I would like to give my condolences to the family of Chip Reese. I had the utmost respect for Chip. If there was one player that I could have sat behind and watched play, it would have been Chip. Poker lost one of the all time greats and he will be missed all. If it were not for Chip, poker would not be where it is today. I am lucky that the old timers paved the way for us so that it is possible to make a great living playing poker.
I was planning on posting a blog a few days ago, but I was on my way to the Bellagio and decided I would wait until I got back in case there were any interesting hands I could add.
I surprised myself earlier in the week by playing a 26 hour session, but I topped that off with a 41 hour session. I barely made it back to Maya's house, I have never been that tired before in my life. I slept 18 hours and woke up wondering what day it was. That is the longest I have ever played and hopefully I will never play that long again.
My first marathon session started as a $3k-6k mix of Chinese, Stud 8, PL 5 card draw, Triple Draw 2-7, PLO, and NL hold em. The NL and PLO had a cap. Johnny Chan, Gus Hansen, Doyle, and Jim were all in the game.
There were a few exciting hands during the night. In a no limit Texas hold em hand, Johnny Chan raised it up and Doyle announced "Cap," which means he is all in for the max. Johnny inst called and Doyle says "Queens" and Johnny says "Aces." It looked good for Doyle when the flop came Q 4 2. But an Ace on the river gave Johnny the pot. Even the greatest player of all time loses on the river every once in awhile.
Now for an interesting PLO hand. We are playing four handed. Gus, Johnny, Jim and myself. I raised pre flop and Johnny and Gus called. The flop came Q Q 9 and I bet and Johnny called. Gus took a little time shuffling his $5000 chips and finally raised. I did not hit the flop so I mucked, but Johnny tanks for quite a while before folding. The funny part was while Gus was raking in the pot; Jim told us that he mucked QQ and what the hell was going on with all the betting and raising. Gus just smiled and I am sure if he was playing online, he would have typed in "*ups*."
The game finally broke, but Gus and I were not ready to leave. We stayed and played Chinese, it turned out to be an epic session and after being down almost the whole time I made a great comeback in the last hour and ended up winning around $50,000. I was so tired at the end I made a crucial error in Chinese that cost me around 40k. It was obviously time to quit. I enjoyed this session of live poker because it was shorthanded the whole time and you can play more hands.
A few nights later I had my 46 hour session. People were in and out of the game, but David B and I were in the game the whole time. I finished a winner, but the wear and tear on the body was not worth it. Unless Bill Gates is passing out $25,000 chips I do not think I will ever play another 40 hour session.
I went another night really late to play again at the Bellagio. I got to Bobby's Room around 2am and played with Doyle, David, Jennifer, Jim, Johnny, Eli, and Rafi. We played 2k-4k mix. The game broke a little later and this time, since Gus was not around, I found a Chinese poker opponent in Rafi. We mixed it up and played with 2-7 in the middle, which is a new variation that is gaining popularity in some bigger mixed games. I booked a small small win, which sure beats losing.
I have been icing my thumb as much as possible and wearing a brace to try and speed up the healing process. I miss being at the golf course everyday. Hopefully only a few more days and I can get back out there. I am thinking of taking a golf vacation in December, I am trying to decide between Hawaii and California.
Good luck
-Patrik-
