Tonight was the final table of the $545.00 7 Card Stud Event and the beginning of Event #6, the $545.00 NL Holdem Event.

Congratulations to Paul Vinci from Shell Beach Ca. for taking home the trophy and $19,850.00 in good ole American Cash. 2nd Place went to Di Li Xia of Rowland heights Ca.$11,210.00. It was a strong final table with Miami John Cernuto and Randy Holland, but Paul prevailed in the end after a long and hard fought battle. This event put Miami John in the lead for the points battle of the LAPC. The person with the most points at the end of the Tournament Series wins $50,000.00. Miami John has made 2 final tables and leads with 94 points. Good Luck John!

The NL event tonite had 541 entries. This was down from 730 entries for this event last year and first place is just a little over $64,000.00.

I was really pumped up for this event and wanted to have a good showing. Wanting something and being able to do it are two different things and tonite I played only 4 hands in the first three levels. I was completely card dead and the guy in seat 4 to my left was hitting almost every other flop and was incredibly hot. I busted when I was in the big Blind with 77 and the cut off went all in for his last 2600 chips when the blinds were at 600-300. I only had 2200 chips and was struggling and 77 was a monster for me at the time. The flop was 7-4-J and the turn was a 9 and the river was a 10….sick….One of these days Im going to get runner runner in a tournament. I am very disappointed for not going deeper, but when the cards are not coming and you wait for the monster hand your to far behind and a bigger stack will call with just about any Ace or High suited connector.

I am not going to be playing any other event until the next $545.00 Nl tourney on February 19th if I satellite into it.I will wait until next Tuesday or Wednesday to go try some satellites and if I have any success I will be playing,if not my LAPC is over.

Several of the Big Time players are coming into town. Ted Forrest and Barry Greenstein were playing cash games today. Barry being the gracious gentleman he is autographed his book I bought “Ace on the River” for the Fallen Heroes Tourney. I saw Johhny Chan and Jean Robert Bellande who busted early in tonights tourney playing High Stakes cash game. John Pham came and watched the Tourney for awhile and we spoke about how well he is playing lately. Greg Mueller was wandering around the tourney floor for awhile and Shawn Sheikhan and Hassan Habib were going at it at a table.

I didn’t get a chance to see who all was playing in tonights event because I was focused on my table. After I busted I saw George Pineda (who made the money going out in 44th)Lance Allred (finished 28th) Thanh Laong (15th) and Mimi Tran who was playing very well until her AQ ran into Ak and went broke in 24th.

It was some very good Poker and one hand worth writing about was AA-KK-10-10 and 7-7 all in pre flop making the pot over 90,000 chips and Hau Tran from San Bernardino Ca. hit a 7 on the turn for a set and took out the other 3 players. Hau was up to 240,000 chips at that point but his aggressive play caught up with him and he went broke in 11th position.

My fellow Poker player who I have played tournaments with quite often,Shan Jing is the chip leader at the final table with about 283,000 chips Vahan Sudzhyan “The Shield” is at the final table with 200,000 as is Allan Meyerson (AGAIN) with a good amount of chips.

The Final table returns Tomorrow where the final 10 will battle it out for the top prize. 54 players made the money in this tournament and I saw some very good Poker being played tonight by many of the final 54.

I will bring you an update tomorrow night or Thursday morning on who won the event. I will not be going to the Shoot Out Event tomorrow and I probably will not be heading over to Commerce until next Tuesday.

My next blog will be Sundat afternoon about the Xterminators Poker Crew members night Saturday. We have our qualifying event so I am looking forward to this coming Saturday.

Take Care— Be Safe—

The No Limit Multiple Re-Buy tournament came to end l;last night and what a great prize pool it was.

Congratulations to Bud Lavassani from Burbank Ca for taking home the trophy and $158,144 in cash. Looks like pocket threes gave him the Victory over Denny Lee of Los Angeles who took a nice pay day home for second $99,569.00 3rd,Diane Nguyen $63,950 Phat Chung $42,633 Adrian Cimpan $30,256.00 Glen Bean $23,036.00 John Lombard $17,191.00 Le Kim Bahn $12,721.00 and Jordan Siegel $9,283.00. Jean Robert Bellande who was second in chips going into the final day ended up 14th and $5,776.00 extra in his pockets.

I didn’t watch the stud tournament last night so I do not know how many people entered. I only know Kenna James was one of the entrants due to Paul Valencia from my poker crew seeing him as he left the Casino after playing cash games all day.

Well tonight is the night I have been waiting for all weekend. I am really determined and when I get there tonight at about 2:30 pm I am going to be very focused. I had a very good nights rest and I am taking the girls out for a nice lunch today before heading to Commerce.

Also let me apologize to Joshua Malina for spelling his name wrong the other night in my blog. I have played against him on Hollywood poker and I watched every episode of the West Wing and still messed it up! Sorry sir…

Also The Bicycle Casino has put up on their Website The Fallen Heroes Charity Event. You can go to the Bicyclecasino.com and click on Tournaments and register on line. I hope all of you do because it is for a very very good cause and it will allow us to help a lot of families in the coming months.

Take care all…..

Ok before I get started with tonites event,let me get you caught up on a few of the previous events.

Thursday Nights opening event was won by Kimya Williams from Los Angeles who took home $77,631.00. Kimya had to get through a field of 1190 other players and joining him at the final table finishing 6th was Josh Molina,whom you may know from the West WIng Television show. Congratulations to Kimya for a very well played Tournament.

Friday Night was the Limit Holdem with 387 entrants and first place went to Robert Pacieb from Vallejo Ca. Robert took home $30,408.00 for his effort just barely beating the runner up, Frank Mariani who is part owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and $17,005.00 richer.

Saturday Night was the Omaha Hi/Lo split event with 368 entrants and as I left Commerce at 7:00pm the final table from this event had just started with Matthew Ardo leading with 137,000 chips and Constatine Zdanowich at 112,000, David Mcgee 111,000 to round out the top three.

Tonights Event #4, was the $335.00 NL Holdem event with multiple Re-Buys and a guaranteed prize pool of $250,000

Again the weather tried to put a hamper on this event, but 811 strong willed Poker Players ponied up the initial buy in and as Cheri Dokken and her staff doing the marvelous job they always do,this event started right on time.

It should have been called the “Sunday Night ALL IN Frenzy” because I have never seen so many all-ins at the beginning of a tournament and screams for “RE-BUY” as I have tonight. Kevin,Andy and Hung were running around selling chips to the players so fast I know they lost about 10 pounds each. Hundred Dollar bills were every where and they were also handling some flare ups at tables from disgruntled players who couldn’t believe some of the calls people were making.

A list of some of the participants tonight .John Smith Hon Le Max Pescatori George Pineda Ut Nguyen Miami John (who took 7th in the Limit Holdem Event) Franco Bruno Bruce Buffer Paul Liu Jack Haley Paramjit Gil Phillip Penn Sr Minh Nguyen Davood Mehrmand Jean-Robert Bellande Mimi Tran Duane Owens David Levi and Jack Boghassian along with J.C Trans older brother who you saw on this years ESPN broadcast of the WSOP.

There were a lot of deep pocket players here tonight that I did not recognize and it made for some exciting play.

Final count, 811 entrants, 1,107 re buys and 445 add ons for a prize pool over $687,000.

Now I had a side bet (my first one ever) with David Levi, first place would be under $170,00.00. David took the over for a very nice $10.00 wager. As I crunched the numbers after the re buy and add on period was over, I headed over to David’s table and as we were discussing the bet,Duane Owens said he wanted to get some action and bet David $100.00 the winner would get over $200,000. David took the under and I just stayed at my original Ten Bucks.

As the prize pool was announced, David reached into his pocket and threw me a Ten Dollar Chip and told me to enjoy the cup of coffee it would buy me. I told him I wasn’t going to buy coffee with it, I’m framing it which brought a chuckle from David and a little bit of a smile. David ended up winning the bet with Duane, so he made a $90.00 profit.

1st Place $158,014.00 2nd Place $99,000 and change. The top 81 spots were getting paid with 81st making $1500.00. A great pay out for another successful event.

It is so hard for me to walk around and watch these people play. I so want to be in the mix with them but I have to be rested for my 10 hour shifts each day that start at 5 am in the morning. Tuesday will be my event and I hope I am not overly anxious to play and make a mistake. I have been waiting patiently and I need to stay focused.

I do not want to get into many stories regarding hands I saw played, but one amazing hand involved Kimya the first nights winner. Seat 3 raised the pot to 850 when the blinds were 200-100. Kimya called as did one other player. The flop was 2-4-7 rainbow and seat 3 went all in for about 3600 more. Kimya called and the other player folded. Seat 3 showed KK and Kimya tabled A-2 diamonds, the turn, 9 and the almighty river…..deuce…giving Kimya trip 2’s and sending pocket Kings home. Kimya is on a roll and if the cards keep hitting for him like that the rest of the night, he will have another “W” next to his name.

Tomorrow Night is the Stud event,however I will not be attending this event. I need to get home after work to take care of some personal business and get to bed early for Tuesdays Event.

Hope I caught some of you up on the goings ons at Commerce. I again would like to thank Cherri for allowing me to be able to walk amongst the sharks and bring you all some of the news.

The cash games down stairs are starting to attract some big name players and I am sure this week as the Borgata starts to trim its Main Event field, more players will be flying,driving or Busing in for some of the California Gold…Commerce Casino Chips….

Take care all

The Deputy

I

I stopped by Commerce Friday Night and Tonight to see how everything was going after the heard of people stampeded into the Commerce on Thursday night.

D.J. Vegas one of the floor men and the one who is in charge of the evening satellites sent me the final table standings of the $335.00 NL from Thursday Night,however it will not open so I apologize I cannot bring you the winner tonight. Also the final table standings from last nights limit event. I know that one of the Los Angeles Lakers Owners Frank Mariani,who drives this awesome looking masserati,is the chip leader.He is an aggressive player and I have been at his table in several tournaments here in the Southland.He is a very personable gentleman so I wish him the best tonite.

The Omaha Hi Lo split event is tonite and there were 368 entries. Cheri Dokken the Tournament Director said there were about 411 entries last year. There is a big storm blowing into Los Angeles again tonite so this may have kept a few players away. Also I will be updating you on a problem that has arisen nationally regarding Ladies Night Poker events. Cheri told be briefly about her concern she might have to cancel the women event because of this ruling. let me look into the decision pending before I elaborate any further about it.

Tonights event had some local players entered and here are a few of the people I saw.

Barbara Enright Frankie Odell Miami John Cernuto (who is in the top 18 of the limit event at 7 pm) Taxi Sandoval Paramjit Gil John Smith Ronnie Mcmillian Brian Belen Randy Holland Max Pescatori Allan Meyerson Mickey Mills Robert Turner Phillip Penn Sr “Super” Mario Esquerra and Jorge Walker.

Omaha Hi/Lo Split is a slow and tedious game and since there were no tables for satellites and Floorman Daniel Alvarez told me I couldn’t play until he got a hat from my charity event I decided to come home and spend some time with my girls. (Daniel I hope you like the Hat)

So on my way out I ran into my good friend Shawn Shekhan who was destroying the 2-7 low ball game and he told me about some web site labeling him as a child raper and therefore he was removed from the NBC Heads Up event later this year at Caesars. The web site has since retracted the story but the damage has been done. When are these morons going to realize when they do not have the facts but want readers to come to their sites so they exaggerate and sensationalize stories. They should be held accountable for their non truths, especially when it affects one’s livelihood such as Shawns.

I have alredy registered for Tuesday Nights $545.00 NL Holdem Event and I am at Table 10 seat 3. Last year there were 730 entries and the way the crowds have been so far this year I expect it to be close if not more. The weather is supposed to be very warm and clear on Tuesday and since there are only reruns on TV and the satellites have been a plenty, I look for a good number Tuesday Night.

I will update you tomorrow Night on the past events and again I apologize for not having the proper results tonight.

Take Care

On a cold and rainy night with tornadoe watches in effect and both passes to Northern California and Las Vegas covered in snow,1,191 Poker players showed up at the Commerce Casino’s opening event.

A $335.00 buy-in, No Limit event, gave the brave souls who showed up on one of the nastiest days we have had in awhile, weather wise,dollar signs in their eyes.

The throngs of players who started arriving 2 hours before the scheduled time of 3:30pm waited in long lines just to register. The tournament started at 3:30pm sharp as the Tournament Director Cheri Dokken gave the words all poker players love to hear,”Shuffle up and Deal”.

The line for registration still had about 200 people waiting to get in. There were players in a huge white tent set up on the balcony freezing as the wind was blowing and they were breaking cash games on the main floor down stairs in order to accommodate everyone.

Cheri and her staff did an amazing job as I did not here one complaint from the players waiting too get in. Everyone was just amazed at the amount of players who battled the traffic and elements to get here today.

They all came to battle for the share of $346,581. The one who will out last the other 1,190 players will take home a cool $77,631, not bad for a minimum of 2 days work with a $335.00 investment. The top 99 players will make the money with 99th getting $589.00. They will play until 3:30am Friday morning and the remaining players will return at 7:00pm Friday night to finish the event.

I saw several players I know and respect show up tonite and here is just a few.

George Pineda Frankie Odell Hon Lee Jerry Buss Paul Liu Ryan Raven Micky Mills Allan Meyerson Miami John Cernuto Paramjit Gil Franco Bruno Ronnie Mcmillian Tom Selig Eric Mizarachi Robert Turner Mimi Tran J.C.Tran and Nam Le, Tommy Le and several people from the WPT Boot Camp I attended a few weeks ago trying out their new found skills.

They were seating people as fast as they could and it was amazing how many people were busting out within the first hour.

I should have set up a bad beat story booth because I saw numerous people on cell phones calling their loved ones to tell them how they got rivered or how the donkey called with Jack Three suited and cracked his set or they were all in with aces only to get beat!

The last player to register was at 4:50 pm and by 6:15pm everyone was in the Main ballroom, which seated about 830 people.

The Commerce staff allowed me to walk around and take notes and I would like to thank them for the privilege. I saw some amazing calls but overall I thought the players were playing pretty tight and taking their time . I stayed until about 9:45pm and there were approximately 340 people left. I had to leave in order to get some sleep before my 3:30am wake up for work. This is why I didn’t play tonite,but I have to tell you I really wanted to. I just couldn’t go on a few hours sleep if I went to the end. I didn’t want this on my mind all night, so I am waiting until Tuesday to play.

I will try an update you tomorrow night on the outcome. I know when I left Mimi Tran had a good stack as did Nam Le and so did Jack Bohagassian.

Have a great day and take care.

Already a year has gone by,its amazing how time is flying by. Today is an anniversary for me in the Poker world. It marks a one year anniversary that I played in my first ever big poker event. I had played at smaller casinos and the biggest field I ever played against was the event I had won in Dec 2006 at the Orleans in Vegas, where there were 288 people entered that night.

But that was only several weeks prior to this event which had 1220 people entered. It was wall to wall people and I was in a tent on the balcony. It was a warm day as I remember. Nothing like today is here in Los Angeles. Cold and rainy and snow levels are so low the Grapevine Freeway and the Cajon Pass, where you come into Southern California from Vegas is closed because of snow.

The event starts at 3:30 pm pst as all of the LAPC does. They play for twelve hours and then they return at 7:00pm the next day to finish. I am working tomorrow so I cannot play in todays event. I get up at 3:30am to got to work and thinking about this would ruin my game and I would have to go straight to work,,not today. I am already registered for Tuesdays 545.00 NL event. I have tues-wed-thurs off so I will be limited to the events I play.

I will be stopping by there almost everyday and I will write about anything interesting I see or here about.Several pros play these small events because the fields are so large the money is worth it to them.

Last year I played in three events and cashed in two of them. I still think about the beat I had when I went out 17th because a measly 3 hit the river to give my opponent a set after he went all in with 9-3 when the flop was 7-Q-3 and I had QJ. I was crippled and made my final move with K-6 of hearts and was called by one player with A-9. Two hearts on the flop but nothing else and I was booted by ace high in 17th.

I had made it through a field of 790 and was disappointed I at least didn’t make the final table. I then went out 30th against 690 players about 2 weeks later. Overall for my first major poker tournament I was very pleased and have been waiting all year for the LAPC to return.

Its ironic the first event I play is the same event I went out 17th last year. I have to do better this time around.

Also my Charity Event is only a month away. Hassan Habib gave me 5 100 dollar Commerce Chips last week and told me to put 4 players in the tournament for him. There are 2 Deputies who are off of work fighting cancer right now, so I have invited them to join us on February 24th along with their spouses,Hassan thank you very much for your kindness and support.

I am hoping the events flyer makes it on wisehandpoker soon, so all of you who are interested in playing can sign up. I spoke with Gary Wise last week and there are some new changes coming to the site but he promised it will be up and running soon.

Take care all, I will let you know how many people entered todays event and if any of the “Big Players” entered.

Take Care

When I started playing Poker in July of 2006,little did I realize two of the players who were playing right along side me in the evening tournaments at the Bicycle Casino, would be become GREAT players and one of them went on to win a bracelet at the 2007 WSOP in the Seniors Event, Ernest Bennett.

The three of us have become very good friends and still play poker together here in Los Angeles. However this article is about the one I have not mentioned yet,Jorge Pineda.

Jorge is a part time poker player and is the owner of a very successful construction company. We met at the Bicycle Casino playing in the small tournaments at night and during some of the tournament series events here in Los Angeles.

Now George as I call him, can buy in to any tournament with his bankroll,( over $400,000.00 in winnings) but he still plays the satellites to try and enter the events and he is very successful at these.

Not only is George successful in satellites,he is even more successful in events. George first cashed in an event in 2002 and in another in 2003. In 2004 he cashed in 4 events which led to a breakout year in 2005 where he cashed in 20 events. The 2006 campaign George continued great success cashing again in 20 events and last year, 2007, he cashed in 19 events with 3 second place finishes and 3 first place finishes. Already this year George has cashed in 4 events winning the $1500.00 Deep Stack event at the Bicycle Casino this past weekend.

One can be easily fooled by Georges personality away from the table. He always has a smile on his face and is often laughing with others. If you have ever met George and played at the Poker table with him, he is a fierce competitor and has great instincts. Last Monday at the Bike we were at the same table and George was short stacked and moved all in. I had pocket 8’s and was getting good odds on the money and at the time it was only about a sixth of my chips to call. When I called, he gave me a look I have never seen from him and so I said, “There are no friends at the Poker Table” George tabled A-Q and hit a Queen on the flop to double up. I felt bad it was against George, but he knows we are here to win and if one of us knocks one out of a tournament, it will not affect our friendship.

With over 64 cashes in 5 years he still has the heart and desire to win every event he enters. The passion for the game is still there for George and he is off to a great start this year. With the LA Poker Classic starting Thursday this town is going to be buzzing with Poker Players from all over. Just look out for George “Cipote” Pineda players, because he is on a tear and has a lot of success at the Commerce Casino.

Congratulations George!!!! See you at a Final Table Soon.

Ok real brief because I need to get some sleep, but I played 3 satellites at Commerce tonite. two $120.00 and one $80.00.. 1st one is a 120.00 flop a set put all my chips in because I know how players are at Commerce. got called by a kid with a gut shot be he caught runner runner for a flush. The $80.00 I lost to set over set.. 5’s against Jacks and the real kicker….in the last $120.00 I caught quad 8’s on the flop of Q-8-8 against this guy who I called Mr All In..every one of his big blinds he went all in…and usually on the button. very agressive guy but I kept my cool and was patient. so what does he do after the flop and three of us left in the satellite…Right…he goes all in of course i am excited as one can be when I turn over quad 8’s to his pocket Queens. Very short lived excitement as the turn was a Queen…

Tuesday i will write about some of the other Poker i played and the big boys are starting to roll into Commerce already as the LAPC starts next Thursday. Barry greenstein,Johhny Chan Hassan Habib,Billy baxter and a few others were playing there this weekend.

Enjoy the football today and have a great few days…Thank you Josh Nichols for putting my air intake system on my truck today>>>>your the man…

Poker has been pretty gross for me in the last… two or three months. I haven’t been playing poorly I don’t think as much as it has just been cold decks and bad beats. Last week one of my friends was watching me play in a six-handed sit-n-go and was laughing at how many times my hands were holding up. And by that I don’t mean AQ vs. K9 preflop; I mean AK vs. A9 and a 9 falling right on the flop. Yeah, it’s been nothing short of gross. So, I’ve had to drop down a little after moving up in summer when my hands were holding up. Hopefully my variance ends pretty soon.

Earlier this week I was unlucky enough to actually get sick after stating two sng’s as once (I normally play two at the same time to keep me busy). Well, shortly after starting I started getting effects from what I would later discover being food poisoning. I think I still played OK, but I could’ve focused better without the effects for sure. I ended up busting out without cashing in both.

Right now I am nearly done with the second week of my interim class. For those of you that are curious to what that is, it’s a class I have Monday-Friday for three hours over the course of three weeks. This class hasn’t been real bad at all other than the fact that it starts at 8:30 and my college sleeping schedule doesn’t fit in with getting up that early.

I was surprised to hear that Shannon Shorr headed back to school this semester. If you don’t know who that is, he dominated the Bellagio Cup two years ago and finished somewhere in the top 5 that year in the Card Player Player of the Year I believe. I’m not sure of his reason for going back to school after being out for a few years. I have to support his decision, though. If I took a break from school, I’d either never be able to get back into the groove or I would actually come back form the time off with the mentality of studying more and work harder. I wish Mr. Shorr the best of luck hitting the books again.

There have been numerous discussions recently regarding the ethics in poker and the banning of players from sites.

Most recently the interview on PokerRoad Radio with Gavin Smith, Joe Sebok and Bart Hanson. Three guys who I personally know and have the upmost respect for,not only in the Poker Community but in the real world as normal people as you and I are.

The day we are all born and every day since we have been taught the rights and wrongs in life by others. Most of us by our birth parents and others by relatives or someone who cared for us.

We have been prepared to go out into the world and become someone. As you got older you came upon the fork in the road where one path would lead you one way and the other path would lead you another.

All the lessons we had up until now as we stood here deciding the path we want to take are running around inside are heads. As we look to the left we see the possibility of riches, green grass,expensive cars and beautiful women. However the flashing sign has a picture of the Devil smiling and looking down right through your soul.

As you turn to look down the other road at first it appears empty but there is a small light at the end you can see some blue sky with the clouds barely moving and theres an angel not far from you waiting with open arms.

I believe we all come upon these roads more than once in our lives and at times its difficult to stay on the right path. We all do make mistakes in our lives but as long as we show remorse and the mistake was not a horrific crime in society one can be forgiven if remorse is shown.

PokerRaod did an interview with one of those individuals in our time who took the wrong road. The person in question had the opportunity to let the Poker Community as well as the rest of society know he made a mistake an appear remorseful for what had happened.

Now PokerRoad is not Nancy Grace, a former prosecutor and host of a show on CNN that badgers the hell out of one for ratings.

Bart and the crew asked some tough questions to give their guest the opportunity to clear the past and because the guest stuttered and appeared evasive at times was not the fault of the guys on PokerRoad.

The Poker community has a lot of trust in poker players that continually play on the tournament trail. It has become a fraternity of brothers and sisters and at times your family needs help. Several players have gone broke in their careers only to have a more successful player lend them money to get them back on their feet with just a mere handshake and your word!

I was raised if a man does not have his word he has nothing and I believe in this whole heatedly. I deal with the scum of the earth every day here in Los Angeles. All those who took that other path and have stayed on it for years and have done things I do not want to even discuss here.

This is why for me becoming a Poker Player and have had the privilege to meet Joe, Gavin, Bart and others in the Poker World with the integrity and morals they have instilled in themselves and the respect they have for others has been such a rewarding experience.

There guest is still a baby in the eyes of many and although what he did was very wrong, no one was physically hurt but when you hurt someone intentionally no matter what you are doing and you know it’s wrong people get upset. However people are forgiving to those who apologize with sincerity and after a given time have proved they are back on the right path. Sometimes it takes another to hold that person and guide one down the right path. Maybe this individual needs that kind of nurturing and hopefully there is someone in his life to help him for his sake or the world of Poker will never forget. Just look at the world of Wild Bill Hickcock and remember how he ended up playing the Ace Eight.

I thank the people responsible for PokerRoad and the professional way they report the things happening in the world of Poker. Keep up the good work and with the kind of individuals you are maybe it will rub off on some of those standing in the crossroads of life right now.

Once a cheat always a cheat? Once a thief always a thief? Reputations in life are very important in anything you do. I wish everyone the best and if we all reached out a little more to others in our lives it might become a better world.

Take Care, Be safe….