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Yesterday there was a corporate self-betterment class called “Career Planning”.  As in the past, my personal interest in the matter was slim-to-none, however recent enlightment that is not pushed by the economy but rather break some walls down that have drilled me down a ladder climbing hole so deep that I would take less money just to do something that the true minions of advancement would use to springboard to their next promotion.

After pre-taking the Strong Interest Inventory, I learned the following things that I already knew about myself but nice to have it confirmed:

-  Accounting was the #1 fit for likes/dislikes followed by Banker, Credit Manager, and Strip Club jizz mopper

- Conventional learning skills were at the forefront while Artistic ones lagged behind so far most occupations with Artistic backgrounds scored in the negative points on a range from -20 to 80 with -20 being the job most likely to cause one’s self to beg for Jigsaw to show up and create an elaborate death trap before reaching your desk every day, and 80 being the job that you’d give up sex, steak, sleep, and Butterscotch Krimpets Tastykakes (available online!!!!!).

- Enjoying to lead by example versus taking charge and delgating the work others hit my personality on the nose.  Learning by doing and learning for a reason versus picking up a book on the French language to read a French Cuisine cookbook and whipping up some five-course meal consisting entirely of words my lisp-filled tongue couldn’t possibly pronounce.

The class also made me realize that if I don’t make a change soon the resentment of not stretching myself at the regular job versus the one get to show-off some creativity and that I truly enjoy, apathy will seep in deeply enough to kill any chance of moving ahead if/when that four-year college degree becomes real.  As nerdy as it sounds, I do enjoy working with and analyzing data, it’s just how I’m built.  Granted the life story of a tall poker playing married accountant doesn’t have the ring of a traveling man in quest of the next rush, it is genuine, there are sparks away from the faceless spreadsheets.  Those breaks from linear parenting/married life just come fewer and further between.  But for those who drop here, you will get an honest story if not a dry one at times as there’s so much gushing about one’s offspring before gagging starts (LOOK HOW CUTE THEY ARE!!!!)

 A quick aside…  I saw this article about the nth attempt to push through a racino (or two) in Minnesota and once again my lack of understand and gross dislike of politics has me scratching my freshly cut hair.

These are the ideas/quotes I understand but tell me why they happen in a nation where THE PEOPLE’S OPINION is supposed to rule?

Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, acknowledged what Day suspects — that the bill, sponsored by Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, doesn’t stand much of a chance in committee.

“I haven’t looked myself at the numbers, but I would doubt it,” Pappas said. “There’s never been very much support for racino.”

O-rly?

Further up the article you’ll see these poll numbers:

At issue is not only expanding gambling in Minnesota — something the state’s American Indian tribes with gambling venues staunchly oppose, but which 80 percent of Minnesotans in a recent KSTP/Survey USA poll said they support — but also the even touchier issue of the role money plays in politics.

Granted there’s nothing noted of the poll size/economic background/ability to somehow drink Michelob Ultra/if they stood outside of Canterbury Park asking if they would like a casino inside but 80 percent with a generous +/- of say eight percent error rate seems like more than a majority.  Now the argument of a saturation point for gambling the state, I can buy that, but for the committee who is partially backed by tribal casino dollars to have the final say on whether or not a couple of fine looking race tracks can’t upgrade to having slot machines is like asking an actor if they would like to nominate themselves for an Oscar/Emmy/Golden Globe.

Typically, Tuesday doesn’t get a lot of hype. It’s not the beginning or the end of a week, nor the very middle of the week. Even when holidays fall on Tuesdays, they’re celebrated on Mondays. But leave it to the innovative minds at PokerStars to look at Tuesday as one of the biggest online poker days of the week. And by hosting a high-stakes tournament every week – same time, same place – Tuesday has taken on a whole new meaning.

The Super Tuesday, as it’s called, brings players together with the offering of a $1,000 + $50 buy-in for the guarantee of a $250,000 prize pool. Many of the biggest names in online poker register to play each week, so it’s never a surprise to see big names (and Team PokerStars Pros) like Gavin Griffin and Chris Moneymaker at the tables, in addition to well-respected players like SCTrojans and AJKHoosier1. But there are also names unrecognizable at first glance, many of whom won their seats via the weekly satellites that offer opportunities to enter the tournament at a fraction of the cost. That makes it even more exciting.

This week, 382 players came to the tables, which pushed the prize pool well beyond the guarantee to where it landed at $382,000. That sum allowed payouts for the top 45 players in the tournament, and in that group this week was the aforementioned Moneymaker. Money800, as he’s known online, soared toward the top of the leaderboard midway through the event, and though he lost momentum along the way to the final few tables, his 29th place finish in such a tough field was nothing to sneeze at.

As play continued, it was down to two tables just before the six hour mark, and it took more than another hour to get to hand-for-hand play and reduce the field to nine players. That occurred when GHSE00011364 moved all-in preflop with [Ad][Qc]. HHHUGO called from the small blind with pocket queens, and the board brought [4h][Kh][7s][8s][Kd]. That left GHSE00011364 out of the tournament in tenth place with $5,730.00 in prize money.

Few strangers among them

The final table was then set and ready to go in the midst of Level 25, with blinds at 1.4K and 2.8K with a 350-chip ante. The starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1: JACKPOT786 (107,575 in chips)
Seat 2: lechuckpoker (100,233 in chips)
Seat 3: HHHUGO (291,746 in chips)
Seat 4: cotrim333 (260,583 in chips)
Seat 5: iCeVeNoM (361,877 in chips)
Seat 6: 1$ickDisea$E (296,889 in chips)
Seat 7: jogjeg (102,042 in chips)
Seat 8: kenneeoin (130,283 in chips)
Seat 9: TIITTIIT (258,772 in chips)

Many players at the final table were no strangers to PokerStars final tables. It was iCeVeNoM who took down a 2009 WCOOP event, cotrim333 who won a Sunday Warm-Up in late 2009, and others who were still seeking their first big Stars title.

On the very first hand of action, one of the players with a shorter stack decided to risk it. Go big or go home, it seemed. It was jogjeg who made the all-in move for 101,692 chips, and JACKPOT786 called from the small blind with [Ac][Kd], which was found to dominate the [As][Qd] of jogjeg. The board blanked with [3s][6c][8h][7s][9c], and jogjeg was eliminated in ninth place with $6,685.00.

Chips and more chips for cotrim333

The big stacks were mixing it up. One pot ran itself up to more than 110,000 chips in preflop raises that resulted in iCeVeNoM finally folding and cotrim333 raking the chips. The latter was climbing the leaderboard quickly.

When short-stacked kenneeoin dared reraise the initial raise of cotrim333, it was an over-the-top all-in move from cotrim333 that prompted kenneeoin to call for his tournament life with pocket queens. But cotrim333 showed [Ad][Kd], which immediately turned into two pair on the [6c][As][Ks] flop. The [Js] came on the turn, and one of kenneeoin’s queens was a spade, but the [4h] on the river failed to make the flush, only eliminating kenneeoin in eighth place, which was worth a $9,168.00 payout.

So sick

The fast-moving action was about to find itself a new chipleader. It happened when lechuckpoker decided to move all-in with pocket jacks preflop, and 1$ickDisea$E called with [Ac][Ks] from the big blind. A little reminiscent of the last hand, the flop came [Qc][Kc][7h] to give Big Slick the advantage, and the [9s] turn and [5h] river ended the hand. That sent lechuckpoker out of the tournament in seventh place with $12,988.00 for the effort.

With iCeVeNoM getting a bit low on chips, he proceeded to double through TIITTIIT to climb again, but that left TIITTIIT with less than 3,000 in chips. Two hands later, TIITTIITpushed it with [Ks][6c], and HHHUGO was along for the ride with pocket eights. The board brought [5d][Qs][9s][9h][Jh], which gave TIITTIIT a sixth place finish and $16,808 to go along with it.

But 1$ickDisea$E was having none of losing the chip lead to iCeVeNoM, and the two tangled in the monster pot that found consistent bets and calls all the way through a board of [Qd][Tc][As][8d][5d]. When 1$ickDisea$E showed [Jc][9c] for the turned straight, iCeVeNoM had to fold his hand and allow 1$ickDisea$E to take down the 409,147-chip pot.

Ice, Ice, Baby

(You all knew that song title was going to find its way into this recap, didn’t you?)

Saul “iCeVeNoM” Khalili

Another big pot soon developed. And again, it was between the two aggressive players just mentioned. Though four players went to see the [6s][5h][2s] flop, some serious betting and raising prompted JACKPOT786 and HHHUGO to fold and led to an all-in reraise from iCeVeNoM. The call was made by 1$ickDisea$E with [Ts][9s] for the flush draw, and iCeVeNoM showed pocket kings for the overpair. A [Th] turn card and [9s] river card gave iCeVeNoM the double-up and significant chip lead.

That lead only grew over the next few hands as iCeVeNoM surpassed the million-chip mark. He took a 311K-pot from cotrim333 and a 340K pot soon thereafter. He was simply dominating the table at that point.

Five-handed play continued for awhile until HHHUGO was relegated to a stack of little more than 100K in chips. From the big blind, HHHUGO got involved with cotrim333 and iCeVeNoM preflop to see the first three cards come [Ac][Kc][Js]. When cotrim333 bet and HHHUGO check-raised all-in, iCeVeNoM got out of the way, and cotrim333 called with pocket aces for the flopped set. HHHUGO showed [Tc][7c] for the flush and straight draws, but he couldn’t get there on the [5d] turn or the [Th] river. HHHUGO was ousted in fifth place with $21,774.00.

Melting the ice?

Down to four players, the action took some interesting turns. First, cotrim444 came back from a super short stack by doubling through iCeVeNoM, and then 1$ickDisea$E did the same by doubling through cotrim333. While iCeVeNoM maintained a solid lead over his competitors, the others showed they were willing to make some risky moves to climb back from deficits.

But it was JACKPOT786 who needed the most luck. Though able to double-up once through 1$ickDisea$E, JACKPOT786 decided to attempt it again, this time with only 95,985 in chips and [Ac][6d] in the hole. cotrim333 made the call holding a dominating [Ah][Td], and JACKPOT786 couldn’t find enough help on the [5s][4h][Qd][Tc][6s] board to stave off elimination. JACKPOT786 walked away with $31,515 for the fourth place finish.

It seemed that cotrim333 had momentum, showed by the raking of a 276K pot from 1$ickDisea$E and a 192K pot from iCeVeNoM. Slowly climbing toward the leader, it looked as if cotrim333 had a chance.

But one hand put a stop to that. Two players – iCeVeNoM and cotrim333 – got involved to see a [Js][9s][3c] flop. They checked to the [5c] on the turn, and a bet from cotrim333 was called to take them to the [7c] on the river. cotrim333 bet 56,000, iCeVeNoM raised to 150,000, and when cotrim333 pushed it again, iCeVeNoM made the all-in move. cotrim333 called all-in for his tournament life with [Qc][Jc] for the queen-high flush, but iCeVeNoM turned over the [Ac][8c] for the nut flush. The pot worth over 1.25 million went to iCeVeNoM, and cotrim333, the winner of a December 2009 Sunday Warm-Up, had to settle for the $42,020.00 that went with the third place finish.

A comeback to cure the sickness

Suddenly, heads-up play started with the following chip counts:

Seat 5: iCeVeNoM (1,733,019 in chips)
Seat 6: 1$ickDisea$E (176,981 in chips)

There was cautious play from 1$ickDisea$E for several rounds, but at one point the move was made with J-8, and iCeVeNoM just happened to call with another J-8. The two split that pot. But soon after, 1$ickDisea$E did it again, this time with pocket fives against the pocket sixes of iCeVeNoM. But the board came [4c][4h][5s][8s][Qs] to give 1$ickDisea$E the flopped full house and the much-needed double-up.

That momentum carried. 1$ickDisea$E took pot after pot going forward, using sheer aggression to collect chips. A bit later, another opportunity presented itself as the two players went through a board of [8s][5c][6s][Ks][Qc] board, at which point, 1$ickDisea$E pushed all-in with [Js][5s] and the flush, and iCeVeNoM called with pocket eights for the set that wasn’t good enough. 1$ickDisea$E doubled up and took the chip lead for the first time during the match.

Mounting a comeback, iCeVeNoM chipped up a bit but finally fell to less than 400K with the loss of a 558K-chip pot to 1$ickDisea$E. It took only a few minutes to decide to make the final move, and iCeVeNoM did it with [Kd][Qc], which was called by 1$ickDisea$E holding [Ac][9h]. The flop was positive for iCeVeNoM when it fell [Tc][Kc][9c] for the pair of kings, but his opponent caught part of it as well. The [5d] turn card did nothing, but the [As] on the river gave 1$ickDisea$E two pair, leaving Saul “iCeVeNoM” Khalili, 2009 WCOOP event winner, to finish the tournament in second place with $55,390.00.

The hard-fought victory went to 1$ickDisea$E, who battled back from a serious chip deficit in the half-hour heads-up match to ultimately win the tournament, for which a prize of $73,917.00 was awarded.

Super Tuesday Results for 03/09/10:

1st place: 1$ickDisea$E ($73,917.00)
2nd place: iCeVeNoM ($55,390.00)
3rd place: cotrim333 ($42,020.00)
4th place: JACKPOT786 ($31,515.00)
5th place: HHHUGO ($21,774.00)
6th place: TIITTIIT ($16,808.00)
7th place: lechuckpoker ($12,988.00)
8th place: kenneeoin ($9,168.00)
9th place: jogjeg ($6,685.00)

Tuesdays are fast becoming a must-play night for online poker on PokerStars. In addition to The Super Tuesday, Team Pro Tuesdays bring some of the world’s greatest players to the felt for the Outlast the Pro tournaments.

In one of the most surprising turn of events in recent poker history, legendary female poker player Annie Duke has won the 2010 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. She bested an elite field that consisted of many of the biggest names in the poker community, including Erik Seidel, who she beat in the final round with a 2-1 win. For her victory, Duke scored a cool $500,000 prize purse, with Seidel taking home $250,000 with his runner-up finish.

Most viewers I imagined were surprised to see a female player make it through what is always a heavily male-dominated tournament, but Anne seemed to have the luck of the cards, and the schedule, on her side. Looking back on the opponents she faced, Duke definitely did not have the toughest draw in the tournament. Her toughest opponent was arguably Andy Bloch in round 1, but from there she then went on to play against numerous players that have just recently entered the spotlight due to their WSOP success including Jerry Yang, Darvin Moon and Dennis Phillips. While all of those players have proven they have talent, there’s no way they represented the same challenge that would’ve been provided by players the caliber of Phil Ivey, Daniel Negraneau or Barry Greenstein.

Seidel seemed to have a tougher draw of opponents overall, netting Peter Eastgate, Scotty Nguyen, Huck Seed and David Williams, which is why it was doubly impressive to see him progress all the way to the finals considering that in the previous five years of the NBC Heads-Up Championship he never progressed out of round 1.

Duke has now racked up a total of $2,247.824 in career winnings and can now add this marquee victory to her already impressive resume that includes a WSOP bracelet win in 2004 and first place honors at the inaugural WSOP Tournament of Champions.

Here are the final results from the event:

Final Results:
1: Annie Duke — $500,000
2: Erik Seidel — $250,000
3: Scotty Nguyen — $125,000
3: Dennis Phillips — $125,000
5: Jerry Yang — $75,000
5: Doyle Brunson — $75,000
5: Jason Mercier — $75,000
5: Peter Eastgate — $75,000
9: Paul Wasicka — $25,000
9: Eli Elezra — $25,000
9: Annette Obrestad — $25,000
9: Barry Greenstein — $25,000
9: Gabe Kaplan — $25,000
9: Phil Laak — $25,000
9: Chris Moneymaker — $25,000
9: Jamie Gold — $25,000

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Atlantic City, NJ – Alexandru Masek is making poker look too easy. He just won his second World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring within a year’s time, and has future plans to accomplish much more. Eleven months after winning his first WSOP Circuit gold ring at Harrah’s Rincon in California, Masek traveled to the East Coast for the first time and pulled off an encore. With another major tournament in Los Angeles in February added to the mix, Masek now has three major wins on his resume since March 2009, an enviable record any poker player would crave.

Masek is a 25 year old college student. He is currently attending law school at the University of San Diego. Masek came to the WSOP Circuit event being held at Caesars Atlantic City during his Spring Break. While his peers populated the beaches and bars of Florida and elsewhere, Masek chose to pursue his poker passion instead and profited to the tune of nearly 40 grand. Not too many college kids in D… Continue reading Alexandru Masek Wins WSOP Circuit Event on Spring Break