tilted behaviour

The first two days of the Main Event would see 262 hopefuls tackle the felt in the USD$2,700 Main Event. Only 69 would make it through, but some big names would fall including bracelet winners Toto Leonidas and Mansour Matloubi, Sunshine Samson, Wooka Kim, Poker Pack members Quinn Do, Tommy Le and Kwang Soo Lee and Australian’s Vincent Wan, Kent Hunter, Damien Oborne, David Steicke and Heath Chick.

Two of the hopefuls that made it through; Poker Pack members Nam Le and David ‘Chino’ Rheem

Heath ‘Tassie Devil’ Chick hasn’t been my friend for a long time, but the countless hours on the tournament floor we’ve spent together makes it feel like we’ve mates since school; even though he is more than seven years older than me! Travelling together and covering all the Australasian tournaments over the past 12 months hasn’t left either of us much time to hit the tournament felt, but finally Heath had an opportunity here in Manila.

With no plans to return to Manila, he satellited in a few days after the new year and was extremely excited to have another chance at tournament glory following unsuccessful attempts during last and this year’s Aussie Millions as well as a few events during the 2008 WSOP.

Things started well when he opened to 150 with A♥ K♦ and found one caller to see a flop of J♦ Q♠ 10♥ where he led for 200 with his opponent making the call. The turn landed the K♥ and Chick bet out 500 before being check-raised to 1,500. He made the call before check-raising to 6,000 over the 2,000-chip bet from his opponent when the 6♣ landed on the river. What looked like a good start ended with a chop when his opponent also tabled broadway holding A♠ K♣.

Heath ‘Tassie Devil’ Chick

Looking down at A♦ A♥ following a raise to 250 and a call Chick bumped it to 875 with both making the call before the action was checked to him on the flop of J♦ 4♦ K♥. Chick bet out 1,500 and the original raiser check-raised to 3,500 with Chick eventually making the call. The turn landed the 4♣ and Chick faced an all-in bet of 5,500 which he eventually called leaving himself around 500 behind. Being shown J♣ J♠ put a sick feeling in his stomach, and finding no two-outer on the river he was left crippled.

He found a double, but was unable to gain another life-line when his Queens were out-flopped by King-Jack to end his tournament in the first level. In a quote from his blog; Tassie Devil Poker, “So now I’m off to drown my sorrows and rue my luck at another lost opportunity” was a real fear for both me and F-Train who couldn’t get into contact with him for the whole day. The funeral arrangements were already being made and the division of assets taking place . . . but eventually we heard from Heath as he continued to drown his sorrows all day and night.

Following the end of play of day 1b F-Train and I headed to the hotel bar to join some of the Aussie boys in Michael Pedley, Kent Hunter, Nik Lackovic and Andrew Scott for a quiet Corona or two before deciding to join Gabby and a few of the APT models at a party.

We all taxied over to the nightclub Myama where one of the APT models was having a going away party. Myama will go on record as the best club I’ve been to because of the spacious surrounds, great music without being too loud, cheap drinks, great atmosphere and plenty of gorgeous asian woman.

The Corona’s were cheap and the vodka flowed fast, and with Nik Lackovic leading the charge he made sure we had a ‘fun’ night. Me and F-Train were left to fend for ourselves which suited him as he danced the night away with two bootylicious-black girls before I decided to call it a night at 3am feeling a little on the ill-side . . .

Wanting to catch breakfast again I headed downstairs just in time and was escorted to a table. I left my table to get some apple juice only to return to my table where a older couple had taken up my seats. The waiter quickly moved me and I put down my drink to get a plate of food. However, yet again my new table was filled with a middle-aged woman tucking into some fruit.

“Allright, this is ridiculous . . . please get me a table where I can sit down!” I told the waiter and he escorted me down to the end of the restaurant where I was seated by myself with barely a sole around me. After quickly downing my first plate of food I ventured back for some cereal and fruit only to see the beautiful Riza Santos strolling round the buffet.

Already in love with how gorgeous she is, seeing her out of her normal black figure-hugging dresses and in tracksuit pants, thongs and a boring old t-shirt easily pushed her to the number one spot.

I return to my table with a bowl of cereal in hand only to see Riza seated on the table next to me with what I assume was her mother. Like a star-struck teenager I sat there slowly chomping on my cornflakes with, “OMG, OMG, OMG” going through my head over and over. I tried to keep my cool and act as casual as possible while returning with a bowl of fruit. I finished my meal and headed upstairs with the “OMG, OMG, OMG” still whizzing through my head.

Riza Santos

Heath, F-Train and I caught up in the lobby before heading to the shops across the road. We bought some groceries and returned to the hotel where they ventured back to the room while I took to the felt.

I only played for an hour or so on the same table as Adam Simon and across from Wonky. I bought in for 5,000 pesos which equates to around AUD$200 with blinds at 50-100. I doubled early when I opened to 300 from under the gun with K♥ K♦ and was met with five callers round to the small blind who raised to 1,300. I thought about pushing my remaining 4,700 into the middle, but I felt that he wasn’t strong and wouldn’t call an all in.

So I flatted, and so did some Skandi player from the cutoff to see a flop of 7♦ 3♦ 2♣ fall down. The small blind immediately moved all in, and once I called the Skandi got out of the way to see my Kings up against his 8♣ 8♦. The board bricked out and I found a double and finished the session with around 12,000 pesos as I went upstairs to prepare for the Opening Ceremony and Welcome Party.

The Opening Ceremony and Welcome Party was more like a friendly get together with an open bar and cute APT models strolling round, which lasted no longer than 45 minutes. Once the ribbon was cut and the speeches were spoken Heath, Damon and Hux headed to dinner as they had the Head Hunter event to play while a few of us decided to head out on the town.

David Saab, Bryan Huang, Ivan Tan, Raymond Wu, Gabby Barredo, F-Train, Myself, Andrew Scott and ‘friend’ Joy all squashed into Saab’s LandCruiser and drove for around 30 minutes until we arrived at this Japanese restaurant that Saab kept raving about it. Bottles of Saki flowed, and so did the food until we dropped off Bryan, Ivan and Raymond at a KTV place before the rest of us headed to a club called Embassy.

Cheap drinks, cute girls, and a mix-mash of music were the highlights, but an over-filled dance floor saw Saab and Gabby leave early before the rest of us partied with some of the APT people before Joy took us to the Wensha Spa for some relaxation.

We stripped down in our change rooms, showered up and headed through a few rooms until we reached our own rooms to enjoy a massage. An hour later (I think) I put my robe back on after enjoying a somewhat painful massage before heading back to the change rooms as the clock ticked past 4am. F-Train and I waited in the reception for Andrew and Joy for over 30 minutes before deciding to catch a cab after they were no shows.

. . . and just for good measure

Riza Santos

I wander down to breakfast feeling utterly refreshed after the previous night’s massage and sleep on an ultra-comfy king-size bed and take my seat at the back of the restaurant. Some apple juice, bacon, eggs and hash browns start me off before a bowl of fruit and slice of toast finish me before I see Vincent ‘Wonky’ Wan and his mate Adam Simon stroll in.

They take up a seat next to me as they munch down on breakfast before we discuss poker, travels and all things Manila before I head back to room to shower-up and get ready for my meeting with Asian Poker Tour representative Angelica Hael. We discuss the events to be covered; which included the Celebrity Charity Challenge later that evening, while enjoying the beautiful weather in the hotel courtyard before departing ways.

Straight over to Saab’s condo I go where we plan to head into town to go and grab a haircut and shave . . . it’s supposed to be an event in itself . . . or so I’ve been told! I arrive to see him play no more than 50 hands on PokerStars, lagging it up before making enough money on the two $2-4 NLH tables to cover the massages from the previous night and have some change leftover. Saab downs a bowl of Pho and we head downstairs to see his new driver Sammy bring the car round as we make our way to Greenbelt 5; a shopping centre in downtown Makati.

We both stumble into Bruno’s Barbers where we are guided to our chairs that resemble furniture direct from a classic American barber shop of the 1950’s. After negotiating back and forth with the Filipino employees we both come to an agreement that we want everything . . . haircut, shave, manicure, pedicure and even a massage.

Bruno’s Barbers

A quick trim (that in all honestly didn’t really change anything) was quickly followed by a lathering of my face with shaving oil before my barber brought out a fresh blade to tackle my splotching asian-facial hair. Ehnum started on my pedicure as my barber began to slowly shave away my remaining facial hair. However Ehnum methods, however good, were starting to make me twitch due to the ticklish nature of my feet, and having a fresh blade on my face really started to freak me out.

With the pedicure out of the way, Ehnum moved to my hands to conduct a manicure, while my barber wrapped things up and finished with a massage. Once everything was completed I headed for a walk round the shopping centre before returning to meet with Saab, who’s ‘experience’ went a little longer. We ventured to grab some lunch at Mr. Rockefeller’s where we enjoyed some salmon and baby back ribs before getting dropped back at the hotel prior to working the Celebrity Charity Challenge.

After collecting my things I headed down to reception to see if Heath or Dave had checked in yet, knowing that F-Train (Dave’s blogging name) had to cover the event with me and that Heath had the camera. Unsuccessful in being able to locate them or their arrival time I tackled the event on my own not having a clue who any of the participants were apart from Priscilla Mereilles; the 2004 Miss Earth.

Priscilla Mereilles

The event ran fairly smoothly, even without a clear idea of who everyone was. F-Train finally made his way down and took a bunch of photos for me while I tried to fill the blog with hands and colour from the tournament. The Playgirls took out the tournament after running on a super heater on the final table, and once everything was wrapped up I journeyed upstairs to hit the hay knowing nothing was planned for tomorrow.

Riza Santos and The Playgirls

Crap . . . I slept through my alarm and its ticking past 6:40am . . . a flight leaving at 9am and a bucket-load of stuff I still haven’t packed into my car! Stressing and freaking out I call my Dad to inform him that he’ll have to pack the remainder of my belongings as I’m running late for my flight to Manila. “Don’t stress, I’ll do it when I arrive later on” states Dad as I hang up to jump into the shower to get ready.

Passport – check, toiletries – check, breakfast – f**k it and I’m out my door and downstairs. “Hey!” I scream at this taxi that is whizzing past the front door of my apartment. He comes to a stop and I load my bags and we’re off to the airport.

“Sorry sir, you can’t check in for another 15 minutes” responded the counter chick. Pissed that I rushed I grabbed a drink to wake me up and changed over AUS$700 into PHP$18,000 and headed back to the counter to check in. As I was asked one of the most difficult travel decisions, I pondered for a while whether or not an aisle or window seat would be preferable. “Will it be busy?” I asked, “Full” responded the counter chick . . . “Do I want people climbing over me, or do I want to climb over them” I asked the little voice that sits in my head. “Aisle please” and I was off through immigration.

Looking just as tired as me David Saab wondered up through the immigration line to stand behind me, and once through we journeyed to out gate together. “BANG! Just like that he got shot in the street” responded Saab to my pretty broad question of what Manila will be like. We talk poker, Manila, poker, Manila and some more poker before boarding a fairly empty plane filled to a quota of 10%, but we still both managed to find seats less than two metres from each other.

Our flight to Sydney was continued with the Manila discussion until we boarded the second leg of our journey where we both occupied rows and slept the journey until touching down in the Philippines still fairly tired and with a feeling of angst as we collected our bags and jumped in a taxi to navigate the streets of Makati on the way to my hotel the Dusit Thani.

Navigating the streets

Bags checked, room nice, and a pair of bathers in hand we headed to Saab’s condo down the road where he occupies a whole level – 4 Bel Air . . . yeah the number might not be too good and that’s probably why he has a whole floor . . . but it’s a whole FLOOR! We take a dip in the building’s outdoor pool that features four grotto spas before venturing back upstairs where two massage girls are organised to pamper us for two hours.

9pm arrives and I’m lying on a bed in the spare room getting my whole body worked by this little local girl that surely has enough strength to snap me in half . . . just ask my aching everything! Two hours pass and barely being able to walk Saab slips them 1000 pesos plus 200 for a tip and escorts them out . . . I do the maths and work out that we both just received this awesome two-hour massage for only AUD$15! Crazy and its only my first day!

So as the 2009 Aussie Millions slowly starts to wind-down I find myself covering the final table of Event #14: $2,200 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed. Now I’m a huge fan of six-handed poker whether I’m playing it online or watching / reporting on it because I find it is a game of action, four-bets, bluffs and re-stealing.

However in this case it is not . . .

Last night we were supposed to play down to a final table but had to finish the night at a final twenty-four . . . this was at 4am. So back in the Crown Poker Room at 2pm to hopefully conclude the event so as to make the Aussie Millions player party I find myself stuck mid-way through a final table that is far from being a typical six-max tournament.

The play has been extremely tight with barely a re-raise, float or bluff occurring. Losing James ‘Andy McLEOD’ Obst, Ali Khalil, Kristian Lunardi and Sam Higgs didn’t help the cause and now only Noah Schwartz remains; the only one with the potential to loosen up the table.

While trying to stay awake, while my mind wonders at how good the Aussie Millions player party could be (ahhh, free food, free alcohol, good-looking sheilas . . . and all on Crown), I have been reading through some six-handed strategy and decided to come up with a few hints that the remaining players in this event should definitely take aboard!

Tips For Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em Tournaments
- It is necessary to change your style of play so that it suits the game
- Open up and play more aggressive than in a typical full ring game; this however does not mean play everything, but choose to play hands with aggressiveness and power
- Weak-tight play isn’t profitable against tight-aggressive skilled players or loose / maniac ones
- Winning poker is about your edge; getting yourself in mathematically favourable situations and creating a greater edge by your own actions or allowing your opponents to make plays that are a mathematically unsound
- Position is paramount; an aggressive approach allows you to outplay your opponent in more situations
- Finally . . . raise, re-raise and re-re-raise as often as possible and as lightly as possible!!!

Allright, so there are only five tips, and they’re not that good, but that’s all I could come up while blogging this draining final table. However some of these guys could have definitely taken them aboard . . . and maybe, just maybe, we might have been out of here a whole lot earlier!

I’ve made many friends since I strolled into the Crown Poker Room all those years ago. Some of them have vanished, some ties have dwindled, but some have kicked on even through the turbulent times; and in this case it is no exception.

Meeting Johnny all those years ago on a $2-3 NLH table started a friendship that grew everytime we sat down to play cards. He was there for me when I won my WSOP seat, and now I hope to be there when he wins the Aussie Millions. However this is not just a tale of some cash-game donk taking a shot at big-time tournament poker; this is a story for a true romantic of the game – someone that likes to hear a story behind a story.

care of PokerNews
Solomons’ Golden Ticket
Johnny Solomons might not be a big name in the poker world, but he does have an interesting story.

A regular cash game grinder at Crown Casino, he got his hands on a general $250 Phase Two Aussie Millions ticket from a guy who couldn’t use it. Saving a few bucks, and thinking what the hell, he bought it off him and headed home after a good day on the felt.

Johnny Solomons found his golden ticket

Arriving home, his seven-month old Staffy puppy was whipping her tail and barking loudly after being in the house all day. Being close to dusk he thought a nice stroll down to the beach via the river would do the both of them some good. The gentle stroll turned into a beach wrestle to burn some energy before returning home, only to find that the Phase Two ticket that sat in his hoodie pocket had now vanished.

Annoyed, angered and pretty much a little peeved-off, Solomons decided to drive back to the beach to search; but alas nothing came of it. On the bike he went to retrace his every footstep, and again nothing came of it. Nightfall approached and a dropped head followed as Solomons returned home along the beaten path by the river. With his eyes still darting back and forth, his focus was thrown to a tiny folded blue-bordered piece of paper only meters off the track and from the slow-twisting river.

Solomons had found it, but that wasn’t the end of it. He ventured to Crown Casino to parlay that Phase Two ticket into an $1,100 Phase Three ticket before sneaking past the bubble to claim his 2009 Aussie Millions seat in today’s flight.

Will his “golden ticket” reap him the gold and riches of the Aussie Millions? Can this near-lost piece of paper be his road to AU$2,000,000? Sitting with 40,000 chips as we head into the fourth level, we can only wait and see . . .

Johnny ended the day with a little over 21,000 in chips, but will it this be the last we hear of him? Or will his story be heard in under a weeks time across the news headlines? If so, maybe there is a poker God up there that occasionally looks down on us every once in a while . . .

With the big dance of the main event starting tomorrow (well today as its just ticked over 1am in the morning) I’m looking forward to seeing who works their way through the 700-plus field of pros, satellite winners and high-stakes gamblers to be crowned the 2009 Aussie Millions Champion!

However before we find the next Alexander Kostritsyn or Gus Hansen I think it’s important that I share something with you all; some David Steicke magic!

Play has just wrapped up with six remaining in Event #8: $100,000 No Limit Hold’em Challenge with Dan Shak, Bill Jordanou, John Juanda, Tony Bloom, JC Tran and everyone’s favourite poker icon David Steicke as chip leader.

care of PokerNews
Steicke Magic
John Juanda opened with a raise to 8,000 and David Steicke and JC Tran made the call. On a flop of 9♦ 9♠ 10♣ Juanda and Steicke checked to Tran on the button who led out with a bet of 12,000 and both players followed it up with a call.

The turn landed the 2♠ and with it again being checked to Tran he cut down a bet of 26,000. Juanda passed and the clock counted down on Steicke. Five, four, three, two, “I call” responded Steicke as he slid a stack of grey 1000-chips into the pot plus the additional few thousand.

As the crowd gathered and the railbirds leaned as far as they could, the river peeled the K♠. Steicke stared at the board intently though his Clark Kent-like glasses as the clock again ticked down. With only a second to spare Steicke tapped the table indicating a check, and while shuffling chips in his left hand, JC Tran announced all in.

David Steicke Flops Quads!

Instantly Steicke announced call, stood up from his chair and tabled 9♥ 9♣ for flopped quads! Tran shook his head and dropped his cards near the muck. As the dealer reached over to muck them, Steicke asked to see the hand that propelled him to the chip lead. The dealer obliged turning over Tran’s 3♥ 3♦ for an under-pair bluff.

As Steicke raked in the pot sending him to over 320,000, Tran stood up and headed to consult his entourage of Nam Le, Quinn Do and Novermber Nine final tablist David ‘Chino’ Rheem. Running into quads didn’t cripple Tran as he now sits with a still healthy 160,000.

I know, I know, you’re probably staying why Steicke again, but seriously . . . he is the greatest . . . and as a consequence there will be P-L-E-N-T-Y more Steicke posts to come.

With the main event starting tomorrow, make sure to log on to PokerNews to catch every bust out, bad beat and colourful Steicke moment as it happens!

I have witnessed a handful of final tables both here in Melbourne and abroad, but the one that I’m fortunate to blog today stands above them all.

We have hit day 8 of the Aussie Millions, and since my last post we have seen Mel Judah take out the Omaha Hi/Lo title in a marathon final table, Zach Gruneberg capture the limit hold’em and Jarred Solomon grind Van Marcus down to win the H.O.R.S.E. Yesterday saw a highpoint on any tournament schedule with Event #6:$1,150 No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys event attracting 126 runners which resulted in 457 rebuys and a prizepool of over half a million dollars!

Rebuy Madness!

With so much poker talent in the Crown Poker Room it was no surprise to see a final table form with such a strong assembly of raw poker talent. It was no surprise either when you look at who else cashed; Grant Levy (16th), Nic Lackovic (15th), Michael Guttman (12th) and Steve ‘stevoL’ Leonard (10th).

Today’s final table has the following line-up in seating order:
Sorel ‘Imper1um’ Mizzi – 131,200
Clark Hamagami – 95,700
Tony ‘Bond18’ Dunst – 120,900
Mark Kassis – 124,200
Rayan ‘rkruok’ Nathan – 38,700
Larry Karambis – 79,900
Jonathan ‘xMONSTERxDONG’ Karamalikis – 153,000
Richard ‘Chufty’ Ashby – 83,400
Peter Rho – 49,400

Now Sorel Mizzi, Tony Dunst, Rayan Nathan, Jonathan Karamalikis and Richard Ashby all have a record anyone would be proud of; but let’s take a look at some of the others. Clark Hamagami is a young Canadian poker player who has a few tournament cashes, but supposedly he beats 25-50 NLH regularly. Mark Kassis has three previous Aussie Millions cashes including a 13th placing in last year’s Main Event for $100,000. Larry Karambis finished a gallant third in this same event last year behind Michael Pedley and Robert Wang for over $50,000. Finally Peter Rho is in the travelling entourage with Kelly Kim out here from California and has a bunch of cashes including five WSOP and two WPT cashes.

Will this be touted as the greatest Aussie Millions final table ever? Will an Aussie such as Dunst, Karamalikis or Nathan be able to cement their live play? Or will Betfair and Full Tilt Pro Sorel Mizzi and Richard Ashby and yet another notch on their belt?

Only time will tell, so make sure to log on to PokerNews to catch all the action of what I believe will be the best No Limit Hold’em final table for years to come!