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becker is a self proclaimed computer and camera geek from mission viejo, ca. his electric personality and photographic talent have helped him become one of the most sought after wedding photographers in the nation. feel free to leave a comment or send him an email any time. thebecker@mac.com
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Published On: Feb 25, 2007 02:51 AM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Feb 25, 2007 02:51 AM
I AM GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES OF POKER!!!!!!!
OH MY! I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT! I won the
qualifying tournament yesterday and I am going to be in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this
summer.
I am still in shock. It's about 2am, I just got home and I am giddy, and wide awake, and still in shock. Oh, I already said that. It was unreal. I don't know where to begin.
First of all, it was a lovely day in Southern California (just gotta through that out there):
Jessica and I cruised up to the Hustler Casino in Gardena, to enter a the $100 buy in no limit tournament. I have never played in a real tournament before, so I really didn't have high hopes as you can see from yesterday's blog entry.
I knew I was going to be half way lucky when I got seated right across from Shannon Elizabeth. I shot her wedding reception a couple of years back. She didn't remember me, but she was still super nice and played pretty well:
The rest of this story is gonna have some poker lingo, so if you need to translate, check out Pokerworld.com
89 people started at the beginning of the day, and I folded my very first hand, but then on my second hand, I had pocket Kings, and then when a King came up on the flop, some guy went all in, so I had to call and bust him. Right away, I doubled up! It was a great start.
I decide that I was going to play very tight, and only get involved with strong hands so I mucked a lot of cards through the afternoon. I was very patient and just listened to my iPod and tried to get a read on the other players even when I wasn't in the hand.
The day just went on and on and on, and people kept dropping out little by little. When they first combined the tables, I had a nice sized stack and some dude sat down just to my left, and on his first had, he went all in, I called, he showed Ace King, but I had pocket Aces! I win again. The poor guy literally lasted 45 seconds at the second table. Sorry bro!
Anywho, after about 4 hours... It was down to 19 people and just two final tables. I finally got moved to Jessica's table, but she was hanging on by a thread and ended up getting knocked out after a few hands. She finished in 19th place but was the longest lasting female.
At this point, I had a decent stack and I was just hoping to finish in the top ten, so I'd at least get SOME money.
By the time we made it to the final table, I was actually in third place but only a few chips behind second and first place. At this point I was ready to have fun, knowing I'd at least get my money back, and I made sure to point out my shirt to everyone. I wanted to let them know that "I'm kind of a big deal"! I was trying to get into their heads and make them come after me.
After two people got knocked out, I was in a hand head to head with the second place guy. I had Ace of spades and the Jack of clubs . The flop came Queen of spades, Ten of hearts and King of spades. I flopped an Ace high straight, which is tough to beat. He moved all in with the 8 and 9 of spades and had a flush draw (a flush beats a straight). The Jack of spades came giving him a flush (and the lead), but giving me a Royal Flush draw which is an unbeatable hand. The two of spades came which actually gave me "the nuts" and I doubled up and now had more than half of all the chips in play.
I just sat back, folding bad and even mediocre hands and let the remaining players knock each other around until there were three!
Third place got about $1,500, second place got $3,200 and first place got $1,000 and the $10,000 admission to the World Series Main Event paid for him.
After just a few minutes, I was in the big blind with 6, 3 off suited which is a pretty bad starting hand, but when the flop came A, 6, 3, I was in good shape. The short stack guy went all in since he paired his Ace, I called and he was sent packing!
Down to two. I had about a four to one chip lead and I was liking my chances. I honestly kinda wanted second place because $3,200 is better than $1,000 and it's a long shot to win money at the Main Event. I even told the guy I'd rather have the $3,200 but, my competitive nature took over and all I could think of was... if I come in second, I am going to have to listen to my brother in law Matt quote the line from Top Gun saying "the trophy for second place is in the ladies room"
I couldn't live that down, so I just tightened up and played my best. It went on head to head for about 20 minutes. There were also about a dozen people standing around watching the action. I put him all in a few times, he folded, and he did the same to me. We took turn stealing each other's blinds until the moment of truth came.
I was in the small blind with POCKET ACES! I kid you not, it could not have been scripted any better. I limped in with my best poker face, just calling the big blind and he sensed weakness on my part and went all in. I instantly called, flipped the cards and screamed "YEAH!"! The look on his face was priceless as he let out a long groan as he flipped his Ace Jack of hearts. I had him dominated and covered. Even if I lost, I still would have had the chip lead so I wasn't too worried. The flop came, no hearts, but he did get a Jack. He had to get one more Jack to double up, but it wasn't to be. I was the winer winner chicken dinner after a couple of rags came on the turn and the river.
I was seriously in shock. I was shaking. Of course I told everyone it was my first tournament which seemed to really piss them off.
It was crazy. I am still floating. I still can't believe it. I'll be heading to Vegas in July and of course I'll keep everyone posted if I am going to be on ESPN 2! Or course I'll be wearing a thebecker.com hat and a thebscool.com t-shirt if I do get any TV time.
Y'all can just call me "Big Stack Becker" if you want! Watch out Phil Ivey... I'm coming for you!
I am still in shock. It's about 2am, I just got home and I am giddy, and wide awake, and still in shock. Oh, I already said that. It was unreal. I don't know where to begin.
First of all, it was a lovely day in Southern California (just gotta through that out there):
Jessica and I cruised up to the Hustler Casino in Gardena, to enter a the $100 buy in no limit tournament. I have never played in a real tournament before, so I really didn't have high hopes as you can see from yesterday's blog entry.
I knew I was going to be half way lucky when I got seated right across from Shannon Elizabeth. I shot her wedding reception a couple of years back. She didn't remember me, but she was still super nice and played pretty well:
The rest of this story is gonna have some poker lingo, so if you need to translate, check out Pokerworld.com
89 people started at the beginning of the day, and I folded my very first hand, but then on my second hand, I had pocket Kings, and then when a King came up on the flop, some guy went all in, so I had to call and bust him. Right away, I doubled up! It was a great start.
I decide that I was going to play very tight, and only get involved with strong hands so I mucked a lot of cards through the afternoon. I was very patient and just listened to my iPod and tried to get a read on the other players even when I wasn't in the hand.
The day just went on and on and on, and people kept dropping out little by little. When they first combined the tables, I had a nice sized stack and some dude sat down just to my left, and on his first had, he went all in, I called, he showed Ace King, but I had pocket Aces! I win again. The poor guy literally lasted 45 seconds at the second table. Sorry bro!
Anywho, after about 4 hours... It was down to 19 people and just two final tables. I finally got moved to Jessica's table, but she was hanging on by a thread and ended up getting knocked out after a few hands. She finished in 19th place but was the longest lasting female.
At this point, I had a decent stack and I was just hoping to finish in the top ten, so I'd at least get SOME money.
By the time we made it to the final table, I was actually in third place but only a few chips behind second and first place. At this point I was ready to have fun, knowing I'd at least get my money back, and I made sure to point out my shirt to everyone. I wanted to let them know that "I'm kind of a big deal"! I was trying to get into their heads and make them come after me.
After two people got knocked out, I was in a hand head to head with the second place guy. I had Ace of spades and the Jack of clubs . The flop came Queen of spades, Ten of hearts and King of spades. I flopped an Ace high straight, which is tough to beat. He moved all in with the 8 and 9 of spades and had a flush draw (a flush beats a straight). The Jack of spades came giving him a flush (and the lead), but giving me a Royal Flush draw which is an unbeatable hand. The two of spades came which actually gave me "the nuts" and I doubled up and now had more than half of all the chips in play.
I just sat back, folding bad and even mediocre hands and let the remaining players knock each other around until there were three!
Third place got about $1,500, second place got $3,200 and first place got $1,000 and the $10,000 admission to the World Series Main Event paid for him.
After just a few minutes, I was in the big blind with 6, 3 off suited which is a pretty bad starting hand, but when the flop came A, 6, 3, I was in good shape. The short stack guy went all in since he paired his Ace, I called and he was sent packing!
Down to two. I had about a four to one chip lead and I was liking my chances. I honestly kinda wanted second place because $3,200 is better than $1,000 and it's a long shot to win money at the Main Event. I even told the guy I'd rather have the $3,200 but, my competitive nature took over and all I could think of was... if I come in second, I am going to have to listen to my brother in law Matt quote the line from Top Gun saying "the trophy for second place is in the ladies room"
I couldn't live that down, so I just tightened up and played my best. It went on head to head for about 20 minutes. There were also about a dozen people standing around watching the action. I put him all in a few times, he folded, and he did the same to me. We took turn stealing each other's blinds until the moment of truth came.
I was in the small blind with POCKET ACES! I kid you not, it could not have been scripted any better. I limped in with my best poker face, just calling the big blind and he sensed weakness on my part and went all in. I instantly called, flipped the cards and screamed "YEAH!"! The look on his face was priceless as he let out a long groan as he flipped his Ace Jack of hearts. I had him dominated and covered. Even if I lost, I still would have had the chip lead so I wasn't too worried. The flop came, no hearts, but he did get a Jack. He had to get one more Jack to double up, but it wasn't to be. I was the winer winner chicken dinner after a couple of rags came on the turn and the river.
I was seriously in shock. I was shaking. Of course I told everyone it was my first tournament which seemed to really piss them off.
It was crazy. I am still floating. I still can't believe it. I'll be heading to Vegas in July and of course I'll keep everyone posted if I am going to be on ESPN 2! Or course I'll be wearing a thebecker.com hat and a thebscool.com t-shirt if I do get any TV time.
Y'all can just call me "Big Stack Becker" if you want! Watch out Phil Ivey... I'm coming for you!
.
Posted: Sun - February 25, 2007 at 01:40 AM