To blog or not to blog...and what to blog...

So I wanted to provide an update on my Vegas trip, but I realized that with Facebook and Twitter, there doesn't seem to be a real need to put all the details in here. Sure, some people may not be on one or both of those....ok, so pretty much everyone is or probably will be soon, so I don't think I will go into all the ups and downs and details of each tourney.

I have played the $1570 and $1060 WSOPC events and a Venetian $340. I was able to chip up very well in two of them and then got beats and coolers right near the bubble, sending me to the rail 3 and 6 out of the money in those two.

I think I am playing really well and have been able to use a lot of the things I have been working on online and incorporate them into my live game. That may be a foreign concept for some people if you don't play much online, but it's such a great environment to experiement and simply get the experience of seeing so many hands and situations. I have already played a lot more tournaments online this year than I played all of last year and the results are really showing. Not only have I gotten myself off to a good start with some good scores this year, but I am constantly learning when I am playing, and it feels great to have my game at another higher level.

There have been 3-4 different stepping stones for me over the last couple years where I have felt like I took my game to a higher level and it's apparent to me that this is how developing your game works if you keep approaching the game with an active-learning mindset. You have to consciously work on developing your game and sometimes you will feel you are in a rut or at a plateau. It's usually at this point that I turn back to some of my favorite books, look for new books, talk to some other players, and take the time to read magazines and forums. These things inevitably bring some new concept to light or remind me of something I have not been doing well.

Most recently, working in some small ball concepts and pot control have been critical to my success. I am starting to work with students and talk more and more to friends about these things and I am seeing results for myself and others. I am currently doing a three-part article on position and aggression in my Ante Up Magazine column, so I won't go into all of that here, but most of what I am doing now will be reflected in those articles. Of course, if you want to know everthing I am doing, then you might have to think about some lessons :)

OK, so I think I figured out what I will be doing mostly with the blog. There's no real need for the full tournament reports since I am doing so much level by level and real time big hand updates. I'll probably just ramble on with some stream of consciousness about what I am thinking about the game or what is going on with PPI, charity tournaments, sponsors, etc.

Tomorrow is the $2,500 at Venetian and I have high expecations for myself. I have set up Twitter to also update my Facebook status, so all the updates will be on there. I appreciate all the support everyone has been giving me and for everyone who has been Twittarailing (the Twittarail term was coined by my brilliant and beautiful wife, Jenny, so if anyone else tries to claim it - remember you heard it from her (or me) first).

Decide to Win!

ClubWPT

I had a great time tonight playing at ClubWPT in the first Poker Players International Bounty Tournament. Everything was really easy to set up and get going and we had a great turnout. Almost 2,000 players ponied up the 400 tournament points to play with us and take a shot at the $50 bounty on our heads. Eric "Rizen" Lynch, Jason Young, Joey "JoeyTheB" Brooks and Joe Simmons were the other PPI pros in the field. JoeyTheB takes the honor as the last pro standing eventually bowing out in 111th place.

I got my Aces cracked by AK on a 6-high board with two spades. He had the AsKs and we got the chips in on the flop. I was sent to the rail when the spade came on the turn. Had a good time on the rail though cheering on Joey and chatting with Jason Young and some of the ClubWPT members.

We are going to have a lot more of these bounty tournaments over the next few months and I plan on playing in as many as I can. Hope to see many of you there. Be sure to let me know if you are playing.

Time to play a few tournaments on Full Tilt and hopefully get a little rest!

Decide to Win!

ClubWPT Bounty Tournaments

We have some really cool stuff going on with Poker Players International and I wanted to let everyone know about the upcoming series of bounty tournaments on ClubWPT. This site is the subscription-based online site of the World Poker Tour and only costs $19.95 per month. You can sign up for a free two week trial and come take on the PPI pros on April 15th and 28th. Knock one of us out of the tournament and you win $50! I will be playing in the tournament on the 15th and I hope that I see many of you there. If you don't know much about this site, you can read about it by clicking the How it Works link on their home page. Basically, you just pay your monthly membership fee and you can play in dozens of points-based tournament to win more points or cash. It's a great way to learn how to play online and you have no risk of losing money. Here's the current schedule and the pros that are planning to play. April 15th Joe Simmons Eric Lynch Jason Young Lee Childs Allen Kessler Matt Stout April 28th Jonathan Jaffe Joe Brooks Joe Simmons Bob Hwang Jason Young Allen Kessler Hope to see you all there. Happy Easter! Decide to Win!

Back from Borgata

Well, I am back home from Borgata and catching up on things at home. For those of you who were not following me on Twitter or my Live Updates page, I finished day 1 with 70K (starting stack was 30K) and went into day 2 with a slightly below average stack, but still plenty to work with. I felt my table was pretty good overall, but I ran into some tough spots getting 3-bet and 4-bet often where I just didn't feel the spots were good to get all the chips in.

I made one incorrect laydown, where after raising with Kh-Qh and getting called by the button. We saw a flop of A-Q-5 (rainbow) and after I bet the flop, he instantly and very aggressively shoved all in. It was such an obviously weak play that I really thought the player could not be that bad and must be trying to come across as weak so that I would call. I eventually made the laydown and he showed 10-J for a bluff with just a gut-shot draw to one of the 3 remaining K's. If I had gone with my first instinct I would have called, but I really thought that there was no way this player could be so bad to make an obvious bluff on that board when I raised from early position. So, the read was right and then wrong and I let the winner go.

A little while later, with my stack at 37,000 the blinds at 1,200-2,400 + 300, the same player limped as did another somewhat active player. I moved in from the button with A-Q and the first player (bluffer from the hand before) snap-called with A-8. He hit the 8 on the flop and I was done for the day.

I have to give special props to Kelly Armentrout - Acumen Poker's deepest finisher and only one to make the money, taking 66nd out of 919 players. She played a great tournament and navigated her way through some tough table draws both days. She also finished 12th last week in the Ladies WSOPC event at Caesars AC and in between had three straight cashes online, including a final table in the Full Tilt Daily Double last week. Great job Kelly! Can't wait to see what the next score is. I know it will be soon.

Congratulations are definitely in order for Team PPI Elite's Mike "GoLeafsGoEh" Leah for taking down the event and first place prize of $319,536!

I also got a great note the other day from John Lecato who has won over 10 times the cost of his class in tournaments since January. Keep up the great work, John!

I really love hearing these stories and knowing that everyone's investments in training and hard work after the fact are paying off. It's why I teach and coach and I am always looking forward to the next success story. I really do need to start a student success page, so if anyone is interested in me posting any of your results or testimonies, send me an e-mail and let me know.

Tonight I am looking forward to the Go All In For Veterans charity poker tournament to support the Paralyzed Veterans of America. I posted about this last week, so you can see all the details there. I have heard from a number of folks that are going to be able to make it, so I look forward to seeing you all there. I am hoping that I take down first place and the WSOP Main Event seat, but I do wish everyone else good luck too :)

Well, I have lots of people to get back to today and some things to catch up on before heading to the event. Good luck at the tables and most importantly...

Decide to Win!

Quick Updates and Details for "Go All In" for Veterans Charity Poker Tournament

OK, So I have been slacking with the blog. Big time! I have been playing poker pretty much non-stop since I got back from Borgata in January. I have been playing a ton online and was back in AC for the WSOPC at Caesars where I cashed in 1 out of 3 tourneys that I played, placing 33rd in the 1K event.

I was supposed to update on the Borgata Winter Open main event, but I never got around to it. I did write about a key hand and some important concepts regarding "teamwork" and hand analysis in a two-part article in my Ante Up Magazine column, so you can check that out in the March and April issues.

Next up is the Borgata $500,000 Guarantee Deep Stack this weekend. I am looking forward to this event because the Borgata runs the best tournaments around and I feel like my game is in great shape. I will update on Twitter throughout the tourney. Right now I am planning on playing day 1A on Saturday.

"Go All In" for Veterans - March 25th
Just after I get back from Borgata, I have the honor of being a co-chair with Ben Affleck, Andy Bloch, Senator Alfonse D'Amato, Richard Petty, Kyle Petty, Mike Sexton, and Montel Williams for the Paralyzed Veterans of America charity poker tournament 'Go All In' for Veterans. If you or any of your poker-playing friends are available, please join me next Wednesday – March 25th – at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capital Hill for an awesome time to support our veterans who have sacrificed so much for all of us.

Mike Sexton, world-renowned poker player and host of the World Poker Tour, is our host for the event!

The reception kicks off at 6:15 pm and the Tournament will start at 7:00.

The first place prize is a $10,000 seat to the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event!

If you have any questions about the event, please contact Meredith Magwire at (703) 288-8686 or mmagwire@hayespr.com.

Please let me know if you plan to attend.

Decide to Win!

Borgata Winter Open Update

I was going to post a lot of details about the $560 deep stack and the $2K here at Borgata (finished 25th), but I will plan on updating on the entire week later. So, for now it will be a very brief update.

The week here at Borgata is going well. I am playing at the top of my game and am getting to know a lot of the Poker Players International crew much better. I am really glad to be a part of the group and think there are tons of great things to come. Stay tuned.

I am playing day 1A of the $3200 main event tomorrow (Sunday) at 11am. Its a great structure, starting with 50K in chips with blinds starting at 25-50. Yep. 1000 big blinds to start. I will be posting my updates on Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/leechilds. My dad is also playing tomorrow, as well as Kelly and a lot of the other PPI players.

I need to get to bed, so that's all for tonight.

Decide to Win!

Poker Players International

For those of you who don't already know, there's a new force in the poker world, called Poker Players International (PPI). I am proud to have been selected as a member of Team PPI Elite and am excited about everything in the works for the entire PPI group. PPI is an agency that is also focused on many of the things poker players need and are lacking right now, such as health and travel benefits.

PPI has already locked in some major sponsors for Team PPI Elite. Here's some information straight from the PPI Web site --

"First, Full Tilt Poker and PPI have agreed to terms for Team PPI Elite to be logo players for the online card room. Next comes Arbitrage, a luxury menswear company which has designed a version of its unique Krona hoodie dress shirt for Team PPI Elite and agreed to terms for a sponsorship deal for 2009. Finally, PPI and Curtis and Co. Watches have agreed to a one year deal for team PPI Elite players to endorse its designer watch collections in 2009."

You can follow the action on the Borgata Poker Blog everyday. PPI players have taken down the first two events at the 2009 Borgata Winter Open! Look for more of us at the final tables throughout this series, throughout 2009 and beyond.

Eric "Rizen" Lynch and I of Team PPI Elite and Kelly Armentrout of Team PPI have also taken the 1% pledge to the Prevent Cancer Foundation so that we can help Put a Bad Beat on Cancer. I think I speak for all of us that we are honored to take this pledge and to have a very nice press release sent out about it.

Take the Pledge!

Decide to Win!