Marathon Sessions
December 6, 2007
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.
Good luck
-Patrik-
Golf, Poker, and Family
November 24, 2007
My daily routine lately has been almost perfect. I have been waking up early and our wonderful nanny/chef continues to impress with wonderful new dishes on a daily basis. After fueling my body I head down to the 24 hour fitness for a workout and warm up. I am happy with my workouts lately, my body feels good again. The golf course is right across the street from the gym, so after a good workout my body is ready for the range, but since my thumb is not yet healed 100% from an old Muay Thai injury, I have not been able to golf this past week. It looks like I am going to have to take ten days off, since I want to make sure it heals correctly. After golf it is back to Maya’s house and hang out with Mila and Maya all night. I usually find a little time to play online if the games are good. Now if my shoulder was a little better and I could throw some tennis in there somewhere I would have my perfect day.
Phil Ivey called me while back and told me there was going to be a “Big Game” on Friday night. It has been a long time since I played live cash games and I was excited to sit back down at the tables and at real people in the eyes. It was the usual line up, I had Jennifer on my right and Minh on my left. Bobby Baldwin, Doyle, Guy (Noatima,) Eli, Lyle, and David B. were all in the game.
I am sure that I am not the only one who finds live poker so boring after playing online. I was also a little upset that we were only playing $2k-4k instead of $3k-6k or $4k-8k. We played a mixture of four games, NL Hold em, PLO, Limit Holdem, and Stud high. There was a $60,000 CAP in the NL and PLO games. I lost with AKs to KK in a capped pot and chopped with KK vs 77 since we ran it twice in another capped pot. I did still manage to leave the game a small winner, but the game was slow that I could not take it anymore and quit the game after five hours. The game was moving just to slow since we were playing nine handed and it felt too small, even though $2k-4k is a big game.
The Bellagio was getting pretty busy while I was playing the other night. This is a great sign, hopefully when the tournament rolls around, the stakes are bigger are more players are in town. I have talked a few times with Brian Townsend, Guy, and Bobby Baldwin about getting the $1k-2k NL and PLO game going again during December. I will play the Main Event in the upcoming WPT Five Diamonds, which brings back a lot of great memories and a few sour ones too.
On the way from the poker room to the valet pick up, I managed to take the long route so I could stop by the blackjack tables and hopefully win some money or break even while building up some comps for the
Online poker has been a roller coaster still, but the past few days have been profitable and on a little hot streak. I have been sitting at Martins Poker waiting for opponents, but no one has sat down. Actually, I forgot to stand up and leave the tables the other day and while I was in the shower, someone sat down and stole my blinds on three tables. That added up to 900 Euros, so I was not too happy about that, but I will get it back, someday.
Mila is starting to crawl and it is so fun to watch her grow each day. It is amazing how fast it all goes. She will be going off to school before I know it. Maya’s family is visiting, her Mother just flew in from
I am off to the Bellagio, I just got a call that there is going to be a $3k-6k game and it is shorthanded. Wish me luck and I will let you know how it goes soon.
Good luck at the tables
-Patrik-
Roller Coaster Cash Games and an Online Final Table
November 13, 2007
What a few days. The action on Full Tilt has been incredible the past week.
I wish I could tell you that I have been winning everyday; instead I have been
on the roller coaster ride of a lifetime. The first day the action was crazy,
I had one of my all time great days. Unfortunately the next three days no
matter how good my cards were, Full Tilt found a way to make me lose.
Last night was the icing on the cake. I played a marathon online session
and it was not looking good at all, but somehow, I grinded away and at
the end of the night had booked a win. It was a wild session with huge
swings up and down, Gus, Zigmund, and Kaibuxxe, were all gambling. I
played a little HORSE at the end of the night, but most of the session I was playing PLO.
The past few nights, Maya and my assistant have been playing
the FTOPS tournaments. It has been a lot of fun watching
them go deep and giving advice if they want it. Maya often wants
the advice, but when the advice does not suit her, applying the advice
is a different story. So the other night I decided to have a little competition
with them and see who could go the furthest. The tournament was a $200
PL Hold em event. It was only the second online tournament I have played this year, and I managed to make it to the final table.
I went into the final table with the chip lead, but it was not meant to be.
I got knocked out 5th which was still good for $14,000. Not bad for a
last second entry. On the way to the final table I played a big pot with
poker pro Chip Jett and knocked him out. For busting the Full Tilt pro,
I got a $200 bounty and a T-Shirt saying, “I knocked out Chip Jett.”
Now for a gambling story on the golf course. I played a few days
ago with Jani (KObyTapOut) and I lost a little under $100,000.
Overall I am stuck a little over $100k in golf bets so far, and to be
honest I do not like being stuck. In the past when I get stuck at something,
it usually means I am going to put a lot of time into getting so good that
I can get even and make some good money. For now, I look at the loss
as a initiation to the golf gambling world. My swing under pressure is not the
same on the range, so once I can master that, I should be in great shape.
Golf is such a great game and I see why poker players love gambling on it.
I hope when its all said and done, I am the biggest golf better around.
Yesterday at the golf course, my thumb started to kill me. We had to cancel
our round and I just putted for a little while. I ran into Daniel, I
watched him hit a great chip shot on the 9th hole. It looks like all of
Daniels hard work on his short game is paying off.
My shoulder is starting to finally feel better, so I should get
back on the tennis court this week. I have only played two or three
times in the past two months, I need to get my game ready for Mr. Hansen.
I am getting excited for the upcoming WPT at the Bellagio. There are going
to be some huge cash games and I feel as ready as ever. All of the big
players in town will be ready to gamble in
play the uncapped NL and PLO game we played during the WSOP. The next
few days I might join Maya in some more online tournaments, so keep your eyes open.
Good luck at the tables
-Patrik-
Golfing in Monaco
November 6, 2007
appliances and furnishings for my loft and have been spending a few days
getting everything set up. It is a great feeling being able to design
the loft just the way I want it and install all my favorite things.
My friends Mikko, Tommi, and Jani all flew into town and we golfed at
least 18 holes everyday, so it was a great time. I even I even decided that
I was ready to put some money down and start gambling on the golf course.
We showed up at the Monte Carlo Country Club the first day and Jani
said I would need two shots per hole because he was a 6-7 handicap. Jani did everything he could to make sure my first day gambling on golf was a good one. He had not played for a few months and was not able to play up to his standards. I booked a win and
what a great way to start my gambling golf career.
On the third day we decided to mix it up and play a team competition.
I was partnered with Tommi and Jani played with Mikko. Mikko was driving the ball farther than I have ever seen. He carried their team as Janni was still not playing up to his potential. I was happy to play with Tommi since he was playing the best of all of us going into the day.
It was a very tight match coming down to the last hole. We got very unlucky
in the end and they ended up beating us. But we all had a great time
and I cannot wait for the next golf vacation. Maya and Mila spent some time in
One thing that I cannot believe after watching the ESPN high stakes
golf is how all of the poker players bend the rules when they golf.
They use Vaseline on their clubs to keep the ball straight and other
tricks that are not legal. I want to learn real golf and will not bet
with those kinds of crazy tricks.
Enough about golf, onto poker, I was going to have a high stakes heads
up poker match in
date. Every once in awhile I get offers to play in high stakes games
around the world.
I have been putting some time in online. My favorite poker room
Martins Poker just opened some high limit tables and I will be playing
there often. Lately I have been running very good at HORSE, I really
enjoy playing the different limit games. I do not have a ton of
experience at Stud or Stud 8 so it is great practice for me so when I
am playing these games in the Big Game against Barry, Chip, Phil, and Gus, I can make better decisions. No matter how good you get at poker, you can always improve and
practice and fine tune your game.
A few days ago I finally got the best out of my good friend Ziigmund in PLO. At the end of the session we even ran two flips and I won both of those. In limit Hold em,
Hoss_TBF and I have been battling like usual and lately he is getting
the best of me, but hopefully things turn around soon.
Mila turns six months in a few days and is getting cuter and cuter
each day. She is developing ahead of schedule and it is amazing to see it. She is growing
so fast and just started to sit up on her own. She is even recognizing our friends. I cannot wait for her first steps and her first words should be very soon.
On a funny note, I had a crazy dream a few nights ago where Maya got
3rd in the Main Event at the WSOP next year; we had a big argument
because I wanted all the money since I taught her everything she
knows. We had a good laugh about it at breakfast the next morning.
Good luck at the tables
Patrik
Visiting Vegas
October 19, 2007
I have been back in Vegas for almost a week visiting Maya and Mila upon returning from the EPT Baden and WPT Barcelona. Neither tournament was a success for me, but the online cash games were running strong and I managed to win my fair share. I have not played this much online in a long time. If I was not in the tournament or in the gym I was grinding away online.
Thanks and good luck at the tables
Patrik
A Few Days At Home - And A New Hobby
October 9, 2007
I got back to Vegas last Saturday from a long European trip, but now I’m recovering from yet another 16-hour flight across the Atlantic back to Europe. This was a rough trip because I had three flights to get there. It started with a Southwest flight to LA. Once I arrived at LAX I had to pick up my bags at baggage claim and check in again at Lufthansa for my flight to Frankfurt. My final flight was Frankfurt to Vienna, which thankfully was short flight. By comparison, the 45-minute cab ride to Baden was a breeze.
This has been the busiest fall I have ever had, but I am really enjoying it. The weather in Vegas the past few days has been perfect. I got a little tennis in and hit the gym a few times. I have also picked up a brand new hobby and have fallen in love with golf. I just started and I am hooked.
I ran into Daniel Negreanu at TPC in Summerlin a few days ago and he was surprised to see me. I am sure he cannot wait to get me on the course and take my money. But that is going to be a while, because I just started and want to be able to put up a good fight when we start.
So far, I feel like Tiger Woods on the practice range, hitting the ball cleanly and pretty straight. But the few times I tried to play on the course, I could barely hit the ball. I did have a great shot the other day; I hit the ball in the hole from around 100 yards. The only problem was I had already hit three shots out of bounds and one in the water before that miracle shot. I scored an 13 on the hole and did not even have to putt!
Before leaving for Europe a few weeks ago, I forgot to plug in my Aston Martin so, when I got home, it was completely dead. I had to have it towed to the dealership last Monday and get a new battery installed. I had to make a decision about the fate of my car, leaving it in Vegas or shipping it with me to Europe when I move. I decided to ship it to Monte Carlo as I am not quite ready to part ways with my first fancy car quite yet.
On Sunday I played the WCOOP main event, but nothing special happened and I was out early. I was focusing more on some high-stakes online cash games and did not give myself a great shot. It also didn’t help that I was not picking up any good cards. I broke even in the cash games, so it wasn’t too eventful of an afternoon. Congratulations to all the players who made the final table.
Three and four years ago I used to be a Sunday junkie, playing all the Sunday tournaments. Playing the WCOOP reminded me of back then, which seems like so long ago. Just shows you that anything is possible in poker.
I played quite a bit online this week and had a solid HORSE session a few nights ago. I started the night playing some $200-400 PLO and got very unlucky in some pots early in the session and was stuck around 100k. I decided to single table and play some HORSE. I ended up booking a nice 120k win. It was a tough game with a few friends of mine. I was really playing well, and hitting hands, which is always nice.
I have been playing a lot of heads-up NL on some of the Euro sites and been running very good. I had an interesting hand against my last opponent. I raised on the button with A7 and he called. The flop came A 7 3 and we were soon in a raising war.
Before I put my last chips in the pot, I told my friend watching that he most likely has 33. But if he thinks I am folding top two he is crazy. I called and the seven of diamonds peeled off on the turn. It was very nice to get lucky one time.
I will be playing the EPT Baden and then the WPT in Barcelona. My favorite hotel in Barcelona is totally booked, which is disappointing. If you are ever in Barcelona, Hotel Arts is the only place to stay.
Good luck at the tables and I will keep you posted on my results in Europe.
Patrik
A Big Hit and an Interesting Miss at Million
September 30, 2007
As many of you might know, I was involved in some monster pots a few days ago in the ‘Million Dollar Cash Game’. I will start with the one that I won. First I will go through the hand and then give an analysis at the end.
Blinds are $300-600 with $100 ante. Phil Ivey limped UTG and I limped behind him. Brian Townsend (SBrugby) raised to $3,600, it was folded around to Ivey and he folded. I called with 66.
It was a beautiful Q 5 6 flop for me, rainbow. I checked to Brian and he bet $7,300 and I took a few seconds and called.
Brian and I have played quite a bit of NL Hold ‘em together, both online and live in the Bellagio ‘Big Game’. We know each other’s game inside and out. Brian is a very smart and deep-thinking player, which is why he is one of the best NL players in the world. He can probably remember every hand we have ever played together.
The turn was a K of hearts which put two hearts out there. I checked and he bet $20,000. Normally I would raise my set here, but I decided to play it differently this time. I just called his $20,000 bet.
The river brought a 4 for a board of Q 5 6 K 4 and I checked. Brian bet $40,000 and I check raised to $150,000 after thinking for a while. Brian was not happy about it, which was a good sign, because that eliminated him from having the nut straight. He finally called and Brian had QJ which he was value betting the whole way.
This hand is very interesting for many reasons. Phil Ivey and I were playing props, and Brian knew that. When Brian raised pre-flop $3,600 and I was the only one to call, I looked at my prop score sheet just to see if Phil or me was on for a double or triple in props. Brian probably picked up on this and knew I might be playing a weaker hand than normal.
I checked called the flop, which is standard, but check calling the turn was something I have never done against Brian in the hands where we were heading to a showdown. It was very hard for him to think I would play my set this way.
When the river came 4, it was a great card for me. I would not call an 80 per cent of the pot bet on the turn with an open ender. So Brian knows I did not have 7 8 for the straight.
I checked the river to give him a chance to bluff or bet for value. Luckily he took the bait and bet $40,000 on the river. Now, there was a small chance he had KK or QQ or even 78. But I decided to value raise to $150,000 with my set of sixes.
I know Brian thinks very deep into each street and how the hand was played. By playing the hand the way I did, it was nearly impossible for him to put me on a set. He called with QJ, which would beat a bluff, but thankfully I had a hand this time.
The props that Phil Ivey and I were playing are quite confusing. Basically, we were betting on the flop being red or black. If the flop is all one suit, you win double. Being the gamblers we are, we do not stop there. We each have three cards, and if one of those cards hit the middle card on the flop, you win more.
As you can see in the following hand, it can create some bizarre and interesting situations. We both had Aces, Kings, and Queens as the bonus cards, I was black and Phil was red. When playing with props, it can definitely make you play a little different than normal.
The end result in this following hand is not great, but it was a very interesting and deep-thinking hand. I am sure Phil and I will be talking about this hand for a long time. It was one of those moments that you can appreciate even though I did not win. It was great poker and we were both thinking on very deep levels.
I was up quite a bit in the game going into this hand. Ivey raised from the cutoff to $2,000, a very weird raise amount. Almost all day the standard opening raise was $2,100-$2,700. I was on the button and called with Ad Tc, Brian also called in the SB. There was $7,400 in the pot and the flop came AAJ with two spades and a club.
I said to myself “Mamma Mia!” This was a great flop for me for many reasons. The ace of spades was the middle card on the flop, second it was all black, and finally, I flopped trip aces! To make things even better it was a near certainty that Phil Ivey did not have an Ace. Because I was on for a triple in props, Phil would not want to see a flop having a red ace in his hand.
Brian checked and Ivey bet $6,000 into a $8,000 pot. I was very happy at this moment and was thinking to myself, how could I make more money on this hand. I decided to put a little teaser raise out there and raised to $15,000. Brian mucked and Phil re-raised to $50,000. I was more than happy to call the $50,000.
The turn was a 5. Phil thought for a while and bet $100,000 and I called. I was very happy the way the hand was going at this point, even though I started to think he might have pocket jacks.
The river was a Qh and Phil took a long time, hard to tell, but it felt like five minutes, before betting $250,000. Now I was not happy at all. Maybe Ivey forgot about the props? Could he have played AQ? I was 99 per cent certain that he did not have an Ace. So the only hand which would make sense is JJ.
My mind was all over the place trying to figure out what was going on. After thinking for a little while, I thought I was beat, my mind was racing and thinking about so many things. A quarter million dollar bet on the river is usually a sign of someone with a hand. But Phil Ivey is one of the best NL players in the world and if there is anyone capable of pulling a bluff off, it is him.
I could not help but think that Ivey was down $300,000 in the game and had just lost $30,000 on this flop alone. Was he steaming or did he really have JJ? I decided that if I did not call, I would not be able to sleep. I counted out $250,000 and slid it toward the middle of the pot.
He had JJ. So I lost but I do not regret the hand; it was one of the most interesting hands I have ever played.
After the game, I spent Friday in Monaco looking at places to live. I found a beautiful flat on the 33rd floor right in the middle of city center and after seeing it with my own eyes, it was better than I could have imagined. I will go back in November and Monaco will be home. I flew into Nice very early that morning and then caught the last fight out to Munich.
I went to Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest and for some business meetings, I cannot talk about details, but my Presidential Suite of the nicest hotel in town, was comp’ed. The room was simply amazing. I have some exciting news that I can hopefully share with you soon.
On Monday I flew back to London for the EPT London. It was not too exciting. I survived Day One with more than average in chips, but lost a coin-flip during the second hour of Day Two. If my 99 would have held up against my Finnish friend Ville “Isokala” Wahlbeck’s AJ, I would have had a very nice stack and a chance to go deep.
Anyone who loves tournaments should try their best to play some of the EPT’s. They are very well run tournaments, and they are in beautiful cities, so it’s a great trip no matter what.
I just arrived back in the States. I am excited to play the WCOOP main event today. I will be back in town for six days and then heading over to Europe for the EPT Baden.
Good luck at the tables.
Patrik