Racquet Ball for 6 hours - Straight Up - No lie!!

by Phil

2 Comments

I love racquet ball.  I am not that good at racquet ball.  But I have been getting better.

Last night I texted @uberpasha (this little brother to @magicAntonio101) (Antonio Esfandiari) to see if he wanted to play.

I used to be able to beat Pasha but as of late he has been schooling me.  So we start and after 2 games he quits.  (He beat me both times.) 
He mumbled something about how he had a big day the next day and he was calling it a night.  But luck was once again on my side. 

His buddy Beau (Beau Evans) was with him and wanted to play.  Wheeee!

We played and played.  After beating him 4 games I declared that I would play him til noo the next day, or 20 games in total, and that I would win
each game.  After beating him 4 more times I realized that he was determined to have me eat my words.  I stepped it up.  By the 10th game we
were both very tired but neither of us were quitting.

Who is this guy?  Where is he finding all this enduro power?  Beau is about 23 years old and in great shape, but I was never more determined to
not stop.  The 115 hr poker session was some great enduro training, but I was really starting to feel fatigued.  But in the end, I figured (correctly)
that if I could play cards for nearly 5 days, then I could play r-ball for 5 or 6 hours.

And that is what I did.

My longest session of racquet ball I ever played.  (And obv his too.)  16 games in total.  Two with Pasha and 14 with Beau.  So sick.  It took about 6 hours. 

I went undefeated against Beau.  (With two of my wins were shut outs.)

It felt good.  Enduro stuff is fun.  Racquetball is fun.

Why did I play so long?  One reason was this.  Beau is soon going to get good at the game, and the days of being able to full out school him will be
coming to a close.  And sometimes you just have to get the wins when you can.  (Makes me wish I had played more cards during the boom days of 2005, and 2006.) (Ho hum.)

Anyway.  Thought you might like that story.

Come to think of it, this was the longest enduro athletic activity I have ever done.  It even took longer than the marathon I once ran back in the day.

Life marches on. 

$1,500 - A bargain! I get to know Andrew Robl's net worth for life!!!!

by Phil

6 Comments

Well, the Series is over, the Bellagio poker room is pretty much a ghost town, and later today I will be driving back to LA.
It was a most interesting time.

A lot of interesting stuff, but this one comes to mind.

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At the Bellagio about a week or so ago we were playing a little 100 200 plo and I noticed that Andrew Robl was crushing the game. 
That got me curious how his series went and that got me to thinking about what his net worth might be.  So I breached the topic with him.
I suggested the following.  That he should give me a number where, if I paid, he would tell me his net worth once a year for the rest of his life. 
I told him that I would ask towards the end of each WSOP.  (And also that I would never tell a soul any of his numbers for as long as I lived.)

He said for $1,500 he would do it.

I was amazed that I had asked.  I am not even sure why I did.  But after it came out of me I was quite pleased.  This seemed like a truly brilliant
idea on my part.  Then as I found the moment again I realized that his offer of 1,500 seemed like the bargain of the century.  Wow.

I thought it over for about 2 or 3 seconds and then I realized that if I didn't lock this up at this bargain price with an instant hit, then he might retract
all offers and then this wierd and glorious moment would pass.  Oh no, I thought.  We will have none of that and then on the 4th second I tossed him the $1,500.

So that was that.  Til the day I die I will always know what Andrew Robl's net worth is.  And that makes me happy.  I like Andrew, I like his laugh, and now
I will have something odd to bond over as we grow into old men.  Sometimes, things end up just perfect.  And this is one of those times.

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Free Phil Laak Unabomber Hoodie Promotion Extended

by Jake

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You too could be sporting your very own custom Unabomber Poker hoodie signed by Phil Laak.

Phil Laak has been giving away custom signed Unabomber hoodies to anybody who opens a new account and earns at least 2,500 Frequent Player Points (FPPs) before August 5th. Make sure that you use the promo code “FreeHoodie” when signing up to get your signed Phil Laak hoodie.

You’ll still enjoy Unabomber’s generous 110% sign up bonus on top of it, so download the free poker software and open an account today.

If you already play on Unabomber Poker, have no fear, you can also score yourself a signed hoodie by earning 2,500 FPPs between June 15th and August 5th.

The WSOP, the Main Event & Media Freerolls

by Chad Holloway

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Gavin Smith wins his first WSOP bracelet.

I played in the All-In Magazine Media Freeroll earlier this week.  It was a super turbo, and I mean it was extremely fast.  There were 89 entrants and a few of us from PokerNews entered.  There were also a number of poker professionals and notables in the field including Carlos Mortenson, Robert Williamson III, Barbara Enright, Montel Williams, Gavin Smith and Jerry Yang.  I’m proud to say I was the last PokerNews member standing and went on to make the final table, which included Corey Zeidman and Marsha Waggoner.  Zeidman busted in 7th place and I was right behind in 6th.  Waggoner ended up chopping the win and took home some prizes.  All in all it was a great event and I had an awesome time.

On the 4th of July, I attended the Bluff Magazine party at Sapphire, the World’s largest gentleman’s club.  The strip club itself was alright, not overly impressive, but the party was a great time.  A lot of people from the poker industry were there and it was open bar, so it all made for a great time.  I met and hung out with John Blowers, the author of Life on Tilt.  His book will likely be made into a movie soon and that was a fun topic of conversation.  John is a fun guy and it fun getting to meet him, especially considering we both write for Poker Pro Magazine.

As for the WSOP itself, I watched Gavin Smith win his first bracelet.  That was something special and among my favorite things I’ve gotten to see out here.  The featured table was packed with supporters and it was a very emotionally charged atmosphere after he won, one of those rare moments you look back on and are glad you were part of it.  Congrats to Gavin on his first bracelet.  Other highlights recently have included Daniel Alaei winning his third bracelet.  He is only 25 years old and the only person to have won that many bracelets by that age was, guess who . . . Phil Ivey.  Alaei is the real deal and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him dominate for years to come.  Also, apparently Peter Eastgate, the 2008 Main Event Champion, quit poker on the eve of the Main Event.  He is giving up his sponsorship deal and moving on from the poker world to focus on other things.  It sounds like he is for real since he didn’t play the Main Event.  I guess only time will tell.

The Main Event itself has been insane.  The Rio is packed and everyone in the poker world is has shown up.  As I write this, it is Day 1d and NFL superstar Emmitt Smith did the famous “Shuffle Up and Deal” announcement before playing.  The cameras were surrounding him and I even managed to snap a few photos myself. Also, the table right next to me was home to Chris Ferguson, Justin “BoostedJ” Smith and John “The Razor” Phan.  For a Day 1, that is a stacked table.  It should be interesting to see who can navigate this massive field.  I’ll be sure to document anything worthwhile in my next blog.