Thoughts from the Basement

My fiancée has a week off from school, the weather is perfect, but I’m stuck in my basement office working on my upcoming Heads Up Poker book. I promised that I’d be done with the manuscript by the end of May and I’m really feeling the pressure of this deadline. It’s hard because I’m such a perfectionist that sometimes I’ll spend 4 hours on one page of text. I know that sounds ridiculous but I want this book to be really good. Honestly when I agreed to write a book I had no idea what a process it’d be. It’ll be worth it though. Writing has forced me to clarify my thoughts about poker and life in general. This will be done just in time for the WSOP. I can’t wait to finish my commitments so I can immerse myself in poker all summer-long. Well, that and UFC Undisputed 2010, which comes out soon. J

As for other activities, about three weeks ago I severely sprained my right ankle playing indoor volleyball when someone came way under the net while I was jumping. I came down on their foot and have been on crutches since then.

This last month has been a whirlwind. Two weeks ago I went out to Reno to support Jen Harman’s team poker tournament benefiting the National Kidney Foundation. While I was out there, I took part in a free poker forum with David Chicotsky, Mark Kroon, and Sam Chauhan (among others). Traveling on crutches blows but I had fun out there and I think it’s very important for poker players to give back to the community. This tournament helped raise over $200,000 for the National Kidney Foundation.

 Last week I headed down to Grudge Gym in Colorado to watch Rashad Evans prepare to fight Quentin “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 114 at the end of this month. Rashad brought in my friend King Mo to help him train. Mo is the newly crowned Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and I know he’s doing everything he can to help Rashad. I have to say, after watching Rashad’s power while he hit the mitts with Trevor Wittman, I’m predicting Evans by KO.

Today I’m flying to Vegas with Amber for some R&R. No concrete plans except maybe a lazy river expedition.

On Wednesday May 26^th I’ll be playing in a bounty tournament on Victory Poker. If you eliminate me, you’ll get my $50 bounty. I’ll also send you an autographed copy of my book when it gets published.

So that’s it for now. If I’m in front of a computer it needs to be for the book, not for blogging. Back to the gind!

Pablo.

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I'm Not Your Friend. aka The Facebook Incident

For a while I had a legit facebook account. I rarely used it but I’d thrown a few photos up there and it was nice when friends of mine would tag me in photos of trips we’d been on. I probably had about 20 friends and had logged on less than a dozen times.

In October maybe, my gmail account got hacked. I’m really not sure how this happened but I’m guessing I logged into my gmail account from an airport and someone got it this way. Stupid, I know, and I won’t be doing it again. So then someone changed my gmail password and systematically went through hacking all my s---, including facebook. They then proceeded to make friends with every single human on the planet and then ask them for money. Standard stuff that most people see right through but annoying nonetheless.

After four months of fighting with Facebook, I finally got the hacked site taken down. I have no intention of starting another profile but if you still want to be friends with someone who has put a random picture of me up on their page, you’ve got a few options. You can befriend “Paul G. Wasicka,” who’s rocking a picture of me from the 2007 LAPC, or “Paul Wasicka (Masumasu Hitori De)” who only has six friends, or my personal favorite “Paul Wasicka” who is showing some really nice pecs. I wish I could rep this bod, but I’m not black. ☺

Bottom line, I’m sorry if you thought we were actually facebook friends but we aren’t. I don’t have a facebook account and I’m not starting a new one. Lucky for you, you probably have 350 other “friends” you can go to for support.

Sincerely,
The real Paul.

Well, I'm currently on the bus headed to the airport for tonight's draw party. I'm obviously very excited, but sad at the same time because I know that it will be a while before I get to see my girls again :(
I haven't played in a few days, but it feels like an eternity! I'm ready to get back on the felt and play my best, wish me luck tomorrow! I'll tweet who my opponent is as soon as I find out. Victory!!!

Testing mobile blog. Hello!

Wow, I'm a slacker...

So, I know it's been a while, and you are still wondering how I ended up doing in the Bahamas, right? Apologies to my readers for not posting PCA Day 3 earlier, but better late than never I suppose...
Honestly I'm not going to be able to remember many of the hands in great detail, but I can give you an idea. I started the day with a healthy 215,000 with blinds at 1,500/3,000/400. I started the day by raising the cutoff with 6,6 and taking down the blinds. This was probably the highlight of my day.
Folded to me in the cutoff and I raised 9,9. It folded to the big blind, an older gentleman whom I knew very little about. He called and the flop was A,8,4. He checked, I bet around half the pot, and folded to his 3x check/raise.
A few orbits later I again raised the cutoff to 10,000. This time with 76s. It folded to the big blind, who re-raised to 25,000, leaving himself with approximately 110,000 behind. I think all three options (call/fold/raise) are viable options, but I decided to let this one go.
Shortly after I raised J,J from the two hole and Jeff Madsen flat called from middle position. Everyone else folded. The flop was Ah,9h,8. Check, fold.
A few rounds later it folded to me in the cutoff. This time I looked at 6,6 again and popped it to 10,000. Again it folded around to the big blind, who in turn made it 30,000. Unbelievable!! I had to let it go and move on. I really thought he was likely to have two overcards in this spot, but I wasn't about to play a guessing game at this point in the tournament.

At this point we went on a well timed break. I regathered my composure and decided to lay low for a while.

Blinds: 2k/4k/500
A few hands into the level middle position raised to 12k. Folded to the small blind, who re-raised to 30k. I'm in the big blind and looked down at two red queens. At this point there were 228 left, with 224 getting paid (with a flat payout structure). I had 150,000. The small blind had about the same and the initial raiser had us both covered. I wasn't really worried about the initial raiser, as he had been fairly active thus far. However, I really thought the small blind had been playing extremely tight. Not only that, but it really looked like he wanted to make the money very badly. I thought about what to do for a while - I really thought about folding because I really felt like the small blind had a premium hand. I also thought about smooth calling, but ultimately I decided that I didn't like that option because I thought that if I shipped it that he would probably fold AK preflop, so why give him a free look at the flop? After much thought I decided to just ship it. The initial raiser insta-folded, followed by an insta-call from the small blind (with aces, of course). No suckout, gg fishy :(

In retrospect I think that I could have gotten away from the hand. I know it's easy to say that once you see the hand, but I just regret not going with my gut. I've talked with a few friends about the hand. They all seem to think that it was a standard bustout hand, so I can't get too down on myself, I suppose..
Bubbling is never fun, but I've been going deep in a lot of tournaments lately and I know things are going to start clicking soon.

PCA Main Event - Day 2

Starting stack: 116,000
Starting table:
Seat 1: Huck Seed - A very good live player whom I’d never played against before
16,500
Seat 2: Andrew Boccia - An online player with good results; reminded me of Remmy
71,000
Seat 3: Ryan Fair - Another online tournament pro with good results
71,500
Seat 4: William McClintock - Qualifier whom I knew nothing about
33,000
Seat 5: Alex Brenes - Brother of Huberto Brenes. Alex was solid, had a very similar style to mine
88,400
Seat 6: David Zalona - Online qualifier
68,000
Seat 7: Angel Penalver - Businessman who seemed to play poker as a hobby
21,000
Seat 8: Me
116,300
Seat 9: Patrick Renkers - Online MTT player
16,000

Blinds: 500/1,000/100
I decided to take it easy for the first few rounds and see how the table developed. The day started out rough. First, I lost a flip to Huck after I raised from early position with A,Q and he went all-in with J,J. I called and failed to improve, which dropped me down to roughly 95,000.
A few rounds later it folded to me in the cutoff and I looked down at a pair of eights. I raised to 2,600 and the button very quickly moved all-in for approximately 24,000. I didn’t think long when the action folded back to me, as he had 3bet an earlier raise of mine from late position. I called. Unfortunately he had T,T and I lost another decent sized pot to bring my stack down to around 65,000.

Blinds: 600/1,200/100
Shortly after the level change our table broke and I was moved to a new table with a lot of action. The only player I recognized was Steve Paul Ambros across the table from me (I was in seat 1). Again, I played very few hands for the first hour.
The big stack in second position raised my big blind to 2,600 (a common occurence, as it turned out). It folded to me and I flat called with A,K. The flop was As, 7, 4s. I decided to lead out 5,000, expecting him to raise. He didn’t disappoint and made it 12,000. I quickly went all-in for about 60,000 total and he quickly mucked.

Blinds: 800/1,600/200
The big stack raised my big blind, yet again. This time to 3,800. An amateur called from middle position and I called from the big blind with Ac,6c. The flop brought a dreamy Jc, 7c, 5c. I checked, the pre-flop raiser threw out 8,000 and the amateur quickly re-raised to 20,000 (leaving himself with 40,000). At this point I had roughly 80,000 in front of me. I thought for a while about smooth calling because re-re-raising screams a monster. However, I thought that even if they both folded I’d still pick up a good pot, plus I didn’t want to see the board pair or another club on the turn. I decided to just go all-in. The initial raiser tanked for a couple minutes before folding. The other guy immediately called all-in and tabled QJ, no club! The turn brought a very scary jack, but the river bricked and I was now up to 160k!

Blinds: 1,000/2,000/200
The first hand after break it folds around to the hijack to my right. He makes it 5,500 with around 45,000 behind. I pick up Q,Q right behind him and re-raise to 20,000. Both blinds fold and he quickly ships and I obviously call. He actually had a decent hand this time, but didn’t hit his ace or king and I was now up to 200k.
Shortly after the table broke and I was moved to a new table with a ton of chips, which was rather unfortunate.

Second position raised to 5,500 and it folded to me on the button. I looked down at an A,J and decided to call, as did the big blind. The flop was Td, 7d, 4. They both checked to me and I threw out 6,225. The big blind called and the initial raiser let it go. The turn was a deuce. Check, check. River: 4. He bet 12,500. At this point I can beat missed diamonds or straight draw and that’s about it. However, after analyzing the hand a bit more I didn’t think he would bet middle pair here and I thought trips would try to extract a little more value. Therefore, the only hand thas me beat here is a ten (which he could easily have. But given the size of the pot and his range of hands I decided to call. He tapped the table and showed 8c,9c

I raised from second position to 6,100 with KhQh. Fourth position, a kid who had been playing fairly tight so far, made the call. Everyone else folded. The flop was 8,8,4 rainbow. I thought for a bit about what to do, normally just about everyone continuation bets here, but I decided to get a little tricky and just check. He thought for about 40 seconds or so before betting out 8,500. At this point I put him on a decent pair like nines or tens. I thought about check/raising because check/folding is just flat out inexcusable and check/calling is way too spewy. However, the more I thought about it, the worse I started feeling. I decided to just listen to my gut and go with what I would normally say is the worst option: check/fold.
Once the break hit I went to the bathroom and I saw the kid in there.
“Did you actually have anything that hand?” I asked.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you...”
“Oh, you had a boat or something?”
“I had quads”
“Really? That’s crazy! My plan was to check/raise you, but I just got a bad feeling at the last minute. Seriously, who just check/folds on an 8,8,4 rainbow board after raising from second position?!”
“Yeah, I know, that’s why I decided not to slow play it because I thought there was no way you were going to just check/fold.”
“Wow, I got really lucky there, that could have been a disastrous pot.”
Who actually knows if he really had quads or not, but nevertheless it made me feel good :)

Blinds: 1,200/2,400/300
I wanted to open things up a bit this last level, but there were very few opportunities that I liked. I ended up winning a few blinds and antes, but no real pots of significance this level. I ended the day with 215,000. The start of the day didn’t go according to plan, but I mentally prepared for all possible scenarios, which helped a lot. I have a good stack heading into tomorrow, wish me luck!

PCA Main Event - Day 1B

Sorry it's a little late, but here is my PCA recap. I was having trouble with the internet while I was down there and didn't want to connect to an unsecured network..

Starting stack: 30,000
Starting table
Seat 1: Solid player who was showing a lot of premium starting hands
Seat 2: A middle aged gentleman who was in just about every pot
Seat 3: An internet player who seemed like he knew what he was doing
Seat 4: JC Alvarado - a very good regular on the circuit whom I’ve played with on several occasions; I really respect his play
Seat 5: A twenty-something hippie
Seat 6: Another online player who seemed decent
Seat 7: Online player who seemed decent
Seat 8: Tight qualifier
Seat 9: Me =)

Blinds: 50/100
Our table started out fast and furious. Two players lost half their stack within the first four hands, which is pretty impressive, considering we started the day with 300 big blinds. I decided to just play tight and see what developed. I wanted to play passively for the first few levels until I got a better idea of people’s hand ranges and capabilities. Seat 2 was putting an incredible amount of pressure on people pot after pot, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to make any big folds to him. No hands of consequence this level - mostly just tip toed around all the madness and ended the level with around 29,000.

Blinds: 75/150
No real hands of consequence this level either. I was primarily playing position and post-flop poker, no 3 bets as of yet..
I raised 8h7h from second position to 425 and it folded around to the big blind in seat 7. He called. The flop was 8, 6h, 5h. He checked, I bet 450 and he called. The turn was the 2c and he led 1,200 into me. I thought for a while and decided to smooth call. The river was an offsuit nine, giving me a straight. He bet 3,600 and I quickly called. He turned over A,Q for a bluff and I took down the smallish pot.

By the end of the level I had built up a solid image and it didn’t look like anyone was looking to play back at me; mostly just playing their cards. With no antes as of yet I decided to limp a couple hands from early position and then just let them go cheaply at any signs of aggression - I even limp/folded fours to JC’s 3 bet at one point. Normally I wouldn’t dream of folding a pair that early in a tournament, but JC had been pretty active with the 3 bets early on. Ironically, that made me less inclined to play the hand because I couldn’t be sure that I would win a big pot against his likely bullshit hand. I ended the level right where I started it - 29,000.

Blinds: 100/200
Two hours into the tournament, and I still haven’t played a real hand. Until now..

Seat 3 raised from third position to 600 and it folded to me in the big blind. I looked down at As,Js and decided to call. The flop came 9s, 9, 4s. I decided to lead out 625 and he called. The turn brought an off-suit five and I led out again, this time for 850. He called. The river was another off-suit five. I thought about leading out small again, but decided to check. He bet 3,700 and I quickly called. QJ no good :p

Shortly after, it folded to me on the button and I raised my A9 to 500. The small blind folded, and seat 2 in the big blind re-raised me to 1,200. Dream scenario! I’m head up in position against the maniac at the table with a hand that is above his range :) I called and the flop was Qh, 9, 5h. He quickly checked and I decided to check behind for pot control. The turn brought a beautiful off-suit ace. He tossed out a 5,000 blue chip into the pot of 2,500, leaving himself with roughly 15,000 behind. I thought for a while about how to proceed and ultimately decided to throw out my stack of blues. Insta-called. For a brief moment I thought I might be in big trouble, but after he showed QJ I realized that I was in prime position to win a big one early. Luckily the river bricked and I now had 54k.

JC raised from fourth position to 600, seat 6 called from the cutoff, as did seat 7 from the button. I looked down to see pocket jacks and decided to squeeze to 3,100. JC called and then seat 6 re-re-raised all-in for roughly an additional 22,000. Given JC’s wide range of hands, my new-found wealth, and the fact that seat 6 had just lost half his chips (not to mention the fact that he’s an internet player) led to my decision to go all-in. JC quickly folded. Unfortunately, seat 6 tabled A,A. Flop: T, T, 6. Turn: 5. River: wait for it.. wait for it.... Dink! J
Poor bastard.. As for me, I ended the hand with roughly 86,000 :)

Blinds: 150/300
I took it easy for most of the level - well, that and I was pretty card-dead. Although I was opening a tight range I did manage to get in a couple well timed 3 bets with garbage.
It folded around to seat 7, who made it 800 from the hijack with a 15,000 stack. I looked down at a Jh,9 on the button and decided to make it 2,200. He called when the action folded back to him. The flop was Th, 6h, 4h. He checked and I bet 1,800. He thought for a bit and then called. The turn was the Ah. He checked and I checked. The river was a meaningless deuce. He checked. At this point I'm just praying he has a heart. I thought for a minute about what would appear weakest and eventually decided to toss in all my blue chips. He thought for a while, but ultimately decided to let me have this one.
At this point everything was going right. I had a great read on most of the players at the table and was able to pick up a few small pots with no contention. I ended the level with approximately 100k.

Blinds: 150/300/25
There were no real big hands this level. I was still playing fairly tight, but amping up the aggression a little bit. At this point I had built up an awesome image and my bets were met with much respect. I slowly increased my stack to 113,000 without a showdown.

Blinds: 200/400/50
Shortly after the level started I was moved to a new table, which was quite unfortunate. I didn’t recognize anyone at my new table, but I immediately sensed that it was a much more difficult draw. This table was chalked full of internet 3 betting machines! This table had the extremes - A few players with a lot of chips (including one directly to my left) and a few shorties looking for spots to 3 bet the loose big stacks. I decided to stick with the game plan and wait for something good to happen. It seems whenever I try to push the pace early I get played back at relentlessly, so I wanted to remain patient and pick my spots well.

Blinds: 300/600/75
After folding non-stop since taking my seat I decided to take a stab at raising a pot with a K,T from under the gun. Whoops. The one kid who hadn’t played a pot thus far went all-in for 8,800 on top of my 1,850 and I was forced to fold.
I tried raising a couple other times to no avail. Then one of the loose players raised under the gun and I looked down at my nemesis - ATs. I flat called from the button. The flop was Ad, Jh, 4d. Check, check. The turn was a nine of hearts, offering a flush draw with my top pair. He checked and I threw out 1,625 into the pot of roughly 4,800. He reluctantly called. The river was an off-suit four. He checked and I couldn’t decide between a value bet of 2,200 or 3,200. Eventually I decided on the latter and threw my hand away once he called and tabled A,K.
By the end of the level I was back down to 100,000, but optimistic that if I could hit a hand it wouldn’t be hard to get paid.

Blinds: 400/800/100
A few hands into the level the loose player raised from under the gun yet again to 2,200. The 3 betting machine to my right didn’t disappoint as he made it 6,300 to go. I looked down at a pair of tens and had a tough decision to make. I eventually decided to smooth call with the intention of folding if UTG decided he liked his hand. Fortunately UTG insta-folded and it was just the cutoff and myself. The flop was K, K, J. He checked and I decided to follow suit. The turn was the 4c, bringing the second club. He bet out 9,200. I thought about my options for a bit and ultimately decided to call. The river was on off-suit three. He thought for about twenty seconds before throwing out 24,000.
Wow, tough spot! For a second the maniac in me wanted to go all-in for his last 33,000 or so, but I decided against that option because I didn’t think he would make a big fold against me if he had A,A or A,J. Also, there was no way that I could completely rule out J,J or K,K from his range, so I think that an all-in might have been a little too reckless.
However, the more I thought about the hand, the more I thought this guy might be on a move. The hands that seemed most likely to me were A,Q or Q,T or possibly complete air - keep in mind that this guy was 3 betting a crap load of pots! After a huge tank I decided to call. “Nice call..” YES!! He showed A,7 as he threw it into the muck. I was now up to approximately 140,000.

With two hands left to go before the day ended it folded around to Mr. 3 bet on my right in the small blind. As expected, he raised to 2,400. I looked down to see a very playable 8s,6s and called. The flop came As, Q, 7s. He made a continuation bet of 3,800, leaving himself with 25,000. There was roughly 13,500 in the pot, so I decided an all-in might be a little crazy at this point considering I couldn’t see this guy folding an ace; maybe not even a queen for that matter.. I decided to call and either go all-in over the top of his turn bet or just move it if he checked it to me. The turn was an off-suit ten and he followed up with a bet 5,200. I didn’t think long before shipping it for his last 20,000. He called rather quick and showed A,T. No suckout this time, as the river brought a 2c.
Lousy way to end the day, but I still ended up with 116,000 going into day 2. I’ve thought much about that last hand and I don’t really mind how I played it. If anyone has any suggestions as to how I could have played it differently please let me know. Constructive criticism is always welcomed :) I considered flat calling the 5,200 on the turn, but I feel like he’s double barrelling that turn such a high percentage of the time. The problem is, if I get called I’m drawing to a naked flush draw with one to come - not a good scenario by any means.. I also thought maybe I could have folded on the turn. However, given this guy’s recklessness throughout the last few levels I think that if I call pre-flop there is no way I can just give up that easy. I also thought maybe I could have avoided the blunder altogether if I re-raised to 6,600 with the intention of folding to an all-in, though that seems to be a bit results oriented. I think the likelihood of this guy making a belligerent all-in at the end of the day was just too great and it would suck to make that unnecessary siphon without even getting to see a flop..

One thing is certain: I’m playing some phenomenal poker right now. I’m playing with a ton of confidence, my reads were solid throughout the day, and I’m 100% focused. Hopefully I’ll get a good table draw for tomorrow and keep this train chugging away. Wish me luck!