The Commerce Casino
6131 East Telegraph Road
Commerce, CA 90040
(323) 721-2100
website




The Los Angeles Poker Classic

Ok, you’re shaking off the holiday hangover and skimming over that list of resolutions. Let’s be honest, the only one you’ve got any shot of keeping is “Play more tournaments.” Well, there’s good news. You don’t have to travel to some god-forsaken part of the world to bang heads with MTT superstars like Bond18 or A_Junglen at the Aussie Millions in Melbourne, Adanthar at the Borgata Poker Open in Atlantic City or even Landlord79 at the World Poker Open in Tunica. No, in fact, some of the juiciest tournaments on the planet are right here in Southern California.

The Bike, the Hustler, Hollywood Park and Pechanga all have events during the first couple of weeks of January, but the must-play series you need to put on your calendar right now is the LA Poker Classic held at the Commerce Casino.





The LAPC is a six-week string of events running from January 24th until March 3rd. The $10,000 Championship event (starting February 23rd) is one of the premier events on the WPT calendar and usually sets the momentum for the coming poker year. That’s right, fellas…it's a World Poker Tour/Game Show Network televised event. Make no mistake, you’re playing for money AND glory at the LAPC.

In our, well ok…my opinion, the LAPC events feature the biggest and softest fields you’ll find within 20 minutes of a decent restaurant and warm weather beach. Last year’s prize pools totaled over $16 million and the competition is roughly equivalent to that you’d find in a home game circa 1995. Sure, there are some first-rate players, but for every guy who knows what he’s doing, there’s half a dozen C-list celebs, Asian crazies or dudes holding a voice recorder who don’t. Oh, and when they bust out…they head straight to the cash games to pay your 2008 rent. It’s beautiful.

Still not convinced? Consider this. Yours truly, easily the worst tournament player on this site, has cashed in LAPC events. And I deserved to. Are you hearing me? Book a flight, order sturdy money counter from Staples and get your butt over to the Commerce to PLAY THESE EVENTS. Your bankroll will thank you. Seriously.


The Schedule and Structures

Here’s the schedule with the number of entrants and approximate prize pools in the comparable 2007 event.

LAPC 2008 events

As you can see from the chart, almost every event had a pretty good turnout in 2007. Good god, man, even the stud events had over 100 entrants! Prize money for the series totaled almost $16.5 million. It’s easily the richest series of poker events in California. Note: if you click on the event name link, you can see the structure for that event.

The majority of events are NL freezeouts with buy-ins of $330, $545, $1065, $2595 and $10,000. There are also limit, 7-card stud, Omaha hi/lo, 7-card stud hi/lo events and several special NL event—a 6-handed Turbo (20 min level) event that promises to be chaotic, a Shoot-out event, a couple of re-buy events and our favorite, a Tag Team event held on Valentine’s Day.

Now lakong would probably prefer to spend his $545 on third row seats to see Barry Manilow at the Staples Center, but, to me, I think the Tag Team NL event is the better play. What, you’re going to spend $500 on some overpriced, prix fixe dinner and an outfit she’ll wear once? I say drag her to the final table and create memories to cherish for a lifetime. Trust me, nothing say romance like a nice his and her stack of hundreds.

The series culminates in a $10K multi-day, WPT-televised event which has drawn increasing numbers in each of the last five years. When Gus Hansen won the event in 2003 (WPT Season 1), there were only 136 entrants. Last year, there were almost 6 times as many entrants (791) with $2 million guaranteed to the winner and $1 million to the runner-up. No word yet on what the first and second prizes will look like, but the paycheck will definitely put you ahead of budget for 2008. Past winners include Ferguson (pre-TV), Hansen, Esfandiari, Mizrachi et al. And anybody who is anybody has made the final table…Bloch, Pham, Stupak, Vinh, Gazes, Schoenfeld, Benyamine, Forrest, Lindgren, Tran, etc.

Most daily events start at 3:30p but note that the Championship event starts at 12:30p. All events will be held in the tournament room on the 2nd floor up the wide staircase by the valet entrance.


Satellites

For those of us short-stackers, there are single table satellites for tournament chips running continuously starting January 7, 2026 at 11a. You can see the range of buy-ins and structure here.

Single table satellites


In addition, starting January 24th, there are super satellites every night (except Jan 31st and Feb 22nd) with a $220 buy-in and multiple re-buys starting at 7p. You can see the structure for those little free-for-alls here.

Nightly satellites


Finally, January 31 (Thursday) and February 22 (Friday) are Special Super Sat Days with satellites at 11:30a and 6:30p. Note: the evening events typically draw a bigger field. You can see the structure for those satellites here.

Super Satellite structures


Away game for you? No problem!

We realized not everyone’s as good with staying focused around beautiful weather, hot women and free money as we are, so here are a few tips to make your LAPC trip a bit less stressful.


Getting there

The Commerce Casino is roughly equidistant from Los Angeles airport (23 miles), Burbank airport (22 miles) and Long Beach airport (20 miles). The John Wayne/Orange Count airport is more of a hike (31 miles) and San Diego airport’s at least a 2-hour run without traffic, with traffic…forget it.

If you have a choice, consider Burbank and Long Beach as alternatives to LAX. Burbank to Commerce is almost a straight shot down the 5 freeway, and Southwest flies to/from Burbank airport. Similarly, the Commerce is a quick drive up the 710N from Long Beach airport and JetBlue flies into Long Beach.

If you’re driving…use the Google map feature here. Just give yourself time around rush hour. The Commerce is directly off the 5 freeway, a major N/S thoroughfare in LA. It can be easy to get there off-peak, but during rush hour, it’s tough sledding.


Where to stay

The Commerce has a nice hotel on its property, the Crowne Plaza. Unfortunately, the 200 rooms are usually sold out during the LAPC so your best bet is to try one of the other local hotels.

For quality of service, your first choice should be the Wyndham Gardens aka the Doubletree Hotel Commerce, located at the Citadel Shops, a huge outlet mall up the street. The hotel is within walking distance (couple of minutes) of the Commerce. Further away but within 10 minutes or so of the casino, you’ll find

Ramada Inn – Commerce

Ramada Inn – South El Monte

Norwalk Marriott - Norwalk

Best Western – Montebello Plaza

Any of these hotels are decent for sleeping and showering, but you should manage your expectations. There’s not much else to do in any of these areas.

If you want a hotel with more amenities or off-casino entertainment, consider staying near LAX or the beach communities (Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach). You can find good, inexpensive accommodations within a mile or so of the beach and other shopping, dining areas. Remember, too, if you’re looking for sun and women, it’s LA…head for the beach!

Wherever you’re staying, you can either drive in and park at the Commerce (valet’s $2, not including tip) or arrange a courtesy shuttle. If you need a ride, just call the casino and ask for the floor shift supervisor. If you give them some notice and tell them the game or event you’re playing, they’ll usually send a shuttle for you. Even better, if you’re staying with a group of other guys, coordinate to come in at the same time and the Commerce will definitely send a car to pick you up.


Miscellaneous stuff

A player card is required for entry into all the tournaments. You can get one at the tournament sign-up area on the 2nd floor or from Player Relations.

If you want to wire entry fees in, you can find the info here. Wire instructions


Past trip reports

If you’re curious about the Commerce NL games, you can read my recent trip report here. With pics!

Commerce NL tournament area and cash games


And here’s another tournament trip report and look at the tournament area. Again, with pics!

California State Poker Championships


All right, that's all I've got for now. Seriously, if you happen to like money, you NEED to play the LAPC events. Why grind in front of the computer all year like you did in 2007, when you can lock up a year's worth of earn by the end of Feb and spend the rest of the year chillin' on the beach?

See you in all but the Ladies event!

Edmond

A few weeks ago, I posted on a heads up match I had with a spider in a rented car. I'm happy to report that I've returned the car in question to Enterprise and picked up my new rig, a Lexus RX400 hybrid. It's a little soccer mom-ish but it's quiet, surprisingly quick and doesn't beat the crap out of the planet. Plus the folks at Lexus gave me a stupid good price...





Hope everyone had a good holiday!

Edmond

The Commerce Casino
6131 East Telegraph Road
Commerce, CA 90040
(323) 721-2100
website


Free-roll? We’re in!

Last Thursday night, lakong, LakeofFire and I headed down to the Commerce Casino for the Conway and Whitman 97.1 FreeFM free roll tournament. The Commerce hosts about 4 or 5 of these free-roll tournaments each year and thanks to some timely and relentless sucking up to Player Relations, we weaseled three entries and resolved to get a proper return on our investment.

The tournament was promoted/co-hosted by The Conway and Whitman show broadcasting live from the event.



The C&W comedy/talk radio show, hosted by Tim Conway, Jr. and Brian Whitman, is often involved in bloodsport competitions like this one. The show’s website offers an archive of other similarly debauched events including one in which its producer, Gerry Wachovsky, attempts to leap over twelve hotdogs—that's seven feet of processed meat and bun. Although his final failed jump wasn’t as gruesome as Evel Knievel’s misfire at Caesar’s Palace, it’s must-see video. Tonight, though, the challenge was no limit poker and the venue was the tournament room at the Commerce.

The night started at 6p with a free catered buffet. Note to future attendees: the Commerce does a free-roll buffet right with real entrees and even a carving station, not just some anemic appetizers. You can have a look at the spread in the photos below. Ok, it's not the Mirage buffet, but it was very, very good. And priced right!


”Ok, just so we’re clear...there’s no charge for this, right?”




”Any chance I can get a take-out box?”




I filled a plate and, while stuffing myself like a Roman senator, surveyed the room.


The Tournament Room

The tournament room at the Commerce is located on the 2nd floor, up the wide staircase at the valet entrance. The room hosts the lower stakes NL games and daily tournaments but, for banquets and larger events, they push aside a room divider and create a large, open room.

There are 9 flat-screen monitors scattered around the room. Two are dedicated to the automated wait-list system, and the other seven usually show the sporting event du jour, today the Laker game.

For most events, there’s plenty of room for both the event and the low stakes games. At 8p on Thu night, they were spreading the following:

One table of 1/2 limit
Two tables of 2/4 limit
Seven or eight tables of $40 NL
One table of 1/2 stud.

Commerce has bigger games, of course, but they’re held on the main floor in various areas. If you’re interested, you can read a full recap of NL action here.

The tournament sign-up area is in the front left of the room, and the low stakes cash games brush area is to the front right. For larger tournaments, the tournament level times are projected on a screen above the stage, but tonight the radio show occupied the space.


Free food + Free entry = Full room








It’s a value play

The C&W show had been talking up the tournament for the better part of a month or so, and 430 entrants responded to compete for $6000 in prize money, $3000 in iTunes gift certificates AND, for the winner, the week-end use of a Ferrari F355 Spider to the courtesy of Dream Cars West and Singles Poker Party. Ever the value nit, I calculated my overlay…

($6000 + $3000 + $2000 use of the car)/430 entrants = $25 per player

I stuffed myself….that’s another $10. On top of that, my entry wristband entitled me to another $10 toward any food purchase if I sat in a live game afterward. Plus the opportunity, if I didn’t shame myself, to get on the invite list for a future event.

$45 of value + future upside + blog material? Are you kidding me? I congratulated myself on putting myself in a position of obvious profit.


Edmond attempts to get invited back

A 430-person tournament is a challenge for any poker room, but the Commerce sorted the players and seating arrangements out quickly. The hosts for the event were David Mosikian, head of Player Relations, and John Griffo, Casino Development Manager.



Don’t let the suits fool you—both guys are likable degenerates with low moral standards and a willingness to comp and, as such, well-qualified to make sure four hundred talk radio listeners have a great time on the Commerce’s tab. While Mosikian and Griffo were working the room like they were up for re-election, Cheri Dokken, the tournament director, and her staff made sure the sign-up and tournament stayed on track.


The Enforcer…and good at it




The Commerce tournament staff are the best in the city, and by 8p, everyone was seated and ready to get the free-for-all going.


Your mom must be very proud!

Before the first hand, Conway announced a $50 iTunes gift certificate for the worst-dressed player in the room. There was an immediate commotion as a number of guys started waving, standing on chairs, etc.—trying to call attention to their lack of fashion sense. There were plenty of legitimate contenders but the overwhelming choice was a 27-year-old, 265-pounder from Whittier wearing a tattered ProBass shops shirt that didn’t come close to covering his prodigious gut.


”Washing machine was broke.”




ProBass Guy was clearly pleased at being chosen. To me, it seemed like the rough equivalent of being selected Most in Need of Shower and not really something to text Mom about. Nonetheless, it paid, and after a brief award presentation and a failed attempt by Wachovsky to hold PBG aloft for 30 seconds, Mosikian made a few quick remarks and the tournament got underway.


"Ok, let's put the TVs back on the wall..."




Time to get busy

The tournament started with 10 players per table, 1000 chips per player with blinds at 25/50 and 20 minute levels. The structure was, as Mosikian observed, “on steroids” and I knew I’d have to get active immediately to have any chance at progress. Given the buy-in, no one beefed about the structure, and honestly, what can you really expect for free?

Within moments, the first player busted from the tournament when his flush pursuit went unrewarded. Conway called him to the stage and offered him an iTunes gift certificate if he could say anything about iTunes. He admitted he “had no idea what an iTunes is” but picked up his prize anyway for his kids. That was pretty much the tone of the whole evening. Even if you had no idea what was going on (at the tournament or in society in general), you were coming away with some value, courtesy of the Commerce Casino.


”An iTunes? Hmmm…I’m not sure.”




The action, sort of

Despite the structure, play at my table was very passive with lots of limp/calling pre-flop and check/calling post-flop. Within a couple of hands, I had AKo in middle position and raised to 150. The small blind and big blind called and we saw a 762 flop. The SB led out for 200, BB called and I folded.

The turn was 5 putting a second diamond on the board. Check/check.

River was 9 and when it fell, the small blind grimaced. Check/check. Both players showed 87o and as the dealer chopped it up, the SB blurted out, “I was worried about the flush!”

“Me, too!”

Say what? In any case, I was down to 850.

Within a few minutes (twenty, actually) the blinds increased to 50/100 and I found myself UTG+2 with AJo. I feel the same way about AJo out-of-position as most guys do about their ex-wives—not nearly as pretty as they at first seemed and a bankroll drain—but with this structure, I was in no position to be choosy. I shoved and a short stack called his remaining chips.

We flipped up the hands. The short-stack showed AKo and because I wasn’t the one holding Big Slick, it held.


Edmond the piñata

A few hands later the blinds had gone through me and I was down to 350, resigned to an early exit. There were three limpers to me with on the DB with 99. I shipped it in and, with the frenzy of hyper children going after a birthday piñata, all three players jumped at the chance to knock me from the tournament. Admittedly, a dude making comments into a voice recorder can be annoying. Whatever.

The flop came 555. Checked around. Hold!

The turn was an ugly J and when the small blind led out with 200 and got two callers, I started packing my things.

But what’s this? A river 9? It looks like this paper-mache middle pair is gonna hold after all! The players checked around and flipped up:

AQ
KJo
AKo

KJo celebrated briefly until the dealer pointed out that nines full beat fives full and shoved the pot to me. Oh right, yes…we’re all just trying to learn here.

I was now sitting with 1500 chips. Above average!


Limping, min-raising madness

At this point, Mosikian came around and tossed a iTunes gift card “into the next pot.” The dealer responded by tossing me T3o. Thanks. No, really. Of course, on the very NEXT hand, I’m in the small blind with AKo. One limper to me, I made it 400 to go. The limper called because my table limp/calls everything. It was AMAZING how many players were limp/calling with 8-10x the blinds. Bond18 would have been apoplectic.

J87 rainbow flop.

I bet out 500 into the 900 pot and immediately wondered why I didn’t just shove. Uh…maybe because I’m taking notes and not paying attention. He insta-called. Great.

The turn was 3x. I checked expecting to taste a little vomit in the back of my throat when he min-bet, but he surprised me and checked behind. The river was another 8. Check/check and he showed Q9 drawing to inside straight from the flop. I love live poker.

I was now sitting with ~2350 chips or so, a monster stack relative to the rest of the table.

With the blinds still at 50/100, I was again on the dealer button with 44. UTG+1 min-raised to 200 and with two callers to me, I opted not to build a unwieldy, multi-way pot and just called. The small blind came along for the ride. Other than me, everyone was sitting with ~1000 chips.

An ace on the flop kicked off the min-betting.

A73 flop. Small blind checked. Min-raiser min-bet. The other callers and I bailed.

7 on the turn. Check/min bet/call.

River blank. Check/check.

The UTG+1 min-raiser showed AJo and the small blind showed QQ. What? You’re sitting with maybe 10x BB and you just called the pre-flop min-raise…with QQ? I did the math in my head…

Live free-roll + Commerce = awesome, awesome stuff not seen elsewhere


Edmond goes crazy

The blinds bumped up to 200/400 with 25 ante and I managed to dust off most of my stack with TT. I raised pre-flop from the DB and was called by the BB, all-in with A7o. After a gross AA4JK board, I had a measly 1375 left.

A hand or two later, it was folded to me in the hijack with QTo, I shoved and was turbo-called by the big stack behind me. He flipped up ATo. Of course.

Flop QK9 rainbow. Nice. Uh, no jack!
Turn blank. River Q. Ship it to the QTo!

One of the other players remarked “I can’t believe you pushed with queen ten!” Yeah, I get nuts with 2.5x the big blind. You should see me in a sit-n-go. Labeled a lunatic, I was now sitting with 3400 chips (8 BBs) and exactly no fold equity.


Hey, anyone got a towel?

We took a ten minute break and I wandered around the room. We were now going to 400/800/50 ante with 12 tables left at the break. 430 players started the tournament so there were 430,000 chips in play. With about 100 players left, the average stack was ~4000 or barely 5x the BB. I felt like the white guy in the locker room.

It was now around 9:30p and the low stakes cash games had added a few more tables. From the electronic board, it looked like…

Two tables of 1/2 limit
Two tables of 2/4 limit
Nine or ten tables of $40 NL
And one 1/2 stud

But I counted 19 cash game tables running just in the low stakes area and, again, this was a Thursday night. Repeat: the Commerce has a sick amount of action.


And like that, he was gone

After the break, the blinds were 400/800 with a 50 ante and I was UTG+1 with AKo. In we go! I got two callers, a big stack with ATo and the BB (short) for T5o. I was only a 60% favorite here, so I was obviously concerned.

QJx flop. Ok, 70% from here. Hold.

Turn 5. Ouch.
River 5. Nice touch, Poker God.

As the big blind celebrated his good fortune and stacked my chips, the table broke and I got moved to a new table with my remaining 2500. What’s this? A radio staffer announced www.tworags.com over the PA and told the crowd to check it out. Hey! I know those guys!

Within a hand or so at the new table, I moved in with A6o and was called from blinds by 74 and TT. Flop KQ7…4…2 and I’m out. Ok, what’d you say the name of that blogging site was again?


Field work

I gathered my stuff and did a little field work—collected final tournament data, took a couple of photos. The tourney was down to 6 tables with the average stack somewhere around 7000 chips, John Griffo, one of the hosts, was sitting with 4500 chips. It’s a sad day for poker when an organizer of the event can’t even manage to rig an above average stack, for himself.

After scoring a turkey sandwich and a 2008 calendar from the Leykette girls (hired hotties promoting beer and other essentials), I checked back. With the blinds at 2000/4000/200 ante, there were still 34 players on 4 tables. Doing the math, the average stack was 12,600 (3x BB). It’s a freeroll, fellas, and you only have 3x. Get it in already!


”Are you really a producer?”




A worthy replacement for the Farrah Fawcett poster




An absurd cash game

While I was waiting for the bubble to break (27 spots paid), I noticed Mosikian sitting at a new table with Conway and some other players. I sat down and soon realized this was, by far, the most absurd cash game I’d ever stumbled upon. Between Mosikian’s and Conway’s breezy disregard for hand values or cash and the other players’ total lack of understanding of the game, there were at least nine marks at the table, not counting myself.

We structured a $40 buy-in but that was a just a formality. Players would routinely bust and reload with whatever cash they happened to pull out of their pocket. $20? No problem. A hundie? Whatever. I’m convinced if someone had pulled a Best Buy gift card from their wallet, a chip runner would’ve stacked him up.

I didn’t get involved in many hands but took to tipping the dealers anyway when an entertaining hand unfolded. Newer players weren’t aware of tipping protocols so Mosikian would toss the dealer chips after hands and encourage the other players to do likewise. Pretty soon it was a tip-fest with players toking $5+ on $20 pots and dealers lamenting leaving the table when their down was up.

As it was, I ended up three buy-ins in about two hours on the back of two hands:

#1 Rivering the nut straight, calling an all-in and getting action behind on a 45QT3 board. My 67o was good against a wheel and Qx. In any other game, the three spades would’ve given me heartburn, but in this game I knew my straight was the nuts.

#2 Flopping top pair, turning two pair, boating the river and getting three streets of action from J3o on a J97KK board. Playing KJ from the blinds, I bet/called a re-raise on the flop, check-raised the turn, led the river and responded “Yes. Yes, I did.” when asked if I hit my king. Still I got action. If you play poker and don’t love low stakes NL at the Commerce, there’s something wrong with you. Honestly.


Final Table!

About 1a, I noticed the tournament was wrapping up and hustled over for a few pictures.





The final table had all the nuanced play of the Coliseum scene from Gladiator and quickly resolved to the final two players who chopped based on chip count.





Paul Hsu, new to the Commerce, won the overall event and pocketed $2100. Michael Friedman took second and $1800. In the spirit of the chop, they ran out one open hand for the weekend use of the Ferrari.

Hsu flipped up 53
Friedman showed Q4

4 on the flop, 3 on the turn, blank on the river and Friedman’s Q4o was good for a F355 Spider convertible.


The winnah!




Note to self: Stop by Commerce after work. Win Ferrari.




Last hand, fellas.

I checked back into Mosikian’s NL game and folded for an orbit. As the blinds came back to me, I announced it was my last hand and limped UTG with QJo just to get involved. Seven players called around to Mosikian in the BB who took this as an invitation to shove for $42. I bailed but he got two callers including a woman who said she’d never played before and Conway.

Mosikian flipped up 85o

"I've never played before" woman showed AK

Conway tabled 86

The flop came 292 and then running 99 for a three-way chopped pot. Ok, that’s ridiculous. I was done for the night, but Conway et al. ran a couple more “Let’s go all-in in the dark” hands to satisfy their bloodlust. As for me, I thanked the staff, collected my stuff and headed home. That’s enough “free” for one night.


Conclusion

If you ever get a line on one of these Commerce free-rolls, you should definitely check it out. Yeah, the structure should be in the Mitchell report, the play bizarre and the prize pool narrow (paid to 6%) but the free food, extra prizes, side attractions and sick cash games make for a highly entertaining and profitable evening. Props to the dealers and staffers…nice work!

If this rambling recap wasn’t enough for you, podcast clips of the entire live broadcast can be found on the Conway and Whitman website here.

Edmond


End note:

Tim Conway, Jr. of the Conway and Whitman broadcast team is the son of Tim Conway, the comedian from McHale’s Navy (a staple of my youth) and the Carol Burnett show. More recently, he’s been the voice of Barnacle Boy on SpongeBob SquarePants. He’s a Nickelodeon hall-of-famer, but why the end reference here? Well, apparently Conway, Sr’s a big thoroughbred racing fan.

Now I’ve spent time in most Las Vegas casinos, all the LA card rooms, an embarrassing number of Indian casinos and home games. The biggest degenerates, by far, are patrons at the horse track. If there was a “Cash for kidney” booth at the track, half the gallery would be walking around with a zipper scar across their lower back. If you want an inside look, I recommend Hunter Thompson’s classic, The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved.

In any event, Conway’s dad is a comedic genius AND he likes the ponies. Our kind of guy!

Cliff notes: Edmond plays the WBPT tournament at the Venetian. Busts out with A4o. Watches flight attendants play slots at the airport.


The event

Last week, I was chatting online with one of the folks that run The Poker Atlas and she mentioned the 4th Annual WPBT Holiday Classic at the Venetian on Saturday and suggested I play it. The last blogger tournament I entered was a complete embarrassment documented by Swami54 so the thought of any kind of redemption was compelling. I brushed aside the notion that she might be trying to pull more dead money into the prize pool and told her to put me on the list. Besides what better opportunity to display my superior tournament skills than before a hundred or so scribes committed to documenting hee-haw moves?

The tournament was organized by John "Falstaff" Hartness, a popular blogger. He knew many of the participants and somehow managed to convince 110 entrants to pass on the other big blood sport events in town this weekend--the Bellagio Five Diamond series, the Hatten/Mayweather fight and the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Adanthar and SirWatts were over at the $5K Bellagio event, of course, but my skills and bankroll were better suited to this kiddie game down the street so I had a look around.

The overall tone of the event was social—lots of hugs, inside jokes and references to drunken binges. These writers knew each other or all went through rehab together at one point. Entrants included such blogging notables as Dr. Pauly (Tao of), Amy (Aimlessly Chasing), Change100, The Rooster, Miami Don et al.

Falstaff's blog characterizes him as a poker player/redneck, but on Saturday he was sporting a kilt. I thought it was a fine choice for the event, but, however bold, it a little out of character given the description. I know a lot of rednecks and I’m confident that none would be caught dead in a skirt, albeit a leather on, and never at a poker tournament. “Poker player/barbarian” might be a more accurate description of Falstaff, but in any event, he was well-qualified to host this event.


The Venetian

After socializing a little bit, I got a Venetian player card and paid my entry fee. On a whim, I asked the staffer taking my player card info if he wanted my email address. He declined, “Nah…don’t need it.” and continued typing. I think the Venetian folks are more savvy than most, but his reaction was indicative of the gap in thinking about most casino marketers. Five years from now, most marketing will be web-based and the guys who prepare for it will have the advantage. For now, though, I’ll be getting direct mail not spam from the Venetian.

The Venetian is one of my favorite rooms in Las Vegas. It’s a large, elegant semi-enclosed space with 39 tables. The staff is friendly, wait-lists are automated, there’s a comfortable waiting area and the tables and chairs are in top-notch shape. There are about 26 or so flat screen TVs, 21 of which typically have sports running with the balance used to show wait-lists or tournament status. Here's a look at the room...




At 12:30p on Saturday, they had the following games running…

5 tables of 1/2 NL
2 tables of 2/5 NL
1 table of 25/50 NL
1 table 4/8

There was a list for 5/10 and 50/100; the 5/10 NL game got down later in the day.

The poker room is located directly across from the sportsbook (Patriots – 10.5, obv) and adjacent to the NoodleAsia restaurant (good food, slow service; try the moo shu chicken). In any event, it was a good choice for this event—nice room, plenty of space and a staff that seemed happy to have the added activity. I’d recommend the room to another group looking to have a private tournament in Las Vegas.


And they’re off!

At 3p, the 110 entrants were cut loose with 6000 chips, 25/50 blinds and 30-minute levels. I was seated at table 14, seat 3. On my left was Amy from Aimlessly Chasing fame and on my direct right was an Asian guy in a saber tooth lime tee-shirt. Amy’s a successful poker writer (Bluff, PokerNews, PokerPages et al.) and is now in the process of writing a book on Mike Matusow.

Over the course of our conversation/table time, I learned that Amy lives in Austin, TX (see also, nath), she has one of the few known photos of Andy Beal, recently performed a radio duet with Barbara Enright, is a tight player but will shove second pair top kicker to a button raiser and Matusow owns three cats. I’m just a sponge at the table, obv.

I also had one active player wearing Full Tilt garb two to my left. Within a few hands of the starting gun, he lost most of his stack when he played 52 from the small blind to a stiff MP raise and got it all in with turned trips against a turned boat.

After the hand, he complained about how “horribly he runs.” Yes, it’s amazing how poorly you can run when you play a 2-gap suited connector, 5-high, out-of-position. But as is often the case when someone “runs bad”, I stepped in to get him back on track.


Edmond helps a player in need

A few hands later, FT guy had doubled up but was still pretty short. With the blinds still at 25/50, he raised from EP to 150. There was one caller to me on the dealer button with 55. I called and we saw a flop. Pot was 500-ish.

Flop was AK5. Nothing wrong with that, obv.

The shorty/raiser checked and the caller behind bet 300. I begged the gods to please let one of these guys have a big ace and raised to 1000. Short-stack called (WTF?) and the other guy folded.

The turn blanked and shorty shoved all-in for 750. I called with bottom set, of course, and he flipped up a set of aces. Oh, nifty. The first hand I play is set over set confrontation with the guy I’ve pegged as an indiscriminate donkey. I’m now sitting with about 4000 chips. Excellent.

Shortly, thereafter, a player at my table was the first out from the tournament and was awarded a DVD of Gigli for his ill-timed semi-bluff, flush draw shove. Not sure if it was the full or wide-screen version.


It’s about giving back

We moved on to level 2 and with the blinds at 50/100, I was on the DB with 33. Three players limped to me, I called and the big blind (my set v set nemesis) checked his option. Call the pot 600.

The flop was K36. Cool. My nemesis (the BB here) bet out 400. Oh, really? It folded around to me and I re-raised to 1200. He shoved (uh oh…here we go again) and I called expecting a set of sixes or a 45 draw. My people reading skills need some work—he showed KTo drawing pretty much dead. Blank, blank and he was on fumes and again, beefing about how poorly he runs.


Overbetting, it’s what I do

A few hands later I had AJ in middle position and raised to 350. The DB called and we had an 8500 pot. The flop came AKJ and I opted to bet out 750. He folded before I could even get the chips out. Bah…I guess it’s better than seeing action from a flopped straight.

After an uneventful level, we took a 10-minute break and came back to 100/200/25 ante. I was comfortable with 8000 chips but it was gonna start sorting out here pretty quickly.

Still at 100/200/25, a EP guy raised UTG to 650. I called from the CO with 88.

Flop was JA5, two hearts. He checked to me. I bet 1200 and took the pot. What? Of course I hit that flop…

A couple of hands later, a short-stack limped to me with AKo. I raised to 650 expecting to see a shove but he folded. Can someone please have a hand?


My end game reveals itself yet again

I treaded water throughout the remainder of the level and had 9000 chips when the blinds spiked to 200/400/25. Within moments I managed to bleed off a quarter of my chips with the following hand.

Limped to me with 87 on the DB and unwilling to fold or raise like someone that’s read Bond18's tournament series, I called and saw an A75 flop with two other players. They both checked to me and I took this as an invitation to bet 1500 into a 2500-ish pot. Both quickly called. Ok, gross…done with this suited POS. Next card was a blank…check, check, check. Ok, please let me show down my eights. No such luck…one of the other players potted the river and I bailed.

After that shameful mess, I was down to 6000 chips and found myself in middle position with A7. I raised to 1200 and the player two to my left made the “Well, I guess this is where I go home” speech which, based on his breezy confidence moving his chips in, I translated “I have A8o+” and folded. Down to 4000 chips. Crap.

The blinds worked around to me…no spot to shove…J2 with a raise in front…53s UTG…now I was in the big blind. The table folded to the SB who’d given me a walk at least twice in the last level. No such luck now…he raised. I looked down at A4, shoved and he insta-called called with K9.

55/45…I’ll take it.

Q22KT. Ok, great…nice playing with you guys. I shook everyone’s hand and packed up my stuff. I briefly contemplated beating on a cash game but knew it would just culminate in a bad hangover and odd sports bets. I opted instead to head back to the airport and catch the 9p flight home.


Fleeing the scene

I’m pretty sure there’s nothing more depressing than waiting for a plane in the Las Vegas airport on a Saturday night after busting out of a tournament. The gate area was deserted except for four flight attendants playing slots and one-by-one some stragglers showed up to catch the flight. And as I was recapping the day on my laptop it occurred to me, what’s more depressing…playing airport slots on a Saturday night or observing and writing about it? I’m gonna go with the latter. Whatever, it’s material…

Edmond


Afterword: You can read a brief recap of the final table here...Tao of Poker

So I check my calendar late in the day and realize that I’m supposed to be at a concert/fundraiser at the Japanese consulate here in LA in a little over an hour. I contemplate blowing it off, but I know the host is expecting me so I resign myself to the gig. As it turns out, I didn’t have a suit on so I needed to jam home from my office, change and make it back across town, in traffic, by 6:30 or so.

Anyway, I make my way home, pull on a suit and head back out. Now my car came off lease a couple of weeks ago but I haven’t had a chance to find a new rig, so I’ve been rolling around in some rental car that Enterprise dropped off. Anyway, I’m moving along the 10 freeway and I flip down the visor to check my tie. Bam! A gigantic spider drops into my lap and scampers down my leg to the floor. Holy crap!

Ok, this was not some Little Miss Moffet spider…not some daddy long legs “I can run across the surface of water” whisper of a spider…no, in fact, this monster was just slightly smaller than a tarantula I once saw while hiking in Big Sur. Big brown body, furry legs…straight out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I have no idea where he came from or how the damn visor even stayed in place with this beast on top of it, but in any event, he was now milling around the floorboards.

I grew up in Maine and am not a city boy—I’ve had plenty of critters in between me and where I’m headed—but when you go to check your look and a spider the size of a small dog drops in your lap in a dark car at 60 mph, it’s unsettling. It’s like having the Starbucks girl tell you your coffee is ready and tossing a live snake at you instead of your nonfat latte. WTF!

I’m in traffic in the fast lane, so I turn on the interior lights, work my way over to the shoulder, pull over and jump out. I look back in and hunt the beast down. Ok, there he is staring at me from the console like Kong on the Empire State Building. Whatever, dude, I’m tight for time—I sweep the shaggy bastard out of my car with the rental agreement, collect my wits and head on to the consulate.

Later at the consulate, I’m sitting at a table with one of the artists for the evening, the head of a local bank, a newspaper rep and, as it turns out, some hitter from Lexus of Southern California. After a couple of speeches, a brief series of performances by three young pianists (all cute Asian girls, btw) and some pretty amazing sushi (it was the Japanese consulate after all), I recount my rental car/spider story to my tablemates. The Lexus guy was like “Uh, call me tomorrow and we’ll hook you up.” Ok, you know what, maybe I will. Did I mention my wife’s car is off-lease in two months’ as well?

It’s all about table draw and seat selection, boys!