're calling it. Clever. If that's the best they could come up with I am left to assume that the other ideas must have been the "Autumn Assembly" or perhaps the "Fall Final". I guess the "4th Quarter Finale" was already copyrighted. In any event, the finals are set. I would name them but that would just be pointless because they are names you would not recognize. Well you may recognize the name David "Chino" Rheem, who by the way has an open warrant for his arrest. Something I predicted you would see. With almost 7,000 players this comes as no surprise. But it's something you see in every sport and I would have to assume that Chino, Harrah's, and ESPN will see to it that this is dealt with in a timely fashion.

I also predicted that Phil Hellmuth would have a deep run; and he did just that, finishing in 45th place.

Another big story to come out of the WSOP is the Tiffany Michelle saga. Tiffany was put into the main event by Tony G and Jeff Lisandro on behalf of PokerNews.com. A few days in she accepted a deal with UltimateBet.com which had her sporting numerous UB patches. PokerNews is crying foul and Tiffany is doing her best to dispute it. As for now all we can do is wait and see where this one ends up. I have no opinion until I hear more.

I had the chance to check out The Dark Knight and I have to say it was ridiculously good. Heath Ledger's Joker was as close to the comics as you will ever see. It might be the best movie I have ever seen.

I also just want to say what's up to my friend Rolo. So what's up...

- Dynamite

So there is nothing to report really on my end as far as poker goes, except for the possibility of selling a poker related script. But nothing has happened yet so it's not worth talking about. The WSOP Main Event is going into Day 4 and just as I predicted, Phil Hellmuth is making a deep run. With 474 players remaining of the 6844 that started, Phil is sitting comfortably with $475,000 in chips. Also still in the running is two-time champion Johnny Chan. So good luck to the both of them. No good stories have really come out so far except for one, and it really blows my mind. It is just further proof that a great number of those starting 6844 were, in fact, very sucky players.

A hand came down in the second level of play on Day 1 where 3 players saw a flop of Kc Qs 9c. The players in the hand were the small blind (SB), the big blind (BB), and quite possibly the worst player in the world. We will call him "Suck". So SB checks, BB checks, and Suck bets $1,000. SB quickly raises to $3,000 and BB folds. Suck thinks it over and re-raises to $11,000. SB thinks for a minute and then pushes all-in. Suck has to call a raise of $30,000 to see the hand out. He thinks long and hard and then folds. But he folds his hand face up. Not only that, he folds Jd 10h face up. Wait, what? He just showed that he folded the BEST POSSIBLE HAND. Are you fucking kidding me? Even if SB held Jc 10c to give him a flush draw to go along with his straight, Suck is at worst tied for the best hand. Grow a pair of fucking balls!! Absolutely ridiculous.

Today is July 11th and so I would like to wish my late grandfather a happy birthday. You are severly missed...

- Dynamite

Where do I begin? Let's see...since the last entry John Phan has managed to grab 2 bracelets, David Benyamie 1, and Scotty Nguyen took down the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. I made it out for the $1,5000 stud hi/lo event and did not do so well. As soon as I got home I continued to dominate the game online. So what the hell happened in Vegas? A dude at my table played basically every hand and caught the cards to rake at least half each time. I was pertty card dead and all my scoop pots got halved by someone hitting a flush or a full house or some other bullshit on the river. Yes I bragged I was gonna win but whatever, I'll just have to win 2 next year to make up for it. All in all the trip was just "eh". The funniest part was when I was leaving...

...so I get to my gate at the airport in Vegas and I'm waiting to board. I notice the one ticket collector, we'll call her European, was calling someone over. A few moments later I see that I'm the one being flagged over. I go over to the two and European asks to see my ticket and tells me they have to change my seat. So I hand it over and ask why. The other collector, we'll call her Filipina, says "Technician." I had absolutely no idea what that was suppose to mean but I just said Ok, figuring it had to mean something in airport/airplane language. So European takes me over to the counter to change my seat. Again I ask why and am met with a response of "Because you're special." The only reply that came to mind was to ask that I still get a window seat. She obliged. Moments later European comes back over to me and asks me for my phone number. Caught off guard I say, "huh?" She asks again and I give her my standard fake number that I give to strangers whenever they ask. She writes it down, puts it in the purse on the desk and says, "Ok I'll let her know." Let who know? Filipina? So now I"m left wondering who the number was really for. And since I gave a fake I guess I'll never know.

Pretty sad that I go out to the WSOP and that's the best story that I could come home with.

- Dynamite

I'm not a bragger. Really, I'm not. But there comes a time in every man's life where he has to give himself at least a little bit of credit. The more and more I play my favorite brand of poker, Stud hi-low, one thing becomes more and more apparent. And that is that I am absolutely disgusting at this game. Like beyond good, man. I ran through a patch where I was getting completely drowned by the river in this game. I would have the hand locked up and then the one card they need on the river hits. That is online poker. But when playing in a tourny last night where it wasn't a river race to see who could be the luckiest man at the table, I set my opponents on fire. Most people cannot outplay me in this game, it's as simple as that. When the tourny got to heads up I was at a clear chip disadvantage, close to 8-1, because the other guy went on a tear of full houses and flushes that allowed him to knock out 4 straight people helping to swell his stack while I kept getting dealt crap like 2-9-J. But anyway, I outplayed him all over the table and took the chip lead until he hit TWO straight wheels on me on the river at very high limits to give me a 2nd place finish.

Hellmuth has 11 hold 'em bracelets, I expect to end my career with more than that in stud hi-low.

It'll happen...

- Dynamite

The WSOP is steamrolling right along and the pros are continuing to dominate, which is great to see. Notable names that have already scored a bracelet include Nenad Medic, David Singer, Erick Lindgren, Rep Porter, Mike Matusow, Vanessa Selbst, Daniel Negreanu, and Max Pescatori. Those that have come close at the final table but could not close the deal are Andy Bloch, Phil Laak, Chris Bell, Mike Sexton, Kathy Liebert, Patrik Antonius, Chris Ferguson, Roland de Wolfe, David Williams, Justin Bonomo, Sam Farha, Eli Elezra, Minh Ly (twice), Erik Seidel, David Oppenheim, Ted Forrest, Scott Clements (twice), David Benyamie, Barry Greenstein, Jeffrey Lisandro, Tony Guoga, Jennifer Harman, Steve Zolotow, Hoyt Corkins, Marel Luske, and Allen Cunningham. Lindgren found himself at another final table, coming in third, almost managing to snag a second bracelet.

Congrats to all of the above named and please keep the professional dominance going.

I have been getting a number of e-mails asking why my name has not yet appeared on any of the leaderboards or final tables. Well I have yet to make it out there this year. I had planned on the upcoming 7-Card Stud hi/lo World Championship event, but the entity which was to be my backer has seemingly gone dark, thus leaving me out of the big dance at the moment. But rest assured, my name will be popping up in due time - I'm as resourceful as they come.

And most importantly, I'd like to wish a very happy father's day to my father. He's done a lot for my brothers and I; not only keeping us in line but showing us how to take care of one another and raise a family. So from the three of us, thank you for being everything a father is suppose to be and more.

Until next time...

- Dynamite

The WSOP finds itself in it's second week and is going quite nicely. Just yesterday the bake off, I mean the ladies event, started. I want to say that the event isn't really that necessary because why bother with the division of sexes - and most people back that up. However, there is a different way to look at it that argues keeping the event included in the series. This year 1,190 women entered the event. In no other event will you find that many women present. So this event brings in players that otherwise would not bother with the WSOP. Women have obviously shown that they can play so this event isn't exactly needed, but it's welcomed because it brings in more players which is always good for the game.

Recently I've been playing a lot of 7 card stud hi/lo heads-up matches. My thinking is that if I'm going to win the bracelet in this event I'll have to be heads-up at the end so I might as well polish that facet of my game. I must say that I have been playing marvelously and am happy with how it is going. But variances being what it is has led to a number of terrible beats when I have the hand all but won before the river fucks me up. I often get asked why I prefer this event over the more popular hold 'em events and it's a simple answer. This game is a lot more analytical with a lot more possibilities to every hand, and it in effect becomes more intellectual. A lot of the hold 'em events have seen players shoving early on looking to build a big stack and not really playing poker. That doesn't happen in 7 stud hi/lo. Plus, it's a pro heavy event, and a victory in it can bring more praise and adulation than your run of the mill no limit hold 'em event.

A short entry this time. More will follow later...

- Dynamite

The 39th World Series of Poker is well under way. We're 8 events in with 4 of them having already been completed. Just as I predicted in a prior entry, the pros are taking control...

Event 1 - World Championship Pot Limit Hold 'em ($10,000)
The first event of the series started with a stacked field of 352 players. When it got down to the final 9, everyone was a recognizable face. Nenad Medic, with a WPT title already under his belt, defeated Andy Bloch heads up to take the first bracelet. The final table also saw the likes of Kathy Liebert, Mike Sexton, Patrik Antonius, and Phil Laak.

Event 2 - No Limit Hold 'em ($1,500)
Event #2 saw a staggering 3,929 entries, the 4th highest total for a live poker tournament. Chris Ferguson made a very deep run coming up just a tad short with a 3rd place finish. Grant Hinkle managed to hold on long enough to capture his first bracelet.

Event 3 - Pot Limit Hold 'em ($1,500)
In the 3rd event of the Series 713 players put up the $1,500 to take a shot at a bracelet. One of the best all around players in the game today, David Singer, won the 3 hour long heads up battle to capture his first WSOP title. David was one of the shorter stacks coming into the final table but proved his resiliancy by climbing the ladder until finally reaching the top.

Event 4 - Mixed Hold 'em ($5,000)
Another star studded field turned out for event #4, making for stacked tables all over the place as many of the 332 entries were familiar faces. For the second time in four events we saw a heavily stacked final table. This time it was Erick Lindgren, Justin Bonomo, Roland de Wolfe, David Rheem, Howard Lederer, David Williams, and Isaac Haxton that were among the final 9 trying to capture the gold. Erick Lindgren managed to navigate his way through to the other side to claim the bracelet and the prize money. He changed gears nicely as the structure saw the game change from limit hold 'em to no limit hold 'em every 30 minutes to snag his first, but surely not his last, WSOP win.

More events are either kicking off today, finishing, or in their second day of play. So far the series has been great with huge turnouts and very deserving winners. Not to brag or anything, but so far it's going the way I said it would, which would mean only one thing - I'm going to win a bracelet this year. Why? Mainly because I said so, but also becasuse I'm pretty damn good.

Until next time...

- Dynamite

So my preparation for the Stud hi/lo world championship is going nicely. I played another warm up tourny the other night and scored a 3rd place finish out of 180 players, a nice improvement on the 8th place finish in the warm up before that. My game is where it needs to be and I'm seeing things at the table pretty clearly.

The final table of the $10,000 pot limit world championship is just about to kick off and just as I predicted - the pros are taking control. 7 of the final 9 are big time professionals, with Andy Bloch coming in as the chip leader.

Last night mixed martial arts, or MMA, had it's network televison debut as CBS aired a show put on by EliteXC in primetime. The production value by CBS was terrible and all of the fights, with the exception of the women's fight, can't even be called subpar. The main event featuring Kimbo Slice failed to live up to the hype. Kimbo looked to be out of his league and he wasn't even fighting someone that was worthy a main event slot on the card. If I fought Kimbo and he didn't connect on any of his big shots I think I could come out of the cage with the W. If the price was right I'd fight anyone.

That's it for now, I gotta hit the felted gym that's otherwise known as the poker table so I can keep getting my weight up for the series.

Until next time...

- Dynamite

So the day we have all been waiting for has finally come. And I'm not referring to the release of that unceasing piece of garbage otherwise known as the Sex and the City movie. I am talking about the start of the 39th annual World Series of Poker. In my last entry I made a few predictions and I'd like to take the time to throw some comments in there about them.

Some people believe that the so called poker boom is on a downswing. This may or may not be true. Declining tournament entries do not signal the end of the poker boom. As many know, the main reason for the less entries is due to the way online poker has changed through the bullshit US laws. So having said that, I believe that the game will start to turn back into the hands of the old time pros. That isn't to say that they can only dominate when there are less people. I feel that smaller fields are more competitive and the pros can take over amongst stronger players rather than be subject to poor plays by crazy internet junkies.

This is why I predict a pro winning the main event, and Ivey and Forrest and I think Negreanu will win bracelets. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Daniel Negreanu won the first event. It is going to be a big WSOP for the big name pros and will do a lot to aid in the argument that it is a game of skill rather than luck.

A short entry today as I need to hit the table and make sure my game is on point.

Until next time...

- Dynamite

So finally the time is upon us - the 39th World Series of Poker is set to kick off with the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot-Limit hold 'em. But before there can be any WSOP talk, I have to delve into the other big tournament of the year; the one that took place this past holiday weekend.

Last Saturday was the 7th Annual 5 Guilden Horseshoe Tournament. The tournament started 7 years ago (obviously) during our days at Rutgers University. My teammate Steve and I, or The British Bulldogs as we were called, were a last minute entry into the 10 team tourny. No one, ourselves included, expected much from us but we managed a 5th place finish which isn't bad considering that we both suck. This year the cash and the Stanley Cup-like trophy went to The Brunsdock Saints as they pretty much cruised through the field. But I'm willing to lay anyone 4-1 odds that The British Bulldogs take the trophy next year in the very Feng Shui-like 8th Annual.

With the sour taste of defeat still in my mouth from our loss at horseshoes, my determination level is at an all-time high to win a bracelet. I have my sites set on the World Championship of Stud hi/lo. This is my game and with a stellar field I will more than be at my best. Just the other day I decided to polish up my game a little bit and took down 8th place out of a 112 man tourny. It's not 1st, but if the river wasn't running wild it easily would have been.

So with all that being said here are some WSOP predicitions for 2008:

- The pros will have a strong showing from the very beginning, taking down the first event and many more after.

- Phil Hellmuth, having won a bracelet in prelims the last 2 years, will shoot bricks up until the main event where I think he will have a very deep run.

- Phil Ivey and Ted Forrest will win a bracelet.

- I will finally win my first bracelet.

- I will get sunburn.

- People will prove to be idiotic attention whores when the television cameras are around.

And finally...

- A KNOWN PROFESSIONAL WILL WIN THE MAIN EVENT

Until next time...

- Dynamite

You’re probably looking at the title to this blog and wondering to yourself, “What the hell is he talking about?” And it’s a legitimate question. Throughout all my experiences at the felt, whether it be virtual or physical, I’ve come to realize that knowledge of these two phenomena can seriously add to your bank roll. They may seem like random BS, but that’s what makes it a phenomena. Now take heed.

The Besting Theory

Now part of this theory is already common sense in terms of poker knowledge. A huge part of being successful is having a read on the players at your table and figuring out who is weak or strong. And obviously we pick on the weaker ones while not bothering too much with the stronger ones. This much we all know. And if you don’t you’re most likely a losing player. But what the Besting Theory refers to is a phenomenon where, no matter what, you will get the best of a player at your table constantly, whether it be live or online. You may be thinking that this is basically targeting the weak player and feasting on his chip stack, but it goes deeper. Allow me to explain where the Besting Theory comes into play. Now this is not something that happens all the time, so when it does you have to be aware of it and take advantage.

Let’s say Seat 8 is our target. No matter what, we are taking pots against him. He raises with QQ, we have KK. He raises with A-K and we’re holding A-J, the flop comes Jack high. Or vice versa, we often have him dominated and he can’t catch up. So far this looks like basic no brain stuff. But when you’re aware that the Besting Theory is going on it gives you a lot of freedom against Seat 8. You have a read on him and you put him on A-Q after his usual raise. The problem is you look down and see that you’re holding K-10. So you would obviously want to fold in this position. Not so. When this phenomenon is taking place you have to take advantage and you have to call here. This very thing happened to me during a recent tournament in which I played. The exact same hands, and the flop was K-K-3. A few hands later he raised his short stack all-in and I called with A-9. He showed A-10 and I flopped a 9. Never would I have made either call, but it was because I was aware of what was taking place that I was able to. And like I said before, this is not something that you will see often, so when you notice it you really need to take advantage.


Dealer Rhythm

Another phenomenon I want to touch on is that of dealer rhythm. What you will notice often at a table is a lot of the same cards showing up on the board. And this is due to the dealer’s rhythm. Some are so systematic in the way they mix the mucked pile and then shuffle that when they are ready to deal again, not much has changed in the deck as far as card placement. You might notice that 4’s or 7’s are showing up on the board a lot. When you see this time after time, it’s time to start playing those 4’s and 7’s in your hand. You have to act fast because once the dealer changes, so does the deck, and this little tactic goes away. Also, if there is a shuffle machine, don’t bother, a new deck every hand makes this phenomena nonexistent. This also is not something you can account for online. In a recent USPC event I played in I built my stack during a dealer’s shift using this very tactic. I saw 4’s hitting the board every single time and so I saw a flop every time I held a 4, regardless of what the other card I had was. Two pair and trips were hitting for me constantly. And what was great about it was that it was the second level of play. So here I built a loose image even though it was all calculated, and when the next dealer came in I stopped with the rags but the rest of the table still thought I was playing garbage so they were constantly calling me down with middle pair or ace high, allowing me to continue to build my stack.

This little bit of info often goes overlooked, but just like with the Besting Theory, when you realize it and take advantage, your chip stack or your bankroll will steadily increase until the two phenomena run their course. It may sound like the thinking of a donkey, and it’s hard to refute that it’s not since it has no mathematical or reading fundamentals attached. But trust me, it works.


Until next time…

- Dynamite

While sitting here watching the National Heads-Up Poker Championship on NBC it's easy to notice how much psychology is involved in the game of poker. Interestingly enough, however, is the fact that the final match is being contested by Chris Ferguson and Andy Bloch; both of whom are known to be very mathematical players. The argument always arises in poker - math vs. psychology. So which is a more beneficial appraoch?

The Mathematical Aproach
Playing the game from a mathematical standpoint is well within reason when you consider the fact that the game itself, as it pertains to the cards, is one of statistics and probabilities. Knowing the likelihood of hitting a straight or a flush on the turn, or flopping a set are things that you can work out through mathematics at the table. Then as it gets deeper, factors such as pot odds and expected value come into play and give more reason to either fold or call that bet on the river.

The Psychological Approach
Playing the game from a psychological standpoint is also well within reason when you consider the fact that the very essence of poker is playing your opponent and not your cards. Getting information about your opponent's cards throughout the hand as well as giving, albeit sometimes false, information about your cards becomes one of the underlying factors to your actions during a given hand. To go deeper, using things like position and a player's hand history also come into play. And we can't forget the many signals that body language give us.

Mathematics vs. Psychology
When Cologero asked Sonny in A Bronx Tale if it's better to be loved or feared, Sonny answered by saying both. And the same applies here. If you can combine both approaches to the game that would be ideal. But what if you can only pick one?

I'm secure in my mathematical prowess both at and away from the table, however, I feel there is no substitute for the information you can pick up through psychological warfare at the table. This is most evident when it comes down to heads-up play. One reason why I would choose the psychological approach is because at times the math makes it a correct move for you to call with an inferior hand. It happens all the time. How many times do you here a guy say "I'm getting pot odds" as he calls that bet on the river knowing all along he's beat. You can value bet a mathematical player all day long and they'll call because pot odds and expected value dictate that they do so. That is not to say that calling with an inferior hand can't help you out from a psychological standpoint later, because you can find yourself in that same position with the better hand an hour later and raise that value bet causing him to think you're just playing back at him and now he's the one making the bad call. The math won't tell me that the guy raising under the gun is strong, my knowledge of the game will. Likewise, the math isn't going to make me read someone's check-raise or check-call.

Players have been succesful with a mathematical appraoch so it does work. But if I had to go at it with just one approach it's psychology all the way. Sometimes math can dictate psychology and vice versa, and if you can combine the two you can make yourself a very wealthy person.

Just in case you feel that both approaches are even, take a look at heads-up play. This is the most psychological part of the game. When it's down to one-on-one math almost pretty much goes out the window.

If you disagree feel free to let me hear about it.

Until next time...

- Dynamite