Some numbers from the Shooting Star WPT

Tournaments Played - 2

Cashes - 1

Total Profit - $5,200 (BOOOOOO!)

Number of times Mike Matusow declared war on me - 9

Number of times this bothered me - 0

Dollar value of food and beverage Hatfield and I consumed on Sunday Night on Full Tilt's tab - $650 (thanks Full Tilt!)

Portion of said tab for which my cognac habit was responsible - 93%

Shots of 25 year old scotch we ordered for people we didn't know - 3

"TV Pros" at my table during Day 1A - Mike Matusow, Gavin Smith, Chris Ferguson, Steve Brecher, Gavin Griffin.

Soccer games which Gavin Smith attempted to bet on that turned out to be highlights on Sports Center - 1

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My table on day 1A was definitely the worst of the bunch. This tournament will always have rough fields because of all the bounties, but our table was particularly nasty. I started the day with Gavin Smith two to my left and Steve Brecher (last year's winner) on his left. No one else at the table was a real slouch either. At one point we have Smith and Brecher, Gavin Griffin, Mike Matusow and Jesus Ferguson at the table all at once. All but Griffin were at the table for mostof the day.

The Mouth didn't like it when I put him to the test on the river in hour 6 and actually made a formal declaration of war on the whole table. He singled me out as the reason and there was much cursing, though none of it was terribly offensive. Mike is actually a really nice guy, but I think he nearly had a meltdown after our big river hand. 

I got to talk some theory with Chris Ferguson, including an interesting question about optimal shoving ranges with different stack sizes. It's scary how smart he is. 

I didn't run incredibly hot, but I caught a few cards and the one beat I took only cost me about 25k I had to split a pot after I got the money in as a huge favorite on the turn. I had to be very cautious and pick my spots all day with all the strong players at the table, which actually kept me on my toes. At the end of the day I had 84,100, well behind the chip leader, but good enough for 7th in chips after Day 1A and a significant chip lead at my table. 

When they were counting the chips for the chip lead bonus Matusow said "You couldn't have $140k if you won every pot all day at this table." and he hit it right on the head. We all should have gotten a bonus just for surviving the day at that nightmare table. Ferguson, Smith, and Griffin were gone by the end of the day, butI wa still hapy to know a redraw would hopefully get me away from Matusow and Brecher, both very strong players.

Updates can be found at Bay101live.com 

I'll be enjoying my day off today and then tomorrow it's back to work on Day 2. 

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I'm back in the U.S. and ready to run some seminars. The first will be on fixed-limit Holdem cash games and it will take place tomorrow night 2/24/10 at 9 p.m. EST. I will be running two more seminars, one on Saturday the 27th in the early afternoon and another Wednesday night seminar on March 3rd. Then I'm headed to California for the WPT Shooting Star event. Seminars will resume upon my return around the 13th of March. 

To attend tomorrow night's seminar on fixed-limit Holdem cash games, click the link below and follow the directions in the forum post. Attendance has been really good for these lately, let's keep it that way so I can continue with two per week. 

http://www.pokerxfactor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=197208#197208 

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In no particular order, I have compiled a list of the reasons I did not screw with the guy in seat two.

1. He weighs more than I do and very little of that is fat. I think most of that weight is actually volcanic rock. The forearms as big as my legs were a bit intimidating too...

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I will be out of town for a few weeks, so there will be no Seminars on Wednesday or Saturday for the next two weeks. I'll be in Costa Rica for a few weeks, back long enough for a seminar or two and then off to California for the WPT Shooting Star event...

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Saturday seminar today! The focus will be on using stats and playing multiple tables in tournament situations. Click the link below for attendance information.

http://www.pokerxfactor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=194694#194694

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This week's Webinar will be focused on no-limti Holdem cash games, and more specifically the new Rush games on Full Tilt. There is a ton of money to be made in these games, and getting it now while the getting is good could help you build a bankroll quickly...

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The first Saturday seminar will be tomorrow at 3 p.m. EST and we will focus on income expectations, bankroll management and other skills related to moving up in levels and making money in online tournament play. See the link for attendance info -

http://www...

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This week's Wednesday Webinar topic is micro and low limit tournament play. We'll talk about lower limit strategy and how to deal with the huge schools of fish at the lower limits and how to make the most of those weak fields. See the forum topic here for log-in and attendance information -

http://www...

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This week's Wednesday Webinar topic will be on setting up and using Holdem Manager. I'll go through the basics in a short video lecture format and then we'll deal with any problems or questions you may have with Holdem Manager yourself. See the forum post Read

This week's Wednesday Webinar topic is Holdem Manager, setting it up, using it, dealing with the heads up display and any other help you might need. If you've been wanting to get started with a tracking program this is a great opportunity to get some free advice and help with setting it up and getting the most out of it...

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We will be focused on preparing for and playing multi-table sit and go tournaments this week, but most of this information will be useful for any online tournament player. We'll talk about hardware , software, expected win rates, sources for strategy advice, and anything else that can help you start grinding out some real money in these very profitable tournaments...

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For some reason I thought I might be able to run a webinar tonight, but of course that was ridiculous, things are much too crazy and very few people have indicated that they would even be able to show up. Next week I am in Seattle for a few days and won't be able to run a seminar, so the next one will be on January 6th, and the topic will be multi-table sit and go tournaments...

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This week's webinar will focus on dealing with short stacks in both tournament and cash game situations. We'll look at how to build and use a spreadsheet that covers common short stack situations and how to create charts for use during play as well...

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Tonight's webinar will be a general Q&A for an hour and we'll be back to lectures next week.

Find the forum post to log in here - 

http://www.pokerxfactor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=191025#191025

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The webinar topic tonight will be restealing. We'll cover when to resteal as well as when to invite resteals and how to deal with them in tournament situations. The thread with log in information is Read

This is the first of a three part series that discusses tournament theory and ICM basics. Hopefully this helps a lot of players understand the adjustments they should be making in tournaments based on payout structures and ICM considerations...

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Go be thankful for something instead. Happy thanksgiving to all.

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 Wednesday Webinar tonight! The topic is tournament theory and ICM calculations. The forum post with information to join is below. 

 http://www.pokerxfactor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=189672#189672

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If any of you play at ClubWPT.com, make sure you play on Wednesday night where I will be a bounty. It will be my first experince with them, but it looks like an interesting site. If I ever get filthy rich and don't have to play poker for the money anymore I'll go play there and just screw around trying to satellite my way in to tournamnets...

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I have the opportunity to create tournaments and sit and gos on the new network I am working with and I have already put together the usual suspects as well as a $5 heads up flip tourney, but I'm looking for new ideas. If there is a tourney or SNG that you would like to play that most sites don't offer, or have a new idea for one of them, comment here in the blog...

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The Webinar tonight will be on software. Read the link in the forums for more info -

 http://www.pokerxfactor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=189252#189252

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Doing Rounder's Radio on Thursday night was fun, and it turned out that the host is a guy I have met before and we have a mutual friend here in the twin cities. The poker world is a small one indeed. Here's a Read

I'll be a guess on This Show Bites on Rounders Radio tonight, broadcast live at 10 EST or available later on podcast. I haven't been on this show before, but previous experiences with Rounders radio have been great, and it sounds like it will be a lot of fun...

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I've wanted to find a site to work with for a few years now, and after close calls with a few sites recently, I've finally worked out a deal with the new Poker Pros Network...

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Tonight's Wednesday Webinar topic is Money Management and Playing Professionally. This will be a great source if information for part-time grinders and aspiring pros who want to get serious about their poker income. We'll talk about how to maximize income, bankroll management, taxes, and any other questions you may have...

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More and more over the last few months I see really weak players at big games in quantities that I haven't seen in a few years. Any experienced Omaha Hi player can tell you that you can't get all-in in a raised pot with top pair of jacks and no draw unless your opponent is both shortstacked and very overaggressive and overly loose...

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Tonight's Webinar will be on Stud 8, and it starts at 9 p.m. EST

Follow the link to the member's forums for the log-in information. 

http://www.pokerxfactor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=187876#187876

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The Good News -

 I tried a new way of recording HORSE tonight, playing a session on Full Tilt and then using their hand replayer from the session to flip through the hands and it works fine, though the replayer took a little getting used to...

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This week's Wednesday Webinar topic is Seven Card Stud. The post with the info to log in to the webinar will be up in the community forum a few hours before the start of the session, which will happen at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

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I was going to write an article with some tournament exercises for pocketfives, but it ran way too long and I decided to write something else for them and post this one on PXF over the next few weeks. If I haven't posted all five of them yet, and you haven't seen one ina few days, feel free to PM me with a reminder...

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Tonight's webinar will be on Razz cash games, and the link below will give you all the information you need to attend. 

http://www.pokerxfactor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=187027#187027

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This week's Wednesday Webinar will be on Razz. The lecture will start at 9:05 p.m. EST, so don't be late. It will probably be recorded, but the mp3 of the lecture is no substitute for the whole lecture and Q&A session along with some playing time, so try to attend the actual session if you are interested in Razz...

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Tonight's Wednesday Webinar will be focused on Basic Tournament Theory and we'll be discussing these things while we play the PXF subscriber tournaments. See the post here for complete instructions -

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Tonight's webinar topic will be fixed-limit Oaha 8 as it applies to mixed games and will begin at 9 EST. See the forum post here -

http://www.pokerxfactor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=186192#186192

for info about how to join 

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