Posted by Roy Winston | Filed under Uncategorized
I have just finished a few days of SCUBA in Cozumel and have to say it was truly great. The ocean was warm and inviting, the sea life exquisite, the dive operation, Scuba Du, which always made me think of Scooby doo whom I always liked, was professionally run and delivered a high level of customer service. Even getting there, with a direct flight from NY and the hotels only ten minutes from the airport.
My only complaint is that the gym was terrible. I have become a little OCD with my working out and have had trouble this week. I have been able to do the standard body weight exercises like push ups and sit ups, but that’s about it. While on vacation my eating gets a little out of control as well, so the combination of the two is rough. This next week I will have to double my efforts. Better eating and harder work-outs.
It looks like I might not have any live tournament play slated until the WSOP. With the FTOP’s now on Full Tilt, I will have plenty to keep me busy. Although you never know if I find something appealing between now and then, I might not be able to resist.
Popularity: 7% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Roy Winston | Filed under Uncategorized
I have finally set my initial WSOP playing schedule and although it’s open to change, I plan to play in about 15-18 events, including the main event of course. I need to make my reservations and find a place to stay while there. I get tired of staying in the casino-hotels and prefer renting a house or condo. I like the quiet when not at the WSOP. If anyone out there has any thoughts on the matter, feel free to contact me at winstonpoker@yahoo.com.
I have been playing online a good deal and really enjoy the double guarantee promotion that Full Tilt is running this week. I have been playing a wide range of tournaments and the 10 game mix cash game with some success. I am taking a small hiatus from live play until the WSOP, although who knows if some event appeals to me I could be tempted. I have been working on a couple of projects which are beginning to bear fruit. I have also been shopping for a car, looking for a new place to live and still on my health/ work-out kick. So far so good, but I can’t quite seem to hit the goals I have set for myself.
I am also planning another trip back to the Island of Cyprus as soon as they set the date for there next main event series. It should be sometime towards the end of the summer, after the WSOP. I had several great trips there over the past couple of years and can’t wait to return. They have an amazing facility for poker, a full service hotel and spa, which is a high end all-inclusive resort on the Mediterranean. Last time Full Tilt teamed up to co-sponsor the event and I am hoping they participate again. I will make dates and travel information available as soon as it is set. You can check out the resort at www.meritpoker.com
Popularity: 7% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Roy Winston | Filed under Uncategorized
I have taken a little break from writing, but am now back. For me it seems like I hit a wall and it takes me time to get back in the groove. Anyway I have had a pretty good past few weeks. One extremely interesting thing that I attended this week was a reception for Medal of Honor winners at my brother’s store on Wall Street in New York City. The room was filled with true American Hero’s. I had the opportunity to talk with several of the Medal of Honor recipients and it was really thrilling. Each one had done something so heroic that they received our nation’s highest honor. As I interacted with them and listened to their stories I was in total amazement.
The most amazing thing was that they seemed like regular guys who at some time were put into an extremely hostile situation and reacted with disregard for their own life or safety to save the lives of their fellow men. One such hero whom I talk with for some time was Colonel Jack Jacobs, who is also a commentator on NBC. When I read the account of his heroic action it was nothing short of amazing. He rescued 13 men while wounded himself and exposed and under fire. All I can say is wow. I was proud to be there and honor these great men. In what was a funny moment they group gave me brother Michael an award for hosting the event. Michael said he was thrilled to host the event but felt unable to accept and award from such a distinguished group.
In a time when Celebrities, Politicians and sports figures garner so much attention, it was great to in the presence of truly great and deserving American Hero’s.
Popularity: 100% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Roy Winston | Filed under Uncategorized
I have a bunch of good trips coming up, none poker related until the WSOP. I am headed to a friends wedding in Cabo in early April and will spend some time there enjoying the beach, sun and fun. After the crazy winter in New York, I need it, I can’t believe it snowed yet again on Monday.
I am also trying to plan a diving trip for end of March or beginning of April. I love to SCUBA and haven’t been since Cyprus last year. One trip I really want to do is a dive trip to where the whale sharks are. That is the one sea creature that has eluded me that I really want to see. It seems that when I have the time to go it’s the wrong season for them or they are in a hard to get to far away place. A friend suggested that I head to Atlanta and dive in the aquarium there with the resident whale sharks. Now I think that would be cool, but wouldn’t substitute for meeting them in the open ocean.
I am thinking about Cozumel, where the diving is always excellent and it’s easy to get to. I haven’t been there for almost 15 years and would be excited to return.
I have been playing online quite a bit lately, and cashed in several of the FTOP’s event but no deep runs. I have been getting my chips in good and just getting a little unlucky in big spots, but overall it’s been good. I also really like the multi-entry events on Full Tilt, where you can enter the same event several times and play all the entries separately. If you wind up at the same table as yourself your entries combine. It makes a lot of sense to me and should decrease your variance. Critics say it gives an unfair advantage to those who enter multiple times, but I like the larger prize pools, and it’s really just like playing more opponents. Hey if you like it, play it, and if not there are plenty of other tournaments to play, it’s just another option.
Popularity: 18% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Roy Winston | Filed under Uncategorized
I am off to Vegas for the weekend and am excited about it. I am the Cut-Man/ Corner Man for Emily Bearden, who is a world class professional Muay Thai fighter. She is fighting this Saturday at Buffalo Bills in Prim NV. I train with her at a mixed martial arts gym in New York City called Five Points Academy, located on Canal Street. Of course her training is a little more intense and productive than mine, but hey for me at my level it works.
While on the plane on the way out, it seemed all the channels had shows talking about Valentine’s Day. I have to say, I hate holidays. Now when I was in school and you got a day off for a holiday that was all good, but these days there is nothing about any holiday that really appeals to me. Any holiday that has Hallmark cards designed for it is by definition ridiculous. Almost all holidays are just opportunities for commercial enterprise. Valentine’s Day puts pressure on us guys to buy something and plan something. The plan something is a real problem because all the restaurants are full and they gouge you to the best of their ability. Another thing about the day is it is miserable for those who are alone. It exacerbates feelings of loneliness, and makes those on the edge feel like falling off.
Anyway, enough of that, I am at the Bellagio for the weekend and other than the fight Saturday night and the weigh in today, I can be found at the poker table. I have been playing so much online, I am really looking forward to a few live sessions, I only wish I was in town longer.
Popularity: 10% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Roy Winston | Filed under Uncategorized
While playing the 6 handed event at Borgata last weekend Gavin Smith was moved to my table a few hours into the event. Over the past few years Gavin and I have played at the same table both live and online many times, and he is always entertaining. He talks continuously to everyone not only at the table but around the room as well. He is also action, playing a lot of hands, and although he appears loose and a little reckless at times he really disguises an excellent game rather well. I have seen him again and again get players to go all in when he is way ahead and make terrible calls against him. Up to this point my table has played tight for a six handed game and shortly after Gavin sits down he manages to get a full double up. He calls a 3 big blind raise from the button and the flop comes K 8 4 rainbow and the original raiser bets 60% of the pot and Gavin starts the flapper going and then moves all in for about 30 big blinds. The other guy thinks quickly and calls with K 10 while Gavin tables K 8 and his hand holds. Now the other guy must have put Gavin on air, because that’s pretty much all he can beat. I most likely would have folded AK there because Gavin at that stage of the tournament has 2 pair or a set more likely than not. Anyway it always amazes me how a guy who has played well for several hours losses his mind in a hand.
Gavin then started needling me after I commented about a weight loss bet he was thinking about with “Will the Thrill.” Every year Will ropes a few guys into a weight loss bet for a good deal of money. He always wins, but what’s amazing is he winds up back at the same weight again. He has become an expert on gaining the weight to make the bet. I don’t think Will has ever lost one of these bets. So Gavin, in the middle of this challenges me to a MMA fight.
Now I’m not looking to fight anyone, in fact I don’t think I’ve actually been in a fight since 6th grade, but this challenge kind of intrigues me. I do train pretty regularly at Muay Thai, and although I’m not great at it, I have to think that Gavin is drawing slim here. So I ask what would be the bet. He say’s “I don’t know maybe $20,000?” Now this is starting to sound pretty good to me, in fact if I can get him to $50k I’m all in. So I start negotiating with him and he say’s “maybe now that I think about it you’re a little too eager for this. Anytime some with a 75 pound weight disadvantage is willing to fight me it’s probably not a good sign for me.” Then he withdrew from the bet negotiations, and then busted out two hands later.
All in all it was really quite amusing.
Popularity: 9% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Roy Winston | Filed under Uncategorized
I am questioning my decision to relocate to the NY City area, after just finishing digging my car out for the 4th time this season. We had 15 inches of snow last night and the snow plows did an excellent job of putting a 3 foot wall of snow around my car. Anyway, it was a good workout, and the roads themselves are pretty clear so I’m off.
I am headed to Borgata for there Winter Series which culminates this weekend in there 2 Million dollar guarantee main event. I am going to play the 6 handed $1,000 event which starts Saturday, and some cash games as well. I know I take some heat for my strong praise of Borgata, but they provide a quality product in a great atmosphere. For those of you that have been there you know what I’m talking about, and those of you that haven’t, well it’s your loss.
I have been playing quite a bit online and am enjoying this week of Full Tilt with the double guarantees, and am looking forward to the upcoming FTOP’s series. The one event I really wanted to play is the 10k heads up, but I will be in Las Vegas as the fight doctor for my friends Muay Thai fight.
Popularity: 8% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Roy Winston | Filed under Uncategorized
The snow in NY City, although beautiful, was brutal for getting around and of course the airports were closed. Finally made it to Hollywood Florida, and The Hard Rock, where poker has really taken off. Several months ago the gaming regulations were changed to allow larger buy-ins from the initially capped $100 max. The effect has been an explosion in play at the good rooms in Florida, like Hard Rock.
I always feel somewhat at home in Florida, having spent 3 years at The University of Florida back in the day. I also spent many a spring break in Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach back in my youth. I guess I should have been playing online poker but Al Gore hadn’t invented the internet yet, so no poker for me, I was forced to spend my time with sex, drugs and rock and roll, or at least that’s the story I’m sticking to.
The poker room at Hard Rock is a completely separate free standing room just outside the main casino, which is really nice. First off you get no smoke in the room at all which always drives me crazy and is common when the poker room sits next to the sports book like several places in Vegas. The room is also set up well with spacious tables that are not right on top of each other. The room was packed with not an empty seat in the house. I was pretty beat from my crazy traveling, it was like Trains, Planes, and Automobiles, so I decided to hang out have rom service and play online. It was a good decision, I won a small PLO tournament and then took 3rd in a $100 NLH event. All in all a good night. I am going to get up early and jump in a live game then.
Popularity: 12% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Roy Winston | Filed under Uncategorized
I have been playing the 10 game mix on pretty much a daily basis and have made most of my money where I would least expect it. Razz and Stud H/L seem to be the games that provide me the largest EV with 2-7 single and triple draw along with Badugi not far behind. What really surprises me is how badly some players are with what I consider pretty straight forward games. I had a hand the other day where I am dealt 234 with the 4 exposed and I complete and am raised by a player showing a 7. Well okay I think maybe he has some tell on me and thinks I have a face card or two in the hole. I of course re-raise and he caps it. I grab a 6 and he a 5 and I bet, he raises I re-raise and he caps. Then I get a J and he a 9, and he bets and I just call. Next comes an ace for me and a 6 for him. So now I know I can’t lose with the best he could have being a 65321 and me with a 64321, so I bet and again it goes to cap both here on 6th and on 7th. He actually had a 65432, and that’s with catching on of the three small cards on 7th. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, but I just see this kind of thing again and again.
The common Stud 8 or better situation which I love is when someone decide to play something like split 9’s and calls all the way with one mid pair and you make the low and are free rolling for the high, I love that. What’s really fun is when you have a 3 or 4 way pot with a low that cant be beat and free rolling for the straight against a couple of donkey’s with 2 pair.
You also see it in Omaha 8 when players pick starting hands with no low potential that are only fair for the high. Now if you have a strong high only hand, have at it, but something like 79JK, it’s hard to make the nuts except of a couple of straights. If at all possible you want to give yourself a chance at the high and low halves of the pot and not be playing for only have the pot. The other day I played an interesting high hand with KKJ10 double suited and the flop came K 3 4, 8 on the turn and 4 on the river. I had three opponents who all were holding A,2 and they kept raising the turn and river until they were capped four ways and they seemed surprised when each of them received 1/6th of the pot.
Popularity: 9% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Roy Winston | Filed under Uncategorized
I have had a pretty decent week online winning 3 tournaments, albeit small one, a razz, horse and PLO. Maybe it was the little bit of help Mike McDonald gave me in Montreal, or I just got a little lucky, either way I’ll take it.
Also I now have my own table on Full Tilt, a $5-10, 10 game mixed, which is what I really enjoy playing. I welcome any and all to drop by and play, or at least chat. I have not really decided on my upcoming playing schedule for the first part of the year, and may travel less and play online more. I will however be at Hard Rock in South Florida this Tuesday for a few nights. I am really looking forward to checking out there poker room now that the new laws enable higher stakes gaming. If you are there this Tuesday or Wednesday night come by and say hello.
I am getting together with my usual group of friends, this time for New Year’s in Florida. The three of us use to work together at Emory University back in the 90’s and have maintained a close friendship since. One friend stayed in Atlanta, the other went to Palm Beach and me, well I am not really sure where I am on any given day.
I have kind of a fun upcoming event on February 12th, I am going to be the fight doctor and corner person for a professional Muay Thai fight in Las Vegas. On of the instructors where I train, asked me and I am excited to be working with her, that’s right her. Her name is Emily Bearden, and you can check out one of her fights on you tube.
Popularity: 11% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated)
Most Popular Posts
- Medal of Honor Reception
- Hello world!
- Unlucky at Cards, Lucky at ....
- Vacation Coming Up, Multi Entry Now on Full Tilt
- Twitter Updates for 2009-05-29
Categories
