That said, I don’t like doing this during the breaks – you should be taking these to relax and clear your mind, to get some fresh air or do whatever it is that you need to do. But after the tournament is over, it can be extremely valuable to remember and discuss key hands.

What do you think about the folks that come here with just enough for one tournament buy-in, and are here to take “that one shot?”

Again, it depends on that person’s financial situation, what he does for a living. If someone has a lot of money and he’s playing for entertainment, that’s fine. What’s the difference between that and going to a Lakers game with his wife, having a good time and dropping a grand? Or maybe he goes to the Blackjack table, or goes to a Vegas show? To some people, it’s just a different level of entertainment and that’s totally fine. The key is to just be in your comfort zone financially. I mean, I’d never put up $1.5K for a tournament if that’s all that I had to my name.

Along those lines, do you think that there’s a specific point you should be at as far as your bankroll is concerned when you decide to play in the series?

Of course; It’s really important to only play in tournaments where, if you lose your buy-in, you’re not totally bummed out. It’s difficult to put a point on exactly how much money that is, because everyone’s so different. Someone might have a million dollars and lose $1.5K and be really bummed out; while someone who has only $3K and loses that same $1.5K isn’t really that bothered. As long as the buy-in for the tournament isn’t an overriding factor that takes away from your ability to play poker, you should be fine. You don’t want to be continually stressed out and just holding on for the money. You don’t want to be tense and constantly pressuring yourself – you need to be able to focus just on playing poker.

How would you advise handling a bad run – should you jump back in or take a break?

It depends; if you’re playing good, and you’re well rested, and you can afford to play, don’t take any of the tournaments that you’ve planned off – play in them. If you’re playing bad and you’re tired or burned out, take a couple of days off. For myself, I map out the tournaments that I want to play in and after a week straight, if I’m barely missing the money or barely making the money, I’m just going to give it a break; take a day off, go to the pool, maybe play some cash games, maybe just get some rest, whatever. I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep my head in the game and avoid getting burned out. If you’re doing the right things, you probably don’t need to take a day off. But if you’re struggling and you’re mentally down, which does happen in tournaments, take a couple of days off. Get away from it and do what you need to do to be rejuvenated. The key is to maintain your focus, and if you’re burned out and just going through the motions, then you’re just wasting your time – and money.

What do you think is the best way to avoid burn out?

Stay as physically fit as possible and get lots of rest. It’s also really important to balance playing poker with other activities. Don’t stay at the Rio or the Bellagio; rent a condo for the summer if you’re going to be out here that long. I do all of these things – go for jogs and workouts; try to stay away from the casinos when I’m not in a tournament. Go to the movies or do whatever works for you. The point is this: do other things.

Do you have any final words of advice?

It goes back to what I said earlier: play within your bankroll. This is definitely the key to playing in the World Series and poker in general. I’ve done this for a long time, and I still battle with it on occasion. I’ve had big losses that really hurt specifically because I played too big. When you play too big, you run bad; you’ll play timid and afraid. One of the most important keys to playing poker successfully is staying within your limit. If you’ve got a bankroll that allows you to play in $300 or $500 events, then play in them. Don’t play in the $50K HORSE event if you’ve only got $55K to your name. Play with what you’re comfortable with and you won’t worry about cashing, you won’t worry about having to make the money, about going to the pit to get even – you can just come in, sit down, and play. And if you lose, you join the long list of others and you get on with it – it’s very tough to win tournaments. If the money means too much, you’re going to do crazy things and everything will go completely wrong.

Yesterday’s $750,000 Guarantee attracted a nice field of 4,057 players and had a prize pool of more than $800K. A hearty round of congrats are in order for all of the players who took part in this enormous donkament (go ahead, pat yourselves on the back), but especially our winner syzygy-1-1-1-1, who can now afford to go on a nice little shopping spree with his newfound $143,285.13.

But the big story of the day had to be David Benyamine’s better half (much, much better), Erica “The Poker Babe” Schoenberg, making a deep run in the $750K Guarantee all the way to the final table. Unfortunately, Erica didn’t quite complete her mission and wound up being the first player eliminated from the final table. Don’t feel too bad for Ms. Schoenberg though, she took home more than $10K for her efforts – not a horrible return for a $200 investment. Brains, beauty, and poker skills to boot – she really is the complete package boys.

Meanwhile, there was some seriously sick action going down at the PLO ring-game tables yesterday. Team Full Tilt’s Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen and John Juanda were joined at a $200/$400 PLO table by high-stakes regulars SteveSung, Pr1nnyraid and LoLiNa for some $20K flips. This was degeneracy at its finest folks – please do not try this at home.

JJ was the big winner for the session, taking home around $280K – a nice payday for one of the nicest guys in poker. LoLiNa also had a very nice session, ending the day up about $90K. I look forward to the day I can afford to take $20K flips, seems like it would be fun. Then again, I look forward to the day when I actually make at least $20K a year (target date: 2052).

The Madness strikes back as we wait for the return of the FTOPS…

Just a heads up for all the Tilters out there in Pokerland – as promised, we’re running another round of Sit & Go Madness this weekend. The fun kicks off on Friday, August 1^st at 14:00 ET and goes all the way through to Sunday, August 3^rd at 14:00. There’s more than $75K in cash and prizes up for grabs, so if you’re a SNG player or just like winning cash and prizes, this one’s for you.

We’re also rapidly approaching zero hour for FTOPS IX (or 9, for those of you not fluent in Roman numerals). The action gets going on Wednesday, August 6^th with Event #1, a $1 million guarantee NLHE donkament, and runs through Sunday, August 17^th when the $2.5 million guaranteed Main Event takes place. There’s more than $15 million guaranteed over the 25 events of this mammoth series, so please don’t miss out on a second of the best donkament action around.

That’s all for now folks. If you’re hankering for more of The Rail we’ll have some new Bond18 action up for you in a bit, and AlCantHang will return soon with another round of Bloggers On The Rail – make sure to check them both out. Have a good one…

I’ve left plenty of other jobs before. Some, I’ve liked - others, not so much. But I can honestly say that I’ve never had a job that, at its base level, was as cool, fun and entertaining as this gig has been day in and day out. In my book, that’s pretty high praise but, then again, I’m a cynical bastard at heart.

Don’t get me wrong. Like any job, there have been days when I’d have liked nothing more than to chuck my keyboard out the window and head for the closest bar. In fact, I may even have done just that on an occasion or two (sorry K-Rich), but when all is said and done, I’ve spent the last 40+ months immersed in all things poker. How can I really complain?

If I wasn’t already a fan of poker before I started working here, having the opportunity to meet and befriend pros like Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Andy Bloch certainly would have made me one. Just having been able to sit with these guys and listen to them talk about their strategies and approaches to the game is an education that every serious – and aspiring – player should experience. The fact that they’re all pretty cool guys was just icing on the cake.

Speaking of cool folks, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my fellow inmates at the asylum we call The Rail. I couldn’t ask for a better backing band than the crew that’s worked with me day in and day out in an effort to keep you, our reader, entertained and informed. I’ll be sad to leave them behind, but I know this blog will flourish in the capable hands and paws of the Inuit, the Captain, and that angriest of monkeys. Good luck to you all and may HDouble have mercy on your souls.

As for me, I’m heading out to stu… wha?! I’m heading off to play stud? Shit! Can someone find me Keith Sexton’s number? Or Friedman’s? Come on… someone’s gotta know where to find Perry….

Anyway… I’ll see you all down the road. It’s been fun. Thanks for reading.

Big Donkey

Is the Happy Hour schedule going to stay the same forever, or are you guys going to mix it up any time soon?

While I’m not the resident Happy Hour guru around these parts (unless, of course, you’re talking about happy hour at your local bar), I have been hearing whispers about some impending changes to the schedule. Once again, please don’t quote me on this (if you do, I might get fired), but I’d say be on the lookout for perhaps some more game-specific Happy Hours in the near future. I know that we already have a Limit-specific Happy Hour, but we’ll probably take a foray into the Omahas, Studs and Mixed Games of the world fairly soon.

I can also say that we might or might not be planning a new promotion centered around Happy Hour, so stay tuned for more potential details on that potential debacle. I joke, I joke, I kid, I kid. We’ve absolutely never held a promotion that could be classified as a debacle. Fiasco, maybe. But debacle, never.

I was just watching the latest Poker After Dark, which was a cash game as opposed to the standard tournament format. Any chance they’ll be switching formats completely? I thought it worked so much better as a cash game.

Once again, I’m not the resident Poker After Dark expert around here, so I can only speak from my extremely limited knowledge. I also saw the Poker After Dark cash game and was extremely entertained. I mean, who doesn’t love watching Phil Hellmuth make a complete ass-hat of himself? And that kid Tom Dwan (Durrrr, to all you online fan-boys out there), man, can he play or what? He’s going to make himself a lot of money one of these days. What? He’s already made millions? Looks like it’s time for another crying jag for me…

In terms of whether or not they’ll be permanently switching formats, I seriously doubt it. I do know that there’s another cash game on the schedule for later in the year, but I really hope they don’t do away with the tournament format altogether. Cash games can often be fun to watch (with the right mix of players), but there’s no end-game to look forward to (other than making large piles of money to take home). I just feel like the tournament format provides a little more excitement than the cash game does. And you can take that statement to the bank (wincing)…

You’re welcome my son. I take my duties as Jesus very seriously.

God complex aside, yes, FTOPS IX is almost here. Satellites are running, the last few pro hosts are being confirmed, and we’re all ready to rock and/or roll. Let the donkaments begin! Seriously though, it almost feels like Christmas around here. We all get so giddy and excited, we’re like a bunch of five-year-olds waiting to unwrap their presents. The fun begins on August 6^th, don’t miss out.

That’s it for now folks. Until next week…

What advice would you offer to someone making their first foray into the WSOP?

It’s been a long time since I was there, and I probably play a lot different from someone sitting down for the first time. For example, I’m looking to pick up a lot of chips early in a $1.5K event, and if not, I’ll enjoy the rest of the day. Whereas if it was my first or only event, I’d be playing super tight and looking to survive early on and make the most of it.

For someone that’s here for the first time, I’d advise them to stay away from the pit - it’s a money burner. If you’re here for the tournaments, stay away from the cash games, because the last thing that you want to do is stay up all night until 6AM before a tournament and possibly lose a lot of money, because then you you’re not going to be focused on your $1.5K tournament. Map out your schedule, choose the events that you want to play and can afford, get a good night’s sleep and come in realizing that it’s the World Series. Take it seriously. It’s like anything else – you don’t want to be up partying and drinking the night before. If you’re doing it seriously and want to do well, then you’ve got to treat it seriously.

I know that this sounds like standard advice, but it gets overlooked or blown off all of the time. People are miserable because they weren’t prepared and got knocked out of a tournament, so they fly over to the pit thinking that they’re going to win their $1.5K back. The next thing you know, they’re down $10K. All of a sudden, a $1.5K buy-in that was affordable has now become almost a $12K loss. The key is to stick to the game plan early on – that’s key.

I’ve seen so many people come to the WSOP with a list of things that they plan on doing, like eating good, getting exercise, going for a massage, getting plenty of rest, and staying away from the pit and live action. After two days, they’ve been drunk, lost over half of their bankroll, haven’t done the other things that they wanted to do, and they haven’t even left the casino. They’ve done everything completely wrong in the first two days. Getting off to a good start is crucial, because it’s easier to keep doing things right than it is to try and get out of trouble. On the other hand, when you get off to a bad start, everything is a lot more likely to go wrong. The discipline is sticking to your own rules.

Is there anything that you’d say to players coming specifically from an online background?

I’d advise them to stay completely focused on the game at first, like not wearing headphones for example, because you’re going to miss out on things that are really important. You don’t want to miss out on blind structures, conversations at the table – there’s too much to pick up when you’re new to this type or level of tournament play. You need to stay focussed and try to pick up as much information as you can and not be distracted; watch the play, watch the action, and listen to the conversation.

This is especially true when you’re seated with good players. Back when I first started, I remember being seated with guys like Howard Lederer and I’d listen to everything that they said and watch how they played. You can learn a lot from good players just by watching them. I specifically remember watching him and another really good player, and really paying attention to how they played every hand. If you’ve got your earphones on and you’re just staring out into space, you’re not going to learn nearly as much. It’s a totally different world from online play.

While we’re talking about online play, I thought it would be good to revisit a little feature we’ve dropped over the past few weeks: the big stakes games. Thanks to our friends over at the High Stakes Database, we can tell you that since July 1^st, the biggest overall winner on the site has been OnTheRize, who’s banked more than $851K so far. He’s followed closely by Team Full Tilt’s Gus Hansen who’s picked up more than $822K, and CHUFTY, who’s raked in nearly $760,000. The full list of the top 10 is shown below:

• OnTheRize - $851.316,00
• Gus Hansen - $822.244,55
• CHUFTY - $758.302,00
• Urindanger - $588.364,75
• David Oppenheim - $509.842,30
• Aeron73 - $509.703,65
• pr1nnyraid - $508.134,25
• La Key U - $505.299,95
• Nizot Skizared - $462.186,25
• Rob Hollink - $434.431,55

When it comes to specific games, pr1nnyraid is leading the No-Limit Hold ‘em money lead with more than $306K in winnings since July 1^st, while OnTheRize has made all of his money at the PLO tables. Gus Hansen is the big, big winner in this month’s PLO Hi/Lo games, with more that $1.4 million in profit, though he’s given about $600K of that back to the poker community in other games. Who says the pros don’t know how to share?

Return of the Monthly Million

After a two month hiatus for FTOPS VIII and our 150 Main Event Guarantee, the Monthly Million returned to the schedule last weekend, much to the delight of GulahPapyrus who took down the tournament and more than $219K in first-place prize money.

Overall, 2,396 ponied up for Sunday’s big tourney, generating a prize pool worth $1,198,000, which was good enough to pay out the top 351 finishers. Some of the notable names who padded their bankrolls on Sunday include Michael Craig, Roy Winston, Matt Sexton, and our newest Full Tilt Poker pro, two-time WSOP bracelet winner Josh Arieh.

Welcome to the Family

While we’re talking about new FTP pros like Josh, we’d be remiss to mention a few other red names you’ll be seeing around the site. First off is notable high-stakes player and the always entertaining, Eli Elezra who brings with him one WSOP bracelet and a whole lot of “gamble”.

Another bracelet winner joining the pro ranks is Nikolay Evdakov, who along with Vitaly Lunkin and Svetlana Gromakova, make up our new Russian team. Speaking of teams, our buddies over at CardRunners have expanded their lineup as well, adding some familiar online names to our roster. Look for Isaac Baron, David Benefield, and Ryan Daut playing under their own names in our ring games and on our educational tables.

Personally, I’m lobbying to head up our newest effort, Team St. Bart’s, but it’s going to be a tough fight against The Captain. Wish me luck.

Until next time…

• FTOPS IX: that’s right baby, FTOPS is back! 25 events, more than $15 million guaranteed – that pretty much says it all. If you can’t get excited about this then you really need to get your head checked. This truly is online donkament play at its finest. The action kicks off on August 6^th, please don’t miss out.
• Big Money Sundays: more awesome donkament action at Full Tilt Poker. There’s over $1 million in prize money up for grabs every Sunday with the Sunday Brawl, $750K Guarantee and Sunday Mulligan. This Sunday the $750K gets replaced with the monthly $1 Million Guarantee, so there’s even more prize money to be had.
• Happy Hour: earn twice the Full Tilt Points simply by playing in your favorite games. Whenever you see the smiley face in the game lobby that means Happy Hour is on. Come on people, who doesn’t love to get free stuff just for doing the same old thing? Use those extra points to get great gear from the Full Tilt Store. Doggy tank-top anyone?
• The Iron Man Challenge: my all time favorite promotion. It’s a bit on the complicated side, so let me summarize for you – the more you play, the more you get. Earn Iron Man Medals to use in the Iron Man Store, get entry to Freerolls and the chance to win up to $100K. This one is for players who really want to commit themselves to the game, and it’s really a great reward for showing that dedication.

We’ve also got a few great promos coming up that haven’t been officially announced as of yet, but let me give you a quick sneak peak. For all you SNG fiends out there, another round of Sit & Go Madness is coming up very soon, so stay tuned for all the details on that one. And for all the Patrik Antonius fans out there, we have a couple of great promos in the works involving Team Full Tilt’s newest member. Details on all of our new promotions will be coming soon.

That’s it for now folks. A hearty thanks goes out to all the Tilters out there who help make this the best place to play online poker. Have a great weekend pokerland…