Sunday Update

I made the mistake of going to bed early last night, 2am, so I woke up early, 9am, and it turns out there really is NOTHING to do here until about 2pm. Living the island life they call it. I could spend time at the pool or beach in the AM, if I wasn't so prone to sunburns. So, I'm just staying in the shade, inside and covered up.

The cash games at these events are the juiciest games you will ever, EVER find. I ended up playing a little 15/30 NLHE before work yesterday. Keeping in mind that my normal limit is 4/8 and that's only when I'm drinking and having fun since I DON'T play cash games. I won about $200 before work, then after I registered everyone for the tournament, I played myself, but didn't last too long, ended up busting out after about only 40 mins. So I went over to the cash games and played 15/30 HOT.

Hold Em, Omaha 8/B, Triple Low Draw.

I bought in for $500 and during the Omaha round, bled my chips down to $140. However, that triple low draw, which I had never played before, LOVED IT. I got back all my money and then I was simply on a roll. Ended up leaving the table a $1000 winner, and for me, that's a miracle. GREAT games, GOOD times.

Warren Karp (PokerMD.com) and Herb Van Dyke (Gospadine to the RGP'rs) were talking about really trying to get some more RGP'rs at the November event in St. Maartens, that would be awesome, because it's a great time. Poker, sun, beach, alcohol, HOT girls (for the guys of course) etc etc. I may have to become their pimp. LOL

More later......

Saturday, St. Maartens UPDATE

Well, it's about 6:30pm here in the beautiful island of St. Maartens, and it is awesome here. The weather is a little muggy, especially being an Arizona girl, but still nice none the less.

I started traveling from Las Vegas on Thursday night, first stopping at Harrah's for a few hours where I won about $500 at 4 card Poker, nice way to start the trip. Then got on the plane around 11pm, arrived in Houston at 4am, then on a plane from Houston to Charlotte, NC at 7am, then from there at 11am to St. Maartens, arriving around 3:30pm, so it was a pretty long day. The worst part was the fact that there was no bar open in Houston that early in the AM, so I couldn't waste time drinking with that 3 hour lay over. I got over it though.

Got to see a lot of people that I already knew from the cruise, wonderful people, it's really a great bunch of people that get together for these WPS events, and I always have a blast with all of them.

We went dancing last night after playing a little 2/5 NLHE. I, a non cash game player, actually won about $400 at the game, NICE. Then got inebriated at the dance club (of course!!) and wound up in bed around 4am.

One thing I've noticed out here is that time moves slowly, everyone is laid back, chilled out, etc. Nothing seems to happen here until at least 11am-12pm and then that's just beach and pool. Stores are closed until 11am. You only seem to see people at the beach or pool, not in the streets or at the casino until around 6pm. The nightlife starts around 8-9pm and the dance clubs don't even open until 12am. I must say, I love it, but for the early nighters, you have to change your internal time clock to adapt.

Herb VanDyke and Warren Karp are here and send out special shot outs and Hi to everyone who's not here but wanted to be. Turns out there will be another event here, on the island, in November, and we're going to try and get some more RGP'rs to head out here for it. It's loads of fun, and with enough notice, we should get a lot of people here.

Phil Nagy is here from ACR, he's the sponsor of the events and a great guy, loads of fun. He's going to be running satty's and qualifiers for the November event, which is a great way to get to St. Maartens for FREE!!! : )

I also get to work with Jimmy Sommerfield again, and he's definantly my favorite TD, great to work for, knows his shit, and a funny guy to boot. He should be at the next event as well.

Today's event was a $150 NLHE, I busted out a little bit ago when my top pair on the flop (10's) was beat by a pocket pair of Jacks. Oops.

Fellknight is playing the ACR GSOP Championship event on the big projector screen in the poker room, so everyone gets to watch him playing and make fun of him when he donks off chips. He arrived today at some time, then had to sign up and start playing the event almost right away, I don't even think he checking into the hotel yet. LOL.

Well, that's it for now. The island is in the middle of it's Carnival season. It's the Dutch Queen's birthday tomorrow, so it's considered a holiday here and everything will be closed tomorrow until Wed. for it. The BEST part about this Carnival is that tomorrow night, the closing night, the Ying Yang Twins are performing in the streets for FREE. I LOVE them, can't wait to see them. I brought my CD of their's with me to try and get their autograph and then I'm going to try and get them to come play poker with us. LOL.

Be very jealous of me. It's phenomenal out here. : )

Office Hours

This is the TRUTH about my business:

OPEN Most Days about 9 or 10
Occasionally as Early as 7,
But SOME DAYS as Late as 12 or 1.

We CLOSE About 5:30 or 6
Occasionally About 4 or 5
But Sometimes as Late at 11 or 12.

SOME DAYS OR Afternoons,
We Aren't Here At All, and Lately
I've Been Here Just About All The Time,
Except When I'm Someplace Else,
But I Should Be Here Then, Too.

Mid Week Update

Well, practically midweek, even if it is Thursday.

Didn't play much poker until Wednesday, where I was lucky enough to cash in the $100/$9 NLHE event. I think it started with 550 ish players. Towards the bubble I was sitting very good, in the top 10 with about 45 left. I was feeling good, feeling confident when THIS hand came up:

I'm in MP, 2 from the button, I think,with A,A. I had been dealt A,A about 6 times this tourney. The player in front of me raises 4xBB, I simply call, everyone else folds. The flop comes A, x, x. Rainbow. He checks, I check. Turn is a K. He checks, I check again (Boy, I'm setting him up GOOD right now!!!) River comes a J. He suddenly and quickly moves all in. He has me covered, he was probably in 5th place while I was in 9th place. I know I have to call him, I'm thinking there is NO way he has Q, 10. I call.

He shows Q,10 and IGHN. Sigh, Grrr, ARG!!! How frustrating. I blamed myself for slowplaying my trip aces, but then again, I think I played it well, just happened to get unlucky. Took $181 or $118, can't remember, but if it was $118, then I simply got my money back. Sigh again.

I then moved on to a $80 qualifier for the $650 WSOP Main Event on Sunday. 52 entrants, 5 players get seat, 6th place gets $619.00. So I figure I need to just get in the top 6 and I'm cool. Nothing memorable here, but I did end up winning the seat and I plan on playing this Sunday for my WSOP Main Event seat instead of taking the 650W$.

So, all in all, last night was a good night. Felt nice to actually sit and play poker for the evening as I haven't done that in awhile. Even had a few martinis while I was at it. ; )

Exactly 1 week from today I will begin my travels to St. Maartens, actually arriving Friday around 2pm. This means that for the next week, I will be busy concentrating on my business, getting it all caught up and squared away so that it and my manager and employees can survive for the 10 days I'm gone. I also have to make sure all bills are paid, groceries are stocked up, and that the family is taken care of (for the most part) while I'm gone as well.

The good news is that I will be taking a laptop with me so will be able to still post on RGP and update blog if, and I do mean IF, time allows me. I did buy sunscreen/suntan lotion today, so I'm ready to hit the beach!!

For all you players that have been following the MissT74 WSOP Qualifiers, there will only be ONE more before I leave, and thus this will be the last one for about 3 weeks time. I will start them back up once I'm back home and caught up on work and home life. If your interested, email me ASAP, as I anticipate this one filling up due to there not being one for the past 2 weeks, and it being the last one for the next 3 weeks.

INFO:

Date: Sunday, 4/23/06
Time: 10:00 pm EST
Game: NLHE
Players: min 20, max 30
Cost: $50.00
Transfer: $40.00 to MissT74 from (Kingman) on PokerStars and then email me. Your password will be issued at that time.
Prize: $1,000 WSOP seat if there are 20 players, $1,500 WSOP seat if there are 30 players.

Any questions, again, simply email me. Pass the word around, everyone is welcomed. Feel free to pimp this on your blog if you'd be so kind to, that way I can assure that it gets filled up and that I'm not stressing out 15 mins before the event is suppose to start. LOL.

tanya@pecksmedicalbilling.com is the email address.

Tonight Bill and I are going out with our best friends for dinner, which always ends up with drinking and dancing as well, so no poker for tonight, but I plan on having a good time! Have a great weekend everyone.

BATR..The Cruise

Thursday:

Mom and I left Kingman around 10am, after I was first treated and surprised by a birthday breakfast with a few friends, that was nice! We got to Vegas and hung out at the airport until our flight left. We got to LA and basically just spent the evening at a hotel, waiting to depart on Friday for our cruise. Nothing memorable from this day/night.

Friday:

Cruise departed at 5:30pm, so we got there around 1pm. Once we got on the ship, we found our room and then I headed straight over to the spa for a needed pedicure that I didn't have time to get before leaving for the cruise. We had early sitting for dinner, so we headed over to the dining room. Food was good, not "oh my god I'm going to die" type of food, but not "oh my god this is horrible" either, so the food was food. I made up my mind to never use the elevator once during the cruise, and since we were staying on the 2nd floor, and the buffet was on the 11th floor, and the cigar bar/cognac bar was on the 14th floor, you can imagine how sore my calves were by Sunday. LOL

After dinner, we just hung around the bar/casino. I found out they had a Texas Hold Em game, turned out to be a blackjack table turned into a 5/10 LHE game, with only 7 players max. Also found out it had a 10% rake up to a maximum of $10.00. WOW. On Friday, I tried the old "I've seen this on TV" game and basically donked off $140 before giving up and headed over to the dance floor. I ended up leaving around 1-2am, not closing the club that night, but dancing/drinking enough where I was ready for bed by then.

Saturday:

We docked in Ensenada and after breakfast headed off for some shopping. I had a great time, there was a wonderful coffee house that made a caramel frappacino to DIE for. Took him 15 mins to make it and it was worth it. Found out you can buy any drug you want without a prescription, so picked up some Percocet "just in case". Also found a bar called "(something) Wings" Awesome bar! We hung out there for about 2-3 hours, just drinking, chatting it up with the staff, got my hair braided, and danced a little. Headed back to the ship around 4pm, participated in the art auction on board (I LOVE those!), bougth 2 pieces, and then got ready for dinner, Saturday was formal night.

After dinner, I headed back to the casino where I was a LUCK BOX again, on the slots, and ended up winning enough to 1. pay for my shopping, 2. pay for my gambling, 3. pay for my artwork and 4. get 2 couples who noticed my jackpot winnings to nickname me "cha ching" for the remainder of the cruise. They were all from Northern CA and they were a hoot to hang out with, which I ended up doing that night. I went to the dance club where they noticed me and then invited/dragged me to the Jade Suishi Bar where we did some kareoke (sp?) and Saki Bombers. Ended up back at the dance club, and then off to bed around 2-2:30am. Didn't close the dance club/bar down this night either, what was wrong with me??

Sunday:

Day at sea. Slept in awhile, woke up in time for lunch but stopped at the casino first where I ended up just having a liquid diet on this day. By now my calves were SORE as hell and I had a hobble when I walked. I tried my best to remain my 'coolness' as I limped across the ship, but I wasn't fooling anyone. LOL. Simply spent the day gambling, drinking, shopping on board, another art auction, etc. Had a great time, it was relaxing, fun but WAY to short. I MUCH prefer the 7 day cruises, but the end, I'm ready to get off the ship and go home, but for this one, I wanted a few more days.

I ended up closing the dance club this night, then afterwards there was a group of about 20 people that just sat at the bar and conversed/sang/drank together until about 6am. I always have an easy time finding other people like me (extroverted, friendly) to hang out with, it's pretty cool. Had a great time with them!

Monday:

Headed home after standing in line after line through customs, what a pain in the ass. Got home around 7pm, dropped off Mom at home and then spent the rest of the evening with Bill before crashing around 10pm.

I'm trying to remember things that happened that I wanted to blog about, but as usual, by the time it's time to blog, 1/2 the memories just don't come to mind. Now I'm back to work and finishing end of month for a few clients and answering phone call after phone call from patients since statements just went out. I really don't think I'll have much time for poker this week, so it might be awhile before another entry, but I'll try not to let too much time pass.

: )

It's my birthday today!!! I am OFF in 3 hours to LA for a 4 day Mexican cruise with my mommy.

See you all in 5 days!!!

: )

EDIT:

(Additions)

1. So my daughter made me a birthday card and on the front it has a big 3 and 2 of hearts on it. As a poker player, my first thought/commnent was, "What a horrible hand, why did you put deuce, three on my card??" "DUH Mom, you're 32!!!" Ahh, poker players, see how we think??

2. I biffed it outside this AM while bringing the dogs in. Scraped up BOTH knees and my hands/knuckles, ripping off skin and leaving nice red rash/road burn. GREAT..going on a cruise to be in a bathing suit all weekend and have fucked up legs. Nice. Damn dogs.

Get Involved

The article is very interesting to read and the form at the end is set up to go to the congressmen/women of your state. I filled it out, will you??

http://www.cardplayer.com/pokerlaw/

Saturday Results

So Saturday starts off with a different twist, I wake up at 7am ready to take Cherissa to Flagstaff for her pageant, when it turns out she doesn't want to go and would rather stay home and do a car wash with her youth church group. Fine by me, I go back to bed.

I wake up a few hours later and take her to the car wash, and then come home and play in a few events to kill time (on PS, of course) and I get invited to be backed in the Saturday $300 event on PS. I accept and I was determined to win!!

Well, the event went GREAT, I was literally in the top 30 for the ENTIRE event, but mostly being in the top 20 and then the top 10 more then the top 30, if that makes sense.

I made one critical mistake, a bad call, but I was conviced he was on a bluff. Hindsight, eh?

ActionJeff, I'm sure PS players are familiar with him, plays a very, VERY aggressive game. He is literally raising with ANY two cards and raising almost every hand. If you come over the top of him, he folds. Seems to work though as he will lose his raise if someone reraises him but most were simply folding to him so he was collecting a LOT of blinds.

So I was the BB and had J,2. He, of course, raised. I called. Flop comes 2, 7, 5. I bet, he raises, I put him on NOTHING and I call. Turn is a 5. I check, he checks. River is x, I check, he moves all in. The amount was not major, I had him covered, but by calling him and then losing to him, it put him at about 40K and me at about 17K. It was a big pot. Oh yeah, he turned over 2, 5. : (

Anwyays, that was the hand that put me down and I just couldn't climb back up. So instead of the $24K 1st place prize that I had already spent in my mind, I ended up in 16th place for about $1100. A win's a win, eh? Disappointed I was, very.

So, Cherissa and I headed off to Laughlin where we were fully comped at Colorado Belle. I mean FULLY comped, I have NEVER been treated the way I was treated at any other Laughlin casino then I was last night. SUPERB service. A fricken GIFT basket with wine, Perrier, fruits, cheese, crackers, wine glasses awaited Cherissa and I when we got into our room. We also received a "meal pass" that allowed an appetizer, main course, and dessert for two people for EVERY meal until we leave. Talk about service! It was very impressive, and Cherissa thought I must be famous in Laughlin, LOL.

After registering, she asked me to play one of those HUGE slot machines by the registration desk, so that she could watch. You know the ones, they're like bigger than a car?? Anyways, I put $20 in it and told her she would get 1/2 of whatever I won. It's $1, 3 credit pulls. The very FIRST pull, we hit 3 red 7's, good for $100. So, I cashed out at $100 and put the $20 back, giving us an $80 profit and $40 to Cherissa.

I took her to the pool, she went swimming for awhile, then I dropped her off at the hotel room while I went to go play some poker and gamble. I started off with Let It Ride, did no good there, so then went over to a new game called Poker X or something like that. The only place I had ever seen this game was in the Red River Rock Casino in Vancouver. I was able to play there for almost 4 hours on $100, was a nice time killer and got the lovely free drinks and met a great guy who lives in Kingman.

His name is George and when he was 14 he blew up both of his hands while trying to construct a pipe bomb. So he has 2 fingers on his right hand, and 3 on his left hand. At one point, the dealer, who was a major BITCH, snapped at him for telling her what cards he had (she couldn't read a poker board to save her life) and so he looked at me and said, "Shit, I'm scared. I better shut up as I can't afford to lose any more fingers." What a character! Turns out he loves poker, so we ended up playing $4/$8 with a full kill. I told him about the St. Maartens World Poker Showdown coming up and it turns out he may go. Since he's a commercial land developer, I told him he has plenty of time and money on his hands, so just get off his ass and go! It would be great to get him there along with a few other friends from Kingman who don't even PLAY poker, but would go just "to go".

Cherissa called me around 1:30am and then we went to go eat dinner and then headed to the room to crash for the night. Woke up around 9am, or is that 10am today (???) and headed home after counting the funds, turns out I won $565 bucks to add to the St. Maartens Poker Bankroll, WOOT!! That's $1600 earned in one day specifically for the BR, good day. Right now I'm playing in a MissT74 WSOP qualifier and will just hang out on PS for the rest of the night, come look me up if bored. : )