May
22
by Phil
Went to Aria tonight. Iveny Invitational pre-party thing. 275 runners all going after 1,000,000 dollars in prize money. It will be over
fast (6 hrs) so I expect to see gamble style poker. Should be a lot of fun. (Starts manana - Sat - at noon.)
Cool highlights.
1/4 mil for first place
If you win you get a shot at another qtr mil if you can beat Ivey in a heads up match afterwards.
There are many bountys. (Jennifer and I are two of many. Everyone's bounty is for 5,000 dollars. Sick.)
And should you be lucky enough to knock out the man himself (Ivey - obv) then you will collect a cool 100,000 dollars.
I am very happy for Jennifer as she is at the infamous table 17! This is Ivey's table. Wow. (I am at table 14, and I have no
idea who will be at my table.)
The rumor mill at the pre party (Duece - at Aria) was that there are only about 25 pros or so in the event. (Out of 275). That is cool.
The gift bag was righteous. I-pods, a set of headphones, and some knick knacks. (The head phones are super phat high tech comfy style ones.)
And what else... I don't know. Oh yeah... I am going to give a shout out for my girl... I would love it if she got picked for the
WSOP tourney of champions thing. Here is the link ----------> http://www.wsop.com/TOC/
I will give a twitter update (realphillaak) manana if anything interesting happens.
Later all my degen friends.
Phil
P.S. Interesting door locks for the rooms at the hotel over there. Just a flat thing that you put your key up to and presto, door opens. We are in the future.
I already knew we were in it, but it is nice to have little things like this pop up from time to time to remind you.
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May
21
by Chad Holloway
I just got done with my Full Contact Poker (FCP) Fantasy Poker picks. FCP is Daniel Negreanu’s poker forum site and has been a pioneer in the Fantasy Poker world for a number of years. This year, like last, they’ve decided to do a Pick’Em Fantasy Pool. The way it works is simple. You are presented with a list of matchups and must choose who you think will earn the most money at the 2010 WSOP. For example, Daniel Negreanu vs. Phil Ivey. There are 57 matches and you’re awarded one points for each correct pick. The best part of it all is that it’s free and for great prizes. If you’re interested in Fantasy Poker and want to have a rooting interest in the WSOP, you might want to check it out.
Just to give you a few more examples of the matchups, here are some of my picks:
- Huck Seed vs. Greg Raymer: Two World Champs going head-to-head! Both are great at all the different poker games, which makes it hard to pick. I went with Seed.
- Phil Hellmuth vs. Erick Lindgren: After a disappointing 2009 WSOP, I am expecting a big year from Hellmuth; although, E-Dog had a down year as well.
- David “Devilfish” Ulliot vs. Eli Elezra: I’ll admit this may be a bad pick, but it’s no secret I’m a fan of the Devilfish. Hopefully he’ll be able to prove me right.
- Tom Dwan vs. Patrik Antonius: A real-life “Durrrr Challenge” at the WSOP! Everyone pretty much expects Dwan to win a bracelet sooner or later, and I’m going to say it’ll be sooner than later.
- Annette Obrestad vs. Joe Cada: Obrestad is finally 21 and will be playing in her first Vegas WSOP. Cada is the reigning World Champ. Each have something to prove which makes this a heavyweight matchup. I think it’ll be close, but Obrestad will edge out Cada.
- Phil “Unabomber” Laak vs. Jennifer Tilly: Kind of harsh to put the Unabomber up against his lady, but somehow I imagine both will relish the competition. Phil is favored to play more events so logic says he’ll win the most.
There is another Fantasy Poker League I have come across that is simply amazing. Most Fantasy Poker leagues make you choose a team that you must start for the entire WSOP. Not this one. This league is state-of-the-art and allows you to change players each day for each event. That is huge! Simply put, this format puts it on the same level as Fantasy Baseball or Football. I am devoting a lot of time, resources, and energy to this league and hope to compete for the top prize . . . a seat to the 2011 WSOP! I’m not going to say much more on this one, since I’ll only lower my chances if more people play. But if you’re really interested, I’m sure you could find it with a quick search on the Internet.
On even more exciting Fantasy Poker news, I believe I will be taking part in the World’s most famous league . . . the ESPN Fantasy Poker League hosted by Andrew Feldman. This private league pulls in some of the biggest names in poker; for example, last year the list of players included Feldman, Gavin Smith, Daniel Negreanu, Lance Bradley, Gary Wise, Bernard Lee, Dan Michalski, Mark Seif, Chops Preiss, Dennis Phillips, and Howard Lederer. How did I manage to get invited to such an exclusive league? Well, I did an interview with Feldman a few months back for Poker Pro Magazine and Online Poker Pro Magazine. Given my affinity for Fantasy Poker, and the fact that all my articles focus on that topic, I thought it’d be prudent to see if it’d be possible to get involved. Luckily, and to my delight, he said yes. I look forward to participating and writing some blogs/articles on the league.
I leave on Monday for Vegas and will be there throughout the WSOP, so I’ll write my next blog from there. Be sure to check back for the latest on the WSOP and Fantasy Poker.
May
20
by Phil
Half of any money that I win during this enduro session I will be donating to Camp Sunshine. (http://www.campsunshine.org/).
This is an amazing place that enables kids with life-threatening illnesses to go and have a good time at what is essentially a summer
camp (that just so happens to have onsite medical support 24 hours a day).
Good luck to me!
Phil
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May
20
by Phil
I still remember to this day looking through an old copy of the Guinness Book of World Records. I read it from cover to cover. It wasn’t long before I started thinking of breaking one of these records and getting myself into that book. There were a few that I thought I had a shot at.
I remember two of them. Pogo stick hops and memorizing pi. Basically drawn dead and not knowing it I made a few futile attempts at both of these and soon learned the harsh but real truth. Getting the record for something when you are up against billions of people is more difficult then I had suspected. At one point I even entertained the idea of starting a new category. Of course, that went nowhere as well, and by the time High School rolled around I had accepted my fate. Getting into the Guinness Book of World Records wasn’t going to be happening for me. Ok, no worries, move on.
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Cut to about 8 years ago I found myself playing an enduro session of poker. Over time I played maybe about 10 or so of these enduro sessions (all between 40 and 60 hours) and it got me to thinking.
Maybe getting into that book is not so far fetched after all. Maybe, just maybe this could be it! There were only three things in the way.
1) I always seemed to fall asleep at the table.
2) Every few years the record got harder and harder to beat. (Others were thinking the same thing as me!) And…
3) With each new enduro session getting it done took more effort than the one before.
On the plus side…
1) I know that deep down in me is a machine that seems fueled by the impossibility of it all.
2) If I knew I was going for an official record, then maybe I could dodge the ‘between hand naps’ altogether.
And let’s face it, what would life be without challenges? Well, it would be living I suppose, but just not as fun. And fun is a major tenet in my life philosophy so I thought I would give it a try.
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Anyway, I have been training since January 1 for this event. Time to beat: 78 hours. Held by my buddy from across the pond, Paul Zimbler.
What have I been doing to train you ask? Good question. Basically here is the run down.
Essentially I broke it down into three components. Body, mind, and spirit.
For my BODY:
I have been running, swimming, or going to the gym 5 times a week.
I have kept a tight leash on what I put into my body food wise. Great diet. (Special emphasis on not eating anything fried, cheese, or ice cream.) (By the way, I really love popcorn shrimp, fried calamari, mint flavored ice cream and Gouda cheese.) But more on this under ‘Spirit”.
For my MIND:
Every time I was eating well or at the gym I tried to remind myself that through these actions breaking the record would become effortless. (Neuro-linguistic programming at work.)
For my SPIRIT:
Each time I see fried food, cheese and ice cream I converted those food items into trigger points of effortless detachment. The thinking goes like this. By training myself to not want things I want very much, I will be ready and prepared to effortlessly not want the sleep that my body will inevitably want VERY badly. 6 months of training of not getting what I want will give me the much needed edge I will need.
If mint ice cream happens to be in front of me, now instead of craving it (or any of my other favorite foods) I am reminded of how effortless it is to not want the things I want. My will power is at an all time life high because of this.
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For what it’s worth. This training did not come from some secret military training manual or anything. I came up with all of this on my own. It may sound like a crack pot sort of training regimen but to be honest… every time I look at it, it seems genius. Maybe it is in some sort of weird top secret military manual and we just have never seen it. Titled… “How to beat the need for sleep on weird navy recon spy missions” or something like that.
How do I feel today?
My weight has dropped from 211 to 190. I feel fantastic. My will power is at an all time high, and I am ready to take on this challenge.
The Bellagio has agreed to host this event. I plan on starting at noon on the 2nd of June. And my goal is to get to 80 hours.
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I have played many enduro sessions of poker, but never anything of this magnitude. I know this will test my limits but I love a good challenge and am excited to be trying to beat this record in Vegas’ top poker room.
Good luck to me!
Phil Laak
Degen for Life