It is Memorial Day, a day which, as a former Marine, means quite a bit to me. Since our involvement in Iraq (among other battles), the true meaning of Memorial Day has become very relevant to those who haven't served in the armed forces. A heartfelt "Semper Fidelis" to my brethren serving now, past and future, as to all of the men and women who have served in the other branches.
At the end of this week, the World Series will kick off once again. It will be very interesting to see just what will happen. The Mirage Poker Showdown for the WPT last week "only" drew 309 players to the felt, perhaps because of the preparations that players need to make to be able to put their complete concentration on the six weeks of the WSOP. I think this week's WPT Mandalay Bay Poker Championship will be interesting to watch as well, as far as their numbers go.
The first week of the WSOP will be critical to getting a read on what will happen for the entirety of the event. Last year, it was not uncommon for the $1500 and $2000 events to pull in over 2,000 players. Will those events pull in the same numbers this year, or will the after effects of the UIGEA crush American participation and give rise to a significant number of foreign players making their mark? And just how much did online poker add to the astronomical fields of the events for the past couple of years? Many questions out there...we should have a read on it within the first week of the event.
Add in the tournaments at the Bellagio (the Bellagio Cup III, a new WPT event), the Venetian (the second Venetian Deep Stacks event), and even Binion's (the First Annual Binion's Poker Championship) and there is plenty of poker action in Las Vegas, regardless of your bankroll or possibilities. I would expect to see many professionals, semi-pros and even those taking their first shots at the tournament experience to be criss-crossing Vegas like Christmas shoppers looking for the best deals during the holidays!
Oddly enough, I am having a time of it with bringing my poker game back to playing online after the Hold 'Em Radio weekend in Las Vegas. It is tough to play .25/.50 NL online after playing higher levels live, albeit Limit poker. But it is one critical point that many players can forget sometimes...you have to play within the bankroll that you have. Sometimes, though, it's just not as enjoyable and definitely not as profitable! Enough bitching...I'm playing well and not losing, so that should be a good thing.
My WSOP search continues and perhaps I will have some good news to report on that front soon. If not, well, I'll have to sit out the Big Dance this year. There are worse things that can happen in life...
EB
Monday, May 28, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Hold 'Em Radio Weekend
Hello all,
Well, a week in Vegas was well spent. Hope you all heard the weekend live tournaments on Hold 'Em Radio (www.holdemradio.com) as there was some great play that went on there. It was truly a pleasure to meet all of the listeners that we have and, yes, take their chips in person rather than online! Yours truly went very deep, but not quite deep enough, on the Saturday tournament (finishing 13th) and, on Sunday, I was the table announcer for the final table. Congratulations to July2 and RCGott for taking down those places!
As far as my own play other than the HER events, I did OK. My cash game vibe seemed to be running well and I was up on those games, but the tournaments just seemed to escape my grasp. That's the way it works, though...in the train of tournaments, if you can cash in half of them, you're making something.
Hold 'Em Radio has been down for the past week, which is unfortunate after such a great weekend as we had. It seems the site was hacked on Friday and, after delaying as much as possible, was taken down for a rebuild. As of this morning, the stream for the site is running and we will be back on the air come Friday night.
Now comes the time when I call on the readers of this blog. Last year, I spent the entirety of the WSOP for PokerNews, who now seems to think that I can sit in Austin and give you the same coverage that I gave last year. I encourage you to bombard the PokerNews site and ask "Where is Earl Burton?". Perhaps they may get the message.
Until later...
EB
Well, a week in Vegas was well spent. Hope you all heard the weekend live tournaments on Hold 'Em Radio (www.holdemradio.com) as there was some great play that went on there. It was truly a pleasure to meet all of the listeners that we have and, yes, take their chips in person rather than online! Yours truly went very deep, but not quite deep enough, on the Saturday tournament (finishing 13th) and, on Sunday, I was the table announcer for the final table. Congratulations to July2 and RCGott for taking down those places!
As far as my own play other than the HER events, I did OK. My cash game vibe seemed to be running well and I was up on those games, but the tournaments just seemed to escape my grasp. That's the way it works, though...in the train of tournaments, if you can cash in half of them, you're making something.
Hold 'Em Radio has been down for the past week, which is unfortunate after such a great weekend as we had. It seems the site was hacked on Friday and, after delaying as much as possible, was taken down for a rebuild. As of this morning, the stream for the site is running and we will be back on the air come Friday night.
Now comes the time when I call on the readers of this blog. Last year, I spent the entirety of the WSOP for PokerNews, who now seems to think that I can sit in Austin and give you the same coverage that I gave last year. I encourage you to bombard the PokerNews site and ask "Where is Earl Burton?". Perhaps they may get the message.
Until later...
EB
Friday, May 18, 2007
Las Vegas In May
Hello all,
This is the time of year, before Harrah's purchased the World Series of Poker and moved the time of the event into the brutal summer months in Nevada, that the World Series of Poker would be battling it out. Right now, though, I am in Las Vegas for Hold 'Em Radio's (www.holdemradio.com) Live Tournament, which will be running both Saturday and Sunday. It does seem that everyone who could make it, including show hosts and listeners, has made it here for the event. You should be able to check out the festivities this weekend on the station and even through a webcam that we have set up here.
I am looking to get out to Vegas for the WSOP, but it is tough. Most outlets have cut staff for coverage of events and that is problematic when there are more writers than there are positions. Still have a couple of outlets that might be worthwhile and hopefully something might come through.
OK, have some other things to do (I am in Vegas, after all!) so until later,
EB
This is the time of year, before Harrah's purchased the World Series of Poker and moved the time of the event into the brutal summer months in Nevada, that the World Series of Poker would be battling it out. Right now, though, I am in Las Vegas for Hold 'Em Radio's (www.holdemradio.com) Live Tournament, which will be running both Saturday and Sunday. It does seem that everyone who could make it, including show hosts and listeners, has made it here for the event. You should be able to check out the festivities this weekend on the station and even through a webcam that we have set up here.
I am looking to get out to Vegas for the WSOP, but it is tough. Most outlets have cut staff for coverage of events and that is problematic when there are more writers than there are positions. Still have a couple of outlets that might be worthwhile and hopefully something might come through.
OK, have some other things to do (I am in Vegas, after all!) so until later,
EB
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