I'll start this off by saying that it will not be nearly as whimsical as the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but I do always strive to make my blog posts epic literary achievements! So anyway as the title says yesterday was a big day for two out of three (guess who had the mediocre day…) So I guess we'll start with the biggest news of the WSOP so far, Phil Ivey's absense. I have to say that I applaud Phil for his move. For those who are unaware you can read the statement at www.philivey.com. He is going to be absent from the WSOP because he feels it unfair that he can play while so many FTP players are unable because of the unresolved payouts. He mentioned he also filed a suit to push action on the part of FTP. This whole ordeal has done a number to tarnish his and the other FTP pro's reputations and it is really nice and reassuring to see that at least one is just as frustrated as we are. I am glad that finally someone with a substantial voice not only in the community but with the company in question has spoken out and expressed the same disgust and outrage the rest of us are feeling. I sincerly hope that Phil's action helps resolve this situation so that the players can get back to doing what we love.
As for the second piece the WSOP is here and started and I'm loving it. I am not in Vegas and dear god I wish I was. It has long been a dream of mine to snag myself a bracelet and I just haven't had the confidence to get myself up to playing. I was going to play this year but Black Friday and the time off really shook me so I was afraid I would be lighting money on fire. That being said I have a series of Live Events that I am targeting over the next year and I am looking to go out next year for a few weeks and make my first assault on the Series. Aside from that if you don't know or weren't aware www.WSOP.com will be streaming 55 or the 58 bracelet event Final Tables. Last night they gave a short preview during the 1st Round of the 25k HU Event #2 and I have to say that I am impressed. The broadcast is big, clear and the audio is really solid. This should make for a very interesting and exciting series to have this much connection to everything going on. Combine this with some expert analysis and strategic content from the TPE guys with Cardplayer this should be an excellent opportunity to do some serious learning this year. I encourage everyone to snag as much from the upcoming TPE Live podcasts and as much content from the WSOP as possible. This is a great opportunity to watch some great players work and to understand live play so capitalize! I know I sure will.
Last topic, me. Pretty boring evening last night at the tables. I moved up in NLHE stakes to .05/.10 and put the pedal to the medal last night. I managed to snag 3 buyins over about 600 hands or so which felt really good. I moved to .05/.10 PLO as well, but didn't fire up any tables there last night as I wanted to get comfortable with the players at the NLHE tables first. I have to say that jumping into Lock with the 35% rakeback has been really nice. It is a very solid addition to the steady cash wins that I have been racking up. I am planning on playing a few tourneys this weekend when I have more time as it is hard during the week for me to squeeze them in with work, so hopefully Monday there will be some good news and some more sweat threads in the interim. Otherwise all is quiet. I have been doing some planning and work to figure out my path to the Venetian DS/WSOP next summer and things are starting to take shape. Right now the plan is looking like attempting some of the smaller event(s) at the WPT at Foxwoods or Borgata depending on which fits better around my fall trip to Vegas (gotta visit the inlaws). I'm eagerly awaiting the WSOP-C schedule as I would like to try for playing in AC if they go back to Harrah's in December and I am looking into the Borgata Winter Open as well to sneak some more live in. I will have to see what spring brings, but if there is a second WSOP-C in the area I will certainly look to play that and the Borgata Spring Open for sure. All the while continueing to grind online some and develop my skills and my mixed game abilities. Well that's it for now. Gl to all playing in the WSOP this year, know that I'll be stalking the updates and video streams! This is the Gman signing out!