Scott Diamond

I was going to tell you about the past two tournaments I played on Wednesday and Friday at the Bike, but other things are sometimes more important. I lasted to about 180 players out of 797 Wednesday. I made a move with 88 and was called by a big stack holding QJd and he hit a QJ on the flop. Friday AA lost to A2h when I pushed all in first, in a 4 way pot of about 4400 chips and was called. The flop ALL HEARTS..

This morning about 8;00am I was assigned to assist LAPD in Highland Park re: a Homicide Investigation. When I arrived I found out it was one of our own Deputy Able Escalante who had only been on our Department 2 1/2 years.

Deputy Escalante was shot several times as he was getting in his vehicle to go to work at the County Jail by an unknown assailant. He was only 28 yrs old, married with three young children and served time in Iraq with the U.S. Army.

I did not know Deputy Escalante, but anytime a Law Enforcement Brother/Sister lose their life, a certain piece of you inside dies along with them. It is hard to take and this one is even tougher because of the way it happened.

Two years ago another Deputy Maria Rojas was in Long Beach putting her gear in the trunk when she was shot by two unknown individuals riding bikes early in the morning.

Those two suspects were caught and recently received life in prison without parole. The jury deliberated only a short time because the evidence was overwhelming against them but the Jury decided against the Death Penalty.

LAPD has their finest Homicide Detectives on this case and some of our finest are assisting them. There were so many High ranking officials from both Departments there and LAPD did a great job of securing the area to keep the media and looky loos out.

My boss Sheriff Leroy Baca was there immediately after being notified as was Chief Bratton from LAPD.One thing Sheriff Baca makes sure of during a crisis such as this that the family is looked after and someone is there with them 24/7 over the next few weeks. Many Deputies admire him for this knowing if tragedy strikes in their families, he will be there to make sure all is taken care of properly.

My prayers and thoughts are with the family right now. There is still a long road ahead and with LAPD's finest and our team of experts the suspect will soon be found and brought to justice.

Thanks LAPD for the way you all handled today. Thanks to our Command Staff for showing so much compassion today.

Deputy Escalante may you rest in Peace!

Here it is July 30th 2008, where does the time go? The WSOP is over and this is the first big tournament series in the past 3 weeks.

Todays event is a $335.00 NL Holdem Event with two starting times.In years past there were good size crowds for these events and this year should be no different. The Bike runs several different dollar amount satellites and there should be quite a few players trying to satellite into these events.

There are only a few $335.00 events and there are several $550.00 events. so the prize pools will be very good. My girls started kindergarten this morning and they get out at 1:25pm and with my wife working on my days off, it is going to be difficult for me to play some satellites. The events are starting at 3:15 pm and this could keep the average Local player from attending. Most of the people I play in these tournaments with work, and do not get off until 4 or 5 in the afternoon.This will only increase the fields on the Fri-Sunday tournaments.

I read an article today the West Virginia Attorney generals Office is going after a Fire Department for $40,000 they raised in 2 Charity Poker Tournaments. The Seward Volunteer Fire Dept raised the money this year and was told there Charity was Illegal under West Virginia Law so they have to forfeit their money to the State. What a shame, I wonder what the Attorney General is going to do if they don't pay?

I played on PokerStars last night in a 180 person SNG with a $4.40 entry fee.I made the final table 3rd in chips with 39,000k. I busted 9th when my raise of 8,000 was called . I had KK and the other player had A-10s the flop came out 10 high and he made a large bet and I re-raised him and he called. I had him covered by 4300 chips and after getting all the money in the middle he turned another 10 to cripple me.

We played for almost 4 hours and you would of thought it was a big buy in event. Pretty good players after the third or fourth rounds and I made a whopping $12.00 for my effort. It made the time pass and I got to play some Poker.

I am doing the Body Cleanse regime right now and eating very healthy and my family is hating it. They are used to going to breakfast on my days off or out to Dinner once a week and now they are stuck at home eating whatever their Mom cooks for them at night. I only eat one meal a day and drink two special shakes a day with some almonds for a snack in between.

I am still dealing with the swollen feet and I am going to another Doctor tomorrow, but I feel good, I am working Full Duty in my Patrol Car and adjusting to this Diet.

If you want to go to Vegas in the next few weeks there are some great deals right now at the Hotels. Vegas just had its worse month in ten years and the past several months have shown a decline in revenues for most of the Casino's. I have already received some great deals in the mail and on the Internet, so check them out.

Have a Great day,,, Take Care...Be Safe....

I played last night in the Charity set up for Scott by a few people at Pokerstars. A disappointing 47 players paid 22.00 each with half going to Scott.

I made the final table of 9 and had JJ against a raise of 1400 chips and I only had 5500 chips which was just below the average of 7000. The raiser was the chip leader and aggressive. So I put all my chips in and he called with AQ and hit a Q on the flop to knock me out 9th and win $32.50. First was only $240.00 but it was supposed to be for a good cause and not even the pro's who said they were going to play showed up.

Legends starts Wednesday at the Bike and my girls start kindergarten on Wednesday also. I probably will not be playing any Legends events this year, except for the Media Event where I got my start playing tournaments in August 2006.

If anything changes, I will let you all know. Hope all is well,,,,take care....Be Safe....