Now playing High Stakes No Limit Hold'em

Early Saturday morning I called Tina Tellone, a close friend of mine, to see about her joining me in Daytona Beach Kennel Club for a day of poker action.  Tina arrived 45 minutes late and on her 4^th hand found herself on the button with pocket kings.  Five women limped in to the hand with her and the blinds to go, she announced, “this is NOT a button raise I just happen to be sitting where it is located.”  With a raise of $600 everyone called including the blinds.  The flop came with an Ace, as if there would be any doubt.  The small blind let out with $600 and everyone folded to Tina you could see the steam shooting out of her ears and she called the bet.  Later I asked why and she said, “I had to see what Ace was so valuable on a 50/100 blind level with a pre-flop raise of $600“.  They checked it down from the flop and the woman turned over Ace/Eight off-suit.

After the hand I hear from the table where she was, “just so you know my chips have GPS tracking in them and I will be getting them back”.  Sure enough Tina did just that. The very next level got them all back and then some!  She did it by limping in with pocket 8’s and spiking a set on the flop! The poker gods were smiling as she boated against the woman’s nut flush at the river.  Tina doubled up through the very woman who cracked her Kings.

Way to go, Tina!

She was definitely on her game correctly calling hole cards hand after hand, she was unstoppable.  Accurately assessing the final table Tina offered the woman expected to make it to heads up a chop.  No thanks! Final table action lasted 45 minutes and it was Tina vs. the reluctant chopper. This woman wasn’t willing to concede the trophy or title even though Tina had the chip advantage.  Tina laughingly said, “That’s fine, I’ll win it outright” and it only took 14 hands.

I am reminded of a similar reluctant chopper story from my background.  It was the 2008 WSOP Ladies circuit event at Harrah’s New Orleans.  First place was $16,700 with $9,185 for second.  After clearing most of the final table I ended heads up.  I offered my opponent very generous even money deal with me retaining the title and the gold WSOP Circuit pendant necklace. She declined even though I had 85% of the chips. I won the tournament two hands later.

Tina was on Cloud 9 with her win and decided pickup some extra funds from the cash game.  I think she was more excited about winning the trophy than the cash.  Trophies are tangible reminders allowing  us bragging rights and reminiscent feelings of triumph.  Congratulations, Tina!  Love you!

I arrived early into the poker room and was warmly greeted by Salli. Salli is the tender touch that makes this particular ladies event special. The ladies are treated to gift bags, roses, and so much more which all comes from this beautiful woman’s touch. Thanks Aunt Salli for a lovely twist on a poker tournament.

Those registering early get 500 an extra “green rooster” chips in addition to a starting stack of 5,000 chips. A dealer add-on of $10 gets you another 1,000 chips. The $150 entry event has 20 minute levels.

Actions starts at 2 PM.

Today I am looking forward to getting together with my friends of the High Heels Poker Tour at The Poker Room at Orange Park Kennel Club.  Lauren Failla, founder of HHPT, formed this company is to give women a place to improve their poker skills and provide recognition of their efforts.  of all ages the opportunity to expand their skills at the poker table.  The mission statement of HHPT is “Our Mission at the HHPT is to empower women who want to become champions in the growing world of poker. The HHPT wants to provide the best competitive environment where women can explore, develop, and continue growing and learning top strategies and their “A” game. Opportunities and Recognition are what the HHPT is all about.”

Thanks, Lauren!!

Next event:

Saturday, August 21st @ 6pm
Buy-in = $150
Starting Chips = 20,000
Blinds = 30 minutes
NO DEALER ADD-ON

Copied from http://preventcancer.org/newsroom2c.aspx?id=4560#tourney

On May 4, a record 130 poker players from across the country brought their best poker faces to the nation’s capital to support cancer prevention. The Prevent Cancer Foundation raised $215,000 at its Sixth Annual Bad Beat on Cancer Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament. After an exciting evening of tournament play, Jeremy Coon took the grand prize donated by Harrah’s Entertainment—a $10,000 seat at the 2010 World Series of Poker Tournament.

The event was attended by top professional poker players Andy Bloch, Lee Childs, Annie Duke, Rafe Furst, Jena Delk and Howard Lederer, members of Congress and players from corporate and poker communities. Professional poker champion and Foundation board member Phil Gordon—renowned for his commentary on televised poker matches such as Celebrity Poker Showdown and the World Series of Poker—served as the master of ceremonies for the evening.

The tournament, sponsored by 1-800-Contacts®, Amgen, Astra Zeneca, General Dynamics, Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., Legacy, and the Poker Players Alliance, featured 10 players at each of the 13 tables vying to win a seat at the final table where they competed for fabulous prizes, each of which had been generously donated to the Foundation. Prior to the tournament, Gordon and the other professional poker stars in attendance held a poker clinic for first-time players and for those in need of a refresher course before the games began.

“Poker is an exciting way to bring people together to beat cancer. Most of our guests recognize the Prevent Cancer Foundation’s mission is important and they are more than happy to help fulfill it,” said Jan Bresch Mahrer, the Foundation’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Since its inception at the World Series of Poker in 2003, the Bad Beat on Cancer initiative has raised more than $3.2 million to support the Foundation’s mission.

Learn about the Prevent Cancer Foundation’s other signature events.

I played in the Battle of the Bloggers Invitational tournament tonight.  The Invitational Series is a special event for poker’s writers. It is not available to the general public, shocking, I know, for something named “Invitational” .  Somehow I was able to score an invite at the last minute and got to play.  This double stack freeroll tournament drew 111 players.  NYRambler took first place and TexansBaby placed second.  I went out 29th (pout).

There are two other Battle of the Blogger Tournament series: the Mookie and the Poker from the Rail.  The Mookie is played on Wednesday nights at 22:00 EST.  The entry to this event is $10 +$.  This series runs through May 26 with radio commentary at Buddy Dank Radio.  The Poker from the Rail series runs on Mondays through May 24th.  Entry into this event is $24 + $2 at 22:00 EST.

It was a lot of fun to play with so many of my poker friends.  I look forward to playing more of the BBT events offered at Full Tilt Poker. Check out more details here: http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/battle-of-the-bloggers

ClubWPT PPI Elite Bounty Series

Featuring a $1,000 prize pool, the PPI Elite Bounty Series pits ClubWPT members against some of the biggest names in professional poker. To sweeten the pot, each of the PPI Elite players has a $50 bonus bounty on their head – so when you knock ‘em out, you walk away with an extra $50 bucks!

PPI Elite Bounty Series is scheduled for March 24th at 9PM ET and the tournament will appear in the game lobby as ‘PPI Bounty $1K.’ So keep an eye out as this event returns and be sure to bring your “A game” because the PPI Elite crew & I play to win. Here’s a link to ClubWPT.

The following pros are scheduled to play:

Ralph ”RP-Law” Pecorale
Tony “TonyLayPPI” Lay
Joey ”JoeyTheB_PPI” Brooks
Jonathan ”J_Tamayo_PPI” Tamayo
Frank “frankyfuneral” Cieri
Jena ”JenaDelk” Delk

Poker Players International is a full service agency for poker players. PPI and its clients also serve to further the poker community, both on and off the felt, through educational and charitable efforts.

LEVEL 6

OMg!  I just folded my queens when I timed out trying to type a 2.5X BB bet.  And why do I insist on simply calling from the blinds with speculative hands.  I need to be raising or folding here. I suck at this.

Wow! They just let me steal the blinds twice this round.  I called a standard raise that was called by one other player from the button.  I am trying to play more hands in position.  When the flop is checked around to me, I bet two thirds of the pot.  Everybody folds.   I am really good at this.  

Two hands later, I open for 3xBB and get three bet by the button. I fold because this bet represents 30% of the button’s stack.  I can only continue with this hand if I am willing to play for the buttons entire stack.  Since I have 9 10 off suit, I fold, intended to find a better spot later.  I suck at this.

The better spot comes three hands later.  I am able to get heads up with a good player. My bluff was successful because I created a believable story.  And the fact they missed on the wet board really help.  I am good at this.

We are nearing the end of level 10.  Here are my current vital stats:  11K chips; average 9k, 302 players remain; 90 earn some money.

LEVEL 12 150/300/25

I just overplayed the last two hands and my stack has eroded to 4K.  I suck at this. 

I shove with 10 J suited after a nit opens.  The nit calls with AK.  I flop a pair and the AK does not improve.  I double up and think I am good at this.

I fold the next two hands. The next hand I play is [Ac, 5c] from the big blind.  The button opens with a bet of  1,065 (obv. steal), so because I suck at this, I flat call.  The flop is  [9d, 5d,8s].  Excited to hit bottom pair, I shove my remaining $7K.  The button calls with [Qd, 6d].  The turn is [Qs].  The river [Jh]. 

I am prepared to shove my 282 remaining chips immediately if not sooner, because I am good at this.

I win the next two hands by luck and luck alone because I suck at this.

I finish in 215th place when my third hand is not able to hold up. 

The time is 3:42 am. Time for bed. 

I am playing the $17K guaranteed tournament on FTP.  The buy in for this tournament is $24+2 and drew 907 players, giving us a prize pool of $21.8K.  This tournament features 12 minute levels and 3,000 starting chips.  The play has been as expected –bad.  We have lost 132 during the first level of play.

On-line play is not my strong suit.  It is difficult to keep my mind from wondering.  So I am writing this blog while playing.  It is my hope that my writing here will help to keep me in touch with the action on the table.  Unfortunately I type way to slow to provide commentary on every hand, so this experiment seems to be a failure thus far. 

Dag open limped from utg+1. Mr. R rose to pot and it is folded around to Dag.  Dag ends up taking the pot on the river with a large bet.  No show down.  He is UTG now and open limps again.  Mr. R pot raises and I fold my 4 7 off-suit from the cutoff.  The blinds fold and they are heads up.  Each street is checked down.  Board shows 2 K J K 10.  Dag wins the 900 pot after calling a river bet from Mr. R with pocket eights.

Just folded my K6 suited.  The same two players are in this hand with .  A turn bet gets Hia to fold. 4 4 A A J on the board and a river bet gets Dag to release his hand.

Mr. R limped and I raised to 4 bb with KQ off-suit and Mr. R calls.  Mr. R leads out on the flop and I reraise. Mr. R folds.

Mr. limps again with 800 chips and gets reraised for his trny life by Dag.  Mr. folds! Dag shows AJ suited and looses to AK suited . Mr. R has played 23/24 hands.  He just doubled up with the 78 suited vs. QQ, staying in with a gut shot draw after the flop.

The next hand Mr. R is moved to a new table.  It’s folded around to me in the small blind, and I raise pot with A8.  The big blind insta-folds.

It’s amazing how long two minutes is when you have to pee….

At the first break I have 5390 in chips.  The average is 4748.  There are 573 players remaining.

The field was comprised of 38 players.  It was nice seeing from Ante Up magazine.  There were four or five females in the field.  The field seemed comprised of either beginners like me or more adept players.  I overheard someone say they drove in from Gainesville.  Tampa was represented by my friend, Chris Cosenza, Publisher, Ante Up magazine.  Oh by the way, be on the lookout for their magazine in your favorite poker room.  Ante up is considered THE resource for Florida poker. 

My friend Sue drove me tonight.  It was her first time to watch any poker tournament.  On the drive home, she was full of questions.  She wondered why a person got a penalty for talking on the phone but no one received a penalty for texting on the phone.  Good point, Sue!  I do wish the rules were equally enforced whatever they may be.

For some reason the cocktail waitress failed to make a last call to the tournament area. Heck, I didn’t see any server for the last two hours.  I was unable to get a cold bottle of water to help calm my recurrent hot flashes.  Hot flashes are not something you really understand until it happens to you. I thought cramps were bad—but this sucks more! 

This was a very enjoyable evening.  I took great pleasure in playing something besides NHL.  This was my first Live razz tournament.  This experience makes me realize it is time for me to learn the game of razz.  To facilitate this goal, I will be holding razz tournaments at my poker room beginning in mid-December.  Sign up now to play freerolls and play money as we complete testing of the site.  Here’s the link:  www.pokerprosnetwork.net/jenadelk.html.

What’s next?

I will be at Daytona Beach Kennel Club on Thursday, November 12^th, to play in the inaugural Daytona Beach International Poker Tournament, Championship Event (day1A).   This is the first multiday tournament ever being hosted at DBKC.  The poker room management has worked hard to fill the field by holding tons of sit-n-go’s and satellites.  There are already over 60 registered.  A good turnout is expected.  Here are the specks of the event:

Thur. Nov. 12 (Day 1A)

Fri. Nov. 13 (Day 1B)

Sun. Nov. 15 (Finals)

2pm Start time

$650 Buy-in

Starting chips 10,000

Starting blinds 25/50

45 Minute Blind Levels

I have some very exciting news. 

I am involved in the launch of a new website – I am associated with PPN.  Poker Pros Network, newest concept in online poker opens November 1, 2009.Players Group Ltd and Openlot Group have teamed up to bring the poker world a totally new concept in online poker. A new network for online players where friends and everyday players can sit with pros. Poker Pros Network is opening for free online play November 1, 2009 with the launch of  http://www.pokerprosnetwork.net.

Players Group Ltd. CEO Chuck Kidd says:” We are proud to team with Openlot to bring this unique Poker Pros Network to the online poker world. We have currently signed more than 30 top online, as well as brick and mortar pros to play at the PPN. And that list is growing every day. The allure of playing against the world’s best players online has already been proven.  At the PPN we make it easy to interact with the PPN PRO players of your choice on your schedule and at your budget limits.” 

Openlot Group CEO Bruno Michieli says, “Openlot is proud to provide state of the art technology offering remote gaming services, total player management and total infrastructure system to the PPN. Our goal is to deliver the highest quality total gaming solution management. Openlot is leading the way for third generation games offering solutions to the entire online gaming industry.”

Signups are now being taken at www.pokerprosnetwork.net/jenadelk.hml. And that one login will work for any PPN site in the future. One site, multiple pros, easy entry, free play, live play and tournaments, built by pros for the enjoyment of everyone.

Real cash play will commence December 1. 2009.